Rutgers Basketball Head Coach Steve Pikiell talks with the media to recap his program's Monday night win over St. Peter's University.
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Coach Steve Pikiell opening statement:
“The first thing I want to say is that I am so happy for Coach Schiano and the football team. It’s a heck of a win. I’m also proud of our women's soccer team. Michael O’Neill does as good a job as anyone in the country. I knew Saint Peters was tough because we studied the Seton Hall tape. They’re a tough, physical basketball team. I just love the fact that down the stretch, we held them to no points in the last four and a half minutes. We got to the free throw line, and we made our free throws. I have been on these guys about rebounding. Dylan (Harper) gets 6 (rebounds), and Jordan (Dercack) gets some traffic rebounds at the end. Our defense was really good during that stretch. We played for a great crowd, in a great environment and won against a team that played in the NCAA tournament last year.”
Coach Steve Pikiell on being “short-handed” before and coming back for a win:
“It’s great. Some of these games are just tough and you have to figure out a way. Our team is physical and they’re tough. They are going to be one of the best defensive teams in the country. We’ve got a lot of new guys who are showing some great leadership. These games help with a ton and you learn a lot of new lessons. We have to get better in a lot of areas. We’ve made some mishaps, and some other timely mistakes but we will devour the film and we will learn a lot from this.
Coach Steve Pikiell on what he liked/disliked about teams defense tonight:
“Well, I hated 42 points in the first half, that is not us. But we get up and down this year too so we play at a faster pace. I thought from the first four minutes of the second half we played Rutgers Basketball. The ball pressure was elite. Jamichael (Davis) came in and gave us some really good minutes. Our bench has been fantastic. Lathan Sommerville has been playing back-to-back double figure games. For the second half, we really settled down and played our defense. We had a couple of breaks there where we could open up the game, but we missed a layup and had some tough calls at the rim. I love how we finished off the end of the game. They didn’t score in the last four and a half minutes. That was a good sign.”
Coach Steve Pikiell on halftime message to guys:
“Yeah it was nice. I hugged them all and told them how much I appreciate their lousy defense. So that was pretty much it. Just kidding, no. I just told them we have to settle down. We changed up some things, and we got more aggressive on the ball screen action. Our guys decided that they wanted to rebound and take away some big plays, and I thought we were really locked in during the second half, and we weren’t as much as you need to be in the first half.”
Coach Steve Pikiell on Zach Martini’s Performance:
“Defensively, he does alot for us. He’s able to guard multiple positions and he’s really physical. Zach (Martini) is a good leader. He’s another voice out there on the court, and he gives us a new look at the five.”
Dylan Harper on having the ball in his hand during last few minutes on the clock:
“What goes through my mind is just making the right play. Coach Pikiell trusted me to go out there and just be the team leader. The biggest deal for me is making the right play.”
Coach Pikiell on establishing team chemistry:
“ We are kind of unique. We haven’t shot the ball great. We made free throws today which was important but I think we have some good shooters. These guys have to just keep growing and getting better. I think this team has a chance if we stay together; Learning from our defensive mistakes and making the extra passes.”
Coach Pikiell on how Lathan Sommerville is developing in his first two games and if he will continue to bring him off the bench:
“I never change on a win, starting lineup. But Lathan is going to play a ton of minutes. We got a lot of guys at that five spot, but he keeps getting better and better. Proud of him. Two back to back double figure games and grabbed five rebounds. He's an excellent passer, too. You'll see more as the year goes on and we could do a lot of things with the ball in his hands, and we just have to keep getting better. We have to keep getting better. Know the physicality, the angles that he needs to play at, and get his voice up to snuff too with string coverages. But he's come a long way since June 15. Real proud of Lathan, and he's going to be a big part of us moving forward here.”
Coach Pikiell on how close Ace Bailey is to playing:
“Close. Yeah, close.”
Coach Pikiell on the odds Ace playing on Friday:
“I'm not the doctor. If I was…he’s close.”
Coach Pikiell on the tone Jordan Derkack set with three straight basket setups to open the half:
“The one thing Jordan does a lot, he draws fouls too, but he can do a lot of things for our team. We can move him around. He was guarding fives at the end of the game and he's tough enough to do that and grab the huge traffic rebounds. He's a really good passer. He can score. He can go downhill. He knows how to play defensively too. He jumped a few plays. He was about a half a foot late on a couple of steals that could have iced the game a little bit earlier, but he brings a lot to our team. Really glad to have him. And like I said these three guys [Hayes, Harper, and Derkack] led us in rebounding. That's awesome when you have three guards that are sticking their nose in there and getting rebounds like that, helps us in so many ways, but Jordan, PJ, Dylan, they draw a lot of fouls those guys, so we got to the line 25 times today because those guys are driving downhill.”
Coach Pikiell on what Derkack brings in particular in some of those late-game defensive moments:
“It's great for me in the journey, I get to see their faces in the huddles and what have you and Jordan's a focused guy. We're getting rebounds, he's got a toughness about him and a calmness too, about him in those huddles. That's what experience does for you and he brings a lot to us here and I look forward to seeing what the rest of this year will bring.”
Coach Pikiell on what effect Jeremiah and the veterans have on winning:
“It really has. And these guys, even though he's been here a year, he's been starting to take on that leadership role. The more everyone's together and everyone's rooting for each other, the better we're going to be. But J-Will has been great. I’ve said that to you guys since June. He's been a voice, and he does do a lot of things. We have a lot of guys. He plays the one, he plays the four, we move him around, J-Will. He could score, he can go downhill, but today, you saw he affected the game and he didn't score the points that he usually scores. So it's a good sign for us. We need all these guys, we really do, and we're going to be a team. We're going to win because of the group. This isn't just a one man show. This is everyone. Everyone doing what they need to do.”
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