Louisville-Kentucky Postgame Quotes

Louisville vs. Kentucky
Dec. 26, 2015 | Rupp Arena
Postgame Comments

Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino

(on the last play) "Damion Lee wanted it. I was going to have him come off and if he was open he could shoot it and if not, we were throwing it in to Chinanu (Onuaku). If that's not open or neither guy is open, he's going to get a pick and roll. He switched the pick and roll and was trying to take a pull back shot, which was not a good shot. You have to give credit to good defense. We wanted to go inside, or get a good shot. If it was a three it was ok, I didn't want a step back situation like that, but you have to give your best player who is having a great night a little leeway if it comes to that."

(halftime message) "The second half is when you have to fight on the road. I said 'listen you're going to have eight or 10 games this year when the crowd is just as ugly as this one was. They are going to yell obscenities the same way and you have to fight through it and you can't let it get to you. I was upset at the officiating the first half, and I am not a technical guy. I said I am behind the lines every time. He is on the floor 15 times on every single call. You can't give me a technical call for being out of the lines, I said it is ridiculous, it's absurd."

"They made jump shots that I wouldn't want my kids to take, you have to give them credit. That was the difference in the game, they were literally seven or eight feet behind the line and made the shot. Q had to know where Ulis was. He had to get up on him a little more as time was running out."

(on learning from today) "We have to get Trey Lewis under control emotionally so he doesn't get too fired up. He loses control of his head, I have to get him emotionally to think when he's play the point what he needs to do. I want him to take chances but he has to get under control. There was one point where even Damion – we were in a man-to-man and he goes to a zone and the guy gets a wide open three. It's communication. They are very willing to communicate by 'I got your back, I got your back' but you have to have the guy's back by knowing the right defense."

"I don't like losing, especially to these guys. It upsets me. I have to go watch a high school tournament and I am not going to enjoy it. I have a few days off and I am not going to enjoy it. That being said, I am proud of my guys that they fight, but we need to understand we have Wake Forest coming up. We hate losing to this basketball team, but on the other hand, the fight that we had in us, I think we can be very special someday. The teaching has to be every single day. I mean like little things. It just takes time for all these guys to learn these things. If we don't get too many losses come March, we are going to be one hell of a basketball team."

(on playing Ray Spalding today) "I had no choice. To be honest with you, Ray doesn't pay attention enough with scouting. It is so difficult on freshmen. Donovan (Mitchell) and Ray, they come from a high school team that probably 10 or 15 minutes of information before the game and they hardly have any film on the team that they are playing. Then to be put into this situation like this is like being a rookie in the NBA. It is so overwhelming. Physically in the NBA you get the all-star break and you have no legs you're dead. In college when you go into your freshman year, the learning is very difficult on them. I don't want to cast stones or place blame, they just have to learn it."

(On Quentin Snider not playing well) "He looks that way all year when his shot doesn't fall. To go 0-15 doesn't bother me, I try to get him to play defense. It has been bothering him the whole year. I told him don't stop shooting, it is something you have to get over. He is struggling with it right now."

(on this team's ability) "We were picked seventh in the conference. I told my staff at the end of the year, don't get me any freshmen – get me two fifth year seniors that can play. They said 'why'? I said because they are not going to win in the ACC. I said we will be a .500 team rebuilding if we don't get two fifth year seniors to play. You take those two guys out of tonight's game, we lose by 25 or 30. We all know Matz, Anas, Deng, and Donovan are going to be terrific someday, we can see it. This year would have been a disaster without those two guys. So now we have to get another guy who can flat out play coming in. I think this team – and the reason I was so hard after Michigan State – if I didn't think this team was going to be special, one who could cut down the nets, I wouldn't let them see how disappointed I was. I want Damion Lee and Trey Lewis to see how it gnaws at me and how sick I am. Because they have to get that same feeling. They have never had it before. They have to get that feeling so they turnaround and win that next game."

"I told Kenny Klein before that game that I was not speaking with the media. It has nothing to do with the Louisville media, I just want to clear that up."

University of Louisville Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Damion Lee

Trey Lewis

Quentin Snider

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