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University of Louisville Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
February 23, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening Statement) "We played a perfect first half and they played a perfect second half and they prevailed because of their shot-making ability. You have to give a lot of credit to them. We did everything we wanted to do in the first half and they did everything they wanted in the second half and that was the difference in the game."
(On missing shots) "We missed two layups point blank and we missed a lot of inside play. They made the plays and we didn't."
(On Austin Freeman) "He did a terrific job. He averages 20 points a game and is a terrific basketball player."
(On Georgetown coming into the game) "I think they lost two in a row and they came in a little hungrier inside than we were and we didn't play as hard inside the paint."
(On where U of L goes from here) "To Connecticut ...The thing you can't figure out is where you get a win in the BIG EAST. We were looking at the board today and we have the most grueling four games. In the conference, we have the most grueling four games. It is very tough to sweep great teams twice and we have to play Connecticut, who physically is one of the top three talented teams. They had a rough go at times, but it is very hard to sweep them. And we have to play two games and in order to do that, we have to sweep them. Then, we get Marquette and I imagine on senior night. We have a tough road ahead of us to get to 11 (wins). We may need the tournament, but we are right there. We are in a lot better shape than a lot of people."
(On the second half offensively and defensively) "We just missed two layups at point blank range and three jump hooks at point blank range. It is just a matter of making shots. If we broke down a little, it was at the three point line, and going underneath a couple screens. We got the shots we wanted and we really played a smart game. But they were just a better team."
(On Edgar Sosa) "Offensively, he was very good. I was not happy on defense, but I never am."
(On Samardo Samuels) "He was just playing against a guy who was playing better. The guy had five assists, 14 rebounds, one steal ... a heck of a performance. Give credit where credit is due. "
Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III
(On the start of the second half) "We were getting stops. They missed some shots, Samardo missed some shots he's probably never going to miss again in his life. It was bouncing our way. It was fortunate that they missed shots and we were able to get pretty good shots. It got started with the second play in the second half. Austin got a big offensive rebound and that kind of got him going, which is an understatement. Our defense, we were able to force them to take contested shots. We were fortunate that they didn't go in and we were able to get the rebounds."
(On Freeman scoring the first eight points of the second half) "The way we operate, we want to see if we have an advantage, we want to see if we have a mismatch. He got going coming out of halftime - I told him I need you to be aggressive. He can be aggressive and not force it. He can be aggressive and yet still make the correct pass to his teammate. It's what he did for most of the second half, he got going there. We kind of stayed with them."
(On Greg Monroe's play in general -specifically rebounds) "It was key, his rebounds. I haven't looked at the numbers yet. We had 33, he had 14, I'll take that every night. If he does that every night, we're going to have a lot of outcomes like tonight. I thought he was attentive to rebounding. A lot of it was because Samardo was getting shots that just didn't bounce in and Greg happened to be guarding him right there to get the rebounds. But I felt like he did a very good job of pursuing the ball. The ones that were in his area and the ones that were out of his area."
(On the defense in the second half) "I think we were more aggressive in our rotations, not necessarily going for steals or pressing up. We were much more aggressive off the ball in the second half. It's not like they didn't get shots, the ball just didn't go in."
(On Austin Freeman's personality that allows him to be aggressive.) "He's a smart basketball player, he sees, he understands. He's an unselfish player. He's one of those guys who can go into an aggressive mode, yet he's not going to make too many mistakes, he's not going to make too many bad decisions."
(On off-ball screens and playing against the zone) "We saw a few things, we thought we'd hit some shots against their zone. I thought Chris Wright, down the stretch there, for someone who did not score many points, from the 14-12 minute on, I thought was terrific just in terms of him handling their pressure which is hard to do. They are terrific at it - they do it. Their guards are fast, hard, strong. Just him handling their pressure over and over and making sure we get the shot. Then making sure Austin got the four point play. Chris drives, sucks the defense in and then kicks it out to Austin and we get a four-point play. I thought Chris did a good job in making sure that Austin's run kept going."
(On sustaining winning streaks in the Big East) "Hopefully that will change. You look around our league and without starting to rattle off specifics about what everyone else is doing. It's a very tough league and I think that it's human nature, it's the nature of your job, it's the nature of the fans to start looking at standings and rankings and assume that this team should do this to that team. Across our league, the difference between the top teams and the guys who are down on the bottom, it's a magnification of small differences. It's not much, so anyone can beat anyone on any give night. So hopefully we can play well during our next game. We just want to win the next game and not look at the big picture and look at everything else, just win the next game."
(On playing at Freedom Hall) "This building is a very tough environment. Hopefully when they move into their pretty place next year it's not quite as rough. Somehow I know that's not going to be the case. Their fans are great. The number of season ticket holders and how boisterous and supportive is something that is special. And you feel it when you come into this building, every single time. I've said this about our fans and I know it's true about their fans - we were up 13 and all of a sudden they hit a couple of three's and the crowd gets into it and they become a different team. Their fans give them hope. It's good to come in here and be down at halftime and to weather through that, and everything that was thrown at us tonight was big."
