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University of Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
January 24, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2010
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Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening Statement) "It was a great defensive effort for our guys because they're a terrific defensive team. Now, we have to go 7-for-11. With each BIG EAST victory, it gets more and more positive, so we're very excited about this win. The guys did a tremendous job in the second half of making big plays offensively as well as defensively and we're very excited about this win."
(On the play of Reginald Delk, offensively and rebounding) "Well, I hate to say my New York remark in front of the team before the game but I said `Reg, you're a very good shooter and your numbers are terrific but against Seton Hall, you can't impersonate a mannequin in Macy's window outside of shooting.' I said `you had no assists, no steals, no turnovers and no rebounds in 20 minutes of play.' I was hoping he knew what a mannequin was because they don't have a lot of stores where he's from. But I'm sure he did and today he got 11 rebounds and did a great job."
(On whether he's always believed Delk was capable of playing the way he did today) "I don't know if he's capable of 11 rebounds but I know he's capable of six, seven or eight rebounds. He's a good athlete, a good player and he's made big shots. I'm really happy for him because he's a tremendous young man."
(On defending Lance Stephenson) "We did a good job defensively of switching from zone to man. We changed some things up, obviously, because TJ (Terrence Jennings) was going to play. I told Terrence `Look, I can't start you against Seton Hall' but I told him about eight days ago that he would start against Cincinnati. We needed some time to work on some things but more importantly, I had to get some big guys in there to play. These other guys play go very small and sometimes they small forward at power forward. He knew for about eight days that he was going to start and he did a good job."
(On the improved passing and the improved play inside) "I thought Samardo was real patient in the low post because they were doubling him and what we were trying to do was get it to TJ (Jennings) at the front of the rim. We missed him a few times, but I thought Samardo was a very patient post player."
(On what turned things around for the team after the slow start) "I think outside of Vaughn, the rest of their guys are shooting like 24 percent from the three-point line and then their 6-10 guy goes out there and makes a three. Stephenson wasn't shooting the three and he makes two, so it was just a matter of we gave it up and they made it. But we really did smart things on offense today by working it inside to out."
(On the plan to play Jennings and Samuels together for more minutes) "Yeah, we're going to use it more. Look, I wanted to use them more this summer, but the reason I didn't use it was TJ's fault. Everybody has to own it and the reason was his fault. But a week ago I told him we were going to do it and he picked up his intensity. We've got to get better at it. There are a lot of weaknesses because he doesn't know certain things we do, but we're going to stick with it now and just get better at it. We can always substitute the other way. I'm not going to change after a victory no matter what West Virginia does."
(On the team moral before and after today's game) "We stayed very positive. I knew we had to have this because it gets tougher and tougher. You've got to win your home games. We believe we're going to do what we say we're going to do. We're going to keep working that way. Our guys are very positive and very upbeat. We're going to stay with what we do best and that's working very hard at the game of basketball."
(On whether he envisioned the team playing a rotation similar to what was used in Sunday's win over UC) "What I did today before the game was I put up on the board last year's statistics compared to this year's. And in almost every offensive category, we're just as good. We're better at the foul line. In every defensive category, we're worse. Last year's team could play in the 60's or in the 90's. We're not getting things done. Our percentages are too high defensively from three and from the field. Our rebounding numbers aren't as good as last year. We were +6 last year and we're +2 now. Tonight, we had 22 deflections halftime and I told the guys that if they got 20 in the second, it's impossible for them to lose and they did a good job. They had 40 for the game."
(On the defensive plan against Lance Stephenson) "We were playing him to drive. I watched him play a lot in high school and he's a good shooter. I think he had 12 points at halftime and we played him better in the second half. We've always done a good job on Vaughn, but I thought our interior players had a very good presence. Samardo and TJ did a lot offensively. We had to change a lot of things in five days offensively. We couldn't run our normal offense. We had to run a lot of turn-out things and a lot of side pick-and-roll things. Defensively, it's not as big of a change as it is offensively."
(On handling the breaks in a game) "I could get upset at officials after I look at a game and I could say this and I could say that. The bottom line is that officials don't win or lose basketball games. There are plenty of times when it's gone the other way and we've gotten calls. Those three officials the other night are good officials. I'm not a big believer in officials determining the outcome of basketball games. Basketball is a tough sport to officiate and we have the best officials in the BIG EAST. I feel that we have been unlucky with the whistles a few times this year starting a while ago. But after you coach 35 years or whatever, you see it both ways. Sometimes you get the breaks and sometimes you don't."
(On the importance of having guys to make plays in close games) "In the BIG EAST, it's crucial because you've got to have play-makers when the game is on the line. I thought tonight was the smartest we've been offensively. A couple of times, we didn't panic when the shot clock was winding down. We ran a play for Preston Knowles on an underneath out-of-bounds play and he was wide open. TJ hesitated because he doesn't know that spot to run the play, but we still got it. I thought Reggie Delk, in crucial situations, did great things for us - offensively as well defensively."
Cincinnati Head Coach Mick Cronin
"Obviously another hard fought BIG E AST win for them. I want to congratulate Louisville, they played hard. Our guys did a decent job, but not quite good enough. Our turnovers in the last 30 minutes of the game probably led to our demise - that and we had some key times where we didn't box out and or get a loose ball. In certain games like this, you have one guy playing well that nobody expected that can make a difference. Reggie Delk, obviously with a double-double killed us. It was something we did not expect. He played excellent so you have to give him a lot of credit."
(On Cashmere Wright's play) "Freshmen get better, but they're inconsistent. He's playing well in practice. Some people want to bury guys alive and another player has a good game and people want to put him in the hall of fame. It's a long season. Kids play well certain games and the defense dictates who plays well. They decide to guard other people. They face guard Deonta Vaughn and somebody's going to be open - which there was a lot of tonight. Cashmere Wright's a good player, he's a young guy. He sat out a year. He's practicing well, as coaches, we have a feel for what guys are capable of - we see them every day in practice. We know that their time is going to come when they get more consistent. We play a lot of freshmen and sophomores: Dion (Dixon), Yancy (Gates), Cash (Wright), Jaquon (Parker) and Lance (Stephenson). Those guys did a decent job of handling in the environment, but not enough to get the win."
(On Lance Stephenson) "He played really well in the first half. Their zone really hurt him. We tried to slide him to the high post and they did a good job of matching up with him. They wouldn't let him get the ball around the post, which was by design. They understood we were trying to slide him in there. When we were able to stay with our offense and get the second guys to slide into the high post, we had a wide open shot every time. We shot a high percentage, but their pressure had our guards a little too far out. We stood around too much, watching the guy with the basketball, instead of just staying with what we were trying to do. But you've got to give them credit, they're playing extremely hard. There's a reason they've got a Hall of Fame coach, their kids have got a lot of pride and their backs are against the wall - let's be honest. Obviously I root for them every game when I watch at home. They needed a win today, that's what we had to deal with."
(On Louisville's pressure) "I wouldn't say it wore us down, it just forces you to get outside yourself. I thought it bothered Lance (Stephenson) late in the first half. A couple of our kids got in a hurry. You can't get in a hurry, you've got to maintain composure. At crucial points when a team presses you, you have to be able to hurt them. If you hurt them, they get out of the press. But hey changed the press, and if you do not, they come harder. We had some times when we had three-on-two, or two-on one-and didn't convert. Or just traveled ourselves which wasn't really anything they did, we just got in a hurry. But that's what it does to you - especially freshmen on the road."
(On whether Louisville using Jennings and Samuels together affected them) "Not really, other than rebounding. It wasn't a huge effect, in retrospect, maybe we would have played a little bit more zone, but we're a pretty good defensive team. They shot a high percentage in the second half, we did go to zone, and then he subbed Jared Swopshire into the game - and we went back to man-to-man. Terrence Jennings played hard, but he didn't kill us. Reggie Delk's the guy who hurt us. Defensively, they held us to 60 points at the end of the day. Their defense was more effective than he probably thought it could be with those two guys playing together, they did an excellent job of playing the zone with Jennings in there."
(On Jaquon Parker) "I thought he played solid in the first half. Again, he, along with Lance, got a little rattled when Louisville started making shots, but you try to explain to guys about coming on the road against a very good team with a great home crowd. You're not going to just be up 12 and win easy. They're going to hit a couple of shots and the crowd is going to start cheering. It's inevitable. It's just all a learning experience for young point guards. I thought Jaquon did a pretty good job for all intents and purposes.
(On Parker and Wright fitting into giving the offense the identity he wants to see) "It helps us because Cashmere gives us another shooter. Right now he's our second best three point shooter with Deonta. Parker's a very confident shooter. Those guys playing well is important for our offense. There were three things that got us today. All three were crucial things you have to do in games- it wasn't offense, other taking care of the basketball. We didn't block out at some crucial times. Reggie Delk got us for offensive rebounds. At times our defense broke down a little bit too much when we missed shots. We missed shots and turned the ball over, I thought what really killed with was time of possession. That they got some offensive rebounds, it seemed like we were on defense forever. That's tiring, it wears your guys down. It puts much too much pressure your defense. Nine turnovers, the offensive rebounds - you can't give Louisville that many opportunities to score in their home gym - it's just too much. You're not going to be able to do it. You can only stop them so many times.
(Is Cashmere the starting point guard now?) "No, there's a platoon. If they're both playing well, then they're both playing well."
