“It’s going to be a work in progress with this team. This was maybe our sixth time together as a group practicing and games, but it’s going to be a work in progress, and the sad thing is it’s going have to come during games because everything’s coming so quick. I wasn’t happy with the way we got to the free throw line, but we didn’t cash in on it and I think Myles Foster played unbelievable. He had 15 rebounds, that’s unacceptable. So those two areas, I think we’ve got to improve on.”
On Tray Jackson and Tyrese Samuel:
“I wanted Rese to be more. I have to get Rese to be almost like Myles Foster. We’ve got to have that type of aggressiveness, he’s got to be aggressive that way. I thought Tray came in and gave us great minutes off the bench, and with him, it’s a work in progress too because I’ve got him playing a couple of positions, so he’s got to understand that. But to his credit, he’s accepted it, and I thought he came out and had some good minutes for us.”
On full-court pressure:
“I would say 45 percent. We had a couple of guys who were winded early and asked to come out, and this is how it’s going to be, that’s how I want to play. I want to play ten guys. I was happy with Tae Davis’ second half, he got in foul trouble early and he came out in the second half to kind of show why I’m high on him.”
On debuting as Seton Hall’s head coach:
“You know what? Before the game, I had no emotion. I really didn’t. I was eager to get out there, eager to see how these guys were going to play. Right now, I’m on to the next one. I’m worried about Saint Peter’s. I’ll go back tonight, watch the film and kind of get our guys ready. I thought it was a good win, but we could have done a lot better. It’s going to be games like this to get us to where I think we could get eventually.”
On first-half defense and second-half offense:
“I thought the defense in the first half, maybe the last ten minutes, was solid. The first four minutes, I thought it was terrible in the second half, and obviously the last six minutes were really bad. But it’s going to be like this. We made some shots, but I’ve got some talented guys. They’re going to make shots once our offense catches up to our defense, but right now, our defense is going to be our staple.”
On playing a 10-man rotation:
“I was scared to death. I didn’t practice at all yesterday. I just wanted to have ten guys on the court. It felt good, I’m happy for these guys. Some of these guys are kind of working through their rust in the game, there’s going to be some games where they’re high, some games they’re going to be low. That’s why I kind of wanted to just defend and worry about defending, because when you defend, you give yourself a chance to be in games and not worry about your offense so much.”
On his relationship with Monmouth head coach King Rice:
“King Rice has been like a big brother to me, man. He’s embraced — ever since I’ve been a coach, he’s been like a big brother. We talk a lot. I’m happy for him, they’re out of the MAAC, they’re moving to the CAA, he’s happy for me. We talk all the time, we just talk and say whatever we could do to help each other out. King’s a first-class guy, man. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. His kids played hard tonight, too.”
On playing New Jersey teams to start the season:
“I want to make sure that we’re in position to play some games like this against local teams, there's no need for us to really travel or have teams come in from out of state. We’ve got a lot of local teams here, so I’d rather do that. I know sometimes it don’t work out that way, but I’m happy that we have Monmouth, and I’m looking forward to Saint Peter’s. I think it’s great to have them back on the schedule.”
On playing Saint Peter’s Saturday:
“It’s like every other game. There’s no difference for me, man. I’m locked in right now, I’m just worried about our guys getting better every time we step on the court. It doesn’t matter who we play against.”
On Tae Davis and Jaquan Sanders:
“They’re going to play. Everybody’s going to play, they’re going to get used to it. I’m happy for Tae, he had a rough first half and he came out in the second half and he showed what I think he can be capable of, and Jaquan can shoot the basketball, so I’m happy for him as well.”
On Saint Peter’s performance Monday vs. NJIT:
“I haven’t watched the game yet. I was so focused on Monmouth. I’ll watch it tonight, I’ll watch it in the morning and then kind of go from there. I didn’t watch it, but I’ve seen the score. (Bashir Mason) did a good job.”
On KC Ndefo:
“It’s going to be an adjustment for him, just because of the physicality of this league. Also, he’s got to try to find his offense a little bit. In practice, he’s been that guy who’s been trying to find everybody, plus he’s been out for a while with a hip injury, so now he’s getting back. He was one of the guys that — him, Kadary and Tray — was out for an extended period of time, so he’s working off the rust right now, but he’s going to be fine. KC’s going to do things that aren’t going to show up in the stats. Once we get going, he’s going to be a guy that’s going to help out on defense, talk, get to places, be unselfish. He’s going to be fine. Don’t worry about KC. I need more (blocked shots) from him.”
On student support:
“Yeah, man. I’m super excited and happy these students came out, especially on a Wednesday night. It’s tough, everybody’s got class tomorrow. For them to be out on a Wednesday night, 8:00, was great. I’m excited for them. They’ve embraced me, they’ve been great. All I can say is keep coming out, keep being loud and keep supporting us.”
On Al-Amir Dawes:
“I think Al needs to score for us, but I need him to do more than threes. I need him to mix it up. I know at Clemson, they had him shooting threes, but Al’s got more to his game than that. Once he gets his rhythm back, I think he could be really good for us, too. He could be one of those guys that breaks out any night for 20 points.”
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