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Louisville vs. Saint Louis - Freedom Hall - Post-Game Quotes
February 20, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2005
Recap | Box Score | Notes
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
"Saint Louis is a team that's great at making the mid-range shot and they do it with their blocker-motion type of action, which is very tough to defend if you're a freshman. Tello (Palacios) and Lorrenzo (Wade) were both struggling in the first half because they've never seen that type of offense before and we tried to warn them about it, but Ohanon had a big half because of it. We did a much better job on him in the second half. I thought our guys did a good job overall. We don't play as well at home defensively as we do on the road and it's a funny thing because I've never seen that. I think it's because you're in the comforts of your home and you think everything's going to go well and sometimes it's not. But it's also a credit to Saint Louis because they made some great mid-range shots."
"I thought if we shot a good percentage, we'd be able to wear them down a little it and get out on the break. We rebounded well offensively and obviously Ellis (Myles) was big on the backboard all night. I think he's become like Moses Malone and knows how to pad his stats. He misses intentionally, he misses intentionally, he misses intentionally and then he decides to score."
(On the play of Taquan Dean while suffering from mononucleosis) "I feel terrible for him because he's completely exhausted. You know when you're hot like that (from the field) and your asking for breaks, you know it's serious. It's a real tough thing and I'm glad we know what it is now because it was beyond frustrating. We didn't know what to do about the situation. He's a kid that loves to play and loves to be in the gym and could never practice. I'd ask him why and he'd say `I'm just sore coach and I'm aching all over. I'm just tired and sleeping all the time.' And when he said he was sleeping all the time, that's when we knew it was something else...He's just had a lot of bad luck, but he's continuing to play through all of this and that's a credit to his toughness. He's a tough son-of-a-gun."
"I think Brandon is the beneficiary of all of this (injury to Taquan Dean). I think Brandon has come on and I think that Ellis has come on. We've got to get Tello (Palacios) to come and we've got to get him playing bigger on the glass. Right now, there are too many two-rebound and four-rebound nights for him. He's no longer a freshman, so we've to get him to understand the priorities of a power forward."
(On the play of Ellis Myles) "He's a very smart basketball player. He gets a little fatigued at times and will let his player catch the basketball in post, which is a dangerous proposition down the road because that's how you get in foul trouble. But he's playing relentlessly right now."
"I feel bad for (SLU coach) Brad (Soderberg) because he's a good guy and a good coach. I feel bad about that because you usually like to take a walk when you're down 30, not when it's a close game. We're going to miss playing Saint Louis because of my level of respect for him and what they do offensively and defensively is very good."
Saint Louis Head Coach Brad Soderberg
"I want to congratulate Louisville on a good win and on a great season. I talked to Rick (Pitino) before the game and I told him that I think his team is playing really well. Provided Taquan (Dean) doesn't get sick they are going to be tough to beat as the tournament comes along."
"I want to publicly apologize to my players, staff, and our fans for the display that I put on. I take full responsibility for it, and I just shouldn't have done it."
"To the best of my knowledge if I elaborate on it I am going to get in trouble so I will just confess to the fact that I shouldn't have done what I did and I will take full responsibility."
"I do not know what I can and can not say, we have been reprimanded about talking about officials, so I do not know if I can say anything. It did happen in the process of calling a timeout, but my actions were not such that they were appropriate."
"For the time I was out there, I was really pleased. We talked about having to keep the possessions down to give ourselves a chance. We had to force them to play against five blue shirts every time. We had to look for golden shots on the other end, and I thought for the most part we did that while I was out there."
"It is hard to hold Louisville back. They have so many weapons. You can't over help on Garcia because then Dean will get a shot or even O'Bannon. There big kids go to the glass, so you can't slack off of them real hard. That is why they are a good team and we are still building. We are not there yet by a long shot."
NOTE:
According to official Curtis Shaw, the technical fouls called on Saint Louis head coach Brad Soderberg were for "excessive gesturing and violation of bench decorum."
