Kenny Payne shares how he balances back-to-back wins
After starting his tenure at Louisville by going 0-9 with several upset losses, Kenny Payne has finally managed to win a couple of games. Those came against Western Kentucky and Florida A&M. The question still remains, however, if Louisville can win consistently.
Ahead of Louisville’s game against Lipscomb, Kenny Payne spoke about balancing those back-to-back wins. This comes after he described his first win as being “unbelievable.”
“First of all, I told the guys this, don’t overlook any wins,” Kenny Payne said. “To win in college basketball is hard. The parity in this thing right now is ridiculous. That team has played every high-major program probably, and they’re looking to play more.”
In that game against Florida A&M, Louisville struggled with its focus. They had 22 turnovers against the Rattlers, which Kenny Payne said was because the team was nervous.
“So, they’re not going to be afraid of you. They’re gonna be aggressive, they’re gonna play their style of basketball, and try to come at you. When I watched them on film, I saw it against Florida. I saw it against Georgia where it was a dog fight at times during the game. I knew they were gonna come in here and be aggressive against us. I knew they wouldn’t be intimidated by us, and they got after it. Hats off to them,” Kenny Payne explained.
“I’m glad that we responded, in a sense, especially the beginning of the second half. Wish we had finished better. But, we’re learning. Again, we’re learning. Now, at times, I’d rather win and learn than lose and learn.”
Louisville plays Lipscomb on Tuesday, December 10th. After that, the Cardinals will take on NC State and Kentucky.
Kenny Payne on battling through in-game adversity
Louisville won two games in a row, but it wasn’t easy for the Cardinals to do. They had to battle against the Rattlers, which Kenny Payne praised his team for doing.
“I just thought they hung in there. We talked about it. We know that there’s going to be adversity in the game. And I just thought when it came and it happened we didn’t let go of the rope. It didn’t go from eight to 15. We chipped away at it,” Kenny Payne said.
“And we did it without one person saying…I got to be the one to get the next basket. I thought that they did it trusting the process, trusting the offense creating extra shots for each other. And that’s what it takes to win. To just trust it.”