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CARDINALS

Quick thoughts from Rick Pitino's Q&A

Jeff Greer
Louisville Courier Journal
U of L head coach Rick Pitino conducts practice at the KeyArena in Seattle ahead of their matchup with UC Irvine in the second round of this year's NCAA tournament.

Rick Pitino spoke on Tuesday, reviewing Louisville's opening-weekend success and previewing the Cardinals' trip to Syracuse for the Sweet 16.

A few quick takeaways from his press conference:

Crediting Blackshear, Mathiang. Pitino said 6-foot-5 wing Wayne Blackshear "never gets the credit he deserves" for the things he does for Louisville. On Sunday, the senior had 10 points and six rebounds, and his block was "a game-changing moment," according to Mangok Mathiang. Since the Chris Jones dismissal, Blackshear has averaged 13.6 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. But his increase in productivity goes beyond statistics.

Related:Inside a jubilant, cohesive U of L locker room

But Pitino then added that the 6-foot-10 Mathiang deserves more credit, too. Only so many players can score, Pitino said, so Mathiang helps in other ways, especially on defense.

Revisiting the NC State loss. We'll obviously talk at length about the Feb. 14 NC State win at the KFC Yum! Center, but Pitino touched on that experience a bit on Tuesday, saying NC State deserves credit for the way it played. "They dominated us," he said. He was unhappy with his team's shot selection -- they were 0 for 9 on challenged shots -- and a lack of effort in rebounding. But, he later said, Louisville has changed a lot in the last month. "I think we're much smarter in the last month."

Related:Louisville women outlast USF in tournament

Richard's pre-game talk. Before Sunday's game, Minnesota coach and former U of L assistant Richard Pitino spoke to Louisville. In a nutshell, the younger Pitino told Louisville that he'd "give his right arm" to be in their position, Rick Pitino said. He spoke about body language and togetherness, challenging the Cardinals to look like they're having fun.

Calipari for coach of the year. If you were on Twitter at all on Monday, you saw the waterfall of writers wondering how UK's John Calipari didn't win the USBWA's Coach of the Year award. It was given to Virginia's Tony Bennett. On Tuesday, Pitino said Calipari deserves to be coach of the year. "I think I'd give it to John," Pitino said. "When you're undefeated and nobody has beaten you," you should be the coach of the year.