St. John's University Athletics
St. John's vs. Brown Pregame Quotes
11/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. -
Head Coach Norm Roberts
On Malik Boothe
"He brings toughness and we want him to make plays. He is a leader everyday for us. Malik will execute for us and he is doing a great job."
On winning on the road
"Every game is a growing process for us. We have struggled on the road in the past few years, but our guys fought through and found a way to win. You always have to find a way to win."
On tomorrow's game against Brown
"There are no easy games. Every team is adjusting to each other and adjusting to conditioning and playing at game-pace. We can't let Brown feel comfortable and we have to be able to instill our will on the game. We need to attack offensively."
On the newcomers this season
`They are all talented kids and each of them is helping us in a different way. Lawrence played some quality minutes for us against St. Bonaventure and made his presence felt. That was something we needed. They give us more depth and more options."
On veteran leadership
Leadership is always important. Every game, we want to see something more from our guys. It all comes down to playing hard and rebounding the ball."
Junior Center Dele Coker
On team development this season
"We are better than we expected. We learned a lot from the close-game situation with St. Bonaventure and the team took a lot out of it. Coach was happy with our performance in the second half. We would have caved last year, but we ground out the win in the second half. We are more focused in the second half and understand the implications of the first five minutes of the second half on the game." On career-high four block performance against LIU
"I never see the ball coming. I see the ball and I go get it. My work in the offseason has really helped to improve my jump and my reaction time."
Junior Forward Justin Brownlee
On his performance this season
"It feels good to win and I am just trying to adjust to the offense. I am getting used to this level of play and things are coming together." On his transition from JUCO to Division I
"The game is played at a much faster pace. It started right away in practice. I am working with better athletes and it's exciting. It's just basketball to me." On the win over St. Bonaventure
"I was nervous in a close game like that, but Malik Boothe really cam through for us. I feel comfortable with him on the line. He is a leader at practice and everyday for our team."
Junior Forward D.J. Kennedy
On his confidence this season
"You spend the whole off season working so when the first game comes you are just pumped up and ready to play. You just play one game at a time and be consistent all year, so that's what I'm working towards. During the last few games, I've been shooting the ball pretty well and it's just hard work paying off. I am just playing with a lot of confidence."
On the depth of the team
"We can come in and give a 110% when we're out there. We are able to rest and finish fresh down the stretch."
On the road win against St. Bonaventure
"I definitely feel it was a great road win for us. It was good to get that road win early and build up a lot of confidence. I'm glad coach scheduled a game like that to just test us and see where we were. You have to give St. Bonaventure a lot of credit. They came to play. Anytime you're on the road, it's a lot tougher, no matter who you play, because they come in with a lot of confidence."
On the Red Storm defense
"Our offense is there, but we still have a lot of work to do. We are really trying to focus on our defense during key stretches and getting key stops. We need to be able to get stops late in the game. We found ourselves struggling in our first two games and we are just trying to focus on our defense."
