Louisville-Seton Hall Postgame Quotes
January 05, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2011
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Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
(Opening Statement)
"We got off to a great start. A lot of good things happen for you defensively when you get off to a start like that, but believe it or not, there are so many times in a game of basketball when you see a team up 18-2, 19-2, and the other team comes back. We did a very good job of making sure we kept that distance. I thought Gorgui [Dieng] did a fantastic job of blocking the basket. Stephan Van Treese had 10 rebounds. He really should have had 18 rebounds. There were about four or five he should have had. The good things is, he came up with 10 and did a lot of nice things. We just need to get him to focus a little more with defenses. I thought he played a really good game."
(On developing depth)
"We made up our mind, just because of these injuries, we're not going to deviate from what we are trying to do. We're just going to play the other guys. We're going to play George [Goode], we're going to play Stephan Van Treese. I think Bullet [Elisha Justice] is ready to come back now. I probably should have played Russ Smith a little bit more, but they were pressing and I wanted to get Peyton [Siva] some work against pressure."
(On the importance of getting the first BIG EAST win)
"We told our guys, what we believe in--and I don't know if it's going to be true because nothing anymore in this BIG EAST makes any sense - but we said 10 wins is what you're striving for in the conference. Eleven or 12 gets you probably a bye, and 14 probably gets you a BIG EAST championship. It doesn't matter who you play, you just have to fight for a victory. We've got a team [Seton Hall] that has been shorthanded and a little undermanned. We did a very good job on their guards, who have been playing well of late with [Keon] Lawrence and [Jordan] Theodore."
(On Gorgui Dieng picking up the American game)
"I think he's got really good talent. I think he's got to develop his lower body strength. The other thing is, he's always relying on his 7-foot-4 wing span, but he's got to start jumping higher. He can almost dunk just standing on his toes, and he's got to start developing a low post game by getting some low post body strength. He will. I think he's going to be one of the better big men I've coached. We've just got to keep him around and develop his body."
(On the goals for the game)
"We wanted to rebound more than anything else. I didn't care where they came, and I took Chris [Smith] out in the first half and said, `You don't have any rebounds.' I said, everybody has got to rebound the basketball, and he came through in the second half. He picked up some. I thought Peyton [Siva] overall, except for a few turnovers, played a terrific game. I thought he pushed the pace. I thought these guys were passing and they try to confuse you. They'll play a match-up zone, then go to man, then go back to zone and our guys do a good job of recognizing that. They didn't hang their heads after UK. They worked very hard in practice, and this team amazes me with their attitude. They're really a lot of fun to coach."
(On Stephan Van Treese)
"I don't think he really played well tonight, but I don't think he played bad. I think he's a young man who, if you get him in a running game, he can outrun anybody. He's got to hold on to that ball, he's got to chase the ball on the backboard. He had 10 rebounds in the game, and I believe he can chase it and do some good things. He's been posting up well in practice, and this was an opportunity. He just couldn't match up with [Terrence] Jones in the Kentucky game. A one-on-one situation is not his forte. But in hindsight, he would have been better than Mike Marra coming in off of that."
(On George Goode)
"He got us off to a good start. He's a good shooter. I wanted to see if he could rebound tonight. I think he's a step behind reacting to the ball. I read a clip from [Michigan State Head Coach] Tom Izzo today, I thought was great, talking about motivation to I guess Renardo Sidney. A quote about how he always considered guys who chased the ball and rebound as very passionate about the game. That to be a great rebounder, you have to love the game of basketball. I believe that is true. With rebounding, defense, drawing charges, and doing those things, that's what we're trying to develop with our guys, that passion. You see guys rebound and it's obvious, even in the pros, when you watch guys like [Kevin] Garnett and [Tim] Duncan. Guys who have been rebounding for years, they're very passionate about the game. You have to be passionate to be a great rebounder. That's what we're trying to develop. I think Gorgui [Dieng] is very passionate about offensive rebounding. He's just a little weak defensive rebounding. He's a big old shot blocker in there because you don't have very good vision with him."
(On Terrence Jennings and rebounding)
"I think he can be much better. He's got to be passionate. He worked very hard in practice this week, but it was more working hard to try and score than it is rebounding. I've coached some real good ones, good rebounders like Charles Oakley. They just set their mind. T-Will [Terrence Williams] was good at it. I said T-Will, I need 12 tonight, and he said, you got it. He was very passionate about it. But we'll keep working on that."
(On the Louisville defense holding Seton Hall to 29 percent shooting average)
"I thought we did a good job on switching on the pick and roll. We did something that's even a little more difficult, we switched from the wing to the roll guy and brought the guard who was supposed to play the big guy to the wing. That takes a lot of concentration on their part, and they did a good job."
Seton Hall Head Coach Kevin Willard
(On getting behind in the first half)
"It was hard coming back. We knew coming in after the Kentucky game that they would be ready to go and they did a good job at jumping on us and taking advantage of mistakes we made. It's tough to come back when you're down 24-2."
(On what coach Pitino said to him after the game)
"Coach and I talk quite often. He just said keep your head up and keep working. The same thing he always says."
(Thoughts on Louisville)
"I love this team. I've watched them all year obviously because my father coaches them. Obviously, they're not the most talented group. They don't have the super stars, but they play hard and unselfish, especially when they are hitting their shots, they can beat anybody."
(On Fuquan Edwin's play)
"Fuquan has continued to play well all year. He brings a lot of energy in practice. He brings great energy in games. He going to continue to get better as the year goes on."
