Kevin Willard quote book: Providence

On Providence's second-half comeback:

“I’d have to go back and watch film on it, to be honest with you. I can’t answer that question without going back and watching the film. I thought we had some good opportunities early in the second half, we had a couple of open looks when we were up nine. Again, give them credit. You know Eddie’s team is going to come back, and Nate Watson was just a load to handle.”

On Providence’s game-winning possession and a potential no-call as David Duke appeared to travel:

“I haven’t seen the play yet, so I couldn’t really see what was going on. There was like, four guys around him, and probably one reason why A.J. (Reeves) was so wide open. I didn’t see the play, but again, we didn’t play with the same defensive intensity we had played with for the last couple of games, so you can’t let it come down to one play. I thought we had opportunities where if we defended a little bit better, we could have been in a better position.”

On Sandro Mamukelashvili’s two 3-point plays down the stretch:

“There was 15 seconds left, so we just tried to get something quick in going downhill. We just ran one of our set specials, and the last one in overtime with 3.3 seconds, you’re going to try to get the best shot possible, and I thought Sandro did a good job and Tak really ran the floor to get in position.”

On Bryce Aiken and Tray Jackson:

“With Bryce, it’s more about patience and just trying to get him reps. We’ve got to get him reps and we haven’t had a ton of time to get practice at this time of year, so his brain’s trying to tell him to do something that his body hasn’t done yet, or hasn’t been able to do in a while. So I’m just trying to get him some more reps in practice, and then with Tray, it’s a tough situation because you go from thinking you’re not going to have him, and then all of a sudden they pass it, trying to get him in with the right guys. I’ve got to figure out who I can play Tray and best utilize Tray, so that’s going to be a work in progress.”

On Myles Cale:

“His effort was phenomenal, he gave great effort. That’s just more on me trying to get him involved a little bit. We got a little stagnant in the second half, and that’s not his fault, that’s more my fault.”

On Jared Rhoden’s 3-point attempt in overtime:

“We tried to run a double high pick-and-roll, tried to draw Ikey and draw the weak-side guy, and Shavar hit Jared. I’d like to get something going to the basket on that, no matter who it is. I don’t like settling for a three in that instance, so I thought we executed okay, we just didn’t make the right play.”

On Aiken in the second half:

“We’re trying to keep him warm. Again, he’s had multiple surgeries and if you’ve ever had surgery on your knee, warming up and playing and then getting cold, your knee gums up. We’re going to try different things and bikes to keep his body moving a little bit, just so that knee doesn’t get stiff.”

On Mamukelashvili’s second-half effort:

“I think he’s got to understand he’s got a target on his back. When you hit 20–25 points a game, you’re going to be the guy who’s stopped, so he’s got to come out and be a little bit more aggressive, I think, early in games. He’s working hard, but I just think he’s coming out a little bit too casual early in games, and I think he just has to understand guys are going to be really on him. Guys are going to want to go at him, guys are going to try to stop him, and he just has to understand that that’s part of now getting the basketball as much as he’s getting, he’s just got to be ready a little bit earlier.”