In no particular order
Spoke to Gill. Told me that his mom and dad were most proud of his academic accomplishments not what he does on the BB court.
Further stated that Willard does use the twin towers in practice but he doesn't think that will happen often during the season.
Noted that he and Obiagu have wars in practice saying that Obiagu is incredibly strong. A lot like a bigger version of Angel.
Said he worked on his offense during the off season and wants to become a scoring option in the paint to help the team.
When I asked him to name a player in practice who might surprise the fans this year he named Nelson.
Talked to Tony Bozzella at the buffet for a short time as he was sitting with the SJU coach so I didn't want to impose. He noted that this would be one of his best teams in recent years and thinks that the Hall will battle for first place with DePaul and SJU, who BTW were picked 1-2 in the conference.
Also said how proud he was of Samuels and how she works so hard to be the best player she can be.
Outside the Garden was as intimidating a scenario as I can remember entering a building, possibly ever. There were armed police officers, some with automatic weapons standing at attention surrounding the building. There were also multiple officers with drug/bomb sniffing dogs circling the building. When I got inside I asked a security person if the Garden got a bomb threat or the like. He said no that yesterday was the day the officers who had just graduated were out in force, almost like practice maneuvers.
When I got to Willard my batteries died on my recorder so I am posting these tidbits from memory.
Just want to add how comfortable Willard has become at this event. Night and day from the early years of his tenure. In fact Willard had so many reporters surrounding him that he walked out to center court to talk to them all. A far cry from the other coaches, most talking at their assigned tables.
1. Look for Q to become much more offensive minded, similar to how he played before he came to the Hall.
2. Described Samuel as a sort of athletic freak who has a good chance to crack the rotation.
3. Will not change his coaching style with the longer rotation.
4. Told his players to embrace the expectations and not fear them.
5. Jerry Carino noted in his article that Willard wasn't comfortable with UConn's addition to the league. I saw it differently and think that KW was not as serious in his comments as Jerry believed. Truthfully, Willard can be incredibly sarcastic and humorous so it's difficult to often judge his words. Case in point, both Jerry and I heard the same things but came to different conclusions.
6. Got emotional when speaking about Powell. Called him a one of a kind player. The hardest working kid on the team, yet possibly the most humble. Stated that it was not his idea to fly to California to meet Powell just before he decided to come back to the Hall, instead said it was Myles that called him asking that he fly out west.
7. Raved about Obiagu stating that it's been a very long time since the Hall has had a defensive presence like him in the middle, but did say we must be patient with his development.
8. When queried about who might take that next step, he complimented all the players but clearly he was most impressed with his two sophomores comparing their improvement to the Whitehead class in year two.
9. Noted that the offense this season will be far more than just Powell who he admitted dominated last year.
10. Said he picked up a lot from the trip to Peru playing against the pro teams. Said he would probably incorporate 5,6,7 things into the Hall's offense this season. Things that would play to our players strengths.
11. Added that although the team had a great cultural and bonding experience in Italy losing a couple of days to inclement weather before they left the country was a downer.
12, Added when talking about Cale that after a game Cooley told him now I understand why you play him 32/33 MPG.
Spoke to Mamu. he is so much more comfortable now than when he was a freshmen. Said a lot of the same things but it was very easy to surmise that now he believes what he is saying.
Said that the team is very aware of the expectations but did not describe them as pressure, adding that everyone is so much better this year than last because the team knows they can have a special year. Told me he immediately saw this once official practice began.
Is very happy that he will now play his natural position. Said playing in the middle toughened him up and made him a better player, but he's still a 4 not a 5.
Worked very hard on his outside shot and expects it to be much more consistence this year,
When I asked him to name a player who might surprise he actually named three. In order, Rhoden. Nelson and Samuel. He said that Samuel can be awesome but he reminds him a lot of himself as a freshmen. Talented but with so much to learn.
By the numbers
SHU is only 1 of 13 teams to appear in the last 4 Dances.
The Big East has 34 of 50 starting players coming back from last season.
Powell scored the 4th most points of all the returning players in the country last year.
8 current players on the roster were rated 4 stars by at least one publication.
Willard. PJ and Honey Russell are all tied at 5 for the most 20 win seasons in school history.
8 more Big East wins and Willard surpasses PJ for the most in school history.
SHU is 128-59 at the Rock.
This was the third time in school history that the Pirates are rated preseason #1 in conference.
SHU returns 88% of its scoring from last year.
Spoke to Powell one on one for about 4 minutes as he was swarmed by a ton of reporters so you couldn't dominate his time.
I already noted in another thread about the billboards, but I just want to add I have never seen him so emotional coming close to breaking down when he touched the subject.
I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the attention. He's a great kid and always handles the media well. But yesterday looking close it was obvious that the attention got to him.
Laughed about his outfit, including his jacket that had a monogram inside declaring him preseason POY. When I asked him when he knew, he said about a week prior.
Also joked about his shoes and no socks look. When Willard talked about the outfit he said, yeah loved the shoes but maybe socks would have been a better look, stating hell these are just kids and they should enjoy doing what young guys do.
When asked about pressure and expectations, Powell said he has been working all his life to get to this point and he doesn't see it as pressure but he sees it as an opportunity to show everyone what hard work can do for a person.
There's more but I have so much on my recorder that it would take me forever to comment on everything. So I'll end here but if there are any questions fire away.
Spoke to Gill. Told me that his mom and dad were most proud of his academic accomplishments not what he does on the BB court.
Further stated that Willard does use the twin towers in practice but he doesn't think that will happen often during the season.
Noted that he and Obiagu have wars in practice saying that Obiagu is incredibly strong. A lot like a bigger version of Angel.
Said he worked on his offense during the off season and wants to become a scoring option in the paint to help the team.
When I asked him to name a player in practice who might surprise the fans this year he named Nelson.
Talked to Tony Bozzella at the buffet for a short time as he was sitting with the SJU coach so I didn't want to impose. He noted that this would be one of his best teams in recent years and thinks that the Hall will battle for first place with DePaul and SJU, who BTW were picked 1-2 in the conference.
Also said how proud he was of Samuels and how she works so hard to be the best player she can be.
Outside the Garden was as intimidating a scenario as I can remember entering a building, possibly ever. There were armed police officers, some with automatic weapons standing at attention surrounding the building. There were also multiple officers with drug/bomb sniffing dogs circling the building. When I got inside I asked a security person if the Garden got a bomb threat or the like. He said no that yesterday was the day the officers who had just graduated were out in force, almost like practice maneuvers.
When I got to Willard my batteries died on my recorder so I am posting these tidbits from memory.
Just want to add how comfortable Willard has become at this event. Night and day from the early years of his tenure. In fact Willard had so many reporters surrounding him that he walked out to center court to talk to them all. A far cry from the other coaches, most talking at their assigned tables.
1. Look for Q to become much more offensive minded, similar to how he played before he came to the Hall.
2. Described Samuel as a sort of athletic freak who has a good chance to crack the rotation.
3. Will not change his coaching style with the longer rotation.
4. Told his players to embrace the expectations and not fear them.
5. Jerry Carino noted in his article that Willard wasn't comfortable with UConn's addition to the league. I saw it differently and think that KW was not as serious in his comments as Jerry believed. Truthfully, Willard can be incredibly sarcastic and humorous so it's difficult to often judge his words. Case in point, both Jerry and I heard the same things but came to different conclusions.
6. Got emotional when speaking about Powell. Called him a one of a kind player. The hardest working kid on the team, yet possibly the most humble. Stated that it was not his idea to fly to California to meet Powell just before he decided to come back to the Hall, instead said it was Myles that called him asking that he fly out west.
7. Raved about Obiagu stating that it's been a very long time since the Hall has had a defensive presence like him in the middle, but did say we must be patient with his development.
8. When queried about who might take that next step, he complimented all the players but clearly he was most impressed with his two sophomores comparing their improvement to the Whitehead class in year two.
9. Noted that the offense this season will be far more than just Powell who he admitted dominated last year.
10. Said he picked up a lot from the trip to Peru playing against the pro teams. Said he would probably incorporate 5,6,7 things into the Hall's offense this season. Things that would play to our players strengths.
11. Added that although the team had a great cultural and bonding experience in Italy losing a couple of days to inclement weather before they left the country was a downer.
12, Added when talking about Cale that after a game Cooley told him now I understand why you play him 32/33 MPG.
Spoke to Mamu. he is so much more comfortable now than when he was a freshmen. Said a lot of the same things but it was very easy to surmise that now he believes what he is saying.
Said that the team is very aware of the expectations but did not describe them as pressure, adding that everyone is so much better this year than last because the team knows they can have a special year. Told me he immediately saw this once official practice began.
Is very happy that he will now play his natural position. Said playing in the middle toughened him up and made him a better player, but he's still a 4 not a 5.
Worked very hard on his outside shot and expects it to be much more consistence this year,
When I asked him to name a player who might surprise he actually named three. In order, Rhoden. Nelson and Samuel. He said that Samuel can be awesome but he reminds him a lot of himself as a freshmen. Talented but with so much to learn.
By the numbers
SHU is only 1 of 13 teams to appear in the last 4 Dances.
The Big East has 34 of 50 starting players coming back from last season.
Powell scored the 4th most points of all the returning players in the country last year.
8 current players on the roster were rated 4 stars by at least one publication.
Willard. PJ and Honey Russell are all tied at 5 for the most 20 win seasons in school history.
8 more Big East wins and Willard surpasses PJ for the most in school history.
SHU is 128-59 at the Rock.
This was the third time in school history that the Pirates are rated preseason #1 in conference.
SHU returns 88% of its scoring from last year.
Spoke to Powell one on one for about 4 minutes as he was swarmed by a ton of reporters so you couldn't dominate his time.
I already noted in another thread about the billboards, but I just want to add I have never seen him so emotional coming close to breaking down when he touched the subject.
I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the attention. He's a great kid and always handles the media well. But yesterday looking close it was obvious that the attention got to him.
Laughed about his outfit, including his jacket that had a monogram inside declaring him preseason POY. When I asked him when he knew, he said about a week prior.
Also joked about his shoes and no socks look. When Willard talked about the outfit he said, yeah loved the shoes but maybe socks would have been a better look, stating hell these are just kids and they should enjoy doing what young guys do.
When asked about pressure and expectations, Powell said he has been working all his life to get to this point and he doesn't see it as pressure but he sees it as an opportunity to show everyone what hard work can do for a person.
There's more but I have so much on my recorder that it would take me forever to comment on everything. So I'll end here but if there are any questions fire away.
