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Louisville-Memphis Postgame Quotes
January 09, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2014
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 
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Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening statement)
“Well, you have to give them credit. They made some shots. We got confused a couple of times with the game on the line with what defense we're in. We didn't get confused one time last year. I don't know what's so difficult about it, but for some reason, we probably can't play as many defenses, although we only played two. We have to give them credit. We didn't play really well. We turned it over at crucial times, got into low defense, gave up the 3 and missed free throws, but we have to give them credit. They outplayed us. We have a tough game coming up, one of the best statistical teams in the nation. We have to get Memphis down there when play them and can't hang our heads right now, because this is a much tougher league than all of us anticipated.”
(On Montrezl Harrell having to play more minutes moving forward)
“I hope so.”
(On defense)
“Our defense is not as good this year. It hasn't been. I hate to keep beating that horse to death, but it hasn't been. We had three key situations. We're in control of our destiny; we got in the wrong defense and then ran out of it and gave up the 3. That may be the most bone headed play I've ever witnessed in my life.”
(On issues with defense)
“It's very easy to know, there's only two defenses we played. You have to know what you're in. Make or miss. It's tough to comprehend.”
(On Russ Smith's frustration)
“I don't know...”
(On whether Luke Hancock control the pace of play)
“I don't think he can control the pace of play. I think he played well today, but I don't think he can control the pace.”
(On Luke Hancock's improved play due to returning to health)
“Yes.”
(On Memphis performance)
“I think they did an excellent job. I think they took us of the bounce and hurt us. I think they rebounded very well. I thought their freshman is a really good freshman, Austin Nichols. He made a lot of good plays our guards didn't block when they rotated. We're just not the defensive team we once were in the past two years, because our basketball IQ is just not that good this year and we need to get better at it.”
(On team's identity)
“I have no idea how to answer that question. There is no leader on the team. The coach is the leader. You have to be a defensive player to be a leader; you can't be an offensive player. It takes defense to win. They shot 51 percent. You can't give up 51 percent at home and expect to win a ball game, even though we could have.”
Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner
(Opening Statement)
“First of all, great win. I want to give obviously Louisville (credit), who is a tremendous team. Coach Pitino is one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, so for a young guy like me to have the honor to coach against him, it's an honor. Obviously, we probably wouldn't be in the American - originally when we were going to the Big East and now the American - without Coach Pitino. So, the reason we're able to continue to move leagues and have upward trajectory with our conferences is because Coach Pitino. Again, I said that the last two or three years and every time we play them I'm going to continue to say it. It was a good win. There are two reasons why we won the game. I felt my staff and my assistant coaches did a great job all week in preparation and keeping the guys together. So my staff was just really, really good. Obviously, we had a tough game on Saturday against a great Cincinnati team and they obviously kicked our butt and there was a lot of stuff going on in the city with everyone. The Earth was flat for the next four days. And so my staff did a great job of keeping the guys together. And then obviously in the end the players made plays. This is a player's game. Players make plays and that's what it comes down to. We made some shots when we needed to make some shots and that's the bottom line.”
(On his team's defense at the end of the game)
“We got four straight stops late in the stretch. We finished the game. We got some stops defensively, so that was really important. Our guys made plays. That's what it comes down too. We made some big plays late. Geron Johnson really stepped up big and that's what we've been looking for from him. And late in the game, he really came through for us. I thought our big guys early did a good job of establishing post presence inside. I thought Austin (Nichols) played well. I thought Shaq (Goodwin) played well. I thought everyone that came in contributed. It was a great win.”
(On calling timeout after Louisville took the lead late)
“I wanted to make sure the crowd wasn't getting into it. I learned from my time at Oklahoma State when we played in Stillwater we got our butts kicked and I didn't do a really good job of stopping the runs early. I always like to have a timeout or two late in the game in case you need to get the ball in bounds. So I felt that I didn't do a good job of stopping the run early. You know, you live and learn and I had kept that in my back pocket and felt the next time we were on the road we needed to be alert of that. Louisville is a great team. Great win for the Tigers. We play a really good Temple team on Saturday with one of the best coaches in the game in Fran Dunphy.”
(Were you talking to the fans there at the end?)
“No, let me tell you something, I think Louisville fans are tremendous. They're like Memphis fans, they love their team. The only thing I ever get sensitive on is if anyone says our guys are low class or anything in that matter. We have a perfect APR score, we graduated 10 guys last year, and our guys have done a great job in the Memphis community. Say I'm the worst coach in the world, say I can't coach zone, I'm the worst press coach, I look like I'm 13, I should be fired, I'm the worst this, or I'm the worst that, but the thing that gets to me is our kids, because we've done a great job, that has been a point of emphasis.”
(Have you heard those comments?)
“I heard a few of them. I didn't say anything, I just said our APR score is perfect. We have great kids, we do great in the community. Louisville fans are great. It's a great rivalry, and Louisville fans are great. And I know our fans were talking to Louisville fans last year when we lost. I saw them yelling at Coach Pitino and those guys after we lost. It's just part of the game.”
(Did you talk to your players after the game about post-game taunting to Louisville fans?)
“We won the game. Our guys are going to have enthusiasm. We won the game. There was no extra celebration or anything; we won the game. When you have an intense game like that and you're on the road, fans are going to be upset if their team doesn't win. It's the same thing in Memphis our fans were upset on Saturday, they were yelling at Cincinnati.”
(Specifically your players, did you talk to them about staying calm?)
“Oh yeah, I told those guys, we don't worry about that. It wasn't brought up, those guys know. they aren't going to do anything, they know better. If a guy's late to a bus, two minutes late, there's discipline, there's consequences. Our guys know that it's important to me that things are done right, so I don't have any issue with our guys.”
(How big was Shaq Goodwin's play tonight?)
“Shaq was really good. Shaq really stepped up for us, played big, he had great energy. At 15 and 8, he had too many turnovers, he missed a box out late in the game and they ended up hitting a three. Shaq really came through for us. Louisville is a really good club, and defensively did a good job. Russ Smith and Chris Jones are really good players. Luke Hancock had a huge game, and their bigs played well. I was proud of our guys for ending up plus 2 on the glass even though I felt too many offensive rebounds. Look, we made some shots at the end when we needed to, they missed a couple, its really that simple of a game. It's a player's game.”
(Do you think Joe Jackson's goaltend was really a goaltend?)
“Absolutely, not even a question. Thought it was a great officiated game. I said the same thing after Saturday when we lost, I said the same thing in Florida, and I said the same thing at Oklahoma State, anyone who knows me knows that I rarely even talk to the officials. I rarely ever do. I just try to coach the game.”
(Can you talk about turnovers?)
“We had 15 turnovers and 4 of them were from Shaq. It wasn't so much of the press at times it was more of the half court. We only turned it over 1 time in the back court against the press. It was the one time where David Pellom tried to throw it to Joe Jackson. It was a great win, I'm just so proud of our young men. Like I said, our assistant coaches, my entire staff, they deserve the credit. It's not me. I'm telling you, my staff did such a good job of keeping our guys together and game planning. That's the key. That's number one and secondly and obviously the players make plays. It's a players' game. We made plays and that's what happened. On Saturday, Cincinnati made plays and we didn't and they won the game. It's pretty simple.”
(You talked about the flat earth and all that, I mean how did you keep your players believing after getting beat then coming in here and playing the defending national champs)
“Mike, you have been in Memphis. I mean Saturday, the earth was flat. The letters, texts, and emails were just up in arms. I just try to tell everyone not to panic and let's keep positive because negative energy can kill us. On every negative letter I got, I wrote everyone back and said, I appreciate the letter, but we have to stay positive because positive energy produces positive energy, and I just signed it Josh Pastner. So I believe that this week it was extra important to stay positive and keep the guy's heads up, but I give that credit to my assistant coaches and all my other staff.”
(I know you don't like to look at the big picture but where dose this win rank for you overall?)
“I mean, we have won a lot of games in my five years coaching at Memphis and every win is big for me. I don't take any win for granted. We beat Christian Brothers earlier in the year and after I went home and ate like you wouldn't believe because I was celebrating the win. I don't take a win for granted ever. It's so hard to win ball games now, so I never take the wins for granted. I don't care who the win is. I celebrated the win over Christian Brothers the same I will for Louisville they are all good to me.”
(What does a win like this do for the rivalry to keep that heated rivalry that Louisville and Memphis have had?)
“Well since I have been coach I think coach Pitino has been 2-0 against us. Now it's 2-1 and it's good. I have said it before - Pitino is one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game ever. The tradition of the Memphis and Louisville is so rich and there is a lot of history and I don't think nationally people understand how big the rivalry really is. But it's great and they have to come to our place and we know how good they really are and the bottom line is this, we have a game on Saturday at Temple. They have one of the best coaches in the game and their team is very good, so we can enjoy this tonight, but then we have to get back to work for the game on Saturday.”
(Talk about Luke Hancock)
“Hancock was the most outstanding player in the tournament last year and in the Final Four. He was awesome tonight, absolutely awesome. He is a first-class kid. Him and Russ were at the media day this year in Memphis and both of those young men were such good guys. Luke Hancock is a very good guy.”
