St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Louisville
1/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2011
- Head Coach Steve Lavin
On Dwight Hardy's ability to handle Louisville's press:
"The way you attack Louisville's press is with good spacing, quick ball movement, and aggressively attacking the press to score. You have to use judgment at the end of the press attack to not take that in-between shot. You either have to get a layup or draw a foul or break it off and run your half-court offense. When a pressing team is most effective is when they turn you over or make you take a quick shot, that in-between shot."
On how to prepare for the press:
"The beauty is from the first day of practice, we go against each other and our full-court press. There couldn't be a better scenario, in terms of being a full-court pressure team ourselves, in that we face our changing pressure schemes. Naturally, any time you're away from home, you are in tougher conditions and they are a really good basketball team. They are well-coached. You've seen what they've been able to do in terms of the runs that they go on."
On the personality of Pitino's Louisville teams:
"His teams over the years have had full-court pressure, attacking the three-point line and playing with organized reckless abandon. It's like Pete Carroll's football teams where he got his guys to play like they had their heads on fire, but in an organized way.
Senior Forward Justin Burrell
On what the team expects from Louisville:
"We've seen a little bit, individually watching the games in the locker room. But we haven't had a chance to break down the film yet with the coaching staff."
On what he thinks of Louisville based on what he has seen:
"I remember Coach Pitino talking about how they wanted to play fast. Even in practice, they put in a 24-second shot clock, kind of how we want to do things. So they kind of mirror us in certain aspects, pressing and getting back to make turnovers and play at high speed to make it uncomfortable, which they don't like to do. That's the style of basketball that we want play at the same time, so it will be interesting to see how that pans out for us."
On what Coach Lavin and his staff have brought to the team this year:
"Coach Lavin and his staff, they've brought in a different style energy as far as these guys are particular about everything. And when I say everything, I literally mean everything. Everything is totally different. In practice, there's more energy. They pay attention to every single detail. They want to make sure when we pass a chest pass, our thumbs snap the ground. When we catch the ball, everything must be a jump stop. Off the court as well - I mean they check our classes consistently, throughout the day, making sure that we attend classes. There's no going to class late - you have to be on time. They call us throughout the night, just to make sure we're all right. We hang out all the time. When we get food to eat, they take us to different places. Everything is totally different. They just brought in a winning mentality at the same time."
On the upcoming BIG EAST schedule:
"The BIG EAST is the conference of college basketball, in my opinion. There are so many different historical teams, teams that compete at the highest level throughout college basketball in history. So, to play in this conference and to play that type of schedule and that type of thing, it's only a plus. There's nothing bad that can happen from that."
On how the team's maturity will help the team during this difficult stretch of the schedule:
"Most definitely. I can remember - I don't know if it was last year or two years ago - but at one point, we played No. 1, 2 and 3 in a matter of two weeks. And we really were like, 'Oh man. This is going to be crazy to do this and try to pull it out.' But there's none of that in the locker room right now. We're pretty confident going into every single game, knowing that we can win this game. We've seen, like I said, No. 1, 2 and 3, all in a matter of two weeks. We definitely know we've got a good opportunity and we really want to take advantage of it."
On what the team has figured out to find success on the road this year:
"Most importantly, when you play a big game on the road, you have to come out from the jump, with a lot of energy. A lot of times, the home crowd and different things will affect the home team and give you energy when you feel you don't have it. So being that we have so many seniors, we understand that and we know that. That's what enables us to have a lot of energy. We all talk, get each other going. Then when you get in those road games, you have to be very very strong with the ball because a lot of times you might not get those calls or something like that on away games. So you definitely have to work hard at protecting the ball and you really have to stay focused on the team's plan and the scouting. We have to make sure we stay particular to whatever the coaching staff asks us to do."
On what part of the coaching staff's strong road routine helps on the road:
"We watch a lot of film on the road and also we always do a guard-forward meeting to discuss what the guards must do and we have a meeting for what the forwards must do. That really helps us lock into games and lock into what we need to do individually. So I would that helps out a lot. When we get to shootaround, our coaching staff knows exactly what they want."
Freshman Forward Dwayne Polee II
On how he feels his freshman year is going:
"So far, everything's going pretty good. We started out 3-0 (in the BIG EAST) and then we dropped two games, but now we have found our swag again. So now we're just trying to go into Louisville with the momentum from our last game."
On how he has adjusted his game to the college level:
"Since the guys that I'm playing against are usually bigger and stronger than me, I'm just trying to used my quickness to get around them and get to my spots and then just help my team on offense and defense."
On what he has learned about the difference between home and road games at the college level:
"Just the atmosphere really. One shot, it will silence the crowd. Also, one shot or one dunk and it can awaken the crowd. So it's a big difference."
On if his responsibilities have changed over the course of the season:
"Just be more aggressive. When we have all five of our starters being aggressive and scoring and getting after it on defense, then we have people coming off the bench being aggressive on offense and defense, we're just a whole 'nother team."
On if he feels drained at all competing night-in and night-out against high-level competition:
"They know what it's like to go through a long stretch what it's like to go against ranked teams. For me, I'm just now starting. It's a big difference, so I'm just trying to get used to it right now."
On who on this team has demonstrated leadership skills he will emulate next year:
"Probably Dwight Hardy and Justin Burrell. They're both vocal leaders and they both lead by example. So that's the way to do it, to lead by example and leading with your voice."
Senior Guard Dwight Hardy
On if Louisville's press could be a tough test for him at point guard:
"Yeah it could be. I know teams haven't been pressing us yet this season. It will be a test for me, but I think I can handle it well. Just take my time and just find an open player when they set up their press and I'll be fine."
On what adjustments he has made to his game over the past year:
"Just my mental state, which is staying positive and being aggressive on every catch. I'm trying to be a leader now, step up from last year. All the little things - just being a leader, helping guys when their heads are down, just being a positive influence for my team."
On if he sees himself as a natural 1 or 2 guard:
"Coming into this year, I saw myself as a 2 guard. I'm adjusting to point guard spot and now I look at myself as a 1 guard."
On what has been difficult, making the adjustment from 2 to 1 guard:
"I would just say running the team, putting guys in the right position when I'm calling out plays and just making sure that we execute well because everything goes back on the point guard. And I would say just making sure that everybody gets back on defense. Communication has been the big adjustment for me - just being vocal at all times on the court."
On if he likes the added responsibility of being the point guard:
"Yeah, I like it and I don't have a problem with it. I figure if I do get to the next level, that's going to be my natural position and so now is preparing me. Also, when things are going well or things are going bad, I know my teammates look for me to get them up and just get them prepared and ready to move on to the next battle."
On how he has been a leader and helped Dwayne Polee II become a part of this team:
"He's a freshman and early on when he was making mistakes, he would always put his head down. So I just kind of told him, 'Don't put your head down because that's going to make things worse when you're mad at yourself. It's not going help you focus on the next play.' So I just got him through practices and during the game it's just, if you make a mistake, just go onto the next play. There's going to be times when you do bad and there's going to be times when you do good. It's basketball. I'm just there to just help him. He's a great player and a great kid and I just want to see him do good."
On what's different about how the team looks at a stretch of tough games as opposed to how it looked at similar stretches last year:
"I think now we know we can beat any team on any given night as long as we play our style of basketball. Compared to last year, I think our minds were saying like, 'Oh man we have another game. Let's see how it plays out.' Instead of this year where we go into a game knowing that we can win the game."
