St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Rutgers, Feb. 15, 2007
2/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Head Coach Norm Roberts
On Rutgers:
???Rutgers is a very talented team. They have veteran players. There is a kid that can change the game with his three-point shot. J.R. Inman didn???t play against us last year. He is a very talented, long, 6-9 guy that can step out and shoot and cause us some match-up problems. Adrian Hill plays very well for them in the post. So last year, when they had big guys inside, they were physical but they weren???t great scorers. This year, Hill is a much better scorer. He and Ollie Bailey do a good job inside. [Jaron] Griffin is much more aggressive than he was last year.???
More on Rutgers:
???There is no Quincy Douby this year but they are doing it by group, by committee. They have some guys that can score the ball. They played very well and had every chance to win their game against UConn. They are a tough team.???
On his team???s focus:
???We???re not in a position to ever overlook anybody. That mindset never comes into the minds of any of our players. We don???t ever overlook anyone because we are the ones that are trying to get to the top. We know that people are just as talented as us or more talented. Rutgers is a talented team and has just as much talent as we have. We know we have to play at a high level in order to beat them.???
More on his team:
???Our guys know we???ve played well over the last three games, but we have to continue to play that way. We have to continue to compete every single night. I???m looking for everybody to step up. Everybody needs to play well and give us positive minutes when they are on the floor. We need to be aggressive and we need to get it from everybody.???
On last year???s loss to Rutgers:
???Players move on. They move on relatively quickly. These are different circumstances, a different team, different personnel and a whole different situation.???
Sophomore Forward Anthony Mason Jr.
On Thursday???s game against Rutgers:
???Our main focus is this Rutgers game, tomorrow. They beat us at home last year, so we owe them like any other team that comes in here and beats us. We have to come in with the right mentality. Knowing that we???re at home and we have a crowd advantage, we just have to play like we want. It???s coming down to the last few games and we???re feeling that sense of urgency that we have to play hard. We have to play harder for us, the fans and this whole program. I think it will be a big game for us.???
On the team???s recent play:
???We???re smarter and more experienced as a team. I think everybody has stepped up their game, individually and as a team. Everybody had to step it up and I had to step up my game to start playing harder, smarter and being more aggressive. It takes a team to win, but every individual has to do his own job.???
On the loss at Syracuse:
???I think we walk away from every loss thinking we should have won. I think we had a couple of slips on defense, two or three plays where we could have made them but we lost.???
Senior Forward Aaron Spears
On the difference between last year???s team and this year???s:
???We???re more talented. We???re a little older and have more experience. We know a little bit more about what it takes to win games.???
On Rutgers:
???We???re not looking ahead right now. We???re just looking at tomorrow and focusing on Rutgers. They are a hard working team. They like to rebound and they are very competitive. I know they are going to come in tomorrow and play hard.???
Senior Forward Lamont Hamilton
On Rutgers:
???We need to stay focused. We know that Rutgers is a good team. We know they are going to go on a run, just like in Syracuse, but we have to play hard and keep fighting back. We have to play more aggressively on defense and just play better.???
On the Syracuse loss:
???We all feel okay that we played pretty well at Syracuse but unfortunately we didn???t get the win. If we continue to play this way, we???ll be all right. I think we played real tough and never gave up even though they kept going on a couple of runs. We went on our own runs and stayed focused.???
On his team:
???We want to win very game and I feel that we???re in a good situation right now. We definitely should be in the BIG EAST tournament.???
Freshman Guard Larry Wright
On preparing for Rutgers:
???We have to pick it up a notch because we???re coming off a hard loss to Syracuse. Every game is important for us to make it to the BIG EAST Tournament. We just have to come prepared.???
On the Syracuse loss:
???As player, when you lose a tough game like that, people tend to put their heads down, but Coach picked us up in the locker room. He told us we played a hard game and things at the end didn???t go our way but things happen. I think we played real hard. We were down seven with a couple minutes left on the clock and we rallied back. It just showed us how good we could be if we stay together and play hard as a team.???
