.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
University of Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
February 10, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Notes | AP Action Photos 
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
"The guys did a terrific job, in the second half especially. We were playing good basketball in the first half, but we were turning the ball over too much. Then we made that bonehead play before halftime where we left the basket naked. When you shoot, in 15 or 20 minutes, 60 percent against Georgetown, you're getting good shots. They're a good team and a tough team to prepare for and deserve all of their accolades."
(On attacking the Georgetown defense) "First, you have to create a lot of ball movement. If you throw the ball inside right away, it's not going to work. They're a lot like Connecticut in that they guard the paint really well. They're a great defensive team and they're very tough to guard offensively. They're a Final Four team with most of their guys back."
(On the start of the second half) "I told our guys to play it possession by possession and be a great defensive team no matter what happens. I thought Earl did a lot of great things. He was very alive on the backboard and very alive on defense. All of our guys played terrific."
"I just told them that as long as you play good defense, you've got a chance to win this game. I told them you've got heat them up in the press and you've got pressure them. Andre, Jerry and Preston did a great job. Earl played really smart defensively."
(On the rebounding in the second half) "I think Earl Clark was big on the glass. I thought all of our guys knew that if we were going to make a comeback, you can't give them a second look. They control the clock too much doing that. It was big for us to limit them to one shot."
(On David Padgett) "Padgett was great...just great. You know, it's not only getting him healthy but practicing together. What I tried to do with David was map out a plan in my mind and play him 25 minutes in practice and give him three or four minutes at a time. He wasn't really in shape until recently, but I wanted 25 and 30 and 35 and adding like five minutes every two or three days. I felt I had to do it that way for the longevity, now his knees aren't bothering him and he's healthy. He's a smart and terrific basketball player. I just love coaching him. It's one of the more enjoyable experiences in my coaching career coaching him."
(On Jerry Smith) "He's not play as well defensively as I'd like, but he's playing tremendous offensively. I just have to get him to stay after it defensively and he will."
`This is a great win for us. Tonight's crowd was as good a crowd as I've seen."
Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III
"John Thompson III: (defense in second half) It was a different game the second half. They did a better job in the second half of executing in the second half than they did in the first half and we did an extremely poor job of executing in the second half."
(Hoyas on defense) "I don't want to negate anything that they did, they were extremely attentive and turned up the heat a little bit. But you know I think it was a lapses on our part. They played well. They are a very good team. They are very well-coached team. They are a deep team and they have a team that has many pieces that can hurt you. They play well together and that showed up in the second half."
(How was U of L different defensively in the second half) "I think it was more so us not getting into our offense and we never really got started. And too many times we were just playing catch-up out there instead into getting into situations where we knew what we were doing. (What lapses?) I am usually better at those kinds of questions after I have gone back and looked at the tape."
"But I think they executed extremely well. It is a simple game we play and they executed and we didn't. You don't have to make it isn't any more complex than that. They did a very good job at both ends of the floor of executing. We did a very poor job at both ends of the floor of executing."
(About Padgett) "He's good and he's a good offensive player. He can go both ways and he is aggressive. They do a good job of spacing out and getting him the ball. He is not limited to which way he can go and he is also a good passer."
Georgetown center Roy Hibbert
"He (Padgett) moved well and can really pass the ball well on the perimeter and was a big presence on the low post. He was tough to guard and they kept rotating bodies to keep it fresh. I thought he did well."
(About 10 point lead) "I think it is like Coach said, we just gotta keep running our offense. It is just that they played extremely well. I think we need to be more disciplined than we were. We are going to back and look at some tape and just make sure we adjust and go on and learn from today's game.
(About crowd) "No, we have played in those situations before but usually we bounce back after a couple of points down. But they played well tonight."
(Winning the BIG EAST) "It is important because it starts your momentum going off into the BIG EAST. We take pride in that but we take pride in every game we play home and away. So this is a tough one."
