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Louisville vs. Indiana
December 10, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening Statement) "I knew Jimmy Valvano so well and The Garden is quite special to me so we wanted to come in and get a victory, but we wanted to have a great game for fans and television. What they do for the V Foundation really deserves great games. That style of basketball by both teams was a lot of fun for all all of us to be part of. They (Indiana Hoosiers) are very difficult to defend because they will play five people on the perimeter and drive on you. You can't help because they shoot it so well, but the second half we did an outstanding job. We just wanted to keep the offensive pressure on them. Even if our defense wasn't as good as it has been, we wanted to keep the offensive pressure on them. Our back court played a great game. Montrezl Harrell who I think is the best player in the nation and I've said that for quite some time. He has a skill set like Kenneth Faried and (Dennis) Rodman in his prime, playing every position as if he hasn't eaten in a week, it's quite special."
(More on tonight's game) "When Montrezl (Harrell) left the game, although Jaylen (Johnson) did a very good job, you are not only losing your best player but you are losing your most intelligent player. Montrezl is the heart of our team emotionally but he's also the smartest guy on the team when it comes to getting the team in the right defenses and talking to the guys. If they don't get in it he's going to be upset and they don't like to upset him. We took a couple of bad shots and they (Indiana) came back. We haven't been able to play this style in a while, where you go up and down and up and down like a ping pong match, very few teams want to play that way. We were more than happy to do it and it was exciting."
(On developing the bench) "We've now beaten three Big 10 teams. Prior to tonight we've played unbelievable defense. I think we're good the way we are. Shaqquan (Aaron) is going to give us a big lift. We had our best practice of the season the other day and I can tell you we wanted to have a great practice but some of the Knicks hierarchy was there. Our guys knew it because Chris Brickley was there who played at Louisville. We had the best practice of the year from a passing standpoint. I told them to pass the ball like they did at practice and we will have a great season because that has been our weakness it hasn't been shooting. Poor passing and turnovers had lead to bad shots and tonight we did a very good job of spacing, working from inside out, and keeping the offensive pressure on them. I think we're fine but Shaqquan is going to help."
(On teams ranking)"I think Kentucky and Duke are at the highest level right now. We hope to get to that level. To do that, we need to develop our bench, we have six new players. I think we have a very high ceiling, so I think we can get there but I don't think you will see us shoot 60% against good competition, like Wisconsin. I think we have shot blocking and I think we have a great back court. We hope to get there, but I don't think we're in their class now."
(Thoughts on Big 10 coming to The Garden) "Jim Delany is a very smart commissioner (of the Big 10) and wanted Rutgers for the north east and wanted to get into The Garden. The Big 10 is a highly organized league and the ACC is a highly organized league. I think the Big East is not going to miss a beat, I thought they would to be honest, but I think they have a great league. As long as they continue to recruit tough kids, Creighton was a big addition to them, a very great addition. We don't know it here in the north east, but that gentleman (Greg McDermott) is one of the best coaches in our game. Xavier is terrific. They have a lot of good additions and they will probably expand even more down the road. I think it's great for the Big 10, they're very smart."
