Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes

Dec. 28, 2002

Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino

"I think our inexperience showed in the first 10 minutes of play with our shot selection. We didn't take bad shots, just quick shots. That got us behind because they are a heck of basketball team. We needed to pass the ball more. It wasn't because of selfishness, it was more because it was such a big game. We came out in the second half and shot the ball well."

"We didn't execute our offense in the first half. When you shoot a good percentage you get your press on. When you don't shoot the ball well, you don't get your press on. In the second half we were able to do that."

"Guys focused and practiced well this week. We practiced hard and they enjoyed it. I love that in our players."

"Marvin (Stone) is such a good passer. The reason I am so high on him is because he is such a good passer. He and is such a nice young man. He is always 'yes sir', 'no sir.' But I am so proud of all of our players"

"We want to be a top 25 program. I normally don't really care until the end, but I think our guys deserve it. We'll embrace this win for a short period because we have Ohio State next week. But this is a big win for us."

"We are very good low post team. When you have guys like (Reece) Gaines, (Taquan) Dean and (Francisco) Garcia, they can make the moves off the low post."

Kentucky Head Coach Tubby Smith

"We did a good job on the boards and were aggressive in the first half. I am disappointed with our effort in the second half. (Bryant) Northern and (Taquan) Dean made a lot of shots that gave them some energy. They were more energized coming out of the locker room than we were."

"Keith Bogans, when he is not shooting well, has a tendency of dropping his shoulders. His attitude is contagious."

"I thought they did a good job of pressing and speeding up the game. They were able to control the tempo of the game. I thought they did a good job in making us play faster and take quick shots. Our post players shot the ball well, but our perimeter players did not and I thought that was the difference in the game."

"Marvin (Stone) did a great job. I thought we did a good job against him in the first half. He did a good job getting into position to get to the free throw line. We couldn't seem to keep the ball from getting to him."

"We took some bad shots and weren't in position to rebound the ball in the second half. I think (Ellis) Myles came along and really energized them. We had a lot of second shots, but just did not take advantage of them. We did not get the rebounding from our perimeter guys that we should have."

"When a team catches fire like that and gets the momentum, like Pitino's teams can do, it's tough to stop. When they started making the threes, we needed to get out there and defend it. Then they were able to get on the boards and get two and three chances."

"It's a tough loss for us. We're a third of the way through the season, so we have a lot of games left. A big game like that really takes the wind out of you. We just need to regroup and get our confidence back."

University of Louisville Athletics

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