CRAWFORD | Respect begins at home: Payne hopes Louisville can earn some vs. N.C. State | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – We have reached the place in the Kenny Payne coaching tenure at Louisville where all of the talking that truly matters is pretty much on the court.

I’m not saying public relations aren’t important. We all know better than to say that, especially at a program like Louisville’s, which means so much to its community.

But in the end, either Louisville will follow up Wednesday’s win in Miami with a win -- or at least a respectable performance -- at home on Saturday against N.C. State, or it won’t. And we’ll go from there.

But there’s one word in that equation I’d like to pull out, and it’s not the word “win,” though winning certainly puts deposits in the bank, to play along with the popular analogy around here.

No, the word I want to look at there is “respectable.” Because respect is a word that Payne used on Friday. Not in the sense of the “respect card,” which is one of the oldest tropes in sports and rarely worth mentioning anymore even if a team is on a quest for respect.

But the wrinkle Payne gave it is a bit different, with a team that has had shots taken at it by national pundits and home voices alike (and no, fans, I’m not blaming you, before you get started!) I’ve no doubt landed a few myself, if anyone has been paying attention.

Payne talked about “respect” in proximate terms on Friday.

“I believe that we have to earn respect, and that was my message before the Miami game,” Payne said.

But he wasn’t necessarily talking to his players about respect around the league, or respect from the national commentators, though all of that is worth pursuing. Instead, Payne was talking to them about respect at home, including within their own locker room.

“I told them guys, you have to earn respect from your teammates, from the referees, from your opponent,” Payne said. “From your fans, you do have to earn respect. And it’s not just on you. I have to do the same thing. Every coaching staff member has to do the same thing. People aren’t just giving us respect -- and it’s a shame to say this -- but not even our own fans. We have to earn that. And that’s OK. That’s what makes this program great. It’s built on players and teams that earned respect on their own. And I want this team to do the same.”

It's an appropriate message in the week that longtime assistant Jerry Jones died, and it harkens back to the great gift Denny Crum helped give this program and city. Louisville was a really good program before Crum arrived. Wes Unseld was one of the all-time greats.

The Cardinals were good every year under Peck Hickman, and they didn’t have any facilities to speak of to build that success. Crum didn’t even have them. But Crum brashly rolled into town, won games, recruited wonderful players and demanded respect from everybody – including his cross-state rival – until he got it.

And Louisville fans still love him for it. Of course, his outspoken call for respect would’ve fallen on deaf ears had he not won – and won a lot. And sometimes, it still fell on deaf ears.

But in Louisville, where fans know basketball and watched every bounce of the ball that Crum’s team’s took, they knew. That’s where it started, and it’s where it will have to start for this team, which in some ways has played its best basketball this season away from home.

Saturday at high noon presents a good opportunity for the Cardinals to plant their flag in their home arena, and to build back some bridges to the people who make that arena special, whether they are in attendance or not.

They may again be without Tre White, whose status for the game is uncertain with a strained groin. And what is reasonable to expect from this team with just seven healthy scholarship players is uncertain.

But on Wednesday they limited their own careless mistakes by bringing themselves back to good execution before too many in a row. They steadied themselves after losing an early lead and falling behind by nine, then hung close. With a lead late, they turned it over a couple of times and appeared on the verge of giving up the lead, but instead came down, found Brandon Huntley-Hatfield in the post and got a high-percentage basket.

They managed their mistakes. They avoided long funks. They played basic, sound basketball, for the most part. They were far from perfect – especially defensively – but they did enough to beat a good basketball team on a home court where it had lost only once in the past two seasons.

It's the kind of performance that was worthy of respect. Now, Payne wants to see another one. He let his players enjoy the moment for a bit on the way home Wednesday. They’ve been through some things and deserve a few minutes to smile. But he quickly challenged them again.

“Relish that,” he told them, “then tomorrow (at practice) bring the same energy. And bring it again today. And then (in the game) be ready for a war knowing that you have to bring the same energy, and lets build on this. And building on it is playing a certain way – not selfish and not tentative, but aggressive and confident, playing to win. . . . I’m saying that same energy that we fought to win, bring that (Saturday), in our own house, and give ourselves a chance to win.”