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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: DAYTONMarch 21, 2009Preston KnowlesRick PitinoJerry SmithDAYTON, OHIO THE MODERATOR: Joining us today are student-athletes Jerry Smith and Preston Knowles. Questions for the student-athletes, please. Q. This is for both of you guys, can you just talk about playing a team that kind of plays your style? Like how much did you all look forward to that last year against Tennessee and how do you look forward to tomorrow? JERRY SMITH: I think we look forward to it a lot. We know they've got very scrappy guards and very good, big men inside and they like to turn people over just like we do. So it should be interesting. We're very, very excited about it. PRESTON KNOWLES: They're basically like a carbon-copy of us. But what we have to do, we can't fall into that run-and-gun match with them. We have to be the most aggressive team both offensively and defensively, so if we can do that and control the tempo and play Louisville basketball at the same time, I think we'll be all right. Q. How much do you know about the personnel of the Siena team and how difficult is it to turn around at tournament time to get to know the personnel basically on the fly in a day? JERRY SMITH: If you get to the Elite Eight, they're the toughest because you've got one day to prepare. We watched a lot of film on them today, we know they have a great guard play. Their point guard is tremendous. He has like a 4 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and we know the 2 guard is very, very aggressive. It's a short amount of time, but guys really have to lock in and be focused and be ready to go come Sunday. Q. Preston, you guys have just been decimating teams after halftime with your press. Are you guys turning it up, or is it more a case you're wearing people down? PRESTON KNOWLES: I have to say it's a little bit of both. Because we pressure people 40 straight minutes as hard as we can, and eventually they're going to break down; even if it's their best player, they're going to break down. So that being said, them wearing down, and when we see that we go for the kill. So we have this, okay, we can tell they're tired, you can see it in their eyes. That's really when we try to turn it up. So I have to say it's a little bit of both. Q. Jerry, did you stay up to watch the game last night? And secondly, how much of an advantage is it for you guys the fact that they had to play a double overtime game into the morning? JERRY SMITH: We stayed up and watched the game. A lot of the guys did. And when you say double overtime, I don't think it's much of an advantage for us, because this is the NCAA Tournament, there's a lot of emotion that goes into it. They get a day off just like we do in between. So I don't think that double overtime is going to matter at all come Sunday. Q. Watching the game, were you surprised that with all the things Siena didn't do well that they actually won? PRESTON KNOWLES: No, because I think they were the more aggressive team on defense. Like when you play in the NCAA Tournament, March Madness, that's what's going to win championships, is defense. Anybody can miss shots, you're not going to be there offensively every single game, you have to rely on defense pressure to win ball games. That's what they did down the stretch. Q. Were you surprised that Siena was able to win, were you surprised that with all the trouble that Siena had with turnovers and poor shooting they still won? JERRY SMITH: No, not at all, because like Preston said, they played a tremendous defense. And plus they didn't shoot very good percentage, I think it was 26, 27 percent, but they had 24 offensive rebounds, which is tremendous and off the charts. That's why they were able to score as much as they did and actually stay in the game and actually win it. Q. You all went from a situation where you could possibly have been playing Ohio State, and basically in their own backyard, to now where seems like you all have a pretty good home-court advantage tomorrow. How much of a difference does that make for the players? Do you all tune that out, or is that a help to you in a situation like this? JERRY SMITH: I think it matters a lot. We definitely would have been in a hostile environment full of Ohio State fans. Seeing that Siena was able to pull it off, hopefully a lot of them will sell their tickets to Cards fans. Q. How much do you guys tweak your press, if at all, from game to game depending upon your opponents' tendencies and so forth? PRESTON KNOWLES: Basically depends on how they set their press up, just like some people, they just have like a one-guard front. Yesterday with Morehead State, they basically had everybody in the back court. With us, what we had to do from timeout to timeout, we had to bring our 4 man up, 3 man up. It depends on like what the opponent's team press is, and we try to adjust it from timeout or on the go. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. Coach, if you would please, an opening statement. COACH PITINO: It was quite a ball game last night to watch. And Siena's -- what we try to do when you have one-day preparation is try to take a team that you play against in the Big East and say: Who does that remind you of. And this team does a lot of things defensively, like Villanova, with the way they three-quarter court trap falling back to 3-2, changing their defenses, great on the break. So with one-day preparation, you sort of try to remind your team this is the way Villanova did it and this is the way Siena does it. They've got outstanding talent. Their point guard is probably one of the fastest and best decision-makers we will see all year. So he's a terrific basketball player. The whole team is really good and very deserving of the victory yesterday, and certainly it will be more of a neutral site now for both of us than it would have been if Ohio State would have won. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. When you watch a game like that last night, do you find yourself wondering who is going to win? COACH PITINO: Well, they went up in overtime and then they gave up a 3 and Ohio State comes back in the game. And then there's so much drama, but there's so much at stake for these teams that it adds to it. You live and die -- like Wisconsin -- they actually left the last second shot to go to Wisconsin when the shot was taken. The TV went blank and they said, "Let's go to Wisconsin." Everybody said, "Did he make it or not?" It was great drama going back and forth with both games. Although it was unbelievable, I just left Madison Square Garden, where I watched six overtime games, and just the last two weeks have been incredible from a fan standpoint just to watch. Q. Is it any factor that they played a double overtime game, this will probably be an up-tempo game, but there will be a day of rest, do you think that factors into anything? COACH PITINO: I don't think so. You're only talking 10 more minutes. I don't think that's a factor. I think both of us will go easy today and get the work done and get prepared. We're two up-tempo teams, and obviously we're going to try to turn each other over. They play a lot more 3-2 zone. We play a lot more 2-3 zone. So it will be both teams going after each other. Both teams have good guard play, and it will be an interesting contest. Q. Rick, is this the best pressing team you've had at Louisville and how would you rank it compared to all your college teams as a pressing team? COACH PITINO: Yeah, it's definitely my best at Louisville. I think that it's a different type of press we're using now than some of the other presses we've used. We don't trap as much as we run and jump and change positions. But the basic premise of great back pursuit is still there. It's certainly a very good pressing team and one that -- the key for us is to shoot a high percentage so we can get it on a number of times. Last night, Siena three-quarter court trap gave Ohio State fits, but they shot such a low percentage in the first half that they couldn't get it on as much. So that's the key to all pressing teams, is that you shoot a good percentage so you can get it on that many more times. Q. I asked Samardo about playing in March Madness and being part of it for the first time, and he said every minute is something new. What's it like coaching him this year? He doesn't come from the same background as other guys do and what's he been like as a freshman? COACH PITINO: I think the most interesting thing for me is when I visited his home in September. It's listed Montego Bay, but by the time you get to his home you realize it's really a Third World country. The poverty is absolutely something like I've not witnessed too much in person. And it was something to realize why he's so hungry to make it when you see that up close. And so this is great for him. He spent a few years, obviously, at St. Benedicts, but he's a very hardworking, young man and he has a definite plan to help his family. Q. He told me even the school where he played did not have a gym, they had to bus 30 minutes to a gym. Are you surprised that he just seems like such a natural at some of the things that he has to do to have picked it up in that short a period of time? COACH PITINO: I visited where he played. It's a cement court. The baskets were not the right height and the court was uneven. And that's where he played most of his games in elementary school. There was great discipline at the schools. Kids weren't wearing caps, but everybody would walk to school with an umbrella, which was interesting. They all had uniforms on, but they walked a great distance. And from the road, the main road going out of Montego Bay to his home would probably be only half a mile as you turn to get to his home up the road. And it took us almost a half hour with no traffic to go from the road to his home, to go a half mile. We had to go at least one or two miles per hour the entire way because that's how bumpy that road, terrain was to get to his house. Q. Siena is a team that won in the tournament last year, and obviously scheduled a game at Pitt and at Kansas. Do you see in them a team that expects to be in a game like this and plan to make a run? COACH PITINO: They've got terrific talent. And the good thing for Siena is most of these guys are coming back again. But they've got really outstanding abilities. Siena has now joined the ranks of Xavier and Gonzaga in terms of the types of players they're getting and the type of talent they have. They all can go in the Big East and play for a school. Siena could go into the Big East right now and be in the middle of the pack of the Big East and hold their own with any of us, obviously indicative of who they played. So they're a very good basketball team, and they got most of their players back, so they're going to be good and that's the key. Q. You referred to Ronald Moore before. How much did you know about him before this tournament and how much of a key is he going to be in this game tomorrow? COACH PITINO: Well, I know of him because we talked about Kevin Willard, my ex-assistant, is at Iona, and they play in that league and he was always talking about what a great play guard he was. But the whole team impresses me. They can all beat you off the bounce. Last night, their big guy had, what, 16 and 15. They're very effective. They attack very well. Before you even can set up your press they're pushing the ball much like Connecticut up the sideline before you can set it up. They're an impressive group. They're terrific. He's as good a point guard. You take Levance Fields from Pitt, he has a very good assist turnover ratio. This young man has the same turnover ratio but he's got unbelievable speed, as well. Q. Going back to last night, you saw a 3-point attempt made at the buzzer with the team down 3. What's your philosophy on fouling in that situation if you're on defense? COACH PITINO: Well, I think it goes -- somebody asked me that question, and I lost a game fouling at Tennessee with Jamal Mashburn. We fouled. They went to the line, made the first, missed the second. Got the rebound. We fouled 3-point play. We lost the game. So I think on the five seconds it makes sense if you're a good blockout team on the foul line. You have big bodies that block out well. We do not. We are not a real good free-throw, blockout team. And Earl Clark is a guy that can get pushed underneath, as well as Samardo is okay. So if you're a good blockout team, probably it's advantageous to foul under five seconds, and I would think about it and I have thought about it. I think about it all the time. But percentage-wise, if you play it, it's in your favor. It's probably less than 15 percent the shot's going to go in if you play it correctly. But he had a good open look. Q. Mentioned now this is one of your better-pressing teams, what separates the average ones from the really good ones? What makes this group particularly special? COACH PITINO: I think it's up front how much pressure you can give up front. Clark and Terrence Williams are very good anticipators, they know the game the pressure has to start in the back court. Andre McGee is as good as it gets with applying pressure, and once the pressure is beaten, how good is your back pursuit? That's what makes every press go. We don't give up too many layups because of our back pursuit and our run-and-jump philosophy. We're pretty good about it. We don't give up many layups. Q. Noticed in the locker room that T-Will had ice on his left hand or wrist, is that the same injury or did he reinjure it? Is it a factor at all in his game? COACH PITINO: No, he's fine today. I didn't notice anything was bothering him. Q. Terrence Williams seems like a really unique person in addition to being a skilled basketball player. I'm wondering what type of elements does it add to the team having somebody with that type of personality? And secondly, how rare is it to have a player of his caliber who doesn't seem obsessed with scoring and isn't what he bases his game on? COACH PITINO: He's a unique kid. When he came in the first thing I wanted to do is -- I didn't know him real well. We recruited him kind of late. It was an interesting story. I was sitting in Las Vegas's gym. Back then they had this thousand-team thing in Vegas like they do now except it was taking place on UNLV's campus, we'd hop from gym to gym. Assistant coach just said to me, "I saw a guy with Michael Jordan athleticism." I said, "Are you kidding?" "No." He gave me his name. He was playing at 4:00, I watched him. He was awful, played terrible. I came back and said to the coach, "What Michael Jordan are you talking about?" And he said, "No, I mean his athleticism." He said, "Now look, don't get fooled. I watched him play one game, he was terrible, and next time I watched him play he was unbelievable." I looked on the schedule. He was playing again 9:00. He blew me away. I stayed with him that week, and sent Reggie Theus out to recruit him, and his background was really interesting, because he was living with Marcus Williams, the young man's family that played at Arizona; and then the next week I'd call him, he'd be with his AD living at his home; next week I'd call him, he'd be with his high school coach. He was basically living at different places. So the one conclusion I came early on, this young man had to be given a lot of attention and a lot of love, because he really didn't have the typical home environment that most of these kids have. And he came in difficult to handle in terms of getting his trust, and then he just totally opened up everything, and we've been best friends ever since. And he's been a lot of fun to coach because of it. He listens. Like I always tell him: Look, you've got an opportunity every time you're in front of a reporter to do a five-minute commercial on yourself and what you're all about. Or if somebody sticks a microphone, you can do a 15-second commercial. And he's done a great job of that. Francisco Garcia did that and T-Will did it, and they truly understand that every time you get in front of a microphone, every time you get in front of a reporter you can do a commercial on your personality. And if it's any good it will be a good commercial. And he has a very good personality. Q. Does it seem almost -- seems like a lot of times a player like that wouldn't be the type who would want to score all the time. COACH PITINO: I think he understands when he tries to do that he doesn't have the effect -- the best part about T-Will, he does so many things, grabs 9 or 10 rebounds, gets 5 assists, scores 12 points. He gets 3 or 4 steals. He's always capable of pushing a triple-double on a given night. I really do feel he's going to be a terrific pro, because most college players who are average to good shooters become good to great shooters when they get in the NBA. You take a Ron Artest he was very similar to a T-Will in college. He could do all the things that T-Will could do and then he became, in time, a great shooter. That's the same thing as T-Will, 6-6 body who can turn around and guard somebody. He can rebound his position. He can pass and make people better. He's a freak athlete. And his basketball ability has caught up to his athleticism. Q. Can you talk about how this team has been in terms of policing itself? A lot of the guys are talking about players only meeting after the Western Kentucky game and they felt that is kind of what set the tone for the rest of the year. Have they been any better than some of your past teams in terms of that? COACH PITINO: The only thing I've been preaching all along is I say: The only thing that can stop you guys from being a good basketball team is a lack of humility. I think that stops all individuals and that stops all teams. When you start thinking you're much better than you are, somebody comes and knocks you off your pedestal quick. And we've just been preaching that stay humble and hungry. Stay humble and hungry. Keep learning, keep preparing. Anybody can beat you on a given night. When we lost to Notre Dame by 33 points, the thing I tried to tell them is, and just gave them the five classic examples of the Arizona Cardinals getting killed by the Patriots, and we were out there at that time and everybody said it's going to be one and done with the Cardinals, then went to the Super Bowl. Or Villanova losing to West Virginia by 25 points. It's just one game. I said just give the other team credit. Notre Dame was great. We weren't. Let's go back to work and not be overly concerned. It was like that last night at halftime. I said: You're not playing bad. Morehead's playing terrific. We'll have a run, stay with the game plan and we'll have our run. The team never panicked and they never got full of themselves. And that's been one of the keys. Q. When you compare the class or the players in last year's tournament, seemed like it was a really high, elite-level, first round draft picks, and this year a little down. How would you rate the caliber of this year's class? If you do think it's down, does that kind of open up this tournament at all? COACH PITINO: I think you've got a lot of great players in the tournament. Blake Griffin, we played against him last year and the difference between last year and this year, one year, that's why you stay in college. Last year we stopped Blake Griffin. I don't think we could stop him like we did last year. He's improved so much. Has improved so much. Dante Cunningham has improved so much. College really helps these guys. I don't mean to speak out of school here when I say it because I want to say it without knocking anybody. I heard last night that B.J. Mullens was going to go pro. Be the worst move the young man could ever make, because he's going to be a terrific pro. But sitting on an NBA bench during the course of the season you're trying to get ready. If you're an NBA coach you're not worried about that 10th, 11th 12th man in developing him, you're worried about winning and surviving as a coach. That young man doesn't improve like Dante Green of Syracuse. You want to stay in school and become the best player you can be so when you go to the pros you're ready for it. Anybody can make a roster, and then you want to go the right way. And like a Blake Griffin went the right way and Hasheem Thabeet went the right way. With Dante Green, I thought it would benefit him tremendously to be on that Syracuse team this year and really improve. I'm not knocking the guys when I say that. You have to do good decisions for your life span of becoming a good pro. When I sat there with T-Will last year and he said: Coach, I'm thinking about going pro," I said, "T-Will, I think I'd love it, but I don't think it's in your best interests. I think you need to stay one more year. You need to let that great class move on, and you'll have a great senior." He got up. I said, "Where are you going?" He said, "That's what I'm going to do." I said, "No discussion, no debate?" He said, "No, that's what I'm going to do." I hope that young man, for his sake, because B.J. Mullens, I hope he listens to his coach because some guys are ready and some guys would really benefit by just -- and the thing like Antoine Walker and Walter McCarty and Mercer all say: The greatest moments they have is those years they wish they could have done one more year of college. Ron's with me now traveling around seeing if he wants to be a coach. He's saying: Boy, this is so great, brings back so many great memories, and you only get such a short period of time in college. Enjoy it while you can. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. End of FastScripts |
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