Friday, March 15, 2019

Seton Hall quote book: Georgetown

Kevin Willard on disappointment over not finishing as well in the second half after a 53-point first half:
"Not at all. That's a good W, I was thrilled with the way we played. I thought we played well all game. Offensively, we got a little stagnant, but that was my fault. We came out and did exactly what we wanted to do, offensively and defensively, and I thought we set a good tone."

On Myles Powell's Big East tournament-record 29-point first half:
"This is going to sound crazy, but that's what I see every day, so I don't think it's any different. I'll be honest with you, I'm just surprised we haven't seen more of that. I think he's played unselfish all year -- which is maybe one of the reasons -- but anytime he steps on the floor, I expect to see that, and so do his teammates, to be honest with you. It wasn't like we were shocked in the locker room, it was just Myles being Myles."

Powell on his first half:
"That's the best part about my teammates: They're always looking for me, they're always cheering me on...the coaching staff, too. When you have a group of guys like that, that's always behind you and pushing you forward, it's a great feeling."

On his health after an apparent injury late in the second half:
"I feel great. I'll be ready for tomorrow. We're going to prepare for a great Marquette team, and get back to the hotel and get ready."

Willard on playing Georgetown for the second time in less than two weeks:
"They've played really well at home, and I was actually -- after we lost in double overtime -- I was really impressed with how hard we played there, given how well they played. I mean, they beat Villanova pretty easily, they beat DePaul pretty easily, so it was a place that they've played well, which young teams do. I said it after that game, I was very encouraged with the way we played, and I thought we came out tonight really focused on what we wanted to do. We're a good basketball team, and when we're focused and we play defense the way we do, we're very, very tough to beat."

Powell on difference in playing on the Big East tournament stage:
"I know what my teammates need. My coach is always telling me, 'Pick up the energy, get your guys going.' I was just trying to do whatever I needed to do for my team to get going and for us to get the W."

Willard on where he feels his defense is, and whether it's where he wants it to be:
"At this point..."

Powell: "Coach is always expecting more."

Willard: "I like where we're at, I do. I like where we're at. I think we're understanding concepts very easily, for the most part. We're complicated, and that's one of the hard things about playing for me, is that it's not -- we do complicated things on defense to try to get teams not to be comfortable, and I think at this point with this team, they kind of understand what we're doing and because our concepts are down, I think that's why we've played some really good halves of basketball over the last -- ever since February, to be honest with you -- we've played some really good defensive halves."

Willard on Marquette and its challenges:
"Yeah, they played really well. Obviously, I think the biggest challenge is I thought Markus (Howard) played really well today, I thought he played under control and got everybody involved, and I think that's what makes him hard to defend and hard to stop. Just the fact that when the Hausers are spacing the court, and then Sacar -- I always mess his last name up, and I apologize -- Anim, I think when he plays the way he played in the first half, they're really tough to beat. The good thing is we just played them on Wednesday, so the review will be quicker, the guys will understand what we're doing. We'll make some adjustments offensively, make a few tweaks defensively, but for the most part, we're gonna have to deal with one of the best players in the country."

On making Georgetown uncomfortable offensively:
"I think that was our whole game plan. If you can get young kids to stop and think about what they're doing on offense, it really takes them out of a rhythm. We were successful at home doing that, we were really successful actually there doing it, we just didn't play well offensively there. And tonight was the same thing, just trying to get -- (James) Akinjo's so talented and (Mac) McClung is -- and they play with so much emotion when they're making shots. The biggest thing for us was just trying to get them to stop and think, be aggressive with them, and just keep them off balance."

Powell on significance of his single-half scoring record:
"I didn't know that. Tom (Chen, Seton Hall's director of athletic communications) just told me walking out of the locker room, but I mean, it's truly an honor and it's a blessing from the man above just to be listed with those names. I just had made like, two or three in a row, and Coach called a play for me to get one up, so I just ran the play and saw his hands down. I just tried to let another one go up."

Willard on Sandro Mamukelashvili:
"Sandro's been an unsung hero a lot this year, just because he's been really good with pick-and-roll defense, he's battled big guys. He gets a little worn down offensively just because of the amount of size that he's battled, but I think the biggest thing with Sandro is he's been more aggressive offensively, looking to shoot, which we've been yelling at him to do all year, looking for him to be more aggressive. And I just think -- I look at him and Myles Cale -- two sophomores that didn't play a lot last year who now got thrown onto the big stage, and I just think you're starting to see kids grow up and kids get more confident. That's a good thing."

On leaving Powell in with two fouls late in the first half:
"I take Q (Quincy McKnight) out because Q's emotions run. He'll pick a third (foul) up because Q's going to try to be aggressive defensively. It really is the one true blessing about how bad a defender my guy (Powell) is over here, is that I know that he knows he has two fouls, and that I know he ain't picking up a third foul. I'm surprised he didn't try to start guarding you guys in the first half. He's going to look for someone that's going to stand around a little bit, so I trust him. This is my third year with him, so I know he knows what's going to go on. Even though we were up 20, we were in a good rhythm, he was in a good rhythm. I didn't want to take him out."

On Myles Cale's resurgence:
"Again, I just think him and Sandro are guys that they want -- I use him (Powell) as an example: His freshman year, he got taken out every two minutes because it was a disaster. Sandro and Myles Cale didn't really get that opportunity last year. He (Powell) got the opportunity as a freshman to play with a group that was still learning. Myles and Sandro played behind four seniors, so they never really got the chance to kind of -- and I just think Myles Cale and Sandro have been extremely steady. They've worked extremely hard, and you're just seeing two very good basketball players start to grow into themselves."

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