Transcript: Pitino previews ACC tournament
Here are the abbreviated comments from Rick Pitino's press conference on Monday. We left out the Puerto Rican national team stuff and focused in on the ACC tournament. For more about Pitino becoming Puerto Rico's head coach and U of L's trip to the Bahamas in August, click here.
The rest of the Pitino transcript ...
Opening statement: "We could possibly play North Carolina, Virginia and Duke if we were to be successful and get to the finals. That, in itself, really, really has got me very excited, because that's about as good as it gets. Not saying it'll turn out that way, not saying we'll get to the finals, but it could turn out. That to me is about as entertaining and challenging as you could possibly face. Obviously, North Carolina to get by Georgia Tech and the other teams have to win. …
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"Being in the first ACC tournament for the University of Louisville is very exciting. Since I've been here now, 14 years, I think the last game at Freedom Hall and the other night were two of the most exciting games in terms of a fan standpoint I've seen.
On similarities between ACC, Big East tournaments: "I think this competition, what we could potentially face, is incredible. The only thing I probably will not like -- because I don't know it -- I have a funny feeling there will be more Carolina fans there than Louisville fans.
"We faced, as you all know, we faced Syracuse in the finals of the Big East. That was 15,000 Syracuse fans and 1,500 Louisville fans. We've experienced that before. The place will be all Carolina and there will not be many Louisville fans. … That's saying if Carolina gets by Georgia Tech (or) Boston College. I'm not picking these games, by the way. So don't read into that."
On scouting in conference tournaments: "Basically, we've already scouted these teams from playing them so the same break-up goes. We're ahead of it. Mike (Balado), who was just in here, and Doug Davenport who runs it, they're working ahead of time putting in all the edits we need. You can't deal with much game film at that point because you have less than a day preparation. Everything is based on eight-to-12-minute edits of everything the other team does. So you're ahead of schedule.
"Sometimes you try to concentrate on who you think's going to win. This time we'll try to do the same. The interesting thing is why everybody was asking me why it was so important for me to get this double-bye. It really wasn't because of playing four games versus three, because sometimes I like to do that. It's more for the fact that you get three full days of preparation where Carolina gets none. Or the winner of Georgia Tech-BC gets no time. All they get is a walk-through.
"Let's say we're guessing now that Carolina will be the team that we'll play. If we guess wrong, we have no advantage. But we can now today, tomorrow prepare for North Carolina. Or prepare for who we think is going to win the game. That's not a big edge, but it is an edge. So that's why those double-byes are really important."
On if they guess wrong: "Well then you prepare for the other team and you had no advantage if you've guessed wrong."
On his view of conference tournaments: "I love conference tournaments, not to be the opposite of John. I've always loved them because I love the competition. I think it prepares you for the NCAA. The more games you play, the more I like it. I just like it because you get more experience watching things, working on things. Yeah, it doesn't really pertain to seeding but it's another thing where it's … I loved going to Madison Square Garden and playing in the Big East tournament. I thought that was about as good as it gets. Looked forward to that not as much as the NCAA tournament but near as much. Now I can't speak for the ACC tournament because I haven't done it.
On NCAA tournament seeding: "If we win the tournament I can guarantee you we'll be a 2-seed. What are we now, 24 wins? That'd be 27 wins and look at the teams you're beating."
On getting a 3 seed: "I think we'd have to win at least one game and probably two games.
On beating Virginia and if it helps team confidence: "Sometimes when a coach preaches certain things and then the players don't see the victory, so here I'm saying to them, I'm guaranteeing you guys if you get your 35 deflections you're going to win 95 percent of your games, you've got to believe in this, you had 18 in a game the other night that we lost. Eighteen in a game. We had 19 at halftime (against Virginia), in a slow-down game with not a lot of possessions. We had 10 steals in the game. So I think they see everything in front of them and what they can do if they get their defensive goals. And then from the offensive end, I think they realize if they share the basketball and they understand where the openings are going to occur — especially Montrezl in the last game.
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"The way Virginia plays, they trap the low post. What I told Montrezl, if offensive rebounding is the No. 1 way you score, then you're not going to score very much. And then we also talked about him ducking in the paint and not outside the paint. So there are a lot of really good things. I liked the way the ball moved. The ball moved quicker than sometimes the defense could set up, and that was a big offensive key to playing against Virginia. If Virginia knows what they're going to do. If they can step up their defense at you, you're not going to score. But if you can create movement, where you can, what I call attacking downhill, you have a chance to score."
On Louisville's success in tournament settings: "I think it takes a while to pick up the things we're trying to do. Anytime you have a lot of variables that need to come together it takes time. And the more time and the more success you have of playing it, the better you'll be. I think it was really, really important for us to take out some things going into that game, as we talked about before, so they can just play with a lot of mental freedom, where they're not just thinking about everything. And I think that helps as well."
On running their offense through Mangok Mathiang: "Just the endings. (Laughing) You know, what's really funny as you watched it, Terry — and you have to give credit to Virginia — they really forced Terry to go wide. What I was hoping for was getting fouled in that situation, if he could get fouled and turn the corner or get the ball to Montrezl, obviously that. But anytime they force a person wide, the guy setting the screen is going to have to take the shot. You saw it with Montrezl Harrell one time and Mangok one time. We obviously felt comfortable with Mangok, we felt comfortable if Anas was in the game. I did not feel comfortable, obviously, with Nanu in the game."
On U of L's offense in the final 10 seconds: "What you hope to do is have the ball in the hands of Terry Rozier, or Montrezl getting the ball in the post, or Wayne getting the ball on the wing. You hope to have one of those options."
On a difference between conference and NCAA tournaments: "Pretty much the same. The way I motivate or prepare is going to be the same as the NCAA Tournament. That's why I like it a little bit, because, you play Thursday-Saturday, Friday-Sunday, and I think you have little time for preparation, except for the first round, and the second round of course, when you get a little more time. Once you get past that first day you have a day to prepare, so I sort of like it as a dress rehearsal. Again, playing against great competition really helps. We're going to play a North Carolina team in the first round — if they win, again — now they'll definitely lose, by the way. So it's great preparation."
On different stakes in league tournaments: "They know how badly I want to win this tournament. And how badly I wanted to win the last Big East Tournament, and how badly I wanted to win the second-to-last Big East Tournament. The team knows how much emphasis I put on this, and how much we want to win it."
On playing title contenders and the advantage U of L gets from it: "We've played great competition this year, and different competition. And I will say that, it doesn't surprise me that Kentucky is still undefeated. It doesn't surprise me that Duke is playing the way they've played. It doesn't surprise me to see Virginia where they are. They are all very different, very different styles all three of those teams, but they're all great in their own right. And then I've watched Arizona on television. I'm equally impressed with them and what they do defensively. All those teams play great defense. Different ways. Obviously you have to have offensive talent to win. You have to have unselfish players. And all those teams I just mentioned have that. Now I have not seen Gonzaga as much. I have seen Villanova, and Villanova is very worthy of a one seed."
On Chris Jones: "I have not (spoken to him). I spoke to his dad, but I have not ... I asked his dad about (how Jones is doing), he said he's keeping his head up. I have a lot of faith in the judicial system, and I hope justice is served."