Louisville vs. Simmons College Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Chris Mack
(Opening Statement) "Obviously, it wasn't much of a test. I thought Jerry's (Eaves) kids gave great effort, but we just have better players. As I told our team in the locker room, we're for real now. So, exhibition season is over, and now we turn the page and get ready for Nicholls State. More importantly, as I said after the Bellarmine game and I'll say again today, continue to get better every single day that we hit the practice floor, hit the film room, play a game. We have to learn from it, get better from it. That's hopefully what we'll do over the next few days as we lead up to our home opener."

(On team maintaining focus and energy into second half) "I thought our team talked, really communicated well on the floor. I thought that we had a little bit better next-play mentality as we like to talk about, regardless of the previous play. Maybe you turn the ball over or you make a good play, still being able to turn the page to the next play and be a team that's locked in. I thought our effort was, by and large, pretty good. I thought our attitude was great. I thought our communication was where it needed to be. I don't think we ever played the score, and that's a sign of a mature team. Hopefully, we continue to progress the same way as we hit the floor come Thursday."

(On only committing six turnovers) "It's been a big point of emphasis. Not just since the Bellarmine game. We've been talking about that all summer, all fall. I thought our decision making, coming to a jump-stop, landing on two feet—I think our ability to feed the post got better tonight, and it's going to have to be as we play better and better teams through the year moving forward. Six turnovers, I think any coach would take that."

(On making baskets off assists) "Just finding the open man. I don't want anybody on our team pass-faking to the open man and taking a shot. You move the ball. You do what the game tells you to do, and I think we have a together group that wants to play the right way. Our execution isn't always the best, but good teams hit the open man. I thought tonight we found our inside guys a lot more than we did against Bellarmine, which crowded the paint a lot more. Hopefully, we're progressing."

(On what stats Mack looks to first after game) "Turnovers are one of them. I like to see what we hold the other team to field goal percentage-wise. I think we recovered 76 percent of Simmons' missed shots. It was a lot of those, as I said, where you resolve long shots and long rebounds. We have to come up with the couple of loose balls. I thought we could have gotten on the floor rather than bend over, you know, put our chest on the floor. Not every situation, a few times Malik (Williams) and Khwan (Fore) laid out, that was good to see but we have to do that on every loose ball.

(On Khwan Fore's role) "I think everyone is continuing to carve out a role. I want him to be a guy who brings a ton of energy off the bench and anytime you have the ball in your hand as a perimeter player, you do what the game tells you and he was open a few occasions and he stepped in and shot the ball with confidence. He got Ryan an open look. Our team in the first half went through that 0-8 or 1-8 from three and I felt like the lid was on it again. Khwan passes up an open one, gets to the lane, comes to a jump stop, then the ball got a little deflected, but he still found an open man in Ryan who gets a wide open three and who wouldn't want that? That's an example of Khwan making the right play. Just bringing a ton of energy and I thought he did that tonight.

(About Malik Williams) "He's getting better. He's going to face guys with a lot more size than what he saw tonight. But he wants the ball down there, his teammates are gaining trust in him that he can hold his man off and that's good to see. He's really practiced well the last few weeks. You always feel good as a coach when a guy who has been doing it the right way in practice and been effective and then plays well in the game and gets rewarded because sometimes that does not happen. But for Malik, it did tonight and that's good to see."

(On outside shooting struggles) "That's the game of basketball. You miss some shots. I think what we can do better is to offensive rebound. I think what we can do better is when situations like that occur—I think we shot two free throws in the first half and we end up shooting 22 in the second half. So, our ability to understand, that we missed four or five threes, maybe that one eight seconds into the shot clock is open. But, let's get a hard-earned one. Let's swing the ball around, try to get into the paint, and try to draw a foul. Get to the free throw line and now, you feel more comfortable about the ball going in. Our team is still learning. I don't want us to be dependent on the jump shots. That's for sure."

(On team rebounding) "We'll be fine on that end."

(On V.J. King's aggressiveness) "I thought in the first five or six minutes, he wasn't ready to play. I think he was one of the few guys, and I jumped him. He's got to be ready to play for us. Defensively, he's got to be locked in. He's got to be able to communicate early on. I think when guys talk, and they have energy, and they are in their stance, it is hard to be daydreaming and out of the play. Thankfully, he woke up. But, he has to play aggressive right from the jump. I thought he did a much better job in the second half."

(On finding groups that play well together) "My hope is that they all play well together. Otherwise, we have real problems."

Simmons College Head Coach Jerry Eaves
(Opening Statement) "I just want to tell Coach Mack and the University of Louisville, we appreciate the opportunity for Simmons College to come here and give my young kids an opportunity to experience something that they'll never get to experience. That's worth more than money. Without Coach Pitino and Reverend Cosby getting together last year to give our kids an opportunity to be exposed to something of this magnitude was great. I'm hoping that the University of Louisville can get something out of the scrimmage, we knew they wouldn't get too much out of it, but I still appreciate the opportunity, because sometimes things are bigger than just wins and losses. By Louisville playing Simmons College, it was definitely a step in the right direction for us and the city of Louisville."

(What was your message to the team after the game?) "We did everything we wanted to do. We knew we wouldn't make shots, we said we'd score 35 points that was an A, we got 41 points so that was an A+. It was our first scrimmage, we didn't have our intra-squad scrimmage, we couldn't get people to play us. It was just our first opportunity so I was super proud of the young people. They did everything I wanted them to do with the rebounding battle. Even though we know Louisville was not going at it – there was no way our bodies are too small – but we were able to rebound the ball and execute the offense the way we wanted to and those things were encouraging for us at our level."

(What does this game mean to you as far as being a University of Louisville alum?) "I played the University of Louisville when Coach Pitino was here, with North Carolina A&T. This was my second opportunity and any time you get the opportunity to come back home it's always special. The fans, the support that the University of Louisville has done, forever, since the 60s, and the tradition that we have here – forever - has been nothing but A+. Having the opportunity to come back and play in front of the home crowd was for me, delightful."

(What do you hope your players will remember from tonight?) "Great question. That there's no way in the world that they'll ever be pro players. That they can be accountants, lawyers and doctors. And, I told Coach Mack to try to knock the dog snot out of us, because there's too many kids walking every street in America that think the only way out is through athletics. And it's not - 91,000 people graduated from all the division schools last year, Division I, II, III, NAIA, and all the rest. NCCAA like us - 303 got drafted. It's a myth. It is a lie. But they can be other things. So this was a great experience to let them know: Nope. You can't walk these streets and outplay VJ King, nor Perry. You can't do it. So, now let's change our attitude to what we can do to be very successful."

(What does it mean for Simmons to have the opportunity to come out here and play at the KFC Yum! Center? What does it say about where the program is headed?)
"Well, the program is headed… we're trying to entice more people to come to school. We could really care less about the score of any game. I wouldn't coach if I had to worry about the score. I did that for 23 or 24 years. Where winning was important. And, at this level it's just not important. People don't want to hear that, but it's just the facts. So, we wanted to entice young people to give them a second chance to get an opportunity at education. That's exactly what they're doing. Young men who've come so far in four years, you wouldn't believe it. It's unbelievable. It's delightful to be around them. It's been a challenge every day. There's been no structure, no discipline absolutely in their lives for quite a bit of it. So, this is the first time they've ever had a male tell them 'no' and look them in the face and suspend them. My two best players were suspended. Wouldn't have made any difference in the score of the game. But they had to understand that, it's not about being able to play. You have to do things right. So, I think that Kentucky and Louisville should always play the HBCU. I really do. I think it's something that… that's how they give back. Because both schools have benefited from African Americans. Let's don't kid ourselves. So it is a way to give back financially and for the community to watch and give them opportunities to play."

(Do you feel like a game like this will give more exposure to Simmons College?) "Absolutely. It did absolutely nothing for Coach Mack's team. But it did worlds for us because more kids may want to come, young men and women, and say 'I want to play the University of Louisville, and I'm going to go to Simmons College to do it.' And if that's what it takes to get them back in school, both state schools should do it. Kentucky should play me next year."

University of Louisville Athletics

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Khwan Fore

V.J. King

Malik Williams

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