Notes from Pitino Presser

The Slickster promised subtle changes during his presser

Coach Rick Pitino met with the Louisville media today to discuss the Cards’ upcoming game against Oral Roberts Wednesday night. Obviously, coming off two strait home losses has not sit well with all those associated with Louisville basketball.

One of the main reasons for the poor play of the Cards this year has been their defense. They are consistently breaking down and have trouble with basic defensive principles. Slick Rick said today the Cards’ transition defense has been the real problem. Coach said the half-court defense has been average, but he’s more concerned with the transition defense because they are getting beat down the floor way too often.

Pitino also addressed the play of Samardo Samuels, definitely one of the most talked about issues among Louisville fans. Coach said one of the problems is Sam Sam was always the biggest and strongest in his class, but since that is no longer the case, Samardo must develop his skills in other areas than scoring. Brute force will no longer work for Samardo, he must now develop a skill rather than bully everyone.

Coach Pitino said the answer to the current problems will not be solved by simply benching players who are not performing well. He says the answer is getting more out of people, improved defensive effort, and simply getting better.

Coach said the recent practices have been much better and the practice Monday night was excellent. We all know Pitino is huge on practice and that is where he determines if progress is made. Pitino specifically mentioned Terrence Jennings as someone who is starting to turn it on in practice. Under Slick Rick, if you practice well, you play, it’s that simple.

Those were the main notes I took from the presser. We will definitely see against Oral Roberts whether or not progress is being made.