“We had a talk last week and then we had another talk after the Rutgers game. I just told these guys, ‘you gotta start pushing the first group and show me that you guys want to be out there, and we can’t have dropoffs, you can either sustain it or take the lead.’ I thought the last two days in practice, they showed that, and that’s why they got their chance.”
On Isaiah Coleman:
“He’s gotta keep working and continue learning, being humble and playing with energy. That’s one thing he does, and that’s why he’s been playing. I don’t look at offense, I know everybody else looks at offense. I look at energy and passion, and he brings both. That’s why he’s been playing, and when you play like that, good things happen.”
On Malachi Brown:
“I’ve been on Malachi because I want him to be a different player, like a change of pace-type guard. He’s so reserved and so laid back, and that’s kind of who he is as a person, being from the south. So I’ve been on him to change the pace of the game. I need a lightning-quick guard to come in there, and I thought he did a good job. So I’m proud of him, and that’s something he can build on. I hope he can continue to keep doing this because like I’ve been telling him all the time, we need you to play like this in practice and in games. See, my whole thing is if I don’t trust you in practice, I can’t trust you in a game. And these guys have had ups and downs in practice. The last two days, they’ve been solid, they’ve been good, and that’s why they got the opportunity today.”
On Brown’s involvement in the rotation:
“That’s on him. The more he brings it in practice and the more he pushes those guys in practice, like, think about it: You’re playing against Al-Amir Dawes and Kadary Richmond every day in practice, two solid guards, right? That should give you confidence to play against anybody. And I thought the last two days, he stepped up to the challenge that I presented to him, and tonight, he came out and he played solid.”
On King Rice:
“King’s a great dude, he’s a man’s man, he’s a standup person and what I mean by that is there’s not a lot of people in this industry — in this coaching profession — that I say that about. Stuff that we talk about, we talk about all the time. We talked about something tonight, and that’s between me and him.”
On Coleman having an expanded role:
“Expanded how? Are you trying to ask me if he’s gonna start? He played 27 minutes, but you know what? Isaiah, he plays off emotion, which I love because I coach off emotion. The more he gets comfortable, and I’ve been saying this for a long time to the media, the more he gets comfortable, the better it’s gonna be for our team. If you watched my teams over the years, whether it was at Saint Peter’s or here, I like sparks off the bench. Sometimes when you start and we go into a drop like we did tonight, who do I come off the bench with? So I don’t know. Right now, I’m good with the starting five we have, but at the same time, these guys gotta work. I’m not playing that game anymore where it’s like I’m just constantly giving chances and chances. At the end of the day, you gotta earn it. And tonight, the guys that came off the bench earned it, we needed it and it was good for us.”
On Rice improving Monmouth from last year:
“I think for him, just getting his son back. Think about it, his son’s been at Bucknell for the last four years helping them win games, and now he’s back with his father helping his father win games. That’s huge. So I think getting his son back and then adding some shooters and some depth, they’ve got a good team. I told my guys it was gonna be a tough game. I really didn't like this game, it’s part of the schedule, just because we were coming off the game we came off. I knew it was gonna be a tough game. He’s a good coach, but I think his group could do well.”
On seeing an improvement in Al-Amir Dawes:
“I did, but I also think that first group played tight. They played like the world was on their shoulders, they played tight and that’s what happens sometimes when you’re reading social media and you just worry about what everybody else is saying, you worry about all the noise outside. Just worry about the noise inside our locker room. But I thought that first group played tight, like, really tight. Think about it, Kadary only took four shots, Dre took four shots, Al took six, Dylan took four. We need those guys to score for us. But I thought he had good poise, I thought he didn’t rush things, I thought he didn’t force things. He made a good pull-up jump shot and took what the defense was giving him.”
On Jaden Bediako:
“I thought he was good, I thought he came and out and did what Jaden does. Jaden just plays. I wish everybody would play like that on my team. I mean, he just plays, he doesn’t get too high. He just plays. I gotta get this group as a whole to play with some passion and play with some energy. We don’t play that way, and I think that’s why we struggle at times. We have spurts with it, but like I said, I say it all the time: I would love for them to have my passion and my energy, but some of these guys are just not like that. But Jaden, he’s been great for us, so hopefully he continues doing what he’s doing.”
On facing Missouri and Dennis Gates:
“I think what we gotta do right now is — it’s finals time, and I don’t know if tonight was the reason why my guys were so drained, obviously finals started today — so the next couple days, we’re gonna make sure they finish up strong in the classroom. That’s the first thing, and then we gotta have a couple solid days of practice. We’re going out and playing a good Missouri team who’s very well-coached, who plays hard, plays a different style that we haven’t seen and kind of get ready. (Gates is) a really good friend of mine. I’ve never coached against him, but I love what he’s done with his teams. I love what he did at Cleveland State, I love what he’s doing at Missouri. He’s a good coach and they’re a good team.”
On playing Monmouth again:
“Really, right now? We’re talking about that right now? It’s unbelievable (laughs). Like I told you guys before, I don’t have problems playing local teams. Monmouth is a good team and now moving to a different conference, it kind of helps us, right? With our schedule and stuff like that, I don’t see reason not to play them, but I’m not looking too far ahead to that right now. What I’m looking for right now is these guys to get a couple days (to) make sure their minds are right for academics, and then kind of get ready for a good Missouri team.”
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