“You know what? We just dug deep, right? We just dug deep and kind of found a way to win, made some plays when we needed to make them. I thought Trey Parker was really good down the stretch for us, I thought going to the two was good for us. It kind of got them off balance, their two got us off balance, they didn’t Budd and a couple guys get in the lane, their two and our two. I think what it says about our team is after the disappointing loss we had the other day, guys were just trying to figure a way, no matter what, how to win a game. They’re trying to win a game, and I thought that having 16-17 offensive rebounds was a big part of it. It gave us those second chance points, and then making your free throws down the stretch.”
On adjusting to Georgetown’s zone:
“Obviously a short turnaround, but we kind of had a quick practice (Friday) and we went through it. We knew they were gonna play it, but give them credit. They did a really good job of keeping our guys out of the lane, then they kept going after the third pass, after the fourth pass, going to man. And our guys didn’t make the adjustment like we were supposed to, because we knew they were gonna do that, and we got complacent. I think that’s kind of what got us in the first half. The second half, I thought we did a better job moving the basketball and trying to get some driving lanes.”
On reverting to his old starting lineup:
“It’s part of basketball, big dawg. Twin, to be honest, he came to me, he feels more comfortable coming off the bench. That was big of him to say that, but what am I gonna say? I’m gonna start you? It don’t matter, he’s still playing starting minutes, but it was good. I thought Mike gave us some juice, so that was good for Mike to give us some juice. I’ll be honest with you guys: This team is just mentally and physically exhausted. Like, I went in the locker room after the game and you would think we lost. This bye week is very crucial right now. It came for us even though we had three games in a week, which I think is insane.”
On the tenor of Saturday’s game and his message to the team:
“Big East basketball, man. Old-school Big East basketball. This is what it used to be like when I played. Just stick with it, just keep doing the things you’re doing. We gotta get a couple runouts, I thought the second half, we got some runouts. We have to push the basketball, pass it…I thought we had some good looks, like, our shooters had some really good looks. We just didn’t hit them, and then Najai was real good down the stretch getting some offensive rebounds and tips and stuff like that. And I thought Trey and a couple guys got in there and made some passes, made some easy buckets. I thought that was the difference.”
On Najai Hines:
“I thought his spurts were good. His spurts were good because it wasn’t a running game. It’s different when we play against Creighton and all these teams that want to run, score 90, 80 points. Us and (Georgetown), we just grind it out, so it was good that there wasn’t a lot of running, to be honest with you. It was good. Listen, I told you guys before: We need him to play like this for us to be successful. Like, we need this juice. I’m happy that I stuck with him even though he got three fouls. I thought he was giving us something that Steph wasn’t giving us, so I think this will be good for Steph once he gets his ankle back to 100 percent this week.”
On something to gain from a game like this:
“I’m gonna be honest with you, Jerry, man. Obviously like I said the other day, people don’t understand how good DePaul is, especially on the defensive end. But this is a team that’s got 19 wins, and we’re fighting for something. It’s always good to get a win, it’s always good to come and take care of home, right? You lose one the other day, it hurts, and you come back and get a win like this…the narrative out there is so crazy. I see a lot of teams that have 19 wins and they’re locks, like, 17 wins, they’re locks. We got 19 wins and they’re talking about how bad the league is. The league is really good, it’s just very competitive. Some of the other leagues, the top is good, the bottom is not. That’s another story for another day. I’m going all over the place right now. I just want to make sure the narrative is crazy about how the league is down. The league’s not down, the teams are just good.”
On whether or not he has an NCAA Tournament team:
“I ain’t…I’m just worried about getting through this bye week and…who do we play? Xavier? That’s our prize for winning (Saturday). I’m just trying to get through this bye week and trying to get rest, and rest is the most important thing. Do I think we have a tournament team? Yeah, I do. I thought we went out and challenged ourselves in the non-conference, I thought we won some games. Like I said, this conference is really good. Teams are equal. Creighton goes and wins at UConn, right? Things happen. There are very good coaches in this league.”
On earning Ed Cooley’s vote as Big East Coach of the Year:
“Thank you. I’m worried about winning some games, but thanks. Ed is really good, he’s always been supportive of me, I’m very supportive of him as well. Nice words by him, but we’ll see.”
On his appreciation for Big East basketball then and now:
“It’s just different. Everything is different. The players are different, the league (then) was different, the players were tougher. It’s just a different brand of basketball right now. I don’t know how many fouls were called, but that’s what it is. Sometimes you just gotta adjust to the officiating crew, but it’s tough to ref games like this when two teams play so hard and play so physical. I’m not gonna compare the two. It’s just different, it’s just a different brand of basketball. Now everybody wants to score. Everybody wants to see scoring, nobody wants to see defense. That’s what it comes down to.”
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