Kevin Willard quote book: Big East conference call

On Romaro Gill, Myles Powell and Quincy McKnight’s award recognitions:
“I’m extremely proud of Romaro. He’s got such a great attitude and an unbelievable work ethic. He’s a tremendous person, and he’s really worked hard since he’s gotten here. It really shows a lot that he’s most improved — he really is — and he anchors our defense for us down low, so I’m extremely proud of him. It’s amazing what happens when you have a great attitude and a great work ethic, which Ro is. Obviously for Myles, he’s just been such a key part of our program for so long, so to see him get a unanimous decision, I think was tremendous, and I appreciate the coaches recognizing all he does for our program, and Q’s come a long way. Q’s really worked hard, gotten much better offensively this year, and he goes out every night and gives everything he has, so I’m appreciative of the coaches recognizing my guys.”

On Thursday’s Big East tournament quarterfinal against Marquette:
“We just played them a week-and-a-half ago at Marquette. Obviously, they have one of the best players in the country with Markus Howard, and we’re trying to make sure we’ve got to rebound the basketball better against them. They’ve hurt us on rebounding, I think Theo John has done a good job against us rebounding, so it’s going to be a great matchup, but every game in the Big East tournament always is. It’s electric, it’s one of those things that it’s going to be a great contest.”

On when he realized Gill’s value:
“When he sprained his ankle last year, he had just started becoming a force for us defensively, and when we lost four of our next six without him in the lineup, to me, that’s when I realized what a force he was becoming. He continued to have a great work ethic this summer, he’s worked really hard with Grant Billmeier on timing and things like that, but I really started to see it at the beginning of last year, and then when we lost him, it really hurt us.”

On Seton Hall’s morale and perception that his players felt like they had failed:
“That’s not what I said. My point after the game was more or less — I was doing my radio show and Creighton was celebrating — and I wanted my guys to be able to celebrate, too, because to win 13 games and share the Big East championship is an amazing accomplishment. And after the game, obviously we were all disappointed that we didn’t get a chance to clinch it, to take it outright, but at the same time, I wanted them to understand what they’ve accomplished. They understood that after we got back, and they’re in a great spirit, they understand that what they’ve done hasn’t been done here since 1993, so they’re all in great spirits, I’m extremely proud of the season they've had, and I’m looking forward to March.”

On 3-point defense:
“I wouldn’t say they’ve hurt us — I think Creighton was 14-of-26 on the three — I think it’s something that we have to kind of get back to focusing a little bit better on the defensive end. We’re trying to protect certain guys the last couple of games and ‘Nova went back to their post offense, a lot of their dribble keep stuff really worked well inside to out. I just think we have to do a little better job — I don’t think it’s system-wise — personnel-wise. Some guys have really hurt us that hadn’t been shooting the basketball well. We’ve just got to get back to being a little more solid on those guys.”

On Powell getting back on track:
“I’m not worried about Myles, he’s had a phenomenal year. When you play as many games and you get the attention Myles, Markus, guys like that get — double, triple-teams — you’re going to have some nights where you don’t shoot the basketball well. But I think he’s playing unbelievably unselfish and he’s been getting guys — that’s one reason why Sandro’s playing so well, Jared Rhoden’s been getting more looks — one person I’m not worried about is Myles Powell. He’s been playing phenomenal all year, and he’s been nursing a little bit of some bad tendinitis in his right knee, but he’s gotten some good rest over this last week, so I know he’ll be ready. He loves playing in the Garden, he loves the Big East tournament, so he’ll be ready.”

On Butler’s Kamar Baldwin:
“I’ve played against him, I don’t coach him, so I don’t know him all that well. But I would just say from an outsider looking in that Kamar’s one of those silent assassins. He’s one of those guys that I think always plays this game at a very, very high level, and he’s been one of those kids that when you’re not afraid to miss the shot, that’s what he seems like to me. He seems like he’s not afraid to miss the shot, and I think with that attitude, it’s the reason why he makes so many big ones. He’s just a silent assassin. That’s what our kids call him, that’s what our staff calls him. He plays the game at such a high level at all times that anything he does at the end of the game is pretty much what he’s done for the other 39 minutes. I think that’s one of the biggest things that we see.”