Everything Rick Pitino said ahead of St. John's matchup against Duke

Opening statement

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We're excited to be at the home of Georgetown. We've been here before. I think the Sweet 16, we've had as much fun as any team could have in a tournament.

It's been a tremendous season with great guys that give it to me every single day. We've had a lot of laughs, a lot of great spirit behind this season.

Really looking forward to a great game against a team that quite frankly I've not seen since 51, 52 years in this game, never seen a schedule like that in my coaching career. Not only the strong ACC, but they've played almost everybody in the Sweet 16. They've played Michigan, Michigan State, Arkansas, Florida is out, but they played Florida, they played Texas Tech. It's an amazing schedule that they played.

Still basically a few blemishes, but only a couple games. It's quite a testament to the basketball team and their staff that they not only played that type of schedule, but to be victorious. We know we're playing a great team.

Q.  I know you're focused on the Sweet 16 obviously. I want to ask you a little bit of a bigger picture question. The opening round of the NCAA tournament set a TV viewership record at a time that the NBA is battling a narrative that the product is less watchable. Your perspective on why you think fan interest in the NBA seems to be waning while the interest in college basketball is at an all-time high?

RICK PITINO: I think the resurgence of St. John's (smiling).

I really don't know why. I wouldn't give you an intelligent answer. I don't know why.

Q.  This is going to sound like I'm being snarky, but I'm not. This game can frustrate you. After all these years, why do you keep doing it? What do you love about it? Everyone says we love coaching, but what is it that you actually love?

RICK PITINO: I think because I spent two years without it, I think the lifestyle that I was leading was certainly, I shouldn't complain about it. But I just missed it every single day I was out of it. So I realized there's no reason to try and get out because I knew how much I missed it.

Sometimes when you retire, like a lot of coaches are doing that, Jay Wright, whoever, they certainly can get back in if they want. Once they get out, they usually don't get back in.

I'd like to stay in as long as I can. As long as God willing is giving me good health, I'd like to stay in it as long as I can.

Q.  Is there one area, you go into this game, thinking we have to do this?

RICK PITINO: Well, they're plus-11 on the glass. They do the best job in the country at getting an offensive rebound. Almost like a secondary play of throwing it back out for a three. They're great at it. It's something they look for.

If they don't have an immediate putback, they tip it out or they take it and they throw it right out to the three-point line. The backboard, when you're plus-11 on the glass is difficult. Obviously the personnel is great.

But I think that's the thing. We're not always great on the backboard. We have to make sure we are in this game.

Q.  You've been able to create a defense that's able to create some havoc. The balance between being able to get the right guys in the right positions versus what the coaching staff can actually recruit the right guys, versus what the coaching staff is able to do to get the guys in the right spaces.

RICK PITINO: I've pressed with slow guys and I've pressed with very athletic people. I try to go more to a 2-2-1 press with guys that aren't as athletic. Then an all-out Kentucky-type press that I've had with great athletes.

It all depends on the makeup of your team. Today it changes year to year more than any other time. There's no continuity behind most of the teams. It's just a matter of recruiting the people that fit a certain style.

Q.  Before the Kansas game we talked a little bit about how that team seemed a lot like the Kentucky game because their size and athleticism. Does Duke pull anything out of what you guys have played this season that you think is comparable?

RICK PITINO: Not really, no. Duke's unique in the way they play. With the injury they had, they've played Boozer more at the one where they use him in pick-and-rolls, trying to get a switch, and try to dominate the person who switches on him.

No, not really. They're unique. They're a unique basketball team. We're really looking forward to it. I've got grade admiration for the Coach K years as well as Jon Scheyer now doing a tremendous job.

They epitomize the greatness about college basketball in so many different ways because they've sustained success for so many years. It's been an amazing thing to watch.

Q.  I'd like you to elaborate on something that you said Sunday after the Kansas win. You indicated that after the Providence game with the ejections that you felt you saw something different from your team going forward, maybe more unity or something. Can you elaborate on what that looks like so we have a better idea of what you meant.

RICK PITINO: Well, I think they always got along great together. But remember, you have one player from Sweden, one from Austria, two from Greece, the Congo, Ghana. You have people from so many different countries that they really didn't know each other.

At that point in the Providence game they all felt so bad for Bryce Hopkins. When he got tackled, they came to his defense. That bothered them. I think that brought them really close together by really caring for Bryce. They care for each other.

Regardless of where they're from, I think they formed a bond after that game that was special.

Q.  How does it show up on the court?

RICK PITINO: It shows up more in the locker room and off the court than it does anything else.

Q.  When you won it all in 2013, you obviously beat Duke along the way. Did that victory temper or neutralize the memories of '92? Is that moment in Philly going to stay with you forevermore regardless?

RICK PITINO: I take the '92 game, people misconstrue it, I took it as a positive. We went back to Kentucky, the four seniors, Farmer, Feldhaus, Pelphrey and Woods, they got their jerseys retired to the rafters after that loss, which you never see.

But I always treasured that game. I thought every time I've watched that game, I didn't grimace about Christian Laettner hitting the shot. I thought it was one of the greatest games played. What was it, 103-102 or 102-101 final. We played the overtime without Mashburn. People forget that. I always treasured that.

The ironic thing about what you're asking, when we won with the Kevin Ware injury, it was 25 years to the day, that game, that Kevin Ware. That's really spooky.

But no, I treasure that game in so many ways, not the loss, but the way the game was played. Give all the credit in the world, I can't escape -- Grant Hill has done seven games for me this season (laughter).

Q.  I was wondering just to go back to the question, how much can a coach himself foster that kind of chemistry? Do you have techniques, do you trick 'em into it in any way? What is your role in that?

RICK PITINO: You know, I was joking yesterday with the team a little bit about, this is a once-in-a-lifetime for all you guys, you can't embrace these things. You got to set your mind on what's going to happen when we cut down the nets for a national championship, to try and get them somehow to believe they're going to win, and two, also to get them to understand that you can't be happy where you are at this point, because if you get content playing a team like Duke, you're going to get blown out.

You have to be really hungry and believe. We got to foster that type of belief. If you don't, usually you go home. So we just want to get after it. We know we're playing a great team. There's no question about that. They haven't lost very much. But we want to foster that type of belief, that we're going to win this game.

Q.  In San Diego you talked about your team's reliance and acceptance to how important the three-point shot is. This is a building where you hit 15 earlier in the season. You said you needed to hit threes against Kansas to win. Is that kind of the same style you need to win against Duke?

RICK PITINO: I think this team needs to win the three-point battle every night to have a chance to win. We're not a three-point shooting team. So That may be ironic I'm saying it that way. I think we do because we have deficiencies elsewhere.

We're a very poor two-point shooting team, one of the worst in the Big East. We have to make the three-point shot.

Obviously the last two days the second-unit people, they beat the first unit by 30 the first day, the second day they won by two, all because of three-point shooting. You have Joson, Ian, and Lefty on that team. The bench is very important for that.

Q.  With all the kind of player movement and turnover, how do you go about establishing cohesion in a quick way? How do you establish team identity?

RICK PITINO: It's difficult. From a motivational standpoint, you have to be really tuned into understanding these guys right away. It was more difficult for me because of the foreign influence of these guys. I knew Lefty a little bit more. He's back. Ruben is from Portugal. I left him out. It's a little bit different.

I imagine what these guys are thinking through all of this, being from Portugal, from Greece, Sweden, Congo, Ghana, all this fanfare of March Madness.

It is very difficult coaching in this environment. I'm from the other end of the spectrum. I think college basketball in the last two years is at the highest level of performance that I've witnessed in my 50 years. That's because the foreign influence, they no longer want to go to the EuroLeague or the EuroCup. They want to go to the States because they make more money. We can even rival the EuroLeague as far as pay is concerned.

What's on court, the way the game is being played on court is the best I've ever witnessed. There's a lot of good to it. There's still some things that need to be worked out. I think the play of about 30, 40 teams I've seen this year is much higher than I've ever witnessed.

Q.  A lot of talk about the death of Cinderella because of NIL and the portal. Are you worried about that? Do you think teams need to have an eight, 10 million dollar NIL budget to go deep in the tournament now?

RICK PITINO: I'm not concerned about it. I think you will see it again. I think you will see it again. But I do feel what's even better than that is the fact the blue bloods no longer control basketball any longer. There's no difference between Kentucky, North Carolina than Illinois or St. John's. There's no difference anymore. There's no difference between Michigan State, who is a blue blood, to any of the other teams from the conferences, from Mississippi, when they get it going. It's all going to be the same.

You're going to see 40 to 50 teams all the same. There's no such thing as a blue blood anymore. There's no difference between North Carolina State and somebody else. Everybody is the same. Everybody is the same in basketball. That's what's going to make it a great product.

Q.  (No microphone.)

RICK PITINO: It seems like everybody does have the money. I know in the Big East, I think the Big East is going to be better than ever. The presidents and ADs have all upped their NIL budgets. They realize they're going to do something. Kudos to them for doing that.

We have been notified that we're cutting ours in half. Mike Repole just lost two big horse races, so he's cutting it in half (laughter).

Q.  On the blue blood thing, you're playing one here. Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina haven't been here much in the last four or five years. What of the historical advantages of the blue bloods have disappeared in this era?

RICK PITINO: The Kansas, Duke or North Carolina, they always had the best facilities. Facilities are probably fourth or fifth on the list. I think for Duke, back in the day, if you wanted the best education and the best basketball, Duke has got to be one, two on your list. Probably the players they're recruiting right now don't stay more than one or two years.

All that's gone now. We are an offshoot of professional basketball. I look at it totally different. I think it's great because I just want excellence on the court between the lines. I want to see great players, execution, coaching. We are getting that now.

For you guys in the media and me as a bystander looking at my non-coaching days, I want to see great basketball with great players. We're getting that now. I think it's awesome.

I think the fact there are no more blue bloods, I think it's great. I think it's great. Kentucky will always be Kentucky. Duke will always be Duke because of their great, the legacy they left in the game, the history of their game.

But I can also go back to Dickey DeVenzio of Duke. I go back a long way in watching Vic Bubas. It all started there. I go back to Coach K when he first got in, people were questioning whether he should stay at Duke.

It's great. Great history. Kentucky, great history. North Carolina, unbelievable history. They're no longer the blue bloods in basketball, and I think that's wonderful.

Q.  You've had nine different head coaching job. Tom Izzo is here, as well, who had one. You are both Hall of Famers. Do you look back and think, what if I stayed at Providence, Kentucky? What emotions, if so, given the path you've?

RICK PITINO: I've loved every place I've lived. I'm a different guy. I'm not a nester. Everybody is different. I don't want to live in the same place my whole life. I enjoyed Greece probably more than anyplace I've ever lived for those two years. Not knowing one person, just exploring all the islands.

For me it was great. For Tom it's great, being in East Lansing, he loves it there. Everybody is different. Coach K is different.

I've enjoyed every stop along the way. Great people I've met. Great friends. Lifetime friends.

Q.  Over your career, recruiting players in this DMV area, any traits about players that have come from this region that are consistent?

RICK PITINO: You mean, the Washington area?

Q.  Metro area.

RICK PITINO: No, I really don't have an opinion on that. I haven't had too many from this area, so...

I really believe today, like New York at one time, they always said like if you wanted a point guard, go to New York. They all leave so much and go to prep schools elsewhere, I'm not sure there is -- I couldn't tell you where the best high school basketball is being played right now. Texas is a lot stronger, Texas and Florida are a lot stronger than the old days.

They're all great areas, depending on -- obviously it's all cyclical depending on young players coming out.

Q.  You mentioned you got to be hungry at this stage to beat a team like Duke. Do you feel like your team is still hungry?

RICK PITINO: Yeah, but I haven't fed 'em in a week. They're on water and some fruit juices (smiling).

Q.  They're obviously a significant favorite. They've lost two games all year. It's going to take your best game of the year to win this game.

RICK PITINO: Look, we're playing great basketball right now. I told the team this. The one thing you'll find about me is I don't complain to officials. I don't like talking to officials. I hate when officials are talking to the other coach. Bugs the hell out of me. I think they should be professional and just referee the game.

Can you imagine a Wall Street broker, trading millions of dollars, somebody is yelling in your ear while you're trying to trade millions of dollars all the time? That's why the NBA refs get a little better. They pay no attention. You have to focus on the game.

In our game against Kansas, there were three of the most absurd calls I've witnessed. I don't ever say that. A back-court violation, a goaltending violation. There was a referee on the baseline while a guy was a foot out of bounds throwing the ball back in. All three plays could have made a difference in us going home.

Everybody's got to focus on the task at hand. The reason I bring that up is we had to overcome a lot this year at the end of the game. I think Dylan Darling has won five games at the end of a game. We had to win that when calls were not going our way.

I think we're a pretty good basketball team. Are we good enough to beat Duke? I have no idea. We are very hungry. What team in the Sweet 16 is not hungry? You're four games away from a national championship, the dream of every athlete and every coach and every fan.

We are extremely hungry. But we know Duke is very hungry. Our respect for them is off the charts. We know we're going to have to play great to beat them.

This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Everything Rick Pitino said ahead of St. John's matchup against Duke

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