So, I tried to transcribe most of what was said in the interview. I think if I do this in the future, I'll just do a more general recap as it will be easier to read and less time consuming. The quoted parts are actual quotes and not me just getting the gist of what Coach Pitino was saying.
Richard Pitino Show 2/9/15
Pitino was supposed to go to New Jersey to recruit, but his flight was cancelled due to a snowstorm on the East Coast. Pitino claims he didn’t want to go and was glad it was cancelled and that McHale was there probably miserable. Pitino said it was going to be a very good trip, but during the season all you want to do is look at your last game and prepare for your next opponent.
Question about the 17 point run against Purdue. Pitino said he was excited about it because that was the way he wanted to play: get steals, get out on the break and run. Pitino mentions the ridiculous shots Purdue made to get back in the game. He said a few of the shots were made by guys who were not shooters and were the equivalent of Elliott Eliason making three’s. Pitino then said that Purdue is a good club and that it was a good win for his team.
Question on how the crowd impacts the game. Pitino says he doesn’t get it when people don’t understand why it’s hard to win on the road. Pitino says “how do you not understand it ?” It’s tough to win on the road and it’s tough for other teams to come in and win on our home court. He says he thinks players do just a little bit extra to try to get the crowd involved at home.
Pitino says our biggest problem right now is no depth at the guard spot “it’s really, really difficult and it puts us in a bind a lot” Down the road with recruiting classes hopefully we will have more depth.
Talks about loss at Purdue: We had that game in control and then allowed them to hit two 3’s and then the building took over. I felt like our building took over (most recent game) here.
Discussion on AJ Hammons: Felt like playing a lot of zone was the only answer as Painter does a lot of good things to get him isolated on the post. On his defensive impact, Pitino jokes that Mathieu drove in and threw the ball at his arms a couple of times. “I guess he was showing “heart” or whatever, but needs to knock that off”.
Discussion on Mo Walker’s block: Pitino immediately says it was not a foul and Mike Grimm agrees. Says our league is a really weirdly officiated league. Pitino feels that Edwards “jumped in to our guy” and that in the B1G they never make that call. Pitino brings up Mathieu against Northwestern last year and how he didn’t get that call. Pitino expands further saying that it wasn’t a great offensive play and you can reward a guy in that situation. Pitino says they’ve been on the other side of that “a lot”, but that he thinks it’s the right way to officiate it.
Grimm says it’s nice to see Andre Hollins string these games together, Pitino responds oh my goodness it is because I just watched the Iowa game and he was so bad offensively and it killed us. Andre has stopped worrying about his offense and that has helped him. Pitino liked more than anything that last game Andre was driving in to the lane with some speed, authority, and physicality and he hasn’t really done that much this year. Biggest key to the game against Purdue was “win the free throw line” and Andre set the tone early with helping us do that.
Mo is getting better defensively. The tough thing for me this year is that Mo has been a liability can’t play 3 centers defensively and Elliott has been a liability offensively, especially at the free throw line. They are both improving and it’s made things a bit easier. “ I’ve tried Bakary over Elliott, but Bakary just fouls so much. I’ve told Bakary, and Bakary needs to realize this, that those two guys are gone next year, you’re going to be handed that spot-now someone could certainly take it from you where as Gas gave 4 minutes and 3 rebouds…well 1 rebound and he poked 2 more away and he just didn’t make a lot of mistakes…with those two guys it’s just minimizing their mistakes because they got the size and they got the physicality” . “Gas is behind from an understanding standpoint since he was around first semester, they are both pretty raw. The tough part for both of them is that we didn’t get to work with them right away. Gas wasn’t here Bakary…Bakary was coming to games 30 minutes before tip because he had to go to a class or something like that. Both of those guys haven’t progressed as early as possible and a lot of it is due to factors out of their hands.”
On Bakary and Gas playing together: Yeah I think next year we will see some of that. We’ve got Johnathan Nwankwo coming in, but he probably won’t play right away, so Gas will probably have to play some 5. I like having guys who can play two positions like Bakary right now can’t play two positions so he’s not going to get a lot of playing time where as Gas, he has the physicality he can do that.
Conversation about play at end of half against Purdue: Pitino said he just stayed around until the guy (official) said he screwed up.
Discussion on Iowa: First recapping the painful loss to Iowa. Pitino said an underrated thing was us not getting a rebound on 3 possessions late. Pitino says that their size hurt us (in reference to Uthoff and White) and that he’s putting an emphasis on size in recruiting now especially at the 3 spot. Said against Iowa we would challenge, but we wouldn’t jump, so not only were we small but we weren't jumping, so that is something we will have to work on in the next 3 days.
Woodbury discussion: Pitino says he didn’t think Woodbury did it on purpose yesterday, it just kind of happened, but obviously Fran does not like the questioning from the media. Jokes that he’ll let Fran deal with it and I’ll just sit here and kill you guys (hosts) with kindness.
Discussion turns to flopping and officiating: Basically says Trimble and Russell are two biggest floppers in the league. Pitino says we have more fouls in this league on 3’s than in any league he’s ever coached in. Lots of fouls on 3’s where guys arms are getting hit and the fouls aren’t being called… officials looking down at the line to see if it’s a 3 and missing the contact up high.
Asked about Top 5 teams in terms of clout right now: 1. Kentucky 2. Kansas 3. Duke 4. Louisville 5. UNC
As a basketball fan who would you like to see in the NBA Finals? Golden State (his favorite team to watch, most entertaining team in pro or college) vs Cleveland.
What does Pitino listen to when he works out? Really big lately on Tom Petty Pandora. Jokes that while driving he listens to the Mackey and Judd show (is that in the mornings or in the afternoon?).
Pitino talks about facilities at Louisville including their own dorm. Pitino kind of implies that new practice facility and arena had a lot to do with Louisville’s success. The dorm was named after Richard’s Uncle Bill who they lost in 911. It’s 35 people and everyone has their own bedroom, bathroom shower. Rule is it has to be half students and half players (can’t just be solely athletes) and they get around that by having managers and grad assistants stay there.
Says he doesn’t like to work officials and it frustrates him when coaches work the officials every time down the floor. Says his Dad and Billy Donovan don’t talk to the refs every time down the court.
Would Pitino be in favor of a shorter shot clock? Yes, says the women play with 30 and they should at least get there. Says his team is in the top 30 or so in tempo and would like to play fast. Says the NIT is experimenting this year (“which is hopefully something we are not a part of this year”) with the shorter clock.
The way to get more scoring is to call more fouls. That Matta had a good point at B1G meeting, why are we trying to shorten everything? We’re doing everything we can to get people in to the building and now we are trying to get them out the door quicker? Last game Purdue is so physical, you don’t want to go in there or you’ll get punched in the head. Speed it up by making monitor stops quicker if you want to speed up the game.
Talk about the heat in the last game in the Barn and that’s why they jacket/tie came off. He yells at the producers of the B1G because he says they wait for him to get the least bit upset and then focus the camera on him. Says there are too many cameras in today’s world. Talked with the producer and told him that they (TV) like emotion. Pitino jokes about giving them the finger so they can’t show him on tv and how he purposely puts swear words in his comments so they can’t use them.
Fanbases don’t realize how much the team needs them. The audible groan after a missed free throw does not help and every fanbase he’s been around does it. If you wan’t to blame me after the game do it, but during the game don’t do that (groan).
Last year at the is point we were 15-9, we do need to win a road game that’s obvious. If we want to breakthrough, we’ve got to win some road games, that’s for sure. Not sure the close losses on the road will help them going forward, and details how each was different (turnovers against Michigan, missed shots/free throws Nebraska, scared to make a mistake against PSU). Not going to get ahead of themselves about having to win this game or that game, just focusing on today. Concerned at halftime of the Ohio State game because the expectations were a little wacky…told players at halftime that expectations were going to be higher this year….thinks they’ve settled down recently.
Richard Pitino Show 2/9/15
Pitino was supposed to go to New Jersey to recruit, but his flight was cancelled due to a snowstorm on the East Coast. Pitino claims he didn’t want to go and was glad it was cancelled and that McHale was there probably miserable. Pitino said it was going to be a very good trip, but during the season all you want to do is look at your last game and prepare for your next opponent.
Question about the 17 point run against Purdue. Pitino said he was excited about it because that was the way he wanted to play: get steals, get out on the break and run. Pitino mentions the ridiculous shots Purdue made to get back in the game. He said a few of the shots were made by guys who were not shooters and were the equivalent of Elliott Eliason making three’s. Pitino then said that Purdue is a good club and that it was a good win for his team.
Question on how the crowd impacts the game. Pitino says he doesn’t get it when people don’t understand why it’s hard to win on the road. Pitino says “how do you not understand it ?” It’s tough to win on the road and it’s tough for other teams to come in and win on our home court. He says he thinks players do just a little bit extra to try to get the crowd involved at home.
Pitino says our biggest problem right now is no depth at the guard spot “it’s really, really difficult and it puts us in a bind a lot” Down the road with recruiting classes hopefully we will have more depth.
Talks about loss at Purdue: We had that game in control and then allowed them to hit two 3’s and then the building took over. I felt like our building took over (most recent game) here.
Discussion on AJ Hammons: Felt like playing a lot of zone was the only answer as Painter does a lot of good things to get him isolated on the post. On his defensive impact, Pitino jokes that Mathieu drove in and threw the ball at his arms a couple of times. “I guess he was showing “heart” or whatever, but needs to knock that off”.
Discussion on Mo Walker’s block: Pitino immediately says it was not a foul and Mike Grimm agrees. Says our league is a really weirdly officiated league. Pitino feels that Edwards “jumped in to our guy” and that in the B1G they never make that call. Pitino brings up Mathieu against Northwestern last year and how he didn’t get that call. Pitino expands further saying that it wasn’t a great offensive play and you can reward a guy in that situation. Pitino says they’ve been on the other side of that “a lot”, but that he thinks it’s the right way to officiate it.
Grimm says it’s nice to see Andre Hollins string these games together, Pitino responds oh my goodness it is because I just watched the Iowa game and he was so bad offensively and it killed us. Andre has stopped worrying about his offense and that has helped him. Pitino liked more than anything that last game Andre was driving in to the lane with some speed, authority, and physicality and he hasn’t really done that much this year. Biggest key to the game against Purdue was “win the free throw line” and Andre set the tone early with helping us do that.
Mo is getting better defensively. The tough thing for me this year is that Mo has been a liability can’t play 3 centers defensively and Elliott has been a liability offensively, especially at the free throw line. They are both improving and it’s made things a bit easier. “ I’ve tried Bakary over Elliott, but Bakary just fouls so much. I’ve told Bakary, and Bakary needs to realize this, that those two guys are gone next year, you’re going to be handed that spot-now someone could certainly take it from you where as Gas gave 4 minutes and 3 rebouds…well 1 rebound and he poked 2 more away and he just didn’t make a lot of mistakes…with those two guys it’s just minimizing their mistakes because they got the size and they got the physicality” . “Gas is behind from an understanding standpoint since he was around first semester, they are both pretty raw. The tough part for both of them is that we didn’t get to work with them right away. Gas wasn’t here Bakary…Bakary was coming to games 30 minutes before tip because he had to go to a class or something like that. Both of those guys haven’t progressed as early as possible and a lot of it is due to factors out of their hands.”
On Bakary and Gas playing together: Yeah I think next year we will see some of that. We’ve got Johnathan Nwankwo coming in, but he probably won’t play right away, so Gas will probably have to play some 5. I like having guys who can play two positions like Bakary right now can’t play two positions so he’s not going to get a lot of playing time where as Gas, he has the physicality he can do that.
Conversation about play at end of half against Purdue: Pitino said he just stayed around until the guy (official) said he screwed up.
Discussion on Iowa: First recapping the painful loss to Iowa. Pitino said an underrated thing was us not getting a rebound on 3 possessions late. Pitino says that their size hurt us (in reference to Uthoff and White) and that he’s putting an emphasis on size in recruiting now especially at the 3 spot. Said against Iowa we would challenge, but we wouldn’t jump, so not only were we small but we weren't jumping, so that is something we will have to work on in the next 3 days.
Woodbury discussion: Pitino says he didn’t think Woodbury did it on purpose yesterday, it just kind of happened, but obviously Fran does not like the questioning from the media. Jokes that he’ll let Fran deal with it and I’ll just sit here and kill you guys (hosts) with kindness.
Discussion turns to flopping and officiating: Basically says Trimble and Russell are two biggest floppers in the league. Pitino says we have more fouls in this league on 3’s than in any league he’s ever coached in. Lots of fouls on 3’s where guys arms are getting hit and the fouls aren’t being called… officials looking down at the line to see if it’s a 3 and missing the contact up high.
Asked about Top 5 teams in terms of clout right now: 1. Kentucky 2. Kansas 3. Duke 4. Louisville 5. UNC
As a basketball fan who would you like to see in the NBA Finals? Golden State (his favorite team to watch, most entertaining team in pro or college) vs Cleveland.
What does Pitino listen to when he works out? Really big lately on Tom Petty Pandora. Jokes that while driving he listens to the Mackey and Judd show (is that in the mornings or in the afternoon?).
Pitino talks about facilities at Louisville including their own dorm. Pitino kind of implies that new practice facility and arena had a lot to do with Louisville’s success. The dorm was named after Richard’s Uncle Bill who they lost in 911. It’s 35 people and everyone has their own bedroom, bathroom shower. Rule is it has to be half students and half players (can’t just be solely athletes) and they get around that by having managers and grad assistants stay there.
Says he doesn’t like to work officials and it frustrates him when coaches work the officials every time down the floor. Says his Dad and Billy Donovan don’t talk to the refs every time down the court.
Would Pitino be in favor of a shorter shot clock? Yes, says the women play with 30 and they should at least get there. Says his team is in the top 30 or so in tempo and would like to play fast. Says the NIT is experimenting this year (“which is hopefully something we are not a part of this year”) with the shorter clock.
The way to get more scoring is to call more fouls. That Matta had a good point at B1G meeting, why are we trying to shorten everything? We’re doing everything we can to get people in to the building and now we are trying to get them out the door quicker? Last game Purdue is so physical, you don’t want to go in there or you’ll get punched in the head. Speed it up by making monitor stops quicker if you want to speed up the game.
Talk about the heat in the last game in the Barn and that’s why they jacket/tie came off. He yells at the producers of the B1G because he says they wait for him to get the least bit upset and then focus the camera on him. Says there are too many cameras in today’s world. Talked with the producer and told him that they (TV) like emotion. Pitino jokes about giving them the finger so they can’t show him on tv and how he purposely puts swear words in his comments so they can’t use them.
Fanbases don’t realize how much the team needs them. The audible groan after a missed free throw does not help and every fanbase he’s been around does it. If you wan’t to blame me after the game do it, but during the game don’t do that (groan).
Last year at the is point we were 15-9, we do need to win a road game that’s obvious. If we want to breakthrough, we’ve got to win some road games, that’s for sure. Not sure the close losses on the road will help them going forward, and details how each was different (turnovers against Michigan, missed shots/free throws Nebraska, scared to make a mistake against PSU). Not going to get ahead of themselves about having to win this game or that game, just focusing on today. Concerned at halftime of the Ohio State game because the expectations were a little wacky…told players at halftime that expectations were going to be higher this year….thinks they’ve settled down recently.
