St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 64, Syracuse 60
1/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. John???s Head Coach Norm Roberts
On today???s game:
???That was a heck of a game. Our guys really competed throughout the whole game. Syracuse is a tremendous team. They have unbelievable athletic ability and can really score the ball. Defensively, we really did a great job on the glass, which Syracuse is great at. We stayed aggressive the whole game. We didn???t get down. When guys made shots, we just came right back and made shots and made plays. If we made turnovers, we didn???t worry about it. We played with a lot of pride and toughness tonight so I am very proud of my team.???
On double session practices:
???We didn???t practice the first time and our focus wasn???t really good so we decided to come back a little bit later that night, refocus and do it a little bit better. We did a lot of intensity drills and a lot of contact drills to make guys move more aggressively and we played more aggressive tonight.???
On the program having expectations:
???These guys are great kids but over the last three or four years they haven???t had any expectations at all. It is a different atmosphere for them. We probably haven???t done as well as we could have. Those things happen. What we keep trying to tell these guys is to focus in. You can???t get back yesterday. You just have to focus in and do everything you can and realize you are blessed. You are playing in a great league and just go out there and play your heart out and good things will happen. Sometimes it doesn???t happen for you but tonight good things happened for us.???
On the importance of this win:
???Every win is important. We don???t over-emphasize any one game. Obviously, playing a great program like Syracuse and winning this game is huge for us. Every game is big in this league. Everyone is beating up on one another so you are never really out of it. You can stay in it if you can get hot at the right time. We have to build from this game and bring it on Tuesday.???
Sophomore Foward Anthony Mason
On today???s game:
???I think our whole team felt the urgency (of playing well) and that is why we played as hard as we did. I was just in the right place as the right. I think the urgency was there. We just lost two in a row and Syracuse is a great team so (we knew) we had to come out and play hard.???
On bouncing back after the losing streak:
???We are supposed to be a real good team this year and we are. We can???t be going on four game losing streaks and not playing as hard as we can or playing to our potential. We all felt bad. That is what we got into practice the next day and played real hard. We brought that over to the game today.???
More on today???s game:
???We came in more pepped up and more enthusiastic. It was a big game for us.???
Junior Guard Eugene Lawrence
On the fans:
???I feel like the fans stuck with us even when we weren???t playing to our capabilities. I thought they stuck with us when we lost games we should have won and they stuck with us against Syracuse.???
On the importance of this game:
???I felt like this was a must win. Key players make key plays to put you in a situation to win the game at the end. AP (Avery Patterson), during the stretch, made some key plays to make sure we were in a situation to win the game. Mase (Anthony Mason Jr.) made some key plays to keep us in the game. That is what key players have to do.???
Junior Guard Avery Patterson
On his crucial plays at the end of the game:
???I wasn???t really worried about my jump shot. I was just trying to do the little things. My teammates kept telling me to shoot the ball. Mase (Anthony Mason) kept telling me it was going to fall.???
Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim
On today???s game:
???This game was pretty much the way we have been playing. We made some bad turnovers that gave them some easy baskets. We have fought back when we were behind all year. We fought back, got the lead, and they made some big shots at the end. When you are in a close game it is going to come down to a shot. They made two big shots at the end of the game. I am just disappointed in our inside effort and rebounding. We missed a lot of free-throws. In his league, you can???t do that. In this league, wherever you play you are going to play someone who is good enough to win. Tonight St. John???s made some plays at the end and that was the difference in the game. I was disappointed in our transition defense. Two or three times we didn???t get back and gave them some easy baskets. You can???t give anyone easy baskets in this league. At the end we made some really good plays to get back in the game and they made two good plays that was pretty much was the game.???
