St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: November 7, 2007 - St. John's vs. Molloy
11/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 7, 2007
St. John's Head Coach Norm Roberts
Opening Statement:
"I thought our guys did a good job. They worked very hard and tried to pressure defensively. We got a little tired at the end, but I was happy with the overall effort."
On working with a young team:
"You feel like you have to coach every play and every situation, but they are doing a great job learning. They are picking up what I teach them quickly. You have to be hard on them, but you also have to make them laugh a little bit so they relax. Sometimes they can get so wound up wanting to play well. I try to get after them and teach them to play through mistakes but don't let the second mistake happen."
On what impressed you the most tonight:
"I think we played with pretty good energy. I just got finished telling the team, all the fluff stuff is over with, everything is for real now and we have to pay more attention to detail. It's tough when you play a team like Molloy who essentially has five guards running around the floor. It was good for us to be out there. I thought our defense was pretty good at times. It can always get better and it will get better over time."
On what you look for from the freshmen in a season-opening scrimmage::
"I think you look for energy, I think you look for aggressive play, both offensively and defensively. You look for who flops and who shines when the lights are on. That will change game by game, but I thought for the most part they all did pretty good."
D.J. Kennedy
On playing every game hard:
"You have to play every game hard. It doesn't matter if there are 50 seconds left. The minute you put me on the court I am going to give 100 percent effort."
On starting in his first collegiate game:
"The moment was great, playing in my first college game and getting a chance to start. Anthony Mason helped me out a lot. He told me to be confident and play just like I do in practice."
On being a part of a large freshman class:
"I think its great being one of eight freshmen. We are all learning the same system, we're all coming in brand new, and we all don't know exactly what to expect, so it's great as we all learn the same stuff together."
Paris Horne
On stepping onto the court for the first time:
"I think as a team we all thought we had to prove something, but at the same time to come out and play and just have fun with it. Molloy played a great game, they kept the intensity up, but we knew we had to match it because we knew they were going to come in here and try to get a win. We practiced hard all year so far, so we just wanted to come out and play hard."
On being the player Eugene Lawrence and Anthony Mason Jr. said will impress this season:
"It's a compliment. They know I am going to go out every day in practice and work hard, whatever coach wants me to do or they want me to do I am going to go out and do it."
Justin Burell
On keeping the intensity throughout the game:
"Coach told us to keep the intensity up, but it is something you must do in order to win."
Molloy Head Coach Charles Marquardt
On tonight's game:
"Tonight's game was a matter of St. John's beating us up right away in the first half. It was 17-12 and we were hanging around after their first run. They took another run from there and we didn't respond well. We played a little better in the second half so we'll build on that. St. John's is a quality team and Norm is a quality man."
On Molloy's players:
"I saw from our players spots of good. They were inconsistent at times. They worked hard most of the game but not smart. We have work to do on the offensive end and keeping our sets going. Our post players did good but we got outplayed at the guard spots."
On playing a local New York team:
"It's great. I have so much respect for Coach Roberts and his program. We go way back to when he was at Queens when we had the pleasure of coaching against each other. Playing against one of the top teams in the northeast and in the country, with their history and with their 100 year anniversary is special."
