St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Villanova vs. St. John's
3/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2005
St. John's Head Coach Norm Roberts
On tonight's game:
"I really am happy with my team and how they fought back. Give Villanova a lot of credit, they are a great basketball team. They have a lot of weapons and they can really score. They can attack you in so many ways. I thought my team did a great job of defending them and taking away easy baskets. When things weren't great for us offensively, we stayed tough. I feel really optimistic about our team and our program."
On the season:
"We wanted to get a foundation of hard work, competitiveness, playing unselfish and liking each other. I think we did that. The foundation is there. These guys coming back can help the young guys coming in to understand what level we need to play at to be competitive in this league."
On what he said after the game:
"I just told them that I was really proud of them. We competed. We could have folded our tents, this is the last game of the year, but these guys don't do that. They don't fold their tents. That shows how much character these guys have. That has nothing to do with coaches. That is what in their chest, that is what in them."
On Daryll Hill:
"Daryll was awesome. He was aggressive when we needed him to be. He also made great plays for other people. He is doing all that and he is guarding their best offensive player. He probably played 40 minutes. He did a terrific job, but Darryl has been doing that all year. He deserves all the accolades he gets."
On off-season improvements:
"We are going to have to get stronger. We have to love the weight room. Obviously, shooting. Increase our range. Increase our ability to attack from the three-point line."
On the freshmen:
"The one thing that our freshman brought us was a winning attitude. Dexter (Gray) is from a winning program. Eugene (Lawrence) is from a winning program. Cedric (Jackson) is from a winning program. They expect to win. To get those guys to play hard is not hard to do because they understand they have to play hard. I am really proud of them."
Lamont Hamilton
On tonight's game being a sad ending to the season:
"Not at all. We knew we battled and played hard."
On this season:
"Everybody showed us a lot of love. They know we go out there to try to win every game and play hard. Last year, people weren't paying attention to us."
On playing for St. John's
"I love playing for St. John's. I'd rather play for St. John's than anywhere else."
Daryll Hill
On last play:
"I was just trying to take what the defender gave me."
On this season:
"Last year they (the fans) weren't as excited as they were this year. This year is different. Now they show us a lot of love."
On playing for St. John's:
"I am proud to wear a St. John's jersey all the time. This was my dream school. No matter what happens I am here 100%."
