Jeff Greer
Puerto Rico beat Louisville twice on Wednesday, but Rick Pitino was particularly upset with the second loss, which saw Puerto Rico's senior national team paste U of L by 34 points.
Pitino insisted that this is all part of the reason why they took this trip.
Anyway, here's a look back at the two games tonight, and a thorough review of each player's performance.
And here's the transcript of Pitino's postgame Q&A. I left out the Puerto Rico-centric questions ...
Opening thoughts
The guys in the Louisville locker room were worried too much about officiating and not about playing basketball, and it takes you out of the game mentally. They learned a valuable lesson because they're going to have to go at Duke and at Michigan State, and they can't worry about anything other than that.
On if it's difficult to not convey that during the game because he's with Puerto Rico
I just conveyed it now. These are pro athletes and it's no different than Michael Jordan, when the college kids beat them in the Olympics and one guy went off, Michael said, 'I've got that guy.' The same thing they did with Damion Lee tonight. Vassallo said, 'I've got him.' Because they were embarrassed with him getting 36 points. These are athletes with a lot of pride.
On if his U of L team was tired
I think their spirits were destroyed tonight. They learned a valuable lesson ... I think the other team played great. And that happens. This is what this is all for. Our road schedule, they're going to learn to play with hostile fans, and these fans are cheering for us. They're going to learn a lot from this.
On if he took any positives from U of L's performances
No, I thought our team was horseshit tonight. The reason they were horseshit is this team (Puerto Rico) played defense like they've never played defense before. They're getting a culture for the first time of what defense is all about.
On whether it's difficult to convey the learning lesson message to young players
Look, they were concerned with the wrong things tonight. The bench was getting under their skin, from Puerto Rico. They didn't respond the right way.
On learning more from Wednesday's blowout than Tuesday's close game
It's the summer. They've got to realize right now what defense is all about, because in three weeks, Puerto Rico's learned what it's like to play great defense. They've got to learn to play the same type of defense.
On U of L's first game of the night
They should've won both games but they don't have the guard play to win both of those games.
On Ray Spalding
He needs to just learn defense, run the ball into his hands. He's slow reacting to the ball when catching the ball. He's going to be a great player. I don't know when it's going to be, but someday he's going to be a great player.
On Duke and UNC on Big Monday
I'm just trying to get through this trip. I've been going nine or 10 hours a day and I'm not concerned about Big Monday or any of those things like you guys are.
Puerto Rico beat Louisville twice on Wednesday, but Rick Pitino was particularly upset with the second loss, which saw Puerto Rico's senior national team paste U of L by 34 points.
Pitino insisted that this is all part of the reason why they took this trip.
Anyway, here's a look back at the two games tonight, and a thorough review of each player's performance.
And here's the transcript of Pitino's postgame Q&A. I left out the Puerto Rico-centric questions ...
Opening thoughts
The guys in the Louisville locker room were worried too much about officiating and not about playing basketball, and it takes you out of the game mentally. They learned a valuable lesson because they're going to have to go at Duke and at Michigan State, and they can't worry about anything other than that.
On if it's difficult to not convey that during the game because he's with Puerto Rico
I just conveyed it now. These are pro athletes and it's no different than Michael Jordan, when the college kids beat them in the Olympics and one guy went off, Michael said, 'I've got that guy.' The same thing they did with Damion Lee tonight. Vassallo said, 'I've got him.' Because they were embarrassed with him getting 36 points. These are athletes with a lot of pride.
On if his U of L team was tired
I think their spirits were destroyed tonight. They learned a valuable lesson ... I think the other team played great. And that happens. This is what this is all for. Our road schedule, they're going to learn to play with hostile fans, and these fans are cheering for us. They're going to learn a lot from this.
On if he took any positives from U of L's performances
No, I thought our team was horseshit tonight. The reason they were horseshit is this team (Puerto Rico) played defense like they've never played defense before. They're getting a culture for the first time of what defense is all about.
On whether it's difficult to convey the learning lesson message to young players
Look, they were concerned with the wrong things tonight. The bench was getting under their skin, from Puerto Rico. They didn't respond the right way.
On learning more from Wednesday's blowout than Tuesday's close game
It's the summer. They've got to realize right now what defense is all about, because in three weeks, Puerto Rico's learned what it's like to play great defense. They've got to learn to play the same type of defense.
On U of L's first game of the night
They should've won both games but they don't have the guard play to win both of those games.
On Ray Spalding
He needs to just learn defense, run the ball into his hands. He's slow reacting to the ball when catching the ball. He's going to be a great player. I don't know when it's going to be, but someday he's going to be a great player.
On Duke and UNC on Big Monday
I'm just trying to get through this trip. I've been going nine or 10 hours a day and I'm not concerned about Big Monday or any of those things like you guys are.
