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University of Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
February 15, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2009
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening Statement) "Our team obviously had two great practices, probably our two best practices of the season. We earned the fruits from our labor that we put in. Everybody really stepped up and did a fantastic job of executing."
(On Louisville's ability to share the ball) "It was not a matter of great passing, it was a matter of making shots; and we made a lot of shots."
(On resting Twill) "Our athletic trainer says if you do not play him at all he gets stiff and gets tendonitis. If he plays too much it does not heal. He fell in practice yesterday right on his elbow that was as bad of a fall as I have seen in a long time. We thought that he broke it. We accomplished what we set out to accomplish and got a victory. I think he will be fine come Providence. We are playing a Providence team that is exactly like Notre Dame. They probably take more threes than any team we face. They make quite a few so we have to be healthy."
(On Reginald Delk's ability) "He had a great practice yesterday. It was the best practice of the season. I will be frank; I have said it all season long; I just have not liked the way we have been practicing. They give good effort and they pay attention to detail; the things we want to get better at. You know on paper you are going to be pretty good, but I have not believed one day that we were a very good basketball team. I believed that we could do certain things and we play hard. Yesterday was the first time all season I thought we could be a good basketball team. First time all year I thought we did things from an execution stand point that stuck out. I though we did that because the team played mostly in zone, but I thought we executed in practice; getting other people shots. A lot of people think it is our shooting but it is our passing. Guys are open and we are a second late. We are also forcing some things. We're going for the homerun pass when we could simply bounce pass."
(On Louisville's assists) "We got a lot of zone work today. We did not expect them to play that much zone and they did. It took away our low post game, but I think it helped us work on gaps and find open people. Everybody did a great job; I know Preston was thinking there for a while. It was just one of those nights that he played thirteen minutes and everything went in."
(On team's play following loss to Notre Dame) "You may think that I went after them, but I really didn't. What I put on the board tonight was: Duke, Villanova, Arizona Cardinals, Notre Dame; my point being, they just came from a 30 point loss. What you guys did not understand that two years ago we left our locker room saying that we needed to win seven out of eight to make it to the tournament. We had to go at Pitt who was number three in the country; at Marquette and beat them. You didn't realize what you were going into. Now, you don't realize, Kyle McAlarney walks out of that door, he loses - his chances at the NCAA tournament is over. They (Notre Dame) have to beat Louisville. You didn't realize what was at stake. I would be upset if we lost by one or thirty, but I would only be upset just until I woke up the next morning. Then I would concentrate on what is important. You have to understand that you can lose to anybody in a given night; you have to be ready to play. You have to come ready to play. We didn't take it as hard; if we would have lost by three I would have been just as disappointed. Am I disappointed we got blown out, certainly. It is not going to help getting upset past that night, you have to move on and play."
(On Preston Knowles) "Yes, he is good, but passing is not one of his virtues. He can get it off quick; he elevates well; and he has great confidence. He is a good offensive and basketball player, period. You just love coaching Andre (McGee) and Preston (Knowles). Although it looked like he wanted to score tonight; if he would have had scored five points, he would have the same demeanor."
DePaul Head Coach Jerry Wainwright
(Opening statement) "Based on the rotation of the league, I have always enjoyed this building and it is kind of a special building. I was a high school coach for many years. I go way back with coach Pitino, way back to five-star days. I have always enjoyed being a Midwest guy and I have seen many great games here. I am fortunate enough to know some of the past players here at Louisville. It is always a great building."
"I made the decision that we were not going to hold the ball or be cute or anything else. We lost our senior guard this year and we are in the process of a mid-year retooling. This is a very tough time to do it because Louisville is a little different in the way they pressure than everyone else in the league. We put Will Walker and Dar Tucker, who have basically been playing the wings for us, back at guard. We were trying to save our two freshmen a little bit. It is unfair but I thought that they both handled it really well. Mac Koshwal really handled himself well. We had to move him to forward, he had been playing center for us. He handled himself well in their press. We obviously have three young freshmen that are a little bruised and battered. We also had to try and play a little more contain and hope that people did not make shots."
"They (Louisville) shot the ball terrific. They took great shots. I got some phone calls after the Louisville vs. Notre Dame Game and I think a few people administered us last rights after the game was over. I do not think that Louisville needed a wake up call. I think sometimes that you just have one of those games. Basketball is not about who you play, but when you play them. Coach Pitino is somebody that I really admire and admire his ability to reach situations that bring along the team. I think he was realistic about that game. They have focus. It is going to take us a little while to build a new lineup. They certainly took advantage of every mistake we made. I have always said that they are one of the top five teams in the country. My hope for them is that they stay healthy. I have gotten to know Terrence Williams and he is the proto-type player that I would love to have. I hope he heals up real quick. They are a great representative of our league. They can do so many different things and that makes them a great tournament team and they have a great tournament coach. It was a bad time to play them for us. It was a great lesson for our young kids. All I can do is wish Louisville the best of luck in the future."
