.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Louisville vs. IUPUI - Freedom Hall - Post-Game Quotes
December 21, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2004
Recap | Box Score | Notes
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
"It was a good win for us against a team that can really shoot the basketball. We played some excellent defense in the first half, and they made some really long shots in the second half. We knew that Juan Diego (Palacios) had to have a big game tonight for us to win and he did. We're very proud of him. He's still a work in progress and he's getting better each day. That was a huge game for him."
"Some of the guys played a lot minutes, including Francisco, but it's not going to bother us. This is a freak situation (with injuries) and we've been very unlucky over the last two years, but we've still won games. When you're still winning and you're unlucky, then that's good. When you're losing and you're unlucky, then that's a bad combination."
On playing with a small lineup with Ellis Myles out with injury:
"The good thing tonight was that (IUPUI) played a match-up zone the whole game. We knew we were going to struggle inside because we had to play with five guards in our offense at times, but we never really had a running offense because of the zone. We worked the ball around and did a lot of nice things."
On the play of freshman forward Juan Palacios:
"I met with (Palacios) before the game and told him that we have no choice and you have no choice because you have to play great tonight. If you don't play great tonight, we're in serious trouble. A lot of kids from other countries take everything you say literally and believe that. He left that office thinking that if he didn't play great that he would be held accountable. He's a great kid and he played great."
