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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: BIRMINGHAMMarch 22, 2008Rick PitinoTerry SmithTerrence WilliamsBIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions now for the student-athletes. Q. Can you talk about just the bench play the last few games, Earl coming off the bench now it seems like you guys have really got a huge lift from your bench the last few games. TERRENCE WILLIAMS: Yeah, we kind of gotten people, anybody can start, anybody's capable of starting. So that just shows you, Earl started a lot this year, so he's really a starter, everybody is pretty much a starter. It's just we don't fall into the who starts and who don't start type of attitude. Everybody just comes out and play. And that's indicative of our bench every night. Q. For both of you start with you Jerry your impressions of Oklahoma, if you have been able to see anything on them yet and do they compare to anybody in your league? JERRY SMITH: Well, Oklahoma's a very big team, they compare like a lot of teams, they're very physical. They got great inside play, big guards, and he they shoot it well as well. So they're a lot like our team. A lot like our teams in the Big East. TERRENCE WILLIAMS: I would agree with Jerry this will be kind of the battle of our bigs and their bigs, with Blake and Longar, but we can't make it as just David Padgett and Earl Clark versus them two, we got to make it a team game. But we seen them play against West Virginia when they went to two over times and they had a good showing in that game and we seen their game yesterday, we watched film. So this will be a very fast paced game, a lot, a real physical game, a Big East type game. So it should be fun. Q. Talk about what last night may have done for you guys, some talked about inconsistent shooting, this and that, coming off two losses, I would think that would have been a big confidence booster for both of you. TERRENCE WILLIAMS: Yeah, whenever you get back on track and other times, but now you get back on track of winning, it boosts your confidence, I don't know what we shot from the 3-point line or what we shot for the game, but I felt that we shot the ball well and if we're going to play here for two games, I feel this is a good gym to shoot well in. I think that it kind of showed that nobody had jitters. I thought some people would be nervous and scared, but a lot of people didn't, everybody came out to play. So hopefully that can carry on throughout the tournament. JERRY SMITH: I agree with what he said. Nobody came out with a lot of jitters last night, kind of just flowed into the things. Offense was flowing, we were getting stops defensively and I think that was key. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, guys. We'll have an opening statement from Coach Pitino and then take questions. COACH PITINO: We're excited, obviously, to advance. We know we have a tough ball game against a very physical team. A team that can do damage in so many ways with so many different players. So we're excited about moving on to the next round and hopefully our players will be up for the challenge. THE MODERATOR: Take questions. Q. Give us your assessment then of this Oklahoma team the challenges that they put to your ball club. COACH PITINO: They have got a terrific low post presence. They have got good senior leadership. They're very good at the defensive end. You really don't -- you understand that there are certain people you have to stop because they shoot a high percentage, but other players crop up and have big nights as they did last night and certainly we know definitely we have our work cut out for us. Q. How much does experience coaching-wise mean in a scenario such as this as opposed to say Jeff Capel's experience as a player in scenarios like this would you think? COACH PITINO: I don't think either one's a factor. I think players win games. And I know that Jeff is not only a capable basketball player, but that's not going to help his coaching ability right now. And his lack of tournament experience is not going to hurt him. He's a terrific, terrific young coach that his players are going to dictate when he wins or loses and he's going to do all the right things to get them ready. Q. You mentioned young coaches last night, there seem to be a lot of them, do they have any advantages or disadvantages do you feel? COACH PITINO: In what regard? Q. Well just you have 30 years of experience, Brad Stevens has one. Those sort of things. COACH PITINO: Well Brad's one of the guys that I was alluding to last night as one of the premier young coaches in our game. There's no advantage or disadvantage. Really it's the makeup of your basketball team. I think you learn obviously, when you're in the business a long time you learn what not to do. You don't necessarily know any more than any young coach. You just learn what not to do in certain situations. And that's just time and experience. As time goes along you learn what not to do, what paths not to take, and you sort of learn to take two steps back in certain situations so you can take ten forward. And that's all experience does for you. It's learning what not to do. But these young coaches really have a good concept of what to do offensively and defensively and they're on top of their game. Q. Then it seems like the low post, traditional low post offense is sort of a dying thing. You've got one of the few traditional low post players left in the tournament. Wonder if you would agree with that that it's a rare thing? COACH PITINO: Well not in the Big East. In the Big East the low post game is a big presence. You get it with at Pittsburgh, at Georgetown, with Padgett and Caracter with us. So in the Big East it's a lot different. Nova doesn't have a, or West Virginia, a traditional low post offense, but in the Big East, you'll find that a strongly post presence is there. I think it varies from conference to conference. I think big men go to the pros a lot quicker. Connecticut had a strongly post presence with Adrian. So in the Big East we seem to have a dominance on five men and low post play. But I understand where you're coming from and I think you need both. I don't care if you're undersized, I think if you're just, if you're just perimeter and you don't work inside to out, you can't shoot a high percentage. On a given night you can, but the nights that you're off and you need to go inside, you don't have it. So I think you need both. Q. How important as a motivational tool is a loss in the tournament the guys talk about that loss to Texas A & M last year it's something that drove them all summer that they don't want to have that feeling again. COACH PITINO: I think all those, the motivational aspect is great because look at how hard they worked. And that's great. But when it comes to game night, it's not going to, again, it goes back to offense and defensive execution. Everybody is -- one of the questions the other night was about Boise State, if we felt that they would be more motivated because they hadn't been here and I said absolutely not. We could lose to them, but they're not going to play with any more hunger than we will. It's the same thing with the Oklahoma game, two teams are going to want it badly, the motivation comes from the hard work and perspiration you put in the off months to try and get better, personally, as well as team-wise. But come game night it's going to boil down to execution at the offense and defensive ends. Q. Not expecting you to reveal how you plan to play against Blake Griffin, talk about the importance of putting pressure on him since he's a young guy and maybe just him specifically. COACH PITINO: Well, you're right, I'm not going to talk about it because it makes no sense for me to talk about it. Because I would lie to you and I don't believe in lying to the press. I would tell you the truth. Q. Talk about the -- COACH PITINO: I think he's tremendous, but Longar Longar is also a big problem in the low post. He's a big offensive threat as well. So you got a double-edged sword there, it's not just one player. One player obviously shoots 57 percent from the field he's one of the premier freshmen in the nation and takes great shots. Q. Who have you played who reminds you of teams you play in the Big East or non-conference that anybody that you've even before? COACH PITINO: They have got a little bit like Pittsburgh. Play a little bit like them. They're very physical. Very good inside presence. Very good defensively. Q. When you go up against a guy you've never coached against or a team that you haven't seen, what does David Godbold's 25 points present in your defensive scheme when normally he isn't the scoring guy. Is it a confusing fact, is it more confusing or is it you have to do more tape work or do you just rely on your own players capabilities? COACH PITINO: You never know who is going to step up in a basketball game. I remember clear as day in 1987 playing Georgetown and the MVP of the game was our 7th man, Darrell Wright. He stepped up and had a great night. So it really doesn't, you don't know, it is your defensive scheme of what you're trying to stop. And what you're trying to do to each player on the basketball team. Obviously last night we were trying to stop the 3-point shot. We were trying to keep them out of the middle of the floor. We were trying to create turnovers. And make sure that they didn't have their legs when they did get the 3-point shot. So every opponent brings a different set of circumstances that you have to stop. Q. Big East now with the West Virginia beating Duke, 8-1 so far in the tournament, did you think it would be that strong and, two, did you see the shot that Rodgers hit for Western Kentucky and what was your reaction to that? COACH PITINO: I thought it was a very difficult shot. He had three guys hanging on him. Great victory for Western Kentucky. It's tough when you have that lead and you lose that lead and then you come away with a loss, that's a bitter pill to swallow. So they came away with a victory and not only a much needed victory, but one that they truly deserved because they played terrific basketball and Drake had a great see some. The Big East, I call it the Big Beast, because that's what it is, and the good news is the Big East was a very strong league this year as we anticipated. The bad news is they will get stronger next year because every team has just about every player back. So it's a very competitive league comprised of tough kids and very talented teams that as we all know just from watching earlier in the year, I happened to watch it, I don't know why that night, but West Virginia had a heck of a basketball with Oklahoma in a double overtime loss in the State of West Virginia. So it's, West Virginia is a heck of a basketball team and all these teams that are left are really good basketball teams. Connecticut was the lone team that ran into a great night by San Diego in terms of shooting the ball. Q. (Question about injuries.) COACH PITINO: That happens in games, that's not a reason to lose the game, you're going to have an injury in a given game, but Big East teams are all strong enough to overcome that. Q. Can you remember when you were a young coach like Jeff Capel, 33, that experience factor you talked about, earlier that you thought after a game, you went against a coach that was maybe in his 50s and his experience was an advantage for him? COACH PITINO: I really mean this: It's not a factor in the game. It really isn't. It's not a factor. It's just, I mean, if you watch Butler play, you realize the age of their coach is not a factor. Last night how much did Jim Calhoun's age determine whether they win or lose? It's the players on the court. It's the same everywhere. I mean, somebody's age is not a factor in this whole equation or how many years of experience he has. Sometimes it's in the way you travel and the way you prepare, you've been through it so many times, but come game night the players are going to dictate whether you win or lose, not the coaches. Q. Does the fact that y'all have played at several different styles this year alleviate maybe some of the concern over playing two teams with different contrasting sometimes such as Boise State and Oklahoma with the short-term turn around? COACH PITINO: I think we're ready for any style, but I think so is Oklahoma. Oklahoma plays in a very strong conference where they see every style as well. So I don't think it's an advantage for us or an advantage for them. I think when you play in conferences like we play in, you see every style. We, ours is just a little bit bigger than everybody elses. But it's, they're from a very tough conference, two teams, two conferences that happen to be very strong this year. You all know the way that works, it's cyclical from year to year. This year the SEC may be a little down and next year it could be some other conference a little down. It changes year to year. Q. Earlier among the same lines of talking about coaches facing each other, Jeff Capel said if it was you and him one-on-one he likes his chances. Do you think you could take him outside and drive past him and beat him in a one on one game? COACH PITINO: Not any more. (Laughter.) He's right on that one. He's got me. (Laughter.) Q. Last few games you've brought Earl Clark off the bench, what went into that decision making and how has that improved your bench play with him? COACH PITINO: I just go with the guys who I think are the most focused from a scouting report at the beginning of the game. It's not about talent, it's about the guys who we can really rely on making sure that they do the right things at the beginning of the game so that you get off to a good start. And that's why I start McGee, I start two juniors and two seniors, it's not based on talent. Q. When you came into Kentucky and into the SEC a few years ago you talked about the conference needing to go deep into the tournament to really establish a reputation. I'm curious now if, how important you think conference reputation still is nationally and even for seedings and tournament bids like that? COACH PITINO: I think it's a, again, it's almost like recruiting, you know, in high school. One year New York city is awesome, next year Chicago, next year L.A. and it changes just like conferences. It's a, the conference is, right now in the Big East, is very strong. We knew we were rebuilding the year before and now we know we're very good this year and we know we're going to be awesome next year. Because when you look at it, every team has about just about every player back. So it's all cyclical. But everything is so close, I mean you see West Virginia beat Duke today, but Belmont almost beat them and they're a two seed. So it's all very, very close and it's which style wins out. That's the key. Is which style is going to win. In certain instances teams that overplay, go against a back door team, like West Virginia, advantage West Virginia on that given night if Duke is not shooting well. So it's all styles on a given night. You look at it, it's no different than Wisconsin and Kansas State, the different styles, styles sometimes in our game against Boise State last night we thought our press could bother them and from a style standpoint it did. Q. I guess what I'm really curious about conference reputations which again I go back you remember how fragile the SEC was in terms of their seeding, they were overlooked as a conference. Are conference reputations still tournament to tournament or are they static, are they established better now? COACH PITINO: I think those days are over with. Back when I was in the SEC everybody talked about outside of Kentucky that it was Kentucky and the rest of the league depending upon what year it was it could be Arkansas or Florida and it could be, but Kentucky was always the standard bearer for the league. That's not the case any more. Everybody is just, as it is with the ACC or the Big East, with us in the Big East, Georgetown's won it two years in a row, which is extremely difficult in that conference to do that. But Georgetown realizes that West Virginia, Pittsburgh, or any of the teams that they're going to face could beat them on a given night. So it's, I think it's just year to year. And I think that the SEC will be strong once again, but it's just, it will be another year. THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you. COACH PITINO: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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