St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
12/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2008
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St. John's Head Coach Norm Roberts
On today's game:
"I thought our guys played pretty well. I thought we played well on the defensive end. I thought we did a good job of attacking the glass on the offensive end. Our transition defense wasn't as good as it needs to be in the second half. Chuck (Martin) has been doing a great job at Marist. That is a tough offense because they really spread you out. You really have to guard the ball. I thought we did a great job on the perimeter guys. I thought that was the key to the game."
On tomorrow's game:
"I just think we have to continue to try to get better. We have to fight through some injuries just like everybody in the country has to. I do like my guy's intensity. We play hard. We have to take better care of the basketball. We were a little sloppy in transition as well as in the half-court. We can't do that tomorrow against a good Virginia Tech team."
On his team:
"I think all of my teams try to take on my personality. I think my team last year did too but they were all little guys, they were young. I think we are somewhat more mature this year and fight through things a little bit better. We still have quite a ways to go but we fight through things a little bit better than we did last year. Last year we were so young they just did not know. So when things went bad, it just went bad. They didn't know how to respond to it. They know how to respond to a little better now."
Marist Head Coach Chuck Martin
On today's game:
"Give Norm (Roberts) and St. John's a lot of credit. Obviously they lost Justin Burrell and Anthony Mason a couple of weeks ago. Those guys are tough. They take on Norm's personality. They fight, they scrap. I have been in situations where a Big East opponent takes a MAAC team lightly. I give Norm and his staff credit. They came after us right away. We are a little depleted. The best player on our team didn't play tonight but even with him I am not sure what happens. It is a tough year for us. We knew that going in. I have to pick my spots."
On playing in Madison Square Garden:
"I have an enormous amount of respect for Norm (Roberts) and St. John's. I grew up in New York and there really was no other institution that you want to play for or coach at. When you come back home, so to speak, to the Garden you are excited. You want to share that with your team. You want your team to know that the Garden is a special place. For us, we don't get the opportunity to play here often so we want to make sure we get everything in. Hopefully we can learn something from this game and this environment and take back to league play."
