Louisville-Bellarmine Postgame Quotes
November 03, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 3, 2011
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Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino Post Game Quotes
(Opening Statement)
I thought it was really good experience for us to play against five perimeter guys. They are about as difficult a team to guard because of their cutting and passing skills and are as good as you'll find in the country. It was great for us because it takes good communication. It takes bigs having to guard small guys. We were able to make a lot of good offensive plays down the stretch with the game on the line. I was worried about this game, to tell you the truth. I know you think it is just a Division II team but I knew their style of play would give us major problems. Gorgui (Dieng) was going to have to come away. Chane (Behanan) has struggled with coming away and guard the perimeter. (Jared) Swopshire and Russ (Smith) gave us a big lift on offense. Defensively, he (Russ) hurt us a little bit because he lost sight of the ball quite a bit. But both of them gave us a big lift.
(On Jared Swopshire)
He has to get individual instruction. He is the only one who is not improving his shot because he can't go to practice and individual. So, we will start getting him his 800 to 1,000 shots a week in his individual (session) and that will help him a lot. Physically, he is battling being sore and being sore all the time. It is a tough injury and a very difficult injury and I thought he did some really terrific things tonight.
(On Russ Smith)
The problem with Russ Smith is that he doesn't know when to shoot and when to pass. Great players like Oscar Robinson - I don't care what they say, one of the top three players of all time, because he knew exactly when to shoot and exactly when to pass. Russ hasn't learned that aspect of it yet. That being said, when they played our plays, he was the only one who could beat you off the bounce and score. He has to learn when to shoot it and when to pass it. He'll learn that; he is only a sophomore. He'll do a good job as long as he doesn't turn it over. We can live with his defensive mistakes because he pressures the ball so well, but we can't live with his turnovers. Bullet (Elisha Justice) didn't have a particularly good game but it is hard to guard all that motion without a break. He did a good job today.
(On Gorgui Dieng)
He's having to guard guards out there. It is very tough. It is great that he is able to stay in the game. We practice that every day. He has to guard Peyton Siva and he did a good job tonight. Sometimes, when you get two fouls, you get tentative and that is why I put him back in during the first half. I didn't want him to get that mentality that he would be thinking that he wasn't going to go back in. What happens then is they go out really soft and they don't play defense trying to stay out of foul trouble. Peyton did that in the last game and he didn't look good. So I want them to be aggressive. I was worried about this game as much as any game we've played. Not that I minded losing because it is an exhibition game. I just thought we would struggle defensively and we played much better than I anticipated.
(On Bellarmine)
Duke was able to pressure them (Bellarmine) better and that is why they blew them out. They (Duke) were able to pressure the basketball better. That is not one of Bullet's fortes ... an overplay team. We don't have the luxury of other schools who scrimmage their exhibition games. What they do is go in during the morning and play only man. They go eat lunch and come back and play only zone. They take a break and play only situation games for only an hour. Scrimmaging is so awesome. But we make so much money on exhibition games that we can't do that. So believe it or not, this was as good as any scrimmage tonight. You had to guard back cuts, you had to talk switches and talk on the screens. You had to guard big on small off the dribble and talk in transition so this was as good from a communication standpoint. It was awesome for us.
(On Jeremy Kendle)
I love watching their whole team play. They are fun to watch. They spread the shooting. If you help, they will find the open man. We were trying not to help too much. They made a couple of 3s off rebounds when we stayed in the lane and didn't fan out. So they are tough to play against and they will have a legitimate chance to win it again. We love that type of ball movement. We love the way they ball fake. Those are the things they work their heart out on. We are very proud of them to bring a championship home to Louisville. We know how tough a championship is at any level and they have gone from a program that nobody has heard of except us in Louisville to a national championship. It is really fun to watch them play. If I ever had an off night, I would love to go watch them as a fan with their screening and cutting and passing. If you are a fan of the game of basketball, it is a delight to watch.
(Injury situation)
We have had some of the worst last eight or nine days that you could possibly have. Our injuries are not the type of injuries you like to see. They happened without competition. They happened when our own player elbowed our guy and gave him a concussion. Jared has not recovered from his summer workouts and (Stephan) Van Treese is the same thing. (Wayne) Blackshear is taking a layup with nobody on him and he screams as if he has been shot. What he had was a small tear before that other shoulder and then tore it completely without any contact. We have had a rash of injuries. It is not because we have been working them too hard because I am getting soft in my old age. It is not the trainer because he is the best in the game. It is just like horse trainers right now with some bad luck.
Bellarmine Head Coach Scott Davenport
(Opening Statement)
"I have said it all week how much we appreciate coach, how much they have allowed us to do. We all believe that it is the best venue in this country that will transfer the best of both worlds. Some people were sharing coach's comments with me. You have no idea how much that means to me because of what he is and how much he has contributed to my life personally and professionally. As far as the game, I just I'm a little perplexed when we only get five offensive rebounds the entire game and then we are getting beaten in transition. We are selling out going hard at the board and then us leaving the backboard naked at other end ... I don't understand that, but I know my team - we are such an upbeat tempo and fever pitch I don't know if it's the level of competition or the stage we are thrust upon, but It doesn't seem like they are transferring it over into competition and I know this squad is short handed without Mike [Marra], Peyton [Siva], etc., they are going to be really really good. We are a tough match up for a team like this because of Gorgui [Dieng], and Zach [Price] didn't play, and Gorgui has an unbelievable tough time chasing us around. We have made strides in certain areas but I think our players understand that in our locker room that they are for sure not in full stride right now."
(On what can you learn from this game)
"You are going to learn you are playing the sixth-ranked team in the country, with the Hall of Fame coach and the greatest fans in the world. We show glimpses of it and we pride our self on three defensive stops in a row each half. We only got that once tonight. We pride ourselves on three scores in a row, three times each half and we never got that. We are just not a fluid consistent team right now. We just played the No. 6 and No. 8 team in the country and I am saying this not tongue and cheek. A lot was made about Peyton [Siva] and Stephan [Van Treese] being out and Mike [Marra] being out, but I don't think that any of our guys were recruited. I asked that last night and no one can say that they did. We are up against it. They are talented players. Kyle [Kuric] is a great college basketball player. As much attention as we gave to him defensively that's what opponents are going to do. I hope it helped them I know it helped us."
(On Mindset going into the game)
"Absolutely it would be ashamed of me if it wasn't and believe me I don't like it when he is ashamed of me. That man is important to my life both personally and professionally. The job he does, the things he has taught me and that I have learned from Coach Crum prior to him."
(On the starting lineup of game)
"What we will do in the three exhibition games, I will start nine people. I will start Ryan [Burton] and Jelani [Johnson] on Saturday. The thinking behind that and I have told coach that. We have learned the hard way that a guy gets a jammed thumb or a turned ankle on a Thursday and he can't go on Saturday. You insert a guy in the lineup and he has to overcome the magnitude of him starting. You have to let them experience it, and they know what they are going through and the preparation side of it. Take the guys we coach, I explain that to Braydon [Hobbs] and Luke [Sprague] and they say "Coach it is the least of our worries, we don't worry about that". We will cheer for the guys, and we will go in and play. This was all predetermined back in august. So this was planned, there is no punishment or anything like that."
(On Jeremy Kendle's performance and his fight back)
"Just one word, he is unbelievably a courageous young man and you saw him cramping at the end, and Jeremy [Kendle] is courageous."
(On Repeating as National Champion)
"I think at end of night I think it is the sum of those parts. I know Coach Pitino used what we use is that not one of us in our locker room will never be good as all of us. That's how we have to play. We are going to get beat off the dribble. I have to cover up for you, you are going to get beat and I am going to cover up for you. Now we are not fluid in our passing and we can't press people but we can press you offensively by moving the ball rapidly thus moving the defense. Now if we get you a little bit out of rhythm then we can go by people and we space and we pass. You know I have learned from the best."
