Jonathan Lintner
Ahead of the Louisville basketball team's Puerto Rico trip -- the Cardinals will play nine games in six days next week -- coach Rick Pitino chatted Thursday with reporters both domestic and foreign, teleconferencing in media from abroad.
• Once questions from Puerto Rico finished up, Pitino led with praise for Damion Lee, the Drexel transfer.
"He's much better than I anticipated," Pitino said. "I was hoping he'd be good."
Kevin Keatts, a former Cardinals assistant, coached against Lee and Drexel last season. He and Pitino agree the guard is "lethal because of how he scores."
As for his other graduate transfer, this one from Cleveland State, Pitino said, "Trey Lewis is also a young man that just gives incredible leadership."
Pitino said he can't guarantee who will start this season, other than Lewis and Lee.
• Pitino compared the attitude of this team to his Final Four team at Providence, saying it's "the best I've seen."
"I've got guys coming up to me after practice, shaking my hand and thanking me for practice," Pitino said.
How'd this happen? Pitino credits luck, his graduate transfers, plus factors like Mangok Mathiang's cheerleading and freshman Donovan Mitchell's class.
"It's the luck of the draw so to speak," Pitino said.
• Pitino said his U of L team is superior to Puerto Rico's best when it comes to conditioning. The Cardinals, though, will match up against a team with better 3-point shooting.
"It'll be an equal thing," he said.
As for which side may have an edge, consider this: Former Cardinals Samardo Samuels, Earl Clark and David Padgett suited up Wednesday against the Puerto Ricans and lost by 23 in a five-quarter game.
• Pitino, 62, noted coaching both teams is tiring. But the main thing he's had to overcome is his voice, which "is constantly going."
So Pitino uses a microphone. As for what he has given up this summer working overtime, the coach quipped, "Vacation. Saratoga. I'm saving a lot of money. I'm not buying any horses or betting on them, so that's helped me immensely."
• Pitino, joined by a pair of his Puerto Rican assistants at the press conference, said former Cardinal Chris Brickley has worked National Team players out during their stay in Louisville, one that's been "mostly basketball." Pitino said the team, however, was to visit the Kentucky Derby Museum and Muhammad Ali Center before leaving.
He'll take 16 players -- most of whom didn't play on his Pan American Games team -- to play U of L, after which two cuts will be made. Added Pitino: "We don't know right now who to pick."
• Additionally U of L announced some schedule changes for the trip. The Cardinals will now play a doubleheader on Aug. 13 rather than a single game. On Aug. 15, they'll play a single game rather than doubleheader. Also, an Aug. 16 matchup with the Puerto Rican National Team moved to a different venue, Humacao Arena.
• On doubleheader days, Pitino will mix in younger players Raymond Spalding, Deng Adel and Ryan McMahon with walk-ons to play Puerto Rico's Junior National Team. Sophomore Matz Stockman will get time against the Senior group in split squad format.
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Ahead of the Louisville basketball team's Puerto Rico trip -- the Cardinals will play nine games in six days next week -- coach Rick Pitino chatted Thursday with reporters both domestic and foreign, teleconferencing in media from abroad.
• Once questions from Puerto Rico finished up, Pitino led with praise for Damion Lee, the Drexel transfer.
"He's much better than I anticipated," Pitino said. "I was hoping he'd be good."
Kevin Keatts, a former Cardinals assistant, coached against Lee and Drexel last season. He and Pitino agree the guard is "lethal because of how he scores."
As for his other graduate transfer, this one from Cleveland State, Pitino said, "Trey Lewis is also a young man that just gives incredible leadership."
Pitino said he can't guarantee who will start this season, other than Lewis and Lee.
• Pitino compared the attitude of this team to his Final Four team at Providence, saying it's "the best I've seen."
"I've got guys coming up to me after practice, shaking my hand and thanking me for practice," Pitino said.
How'd this happen? Pitino credits luck, his graduate transfers, plus factors like Mangok Mathiang's cheerleading and freshman Donovan Mitchell's class.
"It's the luck of the draw so to speak," Pitino said.
• Pitino said his U of L team is superior to Puerto Rico's best when it comes to conditioning. The Cardinals, though, will match up against a team with better 3-point shooting.
"It'll be an equal thing," he said.
As for which side may have an edge, consider this: Former Cardinals Samardo Samuels, Earl Clark and David Padgett suited up Wednesday against the Puerto Ricans and lost by 23 in a five-quarter game.
• Pitino, 62, noted coaching both teams is tiring. But the main thing he's had to overcome is his voice, which "is constantly going."
So Pitino uses a microphone. As for what he has given up this summer working overtime, the coach quipped, "Vacation. Saratoga. I'm saving a lot of money. I'm not buying any horses or betting on them, so that's helped me immensely."
• Pitino, joined by a pair of his Puerto Rican assistants at the press conference, said former Cardinal Chris Brickley has worked National Team players out during their stay in Louisville, one that's been "mostly basketball." Pitino said the team, however, was to visit the Kentucky Derby Museum and Muhammad Ali Center before leaving.
He'll take 16 players -- most of whom didn't play on his Pan American Games team -- to play U of L, after which two cuts will be made. Added Pitino: "We don't know right now who to pick."
• Additionally U of L announced some schedule changes for the trip. The Cardinals will now play a doubleheader on Aug. 13 rather than a single game. On Aug. 15, they'll play a single game rather than doubleheader. Also, an Aug. 16 matchup with the Puerto Rican National Team moved to a different venue, Humacao Arena.
• On doubleheader days, Pitino will mix in younger players Raymond Spalding, Deng Adel and Ryan McMahon with walk-ons to play Puerto Rico's Junior National Team. Sophomore Matz Stockman will get time against the Senior group in split squad format.
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