“You know what, Jerry? I’ll be honest with you, man. I take full responsibility for that. I like Donald, Donald’s like a little brother to me, man. I’m super disappointed that that happened, but as the bigger brother, I take responsibility for it because it never should have happened. I gotta realize when guys are competing, friendship and stuff like that goes out the window, right? And he’s fighting for his team. I respect it, so like I said, I take responsibility for that. I like Donald, I respect him, he’s a good person, he was a good player and he’s a good coach.”
On Seton Hall’s maturation:
“We’re still not there yet. When you come out in the first half like that, that’s not a good sign. We kind of did that the last couple games. I think the only good half we had was FDU in the first half, but we just gotta come out and play with a sense of urgency. I don’t think we’re doing that, I don’t know (if it was) because it’s early or what, but I didn’t like the way we came out and I knew this team was gonna be tough. They play like Saint Peter’s, it’s a compliment to the coach. He’s a scrappy player, so they play that way and in the first half, we didn’t challenge it. We didn’t come out and play the way we’re capable of playing, the second half we did, and I think that’s what changed the game.”
On second half adjustments:
“It’s tough when you’re playing the lineups I’m playing. I can’t run anything because guys are out of position. Dre’s not a five and then you’ve got Dylan playing the four (when) he’s not a four, so they don’t know the plays from that spot. So once we got JB back in the game — because they went small, I tried to go small, which was a bad idea, I should have stuck with my team. I think in the second half, we did that. We shared the basketball and that was the difference. We got stops. We’ve got a thing with us, we try to get three stops in a row and we got six in a row. We scored, and I think that’s what changed the game.”
On Seton Hall’s defense:
“The second half was good, the first half, I don’t think was good. A team like that, they could shoot the basketball from four spots, so we didn’t want them shooting the ball. And then the kid (Melvin) Council could get out in transition, he’s a really good player. I thought in the second half, we played my type of basketball, in the first half, I don’t think we did. Just from an offensive standpoint, the ball was moving, guys were getting shots, we got Al some shots, we got JB down low to open up the court a little bit. I would say Kadary was doing what Kadary’s doing, and then Dre, he’s playing at a high right now.”
On playing small:
“I was matching. Like I said, they could shoot the basketball and I didn’t want them getting any threes up. And when JB’s out there, it’s hard to chase those guards around. They went really small one time and in the second half, we just kind of played our basketball.”
On employing multiple ball handlers:
“Well, Jerry, I want three playmakers on the court at all times. That’s kind of how I built this team, so you can’t take one guy away. You take one guy away and then the next guy’s got something, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do, and also trying to get Malachi some more minutes because I think he’ll help us down the stretch. That’s been the goal from day one, trying to get three guys on the court that can handle the basketball and make
Plays. Well, four, with Dre too.”
On an all-reserve lineup:
“We didn’t rebound the basketball. At one time, they got five offensive rebounds in a row so I was super disappointed in that. I’m just trying to get guys comfortable. I think we’re gonna need Sada, right? I’m just trying to get him some confidence. He’s 6’10, he’s more of a wing than a big, but I need him to rebound the ball for us. But for the most part, I was trying to rest my guys. We’ve got a big long trip coming up and I thought we had a good enough lead where I could put guys in and they’d still sustain it.”
On Malachi Brown:
“I thought he did better the other day. I liked the way came out, and sometimes it’s tough when you sit on the bench for 30-plus minutes, they kind of put you in the game and you don’t have a feel for the game, right? But I think the more he plays, the more confidence he’s gonna get, the better he’ll be.”
On Seton Hall’s trip to San Diego:
“I’ll be honest with you, Adam: Every game for us is big. These four games were big for us. I don’t look at it like, ‘we played these guys…’ every game is big. I’m obviously looking forward to traveling and going out there, and as far as playing that level of competition, it’s gonna be great. These guys get a chance to play on a different stage against different people, so it’s more about these guys and that’s what you come to college for. That’s what you come to a Power 6 school for, to play against teams like this that we’re about to play against.”
On Seton Hall’s first four games setting them up for the San Diego trip:
“That’s a good question. Either Gary or Dave asked me that on the radio. I guess we’ll see when we get there, right? I’m hoping that it set us up pretty good, just to kind of get a feel for each other. And with this group, to be totally honest with you, it’s been tough because before our first game, the starting five only played with each other for a week because I had guys on other teams just trying to mix and match, making practice more competitive, just trying to get other guys involved. I put that team together a couple days before the first game, so they’re kind of still learning each other. I think a game like the two games we’re playing out there is gonna really show who we are right now, but it’s still early. And that’s the thing I’m hopeful for, it’s still early. I want to win, I hope we win, but it’s a lot of learning and we’ve still got a lot of basketball to play.”
On his impressions of Seton Hall:
“I think we can still get better. I think that’s why I’m excited. I don’t think we’re anywhere near where I want to be as a team right now, and that’s why I get excited. I’m also upset because my five guys, they’re really old in the sense of they all played college basketball for four years, so I expect more out of these guys and not come out the way we came out. You can’t do that. We did the same thing against Saint Peter’s. These guys gotta be mature enough. So to answer your question, I like it because I think I can still put my imprint on these guys.”
On Khadeen Carrington being in attendance:
“I didn’t even see Khadeen. It’s great. Khadeen is one of my favorites, great kid — excuse me, great young man. I’m glad he’s home, I’m glad he’s safe, I’m super sad I didn’t get a chance to see him. Hopefully he’s still around, but it was good to have those guys around. I’ve been blessed, to tell you the truth. Since I’ve been here, we’ve had a lot of guys come back and be part of the program, and that’s why I’m upset at myself for the whole thing with Donald, because he was one of those guys as well. He’s my guy and I’ve got a lot of love for D, but like I said, I’m happy that guys — John Morton was here today, I saw him the other day and he was still around, Daryll Walker — a lot of guys have been coming back around, which I love because I told these guys I’m here, which means we’re here. I’m a former player, they’re former players, which means it’s as much their team as it is mine. And those guys have been around this summer talking to my guys the whole summer and playing with them. And that’s kind of been — Jordan Theodore was around — a bunch of these guys have been around talking to my guys and helping these guys out, and I’ve been super blessed to have that.”
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