“It’s February basketball. You’re gonna have to grind and find ways to win. Watching Marquette’s last five games, Shaka’s done a great job with that group, especially on the defensive end. But we found a way, so that’s all that matters.”
On free throw shooting:
“Oh, man! We’re gonna work, and we have worked on it. Everyone’s in there every day, it’s not like we’re not doing it. I think it’s a little mental right now. I think we missed one and it’s like, we’ve just got a little bit too much negative emotion right now on the free throw line. I gotta change that somehow. We’ll get there. Again, if we can improve our free throw shooting and make a couple layups in the first half, it’s a totally different game. We held them to 32 points, we should have had 44 points, and then it’s a different type of game. We’ll get there. (Acaden’s) shooting 200 extra (free throws) a day, every day. It’s not like we’re not working on it. I think (Tyler) never misses a free throw in practice. A little bit is freshman nerves, a lot of young guys shooting free throws for the first time in pressure situations. I think I have a lot of confidence in these guys as we go through February and get into March, that they’ll make them.”
On Tyler Perkins:
“I don’t think Perk played very well, and that’s giving him a huge compliment because, how many points did you have? He had 22 points and I don’t think he played well. And that’s how much of a high standard I have for him, so that’s a compliment.”
On finding ways to win with offensive rebounding:
“That’s the other thing I think we can really improve, is being a better offensive rebound team and being a much better defensive rebound team. I thought we did a better job on the defensive glass. We had a big breakdown with (Royce) Parham, I thought Parham played great late in the game, but I think it’s — again — this time of year, I’m harping on all our things that we can get better at and trying to keep everything going. And I think we can get much better at rebounding.”
On the value of tonight’s win:
“It’s a win in February, man. I’ll take any win in February, especially the second time you play a team. That’s what’s so great about this league, in my opinion, is you get everybody on a true round robin, where, coming from the Big Ten, I might see UCLA twice in three years. You’re seeing everybody twice, and for a new team, trying to get them to understand that is a little bit different. The mentality (of), ‘oh, we beat them on the road, we’re just gonna come home and win,’ it’s so much different in this league because there’s really good coaching, really good players. But you see everybody twice, so it’s that much harder to win the second time.”
On Bryce Lindsay:
“He’s gonna get going. It’s a little mental. I talked to the team earlier, before the game, about staying in the moment, talking to each other, not worrying about the past or not worrying about the future, just trying to stay in the present. And sometimes it’s hard when you’re not playing well to kind of stay in the moment. I have a lot of confidence in Bryce. He’s in the gym with me every day working and he’s gonna get it. And I thought he had some good opportunities tonight. It’s just when you’re struggling the way he’s struggling, sometimes you just need one, get a good bounce or bank one in. I told him to sleep on the other side of the bed tonight, so sometimes you just gotta try something different.”
On taking Lindsay out of the starting lineup:
“No. Bryce has been consistent, he’s still doing a lot of good things and people have to guard him. I love Dev coming off the bench. It’s like a really good security blanket for me, I think it’s a good role for him and I think, again, Acaden and Bryce have worked well together all year. I have the utmost confidence in them and I know one of these days, it’s gonna break loose.”
On Perkins’ game-winning block:
“Sometimes when I get him off the ball in some things, he can get a little lost, but he’s really good on the ball, locked in. I thought (Marquette) did a good job switching, they ghosted him. He did a good job of staying, Perk did a really good job of staying on (Adrien) Stevens. They ran a nice little ghost play, I thought they both defended at a very high level.”
On playing at a faster tempo:
“You know the difference between the 20th-fastest team and us? It’s 1.6 seconds. I have a young team, and when we get up, I’m gonna control the ball, take the air out of the ball. That’s one of the reasons why our tempo is so low. If you watch anytime we’ve gotten up more than 12 (points), I’ve taken the air out of the ball. We’ve run the clock down. One of the easiest ways to lose leads is (to) take quick shots, so I have purposely taken the air out of the ball at least 11 games, where in the last nine minutes of the game, we’ve had four shot clock violations, which I love. And everyone’s like, ‘you’re nuts.’ It takes 30 seconds (off the clock), it sets up our defense. The worst thing you do is come down, just jack up a shot with two seconds on the shot clock, long rebound, your defense isn’t set. So I’d rather have a shot clock violation, set my defense up, have them work for 25 seconds and then take 30 seconds, and the game’s over. It’s not like the NBA with 24 seconds. A 30-second shot clock is monstrous, so I think we play pretty fast. It’s not like (Acaden) walks the ball up, it’s not like we’re ever walking the ball up. It’s just 1.6 seconds. Everyone gets stuck on that tempo shit. It’s bullshit.”
On what has impressed him most in Big East play:
“I think we’ve matured a lot. Again, (Acaden’s) playing like one of the best point guards in the country, Perk has, I think, gone from a guy that was a reserve last year to a guy that we rely on heavily. Matt Hodge…I just think their growth has been really fun to watch. They’re a great group to be around, they work hard, they have a great attitude. And to put ourselves with ten wins and only three losses in Big East play right now, it’s not me. It’s these guys with their attitude and how hard they work. It really is. This is a group that really is, in today’s era of college basketball, and switching jobs and putting a roster together, this team’s been absolutely great to coach. If we just made our free throws, I’d love them to death, but right now, they’re just fun to coach.”
On taking the air out of the ball:
“I don’t think we slowed it down, that’s not what I mean now. Taking the air out of the ball, I’ve done that historically. You get up 14, 16, and you’re playing against really, really good teams, clock management is ideal. Ask Selton Miguel how he feels about it. Selton last year, he would curse me out after the game, I mean, full-out. And then it took him 27 games to finally figure out that maybe not coming down (and) jacking up a three is the right thing to do when we were the (No. 9) team in the country. And Selly’s one of my favorites of all time, but he would curse me out after the game because he would kind of limit stats a little bit, but at the same time.”
On similarities between Perkins and Josh Hart:
“I did not compare him to Josh Hart. I got a phone call. These guys listen to these press conferences! He definitely reminds me a little bit of Josh, he does. He affects the game. Again, once he figures out he can affect the game without shooting and having to shoot, that’s when he’s gonna take a monster step. And I think he’s starting to get there, he is. He had a big offensive rebound in the first half, obviously he had a couple threes, but had a big deflection in the second half. Again, getting players to understand how important…Josh is starting for the New York Knicks. I played against him for four years, and I tell a story all the time: One of the last times we played against him, I called timeout and I cursed out my team, and I was like, ‘can somebody please stop Josh Hart?’ And he hadn’t taken a shot yet, he hadn’t taken a shot. And they’re all looking at me like, ‘well, he’s not shooting.’ I’m like, ‘well, he’s got three steals, he’s got four offensive rebounds, he’s got five assists.’ And he didn’t take a shot, and that’s why he’s in the NBA. (Tyler) can do that. He just has to figure it out, like at times, I don’t need to shoot the ball to be out here and be effective, because he does so many other things.”
On keeping players out of foul trouble:
“I think that’s something. We’ve been pretty good, I think we lead the league in least foulouts, so we’ve been pretty good at keeping them out there. I like to play, I’m not afraid to play guys with two fouls in the first half. I think it’s something that sometimes you pick up two and they sit on the bench, they get mad. I think that’s one of the keys to this team, is that we are deep. I have a lot of faith in my bench, so if guys do get in foul trouble, I think one of the ways we’ve kept them out is that the guys coming off the bench have done a really good job.”
On Devin Askew:
“Dev’s been phenomenal. He’s been a workhorse and I think more than anything, just his leadership has been off the charts. Dev’s a great leader.”
On the rumors of playing Notre Dame in Rome next season:
“I have no comment. Thank you. Is everybody good? I have no comment. I do know how to say that sometimes!”
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