Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino

(Opening statement) "Well, we didn't have anything. I knew this would be a really tough game for us on defense because they play four guards. You've got to give them credit they're a great shooting team, great driving team. Playing four guards is very difficult for our guys, but you hate to win a game just solely with offense, but we did tonight. You've got to take the wins. We played great offense tonight, made big plays when we had to make it. We'll take a win from a team that just shot the lights out. They're a dangerous squad."

(How do gut check wins help your team going forward?) "I think, if we don't start playing better defense, we're all going to be on vacation early. You are going to be covering somebody else. If you're impressed with that, you're not watching the game I'm watching. But, with that being said, it was a great win. We had to win with offense. When you're defense is not there -- remember Wichita State -- we had to be the better defensive team that day and Tim [Henderson] had to make those shots. If you're not a better defensive team than your opponent then you'll lose. You can't rely just strictly on offense."

(On Jaylen Johnson on the offensive glass) "Jaylen [Johnson] and Ray [Spalding]) Look offensively we did a great job tonight. Everybody passing the ball, moving the basketball. They play a switching match-up zone. We did a poor job against Miami, we did a great job tonight."

(How much is it a weapon to be able to hit threes, get offensive rebounds, and second chance points?)
"Well, in one sense they're playing four guards so you have a big edge on the offensive glass. On the other end, you're at a major disadvantage defensively because they can just keep slipping and stepping out. But like I told Jaylen, he pointed to the logo with Seth Allen. I said 'Jaylen, he's six for eight. You deny him the ball. If Steph Curry makes five out of seven, wouldn't you deny him the ball? He's having a great night regardless of where he's at.' He said 'Yeah of course.' I said 'Well, he's having a Steph Curry night.'"

(On covering 3-point shooters) "They ran a Miami play that we practiced all week, and they got wide open, wide open. It was amazing to me, amazing to me, because this is the best group of students in the classroom we had. As far as that transferring to the basketball court, this table pays attention more. Right, table?"

(On what Louisville didn't do on defense that they usually do) " Look, they made tough shots. They made long shots. They have great shooters. They're a dangerous, dangerous team. They're doing a great job right now. You know, I'm really impressed with their team. What they're doing and beating Virginia, they're a great team. We just played great offense tonight and that's why we came away with a victory, but I've been around this game too long. It's nice to score 94 points. It's nice play this, but it's better in AAU basketball than it is in college. It's fun for the fans, it's fun for the fans, but for a 64 year-old guy who prides in defense, it's not fun. The win is fun."

(Buzz Williams coaching) "He's one of my favorite coaches in the game. Everybody always talks about Jim, Roy and Mike and being in the Hall of Fame, they're great, but we've got some tremendous young coaches in this league. You got Buzz, I think Danny Manning is doing a tremendous job, Josh Pastner is doing a tremendous job so we got a lot of really, really good young coaches in our game. I don't know of a weak program in the ACC, I don't know of a weak program. We had to do something tonight that we haven't done in a long time. We had to win on offense and we had to outscore the other team, which is nice to see because we're playing good offense. Now we just have to pick it up defensively."

(Seeing Buzz in a T-Shirt)"I did say to my assistant coaches, is he wearing a t-shirt? And they said, yes, and I said why and they said he's hot. Not only is he a great coach but he's a great character and brings a lot of laughter to the game. I just get the greatest kick out of him, you know in an orange t-shirt and I may try that one time."

(Taking advantage of VT defense) "We just wanted to catch them in the slip and go inside more. We fell in love with the jump shot in the first half and the second half we went inside more and made some really good plays. When we called the timeout, and went and got the slip, that was a big play."

(Giving up a lot of 3's) "Well, we made a lot of three's. Look, the better offensive team tonight was going to win this game and they're a hell of a basketball team, they're going to make the tournament this year. This type of competition is just great for us because now we saw a different type of basketball team, one that shoots it and we're not used to sometimes having five guys on the perimeter and bigs have to get out there and play. We made some good defensive plays down the stretch and, overall, the defense wasn't good, but I have to give credit to their offense because our defense wasn't great in terms of scouting, but their offense was better. So I just have to give them a lot of credit."

(McMahon's confidence) "Like I tell the guys, Ryan is the most confident guy on our basketball team. Ryan could miss seven and when he steps on the court he's got moxie. He thinks he's the best shooter in the nation, so it doesn't surprise me with him. That's why I went with him in Syracuse and I went with him tonight. He's not a guy that lacks confidence at all. He can be crafty, he's playing better defense, so he's stepping up for us in a big way, but he's such a lethal weapon when you have him out there, it frees other people up. Obviousl,y the fans love him just because he shoots it so well and he adds a different dimension to our basketball team."

(Is defense a concern or alarm) "I really don't think it's an effort stand point. The really think it is, we are trying to play a match-up zone because we are down four scholarships. See if; they made 38 free throws last year so we were switching from zone to man as the clock wore down and it helped us, but we would lose a man when they went through. So it's just the matter of paying attention to the match-up. It's tough, but we are going to need the match-up, but they shot 38 free throws last year and we couldn't get in foul trouble tonight. We had to play Deng a lot of minutes. We had to play Donovan a lot of minutes. So no, I am not alarmed and I am not overly concerned because we rebounded well. In the first half, I told them the first three plays I was really bothered by that because we saw Miami run the same play and we didn't do the right things. So it's not so much a defensive deficiency as much as paying attention to their alignment."

(Was it a match-up thing) "So what we did was, we try to keep the two guards at the top so when they ran the pick and roll we would have to bring up, bring the big up. So we switched that and we just kept having the guy who goes to the corner not being matched-up and we practiced it all week. That's the frustrating part. You know the efforts there, but the good thing is they're going to learn from this, but their very confident to their offense. Very confident and that is a good thing. We'll get better defensively. I am positive that we will get better. You know Buzz said something to me. This is my best team, he said and I know it's not, but he said because they are the most together group that you've had in terms of being one fist and that's true. Their attitude and the desire is great. We just got to horn it up and we couldn't let on one switch. Anas (Mahmoud) and Q (Quentin Snider) got caught and we weren't supposed to switch and Anas said stay on him and he said I didn't hear a word he says and that may sound strange to you when you don't hear a word, but when you hear Anas yell, you can't hear a word he says and vice versa. You can't hear a word what Q (Quentin Snider) says because he never says a word, but you know we just have to talk more. That's the key to our defense is talking, but if you ever saw Peyton (Siva) and Russ (Smith) and Luke (Hancock) and Stephan Van Treese and Gorgui (Deng), they are screaming and pointing on every single play and that's what we have to get from this team and we can do that."

(About this team and the offense) "Well I think we are moving the basketball. Now, it's funny because they pay great attention at the offensive end of when they were vulnerable. It's amazing. They made us pay attention to the offense. So obviously they like offense better than defense."

(About coming back from 0-2 start in this league and in the running for the ACC title) "Look, I take a lot of joy, okay. I really do. I've got a lot. I've been telling you guys all a long and you keep looking at the stats and Pomeroy and thing oh, our coach is wrong. He just keeps geeking us up and no. We are not a good defensive team. We have to become that. So I take a lot of joy in wins. If you were to say to me 22-5 with our schedule, I would of said give it to me right now. I'll take it. I'll sign with the Devil, but I'll take it. Right now to have this with the schedule we're playing with is awesome and the fact that we won with our offense tonight is a great thing because we rarely in the past four years have won with offense and tonight we did so let's give credit to Virginia Tech. Buzz is doing a great job with their basketball team and we are 22-5. We are going to step into against North Carolina for first place and that to me is an amazing feeling by these young men in that locker room. Alright you guys have a good weekend and I am going to Minnesota to see the Gophers beat Michigan. Go Gophers.

Virginia Tech Head Coach Buzz Williams

(On going 17-of-26 from the three-point line against the Louisville defense)"I thought that we played incredibly hard. I thought that we played for one another. I thought we understood the value of a possession and the types of shots that we were going to have shoot in order to have a chance. We were fortunate that many of them went in. Some of which weren't deserving to go in, but I think that's what allowed it to be a game."

(On if the game plan was to shoot 3's against the Louisville defense) "No, there's no evidence that proves that you can shoot uncontested shots, particularly from three. They're the best three-point field goal percentage defensive team in our league."

(On what made Louisville's offensive so potent to still win even though they made 17 three's) "They shot 20 more balls. Mathematically you can't overcome that. The only thing that we can do or control is have a very low turnover rate. We did that in the first half and then we went back a little bit in the negative direction in the second half relative to our turnover rate. We're going to play seven guys - we hope that we play seven guys. We hope that they can stay healthy as we close it down. We will not win on the offensive glass or the defensive glass, but it's really hard to overcome that they shot 19 more balls that 26 of their points came from their offensive put-backs. That will probably be the storyline of our games, however many games remain, would be my guess."

(On what made Donovan Mitchell such a handful defensively) "He's an elite level player. Elite level. He can score on all three levels. Great body. Great body control. Very physical. Because he's so strong, he's deceptively, in my opinion, an elite level athlete. He's very good."

(On having gone 1-1 without Chris Clarke so far and if it is encouraging for the guys to continue to play tough) "I don't know. We've played two games in four days. There has been a lot of turmoil relative to things that are out of our control. I think our guys have handled it fantastically. They do want to honor Chris in their efforts in a spirit in which we play. I think it's evident, that's my opinion, not sounding egotistical, I think they are trying really hard. They're playing for one another. They care for one another. Our staff has been phenomenal in trying to figure out what gives us our best chance. I think Louisville, time will tell, I think Louisville can and potentially will win the league. I think Louisville is a one-seed, no worse than a two-seed. This is one of the best arenas in the country. Coach Pitino has been in the Hall of Fame however long and deservingly so. He's ahead in every way. So we have our hands full if we are playing with a full boat."

(On having days to process since Tuesday) "We practice for 45 minutes, so we played Sunday night, for 50 minutes, traveled on Monday, found out Chris [Clarke]'s ACL was torn, played Tuesday, got to take a day off according to NCAA rules, we were off Wednesday. Thursday we just watched tape. We practiced Friday morning, thinking that we would leave Friday afternoon. We didn't leave until late yesterday evening, and had an early game today. I guess the evidence would say no, tat we are trying real hard. As far as strategically, I don't think that we have figured anything out."

(On if having a hot shooting night with a loss is more frustrating) "I think if we don't have a hot shooting night, they beat us by 40. I think the hot shooting night allowed it to be a game."

(On if the team's identity going forward will be a 3 point shooting team to win games) "I don't know. I think we can space the floor. There's going to be five guys on the floor that can pass, dribble, and shoot. When Dream's [Khadim Sy] in, maybe not five guys, but I think we'll have to spread people out so that we can have some driving lines. We are going to have to force rotation the second time. We are playing with a group of undersized guys. We're not going to be good enough to drive it and force rotation on the first time because their size and length are still going to overwhelm us. We are going to have to get to the second and third side in order to have a chance."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jaylen Johnson

Donovan Mitchell

Quentin Snider

Related Videos