“Is this gonna be a theme, every press conference, about my big guys? I told you guys before, I think our big guys are going to be fine. I think when they get a chance to play against guys their size and get used to a different level of basketball…like I said, Jaden went to a good school and played for a great coach, Herb Sendek, tremendous coach, but east coast basketball is different from west coast basketball, so he’s getting used to that. And Elijah’s getting used to it as well. But I’m proud of both those guys, they came out, I thought Jaden came out and set the tone early for us and did what he needed to do from a defensive and offensive standpoint. Now we just have to get him to keep getting confidence in himself.”
On Bediako defending FDU’s Ansley Almonor:
“So for him, it was actually good. If you watch Santa Clara play, they switch one through five, so he was used to kind of being out there. I was worried about Elijah being out there because that big guy, he trails and hits a lot of threes trailing, and when you watch their last two games, especially the last game they played, he hit five threes. But overall, I’m proud of them. They’re stepping up to the plate and they’re getting better every day.”
On Saturday’s game:
“I’ll be honest with you, I was a little nervous about this game, really nervous just because going up to Buffalo and doing what they did was pretty impressive. Going up there and beating a team like that on their home court, scoring 92 points and the way they played, they press and run, I was like, ‘oh my goodness, we gotta play these guys in this small gym, that’s an advantage for them.’ But we kind of prepared as much as we can for them pretty well, and it’s always good to play at Walsh. Walsh is historic, it’s great, the atmosphere was great, so it was good for these guys to come out and experience that.”
On Sada NgaNga’s hustle:
“I’m trying to get our guys to play with more energy and more passion. You can’t play this game without that, and some of our guys are really reserved and laid-back. I’m just trying to light a fire under us. They’re never gonna be like me, like I’m on level 10 all the time, but I need these guys to get to 6, 7, just play at that. This game has to mean everything to them. College basketball is here, this is what it’s all about, so for him to do that, it’s big because it’s not his character, so that’s why I was happy to see it.”
On Seton Hall’s effort:
“I thought we came out with great energy. I thought we set the tone early, I thought we shot way too many threes early, but once we calmed down, we were alright. And I’m okay with Al shooting a lot of threes, he’s a great shooter. We need him to make some shots, but I thought tonight, we played with a good percentage. I don’t want to give the percentage away, but I thought we came out and played with good energy, and took care of business. And they’re gonna be good. FDU’s good, they’re gonna be good.”
On Isaiah Coleman and Malachi Brown:
“I was proud of Brown, he didn’t get a chance to play in the last couple games. He came in and I thought he did some good things, and that’s good for me to see because that’s giving me confidence now, especially with a team that’s pressing like that. And Coleman, once he gets comfortable, he’s really good for us. He’s really good. They’re learning, I think they’re learning.”
On playing his bench extended minutes:
“Very important. That’s what I wanted to do the first game, obviously I don’t think we played well and give Saint Peter’s credit, they came out and played well against us. But it was good to get the bench in and get those guys some minutes and some life, because we’re going to need them. We’re definitely going to need those guys, and my older guys need a rest.”
On FDU using its momentum from last year’s NCAA Tournament:
“I didn’t talk to (Jack Castleberry) about it, but it’s good. I read they got a TV deal with SNY or something like that? That’s huge. That’s big time, so that helps and that helps just for the state of New Jersey, right? New Jersey basketball, the metropolitan basketball area. I think the teams in this area are very good, I think they’re gonna be very good in their league, proud of what (FDU) did last year. That’s why I couldn’t sleep last night. You think I’m joking, I was really upset about this game, especially playing here because when I watched them against Buffalo, I was like, ‘oh sheesh, these guys are pressing and running the whole game, it’s gonna be a disaster.’”
On differences from the Saint Peter’s game:
“I think the biggest difference was first night, first game, getting some jitters out, our main guys understanding the urgency of this game and how important it was, not looking at the name on the front of the jersey, just worrying about ‘we got a game today, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing.’ These guys gotta start understanding that, and that’s what I preach to these guys. We gotta start understanding we gotta start getting ready and take every game, and get better with it. I thought we took a big step and got better today, and that’s what it’s all about. I thought the first game they just kind of came out and were trying to feel their way, and Saint Peter’s did a great job of banging and scrapping and clawing, and we didn’t answer the house call. Today, we answered the house call, so I was proud of our guys.”
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