NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 30, 1997

Anthony Epps

Ron Mercer

Scott Padgett

Rick Pitino

Jared Prickett

Wayne Turner

RON MERCER: Right now I'm fine. Come Monday, I don't think we really have time to be tired. We have one more game left for the national Championship, and I don't think anybody is going to feel tired because we know we have to go out and do it. So I have to go out and deal with it.

JARED PRICKETT: I think they're extremely quick, certainly with me and Scott, with their big men, the way they rebound the basketball. Great around the basket. Really jump great off the court. And with their perimeter players, they shoot well, an extremely quick team. I think it's going to take a team effort for us to win.

JARED PRICKETT: The press has been one of our strong points all year. Other teams think they can beat the press or not. We're going to come out and be a pressing team. That's the main focus for our team. That's what really gets us going, make a couple of key turnovers and just runs our engine for us, to tell you the truth. And just get a lot of easy baskets on the press and turn teams over.

JARED PRICKETT: Didn't bother my shooting, because I shot all 2, 3-foot baskets. I don't know about these guys.

SCOTT PADGETT: It didn't affect me.

ANTHONY EPPS: From a guy that stayed on perimeter like I do, I don't think it does. There's too much going on for you to really worry about a breeze or nothing. When you've got 47,000 people in one arena, I believe you need a breeze to keep them cooled down a little bit, because the fans seemed to be getting a little hostile last night with some of the calls I thought were made on court.

ANTHONY EPPS: Yeah. Basically, what we try to do night in and night out is to go out there and try to mainly take control of the ballgame. We have some great perimeter ball players, and our opponents have great perimeter ball players. Once you lose a guy like Derek Anderson, you have to decide who's going to do the scoring, and who is going to do the small things. I think that's one of the great things about this ballgame. When Derek went down, we had different people step up that really helped us get to this point.

RON MERCER: To me it's the challenge, but then when other teams talk about me and they figure they have to go out and stop me, the way I look at that time, we have other guys on this team that's capable of playing, and other teams have been beaten, not by me, but by the rest of my teammates. When people focus on me, but we have teammates, other guys playing on this team, I'm sure other people look at it as well. This is more than Ron Mercer on this team. We wouldn't have gotten to this point without the rest of the guys stepping up big.

JARED PRICKETT: The bench was already filled up. There wasn't any room for me. So Coach gave me a seat right there in the front row. Me and another player, Jason Lathrem, he was a walk on, he sat in the front row with me. And that was about it.

JARED PRICKETT: I think the Mississippi State loss last year really showed the guys that now if they lose going into tournament time, the season's over. They didn't want to suffer a loss. And I think in the South Carolina game this year showed us that we can't suffer another loss, because if you suffer another loss you're out of the game. So I think all the guys have just come out and gave it all and gave 100 percent on the floor and played the full 40 minutes. And we just keep getting wins. Hopefully we can win tomorrow.

ANTHONY EPPS: We're going to play team defense. Can't two people beat the University of Kentucky. That was a total team effort when they beat us. You're going to need a total team effort tomorrow night if you're going to beat us. Hopefully those two losses to South Carolina will help us get over the edge on what to do and what not to do. We're going to take it as a positive, not as a negative.

WAYNE TURNER: I think it's going to be a totally team effort.

RON MERCER: It's great for me, because once I made a visit, out of the visits I made going into college I looked at when I came to the University of Kentucky, the first thing I noticed about the players that everybody was together. They went out, they hung out together. It wasn't like people on a team had sort of like cliques, where you had different groups going around. Everybody hung out together. That impressed me most about this team. And I knew I wanted to be a part of, not only because everybody was together, but the tradition, the coaches that we had. I just wanted to be a part of that, a part of the winning program. And out of the choices I had of going to college, I knew Kentucky would have a great opportunity in the next two or three years to win a National Championship. And the first year we won a National Championship. A lot of people don't think or dream about winning two national championships back-to-back, but we're in that position now. And hopefully we can pull it off if we do what we're capable of doing what we're doing.

ANTHONY EPPS: Charles is a real great friend of mine. I met him through AAU basketball, and had a chance to play with him. He played with us a lot over the summertime, just to stay in shape. And being from the State of Kentucky, you know, it's just great to see another Kentuckian do well at another school. That's probably the biggest thing right there. I have a great friendship with him, because he's trying to do things with his life. You take the Minnesota game, we knew we had to be physical going in, because they were a physical ball club. We tried to shut down Sam Jacobson and Bobby Jackson. Jackson was in with 23 points. I thought we did a fairly good job. Jacobson only ended up with ten. But Jackson had six turnovers that played into our hands. I think the pressure got to them.

COACH PITINO: I don't think that has anything to do with it, because I've been in situations where we've never lost a Senior Night, and all of a sudden we lose a Senior Night. And it really boils down to when you have so much time on your hands, you try to think of reasons people are going to win. But the obvious is offensive and defensive execution. That wins ballgames for you. We have a team that has as much heart and intensity as any team I've coached. And they all realize now from watching films that there's not one or two guys that you can key on. This is a team that goes to all their players. They've got incredible quickness and speed, and they didn't beat Kansas on a fluke game. They beat Kansas because they were outstanding against an outstanding ball club. And they've been that way throughout the tournament, and they've been that way throughout the season. Even their losses, with the exception of USC, has been hard-fought ballgames that have gone down to the wire.

ANTHONY EPPS: I think Wayne has waited his turn. Coach tells every player that comes here. He told Ron that last year, just wait your turn. Then come to the final game, you saw Ron had 20 points. And last year Wayne didn't get to play in the final. I know him because I've been around him, I felt he was a little upset. But this year he's a floor leader now, he's running the point, he's doing a great job. He had to play 39 minutes. When you play 39 minutes, you can't complain no more. So hopefully his complaining days will be over with. He's doing a fantastic job for us, and we hope he can do it for one more game.

COACH PITINO: No question. But as well as put it on the floor. If you have people that just spot up from the three, then you can take it away. When you have people the way they handle it and go to the line 37 times per game, what they do is what all three point attacks do, they look to get the three or the easy shot in the lane. And this is a team in transition that is as good as I've seen in quite some time. When they're in transition, they, because of the way they ball handle, create the easy three or create the easy drive to the bucket. So they have a lot of different weapons and a lot of different ways they can hurt you, both offensively and defensively. We know that. We respect that, certainly. And our players understand that we have to play a great game to come away with the championship.

COACH PITINO: I wish it was true. If you can tell from all the recruiting magazines, we have not had a top 10 recruiting year. I wish it was true that way. We try to recruit a certain type of basketball player that fits our needs. He has to be able to run, catch, shoot, have that potential. And we've obviously had some great players who have gone on to have some outstanding pro careers early on. Right now we know Ron is going to be able to do that. And then certainly if you look at last year's team and what lies down ahead for people like Wayne Turner and some of our big people, it bodes well. But, no, you're recruiting against the Carolinas, the Dukes, the IUs, the Michigans, and they have the same rap we have. We're all in the same ballgame. They have great tradition, great systems, you have to get a person that wants to come to Kentucky and play this style.

COACH PITINO: Well, Wayne last year was a freshman who had a lot of weaknesses. His foul shooting, his passing, passing to him last year, from his high school days, was treated like a virus. He really didn't enjoy it. He just wanted to score. But he had to score on his basketball team. And he came in with some flaws to his game, but very eager to learn. As Anthony, said probably he wished he could have played more. But Anthony was necessary for that team last year. That team with Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Mark Pope, Derek Anderson, Ron Mercer, Jeff Sheppard, and what was needed was total sacrifice from the point guard and just get the ball to the right players. We found out from the South Carolina loss that we don't have that type of team anymore. We need a point guard now that's going to create, get in the lane and then turn around and get in your face defensively. And we had to wait for the right point, obviously, to do it with Wayne, because he hasn't proved his foul shooting or passing. He's a tremendous young player to coach. And then we killed two birds with one stone, because now Anthony is more effective as a two guard right now. And he's also able to organize Wayne and be on the court with him while he's learning what sets to get into. He's learning from the master when comes to that. It's great for Anthony, it's nice to come on as a sophomore. He may have been interested in instant gratification at that point as a freshman, but he was playing a Beaver Country Day. Now he's playing in Kentucky, along with four NBA draft picks in the likes of Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson. And though Wayne said he's not happy, I have to tell you, he's the most humble, quiet young man I've been around. He may go back to the dorm and say two words, two or three words, I wish I could have played more, one sentence, and that's it. Very little gripe in this young man. Anthony is the one we've got to give Prozac out to from time to time.

COACH PITINO: Well, we had Allen, and we were going to play Ron at the 2. We moved Allen at the 3. And then Allen gets hurt and Cameron had to step up, and he certainly has stepped up. And Anthony really enjoys playing 2 guard. So it's just a matter of different players stepping up. I think they know the defensive system, which is the most important thing. The offense takes a little bit of time. I think the first game without Derek we played Vanderbilt and scored 50 points. And it wasn't because we weren't running. So it takes a little adjustment. We have good balance, we have players that step up, and we have a -- I think we have an outstanding basketball team because they know how much they do have to step up in order to gain a victory. And this is the most fun I've ever had as a coach, because they've made it that way. And they're all terrific young men who just are willing to pay the price to win.

COACH PITINO: Well, we don't press off a missed shot. We will oftentimes just pick up and play good man pressure. But the thing about pressing that's been rewarding for me as a coach is when I first started doing it, it was to camouflage weaknesses of your basketball team. My first year with the Knicks, as well as my first couple of years at Providence, my first couple of years at BU, I felt we needed defense to score offense. I felt we needed defense to cover up our weaknesses when we got to the top of the key down at the other end. The last two years our defense has maintained the level of excellence at each level of the floor. When they cross half court our defense gets just as strong with our man-to-man, and I think that's key. That's when your press is most effective, when you're not trying to camouflage weaknesses. Our guys are conditioned from practices to press off a missed free throw, to press off a made bucket, to change it, depending on how the other team scores. They're conditioned because they practice it so much.

COACH PITINO: Our players are used to -- I was very fortunate, because I learned a lot from the NBA. The NBA is the most prepared league in basketball. The preparation at the NBA level is enormous. And I happened to get one of the biggest breaks in my life when I was offered the assistant's job with the New York Knicks and to work under Hubie Brown, who I thought, still do to this day, is the best at preparing a defense for an offense and then putting it all together. And I was able to study under him for two years, and I'm a firm believer in that. And our players know you're running the Hubie Brown preparation system; different offenses and different, obviously, ways to handle that. I don't think they know that. I don't know if they know who Hubie Brown is, they probably do from TNT. This is really not a preparation team. This team is a team that gets in transition, shoots a high number of threes, and it's going to really have to be a game of quickness and reaction, as much as it is preparation. So even if we did have the time, this is not a team that -- they're very similar to a South Carolina. I know what you're saying, you lost twice to them. Well, maybe we learned our ways from those two losses. It's very similar to St. Joe's, only with a lot more talent than size. But these guys are resilient. They're tough minded. They know what they want. And I have the utmost respect for Arizona. And I know we're going to have to play great and so do they. These guys respect their opposition. They don't talk much, they don't brag much, they just play. And they understand they're going against a great team in Arizona.

COACH PITINO: Well, I think it depends on your style of play. But we have an extensive strength and conditioning program. But it's more our playing. I know I could go out right now and run 8 miles at a decent pace and I couldn't run up and down with these guys one time from a basketball standpoint. It's not just running. It's more the quickness in the playing and the agility. I'm blown away a little bit with what Wayne Turner did last night, because he was getting as much heat as he's gotten in his life. The pressure that was being applied to him bringing it up was unbelievable. And he had to break the pressure. Then he had to turn around and pressure the other team for 94 feet. Then he was the best rebounder last night. He was the best defensive player last night. And in grading the film he was just a big, big lift to our ball club. And I don't, quite frankly -- I know the timeouts are long. And I kept asking Wayne throughout the course of the game, are you tired? Are you tired? And he gives you one-word answers, no. I said are you're not tired? No. I said you're not just being -- stepping up? No. And he just stayed in there and he truly was not tired. He is really well-conditioned. I think Ron, Ron's been playing a lot of minutes, and people have been hitting him, banging him, and he was physically a little whipped last night. And I think right now he's well rested. Because of all those cramps he got the option to rest, and he should come out really fired up tomorrow, because he rested yesterday. Scott, they were in foul trouble, so they're well rested.

COACH PITINO: Well, we don't have -- we have the quickness that they have at the 1, 2 and 3. Where we struggle a little bit is at the 4, 5. We don't have the quickness they have at the 4, 5 spot. But we do have -- now, these two guys are very good runners, and they're big time players. With the game on the line, Prickett and Padgett, take your pick, I'd love to have them both on the court. And they actually are on the court at the end of the game together. I think it's going to be a great game. I think it's going to be played at a high level. I think the team standing at the end is going to win this. I think they're going to have to give a lot of their bodies to win this game. And I think Arizona is a great, great basketball team. I'm trying to figure out a way to defend them. You can't key on one player. Like yesterday, we paid a lot of attention to Jackson and Jacobson. If you pay attention to their back court, then Dickerson kills you. Bramlett is a super player. Terry comes off the bench and he's awesome. It's not the type of team you can key on one or two areas. All five guys are going to have to be played on the court. And I think we're up for the task. It's going to be a great game. We're going to have to play a whale of a ballgame to win.

COACH PITINO: I think that's what you want more than anything else. I think what drives and fuels us all is the pressure. And I've said from day one last year, when we were the favorite to win it all, is pressure is what drives you. We make it to be a good factor. Ron Mercer right now knows that tomorrow he has to play great. So that pressure makes him run faster, jump higher, focus in better and showcase his skills, as well as the other players. Now, he has no stress because he has extraordinary talent and a team that he can depend on. I think if he didn't have this enormous talent, he'd have stress rather than pressure. I think the pressure is the thing that drives us at Kentucky. We enjoy it very much. And we don't hide from it. But on the other hand, favorite or -- I said this from day one, and I mean it, these four teams have played in this tournament, you make Kentucky the favorite based on everything that goes into the computer, the scoring margins and everything else. I just don't buy it, because I know we beat Minnesota last night. If we played them ten times, they'd probably beat us just as much as we beat them. I truly believe that. We just happened to, last night, play with great toughness. We got a big lift from Wayne, big lift from incredible defense. But the next time out Minnesota could have their night. These are four close-played ballgames, and tomorrow night will be a great championship game.

(Player excused.)

COACH PITINO: I thought in the first game, from watching it, I thought the shot selection was poor. I think when Carolina got behind, they were forced to take quick shots and shots they don't normally take. In our game, I thought we shot a higher percentage than they did. But I think it was great defense by both people, taking them out of what they do. Shot selection today, one of the reasons why scoring at both levels has gone down is two told, the defenses are so good because of the video age where everybody puts everything into computers and spits it out and. And secondly, it's the shot selection. Teams are not -- do not have as much movement anymore where they take unchallenged shots.

COACH PITINO: I remember speaking to -- I have to remember a firm in wall street last year, at the Rainbow Room in New York City. I was blown away with how much all these young people -- how much money they make on Wall Street. We talk about rebounding and scoring, they talk about how much money they make. And the thing that blew me away is the three leading gainers for this firm were not young people that went on to college, they were right out of high school, and they went right into Wall Street. And I think what happens is you make a decision what your vocation you're going to go into in life. If you're convinced that basketball is your vocation, you want to dedicate your life to it. That doesn't mean that college is your vocation. Your education may not be the area you want to go into. So young people today figure out that basketball is what they want, they want to spend their time in it. The agents and the professional coaches and management tell them, as well, that we'd rather have a young player in our system learning what we do, paying them a minimum salary and then getting the benefits three years down the road than have them play at Kentucky or Kansas or Arizona. So that's the nature of the game. But it has not detracted from our game. You watch the NCAA tournament this year, you see all nailbiters, parity is here, you still have great players playing. It's still the nature of our business.

COACH PITINO: What I saw in Ron as a sophomore is a young man with terrific grace, a young man who could run, explode and score. He had an interesting shot at that time. He had a knuckle ball where you literally -- the ball was suspended in the air, it never rotated. And I knew he was going to have to work on that more than anything else. And today he has excellent rotation on the ball. He has become a better defensive player, better passer, a much tougher individual. We decided to announce early because I felt that once we got away from the Kentucky media, that everybody -- every question would be to Ron as we got in the NCAA tournament, would you go pro? Are you going pro? And rather than answer that, I felt at that point very similar to what we did with Mashburn, let's take all of the distractions away from that and say yes, he is going to go pro. Just focus in on helping the team win another championship.

COACH PITINO: I think once you win it, you do -- every coach -- I think I have a great relationship with the media. I have one strong belief that I treat you like pros and you treat me like pros. But there are guys that like other coaches better. And I have my critics, as every coach has theirs. What it does for you, it does away with a question, do you have to win a Championship? Or somebody saying, you're a good coach but you haven't won a championship. All you do is get rid of those questions that no longer exist. But I've always felt that -- a young basketball coach, and if the breaks go the way that it could go with winning, you will win a championship. I know right now, Roy Williams, I'm positive, if I could take an annuity and put it in one area that Roy Williams won a Championship, I'd like to invest that rather than IBM or any other investment. He's going to win a Championship. Last year for us it was the right team, the right circumstances. That would be true of Lute Olson or any other coach. We know that coaches who coach this game know why you win it; talent, chemistry and defense. And if you have those three you're going to win it. I had it last year, and one game possibly away from having it again.

COACH PITINO: I tried to do two things. First thing I recognize as a coaching staff, I believe in the adage, if it's not broken, break it. In other words, if you have a system and it's not broken, it's working well, I believe the following year you must break it and make that system better, because your competitors will. So I think you have to be more a risk taker; you have to take more chances in certain situations. And another thing, that's, as a staff, I believe we met 7 o'clock the next morning and said here's what we're going to do to be better as a staff. And with the players, I had to convince them that you're not the players, and you're not the team that won that Championship. You contributed, but now you must build your own identity. And there's only one way I know how to do that, and that's a common denominator, it's not by anything other than hard work. And we talked about that all the way through, and we lost to Clemson. I said you lost to a better team. We lost to Mississippi, I said you lost to a better team. We never say to ourselves, well, we didn't do that, we didn't do this. We always believed that the other team was better and give them the credit, now let's do something about it the next night out. So I'm a little surprised -- I thought we had a shot with Derek Anderson and Ron Mercer and our defense. When Derek went down, we didn't make any excuses, we said everybody else pick it up, we still have our defense to depend on. When we were put in the West Region, I'm not going to lie to you, I thought we were a little bit of trouble. It wasn't the best region for us to have to go to, because I knew we were going to play the winner of a tough 8, 9 game. And after watching the films of Iowa, I thought they were one of the best teams in the tournament, and I would put them at 2 or 3 seed, the way they were playing at that point in time. We had to do it in Utah, where they absolutely do not care for us at all. So it was like a road game. The reason they don't care for us, we had some success the year before with Utah, then we had to play St. Joe's, which, like Arizona, has a very unorthodox style to have to defend. And then we had to play a great Utah team that we beat by 31 points. When you read all the quotes by Utah, they came out and told us exactly who we were. They're not last year's team. They don't have the four draft picks. They don't have this. And they gave us a litany of things that we don't have. And they were right. And they were not trying to rub salt in our wounds. But we just said, yes, we know, you're right, but here's what we are. You can always pigeon hole the weaknesses. We shrink them down to the size of a pea. But here we are, we're a great defensive team, we feed off each other, we've got the best player in the country with Ron Mercer, we think. We have good leadership. We have a lot of intangibles because they put on that Kentucky jersey and they want to live up to that standard of excellence. We know who we're not, but we also know who we are.

COACH PITINO: Well, the last two years we have not lived much with the three-point shot. It's been more our defense. It's been more our power game. And the last two years we have probably taken more 8 to 12-foot shots, combined all my other years of coaching. Although we take the three, there are games this year where we've only made one or two, three per game. The Arizona team is more like the way we used to be, because, quite frankly, we had that type of player. Now we don't have that type of player, in certain positions. Our best three-point shooter left us with Derek Anderson. The best three-point shooter we had at Kentucky was Tony Delk. So we're a different ball club right now that lives on screening quite a bit, hitting people on the screens, reversing the basketball, and then getting our defense on it. We've shot over 50 percent in four games. Last night was the only night we have not. Our recruiting pitch is, believe it not, more of the system or the style, it's the amount of time we will spend with you individually in working on your skills, that if you think you have the potential to be a great player, we will work with you individually, more than the system and the style. They see that. Kentucky is on the television so much.

COACH PITINO: They don't believe they're great. Last year's team had a swagger. They believed they were great. Their second team could beat their first team. This team doesn't embrace anything they get. They know right now that they're going to have to play great. It's their belief in what they have to do that will get up for Arizona and play a great game. But I don't think this team ever said to themselves we're great. Where last year's team had a swagger, they knew they were great, they knew from practice. This year's team doesn't know that. They have to go out and work hard to show they're great.

COACH PITINO: If you doubleteam him, he's an excellent passer. And they used a low post as a way to get a three. They use the offensive rebound as a way to get a three. If he sees single coverage, he does a great job of locating defense, has a terrific up-and-under move. He plays even bigger than his 6-11, because he's so rangey. He's outstanding. But Prickett and Padgett are good old-fashioned warriors. Jared Prickett doesn't say a whole lot, he eats, he plays ball and he's ready to compete. And Padgett is unique because he can shoot so well. So we've got confidence in their guys. And they understand right now, they've watched film on Bramlett and they know they're going to have a war in the paint to keep him off the glass.

COACH PITINO: I think any coach could. I don't think any -- I dropped Steve a note because he dropped me a note, interesting enough, the year prior to that thinking when they were going to win it when we didn't win it. And in the note he diagramed some three-point plays that we were running, and how he really liked what we were doing with this double pick. And I found it interesting for a football coach to be that technical. And then I knew it's not only difficult losing to Florida State, but they were expected to win a Championship. And I put in the note that you're doing a phenomenal job, I know it's difficult to lose to Florida State, but your Championship, without question, is going to come. You're not going to know when it will be, but it will be more than one, and it will be down the road. And I wish you the best of luck and I have great respect for you. Not knowing -- at any point knowing that he would play for the Championship that year against Florida State again. I think sometimes notes from your peers make you feel good, because I know when I got his letter, I got letters from other coaches, it makes you feel good, because you're always trying to impress your peers.

COACH PITINO: We had to place Wayne Turner at the point to give us the defensive pressure on the other team's point, as well as turn around and put some pressure on them having to defend him in the open court. Learned who to play at the right time. As I said many times, when you get in the NBA playoffs or the college NCAA tournament, everybody knows what you're going to do. There's no movement in college basketball, but everybody knows what you're going to do, and it's the spontaneous dribble that helps you make good shots. That's what makes Arizona so tough, because that dribble by Simon, Bibby and Dickerson makes you really great and really tough to defend.

COACH PITINO: I think with college basketball, with everybody leaving early, I don't think experience is much of a factor. Let's face it, there are no Cinderellas with any of us. Three teams in No. 1 seeds. We're not surprised that Kansas is not here. But North Carolina, the last month-and-a-half should not be surprised. Kentucky shouldn't be surprised, we've been top 5 in the country all year. Minnesota is not surprised. And Arizona is a team that you know because of the way they play, that they could win it all. And you watch what they did throughout the whole season now, because the PAC-10 was much better than anticipated, that maybe throws you off a little bit about Arizona. But those of you who cover them now totally understand why they're here and why they're playing for a championship.

COACH PITINO: The only thing I ever concerned myself with a coach is defense. Obviously, offensive execution is based on a number of principles, good ball movement, good player movement, solid screening, being late on screens rather than early, and all the things that go into good offense. But I concerned myself with defense. And I never saw the defense better at any point. So I knew we were going to be tough to beat. But I also knew we could lose to Iowa in the second round. In watching films on them, I said we definitely -- if we don't play great tonight, we could lose. So you know that. And this, unlike last year, where we had -- we dominated teams in the NCAA, this year we had to earn it every step along the way. We had to play a close game against Iowa, take away St. Joe's strengths, and we had to play a great game against Utah, and the same thing goes last night. My respect level for Minnesota before and now, after the game, is as high as it gets. We've just focused in on a great defensive teams have the ability to win. You see that at every level. No matter what your style of play is. Sometimes we get confused in thinking that teams who slow it down are great defensive teams. It really takes great defense when you extend your offense, because now you're playing with more possessions, under the influence of fatigue, and it's much more difficult to play that way.

COACH PITINO: Jared had a medical red shirt last year. He asked me for a ring, and I was going to get him a ring. It was not ordered, but I just told him at that point, you have a chance to get a ring, go out and earn it. And he did get his ring that fall when I ordered him one. But I wanted him to have a great spring and summer, and I was trying to motivate him to go out and be a better basketball player, and that's the way to get your own ring, not from the sidelines. And now he has that opportunity. And win or lose, he's a champion in my book, because he's given me five great years of hard work. He's never shown up at a practice yet where I honestly can say he didn't work hard. To me, that's a talent in itself.

COACH PITINO: We're a big assist team. If you look at the last two years, we averaged around 22 assists per game at times. But we're an emotion team. So we create a lot of assists by the pass. You'll play against a lot of teams that don't have many assists because they dribble. Like South Carolina, they're going to beat you off the dribble. Eddie's played two ways; as the coach at Vanderbilt, he has a lot of emotion; now he understands his talent and it's off the dribble. That's why you see it at times. And you know when most of your offense is run through the dribble the defense will rotate and obviously create turnovers. I think it depends on what time of off evenings you run whether or not you're going to have a high number of assists. There are times when I've seen dribble teams have very few turnovers because they will shoot quickly before they pass and thus don't have a lot of turnovers, that doesn't mean they protect the basketball well.

COACH PITINO: What I love about Mike Bibby, and I love about any basketball player, and I tried to get this through to Scott Padgett, not all successfully. When they're taking good shots, and 0 for 5 or 0 for 6, they're distracted, and then also keep their team shooting, taking good shots, and I love that about him. Certain people are just not freshman. And he's one. He's a terrific basketball player with an unbelievable future. He's mentally tough as well as physically tough and Arizona has themselves just a great future with that young man. And I'm very, very impressed with him.

COACH PITINO: When you look out there like last night, and same thing for the North Carolina game, anytime you can devise your system to play five versus three or five versus four by going off nonshooters or people that aren't as quick, you have an edge defensively. That's why quickness and shooting is so important. Last night we could play off of Courtney James at times, his shoot will come on as he gets older, you can devise your system to stop opposition. When you're looking at Arizona, you can't devise your system, because they shoot the ball so well in so many different positions and handle it. You know, players that can pass, catch, put it on the floor and shoot, it's a rare quality today. And that's what you have to look for, and Arizona has done a wonderful job of recruiting players like that. I think we've done a very good job of recruiting players like that. And that's why I think it's very tough to play against those teams because you don't have the edge defensively to stop them based on the inability of other players not to do certain things.

COACH PITINO: I cheated, I stayed up until quarter of five and did go to bed for a few hours. Got up early and continued to watch tape. And will do it tonight. I'm going to have plenty of time to sleep, win or lose, come Tuesday. The one thing I will not do is say that our opposition doesn't work as hard as us, because there's no barometer of measuring hard work. But I want an edge for our basketball team to believe it. Are we the hardest work working basketball team in the country, probably not. But we believe it, and that's an edge. I don't believe we work harder than Minnesota or Arizona. We want to leave no stones unturned. And maybe our players won't grasp all of what we say well the tape watching, maybe 30 percent goes by the wayside, but that's 30 percent, we still have the other 70 percent. I want that belief. I believe in good old-fashioned hard work. I don't believe there's any substitute for it.

COACH PITINO: Just the one game -- I have great respect for Lute, obviously, but the one game we played against each other was over in Maui, it was like 110 degrees in the gym. We won with a tip until at Jeff Brassow. They had Stoudamire and Reeves, they were tough to play against, we were lucky enough to have the last tip in. But he's a phenomenal coach. The one thing that I honestly believe and I say about work, I also have a strong belief that you're never going to out coach anyone. The only thing you're going to do is that night your system wins because the adjustment is made. Last night our system won with the 26 turnovers. But I know for a fact that if we played Minnesota a second time their system would probably win. So on a given night your system wins. But the one thing I know, and when I coached against, whether it's fill March tell I, Rick Majerus, Clem Haskins and now Lute Olson, it's maybe that your system is going to win. Your system may win that given night. You have to hope it good does. But our coaching any one night, I know I've never been that smart to say I could do that.

COACH PITINO: Let's understand that I coached in New York. So when you talk about pressure, that is pressure at its best. But I also developed at that point from my New York days that pressure and what makes it fun. Pressure is what it's all about. Because every night, no matter who you're playing, if you're playing against the Sacramento Kings and you don't give it a hundred percent it will be on the back page of the newspaper. I enjoy that part of it. The pressure in Kentucky is a lot of it. Joe B haul new it, the same way I knew it up in New York. I lived in man a hat an, convenience. He was from Kentucky. So I don't know anything like that in Kentucky. I kind of live -- I live two Miles from the gym. I drive in early, drive home, I watch film, I coach the team and I don't really know what's going on outside of me.

COACH PITINO: I think that's really, not too many writers, I think you're way too intelligent to believe I of that. In Digger Phelps said that I was going to the Lakers, I don't think you believe that anymore. Because I've been at Kentucky 8 years. I think you're too smart. You know what Kentucky is all about. What would be the motive to go somewhere else? That's the whole thing. You know how big Kentucky is, and why would a coach go to the pros? I think you know Kentucky pays me where will enough to stay at Kentucky. After 8 years I don't think too many people pay attention to rumors. But I also would like to say that I watched the thing on ESPN, the year highlights on new years, and I watched -- they brought up things that Lou Holtz was saying, I'll never leave Notre Dame, I know it, I'll be coaching here forever, until they have to wheel me out, I know I'll never retire from Notre Dame. Then John Calipari, I will never leave the University of Massachusetts, I have no interest in professional basketball. And they came back with Lou's announcement that he was retiring and John Calipari that he's signing with the Nets. We sometimes talk too much. What coaches say is what I say, and what I feel. I feel I'll be coaching Kentucky a long time. And that's this date today I feel that way, and I'm honest. But if I asked you a question, do you think you'll be with that newspaper for sometime, you'll say, yes, I work for a great newspaper. And then suddenly you move on to another newspaper. So I say what I honestly feel. I feel I have an incredible job. I'm very lucky and very honored to be the coach of Kentucky. I have no desire to leave. And I answer it very honestly. So last year if I have no desire to leave, why would I listen to the New Jersey nets or two years ago why would I listen to the Lakers, because it never cost anything to listen. And you don't hurt anyone. But I think with my track record now of 8 years, I think that we have a great program coming back next year and I'm looking forward to coaching in Kentucky a long time.

COACH PITINO: I thought it was in trouble last year, and I still do a certain degree. But that's a problem. Now, I don't have -- some people think if you give a loan of $50,000 that they could pay back, is a solution to the problem. That's not a solution. $50,000 to them is not going to stop them from make millions. They're concerned about injuries and concerned about other things. The solution to me is not to tell you the problem. The solution to me is to try and make my ball club the best it can be by improving Nazr Mohammed's, skills, Wayne Turner's skills, and trying to make the players the best they can be so they're future stars. Through their hard work that can happen. But the other things that's not going away, it's been around in baseball and hockey, way before basketball. You and I both know that if we were put in the situation where we could advance ourselves we would do the same thing they're doing. Bull the best thing we could do to solve that problem is to make the teams and the parts of our own teams better, and that's what we're trying to do. Trying to put a good product on that floor.

COACH PITINO: They're going to make a run at Mike Krzyzewski, and a run at Eddie Fogler or whoever, Lute Olson, they're going to make a run at other people, as well. And I would probably say that I think NBA teams are kind of probably too smart to make a run at me, it would be more advantageous to make a run at Mike or Lute or somebody else, because I have -- I've been through quite a few teams, and I'm staying at Kentucky, I've been here 8 years. I don't think they're going to do it. Although the rumors are out there, and media speculate, I don't think people are going to make a run at me, at all. I really don't believe that. I think they will make a run at so many great college coaches out there, who could be outstanding pro coaches, no question about it.

COACH PITINO: Would I listen? I would probably say I would listen to anyone. I would listen to anybody, and then I would say thank you very much, you have a great organization, but I'm very happy at Kentucky.

COACH PITINO: Well, I think you can readily see, I made a decision, and I really meant it, it may sound corn I, made a decision, Derek Anderson not playing, because I do feel he's like my son to me, in that his future is in my hands and I'm his guardian away from his immediate family. You just don't have that feeling in the NBA. Although I was very close to Patrick Ewing, Jackson and Oakley, I was not their guardian. I was a coach of a professional basketball team, I do feel I cared for them as people, but I was not their guardian. They considered their family their agent more of a guardian. I was their coach. These players I'm their guardian, I'm their second father or second big brother to them. And you never had that feeling in the pros. You get different congratulate fixes at the pros than you do at college. And this is a very warm feeling to have when you know you spent four years with Anthony Epps and you've been through the mill with him and Jared Prickett. And Jeff Sheppard that's red shirt go who I'm looking forward to coaching. So it's a totally different feeling. But you get a great feeling with the pros, as well, it's just that you're not their guardian, you're not their best friend. And that's something that you get at the collegiate ranks that's absent.

COACH PITINO: I think if you do that the players lose trust in you. I think we do it the other way. I think we do it, it is a big game and here's what we have to do. We fill their minds up with so many technical things about the game of basketball that they don't really concern themselves with the enormity of it. It is enormous for all of us. But I think they understand that if they do lose the game, that they're going to give every ounce of perspiration to have to win, and they're going to feel fine about themselves. But on the other hand they want to win a second National Championship back-to-back. Arizona wants to win their first. Two teams with tremendous desire, tremendous skill. The team that executes the best that night will come away the winner.

COACH PITINO: You know, unfortunately today we all know gambling is a major problem. And the problem is that -- there's river both casinos, it's all around you, and it's not just going out to Las Vegas once a year and having fun two or three days. It's all around us. And I think we've got to take a safeguard -- I didn't know you could bet on the Internet, I didn't know any of that. Sports gambling is something we must be concerned with at every level, not only players, referees, administrators, everybody. Everybody has a Final Four pool, and everybody puts down their two dollars, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about where it gets to the point where people want information that could help them place a bet, and that's where you really have to guard yourself. And I tell the players, anytime someone asks you, are you healthy, walk as far away from them as you possibly can. But gambling is a problem in society, like drugs. And like alcohol, that we're not recognizing because it's fun for some. It should be recognized no different than alcohol or drugs. It's a major problem in our society today and because of all these casinos that are going to be dropping up, you're going to have a lot of degenerate gamblers that young people are hook. I'm in a horse racing state. And people say horse racing is dying, because young people don't want to go with a racing form, I'm going to pick this one, and you could get caught and spend that time. They want the instant gratification of pulling the things or putting the chips down. Young people have lost interest in horse race racing, in the breeding and all that. They're worried about casinos more than that, and everybody should be.

COACH PITINO: Well, the one thing I can tell you is I have a gentleman sitting in the back there, Cawood Ledford, he should have a place in history, because he's paid his dues, he's in the Hall of Fame. And he's an incredible radio announcer. People like myself, who are still learning the game of basketball still working at being better, should never look at a place in history. All they should try to do is live in the precious present and be the best they can be. And maybe some day when you raise at a level of a Dean Smith, and you could think back and say maybe you should have a small part of it. People my age should think about being the best they can be. The gratification you get from the pros, I think -- I remember there was very little expansion when I coached in the pros, I think they were just coming in, and we didn't play most of the teams. On a given night you had to try and stop Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Charles Barkley with the Sixers, and to me it's the ultimate defensively to try and stop the greatest layers in the game. It's the ultimate to try to compete against those great players. That's the congratulate figures, that you're competing each night against the best. And you're on the sidelines coaching against the greatest players that play the game today. The gratification is a lot different.

COACH PITINO: It's almost like a junior college player in reverse. Ron Mercer did not say to me, I want to play two years and leave. I want to go to college and win a championship and be the best I can be. Jamaal Magloire said to me I'd like to spend a year or two in college and go to the pros. And I left the house laughing hysterically. But I said let him have his fantasy. And we'll work him hard and maybe some day after his four years are up he'll be a pro. So I don't make that decision, I let the players make the decision. I think some guys that have that mindset about staying one year, like I'm not sure what Stephan Marbury accomplished by going to Georgia Tech. for one year. I think if that's what you're looking for, the college is better off without you and I think the player is better off going into a NBA system than staying one year or not. That's my opinion, it may not be valid, it may not be right. Two years, that's a reverse junior college basketball player, I have no problem with that.

COACH PITINO: It wasn't an hour and a half. I just forgot. We always give a lot of water breaks. But what happens in our system, we have 12 guys that we rotate in and out, in four four-man drills and five-man drills, and they're always constantly washing out. We were down to ten players, and I was moving so fast and not thinking, and normally they say to me, coach, can we break? They always say that to me. And they didn't say it. I was just preoccupied. It wasn't because I was trying to make them tough. When I played, that's what they did. I basically forgot to do that. But they should have reminded me.

COACH PITINO: Scott was very immature young man. He was from a fantastic high school academically, Saint X at Louisville, maybe one of the top three schools at Kentucky. He came in with great credentials. He got caught up in doing other things than the academic part. We gave him second and third chances to get it done then the school flunked him out. And we could have brought him back on scholarship and did not do that. I told his parents he needs to go out and work with a lawn service group, work in Kroeger's, so he understands the amount of money he just wasted and flushed down the toilet with that scholarship. And he went out there and did it. And he understood the value of a dollar and the value of money. He came back and got a 3.5 grade point average because he had to pay for his school for a year. The lesson was learned. He still has a long way to go, but that maturity is a lesson in life. He's going to learn that the rest of his adulthood.

COACH PITINO: I think so. And I think it all depends on who has the better system that night. Right now there's no question in my mind that our press tomorrow is not going to have the same success it had against Minnesota, playing against Arizona with the ball handling ability that they have. But on the other hand we're going to have to do it. We don't have to do it all the time. There are times when we play basketball where we hardly ever press. It's not frequent that we do that, but against this basketball team, you know, they understand what type of pressure they're going against, and they have the back court and they have the ball handlers to go against it. We're going to have to mix up our defenses tomorrow and make sure if our system is to win, we've got to keep them off guard without a steady diet of any defense.