This interview aired Pre-Nebraska game:
Richard said this year has had the most early tests of any team he has had so far. It is good for team’s to be tested and learn early on, and grow from these games.
Coach likes to do personal 1-on-1 film sessions with players, because he believes that it is better to teach players in 1v1 settings rather than calling them out in front of the entire team. He believes that to be a positive of his youth to connect with the players.
For a one-day preparation such as the game (now yesterday) against Nebraska, Pitino wants the team to get a live run-through of the offense they are preparing against.
When Coach was first starting, there were complaints regarding the facilities. Richard didn’t want to complain since he didn’t want current players/recruits to think that we didn’t have the facilities necessary, but the Athletes Village has everything under one roof. “It needed to happen. We needed those facilities. Now we have to be able to recruit to that building. We’re really excited about the resources we have moving forward.”
Spencer Tollackson noted that when he was in school, they had to share a weight room with the hockey team. When Coach first started, he said that it was not a productive environment for players to have practice at Williams, academics in a different building, and the weight room in Bierman. Now, the players have everything under one roof and do not have to leave. “We went from five tutor rooms in Bierman, to 35 in Athletes Village. The cafeteria part of it is huge. Kids in the past they might choose to go to McDonald’s instead of eating something healthy. Now we have a cafeteria down the hall with healthy food and we can monitor what they are eating.”
“This took a lot from a lot of people to raise $100-some million. I’ve said from day one, we have what money can’t buy. Great academics, great fan support, great city, location. Now we have the money part of it. It’s going to really help in a lot of ways.”
Regarding the Miami game: “I didn’t like the way we played at all. I thought the illusion of the score made us think we were playing better than we are. Isaiah didn’t have enough time to prepare, maybe I did a poor job. Watch the Rutgers game, we seem more connected and everyone knows their role. I don’t think we played very hard. I didn’t like anything about that game, I didn’t do a good job preparing them. With Dupree, it was so weird we were unsure when he could come back. I thought that we thought the building would give us the win, and forgot what got us the win like at Providence.”
Pitino commented that the Miami game was the loudest the building has been since he has been here. If the team continues to get that for conference games, it will be a huge advantage.
The bench did not score against Miami (Isaiah Washington had to start due to Dupree injury). “Right now it’s hard to develop our bench since we’ve played a hard schedule. It’s challenging right now to develop the bench. Isaiah (Washington), Jamir (Harris) need reps. I like all of our bench players, they need time to develop. Davonte (Fitzgerald) looks out of sorts since he hasn’t played in a while. I like all the guys we have on the bench, they just need time to develop.”
Amir Coffey tends to play well in big games. Pitino noted that Amir can get frustrated by little things throughout the game (refs, etc.) however when he is locked in, he’s very good.
There is a balance between scheduling tough games, but wanting to not let it get the best of you since things can get negative pretty quick when the team loses.
Richard said this year has had the most early tests of any team he has had so far. It is good for team’s to be tested and learn early on, and grow from these games.
Coach likes to do personal 1-on-1 film sessions with players, because he believes that it is better to teach players in 1v1 settings rather than calling them out in front of the entire team. He believes that to be a positive of his youth to connect with the players.
For a one-day preparation such as the game (now yesterday) against Nebraska, Pitino wants the team to get a live run-through of the offense they are preparing against.
When Coach was first starting, there were complaints regarding the facilities. Richard didn’t want to complain since he didn’t want current players/recruits to think that we didn’t have the facilities necessary, but the Athletes Village has everything under one roof. “It needed to happen. We needed those facilities. Now we have to be able to recruit to that building. We’re really excited about the resources we have moving forward.”
Spencer Tollackson noted that when he was in school, they had to share a weight room with the hockey team. When Coach first started, he said that it was not a productive environment for players to have practice at Williams, academics in a different building, and the weight room in Bierman. Now, the players have everything under one roof and do not have to leave. “We went from five tutor rooms in Bierman, to 35 in Athletes Village. The cafeteria part of it is huge. Kids in the past they might choose to go to McDonald’s instead of eating something healthy. Now we have a cafeteria down the hall with healthy food and we can monitor what they are eating.”
“This took a lot from a lot of people to raise $100-some million. I’ve said from day one, we have what money can’t buy. Great academics, great fan support, great city, location. Now we have the money part of it. It’s going to really help in a lot of ways.”
Regarding the Miami game: “I didn’t like the way we played at all. I thought the illusion of the score made us think we were playing better than we are. Isaiah didn’t have enough time to prepare, maybe I did a poor job. Watch the Rutgers game, we seem more connected and everyone knows their role. I don’t think we played very hard. I didn’t like anything about that game, I didn’t do a good job preparing them. With Dupree, it was so weird we were unsure when he could come back. I thought that we thought the building would give us the win, and forgot what got us the win like at Providence.”
Pitino commented that the Miami game was the loudest the building has been since he has been here. If the team continues to get that for conference games, it will be a huge advantage.
The bench did not score against Miami (Isaiah Washington had to start due to Dupree injury). “Right now it’s hard to develop our bench since we’ve played a hard schedule. It’s challenging right now to develop the bench. Isaiah (Washington), Jamir (Harris) need reps. I like all of our bench players, they need time to develop. Davonte (Fitzgerald) looks out of sorts since he hasn’t played in a while. I like all the guys we have on the bench, they just need time to develop.”
Amir Coffey tends to play well in big games. Pitino noted that Amir can get frustrated by little things throughout the game (refs, etc.) however when he is locked in, he’s very good.
There is a balance between scheduling tough games, but wanting to not let it get the best of you since things can get negative pretty quick when the team loses.
