Pitino strives to keep things positive

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Rick Pitino insists that he's having one of the best years of his life.

From the outside looking in, though, things may not look so rosy.

There's the matter of a pending federal case against Karen Cunagin Sypher, who is charged with attempting to extort $10 million from him. Pitino, in August, admitted to and apologized for a sexual encounter with Sypher that happened six years ago.

On the court, the Cardinals have fallen short of the Final Four by a game in each of the previous two seasons. After last season, the team lost its best passers, rebounders and defenders, including Earl Clark and Terrence Williams -- both NBA lottery picks. The Cardinals have been picked to finish sixth in the Big East just a year after winning the regular season and conference titles.

But the coach used the team's annual tip-off luncheon Thursday to deliver a speech that might have fit just as well at the recent motivational seminar in Louisville when he shared the stage with speakers like Laura Bush and Rudy Giuliani.

The coach did not specifically mention the Sypher situation but charged fans to focus on the positive, despite the fact that he was obviously -- by the standing ovation he received after his introduction -- among supporters.

"Don't succumb to being a critic," he said. "Don't become part of that negative environment that just knocks and constantly says things that tear things down. Build things up. That's what positive people do."

The team begins practice in a week and that puts Pitino back where he's comfortable.

"I am totally focused right now, as I am every basketball season," he said.

With the low expectations, and holes to fill on the team, it's in those types of situations when overachievers act, Pitino said.

"They're a hungry group," he said of his team. "They're very humble. By far, this is the closest group I've had here at the University of Louisville."