St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's-Villanova
12/31/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. -
Head Coach Steve Lavin
On the outlook heading into BIG EAST play:
"Anytime I evaluate the team it's process-oriented even in terms of my expectations. There is the realistic expectation for improvement as we go from practice to practice, but I also realize that the reality is that no one just enjoys a steady rise all year long. Most teams are going to have their peaks and valleys. I'm realistic that this team won't have an easy path but the hope is that we're learning and growing from our previous experiences. We are a couple possessions away from being 10-2. Since we let the Murray State and UNC Asheville games slip away, now we're at 8-4 and you hope you learn from those experiences. In 2010-11 we had similar experiences with St. Bonaventure's and Fordham, but we learned a great deal about our personnel and areas we had to address. If we can pull away some aspects that can help our long-term growth, then that's what you hope for as a coach. I can't say that now we're suddenly going to be a mature basketball team overnight but for ten weeks we're going to make some progress. The hope is that we'll be playing our best basketball late in the season."
On what he expects from D'Angelo Harrison heading into BIG EAST play:
"Last year D'Angelo became the go-to-guy at this point in the year. Moe [Harkless], because of his gifts and abilities, was voted the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. D'Angelo was the most consistent we had of anyone on our team. Moe had a great game to start BIG EAST, then the middle of the schedule against Duke and his final game in the BIG EAST Tournament against Pittsburgh. D'Angelo was our most consistent player over the course of BIG EAST play, but Moe had some more dramatic games on big stages. D'Angelo is growing and, for a 19-year old who isn't even halfway through his sophomore year, he's having an exceptional career. I would put his numbers against anyone in the country that's at the same point in their careers. There is room to improve, but that's the good news because he hasn't even scratched the surface yet for rounding out his game. All four of the sophomores can help our newcomers because they are the ones who have been through BIG EAST play. Collectively, Phil [Greene], Amir [Garrett], D'Angelo [Harrison] and Sir'Dominic [Pointer] can all help each other and then also help the younger group of players come along."
Sophomore guard Phil Greene IV
On the advice he has for the newcomers to BIG EAST play:
"Going into league play we just have to be tougher because the BIG EAST is rugged and tough. JaKarr [Sampson], Chris Obekpa, Felix [Balamou] and Marco [Bourgault], they'll get adjusted quickly. A couple minutes into the game they'll see the flow of the game and fit right in."
On the progression of D'Angelo Harrison's emotions on the court:
"He's done great with that this year. He doesn't let the refs get to him. He brings that fire and intensity and it helps the whole team. We feed off of D'Angelo."
On the coaching staff's message coming back from break:
"We need to stay with it all 40 minutes. We need to do everything the right way and not take shortcuts. We need to finish out plays and possessions. We need to stick with the gameplan. We've been working very hard and it will show in our last game."
On why people should believe in St. John's heading into BIG EAST play:
"We have great players, a great coaching staff and we're young and learning. The learning curve is going to come fast. We have a long way to improve, but we're working hard. We're going to make it happen."
Sophomore guard D'Angelo Harrison
On his move to wearing contacts for games:
"I had my eyes checked before I came to St. John's, but I just never wore them. I got glasses and started wearing them in high school, but never got contacts until this year. This will be my third game wearing them. Everything is in HD now. I love it. I could still see the goal, but I would need to squint to see the scoreboard. I can see but with my contacts I can see everything."
On his evaluation of his development this season:
"I've a good job but some of the games we lost I feel like I could have done more. I feel like I've controlled my temper and harnessed it, so I'll just take it from there. I'd give myself a six so far. Playing with better players has helped me a lot. This team is really good now. I'm not saying we weren't good last year but this year we feel like we can make some noise in the BIG EAST."
On being the number one option in the offense:
"We all feel we need to step up. We had a great practice yesterday. Everybody stepped up their games and had one of the best practices all year. Everyone is ready, especially the older guys. I feel like we're ready for Wednesday."
Freshman forward JaKarr Sampson
On his expectations heading into BIG EAST play:
"I approach it with a tougher mindset. I have to expect not to get calls my way and a hard, physical game. It's tough and grinding type of play in the BIG EAST. You have to fight and can't be soft. It's always a higher level type of game. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to play here. "
On his commitment to the midrange game:
"When I warmup, I just go all around the perimeter from spot to spot. I want my midrange game to be perfect. The midrange game is a lost art in college basketball. I see the great players like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony make midrange shots. I focused on that this summer and get up shots from there before every game. I feel like that's my sweet spot."
