Postgame Quotes: ECU vs. Delaware State

Tuesday, November 6

Greenville, N.C.

7:45 PM

East Carolina University

1-0

Delaware State

0-1

Delaware State

ECU

Photo by: Rob Goldberg

November 06, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

POSTGAME QUOTES

ECU HEAD COACH JOE DOOLEY
Opening Statement:
"You know like I said to our guys. One of the biggest things is you don't want to make winning not fun but we did play hard. I thought there were some really good stretches but there were some stretches where we were really disorganized on defense which worried me but for the most part I thought we had guarded ball screens really well during the preseason but tonight we had some problems but when you look at it statistically it looks a lot better statistically than it will look on tape. They had some chances on the rim that I thought they should have converted and we have to clean that up quickly. Now, to our guys defense, I do think we were a little sped up and a little nervous early. It was the first time in front of a crowd with a lot of young guys. I thought we did some uncharacteristic things that we hadn't done and that being said we will watch the tape. Hopefully these guys will get some rest tonight and we'll get back to work tomorrow getting ready for Friday."

On Shawn Williams being suspended:
"We'll handle it. It's a little blip, Shawn has done about a good of a job and has been about as helpful as any player since I've been here, he has been great. He is remorseful, he knows he has hurt the team. We are excited to get him back, he has been great in practice, a great teammate and when we get him back it will add another weapon for us. I think we able to work through it here and I don't think it will be an extended deal but it won't be quickly. But I don't think it will be a long-term deal."

On offensive efficiency
"Well I thought Justin (Whatley) and DeShaun (Wade) got us off to a good start in the first half. You know they made some shots and you know it's not very usual that you shoot higher from three than you shoot from two. It's a little embarrassing almost but I thought for the most part our three point shots were good attempts. I thought our young guys got a little sped up trying to make plays as opposed to letting them come to them. But, I thought once we settled down in the second half we showed some pretty good poise."

On starting three freshmen
"One thing is that they're not afraid. I think that's the number one thing that they're not afraid to be out there. We're going to have some stretches where we look bad because we have so many young guys and to tell you the truth they're trying to figure out what we want. We've had some guys out so the timing hasn't been great. Obviously K.J. (Davis) has been out, Seth (Leday) has been out extended time. John (Whitley) has been out. I think once we can get some practice time with those times hopefully we'll smooth some things out both offensively and defensively."

On Rico Quinton not playing:
"They didn't play a lot of big guys, and that's one of the things he hasn't had a lot of chances with. He has been out, I think he is going to be a really good player. They played small tonight and there was some difficult matchups for him and it got late in the game and he had been hurt so you don't want to get a guy hurt because he wasn't loose. So we decided not to play him."

SENIOR ISAAC FLEMING
On starting 1-0:
"I mean when you win it always feels great. It's a great feeling, starting off on the right foot and we are just trying to keep running with this momentum."

On the freshmen presence:
"Like I told everyone before the game, they're not playing like freshmen. They have a lot of games under their belt with high school and AAU so we just try to tell them to play their game and they're here for a reason. That's what they're doing. As I'm looking at this, this is a great team basketball. You've got more than four people in double figures so you can't beat that."

On the play of Gardner and Whatley:
"Justin Whatley, being out a couple weeks and coming in and shooting like that and playing like that was big time. Overall, our bigs can do way more, they can rebound, finish around the rim more. Jayden Gardner, he had little jitters this game, I don't expect him to play like that anymore. He's a dog."

On the crowd atmosphere:
"They're starting to believe in us and have faith. We just don't want to let the fans down, just keep giving them what they're coming for and that's to watch a win.

FRESHMAN TAE HARDY
On his comfort level:
"You know that first game, first game as a freshman, little jitterbugs were in the stomach at first. I got a little time in and I was comfortable. I was ready in the starting lineup. A couple minutes in, a little shaky. Time kept going on in the game and I got comfortable, it became second nature basketball."

On starting as a freshman:
"It came as a surprise a little bit. But, as a team we work hard and I feel like coach makes the right decision. You know, three freshmen, we all worked hard. We all work hard to get in a position and we are just trying to fight."

"I knew I was going to start probably right before the game when he was talking about matchups and when I heard that I was just happy."