Rutgers Basketball HC Steve Pikiell talks Rider Postgame
Rutgers Basketball Head Coach Steve Pikiell met with the media following the Scarlet Knights’ win over Rider to open up the season on Wednesday night inside of Jersey Mike’s Arena.
Following the game, Steve Pikiell spoke with the media to offer an immediate reaction to his program’s performance and talked about what he saw in the first game of the season.
Full Press Conference Transcript
First, thank you guys came out tonight on Wednesday night, six o’clock. So I appreciate it. Certainly want to thank Rider and I like their coach a ton.
He’s been there a long time and our fans came out again. I appreciate it, I think 79 straight sell out. So I want to thank our fans really first and foremost.
They got to get out of work, they got to get babysitters, the students came out. Didn’t love how we played, but I think this team, I like this team. They got a good vibe about them, awful rebounding job.
And they know we’ve been harping on that since June. So we have to do a better job and we could be a really good rebounding team. But we got some jitters out, a lot of guys played for the first time in front of this crowd.
So thankful for the win and appreciate our fans and all the people that showed up to support us tonight.
What do you think of the way Tariq handled his debut here as a Rutgers player?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, I mean, you go 20 points and you go no turnovers. I don’t know what is it, I mean, I never seen a plus minus 30. I mean, that’s a heck of a number. He rebounded the ball in. I was very nervous with their two backcourt guys, our scorers.
Zion Cruz had to take 19 shots and then Flash just scored an easy 19, I think, against Virginia. The job that these guys did in the backcourt was awesome. So not only on the offensive end, but the veteran guys here, thank God they came back.
And they got a nice way about them too. This team practice, I wish you guys could see this team practice. They practice the right way. So I like that part of it, but Tariq was really good and he’s been that way for us since he got here in June.
Steve, how do you think you guys played offensively, collectively?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, 81 points, yeah, you can’t give up that many offensive rebounds to a team. I mean, we really could have put a number and we didn’t make free throws.
So gotta finish around the rim. So we gotta do a much better job cuz those guys can, he has improved so much. He got 10 rebounds and he blocked shots. He gotta finish and he has been finishing. So I look forward and Dennis has been our highest field goal percentage shooter since June. So I feel like he’ll make shots and stuff.
But yeah, 81 points, held them under 55, did some good things, gotta get better. Coach, you mentioned obviously the rebounding is something you guys worked on all offseason, just what did you see tonight on the boards? Yeah, long rebounds and long rebounds. They took a lot of long shots, long rebounds.
Gotta just be more focused on doing a better job. And we’ve been a good rebound in our two scrimmages. We’ve really rebounded the ball well.
And today we didn’t and we gave up a lot at the end too. So we’ll get back to work. These guys know what we talk about. It’s the first thing we talk about every day. So they’ll get the message. We’ll watch the film, we’ll get some good footage of what happens when you don’t rebound long rebounds and long misses.
And we’ll correct that, hopefully.”
Steve, last month you said you didn’t have a starting five. How did you decide on this five and how comfortable are you with the rotations at this point?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, they’ve been great. So I’m just really, our plus minuses in our two scrimmages with these guys has been, and Dylan Grant, I gotta, he came back and he’s improved. I mean, you can see he put the ball on the deck. He finished around the rim, like proud of him.
He gained weight. JMike’s been better and better. I mean, these guys earned the starting position.
They clearly from June on have been really good. But we got some other guys that, and it’s never permanent. So we get some other guys that could make a case for it.
And I didn’t think you saw the best of our bench cuz they’ve been much better. So showed some signs, but these guys have on both ends of the floor. I mean, Reeks let us in steel since he got here.
Jay Mike’s our best off the ball defender. DG’s a versatile defender now with some emergency shot blocking. And then we have June who can guard people and Chris who can guard people.
So we went with this group and we’ll stay with this group. I told them if they wanna stay in the starting lineup, win. Alec and then Steve.
You guys played a lot of small ball tonight. Rotation of a lot of forwards, by Fall and Ogbole. You only played 22 minutes. I guess, was that more so due to the matchup with Rider tonight? Or is that a potential sign of things to come?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, I mean, it’s the first game of the year and you’re learning a lot. We had a lead too. I wanted to get some guys some minutes. June can guard anybody too, Darren Buchanan.
So he’s not really small. He’s actually built like a Russian tank. So he can guard anybody and he likes to hit people.
So we have some versatility when we go with Chris and DG and June. Like we can play some big, big guys. But we tried some different lineups tonight.
Gave some guys some minutes. Tried to get them their first minutes under the lights and hopefully it’ll pay off down the road. Steve, this is a big picture question.
This is the fans’ first glimpse of this team. What about tonight’s performance do you think they’re gonna see throughout the season? And what did they not see from this team that they’re gonna see later on? Yeah, you know what I love about this group? We’ve been working while no one’s watching us this year, which has been awesome. I mean, I think Jerry’s come to a practice or two.
But after that, like we’ve been three practices. But after that, like we’ve been working, you know, when no one’s been watching. And this group, if you come on any day, that’s what I love about this.
It may be Chris’s day. It may be Harun’s day. You know, Lino is fast and can do some things. That’s what excites me the most. But there’s tremendous competition, you know, for minutes. And you know, we’re gonna have to figure that out. But I like that. I like that they’re healthy. I like we compete, you know, and hit each other.
We got shooters, even though I know what our numbers were today. But we got, you know, Dennis can shoot the basketball. I know the stats don’t say that. But we got guys who can put the ball in the basket. And, you know, so I like the fact that I think this team’s gonna really improve. That’s what I really like.
And now we gotta gel together, and you gotta play a lot of new guys. And we gotta figure that out. But we’ve come with a defensive mindset and a compete mindset. And we’ve done that since June. And we’ve done it in the dark. And I love that. I love that part of it.”
Steve, this was Jamichael’s second highest scoring output of his collegiate career with the increase in minutes and now in the starting lineup. Do you foresee that kind of being the new norm going forward?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, I mean, he’s been, you know, in our two scrimmages. He was our leading scorer. He’s been, you know, what he is different than a lot of kids nowadays. He’s an everyday guy. He has not missed one practice since he’s been here. He fights through the most, you know, screens. He comes to work every day.
He has improved. If you ever saw the time, like when you come to a practice, see the time that he puts into his game, you know, proud of him. He’s gained weight, too.
You could see that. And, you know, I think he’s gonna have a great year if he keeps focused on what’s important. And a big part of it was, I thought his defense tonight was, you know, I will tell you, you know, Flash Burton’s a real talented guy.
He’s gonna be a first-team all-league guy, and he can score against anybody. And, you know, J. Mike took that on, and Reek took on, you know, Zion Cruz, who’s a talented guy. And, you know, I like that part of him.
But that’s veterans. These guys are veterans, and you need veterans, you know, to be good in college. It seemed like when Dylan got going to the rim and when he got going to the open court, the offense really hummed a lot better.
What do you want to see from him this year as a go-to guy taking the next step?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, I mean, he’s improved a ton. You saw him get to the rack. I mean, he can get to the rim now. You know, last year, you know, he was shooting corner threes, and now he’s improved his game. He’s, you know, really worked on his handle. Again, the added weight has helped him, too.
You know, he’s a pretty good passer, too. So he’s done some things. I will tell you, too, he can block more shots. He definitely can block more shots. He’s an athlete and a half, and we got to get him to, you know, get three or four of those in a night. So there’s more that they all can give, but his improvement’s been awesome, and he’s another guy, you know, comes every day and, you know, has become a little bit of a leader in our locker room, and I appreciate him.
Last one. Harun Zrno and Dennis Badalau played their first collegiate action, even though Dennis kind of struggled in the box score. What did you see from those two, and how do you keep their confidence up after one game?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, you never worry about that. One thing, those two are very confident, yeah, and so, you know, they’re good, and they’re men, and they’ve been through this. So, you know, excited about them, but they’re going to have to get better, too, you know? So they’re skilled, they got good size, and they’re not your regular freshmen. They’ve been playing pro ball for a while, yeah.
So, listen, appreciate it, and you guys are always invited, always invited to practice. Come see. There’s a lot of good stories on this team, all right? Have a great one.
Thank you, guys.”
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