In a good way.

Siva, who last month led Louisville to the NCAA championship, was one of the few brights spots on the court at the Nets’ training facility and clearly outplayed former Arizona floor general Josiah Turner in the 5-on-5 portion of the program.

“I think I played really well,” the 6-foot, 180-pound Siva told SNY.tv following the workout.

“I think I showed teams I can run the point guard and create for others and that was really my main thing coming out today, was just showing them that I can run a team and just play good defense and I think I did a pretty good job at that.”

Siva’s self-interpretation was validated by NBA personnel in the room.

“Real competitive, great speed, what do you say, winning culture, being coached, can take all you can give him,” said Nets’ Director of Player Personnel Gregg Polinsky. “He’s gonna get some looks.”

Siva, who is repped by Andy Miller and Steve Banks, is projected as a second-round pick in the June 27 NBA Draft, and one veteran scout in the room believes that’s exactly where he’ll go.

“Peyton has come so far, he plays completely under control now today,” the scout told SNY.tv. “Rick Pitino’s done a great job with him and he listened to Rick, so it’s a win-win. You had a great coach and you had a talented young man. I’ve always had problem with him playing out of control. I never questioned his ability and obviously he did what he needed to do to win the national championship.”

He added: “I think he’ll be drafted in the second round.”

Siva said he has “10 or 11″ workouts set up right now and will work out today (Friday) with the Boston Celtics and then go to the Detroit Pistons. Fellow point guards Phil Pressey of Missouri and Pierre Jackson of Baylor will also work out in Boston this weekend.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calls after this workout and after Chicago’s workout and it’s really been great,” Siva said.

Having led the Cardinals to the NCAA title, Siva is feeling very confident in his abilities and in matching up against other point guards.

“I’m not really worried about anything else, any guys their names or anything,” he said. “I just go out there and play. I’ve played against the best my whole life. I’ve played against everybody my whole life so I’m just looking forward to going out there and just proving myself.”

As for his old college team, Siva likes Louisville’s chances of making another Final Four.

“I think they’ll be great,” he said. “I think Russ [Smith] coming back, Chane [Behanan] and Montrezl [Harrell], I think they’re going to play a bigger role this year and I think they’ll be really good.”

Junior college point guard Chris Jones replaces Siva in the backcourt with Smith.

“I think he’ll be really good for them,” Siva said.

He is already anticipating the potential showdown in the postseason between Kentucky’s loaded incoming class and Louisville’s more experienced roster.

“I think it will be great because it will be freshmens against proven seniors and juniors, so it will be a great matchup,” he said.

Can the state of Kentucky win a third straight title after Kentucky won in 2012 and Louisville in 2013?

“I think Louisville all the time,” Siva said.

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By JACK LeGWIN

Special to ZAGSBLOG

Quentin Snider is living his dream.

The Louisville (KY) native made a huge splash early in his sophomore year when he committed to his hometown Louisville Cardinals, and has backed up his decision over the last two seasons by honing his skills, most recently leading Ballard (KY) to the state championship game in 2013, averaging 19.6 points per game.

“When I was a little kid, I always wanted to go to Louisville,” Snider told SNY.tv. “It’s where I’m from, and I’ve always wanted to play in front of my hometown fans.”

Many have compared him to Peyton Siva, and it isn’t hard to see why. The 6-foot-1 175-pound junior is ranked 31st in his class by ESPN, and 29th by Rivals.com. Snider is armed with a deadly crossover which is reminiscent of Siva’s, but is more offensively advanced than Siva was at Snider’s current age.

Snider’s coach at Ballard (KY), Chris Renner, sees some resemblance not only to Siva, but also Russ Smith.

“Quentin is a guy who has the qualities of a Siva, with his ability to drive,” Renner said. “But he also has the ability to shoot the ball like Russ Smith. He’s not just a guy who can just pass or shoot. He can do both. It’s a really nice mixture, and it’s his game.”

Snider admits that he indeed sees the similarities to Siva and Smith as well.

“Siva can pass the ball really well, and he knows how to run the show, which is what I love to do,” he said. “Russ can really score, and if our team needs to score, I can get the bucket.”

Perhaps most importantly, Snider doesn’t shy away from the spotlight. In a showdown with the Harrison twins and Fort Bend Travis (TX) in November, Snider led Ballard in scoring with 28 points on 3-7 from deep and 11-12 from the free-throw line despite losing, 78-76.

“Quentin has gotten a great opportunity to go to the school of his choice, which is his home school, with such great tradition and fan support.” Renner said. “He’s a great kid, he competes, doesn’t take a day off, and always wants to get better.”

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“Louisville Coach Rick Pitino follows through on his promise to his team to get a tattoo,” Cardinals’ spokesman Kenny Klein tweeted.

Pitino told his players earlier this season if they won the national championship he would get inked, and now he has.

“About 12-13 games ago, all of these guys, when they say hello they get a tattoo,” Pitino said after Louisville beat Michigan to win the NCAA title in Atlanta. “They said if you win the National Championship coach, you are getting a tattoo. I said hell yeah, I am getting a tattoo.”

“I’m going to hold him to that tattoo he gonna be getting soon,” Kevin Ware said courtside.

Photo: Louisville

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“Russ is going to come back for his senior year,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino told reporters Wednesday.

Pitino told reporters that Smith wants to graduate, become a first-team All-American and move up into the first round of the NBA Draft, according to Eric Crawford.

“I love to win,” Smith said. “With the group we have coming back, I want to go out as a winner, and to graduate.”

Smith said he wasn’t sure of his decision “until I woke up this morning.”

“The pros of staying were so much better than the pros of leaving,” he said. “What was crazy, the pros for me leaving were all immature.

“I felt like I’d be running away from getting better and maturing as a player if I left. . . . Now I have new goals, new challenges.”

The news was first reported by CBSSports.com.

“I personally think he would benefit by staying because he improved,” Pitino recently told ESPNU. “As a freshman he was an erratic player, totally out of control. As a sophomore, he was an up-and-down player, totally committed to learning how to play the game. And this year he was brilliant.

“So he can only get better by staying. He’s 165 pounds, I’d like to get him up to 180. Very good athlete. If it wasn’t for Russ Smith we don’t go to a Final Four last year and we don’t win a championship this year.”

The Brooklyn native averaged 18.7 points per game but was projected as a second-round pick.

Louisville will lose Peyton Siva to graduation and Gorgui Dieng to the NBA Draft, but brings in JUCO point guard Chris Jones to pair in the backcourt with Smith.

Forwards Chane Behanan and Montrezl Harrell return, as do wings Luke Hancock , Wayne Blackshear and Kevin Ware.

Louisville should challenge Kentucky and the other top teams for the NCAA crown in 2014.

**Who’s In and Who’s Out of the NBA Draft? Read more here.

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“Russ’s dad spoke a little premature,” Pitino told ESPNU on Thursday. “Russ is about 60/40 staying.”

Pitino said he emailed “all the [NBA] Player Personnel directors and said, ‘Look, I need help on this one. If you drafted Russ Smith in the second round, would you send him to the D-League? Would you keep him? Would you develop him? I need some insight on what you think he needs to improve to be a first-rounder.

“Do you think he can be a first-rounder?’ And I’m waiting to get their input back. So far I’ve got two. I sent it on to Russ as I got it and I emailed 30 teams.

“I personally think he would benefit by staying because he improved. As a freshman he was an erratic player, totally out of control. As a sophomore, he was an up-and-down player, totally committed to learning how to play the game. And this year he was brilliant.

“So he can only get better by staying. He’s 165 pounds, I’d like to get him up to 180. Very good athlete. If it wasn’t for Russ Smith we don’t go to a Final Four last year and we don’t win a championship this year.”

If Smith — a Brooklyn native who shot 3-for-16 in Monday’s national championship game win over Michigan — does return to the defending national champions, he would join with junior college point guard Chris Jones in the backcourt with Peyton Siva graduating.

“Chris Jones is as fine a point guard as I’ve recruited since I’ve been in this game,” Pitino said.

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That will be a dominating storyline for much of the next year in college basketball.

The Bluegrass State now has won two straight, with Rick Pitino and Louisville cutting down the nets in 2013 and John Calipari and Kentucky winning it all in 2012.

Both teams figure to be right back in the mix in 2014, with Kentucky’s boatload of McDonald’s All-Americans likely to make them a preseason favorite in the eyes of many folks.

The Wildcats flamed out in the first round of the NIT this season, but will add at least six McDonald’s All-Americans to returning players Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kyle Wiltjer.

If Andrew Wiggins, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, pulls the trigger for the Wildcats over Florida State, Kansas and North Carolina, it will be hard to pick against the Cats in 2014.

“He’s the best player in the world so I don’t know how far he can bring them,” Syracuse-bound point guard Tyler Ennis, Wiggins’ AAU teammate, told SNY.tv. “But having the best player in the world is not going to hurt anybody.

Fellow Canadian Kris Joseph concurred on the impact Wiggins could make.

“You know what? Any school that he goes to, they’re gonna make that program revolve around him, you know what I mean?” the Nets forward told SNY.tv recently.

“My thing is, any school you go to, you want to leave some type of a legacy. You don’t want to go somewhere, even if it’s just for one year, where you don’t have a chance of making the tournament. It’s hard to do that with one player. You want to go to a school where you have some guys you could surround yourself with to make a great run and play great basketball.”

Louisville isn’t going anywhere, either.

The Cardinals will lose senior point guard Peyton Siva to graduation and junior big man Gorgui Dieng to the NBA Draft. It’s possible they could lose junior guard Russ Smith to the Draft, too, but Russdiculous hardly helped his stock with his 3-for-16 shooting performance in the championship game.

“I want to encourage my guys to put their name in the draft, just for the experience, whether they go or not,” Pitino said.

Louisville brings in junior college point guard Chris Jones to replace Siva, and adds three other recruits, too.

They will likely return forwards Luke Hancock, the MOP of the Final Four; Chane Behanan, he of the 15 points and 13 boards in the championship game; and stud freshman Montrezl Harrell, who came up huge in the Big East Tournament.

Sophomore Kevin Ware hopes to come back healthy from his gruesome leg injury, and sophomore Wayne Blackshear figures to have an even bigger role next year.

Once again, Kentucky and Louisville figure to be contrasting examples of how to put a team together.

The Wildcats will be loaded with one-and-dones as Calipari shoots for his second title in three years, while Pitino will have another experienced team of upperclassmen as he seeks his second title in a row and third overall.

“Well, for us to win this national championship truly a blessing from God,” Siva said in response to a question about how it felt to follow Kentucky’s win with one of their own. “We don’t look at it as who won it last year. We’re living in the present. We got this win for our team.

“I told somebody earlier, this is really what a team is. This is really what college basketball is about, a group of guys who are like family. With Kevin Ware going down like that, everybody rallying around him, it showed how much we love each other, that we are a family. We’re truly blessed to be here with this national championship trophy.”

And you can bet both Kentucky and Louisville will be in the hunt again a year from now when the Bluegrass State seeks its third championship in a row.

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ATLANTA

Soon the Bronx native was with his teammates again as they climbed up on a ladder to cut down the net in the wake of Louisville’s 82-76 victory over Michigan in the national championship game.

Ever since suffering that gruesome leg injury in the Midwest Region final win over Duke, Ware has been pleading and prodding with his teammates to “just win.”

And so it was fitting that he, too, was able to cut the net after the ladder was lowered to accommodate the man on crutches.

“I really was thankful for that,” Ware said on the court. “It mean everything, honestly. Not being able to play but still being able to cut down the nets, that was big.”

Not that his teammates needed much more motivation in the national championship game, but Ware provided still more of an emotional lift with his presence on the bench.

“Kevin Ware would do anything to be back out there,” Louisville sophomore forward Chane Behanan said after going for 15 points and 13 boards..

“We just all locked in for him. Kevin was a big part of this team so to see him go down was just devastating. It was a big motivator for us.”

Louisville coach Rick Pitino has said he’s not sure his team could’ve beaten Duke had it not been for Ware pleading with the Cardinals to “just win” even as his tibia was sticking out of his skin.

“I’m not sure we could’ve got past a great team like Duke if he hadn’t gathered us all together,” Pitino said.

Ware said he feels a bond with his teammates that pushed him to say that against Duke and then to jump up on to the elevated stage to preach defense when Louisville trailed Wichita State by double-figures in the second half of the national semifinals.

“It’s an unbreakable bond, honestly,” Ware said. “It’s more than us just being on the court and just basketball. We’re off the court, we’re the same guys. We’re really close. We do just about everything together.”

Including cutting down the net in the wake of a national championship.

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ATLANTA

With Louisville’s 82-76 victory over Michigan in the national championship game before a crowd of 74,346, the newly minted Naismith Hall of Fame capped a historic day by becoming the first man ever to lead two different schools to an NCAA title.

The New York City native coached a loaded Kentucky team to the NCAA championship in 1996, and tonight guided Louisville to its first title since 1986 and third overall.

“I know how much this means to him,” Louisville senior floor general Peyton Siva said of Pitino after scoring 14  of his 18 points in the second half to go with six rebounds, five assists and four steals in his final collegiate game. 

“He has to be the luckiest person in the world right now. He has a horse in the Kentucky Derby. Richard [Pitino] just got the job in Minnesota. It’s just amazing.”

“Oh man, if you win a title at both at Kentucky and Louisville, wow,” Brooklyn native Russ Smith said on Sunday, one day before he struggled through a 3-for-16 shooting performance in the championship game.

“It just makes you think he’s a great coach and he will forever be remembered in Kentucky on both sides. I don’t think nobody in the state would hate him. He won a title for Kentucky, he won a title at Louisville so everybody should love him.”

Now Pitino must get a tattoo to commemorate the achievement.

“About 12-13 games ago, all of these guys, when they say hello they get a tattoo,” Pitino said. “They said if you win the National Championship coach, you are getting a tattoo. I said hell yeah, I am getting a tattoo.”

“I’m going to hold him to that tattoo he gonna be getting soon,” Kevin Ware said courtside.

Pitino praised sophomore forward Chane Behanan’s “guts” after he played like a man down low to the tune of 15 points and 13 rebounds and junior Luke Hancock had 16 of his 22 in the first half –hitting four straight 3-pointers — to keep the Cardinals close when Michigan freshman Spike Albrecht threatened to steal the show. Hancock was the first non-starter to win the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

Louisville, the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, won 16 straight games to close the season.

Ironically, Pitino nearly became the Michigan coach in 2001, but opted for the Louisville gig instead because his wife, Joanne, wanted to return to Kentucky.

Consider the magnitude of Pitino’s history-making week.

On top of winning a national championship and being announced into the 2013 Naismith Hall of Fame class, his son, Richard Pitino, got the head coaching job at Minnesota and his horse, Goldencents, won the Santa Anita Derby.

And oh by the way, Pitino will make a total of $6.1 million for winning the title, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.

“He needs to play the lottery,” Hancock said. “I mean, he doesn’t need any more money, but he needs to play the lottery.”

The only man to take three different programs to the Final Four started his blockbuster Monday in a ballroom at the Marriott Marquis Hotel where he was officially named part of the Hall of Fame class that included two former Knicks in Bernard King and Richie Guerin, as well as Gary Payton, Dawn Staley, Jerry Tarkanian, Guy Lewis and others.

King was there near the beginning of Pitino’s career when he served as a Knicks assistant in the mid-80s.

“He was a very young coach but I saw him at that time he was an extremely hard worker,” King recalled. “He knew the game, he understood the game.”

King added: “I enjoyed playing for him and I hope he wins tonight. I’m rooting for Louisville and to think about what he’s done and the impact that he’s had on the game of basketball at the professional level and the collegiate level is just mind-boggling.

“So I’m really happy that the two of us, along with the other inductees, are going in together.”

On Wednesday, Pitino got two huge pieces of good news. At the same time.

The text from Richard, “Go Gophers, I got the job,” came in at the exact same time the elder Pitino received his Hall call.

“When I hung up, I was looking around for lightning to hit me because I thought it was going to end, it was such an unbelievable moment,” Pitino said.

“It really legitimately happened at the exact time,” Richard added. “We didn’t know how to celebrate. I was so proud of him, he was so happy for me, so it was a really special moment.”

Richard was proudly taking pictures of his father during the Hall of Fame announcement, and Jim Nantz asked him to stand up and be recognized.

“Oh, it would be unbelievable, it’s almost a dream come true to get announced into the Hall of Fame and then an opportunity to win a national championship is something extremely special,” Richard Pitino said of his father.

“He’s one of the best of all time.”

Pitino is now at 664 career victories, the exact same number as legendary UCLA coach John Wooden.

As I wrote in this column, Pitino could theoretically have about 850 wins and a couple  more NCAA championships had he not spent eight seasons in the NBA.

He could still wind up with more than 1,000 and be No. 1 all-time when all is said and done.

And with a contract that runs another nine years, he doesn’t have any plans to walk off into the sunset with his second NCAA championship.

“I really hadn’t thought about that until all these people are saying, ‘What a way to do it,’” Pitino said.

“I have so many cherished moments from this Final Four, moments of a lifetime to be so fortunate and so lucky. I’m excited to be in the game, not to walk away from the game.”

Tonight he walked away with a history-making national championship.

Photo: New York Times

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ATLANTA — Rick Pitin

Reiterating a story he has told before, the Louisville coach said that he nearly took the job in 2001 when he returned to the college ranks after leaving the Celtics.

Louisville, of course, will play Michigan here for the national championship Monday night.

Michigan ultimately chose Tommy Amaker, who previously coached Seton Hall.

Michigan, of course, beat Seton Hall in the 1989 NCAA title game.

Anyway, here’s Pitino’s version of the story:

“It was kind of a funny story because I agreed to be the Michigan coach. I lived in Boston right on Com Avenue. We visited Las Vegas. I love Las Vegas. My wife doesn’t like Las Vegas. We had young children at the time. She said, Look, if we were all ‘let’s go,’ we have young kids. I just don’t want to go out west. I don’t want to go to a different time zone. I want to stay near our family.

“It wasn’t Las Vegas as a town, it was the fact that it was west of the Mississippi.

“I’ll go to any job, but want to stay closer to home.

“So I took the Michigan job. That morning I agreed. I forget what the name was, I think it was ‘Outright,’ which when I called the Michigan AD, he didn’t want me to use my real name to get through to him. My wife came up and, as I said, I’m on the third floor, putting together all the things together with the Michigan contract.

“She had a book. There was an expression in the book that, I’d rather live one day as a lion than a thousand as a Lamb. My wife doesn’t swear. She didn’t want to go to Michigan because I’ve never visited there, I didn’t know anybody there. She wanted to go back to Kentucky where she saw the family so happy for eight years.

“I said to her, You don’t understand, the Kentucky coach can’t coach at Louisville. You’re just not getting it. She said, It’s one game every year, and every other year you have to visit. What’s the big deal?

“I said, It’s a big deal. We don’t want to do that. We’ll be miserable. You don’t want to put yourself in that situation.

“She said, You know what, that line you’re always using, I’d rather live one day as a lion than a thousand as a lamb, you’re an F-ing Lamb, then walked downstair.

“I said, Think about it. There’s half a million Kentucky fans in our town. It’s not like living in Lexington where if you wear red, you get shot. It doesn’t work that way.

“She said, I don’t care, your family is going to be happy. Now I have to call the AD [Bill Martin]. It’s 12:00. He had a thing between 12:00 and 1:30. I think it was squash or racquetball, where he can never be disturbed unless it’s a matter of life and death. His assistant said, Is it a matter of life and death?

“I said, No, it’s really, really important. It’s a matter of life and death, because I changed my mind.

“I’m sorry, I can’t put him through to you, do you want his voice mail?

“So now I’m leaving this long voice mail. I rambled on saying it’s one of the greatest jobs in the world, but I have to go back home where my family grew up, my children grew up. I gave a long-winded story. Never till the NIT when I got a chance to speak to him in person about it. I went to Louisville. It was the right move not necessarily for me. But it was the right move for my family.”

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ATLANTA — Russdiculous

“If I were to come back next year, which is I’m not going to say 50/50, but it’s more of leaning towards coming back, we’ll just have to see,” Brooklyn native Russ Smith said here Sunday in response to another reporter’s question.

“I have to talk to my dad and I have to talk to Coach [Rick Pitino] and we’ll just go at it from there.”

DraftExpress.com has the 6-foot Smith going early in the second round of this year’s Draft, and a veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv. he could go late in the first.

“You can’t guard what you can’t catch,” the scout said. “Cat quick and Brooklyn tough.”

Smith went 6-for-17 for 21 points in Louisville’s 72-68 win over Wichita State Saturday night in the national semifinals. Louisville will face Michigan Monday night for the NCAA championship.

“I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m not thinking about leaving or this, but it’s up to coach and what coach thinks is best for me,” Smith said.

“I’m always trying to ask my dad what’s the right decision and I’ll ask coach, coach will tell me what’s the right decision.

“And I’ll always get the answer, ‘Just play to win and win the next game.’ After the season we’re going to see where I belong and what people say.”

Smith also said he strongly considered transferring after his freshman season because things weren’t going well.

And where might he have landed?

“Definitely a lower-mid-major school, probably scoring the basketball at a ridiculous rate, but probably wouldn’t be in the NCAA Tournament playing for a national championship,” he said.

“I would give anything in the world to score a little bit less and play for a national championship.”

Photo: ESPN.com

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