Sha Sounds Off: Wagner

On Seton Hall’s defensive effort:

“I think we’ve been playing defense solid all year. I thought we just kind of focused in, not breaking down at the last minute. Our defense has been solid all year, our offense has to kind of catch up.”

On his message after Wednesday’s loss to Hofstra:

“Keep working. Gotta keep working, can’t put our heads down, can’t listen to the noise, gotta keep believing in the people in our program and our locker room on our team, and just keep chipping away. I told them it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. I’m still super positive with this team because our best basketball is still way ahead of us. That’s about it.”

On Yacine Toumi and David Tubek:

“I thought he came in early—we’ve been working the past couple days—but I thought he came in early and rushed his first possession, and after that, he kind of took what the defense gave him. It was good. I tell these guys all the time, we don’t really have a starting five, so for Scotty and Yacine to come in and play like that with Gus, and also having Manny back, it was a boost for us. I just wanted to give him some minutes before we go down to Charleston. He’s only had three or four practices, but he’s gonna be really, really good for us. I thought DT was good, he was solid for us today. I gotta keep restoring confidence in him. Listen, we’ve got a long way to go. I’ve been honest with you guys from day one with this team. Our best basketball’s ahead of us, and we’re gonna continue to keep fighting and clawing and battling.”

On momentum, plus Zion Harmon and Garwey Dual:

“To answer the first question, it’s good to get a win. It’s always good to get a win. It’s good for these guys to feel good about themselves a little bit after two tough losses, and then as far as the other two guys, we gotta go with the guys that are here right now. Those two guys are out right now, how long they’re gonna be out, I don’t know. So I gotta continue to keep instilling confidence in Dylan and Chaunce to handle the basketball and make some plays for us. I thought Chaunce was really good for us today, I gotta give Dylan his confidence back. He’s playing with the world on his shoulders. I told him at halftime, ‘I don’t need you to be great, I need you to be solid.’”

On finding a defensive identity:

“Yeah, like I said earlier, J, I think if you look at our last three games, we’re struggling offensively. We’re gonna continue to keep working at that, but I thought we’ve been defending. To keep Hofstra, a good offensive team, to 49 points, to keep them down like that, I thought we’ve been defending. We’ve just gotta continue to keep getting better. A lot of guys are not from this area, right? So they’re reading a lot of stuff and they’re worried about it. I’m like, fellas, let me handle that. You guys just worry about playing basketball and keep believing in each other. Don’t make mistakes, but if you do, let it be aggressive mistakes. Like Dylan’s being real tentative now. Just play, man. Just play basketball, do what you did your whole life. And that’s what I’m telling these guys, just play basketball.”

On Seton Hall’s defensive edge:

“When you come in with a new group, the first thing you gotta do is establish something. And in this culture, it’s our defense, so that’s what I established this summer with them. And then you’ve got a bunch of guys out that are now trying to come back, and you’re trying to figure out a way…okay, I got this guy back, I got this guy back. How can we score now? How can we do this now? Now you’ve got two of your point guards out, and now you’ve gotta figure it out again. And that’s just connecting the dots, man. It’s part of it, but I ain’t worried about it. I’m built for it.”

On Isaiah Coleman:

“He told me something at halftime that I was very disappointed to hear. Never tell me you lost your confidence. You’re too good of a basketball player. You’ve been out for a while, you’re working your way back in. Once the rust goes (away), you’re gonna be fine. He’s overthinking things way too much right now instead of just playing basketball. I think, to be honest with you, I think these three days before we leave are gonna be great for us. We get a chance to practice, we get a chance to get Manny back in, get Isaiah his confidence back. Now I know who’s playing, who’s not playing, now I can work with Dylan and Chaunce at the point guard spot. It’s just things that, as a coach, now I get to say, ‘okay, he’s here, he’s here, he’s here, he’s not,’ instead of showing up at practice and being like, ‘oh, he’s not here today?’ You know what I mean? Those things are kind of frustrating, but now I know what I have, and that’s good.”

On Dual and Harmon:

“To be honest, Jerry, there’s a lot going on with (Garwey). His shoulder’s kind of messed up right now, so he’ll get reevaluated in the next couple days and see what’s what. Zion, he’s got some things going on as well. I don’t know—I don’t see the future because that doesn’t make sense—but I don’t know what’s gonna be entailed the next couple days with these guys, so I gotta focus on Dylan and Chaunce, and get those guys ready for the trip.”

On Scotty Middleton:

“We need him. Scotty is a high-energy guy, he plays with a lot of energy. I gotta get him to slow down a little bit because he’s very passionate, which I love. He’s very passionate, he’s a workaholic. I gotta get him to understand the things he can do to help us, like if he could shoot the ball, make some shots. He could slash, he could rebound, he’s got good size. Once he starts doing that and understanding that, we need him to do that. And I thought today was a good sign for him, so I’m happy for him and I hope it continues.”

On playing at Walsh Gymnasium:

“Yeah, I’m disappointed that we lost one here. Really, really disappointed. This is a really good homecourt advantage for us, but now we’re on to the next, right? Now we’re on to the next. We gotta—I told our guys in the locker room, how you win on Thursday, you gotta win on Monday. You win Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we’re gonna win Thursday. So I’m looking forward to those three days. As a coach, that’s what I’m looking forward to. The players aren’t, I am.”