Florida International (3-4)
Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
F-Tymell Murphy 6-5 Jr. 5.7 14.0
F-Tola Akomolafe 6-6 Sr. 4.6 5.7
C-Joey De La Rosa 6-11 So. 2.0 3.7
G-Gaby Belardo 6-2 Sr. 2.0 8.6
G-Malik Smith 6-2 Jr. 2.4 16.9
Reserves ? Jerome Frink, G, 6-6, Fr., 10.1 pts.; Juan Ferrales, G, 6-2, So., 7.4; Deric Hill, G, 5-9, So., 4.9; Ivan Jurkovic, C, 7-0, Jr., 2.5; Marco Jimenez Porcher, G, 6-4, So., 1.4; Dee Lewis, 6-3, G, Fr., 0.0; Manuel Nunez, 6-5, G, Sr., 0.0.
Louisville (9-1)
Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
F-Chane Behanan 6-6 So. 7.3 10.1
F-Wayne Blackshear 6-5 So. 3.4 8.5
C-Zach Price 6-10 So. 1.8 2.1
G-Russ Smith 6-0 Jr. 3.0 20.2
G-Peyton Siva 6-0 Sr. 5.8* 11.7
*-assists
Reserves ? Luke Hancock, F, 6-6, Jr., 7.2 pts; Montrezl Harrell, F, 6-8, Fr., 6.0; Kevin Ware, G, 6-2, So., 4.8; Stephan Van Treese, F, 6-9, Sr., 2.6; Tim Henderson, G, 6-2, Jr., 1.3; Michael Baffour, G, 6-2, Jr., 1.0; Logan Baumann, G, 6-0, Fr., 0.7; Jordan Bond, G, 6-0, Fr., 0.0.
===============
Louisville basketball players are 'just bad at success'
But failure not an option against Pitino son's team
nformed that Sports Illustrated wanted to do a feature on Russ Smith, University of Louisville men?s basketball coach Rick Pitino said he ?cringed.?
And when Chane Behanan earned the Big East?s Player of the Week honor for his 22-point performance against Memphis, Pitino called it ?a disaster waiting to happen.?
He was kidding on both accounts. Sort of.
?There?s so much right about this generation, so I hate to pick on it, but they just don?t handle success well,? Pitino said. ?They?re great at really taking coaching. They?re tremendous people. They?re just bad at success.?
That should change ? at least for tonight?s game against Florida International, when Pitino faces son Richard for the first time as an opposing head coach in the 11th annual Billy Minardi Classic.
The game was named in memory of Minardi, Rick Pitino?s brother-in-law and Richard?s uncle, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The elder Pitino said coaching against his son will be more emotional for the rest of the family than for the two of them.
?I?m just real proud of him, but he?s been taught when the ball goes up, you?ve got to beat Louisville, and when the ball goes up, we?ve got to beat FIU,? Rick Pitino said. ?We won?t be looking down at each other when the game goes on; we?re going to be concentrating on beating each other. We?re going to have a party afterwards in Billy Minardi?s honor.?
Richard Pitino, who was hired by FIU in April, recruited several of the current Cardinals, and he took a couple of U of L staffers with him to Miami. Mark Lieberman served as both an assistant coach and director of basketball operations at U of L, and Casey Stanley, FIU?s director of operations, was the Cards? assistant video coordinator last season.
Miami native Rakeem Buckles, who played for U of L the past three seasons, transferred to FIU. Buckles, who is sitting out this season under NCAA transfer rules, also is rehabbing from a torn ACL and did not make the trip with the Panthers.
?I look forward to it because Richard recruited me, he left, came back and left,? U of L guard Peyton Siva said. ?I look forward to playing against him and just look forward to seeing him. I miss them as coaches ? him, Lieberman and Casey. It?ll be good to see them again.?
Seeing familiar faces could inspire the fifth-ranked Cardinals (9-1) to a performance similar to the season opener against Manhattan and coach Steve Masiello, a former U of L assistant who also had a hand in recruiting the current roster.
U of L took care of the Jaspers 80-54, and the Panthers (3-4) are similarly outmatched on paper. But Rick Pitino doesn?t want his players to think that way. A taste of success, he said, makes this generation think it?s ?either time to party or ?I?ve arrived.? ?
He blames the Cards? poor handling of recent success for their defensive breakdowns in Saturday?s 87-78 victory at Memphis. The Tigers became the first team this season to shoot better than 50 percent from the field in each half against the Cards.
?We did not get better in that basketball game,? Pitino said. ?We did not get better on the defensive end, and that?s really troubling that we did not improve defensively. This is an emotional game in the Billy Minardi Classic. It?s my son and everything else, but we want to get better.?
Dieng likely out till Jan. 2
Pitino said center Gorgui Dieng probably won?t return until Jan. 2 against Providence. The 6-foot-11 junior broke his left wrist in the 84-61 victory over Missouri on Nov. 23 in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
?Gorgui?s latest exam with the doctor didn?t go as well as my optimism was,? said Pitino, who later added, ?The last X-ray we thought it would be healed, and it was not.?
He had hoped to get Dieng back for Saturday?s game against Western Kentucky. Dieng participated in the warm*up line at Memphis but did not play.
Pitino added that forward Stephan Van Treese still is not practicing because of a knee injury but could be used if needed against FIU.
Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
F-Tymell Murphy 6-5 Jr. 5.7 14.0
F-Tola Akomolafe 6-6 Sr. 4.6 5.7
C-Joey De La Rosa 6-11 So. 2.0 3.7
G-Gaby Belardo 6-2 Sr. 2.0 8.6
G-Malik Smith 6-2 Jr. 2.4 16.9
Reserves ? Jerome Frink, G, 6-6, Fr., 10.1 pts.; Juan Ferrales, G, 6-2, So., 7.4; Deric Hill, G, 5-9, So., 4.9; Ivan Jurkovic, C, 7-0, Jr., 2.5; Marco Jimenez Porcher, G, 6-4, So., 1.4; Dee Lewis, 6-3, G, Fr., 0.0; Manuel Nunez, 6-5, G, Sr., 0.0.
Louisville (9-1)
Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
F-Chane Behanan 6-6 So. 7.3 10.1
F-Wayne Blackshear 6-5 So. 3.4 8.5
C-Zach Price 6-10 So. 1.8 2.1
G-Russ Smith 6-0 Jr. 3.0 20.2
G-Peyton Siva 6-0 Sr. 5.8* 11.7
*-assists
Reserves ? Luke Hancock, F, 6-6, Jr., 7.2 pts; Montrezl Harrell, F, 6-8, Fr., 6.0; Kevin Ware, G, 6-2, So., 4.8; Stephan Van Treese, F, 6-9, Sr., 2.6; Tim Henderson, G, 6-2, Jr., 1.3; Michael Baffour, G, 6-2, Jr., 1.0; Logan Baumann, G, 6-0, Fr., 0.7; Jordan Bond, G, 6-0, Fr., 0.0.
===============
Louisville basketball players are 'just bad at success'
But failure not an option against Pitino son's team
nformed that Sports Illustrated wanted to do a feature on Russ Smith, University of Louisville men?s basketball coach Rick Pitino said he ?cringed.?
And when Chane Behanan earned the Big East?s Player of the Week honor for his 22-point performance against Memphis, Pitino called it ?a disaster waiting to happen.?
He was kidding on both accounts. Sort of.
?There?s so much right about this generation, so I hate to pick on it, but they just don?t handle success well,? Pitino said. ?They?re great at really taking coaching. They?re tremendous people. They?re just bad at success.?
That should change ? at least for tonight?s game against Florida International, when Pitino faces son Richard for the first time as an opposing head coach in the 11th annual Billy Minardi Classic.
The game was named in memory of Minardi, Rick Pitino?s brother-in-law and Richard?s uncle, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The elder Pitino said coaching against his son will be more emotional for the rest of the family than for the two of them.
?I?m just real proud of him, but he?s been taught when the ball goes up, you?ve got to beat Louisville, and when the ball goes up, we?ve got to beat FIU,? Rick Pitino said. ?We won?t be looking down at each other when the game goes on; we?re going to be concentrating on beating each other. We?re going to have a party afterwards in Billy Minardi?s honor.?
Richard Pitino, who was hired by FIU in April, recruited several of the current Cardinals, and he took a couple of U of L staffers with him to Miami. Mark Lieberman served as both an assistant coach and director of basketball operations at U of L, and Casey Stanley, FIU?s director of operations, was the Cards? assistant video coordinator last season.
Miami native Rakeem Buckles, who played for U of L the past three seasons, transferred to FIU. Buckles, who is sitting out this season under NCAA transfer rules, also is rehabbing from a torn ACL and did not make the trip with the Panthers.
?I look forward to it because Richard recruited me, he left, came back and left,? U of L guard Peyton Siva said. ?I look forward to playing against him and just look forward to seeing him. I miss them as coaches ? him, Lieberman and Casey. It?ll be good to see them again.?
Seeing familiar faces could inspire the fifth-ranked Cardinals (9-1) to a performance similar to the season opener against Manhattan and coach Steve Masiello, a former U of L assistant who also had a hand in recruiting the current roster.
U of L took care of the Jaspers 80-54, and the Panthers (3-4) are similarly outmatched on paper. But Rick Pitino doesn?t want his players to think that way. A taste of success, he said, makes this generation think it?s ?either time to party or ?I?ve arrived.? ?
He blames the Cards? poor handling of recent success for their defensive breakdowns in Saturday?s 87-78 victory at Memphis. The Tigers became the first team this season to shoot better than 50 percent from the field in each half against the Cards.
?We did not get better in that basketball game,? Pitino said. ?We did not get better on the defensive end, and that?s really troubling that we did not improve defensively. This is an emotional game in the Billy Minardi Classic. It?s my son and everything else, but we want to get better.?
Dieng likely out till Jan. 2
Pitino said center Gorgui Dieng probably won?t return until Jan. 2 against Providence. The 6-foot-11 junior broke his left wrist in the 84-61 victory over Missouri on Nov. 23 in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
?Gorgui?s latest exam with the doctor didn?t go as well as my optimism was,? said Pitino, who later added, ?The last X-ray we thought it would be healed, and it was not.?
He had hoped to get Dieng back for Saturday?s game against Western Kentucky. Dieng participated in the warm*up line at Memphis but did not play.
Pitino added that forward Stephan Van Treese still is not practicing because of a knee injury but could be used if needed against FIU.
