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University of Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
February 09, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2009
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(On team's injuries)"We had just about everything that could go wrong for us from a physical standpoint, go wrong. I admire (Terrence Williams) so much as a basketball player, because after coaching all these years and playing in college, I've never seen a young man as tough as him. He shouldn't have played today. His right wrist, he can hardly shoot the basketball. And he taped it up and played. He didn't even miss practice because of it. He has a terrible, terrible bruise and nothing keeps him out. He still gets seven rebounds, seven assists. He couldn't shoot it, but he's just a remarkable basketball player who just helps his team. And then Samardo Samuels gets his two teeth knocked out completely. And I thought he was playing terrific in practice and off to a big game. Then our guys just found a way to win against a team that played really hard, which they always do. I'm very pleased with the victory, with a lot of adversity our guys reacted in a very positive way."
(On team's play)"I was concerned because we weren't making shots. Sometimes when you aren't making shots you lose your confidence. But we went back door at the right time to give us easy buckets and that gave us a lift. That's what we kept preaching. When there are easy baskets to be had, go back door. Earl Clark gave us a big steal, a big tip-in dunk. We played very good defense in the first half but we gave up offensive rebounds. And that's their forte. Our non-conference schedule this year was so tough. We've been in so many close games that I knew our team was not going to panic. They've been in so many situations like this in much more hostile environments. So it's just a matter of executing at the right time, which we did. We were a little flat in the first half and that's a credit to St. John's defense. We had a lot going against us but we were still good enough defensively to win."
(On play of junior guard Jerry Smith)"Jerry (Smith) did a great job of understanding how they were playing him defensively (and) going back door. He did things tonight for the first time that I was happy to see: getting on the floor athletically, getting in there and mixing it up rebounding wise. I think one of the biggest lessons of them all was that... it really doesn't matter who starts, it matters who finishes. And he learned a very valuable lesson tonight on that, because he basically won the game with his offensive display down the stretch. I've been trying to tell him since his freshman year that I always judge the best players by who plays in the last five minutes of the game when it's close."
(On building a program)"The toughest thing about this conference is you just can't build the normal way. I've taken over some really, really tough situations. Kentucky was a scandal, where big players transferred out. And Louisville was decimated. They had about seven guys who weren't Division I basketball players on their team. Providence didn't have one double figure scorer returning. And to make matters worse, that's when I was very young and I could beat the whole team one-on-one. And that was a bad team too. So you have to understand that you can build (a program) if your competition is not that much ahead of you, in a short span of time. But when the competition is like you see in the BIG EAST; it's so tough for St. John's, it's so tough for Rutgers, it's so tough for Seton Hall. Because even when they get very good players and they're young, the opposition has very good players and they're older. So it just takes extreme patience; it just takes time. This is not the NFL, this is not the NBA. This is about doing things the right way and building it the right way. At St. John's, you're going to know (the program) turns when (it) gets those three marquee recruits. When Mark Jackson and Chris Mullin and Walter Berry walk right through that door again in different high school uniforms; they're great players and they want to stay home and be part of this great tradition. You'll see it in recruiting. You know the defense is there, you know they have (nine) sophomores, but you'll see it in recruiting; when those guys keep on improving, keep on getting better and keep on staying positive."
St. John's Head Coach Norm Roberts
(On today's game)"Give Louisville a lot of credit. They've got a very good team. They made some big plays in the second half. We missed some shots, but I thought we played extremely hard. We really competed hard."
(On team's effort)"We play hard every game, every single game. I think there's enthusiasm in the program. I think it's a special moment playing in the Garden. Any time we play, no matter who we play. We had an opportunity today and we didn't make the best of it. But give them credit; they're a very good team. They're not going to lay down for anybody. They're a good team, they're well coached. Coach Pitino does a great job. They made some really, really big shots; big shots with guys all over them. Sometimes you just have to live with that."
(On team's play)"We can play better. We had some younger guys turn it over in key moments. We had to get in the gaps and we didn't do that. But they had a lot to do with that. But I thought our guys competed very hard."
(On team's turnovers)"We have freshmen. Our last two games we went from averaging about 18 per game down to about 10. So we've done a much better job. And Malik (Boothe) does a great job handling the basketball. With Louisville you don't know where they're coming from. They come from all different places. They probably got a couple of turnovers out of fatigue. But you have to fight through that. It's part of the game."
St. John's Sophomore Forward Justin Burrell
(On his play)"I wasn't frustrated with the shots I was taking, I was just frustrated with the fact that I was letting my team down. When they throw it into the post they expect me to do something with it. So I was just more frustrated with that."
(On playing Louisville)"I believe the last time (Louisville) played at the Garden, (St. John's) beat them. I was actually at that game, when I was being recruited. So our coaches were talking to us about how it can be done. Coach Fred Quartlebaum was sending us text messages talking about how South Florida could have put their heads down and just throw in the towel, but they fought to beat Marquette. He was just basically telling us about all the upsets in college. Then he followed up the text message with, 'Why not us?' So our coaches and everybody were telling us that we could do it. We really believed that we could."
St. John's Sophomore Forward Sean Evans
(On team's play)"I think we have opportunities every game. We come into every game trying to win. We felt that we had an opportunity to make a statement today, we just didn't play well."
St. John's Sophomore Guard Malik Boothe
(On team's second half play)"I think towards the end we weren't coming up with all the loose balls and rebounds we were getting earlier in the game. I just think we got away with what we were doing earlier and that was being scrappy, going after the ball with two hands. I think towards the end we started going after it with one and they were going after it with two."
(On team's mindset)"I think there's an opportunity every game. Every game is a winnable game, whether people believe that we can beat other teams or not. We believe in ourselves and we know that every game we can win. And just like I said before, Louisville just came up with the loose balls.
