St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Cincinnati
1/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. -
Head Coach Norm Roberts
On the health of the team:
"Malik [Boothe] is out. We went to the doctor and they told us that he will need another two weeks after having the pin removed from his hand. It is still very tender. Obviously [Anthony] Mason is out. Rob Thomas is also out with a groin strain. He is getting better day-by-day and we hope to have him back for Saturday's game vs. Rutgers."
On the play of Paris Horne:
"He has been great for us but I am not really surprised by it. He puts the time in and works very hard. He is putting in the effort and getting the fruits of his labor. His play reminds me of Luther Head, who now plays for the Houston Rockets, when I was at Illinois. He is very similar in his energy, his ability to make plays in transition, the way he runs and how he defends. They have similar size and a similar motor."
On D.J. Kennedy being the team's leading scorer and rebounder:
"We always want him to go to the glass. He does a great job of putting himself in position to rebound from a defensive standpoint. He does an even better job of attacking the ball. He is a guy that is a jack of all trades and can do so many different things for you. He can handle the ball, make plays for others, attack the basket, shoot the ball, rebound and especially defend."
Sophomore swingman D.J. Kennedy
On his play this season:
"I am not a big stats guy so I just work hard and go out and play hard. Once you are on the court you need to produce and I have really been producing lately. At the beginning of the season and during the summer I knew that I had to produce for this team to be successful.
On being the leading scorer on a BIG EAST team in his second season:
"The competition I played against in high school helped a lot. I went against some of the top players in the country. I always wanted to work hard and be on top."
On stepping up in place of Anthony Mason Jr.:
"During the game, you can look to whoever has the hot hand that night; it is not just me, it's everybody. It matters in the flow of the game who is hot and having the right timing."
Sophomore guard Paris Horne
On scoring to start the game:
"We try to get D.J., myself or Justin [Burrell] going early because we know that if one of us is doing well the other two can feed off of that. We just look for one another and try and make it hard for the defenders."
On D.J. Kennedy:
"We worked together all summer. We knew coming in this year that D.J. would have a lot of the scoring load and rebounding because he can do it so well. We all knew he could do it, and it is really starting show now. He has really improved on finding people and creating shots."
On guarding Cincinnati's Deonta Vaughn:
"I like it. I'll stick whoever I have to stick. I like the challenge. Vaughn can be on or off the ball. He is physical and can get his own shot. He can get shots for others, which is a little different from [LaVance] Fields and [Kyle] McAlarney."
