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Louisville-Pikeville Postgame Quotes
November 02, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 2, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening statement)
"There was such a size differential, it was tough to tell how we played. We did some good things. We got to work on our press for the first time. You don' know how much is legitimate because they are such a small basketball team. Not only are they small, but their back court is extremely small and they don't have much size in the front court. It is very difficult to tell how we played. We did some good things, and we got some minutes for some guys that needed to get their minutes."
(Can Chane Behanan take away anything from the way Montrezl Harrell played tonight?)
"I would have you ask him, but he can't speak to you. I am not a big suspension guy. All my life I have believed in running guys until their legs fall off. This was more of `if you do this, you will get to play and if you don't do this, it's pointed out that you will miss so many games.' If you miss a class, you run. If you are late to practice, you run. So it is all spelled out what has to be done. I didn't suspend him, he suspended himself. I am not trying to send any messages here. If you say to your son to be home at midnight and he shows up at 3 a.m., then he can't go out the next weekend."
(Is Kevin Ware's suspension the same as Chane Behanan's and do you anticipate it being just a one game suspension?)
"I hope so. I take what they do very seriously. Both are great guys and I like them a lot, but Chane's problems are from this summer. He had to do certain things to get back on the court, and he didn't do them. I hope he (Chane Behanan) is ready for the Manhattan game. I say hope because he should have done his other work that he didn't get done. He should be back for Manhattan, but I am not sure."
(What is special about this group of guys compared to previous teams?)
"It is really early to tell because we just played Pikeville. Not to take anything away from Pikeville, but we have much more size and talent. We will really be tested by Manhattan. I know you all think I am pulling the Lou Holtz routine, and I am not. They are going to play us very, very tough. They are a 20-win team with four starters back. They have a 19-point scorer who shoots a very high percentage from the field. They are very good and we will be tested with Bellarmine. Bellarmine will pass the basketball around. If we make a mistake against them, they will either get a back door cut or a three. It's too early to tell. As people, I love these guys. As basketball players, I don't know how good we are because we haven't played anybody yet."
(Can Montrezl Harrell be a double-double guy against better competition?)
"I am not sure yet. It is tough to tell. He is a relentless worker. Seth Greenberg, who recruited him to Virginia Tech, said he was a very good offensive rebounder, but not a good defensive rebounder. That stuck out to me. We are trying to get him to block out and create space. He rebounds a lot with his wingspan. He has Gorgui (Dieng's) wingspan at 6-8. The two of those guys aren't great jumpers, but their wingspan is awesome. You didn't see it tonight, but Zach (Price) has been playing good basketball. He brought the ball down too much tonight, but he has been doing a good job as well. I think he is going to be a great player down the road. I really have a lot of confidence in that young man. I think Russ Smith has made the biggest transition from a player in one week than I have seen in a long time. He has gone from totally out of control, to totally in control. He did a lot of great things tonight. He didn't take bad shots that led to run outs at the other end of transition. I am really excited because when you have Russ and Peyton in the back court, you have two lightning quick guards who are both under control at all times."
(Does Russ Smith deserve to be a starter or is he better as a sixth man?)
"I think the way Russ is playing now, he deserves to be a starter. Two weeks ago, I would have told you he was better coming off the bench. We didn't miss a beat when we took Peyton (Siva) out in terms of doing the right thing as a point guard. I allow him to gamble a little bit on defense because he is so good at it. He knows that he has Gorgui (Dieng) back there for help. I don't think he has to be the sixth man this year. I think he has deserved to start. Every player wants to start. There will be certain times when we are facing a 6-5 two guard where I will go with someone who is bigger."
(How deep is the roster and how interchangeable are the players?)
"It certainly is very deep. It is not as talented as some of the other teams I have had that were deep. We don't lose much with substitutions. You didn't see it tonight, but I could put in Tim Henderson, who is our 11th or 12th man, and we don't lose a single thing. He is tough kid who plays hard that doesn't make many mistakes. You still have Chane Behanan and Kevin Ware in there, which makes practice really good. I think Chane Behanan is a heck of a basketball player, I really do. He just has to grow up a little bit. The person has to catch up to the basketball player and once it does, look out. He'll be one heck of a basketball player. All college players are like that. Heck, some of my teammates 40 years ago were that way, and they matured. Look at Russ Smith now. You see how much better he is from last week. The light will come on."
(On using the press for the first time and how did Montrezl Harrell perform?)
"I think he was good. Sometimes, you can't run and trap, you have to run and jump, which is the key to our pressure. In other words, if I am going by Jody (Demling), you are picking me up. You can't trap a good guard like Peyton Siva. You have to run and jump instead of run and trap. When you go sideline to sideline, you can press. He hasn't learned those things, which is why we worked on that tonight. We won't press Manhattan, but we know we will press some BIG EAST teams."
(On Wayne Blackshear's good stretch of play in the first half?)
"It is one thing when you are injured. It is another thing when you're in a sling all the time. You can't run or work on your legs. All you have to do is tie up. It will take some time for him to get back with his skills, but he is definitely going to come back. It is the same correlation with Russ (Smith) during his freshman year coming off knee surgery. Then, he has a Jones fracture in his foot and he didn't look as good. Wayne is definitely going to come around, but if you rush him, he will lose his confidence. We have to be very patient with him, and I am. He is a great kid. I think with two months of good basketball, he will be back."
Pikeville Player Quotes
Trevor Setty, Forward
(On getting the first basket tonight in this facility against Louisville)
"Scoring points doesn't really matter to me as much as a win does. I hate coming in and playing these games. I don't want to act like I have been here before. We slaughter teams all the time like this, but they are paying us to get slaughtered. It is hard for us to go out here and get hype for that, but to start out the way we did was a positive feeling. It is just hard to keep that up with a team that has five 6-10 guys. They just kept bringing them in and in, and I was left playing center. It was a fun experience to come out here and play."
(What are some benefits you can take away from playing a team like Louisville)
"We see where we stand. We will never play another team like that again the rest of the year. I have never been blocked shooting a jumper or I couldn't remember the last time I did. I got blocked on back to back 3s. I think Montrezl Harrel blocked me from the free throw line when I was shooting a 3-pointer. It is just amazing and I couldn't believe it. It really shows the competition and it is different from NAIA. If I was raised playing Division I for four years, it would be a different story. We just got done playing Knoxville College, and their tallest guy was 6-4. It is a different story because that made us look big. This was the best team we will play all year so it should be a great season."
