Official Pitino interview thread

MdWIldcat55

Heisman
Dec 9, 2007
21,257
84,744
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Just watching this now. I find it a really weak interview. I think an honest journalist would HAVE to ask two key questions about Coach No. 2: Did the sports agent lie when he is heard by the FBI saying he'd talked with you directly about getting money to a recruit? And did you reach out to an Adidas official to see about getting money funneled to Bowen as it is suggested you'll do in the FBI affidavit?

Now, Pitino would either have to deny he is Coach No. 2, which would be huge news, claim the FBI facts are wrong, which would be a blockbuster story for ESPN, or, more likely, weasel out by saying his lawyer has advised him not to directly address anything that's part of the criminal investigation. And in doing that, he'd put a totally different tone to the interview - he'd be seen as avoiding very troubling allegations. Which he is. Bilas is either the worst attorney/journalist ever, or he sold out and agreed to lay down in the interview. But the fact that the words Coach Number 2 are never heard in this interview makes it a farce and a flop.
 

AustinTXCat

Hall of Famer
Jan 7, 2003
53,703
317,938
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Pitino just looks weird when he talks. I guess to drive home his points he moves his head constantly. Looks like one of those dogs people used to have in their back window of their cars with the dogs head on a spring. The guy looks defeated. Looking back it’s funny how he preached to us about setting a program back 10 years which is exactly what he has done to UofL.
[laughing]

Bobble Head Rick.

 
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BluZilla

All-American
Sep 8, 2009
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Rick is one of the best damn liars I have ever seen. Scary psychopath good. Seriously, if you were never aware of the dishonest stuff he has done in the past, you would believe him. He has had years of mastering his craft.

He needed a drink before that interview though. I bet it took Bilas and several others a couple of hours to get him calm enough to do the interview.
 

Bluest Member

All-Conference
Dec 26, 2009
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Psst Rick...I've taken a few POLYGRAGH exams in my career...but I didn't have a lawyer helping me out like YOU did...so they're not that simple. Oh...and be careful with your references to GOD! Read the OLD Testament man!
I didn't watch,but Pitino better watch what he wishes for because one day he will answer to GOD and it won't go the way he thinks in his sick,twisted,narcissistic mind.
 
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UKUGA

Heisman
Jan 26, 2007
18,505
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We’re going to have to get Oprah Winfrey on this.


But deep down, I really hope Rick does the morning show circuit. I hear Megyn Kelly needs the ratings.
 
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docholiday51

Heisman
Oct 19, 2001
22,011
26,718
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Jay Bilas has lost all and any credibility he ever had with his commentary on this interview along with the UNC scandal.

He erroneously stated that AD's and Presidents should also have strict liability not mentioning that both of those positions were terminated at UofL. Also, he sure didn't hold UNC's coaches, AD and President under that same scrutiny.

He is nothing more than a puppet!!
He has become the Billy Packer of his time.When is some announcer going to come along that likes Cal and UK as much as these guys seem to like K and Duke or Roy and UNC?
 

JStaff21

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
12,735
58,188
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He has become the Billy Packer of his time.When is some announcer going to come along that likes Cal and UK as much as these guys seem to like K and Duke or Roy and UNC?

When it’s one that’s not an ACC alum... which will never happen.
 

Cat78Scot

All-Conference
Mar 22, 2004
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just some random thoughts....Pitino looks like a reanimated corpse.....they kept showing close-ups of Pitino and his eyes were all red...i assume Bilas was blowing him during the closeups.....Pitino said he didnt even believe the his assistant was guilty and yet he's suing Adidas??? The only person Pitino said he had to answer to was his god...did he mean Jurich?? I've seen Pitino in hundreds of interviews and press conferences and he just comes across as so disingenuine....just a cheap con artist. Love SVP and he did grill Bilas pretty well but Bilas will always defend coaches...wish SVP had done the interview.

Rick wouldn't have agreed to that interview. He knows Bilas is now a shill so he was good with him doing it.
 
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akaukswoosh

Hall of Famer
Jan 14, 2006
80,454
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How are people still acting like Pitino was not implicated? According to the FBI complaint, "Coach 2" called Gatto to discuss getting money for the recruit. You can choose to turn a blind eye to that testimonial evidence, but to act like there is no evidence out there is absurd.
This
 

rick64

Heisman
Jan 25, 2007
24,622
33,772
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If you look at the document that RPs lawyer submitted about the lie detector test, the question was "did you participate in paying Bowen's family". He answered "no". The examiner didn't ask him if he had any knowledge like Bilas did. Huge difference.

My question would be....."Coach, why didn't the examiner ask you if you had any knowledge of the adidas payment to Bowen and his family".
 

akaukswoosh

Hall of Famer
Jan 14, 2006
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Bilas really sold out near the end. Would you hire Rick Pitino? He says he would consider it. WTH? Then he goes on to put ADs and Presidents on blast for them not taking responsibility for the coaches they hire. News flash: They just got canned too. Too funny. I really expected more from Bilas.
I chuckled when Bilas said he'd hire RP.
 
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John Henry

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Aug 18, 2007
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Bilas really sold out near the end. Would you hire Rick Pitino? He says he would consider it. WTH? Then he goes on to put ADs and Presidents on blast for them not taking responsibility for the coaches they hire. News flash: They just got canned too. Too funny. I really expected more from Bilas.

Wasn't that a strange deflection to make at the end. Mr. Bilas didn't know both the UL President and AD have been fired? Was he prepared to do this interview or did he just show up to prop up Pitino and deflect the real issues that led to Pitino's departure?

Over the past year or so Jay Bilas has proven to be nothing more than a mouth piece for the ACC and an apologist for corrupt coaches in that league. His star is dim now and I am finished listening to anything he has to say.
 

CatCall

Senior
May 22, 2002
922
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Just watching this now. I find it a really weak interview. I think an honest journalist would HAVE to ask two key questions about Coach No. 2: Did the sports agent lie when he is heard by the FBI saying he'd talked with you directly about getting money to a recruit? And did you reach out to an Adidas official to see about getting money funneled to Bowen as it is suggested you'll do in the FBI affidavit?

Now, Pitino would either have to deny he is Coach No. 2, which would be huge news, claim the FBI facts are wrong, which would be a blockbuster story for ESPN, or, more likely, weasel out by saying his lawyer has advised him not to directly address anything that's part of the criminal investigation. And in doing that, he'd put a totally different tone to the interview - he'd be seen as avoiding very troubling allegations. Which he is. Bilas is either the worst attorney/journalist ever, or he sold out and agreed to lay down in the interview. But the fact that the words Coach Number 2 are never heard in this interview makes it a farce and a flop.
Ding ding ding!

Although I dont find Bilas to be anything resembling an "honest journalist". Commentator, law school grad, opinionated and intelligent but ACC and coach biased Duke grad with a pulpit from which to speak.
 

katwest

Heisman
Feb 16, 2003
39,834
13,690
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Count Ricklua doesn't have a reflection in the mirror, he can't see the years lying and cheating has put on his face, stick a fork in him, he's done.
 
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BluZilla

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Sep 8, 2009
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Wasn't that a strange deflection to make at the end. Mr. Bilas didn't know both the UL President and AD have been fired? Was he prepared to do this interview or did he just show up to prop up Pitino and deflect the real issues that led to Pitino's departure?

Over the past year or so Jay Bilas has proven to be nothing more than a mouth piece for the ACC and an apologist for corrupt coaches in that league. His star is dim now and I am finished listening to anything he has to say.
He criticized the hell out of the NCAA, but we see where his allegiance lies. I thought he was better than that.
 
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TankedCat

Heisman
Nov 8, 2006
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watched about half the interview.

Pitino uses the results of the lie detector test to be a proxy for answering the question directly

I'm paraphrasing but he said "based on the results of the lie detector test, I didn't know anything about it" - might be splitting hairs but that isn't answering the question directly. Then he says (again paraphrasing) in regards to adidas -" if you look at the phone text messages you'll see that I didn't communicate with them about payments" which again is not answering the question directly.

Its like "have you been in a car that has exceeded the speed limit in the last month?" and Pitino answering "if you look at this 1936 Packard that I own, you'd know the car cannot do the speed limit"
 
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awf

Heisman
May 31, 2006
10,411
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He reminds me of that scumbag Hugh Freeze always making references to God when asked questions. Like he seems more trustworthy because he believes in God and makes references about God. You're not fooling us Rick.

I am more leery of the people who are always making references to god/jesus than a avowed atheist.......................
 
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childe

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2006
1,406
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That was painful to watch. Pitino looks TERRIBLE!!!! :scream:

Pitino said something like, "I worship the ground my players walk on. Both past and present. Like David Padgett, they are like sons to me. I told them not to contact me because this is Padgett's team now." :confused:

He also said he takes full responsibility for his assistant coaches, but hasn't quite figured out why the Board of Trustees locked him out of his office. "The UofL that I LOVE isn't the one that I know. The Board of Trustees were appointed by the governor."

Basically just said they didn't know what they were doing. :popcorn:

He gets his dig in at the new board of trustees in an attempt to get some sympathy. But he was fired by the athletic board.
 

Dr. H Lecter

Heisman
Apr 5, 2007
15,267
30,183
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watched about half the interview.

Pitino uses the results of the lie detector test to be a proxy for answering the question directly

I'm paraphrasing but he said "based on the results of the lie detector test, I didn't know anything about it" - might be splitting hairs but that isn't answering the question directly. Then he says (again paraphrasing) in regards to adidas -" if you look at the phone text messages you'll see that I didn't communicate with them about payments" which again is not answering the question directly.

Its like "have you been in a car that has exceeded the speed limit in the last month?" and Pitino answering "if you look at this 1936 Packard that I own, you'd know the car cannot do the speed limit"

Agree. His answer was clearly, "the lie detector says I didn't know anything."

I also noticed that he used text messages as the basis for determining he didn't communicate. Certainly only a fool would leave a written record of a violation. I don't think he would be stupid enough to communicate illegal activity directly to Adidas....plausible deniability. He certainly has trusted go-betweens. Also lets not forget that Jurich's daughter is employed by Adidas. What did she know and when did she know it.
 

catfanlou

All-Conference
Jul 6, 2005
3,540
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I thought I was going to cry I felt so sorry for him.

God bless him. He’s our hero. Think about it. He rebuilt our program then destroyed one of our minor rivals. What more could he have done in his life to,help us. We should raise another banner in his name.

What a religious soul.
 

Ben101er

Heisman
Apr 21, 2004
25,541
60,109
103
just some random thoughts....Pitino looks like a reanimated corpse.....they kept showing close-ups of Pitino and his eyes were all red...i assume Bilas was blowing him during the closeups.....Pitino said he didnt even believe the his assistant was guilty and yet he's suing Adidas??? The only person Pitino said he had to answer to was his god...did he mean Jurich?? I've seen Pitino in hundreds of interviews and press conferences and he just comes across as so disingenuine....just a cheap con artist. Love SVP and he did grill Bilas pretty well but Bilas will always defend coaches...wish SVP had done the interview.

I'm glad he admits he has to answer to God. Shame he didn't think about that before killing his baby.
 

revcort

Heisman
Feb 20, 2003
32,522
30,904
113
Yeah, after watching that interview, it's clear Bilas was just trying to help out a friend. It wouldn't surprise me to know that Rick made this as part of the agreement with Bilas to do the interview. I'm sure Bilas wanted to do it, but Rick likely gave some stipulations and probably added, "if you try to make me look bad, I'll never do an interview with you again." I also wouldn't be shocked to find out that Rick threatened to sue them if they said anything he thought was over the line in some way.

Bilas is not being logical or reasonable, though, and SVP let him off the hook. Presidents and ADs? Ha! Both have been fired at UofL over these scandals Rick caused. Would he hire Rick? There is no way he would hire Rick Pitino today, and we all know that. He didn't say "Sure, I'd hire him." He said "I'd consider it. He's a great coach." That's a non-answer, and again, SVP didn't push it.

Aside from the fact that Rick Pitino looks like death warmed over, it's very clear to me that you can take the whole interview, find the exact opposite of what he says, and there is the truth. Humility? Not an ounce. He didn't know? He knew everything and he orchestrated it all. He's willing to take responsibility for hiring rogue assistants? Ha! Those men were doing exactly what they were instructed to do.

SVP was onto something with his first question: we're talking about a man who is a KNOWN control freak. This man knows every detail about everything that went on in that program. Now, sure, he set up plausible deniability to keep his hands clean. He's a smart man, of course. But this is a man who did what he wanted and demanded what he wanted, and he was willing to do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted. I honestly believe we'd all blush to see this man in his natural element, barking out demands and orders. I'm picturing Al Capone in the Untouchables saying, "I want this man dead! I want his family dead!" Except in Rick's case, it was "I want this kid wearing Louisville red and I want it now! You make that happen! I don't care how it happens, but it WILL happen!" That's Rick, folks.