Louisville vs. Kentucky

Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino

(Opening statement) "They put so much pressure on your defense every possession, but our guys did a great job, not only defensively, but attacking the rim offensively. So many teams who play Kentucky, settle on jump shots, rather than drive to the basket, and it is always a four-point play, or a five-point play because they will beat you down the court. We made up our mind that we were going to reverse it and attack the rim, so we can get back on defense. Even then, their percentage was like 39 percent in the first half, but they were nine for 12 on the break. They put a lot of pressure on you and they are a terrific team, that is going to get better and better. I'm really delighted with the victory; it has been a while since we have beaten them. The crowd was electric and great. When you see college basketball with these great games, North Carolina versus Kentucky, and us, is just great for our game."

(Quentin Snider's experience help?) "Yeah, I just think he kept attacking the rim, attacking the rim, and that was good and obviously, he made shots. We had to withstand some foul trouble, but so did they. Quentin (Quentin Snyder) played a big-time game. (De'Aaron) Fox is one of the most difficult guys to guard because even though most left handers are predominantly left, he goes right, through it as well. When they run that high pick-and-roll it is tough, because if you come off of it too much, they throw the lob to Bam (Edrice Adebayo)."

(What did the rivalry mean to Q?) "You'd have to ask him that. I'm sure it does."

(How do you get your guys prepared for a big game like this?) "I said, 'look guys. I don't know how many more Kentucky vs. Louisville games I have left. I hope I coach five, seven, or eight more of them, but you have to really enjoy it and have fun, because you are not going to see this experience too much. When you look at college basketball on the screen sometimes, you don't see this type of atmosphere. You have to really, really enjoy it', and they did tonight. They had a lot of fun tonight, and they enjoyed it. I think Kentucky is a tough team. It was quite an impressive performance by them, coming off of the North Carolina game."

(What made Deng Adel so effective tonight?) "I just felt everybody was aggressive on offense. We have been, in the past, aggressive on defense, but I felt we were aggressive on offense."

(About rebounding by Jaylen Johnson) "We did a great job blocking out. We have kept charts every practice trying to make it better, and better. We just kept, in timeouts, talking about the Baylor game, and how we didn't execute when we got a little tired. Mangok (Mathiang) was a great leader during the timeouts and did a terrific job."

(Strategy for stopping Fox) "It's not easy. We walled up, because now you put (Malik) Monk on the wing, and it's not easy. At the end of the game, they had four shooters in the game. The key to stop the fast break is that you have to take great shots, and we were getting great shots, and that is the key. Then you play good transition defense. If you take a bad shot, they will make you pay.

(On the game plan for guarding Malik Monk) "We shadowed him. We tried to deny him. Every time he came off a screen we said let's just keep the ball out of his hands and in somebody else's. I felt he was going to drive a little bit more tonight because guys when they come off a 47-point game know that people are going to get in his jock. So, we tried to play that as well. Briscoe puts a lot of pressure on you on drives. Fox puts a lot of pressure on you. They're a tremendous team. They really are a great team and obviously they're going to have a terrific season."

(On Quentin Snider's game) "He's very, you know, in 11 games he had one steal. Tonight he had two. So, Quentin is a very good offensive basketball player -- very good offensive player. We were able to put him on Briscoe and put different people on Fox and Monk. He knows how to play angles. He knows how to play it. But, he's not a bad defensive player. Guys with length would bother him, but he also bothers guys on the other end of the floor so you may lose something on defense but you gain it on offense."

(On the Louisville versus Kentucky rivalry being the best and coaching both teams) "Well, I said this earlier, I know when I first came to Lexington - the Yankees don't like the Red Sox and the Red Sox don't like the Yankees. But, they take it to a new level. And I didn't quite – two of my really good friends, Bill Keightly and Marta McMackin, they would get all choked up in tears because 'you don't understand what Louisville's like.' So, I really didn't understand it. Now Cawood (Ledford) was normal, so I could talk to him. What makes it I think the best rivalry – now you can say that Carolina and Duke are because it's in the ACC. What makes this rivalry so good is the fan base not the teams. Because if you look at Duke, I don't know the exact percentage, but I'll bet 20-30 percent are probably from New York, New Jersey, California. Same thing with North Carolina. So they got different fan bases. Here, everybody's on vacation, (watching) every single TV. We're the number one market for television in America for college basketball and the draft. And that's because we've got 450,000 Kentucky fans here as well. So, we got a great market for TV and everybody lives for this game. Everybody in Carolina and Duke doesn't live for that game because you've also got Wake when they're good, you got NC State. This is it for us. We've got no professional teams and this is it. They've dominated us for a while now so it's good to get a victory."

(On the elements that will make his team really good offensively) "I just think that we have nobody back that averaged double figures. I just think they need to get comfortable and move the basketball like they did tonight. And, you know, now we got Virginia where every possession is life and death. And then you go to Indiana where all they do is drive and shoot threes and good low post. And then you've got Notre Dame at Notre Dame, where they kill you with prayers the entire night. So, the ACC is very difficult, but for us tonight we were hoping to get on a little bit of a run here and get a few wins with this schedule coming in, this gauntlet coming, and we got one tonight. But, we got it by playing really good basketball and that's important."

(On the game plan for guarding Bam Adebayo) "Well, obviously it wasn't to back up and let him dunk on you. You know, the reason I like their team so much is they have so many different ways to put pressure on you. Monk with the three, Fox going downhill, Briscoe weaving in and out, Willis with the three, and then Bam in the low post. There's so many ways that they can hurt you. Now the way they play up and down the court like that, if you don't take great shots you're going to lose the game. You have to take great shots."

(On being unburdened with the win) "Well, I have to go to Miami tonight to be with the family for Christmas holidays—my children are down there—I have to go there. I just got a boat for the first time, a small little boat—I think I am going to go out fishing and then call Kenny (Klein) and say, you take over. Look, they dominated us—somebody said you've played all these games and it has been decided by less than 10 points and I said that's not the way it works in basketball. You lose you lose, whether it is 2 points or 9. So, we've played good basketball against them, but they've had—and I say this—not only in victories but also in defeats—there are a number of programs, Kentucky is Kentucky. I don't mean to demean John (Calipari) when I say this, but no one has recruited like John in the business. If you look at the NBA right now, you've got Karl Towns, you've got Anthony Davis, you got John Wall—they play great at the next level—so he's evaluated great. I knew him (Calipari) when he wasn't a great recruiter, and we played him in the Final Four when I was at Kentucky and he beat us early in the year. He is an outstanding teacher of the game—but sometimes when you get all of these great players—he puts those guys in areas that they can score. He's done a great job for a long, long time—and the talent that he assembles—the thing that is impressive to me—he doesn't miss much on evaluation. Like, Poythress got hurt, but he doesn't miss much at evaluating—we all miss a lot in evaluating—he doesn't miss much. When he thinks a guy can play, the guy can really play. Duke's in the same scenario now—and we've got a great recruiting class so. You want it to be a great rivalry, not come close, you've got to get a victory and we finally did."

(On Kentucky getting back a few times on offense really quick) "Sometimes when you go to the glass to offensive rebound—it is great if you get it, if you miss it—numbers are in their favor. We did a better job coming out in the second half, like I said they were nine for 12 in the first half. But look, any time you can get this team to shoot 39 percent--you are playing good. We played good defense in the half court."

(On Donovan (Mitchell) picking up his 3^rd foul and going to Levitch) "It's big. Donovan did two things tonight, and he says he does it all the time, you know with his elbow—he's never done that, or at least I haven't seen it. But Levitch, you can always put Levitch in, in crucial situations and it doesn't hurt you at all—it only helps you. I thought Mangok (Mathiang)—if you look at the stat sheet—he went 0 for 2, but he really played a terrific game. When he was guarding Bam (Adebayo) he did a good job. And I thought Deng (Adel) played a good game. You know, we expected Deng and Donovan to come of age this year, it's just going to take a little time—but this schedule will make you grow up in a hurry."
"I just want to say great Holidays and Merry Christmas to everybody, thank you."

Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari

(Can you start by talking about your offensive struggles?) "The biggest thing tonight is we didn't have discipline. We were walking out of time outs, guys were breaking off, doing... Same thing defensively, we had talked about how we were playing certain things and then guys did their own thing, and then they had an excuse of why they did it. The back play for a lob... With that being said, on the 21^st of December we are not good enough to go on an opponent's court that's a top-10 team. We're not. They are better than us right now. December 21^st. And that's what we wanted to see. The issue for us, if we don't become more of a disciplined team, then we're just okay. I mean Bam (Adebayo) should've been getting the ball. We're taking step-back crossover, jacked-up... And it's one thing I can't make five in a row, wait a minute, you've missed six now. I told him today, 'you're not making them today, just go rebound.' Biggest play of the game was the last rebound. If he and Derek (Willis) don't come up with that ball... But, we missed some free throws and that's a part of the game. But, it's a great win for them. They'll have a better Christmas than us."

(Were you proud of the way your guys, despite it all…) "No discipline, Jerry, no discipline. And I told them, that's not their fault, that's my fault. We'll get it right."

(On Quentin Snider's performance?) "It was really good. They were all good. They fought. All of them did what they were supposed to do- made tough shots, came up with tough rebounds. We shoot 40 percent, come on. Some of them were wide open shots. Then again, we shot what from the foul line? We are lucky we shot 65 (percent), because we missed a bunch. Believe me, the missed free throws and shooting percentage, they've hit them when we lost or played that way and still won. If we had discipline, we could've won the game. We had them. We walked out of one timeout I said 'we're going to throw you the ball and shoot it.' The guy got it and tried to throw a pass. I looked at him and said, 'really?' and he was open. But that was 15 times. But it's good for us. Maybe they now know you just can't play, just do your own thing and win a big time college game. You just can't.

(On how well they shared the ball. Was tonight; were they trying too hard to make that happen?) "Neither team, we had 10 assists and 13 turnovers, they had 10 assists, 14 turnovers. It was two of us looking the same, to be honest with you. And then the shots that we had could have been assists, guys didn't shoot them, they drove. And we we're talking every time out. 'If you get that shot, you shoot and drove it in.' 'I thought I had a shot clock violation.' I mean we just – 20 of those, but I'm telling you, it's December 21^st, we start four freshmen and a sophomore. We are not ready to go on an opponent's court against a top 10 team and win. We're just not and thank God it's December 21st. I've got a lot of time."

(They had success driving the ball, is that where discipline comes in as well?) "And we did on them too and we didn't, we wouldn't drive it. What do you think I was saying every timeout? Do not settle, drive the ball and go right at these guys. Go get your shot blockers and if you miss it we will rebound it. Just don't get it blocked. Guys shooting under… It's a tough environment. They have to go through these kind of growing pains and I've got to be able to see what I have to do as a coach. And unless you are doing this kind of stuff - the North Carolina game, the Michigan State game and Kansas coming up. Our game at Mississippi State or Mississippi coming up. That's why we do this and we're playing young guys and it is hard. It's hard.

(How often do you emphasize getting the ball inside to Bam?) "Well, we didn't have 32 huddles, but in any huddles we had, I talked about it. I talked about it at halftime. If you saw, we came out and tried to go to him. I'm disappointed for him, because he missed free throws, because he's been shooting so well… These guys are 18-19 years old. Stuff happens."

(Why is 'no discipline' your fault?) "Because if they're playing this way, I've accepted it – that's why it's my fault. And I told them that in there. And when we tell you to do something, if you don't do it, you're coming out. So if I tell you how we're playing, if you break down defensively and do your own thing, you're out. It's the easiest way. The bench is my friend. That's it. We're telling you what we're doing and you just decide to do your own thing, you're out. It's not when you miss a shot, or you turn it over – no, no, if you're not doing what you are supposed to do for our team… It's discipline. And that's how you get a cohesive unit. They trust each other because they all know, 'I know he's going to what he's supposed to do because this coach demands it.' If you accept mediocrity as a coach, you're going to get it every time."

(Did fatigue have anything to do with it? The travel fatigue, two big games, young players?) "It might, and I didn't sub enough. De'Aaron Fox, then we had foul trouble and I left him in. But probably subbing more… Isaac (Humphries) – the game looked above him, so I just rode Bam (Adebayo) out, probably not fair. But again, I was trying to win a game. I'm trying to do what I can to win and those guys… Mychal Mulder went in and did some good stuff. Dom (Hawkins) did some good stuff, but again we missed – how many free throws? Ten."

(On Malik Monk going 1-of-9 from the three-point line) "We talked… It's okay to be 1-of-9. Go rebound and defend. The issue was, he started the game and fouled because of a lack of discipline. There was no reason to make that foul, but he doesn't have the discipline yet so he fouls. Now, the second one, which maybe a foul, maybe not, it doesn't matter, they called it, so it is. Which means now you're out, you're not playing. And I know there are guys that say, 'Well, I play guys with two fouls,' I just don't unless I see the game getting away. The game never got away, we had a one point lead, that's why I didn't put him back in."

(On not playing much half-court affect the outcome of the game) "I don't believe so. I don't believe so. We just, again, the execution of what we're doing – we're working on it every day in practice, that's how we play. We're not just flying up and down. We're working on half-court stuff because I know if you're going to win a championship, it's not running up and down and pressing and trapping and crazy and fouling, because you're going to hit an official that's going to call fouls in that tournament and you're out. At the end of the day, a good coach is going to make you play half-court and you're going to make him play half-court, so we're working on it, but, again, we're 18 and 19. I'm out there with, you know. But I'm going to Christmas. If anybody's upset because I had to dress to get on the plane, that's on you, not on me. I am out of here with my family like my team is for four or five days and then we'll come back and get ready for Mississippi. Thank you."

(Closing statement) "Congratulations to Louisville and Rick [Pitino]. Great game. Great job. Great environment. It was great. Thank you."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Jaylen Johnson

Quentin Snider

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