Pregame Press Conference | Louisville vs. Minnesota
March 20, 2019 | Men's Basketball
First Round NCAA Tournament | March 20, 2019
NCAA Men's 1st and 2nd Rounds: Des Moines
Wednesday, March 20 2019
Des Moines, Iowa
Chris Mack
Jordan Nwora
Christen Cunningham
Louisville Cardinals
THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome the student-athletes from Louisville, Jordan Nwora and Christen Cunningham. Questions for our student-athletes?Q. Christen, is this what you envision the when you decided to come to Louisville? The projections were 11th in the ACC and all that. Did you think the NCAA Tournament was attainable?
CHRISTEN CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, my number one goal when I came to the University of Louisville was to be able to compete for a national title and I thought we could make the tournament from day one. So it feels good to finally achieve it and be here.
Q. This may sound like a simple question, but how did you guys get here? Not many expected you here in March. What is it about this group that has allowed you guys to make it here?
JORDAN NWORA: You know, getting here I think it's just us working hard and being tough, so really just working hard, being tough, listening to what Coach Mack and the coaching staff has preached to us all year and because of that sticking together and because of that we won a few games and did well in the ACC which got us here.
CHRISTEN CUNNINGHAM: I would say similar. We were a resilient group. We had a really tough schedule. We knew that coming into the year, but we took the motto of being stronger together and unbreakable and we used being 11th as a chip on our shoulder for motivation and knew what we wanted to achieve.
Q. Coach Mack is known for using negative motivation to fuel you guys. Has the whole Minnesota-Pitino angle been played out in practice or privately among you players and with the coaching staff as a source of motivation?
JORDAN NWORA: No, we haven't really talked about that at all, actually. We're just worried about playing Minnesota. Coach Pitino was here and now it's Coach Mack and we know that Minnesota has Coach Pitino's son, but we haven't talked about that. Minnesota is our focus going into tomorrow and doing our best that we can to win the game.
CHRISTEN CUNNINGHAM: For sure. It's kind of a sexy story line for the media, but as far as our program is concerned, we are worried about beating Minnesota and advancing. It's not about any name that's associated with the school. It's just about players going out there and making plays.
Q. What is the biggest thing that stands out about Minnesota to you guys? What do they do really well? They're a team that's won a few straight. What stands out to you?
JORDAN NWORA: Probably their big guards. Coffey is a really good player, and obviously Jordan is a great player, too, double-double machine. They can beat you up in the post. We're going to have to be physical with them, too, and just do our best against that.
CHRISTEN CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, they're a really physical team. Bigger guards and some really physical guys in the post. So we understand what they bring to the table. We just gotta match their intensity in the paint.
Q. I know you're not supposed to look ahead, but you've already beat Michigan State. When you saw this bracket did you think this is a really good route for us? Really good draw? Either one?
JORDAN NWORA: I mean, everything is going to be tough, no matter where you are in the bracket. Every team at this point in the year is going to be good. They're here for a reason. Right now we're not even looking ahead to Michigan State. Michigan State has to play Bradley first, so we're not even worried about that. Worried about playing Minnesota. They're not going to be somebody we're going to go in and trounce by 20. We've to play hard and do our best to beat those guys first, and then we will worry about the game after that. It's going to be tough regardless of who we play, but right now we're just worried about getting past Minnesota.
CHRISTEN CUNNINGHAM: I don't think we have looked ahead to Michigan State at all. Obviously, we played them earlier in the year. But I would probably say I know we're a much different team that played them and I'm positive they're probably a much different team as well. But like Jordan said, we are focused on Minnesota. Gotta take it one game at a time.
Q. Christen, what did you anticipate your role to be when you transferred to Louisville? What were you looking to provide on the court?
CHRISTEN CUNNINGHAM: I knew right away I was going to be a guy who would come in and provide leadership for this team. They had a lot of talented players but not a lot of experience. So that was one thing I wanted to come in and do is try to be a leader on and off court. As far as on the court just be a playmaker. I got a ton of great players around me, really talented. I knew it would be my job to put them into position where they could be successful.
Q. Jordan, you are the most improved player in the ACC. What do you attribute that to?
JORDAN NWORA: Just a lot of hard work in the off season, Coach Mack and my teammates pushing me and being in the weight room over the summer and also this summer playing overseas, boosting my confidence, being able to do well over there translated to being able to do well, here, too. From there, just a confidence thing, keeping that and staying in rhythm.
Q. There are so many teams in the NCAA Tournament, but you guys get the first game of the day. Does that up the ante knowing that all eyes are going to be on you guys to kick this off?
JORDAN NWORA: I think it ups the ante, kicking this thing off. But like I said earlier, we're already hyped enough for this first game. A lot of guys, it's their first time being in the tournament, and we just wanting to out and show everybody what basketball is all about.
CHRISTEN CUNNINGHAM: It's definitely cool to be the first game of the tournament and everybody is going to be watching. But also the flip side is if we don't bring it we could be the first team out of the tournament. So we are going to use it both ways. But, yeah, it's something we are looking forward to.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen.
We are joined by Louisville head Coach, Chris Mack. Coach, welcome.
CHRIS MACK: Thank you. Glad to be here, and obviously a big challenge here tomorrow against a very physical opponent in Minnesota, and, you know, it's odd to be the first game of the tournament. But that's how the draw works. So we're excited to be in Des Moines and start off the tournament.
Q. Chris, this is the first game of the tournament. There are a lot of people that think this match-up was designed for ratings or story lines or that. As you process all that, A, what do you believe along those lines; and, B, have you used some of the perceptions about it as motivational fuel for your players?
CHRIS MACK: I haven't even talked about it with our players. I just feel like it's such a special experience to make the NCAA Tournament for a few of our guys for the very first time and only time in their career. So to focus on anything other than trying to be at our best against a really good Minnesota team I think would be robbing them of the experience of being here.
You know, I don't mind, and I understand why media are going to ask about it. But here is the thing: I took over for a Hall of Fame coach. I get that. He's a terrific coach. I asked him his advice on Louisville when I took over the program, and he was nothing but gracious to me. But this is about the players and the coaches' experience in the tournament and that's it. It's no more than that. I think the Committee could have probably had a little bit more self-awareness so we don't have to be up here answering these type of questions and focusing on the student-athletes and the coaches' experience and the fan base's experience, but, you know, I can't control that.
Q. Coach, a lot of people haven't seen you play very much this year. They're going to see you play tomorrow. For people who aren't familiar with your team, how would you describe this particular group, what they've done to get here?
CHRIS MACK: That's a great question. I feel like we're a resilient group. We've been through a lot. I think we're a very together group. Sometimes that may not come out on the floor in terms of making the right play or being at our best, but the intention has always been clear with our group. We are a very, very together group, a close-knit group. It's no secret that when I took over there wasn't the greatest light around the program. I told our players in the very beginning when I met with them that they weren't the cause for it, but they could certainly be the cure for it. I think anybody that's watched us play this year, I've asked our players to be this way. I want fans or people that watch our team to say, wow, those guys play hard. They play together. They play the right way. We haven't been perfect, but I'm really proud of our group because they've done that all year long and that's all you can ask for as a coach.
Q. You've acclimated yourself to the Gophers. How much has Jordan Murphy stood out and to be 6'5" or 6'6" to be able to produce?
CHRIS MACK: He's that short? I haven't been next to him, so I don't know that. But he looks like he's 6'11" on film. He's very, very strong. I think like all great players he knows who he is. He has an identity in terms of how he plays and he doesn't try to get outside that identity. You know, you hear him in his interviews. You can tell he's really smart. He would be a great leader. I mean, to be where he's at in the history of the Big Ten rebounding the ball says a lot about the type of player and the will that he has. We're going to have to do it collectively. Some teams in the Big Ten have put their 5 on him. I've seen him seek and destroy 4's and 5's, so we have to be able to do it as a team. He jumps out on film. Like a lot of teams that make this tournament, he's not their own threat, not even close. He's just a part of their machine.
Q. Not to look ahead, but the first Michigan State game was kind of a breakthrough for your program. I think people perceive that you were further ahead maybe than they expected. In your own mind, did you see this potential that early? What told you that this had the makings of a tournament team?
CHRIS MACK: Yeah, this will have nothing to do with who is on the other side of our pairing or bracket because we're not naive enough to think that we're going to get past Minnesota. We're focused on trying to play the Gophers. I really had this belief in the summer when I worked with our players I saw their work ethic up close, their skill level. I saw the strides they were making, and I think they all, and I'm talking about our players, they all became a little bit more believers in themselves when we went to New York and played in the Barkley's, and even though they didn't win two games I remember Mike DeCourcy saying if Louisville doesn't play bad and doesn't get decimated by Tennessee or Marquette, which was a valid point from an outsider's perspective early in the season.
But we played Tennessee tooth and nail and the last five minutes couldn't score against their zone, and then we had Marquette. We had control virtually up to the last two games and I don't feel like anybody in our locker room felt like we played perfect in either of those. So when we left we felt like we could have done the job, should have done the job. Now we have to figure out what we need to do to win those type of games.
Q. Chris, you have so few players who have done any of this at the NCAA level. They haven't been through any of the trappings of the tournament. What kind of a challenge is there beyond that?
CHRIS MACK: It's basketball, and we try to be the same people whether we're in the practice facility at Drake today, at the Yum! Center or Chapel Hill, doesn't matter, you could point to all kinds of teams. UMBC last year I don't think they had ever been to a NCAA Tournament. It's not a rock in a sling shot. It's basketball. We have to be prepared like we are every game, and then we have to try to go execute that game plan to the best of our ability against a really good team.
Q. When your team has been good, it's done some pretty special things against some really good teams, maybe not for forty minutes. When you look at that, is that kinda the upside for this team? Are they that much above their heads or is it a matter of them getting to that more consistently?
CHRIS MACK: I tell our team all the time that we don't have to be perfect. Nobody that we play is going to be perfect. It's not going to require a perfect effort to win or a perfect game plan. It's just our effort and our energy and our resiliency. Those things have to be perfect. Those things have to be perfect. You might miss a shot, might miss a free throw, turn the ball over. But our effort and our energy needs to be better than our opponent's, and it needs to be consistent each and every night. That's hard. That's hard to do for a long stretch of games from October all the way through now. That's very difficult. A lot of teams can't do it. I think our team has done a great job of that. We're not always, again, perfect, but I think we've done our part.
Q. A lot of the teams that are seeded 1 or 2 are familiar to you, ridiculously so --
CHRIS MACK: I would like to thank Kenny Klein for that scheduling.
Q. What is the value at this point in the season for having gone through that gauntlet?
CHRIS MACK: I know our players feel as though there won't be a team that we'll face where we will wonder whether we can compete with them or not. I think there are a lot of teams that come into this tournament that say, hey, we want to win some games. But, man, if we're matched up against a few teams can we really play with those guys and give ourselves a chance to win? I know our group feels like we can because we have been. We've been forced to because of our schedule. We have come out on the short end of the stick, and there is a reason why they are the best teams in the country. One of the teams we played, I believe, will be holding a National Championship trophy if it's not us. That's the type of schedule we have played. I think it should give our guys great confidence if we stay within ourselves and play with great energy and do what we work on every single day, that would be good enough to keep us there down the stretch to win a game.
Q. If it's not you, who?
CHRIS MACK: I don't know. It could be different teams on different nights.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.
Richard Pitino
Jordan Murphy
Dupree McBrayer
Minnesota Golden Gophers
THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome senior forward Jordan Murphy and senior guard Dupree McBrayer. Questions for our student-athletes?Q. For each of you, your thoughts on where the team is at right now and what's going to be important tomorrow against Louisville?
JORDAN MURPHY: I think our team is in a good place, confident going into tomorrow. We're still figuring out our game plan and stuff like that and figuring out our plan of attack. Obviously, it's a very important game to us. Means a lot to our young guys and our older guys going out in a good way. I think that's about it.
DUPREE McBRAYER: Still figuring some things out on how we are going to guard and stuff, but we feel really good about tomorrow.
Q. The angle in our town is Rick Pitino and Richard Pitino and all of that. Does that cross your consciousness in Minnesota? Does it even come up?
JORDAN MURPHY: No, not at all. We probably see those headlines all the time and we take it with a grain of salt and pass by it. It's not something our team is focused on. It's about our team versus Louisville and that's it.
DUPREE McBRAYER: I've been telling the guys from day one it's not about the Pitino family. It's about Minnesota versus Louisville and knowing that our coach came from Louisville and it's just Minnesota versus Louisville. We will be fine.
Q. In the absence of other questions, how much contact have you had with the senior Pitino? How much has he been at your practices? Have you learned anything from him about basketball? Take all the other stuff out of it.
JORDAN MURPHY: We really haven't had a lot of contact with him. Obviously, he got a new coaching job overseas. So we haven't had a lot of contact with him this year. Obviously, you see him tweeting all the time and giving us his best regards. So I think that's about the most part, but we appreciate his support wherever he is at.
DUPREE McBRAYER: Before he got his job over in Greece he was able to give us pointers, and that's about it. He's in Greece, and like Murph said, we see his tweets giving us his best regards. We thank him for his support.
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much.
At this time, we have Richard Pitino, University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. They are making their second NCAA appearance and second in the last three years under Richard Pitino. Coach?
RICHARD PITINO: Excited to be here. The grind of a regular season is a lot, and the goal is obviously going to an NCAA Tournament. So that in itself is a great accomplishment. Proud of our guys to be able to bounce back from a lot of things out of their control last year to get back to an NCAA Tournament with five new players, starting two freshmen, playing one of the toughest schedules in the country and obviously one of the best conferences in all of college basketball.
To be here is great. We move on to a new season. Celebration is over and now it's time to go compete for a championship and play a really, really good Louisville team.
Q. Richard, of all the teams you could have played in the first game here it's Louisville. What was your reaction when you saw that team in the bracket opposite you?
RICHARD PITINO: Well, I was wanting to know where we were playing. Location is important to me. Then I wanted to know what day we were playing because we got a little injury with Matz. I was hoping that we would play Friday. But other than that it was more about okay, how does Louisville play? It's get to work. Watch film on them. Put together a game plan.
You know, all that other stuff didn't even really cross my mind to be honest. It was doing my very best to put ourselves in a position to play a really good Louisville team, a very well-coached Louisville team.
Q. With Jordan Murphy, how has he picked your brain over the years to try to become a better player, and how have you seen him do that?
RICHARD PITINO: Jordan is a thinker. He's not one of those guys you yell and scream at. He's analytical. You more need to talk to him about his game. Every big guy in the country has an identity crisis. They want to be outside. They want to be shooting threes. They want to do those things, and Murph did can do that. He can shoot threes, but he knows where his bread is buttered. We've talked about that. And we've told them not to deviate from where he is. Do great at what you're good at. Obviously, with Murph it's a process of me and him communicating all the time about where we can put him in a position to succeed. He's a real coachable kid.
Q. You picked up things from your dad along the way coaching in the tournament. Have you picked up X's and O's or mentality? This team is good at relaxing at this time of year. Was it more strategy or mentality you picked up along the way?
RICHARD PITINO: I would say the coaches you are around. The X and O part you are going to do what you feel comfortable with, but it's that environment that you take from and the culture that they build and the way they are at times like this in March. I've been lucky to be around it, obviously, growing up my whole life. As an assistant coach I was in several tournaments as well. You've got to make it about the game. You've got to enjoy this. You've got to enjoy the exposure and the spotlight being on your program. You've got to enjoy these open practices, be in front of fans and to do these things. But then you've got to make it about basketball. That's the biggest things. You've got to execute. You've got to go tough. It's a single-elimination tournament, and playing at this level in the Big Ten tournament we were able to get two wins in single-elimination games. So I think we understand that part of it, but we've also got new guys that haven't been here before. So that may be a new adjustment period throughout the course of the game as well.
Q. Your dad is not known for holding his tongue, but he has not tweeted about this game. He has not texted as far as I know about this game. Has he been asked to be quiet?
RICHARD PITINO: Not by me. We spoke. Normally he would listen if I told him to be quiet. I think you know better than that. No, I spoke to him once. He's in Greece. Not easy to get ahold of people in Greece. We didn't talk much about anything other than he asked about Matz, how he's doing, asked about the team. At the end of the day my focus is totally on helping our team be put in a position to succeed, not a whole lot else more than that.
Q. When you talk about the job and I know you and Luke Murray are friends. The job that they've done and that the staff has done and you knew the guys and the job that Chris has done this season?
RICHARD PITINO: It's been really good. Whenever you're bringing in fifth year seniors. Do they have a true freshman on the roster? They don't. Obviously, with them coming in here and scrapping together a pretty good roster, obviously Jordan Juarez one of the most improved players in the country. Offensively what they run is tough. Defensively very good and what Chris Mack did at Xavier is phenomenal. I've got a lot of respect about what they do. I think Chris does a terrific job. Luke is one of the best up-and-coming assistant coaches in the country. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a head coaching job at some point soon. He is really, really connected. So all those guys do a great job. I think Chris will win big there.
Q. Coach, you mentioned mental toughness. Is this team tougher mentally than any of your past teams and if the answer is yes, why?
RICHARD PITINO: I think some of 'em are. You know, anytime you get whether it's the Big Ten or any of these power conferences you need to try to stay old to the best of your ability. It's hard to do with transfers and deflections and so on, but when you got Michael Hurt, Jordan Murphy, Eric Curry, Dupree McBrayer, guys like that who have played in the NCAA Tournament and who have finished in the top 4 in the Big Ten, played on the road in the Big Ten, went undefeated two years ago. Those are the guys that need to be the voices. The other guys need to follow suite from there. That's what being part of a winning program is about. You need guys in your locker room to step up and I think we've got really good leadership in there. They don't get real emotional. They're not too high, they're not too low. I try to be that way and I think the personnel is as well. They go about their business. They're not about a beat your chest type of team. You make a three you're not going to see a bow and arrow. They're just going to get back on defense, and that's the way I like it. They're a fun group to be around.
Q. Coach, update us on Matz?
RICHARD PITINO: We held him out yesterday, slowly coming back, getting a little bit better. That will be a game-time decision, but he got popped pretty good in that Purdue game. So we've got to make sure we're careful with him and do what's best for him.
Q. Jarvis has a unique role on your team. Talk about that?
RICHARD PITINO: We did a military team building thing in the fall and you do a bunch of team building exercises, and Jarvis, they've done the program for seven or eight years and at the end of it they give an MVP t-shirt to the best leaders and at the end of it Jarvis was one of the two best leaders. Crazy good quality leadership. Played off and on. You would never know it. He is on the bench, not afraid. We talked about vulnerability. Russell Westbrook is one guy. He is not afraid to compete, and that's Jarvis. He is not afraid to be emotional and pour himself into the team. He came in that game versus Michigan and everybody was exhausted and he was like the Energizer bunny, because he plays so hard. So I think his future is bright.
Q. What has Matz meant to the team this year especially with Curry going down?
RICHARD PITINO: Curry does down right before the Purdue game and Matz hadn't played a lot. He played in the nonconference and did some good things. But with Curry going down Matz comes into the game with 7 blocks, 9 rebounds, 6 points, and changed the game. That's what being part of a team is all about, being ready to go, not feeling sorry for yourself when you don't play. He's a terrific, terrific kid. He's been a valuable member of the team. He's never pouted and never felt sorry for himself. That's what being a team member is all about, being ready when your number is called. It's crucial. We will hopefully have him back tomorrow and I don't know if we will or not, hopefully he gets healthy more than anything.
Q. I know earlier this week you said this isn't about you versus Louisville, but as you get closer to the game how do you control those emotions and make sure they don't seep into your preparation?
RICHARD PITINO: As you get closer, more and more it's about the game. It's been that way from day one. I think when you see Louisville pop up you are more about okay, what am I going to say to the media? How am I going to lie to the media? I think you have to be prepared for those questions. But from an emotional standpoint when you play in the Big Ten there are so many emotional games. I learned that. I'm only 36. As a young head coach you have to keep your emotions in check. I think I do a pretty decent job of that but that ball goes up and I'm watching film and I'm watching Louisville play, it's not about who the name on the front of the jersey is. I'm watching a really good team Louisville, a well-prepared team with a lot of talent, and how can I put myself into a position to beat them and I know it's going to be difficult.
Q. For Johnson, it's been a complex path over the last four years for him. He had a big moment on senior night. What has he brought to the team?
RICHARD PITINO: Jarvis Johnson was an important recruit for me when I got to the Twin Cities. He was a fringe guard. We thought he would fit us well. The cool thing about Jarvis is he signed with a third year head coach, to believe in me and when he's been here he's provided unbelievable leadership. He is a voice in the locker room, regardless of the fact that he plays and he talked about the right things. He's been appreciative. His family has been appreciative. You don't always get that as well, so he's been a very, very valuable member of our program and unfortunately hasn't been able to play. But we all see the big picture and we are happy that he's going to be able to graduate.
Q. NCAA was asked if anybody in the room said, "Is this a good idea to match Louisville and Minnesota," chose not to comment. What is your thought on that? Should this game have been played or should they have found a way to match you with somebody else?
RICHARD PITINO: I don't have a whole lot of opinion on it because when I'm sitting there Selection Sunday I'm looking around. I'm excited about the fact that I know we're in the NCAA Tournament. I'll play whoever. I'm excited. There is not one part of me that isn't 1000% honored, appreciative, humbled by the fact that we're in the NCAA Tournament. It's a hard tournament to go to, only 19% of our college basketball teams get to go to it. So you never are going to hear me ever complain about anything that we play. Like I said, I got tons of respect for their program. Their coaching staff does a really good job. So I'm going to be very, very excited tonight leading up to this game and tomorrow. Doesn't matter who we play. I'm just grateful for the opportunity.
Q. You mentioned Jordan, but also Steven Enoch and Malik Williams and other guys that can step out and hit the three. How do they affect the game?
RICHARD PITINO: The way that they play is a coaches dream. We've got five guys that can step out and shoot. Malik can knock down a shot. Enoch is so big down low and the fact that he could hit a three is a different dimension as well, and anytime you have pick-and-pop and pick-and-roll, I think we've got really good personnel. I think Chris does a good job of putting them in the right spots to put you in a bind and make you make decisions.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Rev #1 by #189 at 2019-03-20 17:20:00 GMT
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