What Louisville Basketball coach Pat Kelsey said about facing No. 12 Tennessee

What first-year Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said Friday while previewing his Cardinals hosting No. 12 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon (Noon Eastern Time, ACC Network) at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville:

What Saturday’s game will tell him about this Louisville team, with the level of competition increasing

“Well, tomorrow is going to tell us a lot. It’s going to tell both teams a lot. I think scheduling a major non-conference game like this early in the schedule tells you a lot about your team, and you’re going to learn a lot more and know a lot more tomorrow about 2 o’clock. And it’s going to be a big stage. Obviously, it’s going be a huge crowd. There’s a lot of hype around the game. So it’s fun. I know our guys are juiced up. There’s energy around the city. I think there’s energy on campus. So it’s going to be a big-time college basketball atmosphere and a big-time college basketball game. I always say, Coach Prosser used to say, you find out what’s inside the orange when you squeeze it. So both teams are going get squeezed tomorrow. It’s probably a bad pun with the orange, but I didn’t didn’t mean to use the pun there.”

What Louisville has been emphasizing since the season-opening win against Morehead State on Monday

“I thought our rebounding could have been a little better. We really defended. I think the numbers spoke to that. All of our effort statistics spoke to how hard we played. I think I mentioned in the press conference after the game our guys’ attention to detail on scouting report, both on personnel and then the systematic things that they do in the half quarter, especially with all their sets. Our rebounding was good. I don’t think it was great. There were some numbers there I think that that could have been cleaned up. Some of our our decision making, but I thought I felt like we really shared the ball and took care of the ball and things like that.”

A Rick Barnes team being known for toughness and defense, if that’s what stands out about this Tennessee team

“Yeah. Coach Barnes’ teams are always known as some of the most, or the best, defensive teams in the country. Some of the most tenacious and tough. That’s always been the brand of his teams, and this team is no different. I have the utmost respect for Rick Barnes. He is not a good coach, but a great coach. He’s a Hall of Fame coach and has had an amazing amount of success throughout his years. And his team is tough and rugged. They’re disciplined and they’re explosive as well. 

“So we have our hands full and the guys have been leaning forward in preparation and in scouting the same way they have for each and every game, whether it’s the two games in the Bahamas, two exhibition games, our tip-off game on Monday night, and this one. You know, we we give the same amount of attention and excellence to every single scout regardless of who we play, but we got to be on it. They got great players, great coach, and a system that is difficult play against.” 

The problems that Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler presents

“He’s a great player. He’s the heart and soul. I think he has been. I mean, Dalton Knecht, obviously, is a lottery pick and he’s going to be a great, great NBA player. But I really even feel like last year, the heart and soul of that team is No. 5. You can just see it when you watch tape. He just gives courage to the players around him. He’s got such a presence to him on the floor. He affects the game on both sides. I mean, you mentioned his defensive acumen, just his tenacity, his grit, his ability to touch the ball and disrupt, ala Chucky Hepburn. He brings a lot of the things to the table from a defensive and really from an offensive standpoint that Chucky does. I think it’ll be a really interesting, cool matchup between those two.

“I don’t know him personally, but again, when you just study a team and you watch on tape, you can see the way that he leads and the belief that his teammates have on him. He’s maybe small in stature, but he’s got a huge heart and a lot of grit, a lot of tenacity and I have a lot of respect for him. And we’re going to have our hands full, but our guys are up and ready for that challenge.”

Similarities and differences between Zakai Zeigler and Louisville guard Chucky Hepburn

“I think there are a ton of similarities. And you talk about, he and Chucky, you know, Koren (Johnson) has been really good for us as well. We have a little of that two-headed monster where, I think maybe if you look like what’s the difference, and they obviously have other guys that play the point guard role, but (Zeigler is) the heart and soul and plays the majority of the minutes. As many minutes as he can play, he’s going to play until he falls over. I think we can come at you a little bit with a one-two punch, obviously, with Chucky and with Koren. But it does jump off the page to you how how similar those guys are in so many ways because all all those things that I just described about No. 5 for Tennessee, you could say the same exact thing about Chucky Hepburn. He makes people around him better. He’s tough as nails. He’s a tenacious defender. He’s a dynamic offensive player as well. He has the belief of his teammates and the respect of every opponent he’ll ever play against. So it’ll be a really good college basketball match up between two elite point guards.”

What he saw from film Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier

“I think he is a guy that has assumed that (scoring) role. I don’t know what Dalton Knecht’s (jersey) number was last year, but I can use his name because he no longer plays for them. We just have this policy, we use jersey numbers and not names. But the kid, No. 2, is a really, really good player, man. I mean, he was one of the darlings of the transfer portal, if you will. Obviously, the success he had at North Florida, his numbers last year were gaudy in terms of his metrics, everything like that. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s physical. He can shoot it in a lot of ways. He’s very, very similar to Knecht. That’s for sure. And wired to score — big, rises up, high release. But plays with a ton of confidence. So, obviously, he’s one of those he’s one of those guys. But they got a bunch of firepower. I mean, obviously, 11 (Jordan Gainey). I know his dad. He’s an assistant. His dad’s actually a heck of a guy, a really a really, really good coach. Similar, big wing that can just flat score it and and fill it up. And we go all the way down the line. They’re deep. They’re experienced. They’re physical. They’re skilled. But I know I’ve been talking all about Tennessee. They got to play us, too. I like my team a lot, as you know. 

Louisville’s James Scott matching up with Tennessee center Felix Okpara 

“They’re similar in a lot of ways. (Okpara is) older than James. James is, as I’ve told you many times last year, I think he was the third youngest player in all of Division I, just turned 19 years old. But 34, man, he’s long, athletic, physical. People sleep on his skill. He’s a pretty skilled kid, too. He’s really good off righty, lefty, around the rim, runs the floor, blocks shots, deflects the ball. He’s an active, active player. And then, obviously, they bring other bigs that are very strong and physical and skilled off the bench as well. Like I said, I think one of their strengths is their depth as well, and that’s one of our strengths. But James is similar in a lot of ways. He’s also long and athletic and bouncy and blocks shots and finishes at the rim in the same way. So that’ll be a very interesting matchup as well.”

His comment Monday night about getting 20,000 fans at KFC Yum! Center for the Tennessee game

“I might have mentioned that number the other night. Whether it’s that, I’m not saying if it’s not that number, it’s a disappointment. I’m not saying that at all. What I want everybody to know is how appreciative I am of the people that come. I don’t want to think that the group that came the other night, that I’m saying anything in any way disparaging. You know what? They were electric. Electric. I don’t know how many were there, but it was electric. And I know the numbers are going be more than they were the other night. I know that’s going to happen. I mean, that 20 (thousand) would be pretty cool, but, you know, it’s it’s about the energy they bring. And that 12, 13 (thousand) whatever it was the other day, electric, totally changed the complexion of the game. Makes an impact on the game that is really indescribable. And I know the numbers will be big and I know the energy is going to be electric. And hearing that Yum roar over and over and over again, that factor, that sixth man is going to be a major factor in the game. We need everybody, and I know how this fanbase is, they’re gonna bring it.” 

Big games that he has been apart of previously in his career at Winthrop and Charleston

“See, I mean, it’s not about the size of the venue. It’s just about the energy. Whether we had a 5,500-seat arena at the College of Charleston, when that place was packed, we sold out the entire season last year. And I know it’s not (a big) venue, but it’s just the energy in the building. So the thing that I said the other day as I walked in, you walk in and you do pinch yourself sometimes because you look around, you’re like, this is an NBA arena, and it’s ours. You know? And it’s not just how pretty the lights are and how cool the aesthetics are. It’s the red sitting in those seats, standing on their feet, cheering and going crazy to give us that extra advantage in the game. And it was it was unbelievable the other night, and I appreciate everybody that came out and the factor that they made the game.”

How much of a statement it would make for his Louisville program to beat a Tennessee team ranked No. 12

“Yeah, I mean, obviously, it would be very impactful. It would be, obviously, a message nationally. That’s the results. We’re totally focusing on the process, which is, we leave here, the weightlifting session that the guys are having right now and then the film session that we have right at 3 o’clock and then the practice we have after that. That’s been the focus since June 5th when these guys came together. And I just believe if you stay focused on that, the results will stay take care of themselves. We’re not preparing any different for this game than we did against Spalding, we’re not. Like the standard is the standard. Every preparation is elite. And I feel really good about our guys’ approach to this game. We’re excited. We’re fortunate for this opportunity. Obviously we play a great team. It’s going be a great college basketball atmosphere and we’re looking forward to it.”