|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: CHARLOTTEMarch 26, 2008David PadgettRick PitinoTerrence WilliamsCHARLOTTE, SOUTH CAROLINA THE MODERATOR: Question for Coach Pitino. COACH RICK PITINO: We're looking forward to playing an obviously terrific Tennessee basketball team. It should be an exciting game. Both teams are very deep. Both teams rely on multiple substitutions to execute their game plan both offensively and defensively, so it should be an exciting game. Q. Rick, can you talk about the role of Earl Clark and how he's developed. At the beginning of the year he played because of the injuries and he has struggled a little bit in the middle, and then he has become dominant. COACH RICK PITINO: His minutes got diminished when Tello (Palacios) came back, but I don't think he struggled. Earl Clark came in not knowing how to work hard. That was his biggest weakness. It wasn't his skill. And he's gotten stronger and learned how to work hard. He's acquired that skill and it's enabled him to take his game to a new level. Q. Coach, can you talk about David Padgett's offensive game? It seems like the jump hook with the left and right hand is almost impossible to stop. COACH RICK PITINO: I think what makes David is effective is his ability to pass the basketball when he gets double-teamed he finds the open man. He knows how to attack defenses, he knows how to attack slap-downs and trap-downs. So it's his intelligence in low post, but you're correct in terms of he uses his left and right equally as good. Q. Rick, coming out of the Big East and now that you've played two tournament games, can you talk about how comfortable you are with the point guard situation? COACH RICK PITINO: Very good. Andre McGee has had a very good year, he doesn't get the credit as Clark and others, and Sosa has had a good year as well, not as good as Andre, but Andre has been spectacular on defense and he has done some good things with the execution of the half court offense. Q. Rick, on Padgett, everybody knows about his comeback, playing two games in three days is that difficult for him or is he fine with that now? COACH RICK PITINO: No, he's pretty much 100% now, pain-free. For the first time in years he's not in any pain at all. Q. Another Padgett question: Can you talk about his journey from Kansas and the injuries he's had? Maybe how you got him instead of North Carolina with Roy? COACH RICK PITINO: We recruited him out of high school, he's a McDonald's All American and he chose Kansas to play for Roy, and we had a good relationship with him in high school. So when he announced he was going to transfer, we called his dad, who was his high school coach at the time, and asked would he be interested, and he said he thought he would be. And he visited our campus, had a great visit and I think he wanted to go in a different direction entirely, you know. And it was good for him because we really needed him. Anytime you transfer, you want to make sure that you're going to get the ability to play a lot right away, and it was a good fit for him with us. Q. Following up on what I asked before, you used two point guards almost equally in terms of minutes. How do you decide when you use which guy? What are you looking for out of each one? COACH RICK PITINO: Well, Andre is a tenacious defensive player. He makes our press go, along with Preston Knowles in the backcourt. So if we need extreme pressure we go with Andre. If we need more offense we'll go with Edgar Sosa. Q. Coach, a lot of people missed out on Chris Lofton coming out of high school. What do you think happened with his recruitment and talk about the player he is at this level. COACH RICK PITINO: I think he chose the right school. They were rebuilding, he got the opportunity to play right away, so I think it was -- I don't think anybody missed on him, it's just that Tennessee knew what they wanted and certainly he's a great fit for Tennessee and great fit for Chris. Q. Coach, along those lines with Chris, he was banged up a little bit in Butler. Do you expect him to be ready to go come tomorrow? COACH RICK PITINO: I'm coaching Louisville, how do I know that? Ask Bruce that question. Q. Can you tell me what kind of challenges he presents when you guys try to guard him. COACH RICK PITINO: This is a team that, like us, can play 10 to 12 people. So if you just worry about Chris, you're going to get beat at other positions. If you just worry about Tyler, so you've got to worry about the whole scheme of players. They're all outstanding and they're deep and talented. We all know Chris's range, but he's added so much to his game. He's got a great ball fake, takes it to the basket well, he's an improved passer, so he's gotten significantly better. Q. Will you go back and talk about just in December, how bleak did things seem? Did you hope with Padgett, if he could come back? COACH RICK PITINO: Well, they're never quite as bad or bleak as everybody makes it out to be. We were never in a situation that Tom Coughlin was in when the New York Daily News thought he should be replaced. I'm a Giant fan, so I look back on how that turned around. So we were never in those straits, but people, I remember well they thought that the winner of the Kentucky game could survive and possibly make a tournament. The loser would never make a tournament of the Kentucky-Louisville game. That was the feelings, and as it turned out, we both made the tournament and here we are in the Sweet 16. The point being, you never know how it's going to turn out. We were banged up, we didn't know if David would be coming back. In his mind he was coming back. With Tello we didn't know when. So we got a lot of experience playing a tough schedule, and Earl Clark and Derrick got a lot of experience. We had some good wins, beating Las Vegas on the road, losing a tight one to Brigham Young, the game against Kansas on the road, and we lost our first game in the conference, and David was nowhere near 100%. Then we came together in February and played well and came together at the right time. It's never as bleak as people think until you've finished a game. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Good luck. Questions for the two student-athletes. Q. David, Coach Pitino was saying you're pain-free for the first time, what's that like? Is it almost surprising to go out there and not feel pain? DAVID PADGETT: I wouldn't say "surprising." It's a good feeling to wake up in the morning and not worry about whether or not my knees are going to hurt. Last season, for the most part, coming off surgery I had days where I didn't feel good, and I had days where I felt good. It's good to go to practice and to the games knowing that my legs aren't going to bother me. Q. Terrence, I noticed when a three-point shooter has the ball, talk about defending Lofton and not giving him open looks tomorrow night. TERRENCE WILLIAMS: We try not to give a lot of people open looks. With him you have to know where he's at at all times. It's going to be tough defending him because of the type of shots he shoots and makes. So I can't tell you how tough it is because I haven't played the game yet, but I think watching film it will be a tough task. Q. David, in Birmingham, your practice was lax, you were goofing off and Terrence was trying to bounce in shots. Today you come out meaning business. Was that your choice or was that Rick's choice? DAVID PADGETT: Last week we had practiced and gotten in an hour and a half on our own, did what we needed to do. So Coach wanted us to go out there for a bit for the guys who hadn't been to the tournament, just see what it's all about. And today we came straight over here and he wanted to get some work in, conditioning in for tomorrow, and I think he wanted us to get accomplished what we needed to. Q. David, could you talk about your decision to transfer to Louisville? And why Louisville instead of North Carolina if you talked to Coach Williams again, had a chance to play for him when you didn't at Kansas? DAVID PADGETT: When I decided to transfer, Coach Pitino actually recruited me hard out of high school, and I turned him down, obviously, and he probably worked the hardest after I decided to transfer. And I got to know him well and I was really impressed with him. Coach Williams and I have always had a great relationship, and I have great respect for him, but it was just one of those situations where I felt that Louisville was going to be a better spot for me overall. It's just where I chose to go. Q. Terrence, you being from the Pacific Northwest and having gone through the recruiting stuff at Rainer Beach and Washington State had no buzz at all on the west side. Here you are sharing a stage with them. How amazed are you that they're here at the NCAA tournament with you guys? TERRENCE WILLIAMS: I wouldn't say amazed. I congratulate them if I see them, but I kinda knew -- I had an in-home visit with them, and I knew the direction that the coach was trying to go, and it seemed like a good direction but I came here because this was headed in the right direction. It shows you a lot that any type of program can come from anywhere and go wherever they're trying to go, and I tip my hat off to them. Q. Terrence, can you describe what it was like in December when David was hurt, you had other injuries, you guys were losing games? Did you feel like this was probable or how down were you guys? TERRENCE WILLIAMS: Honestly I cried. I think it was on the trip to somewhere, and somebody told me that he couldn't play no more, and I'm like, yeah, right. So I'm sitting and he called my phone, like, "come to my room," and I went to his room and he was like, "Did you hear what happened?" And I'm like, "What?" And he told me he couldn't play no more, and I walked out of his room and cried in the hallway because I knew without him that, you know, because Tello was already hurt, so I knew without him, you can't -- there is new technology, you can drive some cars without a key, but that's the key to everything on our team. I knew it wasn't going to work. I kept telling him and our trainer, he has to come back. He has to and our trainer told me, "I promise you, he'll come back." And we lost the game and I looked at him and I said, "dog, can you start playing, please?" And he said to me, "I'll be back next week." And then I see him running up and down the sideline, seen him in the whirlpool and I seen him practicing, and I kept saying, "Yes, he's finally back!" But it was hard because everybody was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and he came back and pushing people into the offense. And when Coach P ain't talking, he was talking. So when he ain't there, it hurts, but now he's back, so we can put it in the past. Q. David, how motivating was that for you? It sounds like he was on your case a lot and always trying to get you to come back. Was that something that spurned you more? DAVID PADGETT: He wasn't kidding. He did get mad at me for getting hurt. It wasn't out something I could control. I knew how badly he wanted me to come back, but he does a phenomenal job on the court directing the young guys and he did a great job. I said, "Don't be patient. I'll be back, don't listen to anybody. I'll be back." And sure enough one day I was out there. My trainer and I didn't tell anybody we were going to do it, and we went out there and ran up and down the court and started shooting. He comes in and got really excited. Q. Terrence, you hit on it at the end but can you explain why David is such an important part of your team? TERRENCE WILLIAMS: He directs us. Like he's been through a lot, you know, way more than a lot of players have been through. In certain situations he knows when to bring the ball out, when to shoot the ball. He tells you to go backdoor before the backdoor opens. He's the coach on the floor, our point center. He just basically directs traffic, like a traffic cop. Without him it's kinda hard. With him it's a lot easier because he is our Coach David. He's like our Coach P on the court. But David takes, everybody calls him the "Golden Child" because he gets whenever he wants from Coach P. And he don't got to practice a lot and stuff like that, but he takes more heat from Coach P. More than any other player on the team besides myself. And he listens to it and he goes out of the huddle and he says, "Don't listen to him, we know what we need to do." And everybody listens to him and we respect him. Good leaders are hard to come by, but aggressive leaders are really hard to come by. He's an aggressive leader. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. Good luck. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|