Daniel Hamilton mature beyond his years; Richard Hamilton offers some sage advice

Notes, quotes and video from UConn's 65-57 win over College of Charleston in a Puerto Rico Tip-Off tourney game on Thursday.



RODNEY PURVIS:

(on hitting consecutive 3-pointers, from opposite corners, to turn a five-point UConn lead into 11 midway through the second half)

“It felt great. The whole time, the little struggles I had early on, I knew something good was gonna come out of it. I never got down on myself. I’m just thankful for my teammates and coaches for always believing in me.”

(on advice he got from Richard Hamilton after the game)

“He was just saying how it took him, like, five games to get his feet wet. He was saying how, basically, I’m like a freshman all over again. I sat out a whole year. So, I’m still getting my feet wet and things like that. He told me to stay with it and it’s all gonna come.”

(on getting advice from Hamilton and Jim Calhoun over the past week or so)

“You have those two guys pulling you aside, I think that’s a great sign of them seeing something great in you. I just take it all in, listen to those guys, because Rip, I’m trying to follow in his footsteps and get to where he got to. And Coach Calhoun, he can pull me to the side anytime. I can always hear from him.”

KEVIN OLLIE:

“I’m gonna take this win. I thought it was a good effort from my guys. I really like our rebounding ... just a couple of defensive breakdowns that we can clean up.”

“All in all, it’s a good win.”

(on 11 second-half turnovers)

“We just can’t do that, against any team.”

(on Daniel Hamilton)

“He plays with a lot of poise and a lot of maturity. He knows the game, he can play on all three levels. He can shoot from 3, which we’ve seen; he can get to the rim, he’s got great ball-fakes, great footwork. And he can pass the ball. He threw a couple of lobs to Amida (Brimah), one of them Jeff Anderson called a charge. The other was a great pass. He’s like another point guard out there for me.”

“I think he gambled a couple of times and got us out of our principles where we had the help and we got lucky on a couple of missed shots by (Canyon) Barry. It’s a learning process for him, but he’s very coachable. That’s the one thing I love: I can instruct him on something, and he’ll go out there and do it.”

(on Richard Hamilton addressing the team)

“They know Richard. Just to see another great UConn player come out and support him, I think that makes them feel better inside. That’s what our alumni do, whenever they have an opportunity. They come out and support us very, very well.”

(on Purvis's two big shots)

“The shot doesn’t go in, or does go in, we’ve still gotta play good defense. And he started playing some real good defense. That gets you energized. To see those two 3’s go in, I know it felt good for him. You could see the exuberance on his face, the energy that he had. Hopefully, we can keep finding him for 3’s, because we need to shoot better.”

(on Dayton)

“I was looking at the score (of Dayton's game against Texas A&M), I was like, ‘Man, is that just the first five minutes? And I saw it was halftime. That’s how these games are gonna be, early. They have some great players, not a traditional 7-footer or 6-10 four-man, they got 6-7, 6-8, they’re very interchangable. Lotta down screens, backdoors. They execute their offense, and we’ve got to get back in transition.”

DANIEL HAMILTON:

“I was getting in a rhythm. I’ve been shooting pretty bad preseason. At shootaround, we’ve got to take that seriously, because those are going to be game shots. I try to take as many shots as I can in shootaround, and when they came my way, I just wanted to knock it down.”

“Coming in, I can’t think of it like I was a freshman. I’ve just got to come in and be a huge impact to the team. Whatever coach wants me to do, I’ve got to come in and do it -- if it’s passing, scoring, rebounding, defending, whatever it is. I want to be out on the court and contribute as much as I can.”

RYAN BOATRIGHT:

(on UConn's propensity to start strong but let opponents back into the game)

“I think we’re just losing focus. We’re having some careless turnovers. I think we get a little winded sometimes ... We’ve got to get better at that. When we play better competition, we can’t afford those lapses.”