Kenny Payne praises efforts of Emmanuel Okorafor

The Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball squad it’s currently in the midst of one of its worst seasons in recent history. Louisville currently sits 2-19 following a loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday. And while it was another tally in the loss column for the Cardinals, head coach Kenny Payne found a silver lining in the play from big man Emmanuel Okorafor. After the game, Payne praised the efforts he saw from Okorafor.

“Love what he gave us; could care less about the moving screens or the illegal screens. I love that,” said Payne. “We haven’t been able to really get that from any other big until this point. Love how he sets the screens and runs to the rim; love the fact that he caught some passes that weren’t great passes and finished. Love the fact that he’s vocal.

“I thought, for a first game and a kid that a week ago had no idea what plays we were running; for him to come in and help us and play with the energy and be a positive out there on the court meant a lot. You can feel his presence right away. You could feel his energy right away. He stands out because he brings a certain kind of physicality and a certain kind of energy that we lack, and he brings, and we really need it.”

Okorafor played just 18 minutes against the fighting Irish but was all over the place, making an impact on the floor both positively and negatively. In his first game of the season, the six-foot-nine freshman recorded eight points on 3-5 shooting, five rebounds, and one block. Okorafor, going forward, we’ll have to learn how to play with more discipline after picking up four fouls in the game.

Kenny Payne on Louisville’s season struggles

With the Louisville Cardinals continuing to struggle on the season in a rough way, coach Kenny Payne addressed the commitment of his players. The Cardinals fell to Notre Dame on Saturday, falling down by as many as 30 points on the way to a record of 2-19 on the season.

According to Payne however, his players told him that they weren’t giving up on the year — even if their coach believes their actions aren’t matching their words currently.

“You know, I’m not the guy to keep elephants in the room,” said Payne when asked about his team’s commitment level. “For me if I smell it, if I think it, if I hear about it I’m breaking it up and you know, after the game I asked them ‘is this too much? Do you think like you’ve let go?’

“To a man, they all say no. But I said then you’re misinformed on what your body’s saying versus what your words are saying. There are times when we have players that you look at with the eye, and you see that they look like they’ve given up. But in their mind they don’t believe they look like that. Well that’s a problem. And we address that problem.”

Despite clearly being frustrated with his team’s effort on the court, Payne quickly explained that he believes his team isn’t giving up yet. He only wants to highlight that the result of the year so far does not match what the expectations are for the Louisville basketball program.