Abel Mehari
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Coach Pitino felt excited about his team direction despite losing a tough game against Wisconsin on Saturday in the final seconds of OT.
"The more I've watched, it was a fun game probably the most fun game I've coached in a long time. Obviously we didn't win, but just back and forth competition, 19 lead changes, but in the end they one more big play then we did and give Bronson Koenig credit for making a difficult shot. But we still feel good about our team, we had a great practice yesterday, maybe the best of the year, so I think our guys feel like their playing well, and their excited about going on the road Ohio State with another opportunity to steal one on the road."
Bringing Akeem Springs into the lineup has added another scoring dimension, and taken pressure off of Mason and Murphy who had some bad shooting games.
"I think that he extremely confident right now and confidence breathes through everybody else. I though Nate played really well against Wisconsin but he was 3 for 14, so in his mind he didn't play well which is natural. So, I talked to Akeem about getting Nate and Murp to be confident again and he was very good in practice yesterday, Nate and Murp were good in practice too and I think it had a lot to do with Akeem's leadership. Because confidence is 'I always try to get these guys confident' but you have to see it, and it's good when you have help from guys like Akeem."
Comments on Murphy's contribution despite his scoring troubles
"He's not a great shooter, and he's not a great scorer so he needs to get over that, we've talked about that. That doesn't mean you're not a good player, you'll get to that point, but I don't see that as his game and he can still be good without doing those things. We've talked about it a little bit yesterday, just understanding that I don't think you're not always good on the block just yet, but you can do other good things and he was good in practice yesterday and he understands that."
When asked about McBrayer coming off the bench, he said he has no problems with either role as a bench player or starter
"I don't think he cares, I don't think he cares about off the bench stuff, and I don't put a lot of stock into it. I do like bringing him off the bench because I have the flexibility to sub at the one or two, or for Akeem and get a better feel of who's playing well with Mason and Murphy, or who's tired. So, I like having that flexibility but I think Durpree is low maintenance and it shows on the court."
"The more I've watched, it was a fun game probably the most fun game I've coached in a long time. Obviously we didn't win, but just back and forth competition, 19 lead changes, but in the end they one more big play then we did and give Bronson Koenig credit for making a difficult shot. But we still feel good about our team, we had a great practice yesterday, maybe the best of the year, so I think our guys feel like their playing well, and their excited about going on the road Ohio State with another opportunity to steal one on the road."
Bringing Akeem Springs into the lineup has added another scoring dimension, and taken pressure off of Mason and Murphy who had some bad shooting games.
"I think that he extremely confident right now and confidence breathes through everybody else. I though Nate played really well against Wisconsin but he was 3 for 14, so in his mind he didn't play well which is natural. So, I talked to Akeem about getting Nate and Murp to be confident again and he was very good in practice yesterday, Nate and Murp were good in practice too and I think it had a lot to do with Akeem's leadership. Because confidence is 'I always try to get these guys confident' but you have to see it, and it's good when you have help from guys like Akeem."
Comments on Murphy's contribution despite his scoring troubles
"He's not a great shooter, and he's not a great scorer so he needs to get over that, we've talked about that. That doesn't mean you're not a good player, you'll get to that point, but I don't see that as his game and he can still be good without doing those things. We've talked about it a little bit yesterday, just understanding that I don't think you're not always good on the block just yet, but you can do other good things and he was good in practice yesterday and he understands that."
When asked about McBrayer coming off the bench, he said he has no problems with either role as a bench player or starter
"I don't think he cares, I don't think he cares about off the bench stuff, and I don't put a lot of stock into it. I do like bringing him off the bench because I have the flexibility to sub at the one or two, or for Akeem and get a better feel of who's playing well with Mason and Murphy, or who's tired. So, I like having that flexibility but I think Durpree is low maintenance and it shows on the court."
