Sha Sounds Off: Providence

On Budd Clark:

“I think he’s understanding the mission, understanding what I’ve been preaching to him about making people follow you. He’s not vocal, he’s more follow by his actions, but I’ve been on him to be aggressive and don’t let the game come to you. Be aggressive and have people run with you, and if they don’t run, then think, ‘oh.’ I think he’s doing a better job of that now, understanding that as he goes, we go.”

On Clark versus other point guards he coached:

“I don’t know if it’s kind of fair to do that, right? Because everybody’s kind of different, right? When I’m watching him at times, it’s not fair to both of them, but it kind of reminds me of Jordan Theodore, just with the quickness. Obviously, Jordan could shoot it better, but just with the quickness and could be able to get to the basket. Jordan had a really good pull-up game, so I think he’s probably one of the guys, but they’re different, right? Budd is understanding the league more now coming from the MAAC and starting to play, even the Big East, understanding how it’s physical and how you’ve gotta pick and choose your spots, right? But I like where he’s at from a mental standpoint, just being aggressive.”

On Godswill Erheriene:

“Godswill had good reps the last couple days. Steph got hurt the last game and didn’t practice none this week, I wasn’t sure he was gonna play until this morning. We put him through a tryout this morning, a workout this morning, so Godswill had really good reps the last two days and I thought it was good for him, it was good for us. I know he could do these things, right? He did it for us last year. Now it’s up to him to do it. Sometimes he just takes a step back. He’s such a great young man, like, he ain’t got no tiger in him, right? Sometimes he’s just like, ‘okay, these two guys are playing, I’ll just play my role.’ I want him to take more of a stance and say, ‘no, I’ve been here, I know what I want,’ and he’s not doing that on a consistent basis.”

On Clark playing through foul trouble:

“On occasion? It’s money time right now. It’s money time, and this is no disrespect to anybody else on our team because everybody’s all good players, but he has such a rhythm going and the team has such a rhythm going. I went with my gut and it paid off. Did I answer the question? I was kind of all over the place.”

On Erheriene affecting bench production:

“Energy is contagious, right? And when you’ve got good, positive energy, that’s contagious. Like I said, he’s such a great young man, everybody’s cheering for him, I’m cheering for him. I thought it was big, but like I said, for me — and you guys are different — I expect him to do this, right? Because he did it at a high level last year, meaning, as a freshman, he played a lot. So I expect him to play, and when he doesn’t, that’s when I get disappointed. Like, I’m disappointed because he doesn’t say, ‘put me in, Coach!’ It’s just more like, ‘Steph’s playing good, Najai’s learning.’ I need him to get that fire, and hopefully tonight starts something good for him, and for us.”

On bouncing back after losing at Creighton:

“Yeah, it was tough, it was a tough loss. Our locker room wasn’t great. That’s why I didn’t come out for radio, I had to make sure I took care of those guys. Our locker room was a mess as far as our guys, emotions were all over the place. So we took Sunday off, then everybody kind of got their thoughts together, gathered their thoughts, came back, watched the last five minutes, learned from it and had two good, two solid days of practice. We got a chance to practice down here yesterday, and that was great for us. It was really, really, really good for us, and then we came in against a good Providence team. I told you guys that the first time around, this team is dangerous. They could really score the basketball, they’re finally healthy now, so this was a good win for us.”

On Seton Hall’s character:

“One thing you know about my team, Jerry, we’re gonna play hard. And we went out and played great every night. It may not look pretty, but we’re gonna play hard and I thought we played hard in the first half. When you make nine threes, that’s kind of what happened, and then we made some adjustments. You can’t be boneheaded as a coach, right? So the first half, we were hard hedging way too high, and they were short rolling and the big guy was catching and just throwing it out for threes. The second half, I pushed the big guy back a little bit more, we made the guards get over the screen. That’s kind of one of our Achilles’ heels, make the guards get over the screens and they have those short rolls and passes. I thought that was the big difference.”

On Kadary Richmond making it to the NBA and how it might help Seton Hall in recruiting:

“It’s a tough one, J. It’s a tough one because I don’t know what…well, good for him. That’s the first thing, that’s good for Kooks. I’m happy for him. I didn’t know that, so that’s good for him. Second, I don’t know what people consider. Like, is he…like with the portal, it’s so messed up, right? So like, do we say 10-day contract for a Seton Hall guard or do I say 10-day contract for a St. John’s guard? Like, I don’t know. I’m happy for him, I’m really, really happy for him. He’s a good kid — excuse me, good young man. Does that help us? I don’t know. That’s a tough question, man. It’s a tough one, I don’t know how to answer this one. I’m happy for him, though. If it helps us, great. The more, the better. But the portal is so messed up. I’m sure St. John’s fans will say that he’s from there, right? I don’t know. And maybe Syracuse will say he’s from there, because seriously, you don’t know.”

Jerry Carino: “But you developed him!”

Sha: “I can’t. Jerry, I’m happy for the young man, that’s tremendous for him and his family. He played a big part for me, a big part for Seton Hall, he won the NIT championship, so kudos to him. If it helps us, great. Yeah, that’s a tough question, man. You guys, man. I don’t know how to even answer that, like I can’t win with that answer.”