St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Georgetown
1/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2008
St. John's Head Coach Norm Roberts
On junior forward Anthony Mason Jr. stepping up to fill the leadership role:
"He's doing a good job of scoring, he's doing a good job of talking and being a leader and those kinds of things. I've spoken to him and he's kind of stepped up on his own. However, we have to do it as a team. We have to get out of it as a team. There are no easy games, we have to battle through. We are playing one of the top teams in the country tomorrow night and we are going to have to play our very best. We are going to have to build on it and get better every single day."
On the season so far:
"We're young and we're playing good teams and the one thing we stress to the team is that we started the season off with seven of the best BIG EAST teams. We just have to get better at key moments of the game and making plays when the game is on the line."
On senior Eugene Lawrence vs. freshman Malik Boothe at point guard:
"Eugene is a little hobbled right now and Malik has been playing more and more every game. Sometimes that's not advantageous to us because of Malik's size and we have been playing some very big teams. Pittsburgh and Louisville have a lot of size. Having Eugene and Malik together is what makes us strong. I have a lot of confidence in Malik. He's been a very good player for us this year and I have confidence every time we put him out there."
On guarding Georgetown's Roy Hibbert:
"I don't have one guy that is going to go after Roy Hibbert. It's going to have to be a team effort. Hibbert is probably one of the best players in our league. He's done a tremendous job, he's huge. We're going to have to play good team defense, try to limit his touches and try to keep him away from the basket. We're going to do it as a team."
Freshman Guard Paris Horne
On turning it around after a tough loss at Louisville:
"It's about sticking together. We know we're a young team and every young team goes through ups and downs. We just have to fight our way out of it. You have to win your home games, especially in this conference. Playing Georgetown is going to be a tough game, but if we keep practicing hard anything is possible. The BIG EAST is full of surprises, we just have to get that `W.' We just have to play our game and come out hard."
On playing No. 6 Georgetown:
"If we get that win and upset a team like Georgetown it's going to feel really good. We're kind of in the slumps right now and we are trying to fight our way out. If we can pull out a win it will feel really good and will give the team more confidence to move on."
On junior forward Anthony Mason Jr.'s leadership:
"We see his leadership growing. He's really pushing us and getting us to work hard and play hard and we all just follow behind him. We know we all just want to get through this thing together."
Sophomore Guard Larry Wright
On playing at Madison Square Garden against No. 6 Georgetown:
"I feel like this is why everyone chose St. John's, to play against the highest competition. This is one of the hardest conferences in America. I believe every freshman came here to get all of this exposure, to play on television in the best games against the best teams."
On keeping the freshmen's morale up after a couple conference losses:
"It all starts at practice. We compete every day. We don't stop playing. It's just the little things that have been hurting us in the games, like not getting to loose balls, missed open shots and free throws. All those things we have to work on."
On breaking the current slump:
"No one likes to lose. It makes us more hungry to win the next one. Coming out and losing close games hurts but you have to come out and play."
