St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. C.W. Post
10/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 24, 2011
QUEENS, N.Y. - Assistant Coach Tony Chiles
Update on head coach Steve Lavin:
"He's doing great and he's in really good spirits. I know one thing, his thumbs are doing really great because he's been texting so we've been in contact with him on a regular basis."
On the team's priorities tomorrow night:
"What we want to see is how this group, outside of Malik Stith, reacts when they play against someone other than themselves. I wouldn't say we have a checklist, but I think we want to see how these guys are going to react and see how they play through their mistakes and fight through whatever adversity we might face tomorrow."
On the importance of this upcoming game:
"I think it's as important as our first game last year because it wasn't a young team but it was a new team to us. I think we have the same questions last year that we do this year because we hadn't coached any of those guys."
On the team's progress compared to a year ago:
"I wouldn't say we're ahead I would say it's different. These guys have all been taught something before coming here. They haven't been taught at the college level, but they've all been taught something. I think they're kind of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as far as coming in and saying `hey, this is my first college experience.' We're trying to tell these guys that we're not a young team because these guys have been playing basketball for up to ten years."
On what the coaching decision would be if C.W. Post jumped out to early an lead:
"We're going to coach it like a real game and try to make adjustments and play the game to win. Of course we're going to see if we can execute our offense and our defense, but we never want to go into a game and say `listen, we're not coaching to win' because we want to create a winning attitude."
On how the team will do:
"To be honest with you I have no idea. I wish I could tell you. Some days we go out there and look really, really good and some days we walk out and forget that these kids are 17 and 18 years old. I think these guys have a better feel of what they'll be able to do, but other than that you can talk to me after the game."
On the team's strengths:
"The one thing I can say is we have a good offensive group. We have multiple guys that can score the ball in different ways. I think the difference between this year's group and last year's group, outside of the fact that some were young and some were old, is that we have more offensive weapons. In practice we shoot the ball well and our basketball IQ is pretty decent."
On their preparation for C.W. Post:
"We scouted as much as we could have. They're an athletic team and have good guard play so they're going to come in here and play us tough. They're going to come in here and play hard."
Freshman guard D'Angelo Harrison
On the team's mindset:
"I feel like we're ready to go. We got a good practice in this morning and had a good shoot-around so I think we're in sync."
On his own responsibilities:
"I feel like we all have the same role: play hard and play defense. If we can stop people from scoring the offense will take care of itself."
On his approach towards the game:
"I'm approaching this game as if we're playing Syracuse tomorrow. We're all going to play hard and everyone feels the same way."
On which teammate is standing out to him thus far:
"God'sgift. He's a monster and I feel like he's going to have a very good season because his athleticism is off the charts."
Junior guard Malik Stith
On his expectations for C.W. Post:
"I think C.W. Post is looking forward to coming in here and performing well so we just have to see how the game paces and see how it goes."
On his leadership role:
"At this point I don't really say anything more to them. I gave them advice in the beginning, but it's to a point now where they have to go through it."
On whether the learning process is going faster this year compared to last year:
"I think it is because with last year's team we were learning something for two or three years and then we had to break that down and build something new. This year it's easier because from the beginning coach has been telling us the same thing over and over and with less players everyone gets more reps."
