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NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: CHARLOTTE


March 28, 2008


Andre McGee

David Padgett

Juan Palacios

Rick Pitino

Jerry Smith

Terrence Williams


CHARLOTTE, SOUTH CAROLINA

COACH RICK PITINO: We didn't get in too early, as a matter of fact. Wasn't a whole lot of time to do much, but we were excited to be playing in the Elite Eight. Our players are just starting to watch film now for the first time. By the time they do the random drug testing, most of our guys got back at quarter to three in the morning or 2:30 and it's late. It was a late night. So we'll take it easy today and lay by the pool and just relax. (Chuckles.)
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the coach or the student-athletes.

Q. This is for any one of the players: What's the biggest challenge you think with preparing for a team with this least amount of time between games?
DAVID PADGETT: Well, no matter who you play it's tough for prepare for somebody in one day. It's tough especially in the Elite Eight, but at the same time every other team only has one day as well. So that's what makes it fun and that's the beauty of the NCAA Tournament.

Q. Terrence, for those of us who haven't followed you all year could you retell the great American story of how you guys having from 5-3 to the Elite Eight?
TERRENCE WILLIAMS: Hard work and dedication and listening to our coaching staff and believing in one another and going out every day and practicing. We buy into what Coach P was telling us about playing defense, and some nights you're not going to have great offensive nights, and you're going to have to play defense. And that's what we try to do, play defense the whole year.

Q. David, how odd or difficult will it be for you to play against Coach Williams tomorrow night with your past association with him?
DAVID PADGETT: It won't be tough at all, because he's not playing. You know, it's Louisville versus North Carolina. It's not about me versus anybody else or anybody else versus me. I mean, it's all about U of L versus UNC and we're playing the No. 1 team in the country, and we're excited about it. So that's what we're looking forward to.

Q. Can each of you talk about Earl's maturation process and his contribution so far in the tournament.
JERRY SMITH: Earl has been playing great for us. You know, he's been bringing a lot of energy and that's how he's been playing. And he's been getting better and better as the season goes on.
ANDRE McGEE: I think from last year he's progressed as a player. He's found his niche and he feels comfortable in our system, and he's playing well for us, offensively and defensively. With his length and athleticism it does a lot for us. He's a great player.
JUAN PALACIOS: I think practicing against him every day I can see the progress that he has made, and how hard he's been working in showing us a basketball player.

Q. Can you just talk about Roy Williams and what do you think about him as a coach?
COACH RICK PITINO: I think everybody in this tournament can flat out coach. As you prepare for tournaments, they don't have high exposure of Roy but whether it's Tony Bennett or whether it's the coach from Oklahoma, the coach from Boise, as I turn on the television set I just marvel at the ability of these coaches and the way they get their kids to play their systems.
So I think this entire tournament, many years ago you couldn't say that. You know, you look at the older coaches like Roy, who are in the game and they're tremendous and the younger coaches are tremendous. So many good coaching going on right now. I think the technology is such that you can study so many different systems, and learn so many different things, and pick up so many things that the coaches have the ability to get better on a daily basis because they can pick up something new every night out.

Q. Coach, can you talk about the transition in style of your team from a few years ago, just look at the numbers it seems like you guys shoot less threes and play a slower tempo than maybe what people are accustomed to for Rick Pitino teams.
COACH RICK PITINO: Actually we don't play a slow tempo, we play a high tempo. It's just that the teams -- we don't try to force the issue. We'll play at any tempo we need to play fundamental basketball. And an example, if we're playing Miami of Ohio or Cincinnati and they're forcing us to play in the 50s and 60s, we're not going to break our fundamentals. We're going to play slower. UNLV, we've held five or six opponents way under their average because they had to play their style. Other teams want to run and we'll run with them.
So actually a slower style would have been the 2005 Final Four team than this team. This team they run every opportunity, they press every opportunity and we have a very deep bench.

Q. You mentioned the word "relax" in your opening statement. What do you try to do with your team to make sure they don't succumb to the high stakes and all that surrounds the tournament?
COACH RICK PITINO: Well, I think they've held their own pretty good so far, so I don't look at it that way. I think our guys have a unique opportunity. They realize that it takes three games to win a National Championship. That's what they're focused in on and focused in on their next opponent, which is a great challenge. We understand we have to play a road game to get there, and we played a road game against Georgetown for a regular season championship, and came up just short.
So our guys understand they've been a good road team all year, and they're going to have to be tomorrow as well.

Q. Coach, obviously you've coached for some time in a state where basketball passions run very high. Coach Williams was telling us the other day very firmly he doesn't feel that this represents any home-court advantage for the Tar Heels. And I would love to know your thoughts on that.
COACH RICK PITINO: Tell Roy to get on a plane for the first time and let's play the game at Freedom Hall if he feels that way. (Chuckles.)
I won't disagree with him, let's go to Freedom Hall and I'll admit to a home-court advantage. Go to Lexington for that matter. Let's go to Lexington and play at the Rupp. No, I think those are mostly mannequins dressed in powder blue. I don't believe there is a home-court advantage. (Laughter.)
There is a very strong home-court advantage but they deserve it. That's the bottom line. They're the No. 1 seed, but to say there is not a home-court advantage, that doesn't mean we don't have the ability to win, but they deserve the home-court advantage. They deserve the people because they were the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

Q. Jerry and Andre, do you guys feel like you've run into a team yet that pushed the pace faster than you guys wanted to play? Do you think that it's possible to run into a team that pushes it faster than you want to play?
ANDRE McGEE: I think as a team you come across a team that pushes it too fast for you, even though they have a great fast break, we're not going to change anything as far as our principles. We're going to stick to what got us to this point. A few adjustments, guys have to rotate quicker, the ball being moved so fast, but we're still going to play our style.
JERRY SMITH: Definitely we're going to try to play and turn it over as much as possible. We're going to try to speed 'em up even more if they want to run and get the ball turned over.

Q. Rick, you saw North Carolina when you all were in Las Vegas. How much of a different team are they with a healthy Ty Lawson?
COACH RICK PITINO: I think they're a great basketball team. You know, they played a tough schedule, they're ACC champions. They're the premier team in college basketball right now, and they've earned everything by taking on good competition and beating them. He's one of the fastest point guards in the nation and they feed off of his speed. But it's not just him, they're all playing terrific. It's not one player. They've got great balance, and you can make a case for about five, six, seven of their players. That is one of the reasons why they're playing great. And really one player can't make a great basketball team. They've got multiple players.

Q. Coach, when you look beneath Carolina's talent, the rebounding, the transition game, what kind of intangible stands out with them that maybe a lot of people sort of overlook?
COACH RICK PITINO: You don't see too many plus 11 teams on the glass that play against great competition. Like last night Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the nation. They had a plus 1 on the backboard. Carolina has the highest number. They have a great assist/turnover ratio. They don't beat themselves. So at every phase of the game, they're a very good team defensively, they handle the ball, make the good passes and that's why they're the No. 1 ranked team in the country because they do all those things. They do it with great teamwork, great speed and terrific athleticism, and when you watch them you're very impressed.

Q. What makes Padgett a good leader?
COACH RICK PITINO: Well, he's evolved into a very good leader. I think that David basically came in as a very shy person, a little introverted. And then he had injuries and he felt that it's tough for him to lead if you're not going out there and paying your dues and suffering like the rest of the players. And then I came across one day where I was having a lot of difficulties with some of the young players on the team, and I said, "Look, you've got to get into that locker room and you've got to lead. I don't care if you're playing or not. We need you to lead this basketball team." And from that point on he became extremely extroverted. I think everybody respects him because of what he had to endure and what he had to overcome. And he's very bright. He knows what he's talking about. He's not going to make points that are going to make him. He doesn't want more touches. They all realize they throw him the ball inside 60 to 70% of the time, if they move he's going to throw it back to them. So everything he does is not for himself, it's for the well-being of the team.

Q. As someone who has spent time in the NBA, how would you assess Tyler Hansbrough's skill set at that level?
COACH RICK PITINO: For the NBA you mean?

Q. Yes.
COACH RICK PITINO: I think he's going to be a terrific NBA player because obviously there are certain things that are herky-jerky right now. But NBA players, they're like good stock; they keep rising and get better at all phases. And I think he's going to be a great NBA player because he brings it every possession. The one thing we looked at in scouting and coaching in the pros is to try and get a talented ballplayer, but someone who wouldn't take a night off. Four out of five nights, players get tired so you look for guys like Tyler Hansbrough, guys are that are not going to take possessions off. They're few and far between. There aren't many like him in college basketball. There aren't many like him at the professional level, and that's what makes him so great. He plays every possession as if the game is on the line. He plays every possession as if they're down five with a minute to go in the game.
So I'm a big admirer of the energy that he brings and the way that he plays, and I think a lot of the guys up here do the same thing, especially these guys sitting up. They play every possession and they've had a great year because they play every possession.

Q. Jerry and Andre, in watching y'all last night, you have a nice mixture of size, athleticism, different kinds of players. Could you talk about that, the variety of players and athletes that you have, and how y'all have blended together to make it work so well as a team?
JERRY SMITH: Like you say, we've been together. That's been the main thing. You know, everybody coming together, and I think we have great size and athleticism and we've got Dave and Earl, good athletes, T Will, the quickness in Andre, Edgar Sosa. I think we're a deep team.
ANDRE McGEE: I think our depth is one of the greatest things about our team. We have our starting five that come in, and another five that come in off the bench. You know, we make our substitutions, we don't lose anything as far as offensively or defensively. And the depth has helped us a lot to go through this tournament and through the whole year, especially with our defense, being able to press, when guys get tired, having people come off the bench for you and not lose anything from your bench is great for your team. It really is.

Q. Could you talk about when you have a team that has a lot of talent and also has, you know, different personalities. Could you talk about the challenges of getting everybody on the same page, getting the chemistry where you want it so you can maximize what you have in March.
COACH RICK PITINO: I'm always a firm believer when you hear the word "chemistry" it's when love and discipline come together. I don't think you can have great chemistry without those two ingredients. You can't pamper the athletes but you've got to give them plenty of affection. These guys are different, T Will needs a lot of affection. David is low maintenance. But T Will figures out everything, and I said to David, "Look, David, you're coming back. The first 15 minutes of practice I'm going to let you play, then I'm going to yell and scream at you, get all over you as if I'm punishing you, I'm going to let you rest your knees, that way the guys will think you're practicing."
Everybody bought into it. "Coach is pissed off at David." But T Will figured it out right away. He caught on two weeks later because T Will figures what we're doing out. He whispers to David, "Oh, he's got you resting again."
They're all very different. They're all great guys. Obviously Juan is from Medellin, Colombia. He grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, and his mom drives a Bentley, and goes to work once a month. So he's had it different than most of these guys. But these guys are all from different backgrounds, different walks of life. Andre is from the valley in California, and Jerry is from Wisconsin, David is from Reno, and T Will is from Seattle, so from all walks of life and they've blended nicely. But it was rough in the beginning, we had a rough stretch starting from August and it's come full circle and it's had a nice ending.

Q. Is it tougher now than it was 10, 15 years ago to do what you do with these teams?
COACH RICK PITINO: I tell you, the guys haven't changed that much. They haven't changed. The only ones that have changed are the parents. Parents are different today. Parents aren't as tough on the guys today. Now, I have to say, present company excluded, this group is a little different. Like Jerry and Andre's parents, they get out of line, they'll beat the hell out of them. They don't mess with their parents. Jackie McGee will be all over Andre if he gets out of line. Jerry Smith, all hell breaks loose when Jerry messes up. And David doesn't want to mess with his dad.
But by and large the parents have changed today. These guys are just like the team I coached in '87 at Providence except with a lot more physical talent. They're just great guys to be around, but they're mischievous. They get in trouble, not bad trouble, it's just the type of -- they do things, they get caught like sticking their hand in the cookie jar with 100 cameras looking at them. That's these guys. Anything that could go wrong, will go wrong with these guys, and that's why David's got to be with them. They can't go out unless David is with them. David has to go out with them all the time. I don't trust these guys one inch without David. Is that pretty true?
DAVID PADGETT: Yeah.

Q. Terrence and Tello, it's been talked about this is kind of a road game with so many North Carolina fans. You guys played well on the road, why is that? What do you like about that? What do you feed off of?
JUAN PALACIOS: I think we stay focused, not to do the flashy things, we try to bond. We know when we're play on the road, the only ones we have is our teammates. So I think that helps us a little bit, stay focused and get together and try and accomplish what we want.
TERRENCE WILLIAMS: I think when we're at home we try to please our crowd a little too much, and on the road we know that the crowd is against us. So in order to get them to be quiet, you have to play great defense and take them out of the game early. But like Coach P says before the game, the crowd can't score points for you. So they can do the all the hollering and screaming they want, but the five guys on the court against our five guys is what it comes down to.

Q. David, you had injuries each year and I'm wondering if it ever occurred to you maybe your body wasn't strong enough for the stress of this season, and your kneecap. You had your problem this season, do you ever go through the "why me?" of it?
DAVID PADGETT: Not really. This year when Coach told me what happened and the fact that my career could be over, the thought entered my mind for a second. But this injury, this year -- this could have happened to any one of these guys. It was a freak injury. It had nothing to do with my past knee surgery or anything. I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that my body is not strong enough. I don't think that's ever been an issue, I just happened to take a charge and took the worst of it.
I really don't look at it "why me?" Because I feel like everything happens for a reason, and maybe it was good that I sat out the first six weeks because it gave me -- it didn't wear my legs out playing those six weeks, and gave me a chance to be rested come tournament time.

Q. Coach, can you talk about Andre, his physicalness, how it's improved. He played 32 minutes last night from the first part of his career?
COACH RICK PITINO: Andre, when I recruited him in high school I went to visit him, and tried to give him a call after the tournament, and he was in the hospital for 10 days in Las Vegas from dehydration. He has a dehydration problem, cramping. He literally stayed was it 10 days, Dre?
ANDRE McGEE: Yeah.
COACH RICK PITINO: And when we first got him, he had these cramping problems like you wouldn't believe. We tried everything under the sun. Obviously with the fluids and every game Andre gets 2 bags of IV fluids and solutions to try and stop cramping. And Fred Hina did an unbelievable job with this doctor from Kansas City, finding out why he was cramping. And you'll notice he will take oxygen on the bench and we give it to him as he comes out, and before timeouts a lot of times, 30 seconds to go into a timeout. We try to get him out of the game and give him the oxygen and it's worked. He hasn't cramped up much at all this year, and we got his weight down a little bit, which doesn't help the fact that -- his leanness doesn't help in terms of that, but he's lighter than he's been and he's had a special year. Obviously the other guys get a lot of the credit, but Andre has been a major catalyst to our full-court press. He's improved immensely on offense and he's developing into a good leader. So he's had a tremendous year.

Q. Rick, you hear a lot in basketball about a team peaking too soon or a team peaking at the right time in March. Do you buy into that? And if so, how do you manage that as a coach?
COACH RICK PITINO: No, I don't -- the reason we are peaking is they're executing well offensively and defensively, that's the most important thing is how are you executing. We've played pretty good defense most of the year, that's been our staple, but we started to come on offensively when Tello and David got over their injuries, and we were able to practice together. From October 15th on we weren't able to practice much together, and some of our practices were not very fluid, but once these guys came back our practices got much better and now is more cohesive.
So when they say that about teams, it's because they're executing, the little fundamental things of the game, and the big things and there are some teams like Carolina that have been from day 1 to now they have been doing a terrific job of executing. Ours started on February 1.

Q. David, did you think when you came back in January that you could make the difference that you have and that the team could go from where it was at the beginning of the season to where it is now?
DAVID PADGETT: Yeah, I just came back with the mindset that I just wanted to help us in any way possible. I didn't really come back and try to put a lot of pressure on myself. I knew I wouldn't just jump right back out there and be back to normal, I knew it was going to take a little while. I just tried to get back in shape and get the strength back in my legs and do the things I've always been able to do and I didn't look at it as a pressure situation where I needed to come back and just change everything right away. I just tried to let it come to me. And like Coach said, when we started to practice together again, that was the biggest thing because we weren't shuffling guys in and out. We had everybody full strength and we kinda started to get used to each other.

Q. Coach, T Will is leading your team in assists, is that a product of his past abilities or is it a scheme thing where you run stuff through him as a point guard-type stuff? ?
COACH RICK PITINO: Yeah, very much, T-will does for us what Antoine Walker did for us in Kentucky. He's your best rebounder, your best passer, he could be your best steal person and he is really grown -- I complimented him in the car on how proud I am of how he's grown up and matured. It's all about the team, you know. You ask him a question and he'll praise David. You ask him a question and he'll praise Andre, and that wasn't the T Will that came into University of Louisville from his high school days.
So he's really matured into not only a terrific basketball player who I think is going to have a great career in the NBA someday, but he's really turned into a terrific leader and well-rounded person. I'm as proud of him as any guy I've ever coached inasmuch as the way he's become a person.
I baby him a little bit because he's -- and the guys know. I don't show as much favoritism to Jerry as I do to him because he's like a son to me. I really admire the young man.

Q. David, could you elaborate a little bit on what coach Pitino had to say about your development as a leader? And also about the evolution of your game from when we saw you as a freshman in the Big 12.
DAVID PADGETT: I remember the year I transferred here I had to sit out, and at the end of the season Coach called me into his office, and said since we were losing so many players he needed me to try and be a leader. And I was a red shirt freshman or sophomore basically, and I hadn't played a game in a uniform. That year we didn't have a great year. We went to the NIT. And he said the one thing we lacked was leadership, and he called me in to tell me that's what I needed to do. So I took it personally, and took it as a challenge that that's what he needed me to do. Last year we didn't have a specific captain but I tried to fit into that role, along with Terrence, and I tried to step into that role because I knew that's something we needed as a team if we wanted to be successful, and I got the guys to start listening to me and respect me. And I think they follow me and look up to me.
So it's something that I take pride in, but it's a lot of responsibility.

Q. Terrence and Juan, any team that gets to this point probably has a great deal of faith in the way that the coach runs the team and prepares you. Given that you're playing for Coach Pitino, who has been to the Final Four almost half a dozen times with three different teams, is there a greater measure of faith?
JUAN PALACIOS: Well, Coach P he knows what he's doing. He's been coaching for 33, 34 years. Every time you ask him how much time he been coaching, he always give you a different answer.
You know, he knows what he doing. We're just here to learn and we put our trust in him. He tells us what we need to do, and if we accomplish that, then I have no question in my mind that we can accomplish that.
TERRENCE WILLIAMS: Well, the type of record that Coach P has and how many teams he's took to the Final Four and win championships, it would be dumb not to listen to him. So I mean, it goes hand-in-hand. He's smart. He's the best, I believe, in my eyes, and if you don't listen to him, like I say, you would be dumb not to do it.

Q. David, I know you talked about Coach Williams a little bit earlier, but can you take me back to the time when he was recruiting you and then he left for North Carolina? Was there any bitterness at all when you first found out he was leaving?
DAVID PADGETT: No, not at all. Like I said he and I have gotten along very well, every time I see him we talk. There have never been hard feelings, I know he's followed me closely and I have a great respect for him. It's funny, if he hadn't left Kansas, you know, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to come here and play for Coach and play with these guys to my left.
Like I said, with my injuries, everything works out for a reason and if I had to go back and do it all over again, I would do it the exact same.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks guys. We're on a roll. Keep going with the coach.

Q. Coach, I was wondering if you could tell me what you remember about the 1989 Kansas-Kentucky game, whether you feel like Coach Williams and Kansas ran up the score on you and whether there are any ill feelings now about that?
COACH RICK PITINO: There's no ill feelings about it. Just like Tello said, I can't remember how many years I'm coaching, I always have a different answer. I try to forget bad things and remember the positive, and I don't remember even coaching in Boston. (Laughter.)
Roy is a good guy. There are no ill feelings. You lose, you lose. You walk out.

Q. Is there something special about this team? Differentiate the teams that have gone to this point. Something different that this team has or something they do better or differently than other teams you've had?
COACH RICK PITINO: You know, it turned around so quickly, it happened. All of the sudden there are so many bad things happening to this team, so much adversity. I don't think I had this much adversity with a basketball team in a two-month period than anytime I've been coaching. So we were just trying to survive health, survive academics, survive so many different things, and we were spending just as much time in an effort of making people into young men as we were in the fundamentals of basketball. So we had to get to that point, then we had to get over the injuries. Then all of the sudden February hits and we're a good basketball team.
So it came so suddenly that we haven't had, really, time to think about where we are right now. And I'm real proud of this group because of the fact that they not only improved as basketball players, but they have grown up as people. Because it was a very immature group, way more immature than their years would indicate.

Q. Rick, this could be the second Final Four in your short tenure at Louisville, can you put into perspective how difficult it was to bring this program back to the elite status?
COACH RICK PITINO: In every situation it's always pretty much the same MO. Now Kentucky was different because they were on probation, and all of the good players, the tall players, the fast players left. And you were left with all the slow, Kentucky ballplayers, and you were on probation. So Providence, you know, hadn't been to a tournament in 10 years. Louisville hadn't been to a Final Four I think since probably '86. It's always the same MO. It's, you know, you need to get out there and recruit, beat the bushes, bring in players to create a style, change an attitude.
But at Louisville, a little bit different than most is you're in Conference USA, so you could sort of turn it around a little quicker than you could in the SEC. Then all of the sudden coming off a Final Four, and we're going to rebuild, and we decide to go into the Big East. And at the worst time we could go into the Big East was the time we went in, we lost Ellis, Francisco, Taquan, Otis. The mainstay of the team.
We go into the Big East and I would never thought coming to the University of Louisville that we would ever be in the Big East. I wanted to go back to Kentucky, too. I wanted to try a different brand of basketball, different league of coaches, different form of competition. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be back in the Big East. Just didn't make sense. First time it happened, John is here from the Big East, he can attest to this, Tom Jurich came to me and said, "Look, can you call your buddies, John Marinatto and Mike Tranghese of the Big East?" And I said "for what?" And he said, "There are rumors around that some of the teams may leave to try and get us into the Big East."
So I called Michael and he said, "Rick, we would love to entertain Louisville, but it's not going to be during my lifetime or yours. It's just not going to happen." And Tom heard things out there about Boston College and even Syracuse at the time, and sure enough about three, four months later, those rumblings were true, and it happened. And I called him again and certainly he said, they would be interested and it all materialized and came into play, along with South Florida and the other teams. And they formed this major corporation, which I never expected to be in.
And the competition is so fierce and so keen that it's -- it's been enjoyable but for these guys, they talk about becoming road tough, it's made them a good basketball team, this competition that we've faced in the Big East. So it's all very difficult in the beginning, but the journey makes it so much fun and Louisville it was the change in conferences that made it more difficult.

Q. Did it happen quicker, though, than you thought it would be at this level?
COACH RICK PITINO: You know, it's funny, because when you go to -- when you get on these runs in the tournament, they're totally unexpected. Only in '96 did I really think, not so much looking ahead -- first time in '96 I looked at the total brackets, and said, if we do this and do this we get here. I had that type of team. I've never done that at any other times. I never dreamt in my wildest dreams. In '87 we lost our team. I think the team I'm most proud of is in '97 when we lost a lot of those guys and went back, and were an overtime away from doing it again. So you never think that way, and to happen quick I never thought the team in 2005 had the ability to go to the Final Four. We were just hoping to survive because we had a lot of injuries that year.

Q. For all you've achieved in your career, would you say your greatest accomplishment is going to be getting Bill Keightley in the Louisville cheering section?
COACH RICK PITINO: It ranks up there. I think Bill, I mean this, I've been blessed -- it hasn't been the easiest thing coaching at the University of Louisville because we have 50,000 UK alumni in our town. If you go to Chapel Hill -- maybe North Carolina is not the same, but if you go to Lawrence, Kansas or Lexington, Kentucky or Bloomington, Indiana you're not going to find any Louisville fans in Lexington. Not that want to come out outwardly and say they're Louisville fans. So it's difficult at times, but the one thing I can say is you learn a lot about the game of life when you do come back, because you learn that guys like Bill Keightley, he's never going to like Louisville, it's just not his makeup, but he understands what friendships and people are all about. And I really appreciate that, because guys like Bill Keightley, they're your friends for life, and a lot of guys I thought were my friends back in those days haven't been my friends. So I really appreciate his friendship.

Q. Going back in time, in 1995 when you were at Kentucky you played a regional final against North Carolina, and in what was considered a home floor almost for UK. Do you see a potential parallel to tomorrow?
COACH RICK PITINO: No, I think we certainly did have -- we were in Birmingham, Alabama and it was a home-court advantage. That game was a strange game. Walter McCarty got a technical. Rasheed Wallace had his hands around the neck of Andre Riddick, and they got into it. For some reason Walter McCarty got a technical, I don't know how that was. They had a good basketball team and they beat us that night. I think that loss was the pilot that helped us win a future championship because we were so disappointed that night in the way we played, in our shot selection that we made sure it never would happen again. They outplayed us that night.
They were a terrific ballclub, but I don't see the parallels. I think these are two very deep basketball teams right now, and I think North Carolina is a little bit on all cylinders, with the exception of when -- when Lawson went out they were still good and winning but they weren't as good as they are with him in the lineup.

Q. You talked about going into the Big East and rebuilding after the Final Four. You had a handful of guys who were committed to come here and play surprise you and how much did that play into make it go difficult to build it back to this point?
COACH RICK PITINO: Well for me personally that rule they put in was tremendous. Mike went through it at Duke the most. John a little bit at Memphis and us. I don't know if it was bad timing, poor decisions on our part. We take Sebastian Telfair over Rajon Rondo. We'd take Amir Johnson. We'd take James Lang, and they'd all go pro. So I've tried to stay away from that mentality entirely right now. When players start talking about the one-and-done stuff, I start running the other way a little bit. And I have no problem with players coming that if they're good enough to be one and done, but I don't like the whole talk about that. I like to talk about, I want to become the greatest player possible, and if that gets me to that level right away, so be it. When college put in that rule it helped us tremendously.

Q. Coach you were saying that Carolina is a better team with Lawson back. You must have watched them this year. They're on national TV all year, is that an advantage for scouting?
COACH RICK PITINO: Well, we're on TV every game, too, so to be honest with you, I watch any game on TV. I don't necessarily tune into North Carolina, I don't tune into -- I know what Carolina is all about and their system is all about. I sort of like to watch teams that I don't know what they're all about. I like to watch Washington State that I don't get a chance to see very often, I liked certain things that Purdue did this year with their defense. I like to study those things. I like to study certain things UCLA does. I love the way they trap the post and how active they are.
With me, I never thought we would be playing Carolina. You don't think that way. I never thought we would be playing Tennessee. Tennessee was a style of play that we didn't see this year. It was totally different than our players have seen this year, so although they're on TV a lot and you cover them a little bit more than we do. We just turn on whatever is available.

Q. Coach, following up what you were talking about, David Stern in Time magazine was quoted two weeks ago saying that he's going to push for sophomores to be ineligible to join the NBA. How do you think that will impact the college game?
COACH RICK PITINO: I think first of all, wearing two hats, I'll speak as an NBA coach. As an NBA coach the older and more emotionally mature you get basketball players, the better it's going to be as an NBA coach. The temptations, the distractions for these guys to go into the NBA, if parents only knew, they would try to get their kids to stay in school.
As a college coach I'm also from the other school. If a young man is ready, I don't want to risk an injury. I want him to go. But on the other hand, they've got to be emotionally and physically ready for the NBA, or they're going to sit the bench.
In the end, if you do the math and you understand the economics of it all, if you go to the NBA when you're not ready, you're going to make about 20 million dollars less. If you go when you're ready with a reputation, you're going to have a much larger shoe contract, your second contract is going to be much higher and you're going to be ready to play. The guys that go in there and sit on the bench, and get moved down to the NBDL, the second contract is not going to be as high.
So it's a blessing for the NBA and a blessing for college. The more discipline you get from Roy Williams, from Coach K, from Gary Williams, all the coaches. Discipline is the magic word for these guys to succeed in life. They're not going to get that right away at the NBA. If you don't show up, so be it, you get fined. You don't show up with us, you're going to be running on a treadmill at 6 a.m. in the morning, and that type of training is invaluable for these guys. Tyler Hansbrough goes to the pros, whenever he wants, or Ty Lawson, all these guys, they're going to be ready because of the discipline they got at Carolina.

Q. How about from college standpoint?
COACH RICK PITINO: For college it's great. Two years is perfect. One year and done, I have so many of these guys that I was recruiting this year and I went in different directions because they were talking that way. There is nobody in this class that's one year and done in high school. You can't think that way. There is no Greg Odens, no Durants. Now, somebody may crop up, and he's such a fierce worker he may be a one-and-done. But you can't think that way. If you think that way, you'll never reach your potential. It's the greatest killer of potential, thinking that way.

Q. Back to that '95 game for a second, how are you a different coach now than you were back then?
COACH RICK PITINO: You know, I really mean this, it's just a product of age. You know, I learned more from losing in four years with the Boston Celtics with the exception of my two years with Hubie Brown than any other period in my life. Because you learn patience, you learn so many things you're going to have to overcome. You're playing a center of Andrew Declerq and Travis Knight - they're good basketball players, don't get me wrong - and you're overmatched. And there are so many nights when you're overmatched that you've got to do certain things, and then you do the wrong things and you learn from doing the wrong things. I've learned so many things from going through that period. And how I guess the style may be the same in terms of the execution of offenses and defenses. But I think anytime you get older you just constantly realize why you win and why you lose. You realize that it has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with Roy, it has to do with -- and I really mean this, and it's not a gratuitous way, there are just so many great coaches that the players are going to win or lose for you, and you're going to have your systems.
Carolina has a great system. Mike down the road has a great system. The coach at Washington State, who I said his name enough because I follow him now, I love the way he teaches and goes about himself, carries himself. The young man from Butler, who I watched the other night, love the way he carries himself. Coach Painter from Purdue played against him this year for the first time. Loved the way he carried himself. So many tremendous young coaches. So you learn each year that goes by in your coaching profession you realize it's less and less about what you know, and more about what the guys do and it's truly a team and you're just a smart part of this team.

Q. You mentioned Walter in the '95 game and now he's coaching with you. Your last Final Four you had Reggie Theus who was an NBA guy who could come in and work with Walter, but what do those guys mean to you?
COACH RICK PITINO: I didn't realize, hiring Reggie was a big gamble. Nobody would hire him and I didn't know what to expect. You don't usually like to hire an NBA guy because NBA guys don't like to come in at 6:30, work till 8 at night. That's not their thing. They're used to Ritz Carltons and Four Seasons hotels, and not the hotels we stay in. So they're not used to that lifestyle. Reggie said, Hey, look, I'm coaching AAU basketball, and I'm a volunteer assistant at a Division II school. I'm not the Reggie Theus who played in the NBA, and he was right. He was terrific for the guys.
And the great thing about hiring the NBA guys that I didn't know at the time that I took the gamble is the players look up to him so much because Reggie was one of six players that scored 19,000 points and had more than 7,000 assists. Walter has been played ten years in the NBA. And these guys really look up to them. And when they tell them, that's not the way an NBA player acts, it really means something. It's want just the coach telling them.
Walt has been awesome for our basketball team because not only did he play 10 years in the NBA, but he did it with his attitude as much as his ability. That's why he lasted 10 years, and then he also turned around and won a national championship. So Walt has been great for our guys and he's going to be a tremendous head coach some day because of his attitude and what he's experienced.

Q. Coach, along that line, can you talk a little bit about what he does with Earl and Derrick and keeping them coming back for you? Is it possible that Earl, if he continues to progress, could leave after this year?
COACH RICK PITINO: I told Earl he's not leaving. That doesn't mean he listens to every word I say now, and I say that because I love him. He should not leave. He should stay another year and try to become the best player in college basketball, rather than sit on an NBA bench. I think in another year he'll get drafted and he'll play right away. I don't think there is any rush to it all.
There are certain players that just financially they have to get it done. Their families are struggling, they're from a different country; that's not Earl's situation. And so my recommendation to Earl is to stay in school, and I would tell him from someone who loves him. That doesn't mean he couldn't get drafted. He probably could. But in the long run, where that young man could have a great career in the NBA he needs to stay put.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach.

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