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University of Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
January 15, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2007
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
"We played as hard as we could play, but they kept making one big shot after another. You have to give them all the credit it the world. You can make all the excuses you want, but they just made all big shots so credit to them. They made shots with the clock winding down, tough shots and that is a credit to what they are doing."
(About Zone) "That is Marquette. They play three guards and they are a very good basketball team. They're good against (the zone). They're difficult if you have to play man against them too. They are tough because they are so good off the bounce. We're not only young, but we are immature which is a bad combination. It's one thing to be young, but to be immature is bad. We get distracted from what we're trying to do offensively and defensively by the silliest things. What hurt us tonight was our passing. We had been doing a fabulous job, even when we weren't shooting the ball well, we were passing the ball. But tonight, we didn't pass the ball - even on breaks and we didn't pass it enough. If we had passed better, we would still have lost but it was a closer basketball game."
(About distractions) "There were about 10 (examples). Sosa gets hit in the mouth and is worried about his mouth instead of playing defense. Guys make mistakes and they had their heads down. You have to know how to handle adversity as well as success. They have done a good job handling the limited success we've had of late, but you have to learn to not worry about the little things. This is a young team that plays extremely hard, I love the way we play, how hard we play. But I can't believe how immature we are."
(About the 25-4 run) "They were making tough shots. They were making NBA shots. We were up on them and they had one of those nights where all the shots go in. You have to give them credit, they made the big plays."
(About Padgett) "David played OK, but he didn't play good enough defensively. But he gives you everything he has. He is the opposite. He is a mature player. But the fact is that we are so immature. That is BJ and David's fault. They know what Marquette is all about and they should have had them prepared. You can't dribble in a crowded area against Marquette because they are so good at creating the steal. That was a big part of our offense that we wanted to space. We did it about four or five times at crucial points ... dribbled into that area and they don't let you have anything in the interior. You have got to pass the ball."
(About Dominic James) "We played him great. I actually thought a few of his (shots) were off when they went in. He is a great player. Dominic James may be the best point guard in the nation. Not many are better than him. He's got the total package and he is very tough. He is very tough minded. There is a young man who is a sophomore and he has the maturity of a 40 year old."
(About Palacios) "He is about 80 percent of the way there. We lost it at the one, two, and three spots. We were just unable to handle the containment and they did a very good job. They were a very good team. They are tough, one of the best teams we have played in terms of matching up."
Marquette Head Coach Tom Crean
"First off, this one lived up to the billing that this rivalry has had over the years. Two teams that come out and battle that play hard that have mutual respect for one another. I don't think at the end of the night, in my opinion, both teams left it out there. That's the most important thing any fan can ask for. Any coach can ask for in a game like this where somebody has to lose because I thought both teams battled. They never went away and we never gave up, and that's most important for us. Our team is building confidence, they're a young team, we're a young team. It's two teams that I hope continue to get better, they do a phenomenal job, it's not only great to prepare for Rick's teams, it's a learning lesson too. They do so many good things with spacing and sets, quick hitters, the way they attack on the break. I'm very proud of the win, proud of the way our guys played. We had a lot of contributions from a lot of people. Dominic James just went on a great tear, excellent player, great young many. He's getting better and better, but I thought it was a real hard fought team victory and both teams really left it out there like I said."
"I think the most important thing is that we are really starting to understand how we play, how we are supposed to play, that's the most important thing. I think any coach can have his team grasp is to really understand first is to before you learn how to win, you learn why you lose. I think it was really important for us to understand why we lost a couple of games in the BIG EAST. You can make excuses about key guys being out in practice and those things can hurt you, but the bottom line is that we weren't high enough level. We weren't playing physically enough. We weren't defending at a high enough level. We were relying on jump shots more than we were relying on the best shot. If I had to break it down, I would say that there were a billion things that go into it. But the most important thing is grasping it and trying to get better at it every day and that's making us better."
(on Dominic James) "Great confidence, he was feeling it, there's no question about it. I thought the first half he was ready to break loose a couple of times. In the first half he was moving the ball, we were getting good looks. He's such a creater, he creates for other people. What I was trying to get to was to have our three guys out on the perimeter, our three main guards Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal, and Dominic James really play like three point guards. They are going to rebound like power forwards, but we want them to move the ball and do those kinds of things. It was Dominic's night. I though Wes Matthews did a great job. Jerel played through the fouls. David Cubillan and Dan Fitzgerald gave us very solid minutes. Ousmane Barro had another double-double. We had a lot of good play from a lot of good people, but he certainly got hot there no question."
