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Louisville vs. Kentucky
December 27, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Recap | Box Score | Notes | UL Photo Gallery 
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Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening statement)"I think the message to our basketball team was, we really had to win it with offense, because we're a little offensively challenged, especially from the three-point line. We wanted to go in to Montrezl Harrell as much as possible, but they did a very good job denying it. Their length is pretty incredible. Not being able to pass the ball like we want, not getting on the break, our defense was very, very good in the first half. We knew that we would play good defense. We knew we'd force turnovers. It was a question of whether we could score, and the answer was we didn't. That's why they're victorious. They're a great basketball team. Like I said, I never answer subjective things because you don't know. Whoever has the pencil last can be right with it. I know one thing, they're one of the great defensive teams I've seen in my 40 years. They can switch and not cause a mismatch, they can move their feet, they can block the shot. They're a great defensive team, no question about it."
(On Kentucky guard Tyler Ulis)"I think he's a great basketball player. He's probably, you know, because they have so many bigs, but he's a true point guard who makes people better. I've loved him from the moment I started watching him. I do think he's a great point guard. That's a program that you can build around having a great point guard."
(On whether Louisville's having one assist was a product of Kentucky's length)"I'll tell you the truth. We missed about eight to ten easy shots. That's a credit to them, but also we're a little offensively challenged. We've had this problem the whole year. We're working very hard at it. We're an excellent defensive team, although we had 18 deflections in the first half, only seven in the second half and they shot 47 percent. Their size really wore us down. We don't have much of a bench right now. Getting (freshman forward) Shaqquan (Aaron) back, that'll help us. They don't have to worry about foul trouble, they've got a bench that can wear you down with their size. I think they wore down our defense in the second half."
Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari
(On Kentucky freshmen playing a huge game) "I like my freshmen ... I think, at one point, we played with four freshmen and Aaron (Harrison) for a while. I think it stretches the game out."
(On Tyler Ulis' impact on the game) "He was really good today. That's the best I've seen him play since I've coached him. This will start the other dialogue, which is why I'm platooning: Andrew (Harrison) didn't play as well today, but Andrew hit a huge 3 that basically ended the game. Andrew took us to the championship game last year. Andrew did. So what I have is I have two terrific point guards, who I can play together if I choose. If Andrew is playing really well, Tyler may not play as much or I'll put him in as a wing ... that's just what's really great about this. Willie (Cauley-Stein) didn't play great today. We've played without him playing great. I thought our rebounding was outstanding, but again, we worked on it for, like, two weeks, just covering the rims and having them rebound every ball."
(On what attracted Calipari to Tyler Ulis as a point guard) "His competitiveness. He can make a difference in the game even at his size, and that's what you want. He wasn't afraid of the challenge. I didn't have to beg him. Remember, I recruited him for three weeks. I said, 'I'm hearing about you being a four-year point guard. If you think you're here four years, don't come here.' He said, 'I'm coming.'"
(On Tyler Ulis' competitiveness) "I was happy for him. I was disappointed for Andrew (Harrison) because I know how good Andrew is. All these kids, you want them all to perform. Like Dakari (Johnson), [he] couldn't get anything to the basket, but he got, like, nine rebounds. He is so much better offensively than he showed today. We had so many turnovers. Some of them were forced body-to-body stuff, but most of them were just a look away or a rifle pass. That's the most turnovers we've had, but, again, we guarded. We played defense. We didn't let them get to the rim. We made them take a lot of jump shots, which is what our game plan was. We played pick and roll different than we've played it all year. We backed up our big men and just went in the lane and said, 'We're going to let you take jump shots.' It's a good win on the road. It was a physical game and it was a good game."
(On whether he saw the game playing out in a defensive fashion) "My thing in these games is, I don't know how the other team is playing, I just know how I want us to play. Our players, unless they watched games, they watched tape this morning and this afternoon. We didn't show them a lot of Louisville tape. We're worried about us. Let's just be the best version of us. Let's be the best we can be. If that's not good enough, then we move on to the next game. I told them, `Guys it's Christmas. This isn't the end-all game. Who cares. Let's just go try to play well.' And I know our fans go crazy when I said win or learn, but that's how I feel. I wanted to win the game, but I wasn't feeling like we have to win this game. We took a great Christmas break and they begged me not to work out tomorrow, so I will give them off ... until six (o'clock)."
(On Louisville head coach Rick Pitino saying Kentucky having the best defense he has seen in 40 years) "We have a lot of guys that are doing a great job of defending. We can play the ball, we can play behind. I'll tell you who really played well today, Trey Lyles. That's why I played him as many minutes as I played him - four assists nine rebounds, making some jumpers when we were kind of shaky. The only thing we couldn't get our guys to do, we couldn't get them to attack. Devin (Booker) did it once. Karl (Towns) did it once. I'm in the huddle saying, `Don't pull it out. Just keep going.' I think they were feeling that this game was maybe bigger than I thought it was. I just tell them to play, but I thought Trey played well and Devin made a big 3."
(Was Tyler the only one who didn't know better? The littlest guy on the court who attacked?) "I have a good team, and I have nine guys that I will continue to platoon. I'm not changing, but if a game unfolds like this and I have to do something different to try and win the game, I'm going to do it. If one of the guys like Willie (Cauley-Stein) against Texas playes that well, I'll leave him in. If Tyler (Ulis) played this well - or Andrew (Harrison) then I'm going to let them play If someone is on fire, I'm not going to take them out. But if they're all playing well, I'd like to play all nine guys And I'll tell you why. I platoon - it's easier. I don't have to think about who has played what minutes. I just look and say, `You four go in.' How easy is that? (On ESPN picking Kentucky to go undefeated up to the NCAA Tournament if it won at Louisville) "Yeah, and they picked the Germans in World War II. The good news is we have another long break; we have nine days to get my team ready. We are going to work on a different zone because we are going to face some different things. We will work on some rotating presses and try and do some different things offensively because we have time. I really want to try and get Dominique (Hawkins) and Derek (Willis) the opportunity to see if they fit into that 10-man rotation, either one. But, they have to elevate their games to do that because I am not taking minutes away from these nine when all nine deserve minutes. If those two raise their game, we will be back to 10 guys."
(On if players considered this game the last large hurdle) "No, there was some disappointment. Willie and Andrew were disappointed in how they played. Aaron wasn't exactly happy about how he played either. The young guys were just happy they won a game. Again, you have to think about us coming in and you all and everyone has made this like the end-all game. These young kids came in here and they performed. They weren't rattled and they stayed focused on the court. And the game was physical. That was more physical than the Texas game and I didn't think that was possible."
(On what this win does to the team's confidence) "I have a pretty confident team. Here is what my issue has been - I have been on these guys and especially before this game. My point was that I don't want arrogance, I want a swagger. I don't want arrogance; arrogance is not earned. Arrogance is about wearing the Kentucky uniform and saying, `Don't you know who I am?' That is arrogance. A swagger is where you work so hard and you spend extra time. You have demonstrated performances... Kansas and UCLA, and the third thing is you trust your teammates. Now your team has a swagger. They know that everyone is accountable on this team. I want a team with a swagger; I don't want an arrogant team. I have been pretty vocal about that and stayed on the team about that, especially with these young guys. They like to mumble under their breath like my son. `What?' (mumbles) They do a lot of mumbling and you coach them and get aggressive with it."
(On Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker playing over 50 minutes with no turnovers) "I haven't looked at that, but that's pretty impressive. I thought Devin did pretty good too, by the way. He did some good things. We had some dumb fouls. We just grabbed them. Literally grabbed people. Then they try to look at me like they didn't do it. `I just watched you! You grabbed the guy. Grabbed his arm.' So those two players did a phenomenal job."
(On Louisville having one assist) "We were trying to get them to shoot. Yeah. And then that meant that we spread out and they took those passes. Most of that stuff was going to be on the bounce, which means you don't get an assist. "
(On whether he expected Kentucky to be good defensively) "I wasn't sure. But I knew with Willie (Cauley-Stein) and Marcus Lee. I didn't know Karl (-Anthony Towns) would block shots like he did and does. I didn't know Trey Lyles could play the 3 position defensively like he has. He's guarding guards and doing good. I did not think Devin Booker could guard the way he's guarding. In high school, he shot every ball. He didn't guard much and I thought that would be the Achilles heel. And then the other guy was Tyler, because of his size, but it hasn't seemed to bother him."
(On the source of Andrew Harrison's bad play) "They are not machines, they are not computers. I told him that I loved him and I had his back and that he is still my point guard. `Stop being down on yourself.' These kids, it's not fair being at Kentucky and what comes with it and what the expectations are. Then, everything you do is analyzed and it is not fair. It's also not fair when the season ends and you are in the green room with half the team. That's not fair either, so I tell them all the time that it is part of it. If you want to do this, this is what it is."
(On whether this was the punch in the mouth he said the team needed) "That was a punch in the mouth. That one was right there."
(On worried about not being challenged enough) "Oh, we'll be challenged. You don't understand. Every game we play is sold out. The students are lined up at one o'clock; every team we play might not look at stats. We play Columbia, they shoot 21 percent from the 3. They made four to start the game, and we're down 11-0. We're going to go on the road in hostile environments and we're going to be challenged. Now, our league, everyone wants to say the league... Well, you still have Florida, you still have Arkansas, you still have LSU, you still have Georgia playing well. Our league is fine. I still think we'll get five teams in (the NCAA Tournament). Our league RPI is No. 2 in the country, non-conference schedule, so it'll be fine. All I'm looking at is, let's keep trying to see where we can take this. I told individual players, `World-class athletes are never satisfied. World-class athletes are self-critical. You're self-critical and the other thing is they always look for small increments; how can I (be) Tiger (Woods), get my drive four or five yards? How can I make one more putt around - one? How can I do that? Where can I make those small increments world class. And I told these guys, what are you trying to do to add to your game, just a little bit? What are you trying to do weekly? And I'm keeping them focused on these kind of things.
"Look, I'm having a ball coaching this team and there's nothing anybody can say or write or do to make me ... I'm happy. I wake up every morning whistling and skipping. This is the greatest group and I'll tell you why - selfless. Think about today - I changed up because guys weren't playing as well. But they're all fine. I got a bunch of guys, and let me say this, I've got a bunch of parents too. Think about your son, your son is a top-10 pick, and he's playing 20 minutes a game in college. Would you be happy? Oh, you'd be doing backflips; that would be so nice. Think about it. The kid's a top-five pick and one game he plays 20 minutes and in one game he doesn't get any touches. What? `'Coach, we love you, thanks for coaching our kids.' I mean I have the greatest group of kids and parents. Because let me say this, this it's not always like this. The moon and the stars have connected, now let's see what we can do with this."
