St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Howard
11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2008
Head Coach Norm Roberts
On his message to the team after the loss to Boston College:
"I thought we did some good things, and we did some things that will help us later in the year. We have to get much tougher as far as rebounding the basketball and getting loose balls. Our ball-screen defense has to be better, our rotations have to be quicker. I thought we got beat in that last six or seven minutes. They kind of wore us down and we can't let that happen. They did some fundamentally sound things where we didn't. We have to get better at that. In the last five minutes of the second half we had five wide-open looks, and you have to make those shots. They were all good shots, all shots we are capable of making. If you make two of those shots, you're right in there down to the wire. Throughout the whole game we were making plays, but in those last minutes we didn't."
On the team's play coming off the bench:
"I'm confident in our guys. They just have to get experience. They have to play. It's tough to get Malik [Boothe] out of there because he does such a good job for us. We have to get our new guys some action, some seasoning, and they will all be fine. We just have to get them more time on the court."
On facing Howard this Saturday:
"Howard is very athletic. Their guards are big, they all post up and they run some flex. They have some real capable shooters on the outside that you have to guard. They are playing with a tremendous amount of confidence after beating Oregon State. They lost to Navy at Navy and just lost to American by two at home, and American is one of the best teams in the Colonial Conference. We have to make sure we out-pressure them and take them out of what they want to do. I think we have to play a little more inside-out. We played a little too much perimeter against Boston College. We have to be able to get inside and attack the basket either off the dribble or attack the basket off the inbound pass."
On playing three games in four nights:
"We're not going to approach it any differently, but I did tell our team that we need everybody. Playing the same guys 35 to 36 minutes in three games in four nights is going to be difficult to do so it's going to be important that our bench gives us something positive when they get in the game. Be focused and know what they are doing. It will be a great challenge for them, but something they are really looking forward to."
Freshman guard Quincy Roberts
On coming off the bench to relieve Malik Boothe at point guard:
"I try to come in and keep the team focused and pick up where Malik left off.
On adjusting to the college game:
"It's a lot of adjusting, but at the same time there are a lot of things I was used to. There are also things that I knew I would face at this level. So far it's been a good learning experience."
On how the team reacted to the first loss of the season:
"Of course we took it pretty bad at first, because it was our first loss. But eventually we grow from it. Every game we play we learn from our mistakes and try to become better as a team. Yesterday was our first practice after the Boston College game. At practice we really focused on the mistakes we made as well as during our film session and our walk through. At tonight's practice we'll probably focus on our boxing out and playing more physically as a team and being mentally tough."
Sophomore forward Justin Burrell
On the loss to Boston College:
"In the beginning, I felt we weren't paying attention to detail and doing the little things that we need to do. There were a couple of loose balls. We have a motto at St. John's that every loose ball has our name on it, and I really felt that we didn't really hold on to that."
On facing Howard tomorrow:
"I haven't gotten to watch a lot of film on them yet, but in the few clips I saw, they seem to move the ball very well, especially in their game against Oregon State. We are definitely going to need to work on jumping to the basketball and definitely being able to play "help-D" and also playing the passing lanes since they move the ball so often."
On losing the battle of the boards to Boston College:
"I do take it personally, because I am a rebounder. It goes back to us not coming up with the loose basketballs. We didn't grind for it. I'm not making excuses, but those are the kind of plays you have to make in order to win those kind of basketball games."
