Eric Crawford
Aug 15, 2015 9:22 PM EDT
TRUJILLO ALTO, P.R. (WDRB) — Rick Pitino finally got to coach his University of Louisville basketball team in a game Saturday night, a 77-72 win over the Puerto Rico Junior National team. Here are his thoughts from after the game, with questions paraphrased but Pitino’s responses transcribed:
OPENING STATEMENT
Well, I think our biggest problem all week with our team is turnovers. When you look tonight at the execution, we shoot 54 percent, they shoot 33 percent. We got 41 deflections, which is extremely high, a record. On that, we have 26 turnovers to their 16. So when you have 41 deflections and shoot 54 percent and the other team shoots 33 percent, you’re looking at a 30-point victory. Instead, we won a tight ballgame, and it’s all because of turnovers.
Even Trey (Lewis) and Damion (Lee) are having a difficult time playing fast because they’re not used to it. Playing fast rushes you and you have to make good decisions. For a great basketball player (Lee), you would never throw the ball from the corner diagonally over with the game on the line, but he’s not used to playing fast. That’s what we have to get over. We’ve got to get our guys who have never played fast to understand what they’ve got to do fundamentally. Outside of that, they did a fantastic job.
Q: WHAT ABOUT THE PLAY OF QUENTIN SNIDER?
PITINO: Much better. He played well. He played a few too many minutes, but he played well.
Q: TURNOVERS AGAIN WERE AN ISSUE. HOW MUCH OF IT HAD TO DO WITH THE DIFFERENCES IN THE COURT?
PITINO: Well, this is a high school court. It benefits us in some ways defensively. It hurts us in some ways offensively. What we did on the national team, and what the junior team did every night, was, they got in the face of our 4 men and 5 men. What they’ve got to do is pivot, rip and make plays. At the end, they made some good plays, some good high-lows and recognition. But the No. 1 weakness right now of our basketball team is passing. That’s got to be something that has to be worked on.
Q: DID YOU GET OUT OF THIS WHAT YOU HOPED?
PITINO: Times two. It was much better. You know, these trips sometimes are really a vacation where you can mentally bond together but it’s not physically rewarding for improving as a basketball team because the competition is not real good. Bahamas is an indication. So we got a lot out of it bonding-wise, we got a lot out of it basketball-wise.
Q: YOU SAID YOU HOPED TO LEARN SOME OF YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
PITINO: I think we’re very athletic. I think we’re fast. I think we’re eager to learn. But we’ve got to get Trey and Damion to understand this is a new game for them and to play fast. And we’ve got to get our interior people passing the ball better. That’s something we’ll work on.
Q: HOW DO YOU DO THAT?
PITINO: You practice it. Just like you practice — the key is, you don’t like dummy practice, you practice against defense. You have to rush a guy getting into your face, make the right play, get people to slap at the ball. You simulate a game, just like this.
Q: WAS THIS EVEN MORE VALUABLE FOR THE FRESHMEN?
PITINO: Well, I found out what they can’t do, as well as what they can do. And that’s a good thing. So you know what to work on coming out of it.
Q: YOU HAVE TONS OF VIDEO, AS WELL. DOES THAT HELP?
PITINO: We have, except for tonight’s game. We’ve gone over every game, every detail. We hadn’t come close to getting 41 deflections until tonight. Last night we had nine at halftime. So tonight we got the deflection total, which is good.
Q: WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?
PITINO: Well they’re going home. They get a week off. School starts in 9 or 10 days. Then we go back to working on the fundamentals.
Q: HOW ABOUT FOR THE STAFF?
PITINO: Well I’m here. You guys get time off, I don’t.
Aug 15, 2015 9:22 PM EDT
TRUJILLO ALTO, P.R. (WDRB) — Rick Pitino finally got to coach his University of Louisville basketball team in a game Saturday night, a 77-72 win over the Puerto Rico Junior National team. Here are his thoughts from after the game, with questions paraphrased but Pitino’s responses transcribed:
OPENING STATEMENT
Well, I think our biggest problem all week with our team is turnovers. When you look tonight at the execution, we shoot 54 percent, they shoot 33 percent. We got 41 deflections, which is extremely high, a record. On that, we have 26 turnovers to their 16. So when you have 41 deflections and shoot 54 percent and the other team shoots 33 percent, you’re looking at a 30-point victory. Instead, we won a tight ballgame, and it’s all because of turnovers.
Even Trey (Lewis) and Damion (Lee) are having a difficult time playing fast because they’re not used to it. Playing fast rushes you and you have to make good decisions. For a great basketball player (Lee), you would never throw the ball from the corner diagonally over with the game on the line, but he’s not used to playing fast. That’s what we have to get over. We’ve got to get our guys who have never played fast to understand what they’ve got to do fundamentally. Outside of that, they did a fantastic job.
Q: WHAT ABOUT THE PLAY OF QUENTIN SNIDER?
PITINO: Much better. He played well. He played a few too many minutes, but he played well.
Q: TURNOVERS AGAIN WERE AN ISSUE. HOW MUCH OF IT HAD TO DO WITH THE DIFFERENCES IN THE COURT?
PITINO: Well, this is a high school court. It benefits us in some ways defensively. It hurts us in some ways offensively. What we did on the national team, and what the junior team did every night, was, they got in the face of our 4 men and 5 men. What they’ve got to do is pivot, rip and make plays. At the end, they made some good plays, some good high-lows and recognition. But the No. 1 weakness right now of our basketball team is passing. That’s got to be something that has to be worked on.
Q: DID YOU GET OUT OF THIS WHAT YOU HOPED?
PITINO: Times two. It was much better. You know, these trips sometimes are really a vacation where you can mentally bond together but it’s not physically rewarding for improving as a basketball team because the competition is not real good. Bahamas is an indication. So we got a lot out of it bonding-wise, we got a lot out of it basketball-wise.
Q: YOU SAID YOU HOPED TO LEARN SOME OF YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
PITINO: I think we’re very athletic. I think we’re fast. I think we’re eager to learn. But we’ve got to get Trey and Damion to understand this is a new game for them and to play fast. And we’ve got to get our interior people passing the ball better. That’s something we’ll work on.
Q: HOW DO YOU DO THAT?
PITINO: You practice it. Just like you practice — the key is, you don’t like dummy practice, you practice against defense. You have to rush a guy getting into your face, make the right play, get people to slap at the ball. You simulate a game, just like this.
Q: WAS THIS EVEN MORE VALUABLE FOR THE FRESHMEN?
PITINO: Well, I found out what they can’t do, as well as what they can do. And that’s a good thing. So you know what to work on coming out of it.
Q: YOU HAVE TONS OF VIDEO, AS WELL. DOES THAT HELP?
PITINO: We have, except for tonight’s game. We’ve gone over every game, every detail. We hadn’t come close to getting 41 deflections until tonight. Last night we had nine at halftime. So tonight we got the deflection total, which is good.
Q: WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?
PITINO: Well they’re going home. They get a week off. School starts in 9 or 10 days. Then we go back to working on the fundamentals.
Q: HOW ABOUT FOR THE STAFF?
PITINO: Well I’m here. You guys get time off, I don’t.
