CARDINALS

Transcripts: Pitino, Blackshear talk UVA

Jeff Greer
Louisville Courier Journal
Louisville's Wayne Blackshear scores two in the first half. 
March 4, 2015

Here are the transcripts from today's Louisville basketball press conference with Rick Pitino and Wayne Blackshear:

PITINO

Opening statement: Well, we always say the season went by fast, but this year seems like it's faster than most. The first year in the ACC has been a fun experience. I'm not sure playing Virginia is fun. I just did a TV show and we always have the three keys to the game, and the first key for us was shut down the airport and make sure they don't get in here.

Related:4 takeaways from Pitino's UVA preview

They're a remarkable team because they not only play great defense, but they let the shot clock go down a little bit -- unless they're down and then they shoot the ball quick -- and they make shots with the clock running down better than anybody in college basketball. So we have a lot of respect for them. We did a very good job in the second half, did a very poor job in the first half.

I was extremely disappointed in our performance against Notre Dame, not physically but mentally. Because what we wanted to do against Notre Dame was make sure we moved the basketball and got paint touches, so we'd have a chance to offensive rebound. We did it in the first 8-10 minutes of the game, and then in the second half, the one thing we did not want to do was shoot 3s on the break. And in two crucial moments, Quentin (Snider) took one on the left and Terry took one on the right. Terry was wide open and he said, 'Coach, I'm wide open,' and I said, 'Yes, but the way to beat Notre Dame is to have a chance to offensive rebound because they're playing four guards. You're playing into their hands. They're better in that type of game.' And in those crucial moments, it gets away from us, (then) they make their free throws and we don't. Ballgame over.

And the reason I bring that up is, against Virginia, we said, stay away from the one-on-one play because they're great at defending one-on-one. And the first half we went one-on-one, the second half we did not and we wound up losing the game because we gave up second shots at the end of the game.

So it's been a unique year in the ACC. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would because I really like the conference a great deal and what they stand for. Enjoyed playing on the road, enjoyed getting to see different places and this will be a great challenge for us going into senior night. We like to win on senior night, but we're going against a team that's 28-1, so we'll see what happens.

On if Virginia's different without Justin Anderson: A team like Virginia's not a whole lot different without him. They really aren't, because their system is what they're all about. They have a defensive and offensive culture, so somebody else steps up. They're a team with almost every player back going into next year. So it's really their system more than anything else.

Related:UVA's Anderson out Saturday vs. U of L

Now, I will say this about us. I've made up my mind. I'm throwing up my hands. Even though it's late in the year, I'm dramatically changing our system. I've only got a couple of days to do it, but when Chris Jones left, a big part of our defense left ... Our matchup zone the last four years has confused people on what to run, how to execute, how to handle the changes. And this team, with Chris out, just doesn't play it well because it's based on communication, on knowing the other team's offense, when to change on the fly, and this team doesn't grasp it. So we're going to go away from it and do what coaches call 'dumb it down' quite a bit going into the tournament. We're going to change dramatically and I think it would help us in the long run.

On why he'd announce that: Well, it's not going to make a difference in this game because they're not going to know what we're going to do because I'm not telling you, but we're going to change. This is one team that doesn't care ... They ran their man offense against us last time, so it's not going to change dramatically for them. If I told you we're playing a 1-3-1, it would really matter.

On the NCAA's punishment of Syracuse: You don't want to see any friend have tough times. I know Jim -- he's a pretty tough guy and he'll get through it. I said to my son, 'Boy, Syracuse got hit hard' and he texted back, 'Well, Jay Bilas doesn't think so.' I didn't answer him because I had a TV show to do, but I don't know what Jay said. I think any time a coach is taken away from his team for nine games and any time you vacate (108) games, that's significant to me. So I don't know what he meant by that. I feel bad for Jim, obviously, but he'll get through it and hopefully, it will make Syracuse stronger and better in the long run.

On the NCAA investigating 20 schools for academic misconduct: Here's what I really think, I think this has been going on for 20 years, but here's what happens. We're in a different generation right now. The secretary of state has a personal email on a government server -- everything is caught today -- so this has been going on except everything gets caught. If one of your players goes to a party, it's going to be tweeted out that he's at that party, so he'd better act correctly. I'm not talking about the Chris Jones situation, I'm talking about anything.

Today, everything is caught publicly, so you'd better do the right things because everything's going to be reported on. You're not going to get away with anything because all the haters in the world are going to make sure you do things the right way. It's just different today, because every action is reported. This has been going on for years, except you're not going to get away with anything. There might has been academic misconduct going back a long time.

Look, I think you'll agree -- I think Roy Williams is one of the more ethical people I've met since I've been in coaching, and there's academic problems at a school where nobody ever thought there would be, and that's North Carolina. So you've got to make sure everything's done the right way. Like, we make a big deal here. I tell our academic guy all the time, 'You make sure that when they get tutored that the players do all the work, 100 percent. Make sure the tutors aren't doing any of the work at all.' We get tutored around the clock here and it's very important the players do the academic work. And Anthony (Wright) is, I think, the best in the business because he understands that. You've just got to be careful with every single thing you do today.

On if he's more vigilant in that environment: No, just more aware of little things you may take for granted, that makes common sense that tutors don't work for anybody. You just stay on top of that more so than you ever have. As I watch TV -- I'm a big political buff -- I don't know why anybody would want to run for political office. I really don't understand it. You don't get paid anything. I get a kick out of Chris Christie because of the way he stands up there. I don't understand why he's trying to put himself through that. He's going to gain a hundred pounds if they keep abusing him. He looks great now.

On how his defense is still sixth in the nation in efficiency despite ongoing issues: I've never had 16-18 deflections in a game in my 40 years of coaching. I've never had such inactivity, and I told the players after the game, 'I'm going to make these changes because I want to help you stop thinking out there because, obviously if you're thinking and not reacting, you're not going to get a lot of deflections.' I told them, 'This earth is going to shake if you don't start getting your 35 deflections. So I'm going to help you in one sense, but I expect the job to be done.' Because I haven't been happy with it. I like the effort of the team -- they're really a good group of guys.

What am I happy with this year? I'm really happy with the record because, if you watch us practice, I would never have said we're going to have this record. So I'm really, really ecstatic about where we are right now. But on the other hand, because we have six freshmen ... Like I said to Matz (Stockman) today -- and you don't see it because I never put him in games -- but this young man's going to be a terrific basketball player. He can run well. He's got long arms. He can jump out of the gym and he's developing really, really nicely. But I said to him, 'Matz, something's bothering me about you. You don't get things right away. Is it because it's a second language to you?'

He said, 'It's more the terminology that you use. I've never heard that before. So I said why don't you stop and ask us, he said, 'Well, I'm a little embarrassed.' I said, 'Don't be embarrassed.' Sometimes you don't realize with foreign players. You take it for granted. And we have two that are going to be outstanding. And Jaylen Jonhnson, who I also think — like right now you see that Anas and Q and sometimes Shaqquan are playing the best of the freshmen, but actually, if you looked at practice, Jaylen and Matz have made the most improvement of the freshmen. So they're all going to be very, very good, but they're all somewhat timid freshmen. So that's been our struggle this year, because we have six timid freshmen, mixed in with guys like Montrezl, and it's not the greatest mixture. It's combustible, in a sense. You're taking about a guy who has the patience of — has no patience at all — has no patience for that type of behavior at all.

On playing good offensive teams: I'm not sure they're better than the top Big East teams we played, you'd have to look at that. I think deflections, when you're playing against Virginia, you're probably right. They're so well-schooled and well-disciplined at moving the ball — and Notre Dame as well. But we've played against some of the best teams in the country (in the past) and gotten 35 or 40 deflections. We averaged 36 deflections for the championship year. And in the Final Four year we averaged 32-33. This is the lowest I've had since I've been here. And, part of the reason maybe the scoring is coming down. You know, maybe the possessions are coming down. You know, that's the next hurdle for college basketball right now, how do we get more scoring in this game.

On U of L's average deflections per game: We're probably around 26, 25, which is the lowest since I've been a coach.

On Wayne Blackshear: He is playing terrific basketball, and more so in practice than even in the games, but the games count, obviously, much more than practice. Wayne is one of the nicest young men, I put him in the class of Peyton and Gorgui, that I've ever coached. He's nice to everybody. He never has a bad day. He's a gentleman at all times, he's been a true credit to coach. And these two players, Montrezl and Wayne, are the last remnants of a championship team. So, it's over. There's nobody left from the championship team after this year, so we're going to miss these guys. They're part of three straight conference tournament championships and multiple league championships and the most wins in college basketball in the last three years. So pretty special guys to our program, and somebody asked me why, if Terry is going to leave how come we don't recognize him. We don't recognize sophomores. We do make an exception for a junior. So, that's one of the reasons why. But Wayne is a special, special young man. You wish every athlete could have his personality and the way he treats people.

On having seven ACC All-Academic team selections: It's just that the ACC isn't as tough as the Big East academically ... I'll say this about Louisville. Louisville is a strong state university. Lot of good state universities. Some majors are tougher — our business, if you're a business major here it's very tough, no question about it. But I can only speak on basketball. Our academic guy, Anthony, is the reason that we are this way. He is an ex-football player. And he is, I'm Mary Poppins compared to him. He is a tough, tough guy. He will speak to these guys like nothing I've ever heard. I blush with his language it's so bad. He really is tough. He's really tough on these guys academically. If they are not in study hall the right way doing their job, it's like the world is coming to an end with him. So he is a tough, tough, son of a gun, and that's why we get the results we get. He believes in discipline. Like, he's crushed right now that Chris Jones will not graduate. He's crushed about that. It's bothering him.

On Kevin Keatts winning CAA coach of the year: Not after playing him. But he was picked — after speaking with him in summer time, he was saying, what do you do? We were picked dead last. We have nobody that can score the basketball. I didn't know if he was setting me up for playing us. Then I looked at his stats and the fact that he was picked dead last, and now he's in a four-way tie for first, but Keatts is a unique individual. He's not only a very good coach; he's not only a very good recruiter and evaluator, but he's a positive individual. And he's got, we talked about him taking that job, I said do you feel you can recruit? I think every job is a great job. I felt that way about Boston University even though they hadn't had a winning season in 15 years, I felt that they could recruit as well as anybody at the top of their conference. I told Kevin the same thing. In your conference you can recruit as well as anybody at the top, and that's what makes a great job. What makes a bad job is if you can't recruit to the teams at the top. So he's done a great job, and he's got four guys sitting out right now who are four starters into next season, so he's got a real good future.

He's coming in for the Minardi Classic. The Minardi Classic is a tournament next year. It's a four-team event, so he's coming in.

On Oregon State starting five walk-ons for senior day: Why'd they do that? (He didn't have any seniors and thought it would be a good way to reward the walk-ons.) I'm not going to try it against Virginia. I'm sure that's fine. A lot of interesting things happening in college basketball right now. It's at the point in the season right now where everybody wants to start playing well and I'm hoping we can. We had three really good games, then all of a sudden, I don't know what's with us at home. I can't figure it out. I just think we try too hard and want to please so many people. On the road, all we try to do is stick to the game plan. Just stick to the game plan. When we get at home, I don't know what to expect on senior night. I just don't know what to expect.

On what he wants out of Saturday: For seeding wise? I think it has a number of different things. Obviously we've been trying all year to get in the top four and get the double-bye. If you look at what goes on if we both lose, like ping-pong balls, North Carolina has everything in their favor to get the four if it goes to that. If we win we're in, regardless of whether North Carolina wins. From that significance it's very big. From a seeding standpoint it's very big. If we had to be seeded today we'd be a four trending to a five off a loss. If we win, we're a four trending to a three. Our goal is to win the tournament. So it's a very, very important basketball game. We want to play extremely well, because if you put in a 1-3-1 zone this late in the season, you better be ready. No, it's a very important game. We want to play well. Like I say with Quentin Snider, he right now is thrown into something he's not ready for, but he'll do a very good job for us. We've just got to make sure the rest of the guys cover for him defensively. It's like putting a young quarterback out there and the offensive line doesn't block. We've got to make sure we cover for him, because he can be an asset for us.

On Terry Rozier: He took five challenged shots. He's playing really hard. I talked to him. I said, Terry, you're being your own worst enemy and I showed him why. I said, not very many people can make the shots you're taking. Off-balance shots where he's kicking his leg. You're putting yourself in a box to have a bad night. And he just totally stepped up. Most players will give you an excuse and then when they watch it they'll half admit to it. He said you're 100 percent right, I'll correct it. And on the break, he said coach I was wide open and you always get on me if I don't shoot when I'm wide open. And I said, I totally understand that. But I told you on the break, drive to the basket, don't shoot threes in this game, because you can offensive rebound against Notre Dame. Against Virginia, if you have an open look, by all means take it. So he understands. He's a very, like Montrezl, very intelligent kid. He admits to when he's not playing well. He's a pro. He had an unbelievable practice yesterday. Totally upset that he didn't play well in that game. He has a lot of pride in what he does, a lot of pride in the team. He'll take ownership for having a bad game.

BLACKSHEAR

On senior day: I mean, I've seen what it's like from the past years. It is going to be an emotional night because I've been here for so long and I've been around different teammates and everything.

On if he's playing his best since he's been at U of L: I'd say yeah, a little bit. I've had some inconsistent days where I didn't really play to my (best). The last couple games I think I've been performing well and just try to keep it going.

On U of L: It's meant a lot, just getting recruited, just being here. Everybody gets along so well. That's what made me want to come here -- the team and how everybody treats each other like brothers and stick together.

On reflecting back on his career: Obviously coming in hurt, you don't want to do anything like that as a freshman. But I mean, hey, I played on some good teams since I've been here, a Final Four freshman year, going back to another Final Four, getting a championship, winning two Big East championships, going to the AAC, winning a conference and going to a Sweet 16 ... I mean, hey, a lot of people can't say they did that over the course of three years. We're going to try to go out there and battle for the ACC now.

On rewatching the 2013 national title game: I go back from time to time and look at it. It's just memories that are good to have. It's always good that you can see it on the Internet and everything.

On why he's playing better: We're moving the ball a lot more. Everybody is just synching into what coach wants them to do now. We want to get paint touches and everything. He's been on me about getting into the paint a little bit more, which is opening up for me to drive more and shoot more, too.

On the challenges of being a student and a basketball player: I'm not going to say it's easy because it's not. You have your time that you have to get your stuff down. Our academic advisers stay on us 24-7 with our grades and everything. He makes that everyone's doing what they're supposed to be doing at every time and making sure they study and everything.

Me coming in, that was an issue for me, school and everything. Since I've been here, I've never had a problem. I've always needed the help I needed. It just made me better and it made me like school a little more.

On if he thought he had to exert more effort there than he thought he would: I thought I did ... It was on me just being a little lazy in high school. Coming here, it woke me up. I'm by myself, so basically you're growing on your own. I just made the effort to just do better.

On being an Academic All-American: I never thought that, but I mean it's a great accomplishment. Hard work pays off for that. I'm proud of myself for it.

On what he's passed on to the next group of U of L players: Hopefully we just showed those guys games are never over with. We always battle, no matter what or who it is. We just always give 100 percent out there, from the past teams on. That's every team that comes through here. We battle through the games, no matter what.

On Virginia: Every team that plays against them struggles against their defense because they're so connected with their defense and they help each other out so well that it makes tough for other people to score. Just like any other team, they've got flaws in their defense that can exposed at times.

On second half at UVA: It definitely does (give U of L encouragement). We think we did play them a lot tougher. If we would've done that in the first half, we could've pulled away with it, but we have to live with what we have.

On 2012 Final Four experience: We can talk about -- that was a different team. We had different players back then, but it's the same situation right now a little bit. Every guy on this team thinks we're going to win every game every time we go on the court. There are no bad attitudes.

On helping freshman PG Quentin Snider: Q is a talented player ... Just like every freshman that comes in, he's going to have trouble playing defense here because we play so many different styles. The only thing we can do is just help him to have his back out there on the floor and continue to talk and rotate and do the little things to help him out.

On Montrezl Harrell: It's going to be fun. It's the final two and the end of an era. Me and him, we basically almost came in together, was able to get a championship. He's had a great career here, too. It's going to be an emotional night for both of us.