Louisville vs. Southern Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Chris Mack

(Opening Statement) "I would like to start off by saying I was happy with our effort tonight. I thought our guys played with a lot more energy all the way throughout. From the very beginning to the end, it was choppy with so many fouls called. I think in the first four minutes of the game, we got them to seven team fouls, which any time you can put a team on their heels with that type of foul trouble as a team that early in the game, you can really change the game. On ball reversals, you can really test your man. Get a hand check and get to the free throw line and it really starts to open up some things offensively. I thought our guys, on the offensive end, did a really good job, especially in the second half, of taking care of the ball and playing through contact. I thought defensively we played with a lot of energy throughout the game. So, much better performance out of our guys. I think the three practices leading up to tonight really set the tone. I really think you earn the right to win and you earn your victories in practice. That is who you become on game night."

(On team's practices) "We put them through some tough drills. It is what I would call 'animal ball' for a couple days. I thought our guys got the ball knocked out of their hands on offense against Nicholls. I thought we were just ok on the defensive end. We sort of re-assessed who we need to be on both ends of the floor. We had a lot of tough drills where you better be strong with the ball, and I thought our guys really responded and we carried it over into tonight. The last few practices haven't been easy."

(On team defense and communication) "That's one of the things. Southern presents that. As you can see, they got called for maybe 12 illegal screens. And if they don't brush your defender, a lot of times, offensively, that guy is going straight downhill. We got called for some hand checks. We've got to do a better job of showing the ref our hands when they are trying to initiate contact. For the most part, it was a huge step forward from last game. It's communication. It's toughness. It's discipline. Finishing our defense with a shot fake—not leaving your feet, staying down. We also need to finish the possession with a block out if they don't turn the ball over. Again, I thought it was a lot better than last game. It has to be a heck of a lot better for Friday because we are playing a team that, I'm sure you all saw on ESPN Friday night, is really good."

(On high foul numbers in first two games) "I think they choose to play a style defensively where they switch every screen. So, they're going to have point guards and two guards on (redshirt junior center) Steve Enoch, whether he's posting or going for an offensive rebound, it's a big challenge. That's also going to put their fours and fives on guys like (sophomore guard) Darius Perry and guys on the perimeter. We wanted our guys, when those mismatches occurred, to not stare at the mismatch and try to force the ball into a spot. We wanted them, as I told our guys, 'Don't stop the music. Keep moving the ball. The mismatches will be exposed at some point. But, if you just sit there and stare at who you want to throw it to, the entire team will know.' I felt that our team was smart, and we were able to continue to move the ball and get the shot that we wanted.

(On coaching a game with so many fouls) "I like coaching a game that we win."

(On managing the flow of the game) "It's hard to answer that question because I felt like we got to the free throw line almost twice as many times as they did. And so, if you want to foul us that's fine, we're going to play inside-out, we're going to drive the ball, we're going to try to space our perimeter players in a way that makes it difficult for opponents to crowd the court. We're going to do the complete opposite or try to. We want to be a team that defends without fouling and we didn't do as good as a job in that area as we should've. But sometimes, in a game, these fouls get called and, not saying the referees did this, but every once in a while, it's like, 'Well, that's a foul too.' But, we want to be a team that gets the ball in the paint and gets to the free throw line.

(On multiple plays stepping up and playing versatile) "I value every one of our players. They're working hard to transition to a different coaching staff. They've never given us one ounce of defiance. They've been awesome. Guys like (graduate forward) Akoy (Agau)—Akoy didn't play last game, didn't get in, and then tonight, Steven gets into foul trouble and Akoy goes in there and gets three offensive rebounds and draws a ton of fouls in both halves and did a great job. I though (redshirt junior guard) Ryan (McMahon) was much tougher on both ends of the floor tonight. He got shots for his teammates, he took shots in rhythm, and I thought Ryan was the best defensively that I've seen. When he played against us in the Red and White, when we played Simmons, when we played Bellarmine, that was the by far his best defensive effort. He needs to continue to get better because we will play some teams that are better than the one that we played tonight."

(On performances of sophomore forward Jordan Nwora and sophomore center Malik Williams off the bench) "Jordan is very talented offensively, and his quest, and my quest for him, is to be better defensively. And I thought he was better, but nowhere near where he needs to get to. When the other coach is out there yelling plays to isolate him, that should tell you something if you're Jordan. But, he was much better tonight. I think the thing I'm most proud of on the offensive end isn't that he made shots. It isn't the aggressiveness. He wasn't lackadaisical with the ball, and I've used that term casually with Jordan. He got the ball spilled four or five times last game. It was like he was playing with a heavy ball. Tonight, he was strong with it, when his drive was cut off he secured it and threw it back out and that's what I want to see out of Jordan offensively."

(On Nwora's defensive performance) "I'm looking for anybody to pick up a steal if the ball is in front of them the way it was. We did a solid job on the ball with our positioning, and Southern, they got chested up by our defender and lost the ball, and it went right to Jordan. Again, we want to be a team that crowds the court and those type of plays are going to happen when you're solid defensively. I don't want Jordan, for every steal he gets going through the passing lane and giving up a wide-open layup, and he didn't do that tonight for the most part."

Southern Head Coach Sean Woods

(You weren't really able to get any flow, anything going early and that kind of snowballed it looked like.) "When you come into a situation like this and take over a team like this, what you're trying to do is change the culture. That's all I'm trying to do right now. Louisville is Louisville and we've got to continue to teach our guys how to fight and compete no matter what conference we're in and things like that. So that's what I'm working on. But I thought Louisville was much better today than they had been the last couple of games. Handling pressure, making shots, executing high-low situations. So I tip my hat off to coach [Chris} Mack, because he has been working on his guys getting better and they played much better tonight than I've seen them on tape."

(In your first two games, you had 21 fouls at half-time, which was only one off of what you had total in another game and only 28 in I think the second game. Did they call it a little different tonight?) "I can't talk about it… it is what it is. When you play these types of games it is what it is. I thought they couldn't get used to our cuts, they're not screens. They were calling what they saw and they're just not used to seeing those cuts. It is what it is. They are out there doing the best they can and we've got to get better at helping them out also."

(Three Power 5 conference teams in seven days. Did it wear on you a little bit?) "I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about getting better. Teams at our level. We've got to go get money, we got to do things, but we still got to work on us. And that is what this is all about because I'm trying to get to the NCAA Tournament in March. So we're trying to get better each and every day. Hopefully this will continue to get us tougher; playing against this type of competition. So when we do get in conference we're prepared and trying to get to our ultimate goal, and that's to get to the NCAA Tournament."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jordan Nwora

Darius Perry

Malik Williams

Related Videos