Considering that he is the dean of all Big East coaches to say nothing of a quote machine, I left the pack of reporters surrounding UConn coach Geno Auriemma and his national player of the year candidates Maya Moore and Renee Montgomery to catch the end of Villanova coach Harry Perretta's press conference.

It was time well spent, especially when I was able to talk to him after the press conference. Perretta has faced all of UConn's best teams and even beaten a couple of him so who better to put this year's squad in historical context.

"They are good not because they are talented," Perretta said after UConn eliminated his team from the Big East tournament with a 72-42 win. "They are good because they play hard, they have intangible qualities and the talent just makes them great I don't want everybody to think that they beat everybody because they are so talented. No, they beat everybody because they play the right way, they play hard and they commit themselves to defense. That is a quality that people may not give them credit for."

While Maya Moore rightfully was the center of attention with her dynamic game, it was the defense of Tiffany Hayes on Laura Kurz which to me was the difference. Kurz had scored in double figures in 27 straight games and was the only double figure scorer on the Villanova team. Yet against a freshman she did not score and said she had a hard time breathing to say nothing about scoring thanks to Hayes' relentless work.

"I was happy we did a pretty good job for 17 minutes but after that, I felt like our kids couldn't sustain that passing against that kind of defense," Perretta said. "It's just too smothering. We are not as good as we have been and they are as good as their greatest teams. They are so superior athletically like that team (2001-02) was years ago and we can only sustain our offense for so long."

I decided to go a little "big picture" with Perretta and asked him if it is demoralizing seeing UConn restock the cupboard every season. Last season the Huskies lost starters Kalana Greene and Mel Thomas and still made the Final Four. This season the national high school player of the year (Elena Delle Donne) left after spending two days on campus and another of the prized freshman (Caroline Doty) suffered a season-ending knee injury and still the Huskies are 32-0 and have yet to have a game decided by less than 10 points.

His answer was classic Perretta.

"It all depends on how you approach it," the Big East co-coach of the year said. "For me, I teach my players you are as good as you are and it is the end of the story. You can't sit there and be depressed because you are not as good as somebody else. It is like me being depressed because I am not a millionaire. If you look at it that way, you are already defeated. If they are at a certain level, you don't compare yourself to them. If we can get in the NCAA tournament, that is a great accomplishment. Don't look at it like we didn't do as well as Connecticut. I think about their players and I worry about it three days before the game. If I sat there all summer on my couch or on the beach thinking 'oh my God, they have another (star) player' I might as well not live my life. You can't do anything about it so just deal with it three days before the game when you are preparing."

Finally, I asked him what either Pittsburgh or Louisville had to do to beat UConn (the second semifinal had yet to reach halftime at that point).

"They are going to have to hold them down and I think they are going to have to slow the pace of the game down," Perretta said. "I don't think anybody in the country can run with them. They will have to slow the pace of the game down, rebound the ball and play defense. They have pretty good athletes, I think they can defend them better than we could but I just don't know if they can sustain it over 40 minutes. I don't know if anybody can."

Speaking of UConn's 2001-02 team, Swin Cash had surgery on her ailing back which forced her to leave her ZVVK USK Prague squad (where she was replaced by another ex-Husky in Nykesha Sales). She is expected to be out from 8-12 weeks.

Back to the tournament, Louisville certainly has a swagger about them, starting from head coach Jeff Walz and carrying over to seniors and WNBA prospects Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham. There will be more on Louisville tomorrow (or actually later today since it is a few minutes past midnight). I was too annoyed at not being able to get online after speaking to Walz to sit down and listen to the tape so that will be a project for this morning.

Here are a few other items
While it is not set in stone, it seems a strong possibility that the winner of the Ivy League will face the Huskies in the first round of the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. Dartmouth can earn the Ivy's bid with a win over Harvard Tuesday night. If Harvard wins, the teams will play Thursday in Providence in a winner take all playoff.

Last item before I go to bed, congratulations to UConn commit Samarie Walker of Dayton's Chaminade Julienne High for being named to the six-player Ohio Southwest All-District team on Monday. Walker was the only junior named to the team.