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University of Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
December 28, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2006
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
"It was a great win for us tonight. We played great in the second half and obviously the message at halftime is `I don't know why you guys get so down on the missed shots, it's only one way you're going to feel good about it is to take the shots and play great defense. You've got to be like the Chicago Bears, they rely on defense to win and if their offense is there, great! You're playing great defense, but you shot 28 percent and you're up three. What's that tell you about your defense. You know offense in the second half is going to be much better, it is. We've got to keep shooting keep believing and we executed beautifully in the second half, absolutely beautifully. I was really proud of our guys, the way they handled their bad shooting mentally."
"I'll tell you the truth; I thought T-will was brilliant. I thought Sosa had his finest game. He acted like a point guard tonight, with the exception of one or two plays. If he will play like a point, he is so clever, we could be terrific. When he plays like a two guard, we don't play as well. When he plays like a point guard and get everybody shots, they get easy buckets. Tonight Tello couldn't even move and he gutted it out twice, first the hand, now the neck. So you've got to give a lot of credit to him. I thought David played a great game. And I thought T-will was very good in the second half. It's not easy to shoot the percentage that he is shooting, step up, keep shooting, and make it. And he also made some brilliant passes against the press. He did a great job all around."
(On playing David a lot) "He says he's fine, we leave him out of the walk-throughs and he says he's fine. I'm not sure, we're playing against a seven-seven guy, so it will be a little easier, he won't be quite as quick as some of these other guys. But we'll probably rest David tomorrow and see where we're at right now. You know I've got to give these guys a lot of credit because they've been struggling with their shooting; they've been all great shots. That's the good thing. What we're trying to convince them of is that as long as you take great shots, offense doesn't matter. It's all about defense."
(On his half-time speech) "I'm guessing now, my half-time speech, believe it or not, is not scratch and peel the walls; it's very Dr. Norman and Vincent Peel. I know you guys are great shooters, I know it, I'm positive. I don't believe a word I say. But I'm trying to get them to just believe in themselves, and I do believe it. I do believe when you take great shots, they're going to go in and their execution of hitting the cutters was great. So I think when they come out, they sense the crowd has a feeling they can't shoot, probably correct, but they do sense that, but they worry about every little thing. What I've got to get them to do is pick up the pace of the game and try to get some lay-ups. Teams are smart; they are opening up in the zone. And they are just laying off of us, making us make it. What I told them is `you offensive rebound, the missed shot is negated. If you turn it over and play great defense, the turnover is negated.' And that's what we are doing, we are just rebounding the ball so well, off the offensive glass, that we are negating the open missed shot."
San Francisco Head Coach Jessie Evans
"I thought we came out and played to the pace that we wanted to. I thought we could get them back on their heels by extending the floor. That's the way we like to play. We made them turn the basketball over. We got some easy opportunities. I didn't want to play their set defense and as a result, we were able to turn them over in the first half and get some easy plays. In the second half I still thought we came out determined. I thought we got a little fatigued. I told my team in the lockerroom it's what you do after you get fatigued. Fatigue sets in at about the 30 minute mark and we saw what happened. I didn't think we followed the game plan. I thought we took some quick shots. I thought we missed some easy assignments and didn't continue to be aggressive and trap. And as a result, we allowed them to get into the lane - Sosa, in particular and they made some easy plays. I give it to them, they did what they had to do to get the job done."
(On the defense) "We mixed the defense up. We played some zone, we played some man, but that's what you have to do with a team like Louisville that's playing at home - that has a number of home games. They've had something like 14 or 15 games and I think 10 or 12 of them have been right here or on a neutral floor. You want to get them out of their comfort zone a little bit. We played some matchup and we played some zone. We played man. But the bottom line is when the ball goes up, you've got to get it. You've got to go get a rebound. I don't think we did a good job of that. It showed in the offensive rebounds, that they had 17 of them."
(On David Padgett) "He's really a big fellow. We have trouble against big guys like that. But again we did not shoot the ball, we did not have patience in shooting the basketball. Combine that with our 18 turnovers, combine that with our quick shots and we're in trouble - that's a recipe for a defeat right there. We did not take care of the basketball. We did not do the things that we needed to do."
