St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 68, Louisville 56
1/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2006
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Norm Roberts
Head Coach, St. John's
On tonight's game:
"I thought it was a great team win. Guys really prepared hard. We got contributions from everybody. Daryll [Hill] didn't have a great shooting day but he did a great job defensively. Him and Geno [Eugene Lawrence] did a great job of handling their pressure. I thought Lamont [Hamilton] really came up big for us tonight. Anthony Mason probably played the best game of the year with his rebounding. I was really proud of this team because they stuck together."
More on tonight's game:
"I thought it was going to be a physical game. They are a tough team. I knew they had size inside. I thought bringing Tomas [Jasiulionis] off the bench would really help us. Phil [Missere] was our best post defender and he did a good job."
On the importance of the win:
"It is a huge win for our program, but what I said to the guys inside is that we have to take this and learn from this. We have to learn from the Seton Hall loss, but we also have to learn from this win. We have to understand that we have to come with the same focus every single night and when you do that you have a chance to compete with anyone in the country."
On handling the Louisville press:
"I thought we settled down. I thought our guards, Daryll [Hill] and Eugene [Lawrence], did a good job of settling down in the second half. I think we were patient. I think we tried to attack the high post. I think tried to attack inside rather than trying to rush."
On Lamont Hamilton:
"Lamont really stepped up big for us and hit some big shots. Lamont is capable of doing that. He knows he has to get stronger. Tonight he played with a presence. He played with the right focus. He wants to play with that every night and hopefully he will get more consistent, but tonight he was terrific. I think he is going to get better. He really had a good week in practice. We talk all the time about preparing for success. If we continue to do that then we will have success. The guys really bonded together."
More on tonight's game:
> "It was a great win, but understand that we didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We made shots that were in rhythm. We rebounded like we are suppose to. We defended like we do in practice every day. If we continue to do those things as a team and get better as a team, we are going to have success."
Daryll Hill
Junior Guard
On his injury:
"Every day is getting better. I am tying to work hard in practice so during the games it is easier for my stamina. I think I am coming along fine."
On tonight's win:
"I feel good right now because I finally got a chance to play a good team. I was ready for battle and work hard every day. We are going to take it a game at a time and see what happens next game."
Eugene Lawrence
Sophomore Guard
On the crowd:
"I felt we had a lot of support from the crowd today which is good."
On the importance of the win:
"It is hard to say. The season is still early. As long as we work hard in practice and come to play in the games we will be fine. I think it is a big win. We knew we were going to come to play hard, compete and they we were able to win this game."
Rick Pitino
Head Coach, Louisville
On tonight's game:
"St. John's played a terrific basketball game. We played terrific defense in the first half but we can't sustain it because every game we get taken to the woodshed on the glass. That is a credit to St. John's. It was very similar to Pittsburgh. They played really, really well on the glass and did a lot of good things."
On his team:
"We are doing all of the things that a young, inexperienced team does. We missed free-throws, we missed wide open shots. I see great effort and I see great effort and I see guys that want to win and that have great desire. From the first week of practice we haven't been rebounding and we haven't been able to get the job done. The effort is there. It is not a lack of effort. We don't have a lot of talent on the backboard. We are getting dominated on the glass not even from just BIG EAST opponents. We have been hurt from the first week of practice."
On the inexperience of his team:
"The thing I will give this team credit for is that they play hard and they are focused all the time. It is a funny thing. It took us three years to be a Final Four team, to develop these guys. Now they are all playing professional basketball. None of these guys have been primetime players with the exception of Taquan [Dean]. It is a whole new team. It is going to take time to nurture this team. We may have survived a little bit if we were in Conference USA with this team, but surviving in the BIG EAST is another story."
On the lack of rebounding:
"YTou have to toughen up. That is one of the reasons we are not rebounding that well. They have to toughen up. Rebounding is a talent. It really is. It is not just about hard work. You haev to bale to take up space and be strong inside. They are young and they understand that. Hopefully we will get better."
On St. John's:
"They are tought. They get after you. They have quick hands and are hard nosed. They drive so much and draw fouls. I am impressed with them. They have the toughness to compete in the BIG EAST. They are going to have their shooting woes at times, but they make up with good defense, tenacity and toughness. They are going to be a tought basketball team."
