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Louisville-Temple Postgame Quotes
February 28, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2014
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Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening Statement)
“We were much better in the second half but we got the job done tonight. We did some really good things offensively. We didn't play real good defensively but enough to win and now we have a one day prep for Memphis who's in a war with Houston right now down late in the game. College basketball on any given night anybody can beat anybody. My guys have been focused in. We won tonight's game with offense. I wish we would have played better defense but we won the game with offense. We didn't turn it over much we shot and passed well. I thought Chris (Jones) and Terry (Rozier) were both outstanding.
(On Chris Jones and his eight assists)
“I just thought he was very active. I was really happy to see Terry (Rozier) give up a shot for Chris (Jones) and Chris (Jones) makes a three and next time down Chris passes up a layup and gives Terry a dunk. You just like to see that, they both played terrific.”
(On Jimmy Dykes calling U of L business vs. first class)
“I don't disagree with him necessarily. You know Dan Dakich thinks we're first class, so yeah know everybody has an opinion. Your opinion is just as valid as Jimmy's opinion so you may think that somebody else is good everybody has got an opinion. I could guarantee you one thing biggest waste of time, including everybody and even I did it a few years ago, is to sit around and say who's a one who's a two and the committee pays no attention to any of it. I've known Dave Gavitt, Mike Tranghese, C.M. Newton all being chairs of the committee. They said they paid no attention. They intentionally pay no attention to the analysts in that regard. But I don't necessarily disagree with Jimmy. I think we could play anybody in first class and play them tough. But I'll side with Dan Dakich. You know why I say that because he's judging it seeing us against Houston. If he would have seen us against a different opponent, he may have a different view. You can't judge teams. I remember watching Jason Kidd play two times; flew all the way out to the west coast and thought, 'You know what, he's really not good enough for us,' and then I watched three of the next times and my mouth was wide open. I couldn't believe how good he was. So you know you can't see a team play in a given night and judge them. You got to see a player or a team a number of times. You really can't base it on one. When I look out there like a week ago I said, once Michigan State gets healthy, they will be the best. They lost the very next game. So I thought I had a decent opinion but it wasn't too good. So I think it all depends on the game you watch. On certain nights, I look at Michigan and say, 'Wow, they're really, really good and I look at Kansas and say they're awesome.' I'll be surprised if Kansas beats Oklahoma State tomorrow. You know, so it's all match-ups in this game, it's all match-ups. I mean Arkansas beat Kentucky at the buzzer last time. It's a revenge game; you can't figure these things out. That's why gamblers have no money.”
(On Terry Rozier's game offensive improving)
“I was really impressed with Chris (Jones). I thought Terry (Rozier) was very good because I told them I want both of them to get to the free throw line more and more straight-line drives. They both haven't been getting to the line enough times. They have been pulling up for mid-range shots and I told them they need to get to the line more. I think they both have tremendous upside to their games. I like both guys very much and I thought they were both outstanding tonight.”
(On playing Memphis with only one day of preparation)
“Our worst game of the season was Memphis. You have to give them credit because they made us look bad. That was our poorest performance of the season at the defensive end. We did a lot of things that were uncharacteristic of us, but we are a much different team now then when we played them. We always try to just get better in the month of February leading into March. I think we have gotten a lot better. We are a good basketball team right now even though we may be business class I think we are still pretty good.”
(With other top teams struggling against inferior competition, what keeps your team focused)
“It is funny because it seems like we are a better offensive team this year then last and I am really not sure why that is. We don't turn the ball over as much, we are shooting the ball very well, and we are passing the ball well. I think we have a lot of really good offensive weapons who can put the ball on the floor. We are not as good defensively as last year, but we are a better offensive team from an efficiency standpoint. I think it's funny because we don't play as well at home as we do on the road, I don't know why that is. I almost had a nervous breakdown with Russ (Smith) in the first-half.”
(On the team playing quicker, isn't a product of playing together over the season)
“I think in the second half they really look for each other. I think in the first half we dribbled the ball too much. I think they like each other and they have a god time when they are out there. We have been very blessed. We have had great chemistry for three years. Not every team has that. Some teams have good chemistry, but we have had great chemistry. They guys like each other a lot and are joking around. We have a lot of laughs together and I think that helps create a very good locker room. It shows on the court and off the court. They have a great time together.”
(Closing the season out strong)
“I think that everyone is goal oriented. I think we set goals and try to reach our goals. We make them realistic in what we believe in. We are very goal-oriented and we believe in everything we preach. Guys have totally bought in to unselfish play and think of each other. I think they really put winning above everything else. It's not a selfish team in any characteristics, you say that with Chris and Terry. You see they all wanted to give David (Levitch) a shot, looked impossible but they were all trying. I think it's just what we believe in. It's really our mantra, so to speak. We don't get rattled. I've had so many fans come to me saying that we have turned the corner with Cincinnati. I say no we haven't and if we were to have lost that game we would have been fine. We don't let one game dictate our season. Even going back five to six years ago when we had to win six of our last eight in the month of February, we never panicked and we understood we don't' get involved in fanaticism. We just get involved in getting better and improving and understanding regardless of what you do is all about March. The tournament means a lot, our conference tournament means a lot. Even though our fans aren't coming, it means a lot. I don't get this whole thing on why they're not coming, guess they're bent on New York and they love New York now.”
(About Smith's crazy plays and got taken out, has he learned that you will take him out)
“He didn't, because I told him that three times before. Look, you have to give him his latitude, but the thing about it is Russ is having a great season. I know Doug McDermott will win the Player of the Year I might get upset with him but Russ is one of the top three players in the nation. It's just that he playing so great I just don't want him to revert back.
“Memphis is going to be a very tough ball game; they're coming off a loss. It's probably going to be a White Out and a sold out crowd. At SMU, it's going to be Senior Night. So were going into a lot of tough games which is what we want. We want these tough games and this tough environment. It's great for us right now. It makes us mentally sharp and physically sharp. Were excited about the challenge. They hurt us on the backboard and hurt us with good shooting. We know what they do and they are very talented. We have a lot of respect for them but we seem to play better on the road, I can't figure that out. Wish I could, because I would do something about it. We take care of business and we play very well on the road. I expect us to play well again. I am very excited.”
Temple Head Coach Fran Dunphy
(On the combination of Russ Smith and Montrezl Harrell)
“They can cause you tremendous damage and they're really good basketball players. There's no question about it. But there were a couple of other guys that stepped up and made some good plays as well, so it's not just those two guys, but they're terrific, no question about it.”
(Do you think Temple played better in this game?)
“Yeah we did. Obviously we did not play a very good game against them at our place, and we were hanging a little bit better tonight, although I thought they had the game basically where they wanted it. But they made a couple of great threes in the second half that got them some separation. There were two big threes in the first half that they made later in the first half, one off an out of bounds play that really hurt us and we don't have that much margin for error so we really have to pay attention to those details.”
(On out rebounding Louisville)
“I think you always look at offensive rebounds and we had ten offensive rebounds, they had eight of them because we missed a whole lot more shots than they missed. They should out-rebound us because we had a lot of missed shots in there. But you always look at the offensive rebounds and we had ten offensive rebounds, they had eight. But they didn't have too many missed shots, that's why their offensive rebounds weren't as many.”
(On the play of Will Cummings and Quenton DeCosey)
“DeCosey shot 7-for-18 and 1-for-7 from 3s. We need him to make three or four with seven attempts to make us competitive.”
(On if it is Louisville's pressure that makes it hard offensively)
“It is. We turned it over 17 times. We are averaging a little over 10. We played these guys and you have to really pay attention to details. They speed, they really speed you up. Again, we are doing a decent job in the full-court, but once we get in the half-court, they are speeding us up and making us turn it over.”
(On what he needs to see from his team in these next few games and if getting a healthy Anthony Lee would help)
“We certainly would love to have a healthy (Anthony) Lee; that is obviously our No. 1 concern is to getting him back to health. Our next concern is Houston on Saturday night. They are in a very tight game against Memphis. The guys were watching it in the locker room. They are a really good team too. They did a really good job when we played them down there. We have to pay attention to every detail. We have to do a better job defensively. The only thing we can think about is Houston on Saturday.”
