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Louisville-Ohio Postgame Quotes
November 25, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2011
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Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening statement)
“It was a great comeback win by our guys. We were in some serious trouble in preparing for them because they have probably two to three times more offensive sets from a man-to-man situation and they pick and roll you to death. I wasn't playing Peyton (Siva), wasn't even considering playing Peyton. He tried to go today in the walkthrough and couldn't go. He started limping all over the place. Going into the game I just said to Kevin Keatts, 'How did he look?' He said he looked good. At that point, I decided to start him because I didn't think we could guard D.J. Cooper without him in the game. I didn't think we could win this game without Peyton Siva. So that's why at the last second I just changed and decided to go with him. I'll probably give him off tomorrow, let him ice down and practice the next day. He's way out of shape. I just felt that we could not beat this basketball team without him tonight.”
(On Peyton Siva's performance)
“I just think he's really rusty. He hasn't shot the ball, he hasn't moved. It's kind of amazing that he can play that hard without playing, which is a great tribute to the guts that young man has. He's missed 25 practices. I couldn't even play him in walkthrough. I honestly felt we couldn't win the game unless we put him there because I didn't think it was Bullet's (Elisha Justice) type of game against D.J. Cooper. Even though we played mostly zone, they ran so many pick and rolls that you had to get over it. Peyton and Russ (Smith) got over it the whole night. We got great plays down the stretch, great defensive plays down the stretch.”
(On whether winning close games is a beneficial experience for the team)
“No question. We're in a survival mode right now. We are so banged up; we lack practice so much. Our practices right now are just so light and so easy. I'm afraid to get somebody hurt. We're just trying to survive right now and just hold off the enemy until the cavalry comes and gives us some relief. When we get Peyton back, we'll improve greatly.
“Gorgui (Dieng) had a very subpar game, but if you look at his stats, you'd think he had a very good game. He's just go to get stronger physically because he brings the ball down too much. He'll get better at it though.
“That was as good an offensive move that Chane (Behanan) made – that was an incredible move. I wasn't sure what he was doing when I saw him take off. I was really happy he did that.”
(On whether they were trying to go to Kyle Kuric at the end of the game)
“We were trying to penetrate. They went to zone. We were trying to penetrate and get Kyle, Chris or Russ a shot. And we missed shots, but we got stops and if you can get stops with the game on the line – and not foul. A pivotal play in the game was when we were matched up and Gorgui's (Dieng) man stepped out. He stepped out and made a three. When you can lose the lead like that and not get down – I think this is a carryover from last year. There are so many times when we get down and we fight back that we're used to it. At the end we had to go with Chane (Behanan) and Swop (Jared Swopshire) because we had to have better ball handlers in there.”
(On Chane Behanan)
“Chane (Behanan) just doesn't know the game, but he's a terrific talent. It gets difficult and it was great to put him in in crunch time tonight because he had to make offensive and defensive plays and he did. He just has to learn how to get over a screen, how to set screens, the small, fundamental things that he'll pick up as time goes on. We're really, really cutting back and just trying to survive right now. We know that Connecticut lost, Syracuse almost lost. We knew all of that was going on. It was a great lesson for our guys to see. This was a heck of a ball team. I knew we were going to fight and we were in for the fight of our lives. I told our guys before the game this was a BIG EAST opponent we're playing tonight. You're going against a Marquette, Villanova – that type of team where they'll switch, they'll dribble-penetrate you've to talk, you've got to match up. What has made us survive is our defense. Our defense has been really incredible. Tonight we gave up second shots a little bit too much, but that's because our team is so small. When you play Peyton and Russ together, you're going to give up a few things.”
Ohio Head Coach John Groce
(Opening Statement)
“It was tough. We didn't come here for a moral victory. Our guys believed that they could win the game, and then to get into position to win the game and then to not finish was disappointing. I am thrilled with our effort. I thought our effort and attitude was incredible. I just wish we had executed better late in the game. We didn't make enough plays in the end to finish them off. I thought a big play in the game was when we had a stop, and up five or six - I don't have the play-by-play - and they beat us to an offensive rebound that was a 50-50 ball, and then (Kyle) Kuric makes the 3 and basically cuts the lead in half. I thought that was a big play. Obviously, we lost the ball in front our bench and got a little sloppy. I didn't have a lot of timeouts late. We had to use them to stop runs and stop momentum. We just didn't have anything late available in terms of timeouts. Our guys had a good idea on what we needed to do but just didn't execute well late. We have to be better late in the game than we were tonight. “
(On getting the lead)
“I think the biggest thing was that our kids were tough. I thought for the most part that, when we got hit in the mouth - and we knew we were going to get hit in the mouth because they are a great ball club – I thought we responded well. We just kept playing hard in this environment and that is the biggest difference between the teams from the last couple years. I expected it to happen. We delivered. When we got hit in the mouth, we did not flinch and stayed the course. I think that is why we were in position near the end but just couldn't close it out.”
(On Louisville defense)
“They are very hard to score against. I knew that coming in. I thought the key to the game would be our ability to get stops and rebound the ball. At the end of the day, if they asked me why I thought we got beat, I would have to say that it had to be the fact that they were plus eight on the glass. Both teams did not shoot well. I thought they were very good defensively and I thought we were very good defensively. It was hard to get good looks out there. Both teams battled, but at the end of the day, it was the rebound margin that was a big key. It got them extra possessions and gave them the chance to make a couple of backbreaker plays late.”
(On preparation)
“We had several days, three or four, to prepare. I thought our kids were confident. I thought our kids were aggressive early, which I thought was good. I thought we showed some toughness and togetherness. We just got to find a way to finish better than we did.”
