Rick Pitino
Rick Pitino
Richard Andrew "Rick" Pitino is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville, and coached the Cardinals to the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. As a college head coach, Pitino has also served at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996. In addition to his college coaching career, Pitino also served two stints in the NBA, coaching the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth18 September 1952
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
We've never been a Top 20 team, at least not yet. Don't get carried away with beating Louisville. Any win in the Big East is great, but I wouldn't use it as a barometer.
I think I do regret leaving Kentucky because I took over a team with 15 wins banking everything on the Tim Duncan lottery, and once we didn't get Tim Duncan, I realized that leaving Kentucky was not a good move.
The more you lose, the more positive you have to become. When you're winning, you can ride players harder because their self-esteem is high. If you are losing and you try to be tough, you're asking for dissension.
Francisco Garcia could have been a high draft choice last year, probably in the 20s. He's the best wing player I've ever coached. But he's done it the right way. He knew he had to work on his body to become a good pro. When he goes into the pros, he'll be physically ready.
If you go to the NIT and win a championship, that is special. That's the way we're looking at this.
We hang in there with some pretty good basketball teams. (But) there is no substitute for experience. Young teams don't win against good teams.
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.
I think the week off is a good thing now, especially for David. Resting the knee is important.
I think Connecticut is a very easy game. They're playing to be number one in the country. It's senior afternoon. It's on national television. It should be an easy game.
We've made our free throws of late, and that's impressive when you're fatigued.
Why don't we just go to New York and we'll see you there?
I give myself 24 hours after a loss. After that, I'm totally on to the next game. But for 24 hours, I'm not a happy man.
I care what people think, but it doesn't change my opinion of how to do things.
This is not the beginning of American civilization where we need guns because it's the Wild, Wild West... There should not be guns in our society, and we all know that; politicians know that.