Rutgers Basketball HC Steve Pikiell talks Penn Postgame
Rutgers Basketball Head Coach Steve Pikiell met with the media following the Scarlet Knights’ dramatic 70-69 win over Penn inside Jersey Mike’s Arena on Saturday night.
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 12th game of the season.
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STEVE PIKIELL: “You know, being here right before the holidays, what a great crowd. Wish everyone Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, that kind of thing, but proud of our guys. Knew this was going to be a tough game.
Penn is the 10th best three-point shooting team in the country. He’s a great coach. He’s always been one of the best, and we needed every possession, proud, bounce-back game.
Proud of them, like really bounce-back game, and the job that Bryce doesn’t get a lot of credit, five blocks, nine rebounds, played great. We needed everybody, every possession, you know, they only got, you know, five threes, which is, they average eight to nine a game, they’ve scored 12 in a game. So, that ended up being the key to this, but we got to continue to get better, that’s what we got to do, and got to continue to fight.
Steve, a lot of players who come out of a starting lineup don’t show that kind of response. What do you think of the way Riq responded to the pass?
STEVE PIKIELL: “I mean, what a response from the other day. Proud of them, we challenged them, we had a good few days of practice, too.
I think these guys wanted to be 1-0, that’s all we talked about, and getting back to winning here at home, and, you know, didn’t turn the ball over. He and J. Mike, I think he had one, and I think J. Mike had zero, you know, so they both really bounced back, and played good basketball, and, you know, we need them, too.
Steve, that’s two straight home games, you play a low-major team, and the first one you lost, and today you’re in a real dogfight, how do you explain that, and are you concerned about going into Big Ten play?
STEVE PIKIELL: “No, I mean, you always ask the concern question, I think as a coach, you’re always concerned. Every game counts the same, you’ve got to win by one, Penn is the 10th best three-point shooting team in the country, playing an Ivy League team, they will, Harvard, Yale, them, be one of the winners of, you know, man, they could play anybody, they’ve got veterans, they’ve got seniors, they’ve got a Duke guy, you know, so I’m proud of our guys, we bounced back and we won the basketball game tonight, and, you know, yeah, we’re going to enjoy this, but I appreciate you, appreciate you asking my concern, yeah, you know, you’re always concerned, and I’m concerned about the next game, then we’ve got Ohio State after that, then we’ve got to rank, you know, so, you’re always concerned, but if these guys fight like that for the whole game, we’ll continue to get better, that’s my number one thing right now, just get better, just get better, and we got better today, took a big step.”
Could you just speak more on Bryce Dorch’s game, obviously a big game for him?
STEVE PIKIELL: “I mean, just, you know, tremendous, his energy, you know, he was our leading rebounder yesterday in practice, and then he turned around today as our leading rebounder, he was our leading rebounder the other day in practice, so, I always tell these guys what they do in practice, they’ll do in games, and, you know, he blocked shots, we’re able to, you know, he’s able to guard different guys on the floor, I just felt really good, you know, about him, and we get another ball handler or two in the game, but I love the five block shots, he altered some more too, so, need him to continue, he’s taking big steps from last year, and, you know, we needed every rebound, we needed every block, we needed, obviously, him to be good tonight, and he was. I would rant as long as you have.”
What did you see on film from this team that he has, and what do you think, how good of a job do you think he’s doing with this team? Coach McCaffrey?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Oh, I mean, you know, he’s gonna do a great job with any team, he’s a really, really good coach, you know, they have some really good senior players that have played a lot, you know, they’ve played the Villanovas in their career, they’ve played all the good teams, I mean, that’s a really good basketball team, I think in the Ivy League they’ll be right there challenging for the title, and he does a great job, so he’ll have them prepared and ready, they can really shoot the ball, he always likes to get threes up, if they’re making threes, you know, that was our number one thing today, not allowing them, it’s hard to do, you know, our ball pressure was really good, we took them out of stuff, our press is getting better, so, you know, we made some, you know, moves even though the ball wasn’t going in, and we’re a good three-point shooting team too, you know, tonight the ball wasn’t going in from three-point land, so we figured out a way to win, but he’s, yeah, that’s a good basketball team, he’ll be right there for the Ivy League title.”
Steve, what happened with the rebounding, 20-5 in second chance points?
STEVE PIKIELL: “We started off, you know, 0-7 right off the bat, and they scored 11 points, you know, in the first half on second shot, so, they take a lot of threes, it’s long rebounds, it’s hard bounces, you know, and we’re working on that, we took care of the turnover problem from the other day, we’ve got to get that rebounding thing down, I think we were unlucky on a few, I think a few bounced through our hands that we could have got, but I thought we did a much better job, you know, in the second half, you know, kind of, you know, getting a little closer in that, but they’re a good rebounding team, too.”
Just to follow up on that, what went into the decision to pull Emmanuel and ride Bryce down the stretch?
STEVE PIKIELL: “I mean, he did a great job, yeah, he was playing great, I’ve done a lot of that this year, you know, when guys are, I feel good about guys, and they’re rolling like him, and also the way they play, you know, I mean, he can get out and guard guys, they don’t have, you know, a 7-foot-7 guy, you know, they’re a little bit of a different team with their five-spot, but we’re going with the guys that are playing well, and Reek played a ton tonight, and, you know, we needed every minute, he was good, so we’re going with guys that, you know, we feel good about in the game, and sometimes it’s a matchup related, too.”
You mentioned the pressure, 11 turnovers forced in the second half, it seemed like Penn almost wasn’t ready for it at times, including those two inbounds passes, what were you guys able to do with your pressure that was able to kind of rattle Penn at times?
STEVE PIKIELL: “I mean, we’re spending more time, you know, on it, and I think our guys are getting a little more comfortable in it, and we can move guys around, and we had June in the game, you know, Darren, and we had DG, they all can play the top, we put Bryce up top, too.
Their mobility, you know, helps us, we’re playing Lino a little bit more, he gives us some more ultra-speed, you know, so, you know, we got to continue to evolve our full court, you know, pressure, you know, helped us, obviously, today, and I think we wore them down, too, a little bit, and we’re tired, so I think that helped us.”
Steve, to get back in the win column with a game like this, a culture win, where this team was in the fight for a full 40 and coming out on top, how much of a foundation do you think that can provide heading into the new year and back in the conference?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, I mean, it’s, you know, we’ve come off the toughest stretch we’ve ever played since I’ve been here, so we’ve played iron, you know, and iron on the road, iron in neutral sites, so we’ve played a lot of really, really good teams, and, you know, again, we scheduled Penn because we thought they’d have a chance to win the Ivy League, too, so we wanted to put, you know, play a team like that, so, you know, I think, you know, just really important coming off the stretch that we had, you know, to see these guys, and they’ve been working hard, so they got rewarded for it today, our locker room was awesome, you know, it was a great way to send them off for Christmas, and we got to get back to work as soon as we can and continue to improve and continue to get better, but I love 40 minutes, like, it wasn’t going our way, and we figured out a way to win.”
Two quick ones on Dylan, it took him a little while to get going until the second half, what’s missing for him, why is he struggling as of late?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Yeah, I mean, he’s, you know, just struggled in the first half, and, you know, his games depend on rebounding, so he had no rebounds in the first half, he’s got to do a better job, I mean, he’s a sophomore, he’s young, he didn’t play in the first ten games last year, you know, so he’s going to have nights like that, but the good part is, he was rebounding, he was ready to play, and, you know, that’s what a good team, you know, hopefully we can keep evolving into a good team, and someone has someone’s back on every night, and, you know, he’ll keep working, but he’s now the number one guy on the scouting reports, too, so life’s changed a little bit.
Last year he wasn’t number one on any scouting report, other guys were, and now he’s number one, so you’re getting the best defender, you’re getting, you know, some different things, too, so you always have to take that into account.”
What were you doing when Tariq’s shot goes in at the last second?
STEVE PIKIELL: “Well, I mean, I just loved how, down the stretch, we executed, even when Harun, we had no time outs, we used the one on the challenge, and we were lucky to save, you know, get that one back, but we executed there, too. I think, you know, the guy got his hand in there, I told Harun, late games, they’re not probably going to call that, but that might have been one, too, but we executed, then they executed down the stretch, and he was calm, as could be, and he was having one of those nights, too, so I’m glad he got the last one up.
You say you were relieved when the shot went in? I mean, you know, I’ve coached a lot of basketball games, and, you know, like, you’ve got to play until the end, and I tell these guys all the time, and one coach is going to be miserable, and one’s going to be happy, every time you take the court, that’s what it kind of looks like, so I’m happy to be happy, and I’m looking forward to keeping the streak going.”
You guys shot three of 20 from three, but did you guys like the process of those threes?
STEVE PIKIELL: “I liked it. I thought we got some really good looks.
Yeah, I thought against their zones, and J. Mike missed a couple that he’d make, Haroon, you know, to start the second half, got as good a look as he’ll get in his career, and he’s been good, he’s been making threes, and we’ve got a lot of guys, actually, that can make threes, obviously. Reid can make threes, too, and, you know, Dennis will make them, too, so we’re a better three-point shooting team than that, but we were rushing them at times, I think, and then there was some shot clock stuff at the end where we, you know, had to take some tough ones, but, you know, we’ll be able to shoot threes, but it’s nice to win a game when, you know, we didn’t.”
After the game, it looked like you went over and talked to some fans, Steve. What did you say to them, and what do you want to say to the fans who showed up?
Yeah, the place was awesome. You know, I always, and I haven’t done it this year, but the band, the cheerleaders, the dance team, they’re awesome, and we had a great crowd. We really did, and I’m very thankful.
I always am. You know, I think they make this place a tough place to play. We do have a tremendous home court, you know, winning percentage over the last, you know, 10 years, but they make it that way, so it was great to have them all there.
It was a late-night game. They could be a lot of places. I know I certainly haven’t done any Christmas shopping, so they could have been Christmas shopping, but they came, and they supported, and I really appreciate that, so.”
What did you say to those fans in particular?
STEVE PIKIELL: “No, I mean, just happy holidays. I just really thanked them for coming. You know, they were great, and I do appreciate it, but I always have, so it’s nothing that, you know, I realize they can go a lot of places and do a lot of things.
They come. They keep rooting these guys on, and we needed them tonight, too. They were loud, and it was a great environment.
It really was. When we got that thing going, it was good. Thanks so much, and happy holidays to you guys, and Merry Christmas.”
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