Rick Pitino Quotes (179 Quotes)

People are going to start recognizing his coaching ability.

With Gay we just tried to pressure him at all times and jam him. We just tried to do what everyone else does.

We have some major injury problems that we haven't let out that need to be taken care of at the end of the year. To take these guys and put them through more problems would be not the right thing to do.

We're not giving up on this year. We still think we can get to the tournament, win four games at Madison Square Garden. But the schedule is against us right now.

It doesn't work that way in life. You don't just come out of (graduate) school and become a great doctor. It takes time to build a team like we had last year. That's why from October 15th on I've never seen any greatness with this basketball team. There's too much to learn.

On every team, if you have a point guard who thinks pass before shot, you're in trouble. You need a point guard to think pass before shot, and that's what he does.

I don't think anyone in Louisville knew how tough the Big East and Villanova was before tonight now they all know. Villanova was just a better basketball team.

That was an extremely disappointing loss for us, about as disappointing as we've had. To play such good basketball and come away empty-handed is an empty feeling to say the least. We played well enough to get a 'W' and we didn't.

They were energized to perform well because they know what's around the corner and it's time to improve.

It's an extremely disappointing loss for us. It's probably as disappointing as we've had all year. For us to come away empty-handed like this is a very empty feeling, to say the least.

We got a good victory. We didn't turn the ball over much and we worked very hard at the defensive end.

What it shows you is that not only are they not afraid of competition, but the name Louisville is certainly not going to intimidate this team one bit.

T-Will did a very good job of passing the basketball. I think he's going to do a lot down the road what (former Cardinal) Francisco Garcia does. That's the best part about his game is his passing.

I think the week off is a good thing now, especially for David. Resting the knee is important.

That's the one thing he has done with everybody. The best thing you can do is be a teacher to young people. And his mistake was so atypical. He's never out. He doesn't socialize much. This is a man whose life is very simple strong faith, strong family values.

Transferring, for him to get the playing time he wants, is the best thing for him.

I loved our unselfishness tonight. I asked our young guys try to play like a mature basketball team.

He's practiced the last two weeks for the first time all season and is in better shape. This is what you can expect of him down the road.

Failure is good. It's fertilizer. Everything I've learned about coaching, I've learned from making mistakes.

We're gong to stay very positive. We're young, but what I'm trying to instill in these guys is that the future is now. We can make it happen now. If we reach our goal and get six more wins, that would put us at 20-9 and .500 in the league (8-8). Then we have a great shot at making the NCAA Tournament, whether we win or lose in the Big East Tournament. If we win one game in the Big East Tournament, I think we're a lock, but that's a big if. But if we can play like we did against Villanova, it's certainly possible.

I just love the whole atmosphere, ... To see East Tennessee State almost beat Wake Forest, the St. Joes game was great. Its just so much fun to watch all of it.

What did (Noah) say, 'Last time I checked, there was food in the fridge. Noah is a terrific college player, but he's not ready. It's one thing to go to the pros, and another to be ready to play.

Over the last few days, his condition has deteriorated. The doctors say it's in his best interest to have the surgery now so he can begin the process of preparing for his return to the court.

It's nice that people rate us so high, but I've said from Day 1 to our media that we aren't a top-20 team. I don't understand it. We lost to Pitt at home.

We badly want to get to New York City to improve and build. The letters may only be three, but for us it is a big deal. We are excited to be part of this.

Basketball-wise, this is as good as it gets. The competition will be on the court and in recruiting and that's huge.

Palacios was going to be on the court. He could throw up during timeouts.

If I didn't have a recruiting engagement, I was going to be here. I did everything possible to change the recruiting thing. I'm a very small part of this night, but I did want to be a part of it.

I agree with his decision. It's in his best interests for his basketball future. We wish him well with his future plans.

It's a big challenge. Marquette is playing great basketball. They're very impressive. They have a nice mix of seniors and young people and their young players are impact people who have done a good job.

Pittsburgh is as good as it gets. It would not be a surprise to see them go on and have a great NCAA Tournament run. They have all the attributes, all the things you look for in a great basketball team. They've got great upperclassmen, talented freshmen that blend in terrific, depth. They can withstand foul trouble. They're extremely well coached. They attack inside-to-out. They're big on the backboard. They're tough.

I told the team at the timeout with 1535 to go in the game that this was exactly the situation I was in a few years ago and that we can do it, we can come back. We just have to take smart shots, treat every possession as if the game is on the line and we can win it. I actually did mention that game.

We're playing a great team and that's what you want with Madison Square Garden on the line. As you advance in this tournament you keep playing better teams. This is a terrific team.

Our guys played with tremendous heart, and I'm really proud of them.

It's going to be brutal. You've really got to be on your game every night out. There are going to be some good teams at home come March when they might otherwise be in the (NCAA) tournament. The league is that good.

We've got to stop Gray inside. Padgett really played well against him and Brian and Terrance aren't the offensive threat David is, so we're going to have to get a good game out of Palacios and our two centers just to contain Gray.

We just got destroyed on the backboards. Then we panicked and took some bad shots. It was just one of those nights where everything went wrong in the first five or six minutes.

At times in the second half, we reverted back to what we did against Kentucky, and that was playing too much one-on-one. We're not a great one-on-one basketball team. We've got to do it with passing, screening and rebounding.

This win (over Notre Dame) can help immensely. Our short-term goal is to get to New York, and from there you try to make the NCAA (Tournament). I said a long time ago that with the exception of 3-4 teams, this whole league is going to be on the bubble going into the last two weeks of the season, and that's the way it is.

We've been playing good defense in the first half, but we can't sustain it because we're getting taken to the woodshed on the glass. But that's a credit to St. John's. They played very, very well.

We may have survived a little bit if we were in Conference USA with this team, but surviving in the Big East is another story. You have to grow up in a hurry. We are just not physically talented with out inexperience and youth.

He was still calm. He would always scare the crap out of me.

Cincinnati is going to be great, because they have four seniors. I think people are maybe underrating Cincinnati because they lost a legendary coach. But Andy Kennedy is a terrific coach and they have four seniors and it would not surprise me to see them win this conference.

It's a hell of a way to make a living, guys. It was a great game. They were two teams playing their hearts out. We had to play great defense tonight. We made our shots early but didn't make them late.

Their guys have so much experience they're on Social Security. They're getting checks. They've been around. They play like a pro team. They run about 70 percent pick-and-roll. They force traps. They force you to switch. If it was a series, Georgia Tech would probably beat us.

He's going to be a really good player for us. He reminds me a lot of Antoine Walker in his skill level. The more he penetrates and passes -- because he has great vision -- the better our team becomes, because he's 6-5 and can see over people and find guys

I'm at the stage of my career when it's not only about winning and developing players, it's about having fun. That's a void in your life right now, but it's something you're going to have here.

Louisville, another popular office-pool pick, led by a measly point, 33-32, at the half. The Cardinals did win, 68-62, but not before trailing by a point in the final minutes. One might think there's a big difference between Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisville, basketball royalty the last 25 years. But there's not much of one. I told them during halftime, ... that if they think they're going to pull away from Lafayette they're mistaken. I told them it was going to come down to the final two minutes.

We played probably one of our best games against Villanova, Cincinnati and now, and we're life and death to win at home with a loss on the road. That just tells you how tough it is. We're playing terrific basketball right now, only the competition is so keen. It's unbelievable. I've never seen the Big East like this. It's always been great, but it's never been like this. It's truly unbelievable.

He's just a prolific scorer. He is great at hitting runners in the lane and he has great range on his jump shot. And because you have to worry about some of their other players, it sets up very nicely for him.