Louisville vs. Tennessee Post-Game Quotes
December 20, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2001
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
"I've been involved in some extraordinary games and tonight I witnessed another. I was privileged to coach a team (Kentucky) that came back from 30 down (against LSU) and also a huge comeback against Arkansas. I don't believe tonight. We did everything wrong down the stretch because we have freshmen in there and Ellis (Myles) cramped up. They played hard but made so many mental mistakes. I'm so amazed and so proud of them."
(on U of L's 8-1 start) "I think the reason we are 8-1 is because we have the attitude that we are not 8-1. Because we don't look ahead or look back and lament about a loss. We are overcoming tremendous adversity with injuries and mental mistakes and they have the hearts of lions."
(on Reece Gaines' bank three-pointer) "There were no X's and O's. You can't coach a bank shot. You have to learn what not to do. We let Slay hit a three on top and then Carlos took a three way out of his range. In fact, 'don't give up' is our motto in practice. Larry (O'Bannon) comes in and has to play the four spot which he doesn't really know. Tennessee out played us but if you stay with it, something usually good happens. Reece (Gaines) is a money player."
(on why he brought in Bryant Northern late in the game) "Just for defense. Not that he's the greatest free throw shooter in the world but we needed something good to happen. He takes bad threes but if he steps, he'll hit them. If we shoot 10 percent for the game but we're playing hard and that's alright with me."
(on guarding the final inbounds pass) "See what I learn (from the UK/Duke game). When we got their alignment, I said they are going to step up a guy. I told Brandon not to run over him. We wanted to play for a steal. I lost as a coach in the Duke game because I told them whatever you do, don't foul. That's where I made the mistake. (Tonight) we went for the steal and they still got a good shot off."
(on Reece Gaines' game-winning three-pointer) "We want to make one pass in that situation. If it was Bryant (Northern) or Erik (Brown) I want a pass but if it's Reece, I'd probably want him to shoot it. I've got to get him (Reece) some more rest."
Tennessee Head Coach Buzz Peterson
"That was an exciting game and I wonder what we could have been done towards the end. We didn't do a good job of not panicking. We need to take better care of the ball. They hit some big shots and you have to give them credit. We made a panic move and threw the ball away. Hats off to them. They were tremendous shots. It was a tough loss and give credit to Louisville for stepping up and hitting the big shots."
"We didn't show signs of a team that's mature. We threw the ball away and tried to limit our post guys from handling the ball. They have a good press and that's the way to play us. I wanted them to be under control and throw the ball in but we just panicked."
