St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Men's Basketball Media Day Quotes
11/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 5, 2007
Head Coach Norm Roberts
On the team:
"We're really excited about our team: we've got a lot of young guys and the older guys have done a great job over the summer getting stronger - some losing weight some gaining weight. They're all working on their games to improve."
On practice the last couple of weeks:
"Practice is going well. The guys are really working hard and playing with a lot of energy. I'm excited to get it started. I am happy with the progress of the team. We'll get it going again against Molloy come Wednesday."
On the freshman:
"As young guys go, they've all stepped up at different times. They've all played well at different times and given us different things. You're going to see them all out there. They're all going to play. We're much more athletic with the freshmen we have, too."
On the veterans being leaders for the younger guys:
"They've done a good job. We constantly talk about leadership. Mason Jr. and Tomas (Jasiulionis) have stepped up, and Eugene (Lawrence) has been more vocal. I want them all to lead. I think for our freshman, the biggest thing about being good is communication. I want our guys to be able to communicate with one another, and they've done a good job of that."
On what Mason Jr.'s improvement will mean to the team this year:
"It's very important, he is our best perimeter player. He's got to be aggressive to score the ball. He can do so many things with his length, he's really worked on handling the basketball. We've played him a little bit at the point just to get him used to handling the basketball against the heat."
On the team getting younger:
"I don't know any team that loses seniors and gets older. That's just how it is. When you get younger you'd rather get younger and more talented. I think across the board we're probably deeper than at anytime I've been here."
Senior Guard Eugene Lawrence
On taking over the leadership role:
"I think it's a big role that I'm willing to take. I think I can handle that role. I just want be something like a big brother to the little guys. Since I've been here for a while, I can teach them some things."
On the freshmen:
"It's been fun watching all the new guys. Seeing that it's my senior year, and how fast time's gone by, I'm watching the young guys go through the same things that I did."
On Coach Roberts' leadership:
"Coach Roberts shows you how to be a man on and off the court. He teaches people how to handle their duties and responsibilities."
On his off-season conditioning:
"This off-season, my main goal was to become faster and more explosive, lose some weight and work on my jump shot. This summer we got a new strength and conditioning coach, I think he pushed everyone hard. That's one of the reasons I lost a lot of weight."
Junior Forward Anthony Mason Jr.
On the expectations of this season:
"We've got a group of young guys in here. We've worked hard in the off-season. In practice we're more aware of ourselves. I expect us to be a contender in the BIG EAST. I expect us to play as well as we can play and go further than we did last year."
On being a leader for the freshmen:
"The older people and I have been here for three years, we kind of got the system down-pat. Being around the young guys, we're showing them the way that things go and the way that St. John's does things. All together they've made a large impact from day one. I think everyone's progressed."
Freshman Forward Justin Burrell
On the change from high school to college ball:
"The biggest change is the strength. Players are lot stronger on this level."
On adjusting to Coach Roberts' system:
"I wouldn't say the system is that different from my previous system at Bridgeton Academy. I'm pretty familiar with it already. The only change is that everybody on the floor is now at a higher level. You might get a better screen now than you did back at high school."
Freshman Forward/Center Dele Coker
On his role this year in the middle:
"It feels different but I think I'm ready for that kind of role. I've been there, I've been to war, I've seen a lot of games, I see how things are supposed to be done. Now I have to step up to the plate and show some leadership."
On his new teammates:
"I love all of them. They're great players and great people."
On the team's improvements:
"We're consistently working on defense, playing hard defense like we're in a game."
On the system:
"I think this year we're going to play faster because we've got a lot of athletic people. We'll play more up-tempo."
On what he worked on during the off-season:
"I've been getting my body in shape for the season to run up and down the floor more. I've been working on rebounding and pretty much everything just all around."
Freshman Guard Malik Boothe
On the difference between last year's team and this year's:
"I think the big guys from last year, their feet weren't as quick as our guys are this year. I think we're going to be a better defensive team. We'll supply a lot of defensive pressure. We'll have a lot of steals from guys shooting the gap."
On playing for St. John's as a New York City kid:
"I'm going to be amp-ed, I'll be a little hyper just because it will be my first collegiate basketball game. That's the one I want to get out of the way so I can get the first-year jitters out."
On the transition from being a senor leader to freshman new guy:
"It's been easy, because we don't have just one leader or two leaders. We have 15 leaders, everyone is a leader. I'm not really a freshman newcomer, I'm a freshman leader."
Freshman Guard Mike Cavataio
On the team:
"We just play as hard as we can. With the leadership that Eugene (Lawrence) and Anthony (Mason Jr.) bring to the table, we all play like we have a chip on our shoulder. We've got something to prove to everybody. We're going out there to play as hard as we can. We have a tradition to prove here at St. John's and we want to show people that we're a team that's going to compete."
