St. John's University Athletics
Post Game Quotes: St. John's vs. Duke
2/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Madison Square Garden
St. John???s vs. Duke
February 25, 2007
St. John???s Head Coach Norm Roberts
On today???s game:
???Give Duke a lot of credit. They have a terrific team. We got ourselves down too much in the first half. We had some bunnies and a couple of open shots and we didn???t make them. Losing Mason in the first half with fouls really hurt our team because of lack of our depth. We did compete much harder in the second half. From that aspect that was good. We just can???t get ourselves down that much that early.???
On the second half:
???Basically what we talked about at halftime was playing with more pride and more urgency and getting through those screens. Duke is a very opportunistic team. We turned it over and we talked about how they (turn) turnovers into points. It wasn't really like they were scoring against our half court defense even in the first half. We were overplaying, gambling when we didn???t need to and then Paulus hits threes. Or they got second shots, kicked it out and hit threes. I thought they scored more like that than against our defense but give them credit. They have a lot of good players and they made the plays.???
More on today???s game:
???I think we got tired but I also think their pressure got to us at moments. We took some ill advised shots. We got the ball to seven feet of the basket at least eight times. You have to come up with points. In the second half, people say we played so much better. No, we put the ball in the basket. We made shots. We didn???t do as good of a job in the first half. Give (Josh) McRoberts credit. Lamont (Hamilton) made some good moves, but he is so big he blocked him anyway.???
On pressing Duke late:
???We were just trying to win the game. We were getting up, trying to pressure them, trap them really quick to get a quick steal. We are not just capable of playing that way the whole game. We don???t have enough depth. Our talent level isn???t like that yet. We can play that way in spurts and we did that at the end of this game.???
Eugene Lawrence
On Duke???s pressure:
???They are probably one of the most aggressive defenses we have faced. They spread us out and had us taking quick shots.???
On the second half:
???I think we picked it up in the second half when we needed to. We tried to come back. We played hard.???
Lamont Hamilton
On today???s game:
???It is frustrating. I was just rushing. I wasn???t feeling his body and I was just rushing. He is a good player and he did a good job.???
Anthony Mason Jr.
On today???s game:
???They did a good job of pressuring the ball in the first half. We had to adapt in the second half to the pressure.???
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
On today???s game:
???We are obviously pleased about the win. We were concerned about coming into the game (because) we have just played three really emotional games in our conference when we were 5-6 and won all three, two of them away. With the young team we have, I was worried about letting up. We didn???t. We were very prepared to play. We played great defense in the first half. I thought the last few minutes, on offense, our minds started wandering a little bit. We weren???t as sharp. In the second half, I told our kids, St. John???s has really good players. I like (Lamont) Hamilton a lot. He is just a tough match-up for us. They are going to come out. They are going to play. This is their home court. This is their city. They had more of an edge in the second half. They played better than we did in the second half. We played well enough in the second half. We played brilliantly in the first half where we won the game and we weren???t in danger but I would liked to have played better in the second half obviously.???
On Greg Paulus, Josh McRoberts and DeMarcus Nelson:
???Greg played great. He shot so well in the Gonzaga game and in this game. His five threes were huge. And Josh???s ball handling and ability to handle things, those two guys and DeMarcus, our three veterans, were kind of like the key guys today.???
On Duke???s zone:
???I thought it took them (St. John???s) out of their normal area, where they run their normal offense. We reviewed some tapes of them in their recent games. They played against a lot of zone. There must be a lot of zone in the Big East which is fine. What that does is that you can get into an area of deployment and it is comfortable and you have a better chance of hitting shots. What we did, I think, was different and it is tough for them to simulate that. They don???t see it everyday. Usually, if you see it everyday you are going to do a better job. In the second half they adjusted to it better. They scored 40 points so they adjusted to it very well.???
On Josh McRoberts:
???I think he had six blocks. More than that, he had a presence in there. Some people say he would be better if he scored more. He impacts the game in every way. He can dribble the ball up the court, he can pass it, he rebounds it, he can score. He is not a prolific scorer, but as a result of his talents we become more of an offensive team. He is a hell of player and he has had a great year for us.???
On having an early big lead:
???It is a good situation to be in where you have a big lead which is what we haven???t had in most of our games. It is uncharted waters for us and we don???t know how to navigate (it yet). When you get a big lead like that early, there is a lot of the game left. If you are doing a good job against a team defensively, it takes the pressure off. You can wander during those times. I was coaching the second half like it was the Final Four. Not nervous, angry. We can???t lose a game like that. Obviously, we are getting better. When we have a big lead we let up but that is a good problem to have. I can work on that. Give St. John???s credit, they didn???t give up.???
On playing a non-ACC team:
???We have always scheduled games (here). St. John???s has been a great series for us and for basketball. At times, we play other teams. It is our bye weekend in our conference. Where some teams choose to not play, we have always played a non-conference opponent. Again, it is a home and home so sometimes it is at our place. This year it has been better for us because we have been on the road all month???it seems like.
On playing in Madison Square Garden:
It is always great to play in this venue. It is a bigger venue like you play in the NCAA tournament. We tried to simulate it with one day preparation like the second game of a weekend if we are fortunate to win one game. It is rehearsal. March is bigger games and you are constantly getting your team ready for that.???
