St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes vs. St. Bonaventure
12/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2010
- Head Men's Basketball Coach Steve Lavin
On St. Bonaventure:
"They are very quick and athletic. They execute well in the half-court. They have an incredible ability to play through (Andrew) Nicholson, who has close to a double-double average. He shoots the ball well from the free throw line, so you have to be prudent with your fouls because he will make you pay from the charity stripe. They've got some players coming off games where they have the hot hand like (Ogo) Adegboye. He had seven three-point shots and distributed the ball well with his teammates. They present some challenges for our team, and in particular, our defense. We'll have to have an awareness of where Nicholson is on the floor at all times. I know he's on some draft boards. I've talked to some friends that I have in the NBA, and he clearly is a prospect for the next level."
On the team's inconsistent free throw shooting:
"We didn't talk a great deal about it. We did shoot free throws as we always do. We did what we call pressure free throws where if they make the free throws they don't have to run, if they miss them then they do. We did some free throw shooting after we ran, while we're tired and fatigued and mechanics and fundamentals are more important. I thought last game we were worn down, possibly from the trip to Saint Mary's and Alaska and the early wakeups and two-a-day practices. We gave our players some adequate time off, hoping that we could regenerate and have more energy for this upcoming stretch of games. It's a fine line because we're still implementing our system and style of play. We have to elevate our level of execution, both in our defensive rotations and our offensive half-court sets. There are so many aspects of play that we have to continue to build on, but we have to be mindful of not wearing our kids down and making sure that they have enough energy for the games."
On Paris Horne's defensive pressure:
"We refer to him as the Energizer Bunny and Tasmanian Devil. He has a relentless tenacity and is a spirited leader and selfless basketball player. He is a great competitor. He's like our Bruce Bowen. Bowen helped that San Antonio team win championships. He can be a shutdown defender. You can put him on a player that has the hot hand and he can shut the water off. His contributions are both tangible and intangible. He had a career-high eight rebounds against Wagner. He's had timely steals and offensive rebounds against Arizona State. He has put pressure on the ball in the full court press. He's a utility player that can do a number of things exceptionally well. His strengths lend themselves to our style of play."
Senior Point Guard Malik Boothe
On the plan for stopping St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson, having faced him last year:
"I remember he had a good game against us and had like 26 and missed maybe three shots. I think we've got to force our will against him. We've got to get him to play our style of play - a fast pace, a fast tempo and push the ball. We've got to pressure them and execute."
On if he and Malik Stith have worked together to improve this season:
"We never really work together about it, but we do really talk to each other. I watch him and watch the things that he does and I don't know if he watches some of the things that I do, but I try take some of the things he does well and I try to implement that into my game."
On being no. 2 in the nation in turnovers per game (9.5 topg through Dec. 5 games):
"That's something that the coaches have really be emphasizing from day one. They told us that we really can't turn the ball over. I think that it's even better for us because we're playing at such a fast pace and we're still taking care of the ball."
Senior Forward Justin Burrell
On what he recalls from last year's game against St. Bonaventure, in particular Andrew Nicholson:
"I remember his jump hooks. He has the best jump hook I've seen in a long time. He's really tough in the post. On offense, we're really going to have to attack him and get him out of the game and in some foul trouble. We have to attack him on offense and make him play defense. A great offensive player like that, you have to make him work on both sides of the floor. On defense, what we'll probably do is send some different traps at him, make uncomfortable and try to get him a little rattled, make him do things he's not accustomed to doing."
