CARDINALS

Four quick hits from Pitino's UNC preview

Jeff Greer
Louisville Courier Journal
Louisville's Terry Rozier signals a made 3-pointer last Saturday against Duke.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino and sophomore guard Terry Rozier previewed Saturday's matchup against UNC for a good 40 minutes on Friday.

Here are four quick takeaways from the press conference:

RimGate 2015. At this point it's become a bit of an ongoing joke that Louisville's rims are tighter at the KFC Yum! Center than they are at the ACC arenas Louisville has seen so far. The shooting percentages are different: Louisville's shooting 41.5 percent at home and 49.6 on the road. It extends to 3-point shooting (27.9 percent at home; 37.2 percent on the road) and free-throw shooting (64.4 percent at home; 70.2 percent on the road).

Rozier maintained his theory from Wednesday that the home rims are tighter at both ends, grinning as he repeatedly asked someone -- anyone -- to "loosen our rims." For his part, Pitino said opponents shoot at the same rims, noting that Duke shot 52.9 percent in the second half at the Yum Center and Kentucky shot 47.8 in the second half of their game. His solution: He now must figure out a way to convince Rozier and backcourt mate Chris Jones that they've, in fact, loosened the rims, even if they haven't.

Story continues after video of Rozier on the rims

Rozier and the NBA. Terry Rozier's become one of the best guards in the country this season, and he's taken over as Louisville's go-to guy in big situations (with help from Jones). His current stat line -- 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists and two steals a game -- has been boosted by a string of standout performances. And his shooting percentage keeps climbing, resting now at 46.9 percent overall and 36.4 from 3. He's rising up NBA mock draft boards, and Pitino reiterated again on Friday that his star guard won't be back for his junior year. (Note here that Rozier said it would "selfish" to talk about the NBA and that he hasn't made a decision yet.)

"Terry can run the pick-and-roll well," Pitino said. "You really have 16 seconds to run the offense (in the NBA). You have to get into the lane. You have to get your paint touch. You have to get by your guy. You have to create. Terry's a creator with good size. He's 6-1. He's also a very, very good athlete. He's a good defensive player. He's a willing passer. And he acts like a pro ... Once they start interviewing and people start talking about him, his stock's really going to be high."

Big minutes for Rozier/Jones and finding a bench. Louisville ran an intrasquad scrimmage on Thursday and didn't use Jones, Rozier, Montrezl Harrell or Wayne Blackshear. Pitino was impressed with Quentin Snider and Anton Gill, but they still have a significant drop-off when they sub in for Jones and Rozier. That, paired with the fact that neither Jones nor Rozier ever seem to tire all that much, doesn't concern Pitino about his guards' hefty minutes in league play.

More on this subject:Jones, Rozier thriving in ACC play

"Anton's like Q -- he can go in the game and be a good offensive player," Pitino said, "but both of those guys -- we take a major drop-off defensively when we put them in. Q just played a short minute of play (at BC) and made three major mistakes defensively ... You have to live with that because they're playing so hard ... I have a choice sometimes: Do I play Anton or do I play (Jones) at the 2 when I bring Q in the game? If Chris is not fatigued, who would you rather go with? Who's the better defender? Who's the better shooter? Who's the better breakdown guy? You've got your answer."

Brice Johnson's Harrell comments. Montrezl Harrell just had nine points and five rebounds at UNC back on Jan. 11, when UNC beat Louisville 72-71. After the game, UNC big man Brice Johnson said the scouting report on Harrell was simple -- box him out on the offensive glass and he will be taken out of the game completely. Pitino waved off that comment, saying that's the scouting report for every big-time rebounder.

"Go block out Kenneth Faried and tell me he doesn't get the ball," Pitino said. "Don't you think every NBA guy tries to block out Kenneth Faried with his reputation? See how many offensive rebounds he gets a night. You want to be blocked out? You'll be blocked out. If you have the desire to get around, you'll get around."