“Yeah, we were supposed to play West Virginia in the exhibition, but obviously, it never happened with the coaching staff. Then Grant (Billmeier) got the (NJIT) job, he was calling me and Jerry (Walker) was talking. We were trying to figure out a way to give back to both programs. Obviously Jerry’s a Seton Hall guy, Grant’s a Seton Hall guy, so am I, and it kind of made sense. Me and Jerry were talking and the more I thought about it, the more I talked to him about it, I thought it made all the sense in the world to do it. NJIT is running it, they didn’t charge. Having the game down there, I wanted to help Grant out. It’s a beautiful building and I kind of wanted people to show up there for him. He’s never going to have a Big East school in his building ever again, so it was good to do.”
On the coming season:
“I’m looking forward to it. Guys are working extremely hard, we’re just trying to get healthy right now. I’m sure everybody in the country’s working through this kind of bug right now with guys being out. So I’m just trying to get guys healthy, get guys on the same page and playing together. We’ve got a lot of new guys. I’ve stated before, I love this team off the court so far, they’ve been great. Now we’re trying to get them all on the court at the same time and playing. As far the outlook, the goal is the goal, right? The goal is to try to win as many games as possible, play a certain way, represent the school well, the community well, and make The Rock a tough place for teams to play, the best homecourt advantage.”
On his expectations for Kadary Richmond:
To Adam Zagoria: “Yeah, I saw your article yesterday. Jeez! Big headlines, Coach!”
“I think we’ll start from a leadership standpoint. I think he’s done a great job of — like, I told him I don’t want him to change, but — adjusting who he is, right? He’s talking more, he’s more of a leader, he’s doing some of the little things like Kooks’ Korner. That shows some of the different side of him and who he is, and people don’t know that side of him. And it’s helping him on the court, it’s helping him be more of a leader, an older guy who’s been in college for a while being a mentor to some of these younger guys, and just being a coach on the court. I think those things are going to help him because now he’s not worried about him right now, he’s worried about everybody else. You don’t get caught up in the individual stuff, right? You get caught up in the team stuff. And as far as a basketball standpoint, I expect him to have a great year. I expect him to be one of the better players in the conference and I think if he is, we’re going to have a good year.”
On Richmond staying healthy:
“I think it’s super important. First of all, it’s important to him, for him and his career, and it’s important for us. He’s an all-league player, so for him staying healthy…if he doesn’t get hurt, I think we’re in the NCAA Tournament last year.”
On Seton Hall’s newcomers:
“The freshmen kind of hit the wall already, little knick-knack injuries, nothing serious. But Isaiah (Coleman) has been out a while with a sore groin, so has Malachi (Brown). I feel awful for our big guy, Arda (Ozdogan), the Turkish guy. He’s been here a month and he’s had a broken nose and a high ankle sprain. Welcome to America, right? But everybody’s playing, and Dave Tubek, he’s still coming back off an injury, we’re still trying to get him back. They’re working hard, they’re trying their best, that’s all I ask. As far as the older guys, I’m just trying to get guys to be consistent. Like a guy like Dylan (Addae-Wusu), he has a bigger role here than he had at St. John’s. I’m just trying to make sure he understands that and plays to his capabilities. I think he could be really good for us. I love what our two big guys are doing, JB (Jaden Bediako) and Elijah (Hutchins-Everett). Those guys are banging every day in practice, getting each other better. I see a big jump from when I got them in June and July to now, so I’m extremely happy about that. I want them to continue to keep building. Sada (NgaNga), I want him to keep building, and then my three captains, they’ve got to play hard and play well every night in order for us to be successful. And Jaquan Sanders, Stacks, he’s playing really well. He went down last week with an ankle injury so he’s fighting his way back from that, he’s going to be out a couple weeks with that. But he’s a guy we’re looking forward to making a big jump this year.”
On Seton Hall’s team identity:
“The same. Nothing changed, just try to be the hardest-working team. I want, when teams play us, to say, ‘wow, I don’t want to play that team again.’ Obviously our defense is who we are, we pinned that in, but I think this team is a better offensive team than we had last year. I’ve got some guys that could really shoot the basketball, I’m just putting it together, right? I’m just trying to mesh everybody together and get the best out of everybody and make sure there’s one common goal: Everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to be doing to help the team win.”
On Dylan Addae-Wusu:
“I just looked at him — I actually recruited him out of high school when I was at Saint Peter’s — and he’s just somebody that fit who I am from a defensive standpoint, from a toughness standpoint, and he can shoot the basketball. So you bring those things in — and he’s a good kid, he’s been on the team and it’s documented — I know Jerry (Carino) wrote an article about it, he’s taking Stacks, Jaquan Sanders, under his wing and taking care of him. That’s what I’m looking for. He’s helped Kadary out, he’s helped Al out, he’s been that guy that’s been a good piece for us.”
On Seton Hall’s frontcourt:
“JB just brings a more physical presence than we had last year. I thought Tyrese was more of a finesse guy, he played really well last year so I’m not taking it away from Tyrese. JB just brings a physical, old-school Big East player. I think I referenced it before, like Jake Voskuhl, that type of big that’s not very athletic, but plays extremely well, good defense, physical, good screens, offensive rebounds, score around the basket, good energy, so I’m really happy about that. Then Elijah’s just more skilled, he could shoot from the outside, we’re making his back-to-the-basket game better. Now he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder and toughness because of JB, and then you add Arda in, the young freshman who’s been battling, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with him. He’s going to give us more than I thought.”
“I liked what (Elijah) did at Austin Peay. I thought he had good numbers there, he’s somebody that a lot of schools were after, so we were happy to get him, and obviously being a hometown kid helped for sure.”
On year two at Seton Hall:
“I think it’s different. I just got a chance to breathe for a second. I think last year when I got the job, it was like a whirlwind, everything was going 100 miles per hour. I got the job in April and there were four scholarship guys on the roster, I was trying to fill the roster and then just establish who I am and what I’m about with the team. This summer was good for us. I thought we had ten guys that were healthy and were playing, that got to know my system better, and I think we’ve had better leadership this year for sure. So I would say being here for a year, I got a chance to calm down and settle down and not have everything going 100 miles per hour.”
On naming captains:
“They earned it over the summer. Those three guys were here every single day putting the work in, being loud, being leaders on and off the court, so they earned it. I didn’t give them anything, they earned it. I don’t give things away, you’ve got to earn it on my team.”
On addressing areas for improvement:
“I thought going out and getting three big guys — last year, I thought we just had Tyrese and I was playing KC, 6’6-6’7” at the five, which wasn’t fair to him, honestly. From a shooting standpoint, we went out and we got Dylan, who can shoot the basketball, Dave Tubek could shoot, Sada could shoot, Stacks is going to play a bigger role, he could shoot the basketball. Obviously, we know Al could shoot the ball, Malachi could shoot, so I just wanted a better shooting team. I thought last year, we couldn’t shoot the ball well and it kind of hurt us offensively, so I just wanted to get more size and depth. I think bringing three big guys in — Sada’s 6’11”, Dave Tubek is 6’8”, you’re bringing some size in and now we’re a little deeper in the frontcourt, and in the backcourt as well. Just in case someone goes down with an injury, you’re not missing too much.”
On playing better in close games:
“Leadership. Experience. I think that was one of the things I wanted to get in the portal, experience. You go get a guy like Dylan, who played three years of Big East basketball in the best league in the country. You’ve got my guys, now they know what to expect, they know what I want and I know who they are now. I know who to go to at the end of the game, I know who could do what. Last year, we were trying to figure all that stuff out on the fly, right? And then we’ve got some guys that could make some shots, and obviously free throws. We lost some games with free throws. We’re shooting the ball well from the free throw line, putting a lot into that, and like I said, having a lot more depth helps for sure.”
On being able to acclimate himself to his team:
“I thought we had a good summer. I thought we had ten guys that were healthy throughout the summer, we had a good summer. Since school came back, I kind of jinxed myself. The last article I did with Jerry or Adam, everybody was healthy and everything was great, since then, it’s been not good. But we’re fighting, man. We’re fighting thought it, guys are fighting, coming back from being ill or injuries, we’re putting it together. It’s going to take some time, but like I said, I’m happy with where we are because I think the team that’s the best together wins, and it ain’t even close: We’re more together this year than we were last year.”
On the transfer portal and NIL:
“What it’s like now is way different than it ever was. I think obviously, name, image and likeness play a big role in that, right? The things I want to say about it, I can’t say, but it’s tough. You’ve got to get guys that fit who you are and what you’re about, right? You can’t just go out and get the best guys in the portal because that’s not realistic. That’s not life, especially with name, image and likeness. Everybody wants to get paid, I’ll be honest with you guys. Everybody wants to get paid, everybody wants to go somewhere that’s not a fit anymore. It's ‘how much can you pay me?’ So it’s the wild, wild west, that’s what it is to be totally honest with you. I got lucky, I got some guys that I wanted, I missed out on some guys I wanted too. It’s hard to explain. It’s free agency, that’s what it is. It’s free agency. You’ve got the one-time transfer or you’ve got the grad transfer, which they could kind of go anytime they want, so you just have to try to get lucky, man. At the end of the day, you gotta get lucky. I don’t have a lot to say because I’m not really a big fan of it, if that makes sense. I know it’s the way of the world right now in college basketball, but it’s tough. It is.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.