Louisville-North Carolina Postgame Quotes

Louisville 71, North Carolina 65
February 1, 2016 | KFC Yum! Center
Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening Statement) "Well it was a great atmosphere and great game. we really didn't get upset when we normally do with a bad performance because with this team, what you have to do is give the other team credit because they played great. The game was refereed different than we expected but it was fair both ways, I am talking about Virginia, and I just told them, the message I told our guys was I am really disappointed but when adversity hits and you are on the mat and fall down, you don't get judged by falling down because you are going to fall down a lot in your life, it is how you get up. I said so you will be judged tonight with this basketball game on how you get up. Collectively and individually and I thought our guys defensively rebounding-wise just got up in a big time way, I am real proud of them."

(On how important slowing them down in transition was in the game) "It was the game and with one day prep we really worked hard on, only Ray (Spalding) a few times tried to steal it back rather than get down the court. We were brilliant with transition defense, we did a fabulous job of making sure that we got in the paint. This was a record for us, we had 60 paint touches in the game. That is a lot. We want 45 but we got 60 and we played obviously superb defense as well."

(On whether tonight is a good example of how well they can play when they turn the opponent over) "You know I really just, I am not going to play down the win and I am not going to get too upset with Virginia, I really don't know how good this team can be because we are so inexperienced and so young. I tried to get Trey (Lewis) to understand tonight when he turned the ball over, it is not about your offense son, we are all about defense here. We missed shots, it is okay, you turn it over, it is okay, so if we go down and we stop them, your turnover is negated and you have got to develop that mindset because he gets so consumed with a mistake. So he is starting to come around, Damion (Lee) doesn't care about mistakes, he could care less, there is nothing, there is no hat on his head."

(On Damion Lee's play tonight) "You know he is a big time basketball player, big time scorer and as Bill Raftery would say he has big time onions."

(On keeping North Carolina off the offensive glass) "Well we did, quite a few times, they stole the ball back you know, Nanu (Onuaku) thought he got fouled but you have got to give them credit for getting it back. You know on one day prep the thing about North Carolina that is so difficult is you have got to stop them in transition. You have got to stop their 1-3-1, you have got to stop their 3-2, you have got to stop their run and jump, you have got to stop their man-to-man where they deny every pass. They are really difficult to prepare for with a week, never mind a day. But I think our guys were just so, I wouldn't use the word 'embarrassed', I think they were so disappointed that they didn't focus in on the game plan. They had a right to play better in some areas because Nanu missed two days of practice, Jaylen (Johnson) misses two days of practice, our two days of practice were awful. We weren't supposed to play that bad but again, Tony Bennett is one of the brilliant defensive coaches in the nation and they deserve all the credit."

(On how big Ray Spaulding was tonight) "He gave us a big lift. With the exception of the steal and the Magic Johnson act, he was great. I didn't see the Anas Mahmoud pass. I said to Ralph (Willard), 'He didn't just throw it behind the back, did he?' He said. 'he did, and it was great'."

(On how important were the other big guys given the foul trouble to Onuaku and injury to Mathiang)

"No, they're all very, very young and I really don't know what to expect from this basketball team. Because even Trey (Lewis) and Damion (Lee), as good as they are on offense, they're young defensively because they weren't asked to play this type of defense against North Carolina, against this team, this team, this team. They're obviously just trying to pull the upset at Cleveland State or Drexel and then win their league. But Ray is getting better and better. I went with him over Jalen just because what they do is they try to spread you out and they try to beat you off the bounce, and we had to have quickness in there, rather than strength."

(On whether he was aware Damion Lee did not have a rest in the game) "Yeah, I knew he didn't. I was more concerned with Ray playing the minutes than I was with Damion. He's 23 years old, if he can't play 40 minutes -- come on. He's probably lying about his age. He's probably 27. No, he's a well, well-conditioned athlete. I really don't worry about that at all, and he's used to it. And I worry about Nanu and Jalen, giving them breaks. Q [Quentin Snider] played a lot of minutes there. You know Quentin Snider, if you look at his stats, you don't think he played well. He was brilliant tonight. He was great tonight. I mean he was two for 11, but he kept beating the pressure the whole night, and I thought he was just big time. And obviously seven assists and one turnover playing against Carolina is great. When you beat the number one rebounding team in the conference 41-39, and shooting 53 percent in the second half, where there's not many offense rebounds, you're doing a great job."

(On if he expected a bounce back game) "I didn't know. I knew the last four years about my team. They would be so afraid of me they would never want to lose two games in a row. This team I didn't get upset at them, I just told them to get off the mat. You have to know certain people, and this team you have to give them confidence, so I didn't know it, but now that I've seen it, I'm very impressed."

(On why Donovan Mitchell shines against bigger opponents) "He's a 6'2" T-Will [Terrence Williams]. He's a freak athlete and you know just like some of the rebounds you need he goes and you said oh my god did you see that? Then he tries to dunk plays that you don't even think about dunking."

(On Quentin Snider's importance in getting so many paint touches) "He had a great game tonight. He won't look at it that way, but if I'm judging a point guard he was terrific tonight."

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
(Opening statement) "That was a tough night for the guys in the blue. It was a very hard fought game I think by both teams. Both teams I felt like, had a sense of urgency, but their sense of urgency was a little bit better than ours. Second half they shoot 53 percent, we never could get the ball to go in the basket for us. The biggest part of the game for me was every little possession was extremely important. We played really tough, loose ball 50/50 balls, they seemed to get more than we did. Then the 17 points on offensive rebounds compared to our seven. Needless to say we didn't shoot the ball very well, particularly in the first half. I thought we had some better looks than the results were, but I liked the way we kept playing and we got it to a one-possession game if Joel Berry's three goes in, I think it was a four-point game at that time and it didn't go in and we got about two or three tips around the basket, but we didn't put the ball in the basket."

"Their zone- they went man-to-man a few times too - but their zone made it difficult for us to get the ball inside to our big guys. We didn't move nearly as well as we needed to move inside and I think that was something that's really important as well. We're a pretty good passing team and had two assists in the first half. That's not the way that we play, and when I look down there and see fast-break points and I see six - and I don't think we had any at halftime. But if you would've told me at halftime we'd shoot 29 percent and be outrebounded and have no fast- break baskets and only be down one, I would've taken that. We didn't play as well as we needed to play in the second half either, but for those guys I thought (Damion) Lee was really huge. 4-out-of-7 from 3-point line. I felt like they'd probably shoot a little better today than they did Saturday, but Virginia guarded them better than we did, that usually has a lot to do with how well you shoot the basketball."

(Two assists in the first half, you mentioned some of the misses… how much of it was the misses? How much of it was also what they were doing – and what was it they were doing?) "They are good defensively, they had a little more fire in their belly. I would imagine that their practices have been focused last couple of days… it's just one day's practice I guess. We got in the last play of the game and never loved a player more than I did Marcus (Paige) but when we tipped it out, he goes after the ball with one hand and their guy comes around him with two and gets the rebound. Kennedy (Meeks) goes up to get a rebound and Trey Lewis, I think it was, one of their guards came over his back and got the ball, knocked it out. I thought it was our ball, thought it should have been a foul, but the ref saw it different. Kennedy's got to get that rebound. Every game everything is a little bit your team and a little bit the other team. I thought Marcus, for example, had some good looks in the first half and they didn't go in. They do a good job of flying at you with their athleticism too."

(When Marcus Paige isn't shooting well, do you have enough other perimeter shooters to make up for it down the court?) "We have at times this year, but it wasn't tonight… Joel Berry has been shooting pretty doggone well and he is 1-for-10 tonight, 1-for-5 from three. We need a little bit better than that, but if you get more balance by getting more scoring out of your big guys – Kennedy (Meeks) has four shots and Brice (Johnson)has six - their defense, their big guys they challenge the ball around the rim. They didn't allow us to get the ball inside as easily inside as we allowed them to get the ball inside. And down the stretch too I think they made probably six free throws in a row, or four… something like that. But you know that always helps you too to hold off somebody."

(Was there anything you saw with their tape against Virginia that you thought you might be able to exploit tonight?) "Well, if they would have shot the ball… that would have helped us - if they would have scored 14 in the first half. But it wasn't just Louisville that played Saturday. Virginia had something to do with as well, I think Virginia is probably the best half-court defensive team in our league and they really made it difficult for them and the ball wasn't going in. Some of those 50/50 balls I thought Virginia got more of those than Louisville did on Saturday")

(A week off then going on the road, do you attribute any of what happened tonight to rust?) "No, I attribute it to we didn't play well, and I coached poorly, and they beat us."

(What makes Damion Lee so effective?) "Damion's got a quick release, he's a scorer. We talked about picking him up in transition - he made two threes in transition. We talk about he'll look down at your shoe laces and freeze you and then pull up and shoot it, he did that - but you've got to go guard him too."

(What's your level of concern with Marcus Paige?) "Guys, I'm not getting on you but damn, he hasn't shot it worth a frankity-frank for four or five games am I supposed to put him out and send him to Siberia? He is one of the greatest kids I've ever coached, I'm going to stick with him. I'm going to coach him, he's going to try and take shots. I don't have any potion that I can rub on people."

(On overall poor shooting the last few games) "It's part of the game. Give credit to the other team. Four times in five games and we won the other four, so you've got to find something else that's got to be important in the game. But we haven't shot the ball well. I told some of you guys, some of you guys play golf, when you get the 'yips,' you go to the long putter. Hell, there is no long putter in basketball, you got to stuff the ball in the basket. Pretty easy thing. Take good shots and make good shots. It's not for the coach to go out there and think that there is some secret potion or anything. You got to keep shooting and knock one in."

(On transition woes in the game) "They did a great job of getting back in transition, there's no question about that, but we didn't force the issue very much either. For us to have no points on the fast break, it could be one of the few times, maybe one of the only time I've ever coached a team that had no points in transition in a half. But their defense is good and their defensive transition was good, but we turned it over 16 times. Some of those we were trying to force the issue, but we've got to continue to be aggressive with it."

(On step up in competition with Louisville) "There's no question we got the top half of the schedule in the second half of the season and Louisville is 18-4, something like that, so their record was a heck of a lot better and Boston College struggled this weekend. But in this league, you've got to play everybody, it's just unfortunate for us that they are all at the end. I think the intensity level was up there. I don't think it was a pretty game for either team, I mean they shoot 43 percent, 41 rebounds to our 39, 15 turnovers to our 16, so I don't think Rick would be ecstatic about the way his team played, but let him answer that. But I do think that his team fought very hard and it took us out of some things that we would like to do. We like to have things easy, everybody would, but in this league, there's not many things easy."

University of Louisville Athletics

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Damion Lee

Trey Lewis

Anas Mahmoud

Donovan Mitchell

Quentin Snider

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