By JP Pelzman
South Orange – During a Wagner timeout in the final minute of the first half Tuesday night, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard let his team know he wanted them to ramp up their defensive intensity.
“He was just upset that we were giving up open threes,” junior guard Myles Powell said after the game. “All week in practice (Willard) was stressing that they like to shoots threes so that got under his skin.”
The message certainly got through. The Seahawks made four of their first 10 attempts from downtown but only two of their last 16 as The Hall cruised to an 89-49 season-opening win at Walsh Gym.
Granted, Wagner lost three starters and returned only one double-digit scorer from a 23-10 team that won the NEC regular-season title last season. Yet it still was impressive how the Pirates clamped down on the Seahawks’ offense, especially in the second half when the game was far out of reach for Wagner. In the waning moments, Seton Hall reserves still were diving on the floor for loose balls as if the game were tied.
“I think we could have done a little better” on defense, Powell said. “Coach (Willard) told us their strong points and they were hitting a lot of threes in the first half. Toward the end of the game that’s when I felt we got better.”
This marked the first time Seton Hall had held an opponent to fewer than 50 points since a 63-47 win over Mercer in the 2014-15 opener.
“I really appreciated the effort overall,” Willard said. “Probably the (defensive performance more) because when you play defense as hard as we did, it just shows how hard we were playing.”
Wagner shot 18-for-56 (32.1 percent) overall, and 6-for-26 (23.1) from long distance.
“My mentality is if I play great defense, it will translate into my offense,” said sophomore forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, who made his first start as a Pirate and had seven points, two blocked shots and five rebounds.
The Pirates had eight blocked shots, including three by Syracuse transfer Taurean Thompson, who sat out last season.
“If somebody needs help on defense I want to be there,” Mamukelashvili added. “I feel like everything starts with defense.”
“It’s a team effort, we know what we’re supposed to,” said senior forward Mike Nzei (11 points, seven rebounds). “Playing defense is a group effort. so we were making sure we had our brothers’ backs.”
As far as the offense goes, Powell took care of much of it, as he will have to do this season now that the mainstays from Seton Hall’s three consecutive NCAA tournament teams are gone. Powell tied his career-high with 30 points and he did it economically, shooting 10-for-13 from the field.
“I’m just embracing the fact that I’m the leader now,” Powell said. “I know I’ve got to do different things on the court. … I’m the first option now and I did well tonight."
“I love it. I’m blessed to be in this situation. I learned so much from the seniors and how they handled it.”
Both Powell and Nzei said they got a call from Angel Delgado and Desi Rodriguez, both of whom are with the Los Angeles Clippers’ G League affiliate.
“Desi was like, ‘you all gotta keep the (NCAA) tradition going',’” Nzei said.
“Angel and Desi said they’d be watching and they couldn’t wait to see what I would do,” Powell said.
Nor could Willard, although he claimed to be unimpressed.
“I didn’t think (Powell) played good,” Willard said, even noting that Mamukelashvili finished ahead of Powell in the NCAA’s new plus-minus stat, 32-31, for the game.
“He missed three shots so I’m a little disappointed,” Willard stated in his typical deadpan way, before adding, “Just wait. I’ve been saying he’s one of the best players in the country for a reason. As he gets in a little better game shape you’re going to see a lot of those (kinds of games). He’s a special player. He has filled that (leadership) void very well. He knows what his job on the court is.”
In the past, Willard noted, Powell had to defer to the upperclassmen.
“This year, there will be no backseat for him,” Willard said.
Any maybe not for the entire team. One blowout win against an overmatched opponent isn’t cause for celebration, but the 40 minutes of intensity marked an impressive showing for a team trying to establish a new identity.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/publishing/contents
COMMENTS
South Orange – During a Wagner timeout in the final minute of the first half Tuesday night, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard let his team know he wanted them to ramp up their defensive intensity.
“He was just upset that we were giving up open threes,” junior guard Myles Powell said after the game. “All week in practice (Willard) was stressing that they like to shoots threes so that got under his skin.”
The message certainly got through. The Seahawks made four of their first 10 attempts from downtown but only two of their last 16 as The Hall cruised to an 89-49 season-opening win at Walsh Gym.
Granted, Wagner lost three starters and returned only one double-digit scorer from a 23-10 team that won the NEC regular-season title last season. Yet it still was impressive how the Pirates clamped down on the Seahawks’ offense, especially in the second half when the game was far out of reach for Wagner. In the waning moments, Seton Hall reserves still were diving on the floor for loose balls as if the game were tied.
“I think we could have done a little better” on defense, Powell said. “Coach (Willard) told us their strong points and they were hitting a lot of threes in the first half. Toward the end of the game that’s when I felt we got better.”
This marked the first time Seton Hall had held an opponent to fewer than 50 points since a 63-47 win over Mercer in the 2014-15 opener.
“I really appreciated the effort overall,” Willard said. “Probably the (defensive performance more) because when you play defense as hard as we did, it just shows how hard we were playing.”
Wagner shot 18-for-56 (32.1 percent) overall, and 6-for-26 (23.1) from long distance.
“My mentality is if I play great defense, it will translate into my offense,” said sophomore forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, who made his first start as a Pirate and had seven points, two blocked shots and five rebounds.
The Pirates had eight blocked shots, including three by Syracuse transfer Taurean Thompson, who sat out last season.
“If somebody needs help on defense I want to be there,” Mamukelashvili added. “I feel like everything starts with defense.”
“It’s a team effort, we know what we’re supposed to,” said senior forward Mike Nzei (11 points, seven rebounds). “Playing defense is a group effort. so we were making sure we had our brothers’ backs.”
As far as the offense goes, Powell took care of much of it, as he will have to do this season now that the mainstays from Seton Hall’s three consecutive NCAA tournament teams are gone. Powell tied his career-high with 30 points and he did it economically, shooting 10-for-13 from the field.
“I’m just embracing the fact that I’m the leader now,” Powell said. “I know I’ve got to do different things on the court. … I’m the first option now and I did well tonight."
“I love it. I’m blessed to be in this situation. I learned so much from the seniors and how they handled it.”
Both Powell and Nzei said they got a call from Angel Delgado and Desi Rodriguez, both of whom are with the Los Angeles Clippers’ G League affiliate.
“Desi was like, ‘you all gotta keep the (NCAA) tradition going',’” Nzei said.
“Angel and Desi said they’d be watching and they couldn’t wait to see what I would do,” Powell said.
Nor could Willard, although he claimed to be unimpressed.
“I didn’t think (Powell) played good,” Willard said, even noting that Mamukelashvili finished ahead of Powell in the NCAA’s new plus-minus stat, 32-31, for the game.
“He missed three shots so I’m a little disappointed,” Willard stated in his typical deadpan way, before adding, “Just wait. I’ve been saying he’s one of the best players in the country for a reason. As he gets in a little better game shape you’re going to see a lot of those (kinds of games). He’s a special player. He has filled that (leadership) void very well. He knows what his job on the court is.”
In the past, Willard noted, Powell had to defer to the upperclassmen.
“This year, there will be no backseat for him,” Willard said.
Any maybe not for the entire team. One blowout win against an overmatched opponent isn’t cause for celebration, but the 40 minutes of intensity marked an impressive showing for a team trying to establish a new identity.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/publishing/contents
COMMENTS
