Opening statement on St. John’s, joined in progress:
“I thought both teams fought very well, went right down to the wire. I really like the way St. John’s is competing right now, I’ve just been impressed with Rasheem Dunn and the improvements of Marcellus Earlington, I think Champagnie’s playing really well. They’re just guys that — obviously we know LJ Figueroa and how consistent he’s been scoring for them, but I just think some of the younger guys and guys that weren’t getting opportunities early in the year are really developing, and I think Mike’s doing a great job with their motion offense of everyone touching the basketball and being aggressive and driving. So just like all the other games in this conference, it’s going to be a good battle. That’s all I got.”
On Myles Powell facing various defenses, and how it benefits him and his teammates:
“I think it’s the other way around. I think Myles has done a really good job kind of recognizing, on a nightly basis, how teams are playing him. Some teams are face-guarding him, some teams are doing what Butler did last night, really jumping out with the bigs and showing, staying with him on pick-and-rolls or down screens. He’s seen a box-and-one a couple times, he’s seen a triangle-and-two. He’s a little bit more confident in realizing what teams are throwing at him, and I think he’s just picking his spots much better. I think the guys have always played well off of Myles, I just think Myles is just recognizing these defenses a little bit better and a little bit earlier in games.”
On Powell’s case for National Player of the Year honors:
“I think what’s fun about college basketball right now is there’s a lot of guys, especially older guys, that have really gone through and developed and gotten better. We’ve played against a lot of guys, it’s what makes college basketball special is that the fan bases and everyone’s gotten to see these guys develop. Obviously we saw Payton (Pritchard), I’ve seen Markus for three years, four years now, but my guy — I’m going to be biased — I just think what he does on a nightly basis and where he’s brought this program and where we are right now, he’s just as special a player as there is. And I think the fact that every night, he’s getting double-teamed, triple-teamed, and we’re still in first place in the Big East, he’s still playing at such a high level. It just shows you what type of player he is and how special a player he really is.”
On what he saw while recruiting Powell:
“I think Sha did a great job recruiting him. We had seen Myles ever since he was a freshman, he’d been coming to our games ever since he was a freshman or sophomore in high school, pretty much. He was always such a great kid, he has a great heart, that’s one thing I really wanted him, because he’s such a good kid. Obviously he could really shoot the basketball in high school, but you never know how a kid’s work ethic is going to be once he gets to you, and his work ethic for the last three-and-a-half years has been second to none. I think that’s why he’s turned himself into such a great player. He’s embraced coaching and he’s really embraced the work we put in — the work he had to put in — and I think when you combine a kid that’s got a great attitude and a great work ethic, you’re seeing the results of a guy turning himself into a special player.”
“I think we got a pretty good player, but he was 250 pounds and coming off a broken foot, so I knew we had a lot of work to do with him, but I also thought he was a special player, and the fact that he had a great ability to shoot the basketball and score the basketball.”
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