St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's at Cincinnati
1/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2012
St. John's Head Coach Steve Lavin
BIG EAST Coaches Teleconference (Jan. 5, 2012)
On the team:
"As everyone knows, we're young and as a result we haven't had the sustained level of execution or consistent play that we prefer to have, but our staff is aware of the fact that we have a good nucleolus. We like the seven-man rotation and now it's about being patient and demanding as we try and move the team forward. We want to play an enhanced brand of basketball. We weren't pleased with our performances at UConn or against Louisville this week at The Garden. There is lots of work ahead of us, but it's a group that is eager to learn. They have been very coachable throughout the change with my health status, the transfer of Nurideen Lindsey and the recent addition of Amir Garrett. I've been impressed with their poise and maturity for such a young group. A different type of player might have been rattled or it might have affected them more. There is something to be said for the collective maturity this group has demonstrated during some change in this early part of the season."
On Cincinnati:
"It's no secret that they're playing a very high level of basketball and seem to be peeking at just the right time with the start of BIG EAST play. The biggest concern when you play Cincinnati is their cat-quick speed, their length, athleticism and the way they pressure can really unnerve opponents. As a result, they'll go on runs, feast on your turnovers and get out in the open court as quick as anybody in the country. They convert from defense to offense very effectively. They're able to finish at the rim, yet they also spread you out and shoot the ball well from distance. They really put opponents in a bind because you have to pick your poison. They can get you out in transition in the open court. They also can space the floor and knock down shots from long range, and once you're stretched like that, defensively they're able to get into gaps or seams with their big-range game. They're playing a cohesive brand of basketball, which is a credit to Mick [Cronin]. Coach Cronin and his staff have done a nice job from the Xavier game forward in particular working shorthanded and ended up having a stronger team as a result now, as the players that were out are coming back into the fold. We'll have our hands full against Cincinnati. If there was one thing we have to prepare for it's to deal with their 40 minutes of pressure and the statistics indicate that when you look at the way they turn opponents over. Their defense is at a very high level right now."
On his health:
"The status is really the same in terms of the return. It will be dictated by a full recovery or the recuperation process. I'm trying to strike a balance at this stage in terms of adding value while I'm away from coaching the games. Between getting to practices, on the road for the critical 2012 recruiting class - where we anticipate to sign five or six more players - and then there is naturally day-to-day operations in terms of managing our staff and working in concert with Coach [Mike] Dunlap in terms of game preparation and practice planning. There is the media commitment and some strategic donor and a fundraising effort. It's similar to a General Manager role while I'm away from the sidelines in terms of coaching in the games, because that's really where the strenuous activity is in terms of taxing the body or energy, and instead trying to utilize or burn my fuel more efficiently in ways where I can move the program forward."
Assistant Coach Mike Dunlap
On Cincinnati's play during seven-game winning streak:
"The ball moves more freely and [head coach Mick Cronin] played some small ball. The pass is what I've noticed offensively that is better over the last seven games. They don't give you any easy baskets. They're a veteran team, they've played together, [Cronin] has been there a lot of years, so the culture is in place. They're one of the tougher, more physical teams in the BIG EAST, if not the toughest."
On expecting more zone defense:
"I think that we'll see a whole truckload of zone until we prove we can deal with that. The BIG EAST is such that organizations are pretty smart about how they're going to try and beat you. We always try to evaluate ourselves first, and we understand that our improvement each time out, comes from not necessarily shooting the three better, because we always want that, but in our system to find shots. Who we identify to shoot the ball from three has got to be better. D'Angelo [Harrison] or [Moe] Harkless, it comes off their hand nice and you think that it's going to go in no matter where it's shot from. We've got a couple of guys who through reps and teaching need a little bit more work in that area. Once we figure that out, I think our percentage will go up."
On the toughness of the Cincinnati zone:
"They play a very good zone. Their zone covers the corners and the wings well in terms of how they do it. They're physical inside and they're big, so I think it's a good zone. We try to do five things to beat a zone. We try to beat it before it sets. Ball movement is important and skip passing is important. Third, we need good penetration. We also need to get post seals inside the paint so we can get it in to people like Gift [God'sgift Achiuwa] and Moe. Also, entering the ball into the paint via the pass is important, so we're working on that."
On working on shooting:
"We get a fair amount of shooting sessions in besides practice, both individual and team shooting. This afternoon, we would typically being doing another session with both 3-pointers and free throws. Our team is seeing positive results with our free throw percentage going up since the beginning of the season, because we put a lot of time into shooting."
Junior Guard Malik Stith
On importance of getting a win against Cincinnati:
"I don't feel like we're in panic mode, but we need to play well and hopefully get a win on the road, which would be big for us. They're beatable, so if we play hard we can come home with a win."
On the team's response to the loss to Louisville:
"We had a great lift yesterday and a great practice today, so it's not like we hit the panic button. I try and tell the guys that in the BIG EAST, you can lose three or four in a row then you can go win five. We're growing, so the games before this we learned a lot from as a team. We have to not make the same mistakes, and we'll make a run soon. They feel like they can win, and I've seen a lot of basketball, so I don't think they're just talking. We lost these last two games, but we didn't play too bad. Other teams shot well, we didn't hit some shots, so there are some personal things that we've got to correct, but that just comes with time."
On a turning point in the season:
"For us to go on a run and do what we did last year, I don't think we've had that type of turning point yet. You don't know when it's going to come, it just happens. Last year at Fordham really woke everything up. We put in a new offense after that, put in some tweaks from Coach Lavin. I don't think we've hit our turning point yet this year, but we're growing."
On whether team needs failure before success:
"I don't think we'll ever hit rock bottom. It's possible, but the spirits of these kids, they don't really know how they're supposed to react. They lose a game, they're mad then the next day they're ready to go back in the gym and get better. When I lose a game, I'm off for a couple of days, but because of their spirits, I don't think we'll ever hit rock bottom. If we lose the next five games, they'll still come in with the same spirit. I don't know what it is about them, they're still willing to come in and still have a positive attitude."
