St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: Feb. 9, 2008 - vs. Providence
2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. -
Head Coach Norm Roberts
On staying positive and driving towards the goal of making the BIG EAST Tournament:
"What we talk to our guys about, and if you look at our league it's been this way, every game is a different scenario. Every one, it does not matter. It doesn't matter if you get beat by 20 on Wednesday and come back and beat a team on Saturday. You have to focus in on the game at hand. Sometimes things don't go right for you, but you can't keep your head down. You've got to learn from your mistakes, look at film and see what you did wrong. Then you build off of that and make sure you don't make the same mistakes."
On the toughness of the league:
"We went through a real tough stretch - which we're going to have more of because that's just how this league is - but we went though a stretch of playing very good teams away from home, like West Virginia, and we had to get through that with a young team. Now over the last two games we've paid a lot more attention to detail and we learned from our mistakes."
On this weekend's match-up and the rest of the schedule:
"We know we have a tough battle on Saturday with Providence, they're a tough team. They were coming off losing four in a row, just like Villanova was coming off five in a row. There are a lot of teams that are in the same boat that we're in. You just have to fight your way out of it and try to get better and better. You have to keep your guys positive."
On learning from a game like the loss to Georgetown:
"I think its all part of the process. You have to take your lumps. Before you run, you have to walk first. In our league you don't get any breathers because every game is tough. What we're trying to get our guys to concentrate on is what they're doing right, how we they prepare for games, and understand that it's not high school."
On freshman forward Justin Burrell:
He's got a terrific basketball IQ. He's smart and he knows the game. He's willing to bang and be physical. I think we're getting him to be more aggressive offensively. His game is going to expand more and more. His practice habits have gotten better and he really tries to get better day and day. That's why he's got a chance to be a really good player."
Freshman Guard Mike Cavataio
On playing more minutes lately:
"It feels good to be on the court and contributing to the team. It has definitely been a good experience, but it's more important that we win. Whether I scor two points or just get out there and grab a few rebounds, I just want us to win the game."
On how important winning a number of these remaining games and hopefully making the BIG EAST Tournament:
"It's definitely important to get wins. As a majority of us are freshman, I think it would be a great opportunity for us to play in the BIG EAST Tournament. Even though we've played a lot of the top teams, we still have a lot of great teams to go. We have to do the same things we've been doing (these last two games)."
On playing at home after two road wins:
"It's nice to come back and play at home and play for our fans. We need to keep the momentum."
On the last couple of weeks of practice:
"Practice has been good and the focus is so much more improved. The energy is there, we're playing smarter basketball. We're focusing more and concentrating on the small things we need to do."
Freshman Guard Larry Wright
On playing at home:
"It's very important to keep the momentum. Home games are important in the BIG EAST. This is a game that we need to get back up in the rankings. A win will help us a lot."
On what's he's trying to do more at practice:
"I'm trying to open up my game more. A lot of teams look at me as someone who is just shooting 3's so I have to work on bringing it to the basket and going to the line more. Coach also told me to be more aggressive on defense."
On how he structures his game:
"I take what the defense gives me. A lot of it depends on how the flow of the offense is going. If the defense is playing off me I'll shoot the three. It can also help to have the big guys like Justin Burrell and Dele Coker down low so that they can grab a rebound."
Freshman Guard Paris Horne
On the importance of tomorrow's game:
"Tomorrow is extremely big. We have to take advantage of every home game, especially in this league. This league's been going up and down so we have to win this home game. We need this before we go out on the road."
On the past two road wins:
"We always knew we could do it if we stick together like coach said. We've been working hard at practice everyday. It's working so we just have to continue from here on out."
On if the Georgetown loss was a wake-up call:
"A lot of guys took that to heart. Everyone has pride and no one likes losing like that. We've just come in here and worked hard and we're just going to continue to do that."
