St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
11/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2008
Head Coach Norm Roberts
Opening Statement:
"I thought we played with good energy in spurts. We finished the game the way we needed to. We botched a couple of plays when they trapped us, but the thing that I like about my guys is that they come back. For example, Sean (Evans) missed an easy layup but then he came back and had a three-point play off of a loose ball, we really needed that. All the guys stepped up. I thought Dele (Coker) was terrific, he did a great job playing with energy and I think he can only get better. Rob Thomas is starting to feel more comfortable, he can really score around the basket. He did a really great job just as Sean did in the first half. What he did tonight is what he is really capable of doing."
On the balance of the team with Anthony Mason Jr. out :
"We want everyone to be aggressive and step up. Everybody's got to rebound and get to loose balls. Everybody's got to defend. But we'd really be the same if Mason was here, we'd be trying to do the same thing."
On Rob Thomas's performance:
"It doesn't surprise me because I know he's capable of scoring. The thing with Rob is understanding the speed of the game and the defensive intensity that you have to bring to the game. Today he played with a fire and a passion and he went after balls and he made plays that weren't even there. He found ways to get it up there."
Redshirt-Sophomore Forward Rob Thomas
On the first breakthrough performance of his career:
"[Playing this well] felt really good. Coach has given me the opportunity to step up, and I can definitely use this game as a building block. It was time for this to happen. I've been waiting two years for this to happen."
On the health of his knee:
"I feel like I'm 100-percent. I feel comfortable running around on the court: cutting without the ball, moving my feet, it's really no big problem now. Conditioning-wise, I'm getting there, but I feel there's some room for improvement. It has to get there if I want to come out and play."
Sophomore Forward Paris Horne
On stepping up in the absence of teammate Anthony Mason Jr.:
"It's an opportunity for everyone to step up. Coach told everyone to be ready to play. I feel like I can keep this up every game. I've been doing it all my life. Whatever role coach wants me to have I will play during the game."
On the difference between last year's team and this year's:
"Last year we were young. We might've at times been so close to closing out games. This year we know what we have to do and we're getting better as a team. We have to move on and learn how to play another game and it looks better this year than last."
Sophomore Forward Justin Burrell
On the quality of the opponents the past two nights
"Loyola was a really physical team and Eastern Michigan ran a lot of sets that caused us to make changes and have to play at a faster speed. The little things like that have been like real-life drills for us to set up and get ready for BIG EAST play."
On closing out games better now as opposed to last year:
"I feel like we're better at closing out games than we were last year. We didn't close out games well last year. We pick up and learn from our mistakes and learn that we must close out better."
Loyola Head Coach Jim Whitesell
Thoughts on the game:
"We did a good job of coming back in the first half to make it interesting. When St. John's came out and played well the first five minutes of the second half they took us out of some of the things we wanted to do offensively."
On playing St. John's:
"St. John's is a big, athletic and very exciting team. They're fun to watch and this is a great place to play a basketball game. They should be well supported; this is going to be a good team."
On the upcoming schedule:
"We're returning home after a tough road swing. We played Cornell and Purdue at their home places. We have to learn from the good competition that we've faced as well as learn from our mistakes, grow up and get a lot better. Hopefully, we've learned a little bit more about ourselves tonight."
