St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 64, St. Francis 50
11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2005
Norm Roberts
Head Coach, St. John's University
On tonight's performance:
"We played really hard tonight. They did a good job of pressuring us and trying to get underneath us and we responded very well. I thought my guys were very tough during the last eight to 10 minutes of the game. They stayed focused and made big plays."
On the team's defensive end:
"We got the stops we needed. That's what we talked about in preparation for the game was getting those stops. Shots are going to fall but we have to try and stop them on the defensive."
On the team's composure:
"We have to learn to keep ourselves composed. We just have to be smart and patient and understand how the game is being called and how the game is going and just be smart."
On the learning experience:
"It was a great learning experience for our team playing a tough game. A lot of our games this season are going to be tough like this. We had guys in foul trouble and we had guys who stepped in off the bench. Phil Missere did a great job for us. It was a great learning experience and hopefully it will make us tougher."
On shot selection:
"I thought we took good shots in the first half. I think we just tried to be more patient in the second half."
Lamont Hamilton
Junior, Forward
St. John's University
On playing against a hometown team:
"It felt really good. I know just about everyone on the team."
Anthony Mason, Jr.
Freshman, Forward
St. John's University
On playing on the collegiate level:
"I felt more confident today because I was knocking down shots tonight. My teammates trusted me to shoot so confidence was high. I can definitely say that I'm more comfortable."
Brian Nash
Head Coach, St. Francis (N.Y.)
On how his team matched up:
"Coming into the game, we knew that St. John's was going to be a very physical team. When you're not as big and as tall, you really have to be a position team and you have to fight and scratch and claw and I thought we did that for the most part. I never question our toughness, we just have to get a little bit smarter."
On his team's offensive effort:
"We played really good half-court defense and made them take some tough shots but offensively I was really disappointed with how we executed. We really didn't trust each other, we didn't play unselfish. When we play in front of the big lights here, we really try to step it up and do it a little bit individually instead of collectively and that is not the type of team we are. We don't have a guy that can score us 20 points a game, we need six or seven guys to do that for us."
On the New York City rivalry:
"The majority of our roster is New York City kids. You look at these games and they are dangerous games because you're playing against kids that have chips on their shoulders. Some of these kids feel like they should have been at St. John's, so when you get into these situations, that's a dangerous combination once you get rolling."
