Kevin Willard quote book: Big East conference call

Opening statement:

“I’ve been really pleased with the progression we’ve made from the beginning of the season to where we are now. We still obviously have a lot of work to do and a lot of improvements in a lot of other areas, but for taking over for such a young group to really kind of buy into what we’re trying to do, play a pretty good schedule, and be at 9-3, I’m really pleased with their attitude, I’m really pleased with their work ethic.”

On Shamorie Ponds and what makes him so effective:

“I don’t think we have enough time for that. What I love about how Shamorie’s playing this year is he is playing with such poise and confidence, and he’s really playing the game at a NBA level, which I mean is he’s not forcing shots, he’s getting everybody involved. He’s playing a pace that when he needs to attack, he can attack anybody in the country. I just think he, right now, is by far one of the elite players in college basketball.”

On other keys to Saturday’s game against St. John’s aside from Ponds and Myles Powell:

“I think the biggest thing for us is trying to figure out who’s going to guard who, because one of the most impressive things about this St. John’s team is I just don’t think they have a weakness offensively, one through five on the court. Chris has done a great job of putting guys in mismatches and attacking guys off mismatches, they’re shooting the basketball tremendously, everybody is. And it’s really hard, I just think, even when at some times you think you have them locked down, they have five guys on the floor that can score at any time. I love the fact that they’re playing extremely unselfishly, and it obviously all starts with Shamorie, but when you have Mustapha Heron out there, Marvin Clark, I’ve really been impressed with what Justin Simon has been doing, and I think probably the biggest key going forward for their team has been LJ Figueroa. He just adds another scorer, some length, some toughness, and really causes some matchup problems.”

On the matchup between Ponds and Powell:

“I think now that I’ve really studied them, and obviously watching us, Shamorie and Myles are two of the elite-level players right now – not only in this conference, but in all of college basketball – and I think it’s going to be a real treat seeing those two on the floor battling each other. Shamorie’s assist-to-turnover ratio is so impressive, his shooting percentages are so impressive. I think what he does for them – getting everybody involved and controlling the game – is very similar to what Myles does for us, and Myles is not only scoring the ball at a great rate, but he’s also getting a lot of guys involved and getting guys in the right spots offensively. So I think you’re looking at two of the elite-level players in college basketball going up against each other Saturday night.”

On worrying about Powell taking too much on against Ponds:

“I would have last year when he was a sophomore, but as this season’s progressed, he’s really evolved and understood his role, and understands every night, he’s gone up against a pretty good player. We’ve played a really good schedule with a lot of good players – none of them as elite as Shamorie and none of them has that connection – but he’s matured to the point where he understands it’s not about just him and Shamorie, it’s about a team game. I think Shamorie Ponds is the second-best player in college basketball, after Myles Powell.”

On St. John’s roster composition and effectiveness of its transfers:

“I think they’ve done a really good job of putting together a roster that complements each other, and the fact that Marvin Clark and Justin Simon are guys who played at really good programs before and now have gone to play for another good program, I think is the reason why they’re 12-0 and their shooting percentages are off the charts and as good as they are. I think in college basketball, there’s no one way to do it, and when you look at Chris and his staff, I think they’ve done an excellent job of going after guys that play their style, who have Chris’ toughness when he played, and they all complement each other extremely well.”

On perception of a weaker Big East based on Top 25 rankings:

“I think the league definitely isn’t as strong as it was last year, by any stretch of the imagination. I think it’s still a top-four league, but over the last couple of years – because of the seniors we’ve had, the players we’ve had – you had four or five teams undefeated, and maybe we had seven teams with only one loss going into this year. The league is, I think, still as strong top to bottom, but I think everybody would say it’s not nearly as tough as it was last year with all the seniors that the league had.”