St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Marist
12/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2005
QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's faces Marist College Saturday in its first game of the season at Madison Square Garden. Red Storm head coach Norm Roberts and members of the team met with the media on Friday to discuss the match-up.
Norm Roberts
Head Coach
On preparing for Saturday:
"It is always hard to practice during finals week, but we did at night, leaving the guys time to study for their finals during the day. I think it worked out well for our guys because they could focus on their academics during the day, come to practice and then get a good night's sleep."
"We focus on guarding everyone on the floor. We try to get people out of their comfort zone. Guys will get open no matter what, but when they do have those shots we need to rush them. If we can do that, hopefully we'll have success."
On the team's mentality headed into the Marist game: "We are a program that is rebuilding and looking to win basketball games. We cannot take any games for granted. Marist is a terrific program. Their coach has five guys on the floor that can all shoot. They're dangerous."
"Our guys realized last year when we played them that they have some talented guys and they realized that [Will] Whittington can really shoot and that their point guard [Jared] Jordan was very good. So our guys know that they are playing a talented team."
On playing at Madison Square Garden:
"It is good that we are playing a game there before the Holiday Festival. It is good for our team. We're going to be playing in big arenas all year so it's good for them to get their feet wet."
On the remainder of the schedule:
"You want to play games at home to give your guys a comfort zone. But we know that the schedule is going to get tougher than what it's already been and that we're going to have to step up our play. Playing at the Garden this weekend will be good for us."
On being patient on the court:
"We're just going to have to be patient. I talk to my guys a lot about being patient offensively, but we have to be patient defensively as well. Because a lot of times when you play teams like Marist they do not break you down in the first 15 seconds of the shot clock. Where they break you down is the last 10 seconds. We're getting better at it, but we have to learn to stay patient and disciplined. That's a big key."
On taking it game by game:
"We don't judge ourselves on one game or two games and we don't judge ourselves on whether we win or lose. Every game is a different scenario. You never know what's going to happen. I try to get the guys to understand to never get too high and never get too low. We just have to make sure we do the right thing to put us in the position to be successful."
Lamont Hamilton
Junior, Forward
On Saturday's game:
"I think they are going to be ready for this game. They are going to come out real strong and we are going to be ready and play as hard as we can."
"I have to make sure that I am a beast out there and that I play as hard as I can and make sure I hold on to the ball the best I can."
On first game at MSG and what to say to the freshmen:
"I say MSG, you have to be ready to play. You have to come in and play strong no matter how many minutes you get. You just have to be ready at all times. We're real excited to play at MSG. It's a great place with a great history behind it."
Eugene Lawrence
Sophomore, Guard
On playing at MSG:
"I'm really excited. It's our first game there this year. A lot of great players have played there at the Garden."
On playing Marist:
"I think it's going to be a good game, because they're a good team. I think it will also be fun because it will be the team's first time at the Garden, but it will be their first game at the Garden also."
On responding to Marist's low-post defense:
"They trap in the post and in the press. So if that happens we just have to find the open person."
On what he's told the freshmen about playing at MSG:
"I've just told them to stay focused in the game and try not to let the crowd or the hype get to them or in their head. They just have to stay focused on the game."
Daryll Hill
Junior, Guard
On the cohesiveness of the team:
"I think we've come together fine and if we play hard and together we'll be fine. We're a family; we look out for one another. It is what being a team is about."
On preparing for finals and Saturday's game:
"We had practice at night this week so during the day we had the chance to study and do what we needed to do for our finals."
