Lousville vs. Seton Hall Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach David Padgett

(Opening Statement) "I just told our players it's two games in a row now. We've worked too hard to shoot ourselves in the foot. What I mean by that, is we work on defense, we get a stop, we get a rebound, and we come down and turn the ball over and give it right back to them. It seems like most of our turnovers are what I call 'pick six's', where there is no defense for it. They get a back tip, we lose the ball, we do something, and we can't go down and set our defense, and they just score. You have to give them credit, obviously, that's a top-25 team that came in here and beat us. We've just got to take better care of the basketball. Sixteen turnovers is too many for us, I think we had 14 the other night. It's hurting us right now, but we have to just look at the film and correct it and get ready, because in 72 hours, we have another game. So we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've got to turn this around."

(On if he faults the defense on the last possession) "No, they made a good shot. It's a 10-foot runner over a 6-6 and 7-0 kid, so you give them credit. It's turnovers that are killing us right now."

(On if getting the ball into the paint was an emphasis) "It was. We started the game just by shooting jump shots without getting the ball in the lane. We finally started to get the ball in the lane, get to the rim, and we got better looks. It's frustrating – we're playing really hard, our effort is there, we're just not rewarding ourselves. Now, I'm not taking anything away from Seton Hall, they came in here and played their rear ends off, but we're hurting ourselves too much. If we have four or five less turnovers, we probably have a better chance to win the game. We're turning the ball over at crucial times. It's two games in a row now and it's hurt us two games in a row."

(On the team's ball handling) "I don't know if it's so much ball handling, it's just being careless with the ball. I don't know what it is. I've got to watch the film to find out, but we've got to get it fixed."

(On Ray Spalding's lack of playing time due to fouls) "Yeah, he picked up two early. He picked up another one quick to start the second half. When we were smaller with four guards, we were a little bit better offensively, we were able to space the floor more. It just wasn't one of his best nights. He had eight rebounds in 17 minutes, but we had a flow going when he was on the bench, so we had to go with it."

(On Anas Mahmoud's performance) "He got in foul trouble, too. He picked up two right at the start of the game. He had five blocks, did a good job protecting the rim, but we just struggled to find a flow with two bigs in the game, so we had to go small."

(On the problems Seton Hall caused Louisville) "We did a pretty good job on Angel Delgado. He had 13 rebounds, but he only had 10 points. Desi (Rodriguez) had, I think, 18 or 19 at the half. We gave them a lot of easy baskets. It seemed like most of our turnovers led to wide- open layups or advantage breaks for them. Like I said, it's very, very frustrating, and those guys in our locker room are hurting right now because we're playing hard enough, and for the most part, well enough, to win the game. We're just hurting ourselves at crucial times, and we have to learn from it and correct it in a hurry."

(On correcting turnovers) "I don't know. I really don't have an answer for that. I wish I did because we would have fixed it after Tuesday. It's just something we've got to harp on and continue to strive to get better at."

(On forcing bad shots and turning the ball over) "At the start of the game, we were just passing the ball around the perimeter, somebody would get impatient and take a jump shot. We fixed it. We started getting to the rim a little bit more. Once you get the ball in the lane, that's when you kick out for your 3's. Your jump shot has to come off of your dribble penetration. You can't just have jump shots coming from passing the ball around the perimeter. We did a better job of that. We shot 54 percent in the second half. They had 35 shots in the second half, we had 28. It's those turnovers that are just absolutely killing us right now."

(On getting Anas going) "Well, it's just a situation where they weren't going to let us throw the ball inside and do much. We found a rhythm playing small. Anas facilitated fairly well, he was screening and getting guys open. So, we just had to stick with what was working. Like I said, we shot 54 percent in the second half, so it wasn't our offense. I hate to sound like a broken record right now, but it's just coming down to us not taking care of the ball our last six, seven minutes of the game, and it's absolutely killing us."

(On allowing short bursts) "It is. Unfortunately, I don't think there's an easy fix for it. It's not a situation where you can, 'OK, you've got to put this guy here, this guy here, this guy here.' It's just a matter of us being stronger with the ball. There were a couple of times where we had an advantage break, then maybe back-tipped it and just get off the ball quicker, passing it earlier. But, we've just got to take a long hard look at it and get it fixed before Wednesday."

Seton Hall Head Coach Kevin Willard

(Is the final play what you drew up?) "Yeah, didn't want to call timeout and let them set up zone and then switch into man-to-man and us get confused. I always feel that if you cannot let a team's defense get set, you have got a better chance of getting a stop. Last week against Rhode Island, I didn't put it in his hands, and I made sure the rest of the year it would get in his hands at the end of the game."

(What was your thought when Quentin Snider took that shot?) "I'm thinking I should have used my timeout to setup my defense. It's the perfect strategy, it really is. A kid makes a tough shot, but then you have a guard like Quentin who can get the ball up the floor in two seconds. He got a wide open shot, so I think it's a great philosophy."

(What does this win mean for your team?) "Road wins are really, really important in college basketball. It helps your RPI so much. Obviously, they're an excellent basketball team - road wins travel and to get one after beating a tough Texas Tech team on Thursday, to come back now on Sunday. What I was impressed with was how quick a turnaround, we were able to get our motor going again. Sometimes with older guys, it takes them a while, but it's a good one."

(On getting contributions from a lot of different down the stretch) "I have a lot of confidence in our guys one-on-one, I just thought we got back in a much better rhythm offensively running our stuff. I think once we ran our stuff, I think we scored seven straight possessions before we had a turnover. So when we run our offense and we're passing the ball, which we do very well, we're a tough team to stop."

(Did you do anything in particular to force Louisville to have so many turnovers?) "No, I'm not smart enough to do that. Just that my kids play hard, they play hard. I thought that was great game. It was fun to watch, fun to coach, fun to be a part of."

(Were you surprised by winning the battle inside, point paints, against a team that size?) "No, that's our DNA. We're going to scrap, we're going to fight. We throw it into Angel (Delgado) a ton, we post up Desi (Rodriguez), we drive. So even though they had good length, (Anas) Mahmoud's done a great job, (Ray) Spalding's obviously long, but they're not physically imposing, but they're long. We're weren't going to change the fact that we're going to attack the rim."

(You know this program well and it is probably strange to be here at least under these conditions, but what kind of feeling do you have for what David Padgett is trying to undertake here with this group?) "I watched all five games, I have watched a lot and talked a lot to David (Padgett). It's an unbelievably hard situation that David's been put in and they put the right guy in this position. He's a former player, he's a three-time captain, he comes from a basketball family, he's a first class person, I think David has done a phenomenal job and will continue to do a phenomenal job with this program. I think the city, for what the city has gone through, what the university has gone through and most importantly what those players have gone through, David's the right guy."

(Did you have any kind of conversations with him after the change, just to kind of give him some kind of encouragement and pointers?) "We talked, yes we did."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Anas Mahmoud

Quentin Snider

Ray Spalding

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