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University of Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
February 28, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Notes | AP Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
"This was a very interesting basketball game. I am real proud of our guys, I thought we executed really well. Even offensively to stop that barrage at the end and still win the game at the end is great. You have to take your hat off to Harangody because he hadn't made a three all year. They all looked like they were dead middle. You have to give him a lot of credit, he had a special night. We were really focusing on Mcalarney, making sure he had a bad night. Ayers stepped up and had a great game. We made some mistakes by helping too early but by in large we have been playing great half court basketball. The last two games we have played great half court offensive basketball."
(On David Padgett) "David is a big time basketball player. He is healthy and making great moves. His up and under move was tremendous and he is a good passer. He does so much for our basketball team. He is a lot different than Harangody. Harangody is a lot like Tyler Hansbrough. David is your prototype center. David is playing great basketball right now."
"You have to give them credit. I think we did a lot of good things. Andre's turnover was he just slipped and lost the ball. Then Jerry made a bad play but outside of that they made some difficult shots. You have a guy making three 3's that hasn't made one all year. You can't fault your guys. I kept them in the locker room to explain to them about endings and tournaments. With three or four minutes to go in the game you throw out the statistics. Everybody on the floor is a three-point shooter. I have seen a lot of guys who shot 18 percent from the three-point line win games at that point. So you treat everybody like a shooter. You don't go by statistics in the end of the game."
(Do you think you are the best team in the BIG EAST) "No I don't. I think we are a very good basketball team. I don't think that we are any better than Connecticut, Georgetown, Notre Dame or anybody. We are just a hungry basketball team trying to get better each night out. We never got disappointed in December, we never got down and we certainly not going to hug ourselves now. We are just going to stay the same. We are not say we are the best, I think we are a good basketball team and we are just trying to get better. I appreciate his comments, we are doing a lot of great things on the basketball team. We are not going to get down in case of a loss. We wanted to win 8 out of 10 and we secured it with two to go. We probably have a buy now. So now we have two games to try to win a championship."
(on Edgar Sosa) "I think Edgar Sosa is playing good basketball. In the last two games he has played outstanding basketball. I think that now that he is part of this he is doing a lot of good things. He is enabling us to be a much better half court basketball team. I think he is running the team really well, I think he is good on the break, I think he is breaking pressure and I think he is improving his defense. His attitude is getting better. There were a lot of good plays tonight and he could have had seven or eight assists. He threw some really good passes but guys dropped the ball on him."
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey
"I think it is very hard to absorb that start and Louisville got out of the gate great, especially shooting the basketball. Seven threes in the first half ... I thought we would try to take a way their inside game, maybe let them shoot a few out there. But that gave them a great start. And we were digging out of it the whole way. I thought they really played well. Their pressure bothered us early. But you have to do a good job against it early. I think they set the tone. I am proud of how we fought and scratched gave ourselves a chance. They invested a lot for our program and we have been in the BIG EAST since 1995. I am proud of these kids to put us in a position to play in a game of this magnitude with first place on the line. We've not experienced that in our basketball program...maybe in my first year when we won the West Division. I am proud of this group where they have kind of taken us into new territory in this league. Again we have to get our legs under us because we have three games ahead of us and there is still a lot on the table. There is still a lot to play for."
(On the start of the game) "I think we were on our heels a little bit and I thought we could have dribbled a little more. That is what we talked about in practice. Instead of trying to pass against it because it is a little bit more of a man to man thing early. We were great against their press in South Bend but it is funny how good it is here with their home crowd. Their energy and they are quicker and they are really good in it here. It got us on our heels and we were trying to recover the whole game. I think they are very good .I am very impressed with them. I think they have been playing really well. They are playing the best of anyone in our league. They are healthy and I told Rick before the game that they are in rhythm now. Padgett is a great story. He is giving them leadership. Who's better in the country? I don't know who's better in the country than them. They are very good."
(On the Cards' seven threes early) "We were trying to change defenses a little bit and we screwed up some things. Some of it was us screwing up and they good some really clean looks and that hurts you. We would have loved to change defenses on them tonight. Play more zone. When you are digging out of a hole the whole game and if we could have gotten to six or seven we could have gotten back to some zone. You got to match up the best you can in man to man to try and get back in the thing. That exhausts you a little too much. They are disciplined in running their stuff. They also had some key offensive rebounds... their length got some offensive rebounds when we could have really used the ball."
(On weathering the Cards' early run) "That is a good question. We did a better job here than in Milwaukee and in Washington DC. Not that you are trying to find a silver lining but this group really came in thinking they could win the basketball game. And you know the way they played that was realistic, it wasn't a pipe dream. There are some things to build on for us. We have to quickly turn the page to the week coming up with the three we have coming down the stretch. Again, there is still a lot on the table even though we didn't get this one tonight."
(On Kyle) "There was an APB on him since Sunday afternoon. They did a great job taking him away even when they were zone. It was almost box and one. And whoever was in his area was physically up into him (Kyle). A lot of it was them taking him away. People have done that at times against us. I thought Ryan Ayers was the beneficiary of that. We just needed a could more in a row there to get it to seven and change the atmosphere. We could never really do that and that is a credit to them. They made a big shot. They got a big rebound. They forced a turnover every time we had hope."
(On Notre Dame's energy) "There is no question I think Tory (Jackson) was back on his heels too and he is our energy guy. He had a tough night. He's been playing as hard as anyone in the league. He is the reason we are in the position we are in. My biggest concern for him is getting him going for Sunday. I want him to flush it and be ready. He is our juice guy and that is one guy they neutralized a little bit. Throwing different bodies at him."
(On Harangody) "He is such a warrior and every time you think you have seen the whole package. We have been suggesting that in my office. Not that I want him out there that much but he's got a great stroke and free throw stroke says move out and take that. Maybe that is something he will do that a little bit. I want to make sure he is in the paint on Sunday and don't want him reinventing himself. He is a warrior. I don't know what else you can say about the kid. He brings it every night. I am very proud of the confidence he plays like that in this atmosphere. You know, that is pretty good."
(On Harangody's late threes) "I think he knew at that time that we were five out and if we have a three point look ... take it. So I was telling the whole group if you have it, take it. We got some really clean looks because that isn't in the scouting report. That wasn't lucky by him. He is a skilled guy. If you look at his free throw percentage it says that he can come out and shoot that a little bit."
