St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's v. Florida State
3/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 21, 2010
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
ST. JOHN'S - March 21, 2010
HEAD COACH Kim Barnes Arico:
Q: If you pull this off tomorrow have you dared to even think about what this would mean as far as visibility?
A: I'm sure it would just be an exciting time for New York City and St. John's University, for New York basketball in general, and it would help us in so many ways. I haven't given much of a chance to enjoy that yet, because we need to make sure we take care of business tomorrow. Florida State is a top ten program, I think all year long, and they have had the opportunity to play on their home court tomorrow so it's going to be a very difficult challenge for us. I was happy the way we came out yesterday, I feel like our confidence is really good and our players really believe that they have the opportunity to be really successful. I know it's going to be from a coach's standpoint it's going be very challenging of us and if that does happen, I'm sure we will celebrate it after the fact, but right now we just have to prepare for Florida State because they are a top program.
Q: The fact that you're playing the third weekend in March, this is when a lot of states, New York included, is having their state tournament, has recruiting been a bit difficult with games and scouting?
A: I think that's a great thing about having such a big staff and a lot of assistant coaches is that you know every one has their own responsibilities. They can all monitor that and make sure I'm where I'm supposed to be and taking care of what I'm supposed to be taking care of. Obviously my main focus is Florida State and getting our team prepared when we play them and also at the same time to have our players enjoy the moment, because this is a place where we haven't been in a long time. It's a place where nobody on our team has been and to have this opportunity especially the seniors to be where we are right now, I kind of want them to enjoy the moment a little bit, but still have something to prove.
Q: How many crowds have you played in front of on the road that has been that loud?
A: That was nice yesterday, but we've played Connecticut which has around 15,000 people, and we play at Rutgers, Rutgers has a great crowd, and at DePaul and they have a great crowd, and I think we've been fortunate to play some of those games on the road, and like our kids said we played at North Carolina. We beat Rutgers; we beat De Paul on the road in front of those crowds and played UCONN in front of that crowd. So for the kids it kind of gets them excited and motivated. And my kids are so naive that "oh there's a crowd here, people are here to watch me play" they don't know there not there to watch them play. They think if they do something well there going to win the crowd, so I think our kids will be excited to play in front of that kind of atmosphere.
SENIOR Kelly McManmon
Q: How difficult will it be for the next 30 hours or so to just think about Florida State and not think about the Sweet Sixteen?
A: I don't think it's going to be that difficult. We're pretty focused on Florida State. Whatever happens after that happens but we really want to take care of it one game at a time and keep our focus on tomorrow.
Q: Having getting used to playing here, will there be a big different tomorrow night?
A: I think we'll be a little more comfortable coming in. We hadn't played in a while and definitely makes a difference getting a game under your belt here and coming back. I think the more we play here, the more comfortable we'll get and hopefully that will help us out tomorrow.
Q: You've played fairly solid on the road this year. How much will you draw upon that tomorrow?
A: I think we really come together when we're on the road more than ever. We pride ourselves on being road warriors and I think that is going to be especially important tomorrow. So hopefully we can just keep going back to what's been helping us be successful all year.
SOPHOMORE Da'Shena Stevens
Q: Is Florida State the kind of size you are used to playing against?
A: I think we are used to it. We've played against big players such as Tina Charles and USF had a couple of big players too. We're just going to focus on what we do best against bigger teams and try to just limit their touches than we'll be alright.
Q: How tough do you think it's going to be dealing with the versatility of Florida State's team:
A: I think they're just as similar as us. Any night anybody can come out and contribute on the offensive end but I think it will really be a defensive battle to see who will be able to stop whatever team. I think it will be really important to focus on the defensive because I think they can score a lot of points. They have different people that can score but so can we so I think it will depend on who gets the stops at the end of the game.
FRESHMAN Shenneika Smith
Q: Did anything jump out to you about Florida State in yesterday's game?
A: Florida State is a really good team and we're going to have to play our best to beat them because they're home and the crowd is very into the game. So we're just going to have to focus on just playing together and holding each other down because their crowd is going to be loud and they're going to play real hard because they're home. Hopefully we just come out and play our game and take home the win.
Q: Will you embrace the challenge of silencing the crowd?
A: We don't really focus on the crowd. We just come out and play as hard as we can. The word road warriors mean a lot to us because we've stuck by since the beginning of the season when we've been on the road and we've been successful for the most part so we're not changing much and just come out and play hard.
