BleedGopher
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Full Recap of Pitino Interview on 1500...Talked recruiting, non-conf schedule & more
Pitino was on live at the State Fair with Judd and Dubay. These notes are not verbatim, but they are close:
Pitino on first State Fair...I didn't know what to expect as so many people talk about it. I gotta bring my wife and daughter here. This is grea.
Pitino on the weather...Everyone complains about the weather here, but our offseason, the weather here is beautiful during the summer, but in Miami (at FIU) during the offseason the weather is miserable. But when the weather is bad here we're in the gym anyway so we don't care.
Pitino on whether or not he found a good Italian restaurant in town...I've been to Bar Lagrassa and that's very good. Manny's, well that's not Italian, but it's very good.
Pitino on what he's found out about this State that he didn't know before...I had no idea how much this University meant to the people of Minnesota. We have unbelievable support. I feel no different in the amount of support this program cares compared to Louisville. The people here are dying for a winner. I didn't know the people called this place The U. Now I say it all the time. It's what makes this place so special.
Pitino on the style of play...Our guys like playing a fast sthyle of play. Our guys want to get out on the perimeter and show their game. They also like that we play a lot of guys and shoot a lot of threes. It's not that my way is more right than others, but I do it because I think it works.
Pitino on shooting a lot of threes...It's a momentum changer. When you are home and you hit a three it pumps the crowd up. You want to make sure they are good shots, but I like threes because they are worth more than twos.
Pitino on players conditioning when he got the U...Conditioning is extremely important to us. I believe that we have the best strength coach in the country. He looked for my Dad at Kentucky. He works our guys really hard. The guys have all done a good job. When guys are in shape, they are feeling good about themselves and that hopes.
Pitino on whether he was surprised that people ask if this is a stepping stone job for him...I was very surprised by it, but people are surprised at how good of a job this is. The reason people think that my Dad's job is better than this, but the reason is why. We have a great fan base, a great place to live, we play in one of the best conferences in the country. This is the best job in the country for me. Just like Florida is the best job in the country for Billy. I hope to be here for a long, long time.
Pitino on what he wants to build at Minnesota...We have a great place to play. We have a great college degree to offer kids. It took a Jamal Mashburn to get Kentucky back to where it was. Each coach has a guy or two that raises the level. All we have to do here is to recruit every year in and year out and everything else is in place here.
Pitino on what he's selling recruits on...I've got unbelievable faith in Norwood Teague in him that he'll continue to improve facilities in all of our sports. In the meantime I believe we have enough. We've done some things at Bierman to help. What we've done is consolidate where the guys are so they can study, shoot, lift in the same place. They want 24/7 access and now that we've done that at Bierman they have what they need.
Pitino on having an advantage of going to school in a big city...We sell that all the time. You have 20 Fortune 500 companies in the area. You can build a brand as a player and person in this town. Lots of media coverage, enthusiasm, lots to sell the recruits. When guys here that Kevin Love went to this restaurant last night or Rubio, that impresses kids. In the end everyone wants to play in front of sell out crowds. That won't be difficult for us to get to. Everyone wants to play on national TV and we have that with the Big Ten Network.
Pitino on having to wait to finally get on the floor to coach at Minnesota...You do a lot of stuff in this job its all great and its fun, meeting with fans, boosters, getting the kids to get ready for class and other things. 90% of what we do people don't see on the court, but I'm really looking forward to the 10% which is the coaching.
Pitino on what his Dad said about the Minnesota job...It's funny because I lean on my Dad and Billy for a lot. I told my Dad that Minnesota was going to offer me the job and I asked if I shoudl take it and he said "who the hell do you think you are? you better take it!" So he knew how great of a job this is. My Dad and Billy tell me you can coach til you're blue in the face but you have to have the players and the talent.
Pitino on the talent in Minnesota...What's really good about Minnesota is we have great high school coaches, stable AAU programs and they are willing to work with you.
Pitino on U non-conference schedule...I have spoken to my Dad several times about playing us. TV dictates a lot of games. Next year Louisville goes into the ACC and my guess is we could matched up against them. Billy Donovan doesn't want to come to Minnesota as they know how tough of a place this is to play.
Judd asked Pitino if he bought a house to show his commitment to the state of Minnesota...(laughs) Yes, we bought a house with a 30 year mortgage so I'll need to be here 30 years to pay it off! We love it here and it's my job to make sure the country knows what a special place it is.
http://www.1500espn.com/ondemand/
Go Gophers!!
Pitino was on live at the State Fair with Judd and Dubay. These notes are not verbatim, but they are close:
Pitino on first State Fair...I didn't know what to expect as so many people talk about it. I gotta bring my wife and daughter here. This is grea.
Pitino on the weather...Everyone complains about the weather here, but our offseason, the weather here is beautiful during the summer, but in Miami (at FIU) during the offseason the weather is miserable. But when the weather is bad here we're in the gym anyway so we don't care.
Pitino on whether or not he found a good Italian restaurant in town...I've been to Bar Lagrassa and that's very good. Manny's, well that's not Italian, but it's very good.
Pitino on what he's found out about this State that he didn't know before...I had no idea how much this University meant to the people of Minnesota. We have unbelievable support. I feel no different in the amount of support this program cares compared to Louisville. The people here are dying for a winner. I didn't know the people called this place The U. Now I say it all the time. It's what makes this place so special.
Pitino on the style of play...Our guys like playing a fast sthyle of play. Our guys want to get out on the perimeter and show their game. They also like that we play a lot of guys and shoot a lot of threes. It's not that my way is more right than others, but I do it because I think it works.
Pitino on shooting a lot of threes...It's a momentum changer. When you are home and you hit a three it pumps the crowd up. You want to make sure they are good shots, but I like threes because they are worth more than twos.
Pitino on players conditioning when he got the U...Conditioning is extremely important to us. I believe that we have the best strength coach in the country. He looked for my Dad at Kentucky. He works our guys really hard. The guys have all done a good job. When guys are in shape, they are feeling good about themselves and that hopes.
Pitino on whether he was surprised that people ask if this is a stepping stone job for him...I was very surprised by it, but people are surprised at how good of a job this is. The reason people think that my Dad's job is better than this, but the reason is why. We have a great fan base, a great place to live, we play in one of the best conferences in the country. This is the best job in the country for me. Just like Florida is the best job in the country for Billy. I hope to be here for a long, long time.
Pitino on what he wants to build at Minnesota...We have a great place to play. We have a great college degree to offer kids. It took a Jamal Mashburn to get Kentucky back to where it was. Each coach has a guy or two that raises the level. All we have to do here is to recruit every year in and year out and everything else is in place here.
Pitino on what he's selling recruits on...I've got unbelievable faith in Norwood Teague in him that he'll continue to improve facilities in all of our sports. In the meantime I believe we have enough. We've done some things at Bierman to help. What we've done is consolidate where the guys are so they can study, shoot, lift in the same place. They want 24/7 access and now that we've done that at Bierman they have what they need.
Pitino on having an advantage of going to school in a big city...We sell that all the time. You have 20 Fortune 500 companies in the area. You can build a brand as a player and person in this town. Lots of media coverage, enthusiasm, lots to sell the recruits. When guys here that Kevin Love went to this restaurant last night or Rubio, that impresses kids. In the end everyone wants to play in front of sell out crowds. That won't be difficult for us to get to. Everyone wants to play on national TV and we have that with the Big Ten Network.
Pitino on having to wait to finally get on the floor to coach at Minnesota...You do a lot of stuff in this job its all great and its fun, meeting with fans, boosters, getting the kids to get ready for class and other things. 90% of what we do people don't see on the court, but I'm really looking forward to the 10% which is the coaching.
Pitino on what his Dad said about the Minnesota job...It's funny because I lean on my Dad and Billy for a lot. I told my Dad that Minnesota was going to offer me the job and I asked if I shoudl take it and he said "who the hell do you think you are? you better take it!" So he knew how great of a job this is. My Dad and Billy tell me you can coach til you're blue in the face but you have to have the players and the talent.
Pitino on the talent in Minnesota...What's really good about Minnesota is we have great high school coaches, stable AAU programs and they are willing to work with you.
Pitino on U non-conference schedule...I have spoken to my Dad several times about playing us. TV dictates a lot of games. Next year Louisville goes into the ACC and my guess is we could matched up against them. Billy Donovan doesn't want to come to Minnesota as they know how tough of a place this is to play.
Judd asked Pitino if he bought a house to show his commitment to the state of Minnesota...(laughs) Yes, we bought a house with a 30 year mortgage so I'll need to be here 30 years to pay it off! We love it here and it's my job to make sure the country knows what a special place it is.
http://www.1500espn.com/ondemand/
Go Gophers!!
