St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Fordham
12/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2012
Head Coach Steve Lavin
On favoring man-to-man or zone defense moving forward:
"Both defenses we have to improve on. We've won four of five, and if we can continue on that clip, we'd have a great year. There are things we can pull out of the USF game that I think can help us when we watch film today in preparation for Fordham. Containing dribble penetration and staying attached to shooters are two areas within our zone and man defense that we'll have to continue to improve upon."
On containing dribble penetration:
"We've done a really good job against some guards like we did with McCallum of Detroit, and against South Carolina we played some stifling defense in stretches. We're at a point in the year, where it's not so much about worry or alarm, it's just about getting better. We knew coming in with 10 freshmen and sophomores that every day it's repping the fundamentals and educating our kids so we can elevate our play."
On being ready for conference play:
"I like where we are. As a coach you're never satisfied, so you'd rather be 8-1 or 9-0, but we're 6-3 and we've learned a lot about our personnel and the kids are also growing and maturing with each practice and each game. I'm pleased with the team's progress, yet there are some areas that we need to improve upon. "
On preparing the freshmen for their first Madison Square Garden game:
"You have to take that energy [of playing at MSG] and channel it. On the defensive end of the floor, have active feet and active hands, talk on defense and do the things that allow you to be fully engaged in the moment. That helps sometimes with the nerves that come with playing in a big-time atmosphere like MSG."
On the amount of practice available in the coming weeks:
"This is a great stretch, even finals coming up, after finals and before school starts up again, there's a lot of opportunity to get back on the floor. Of any team I've coached, this is the most games in a short period of time so it's almost been more like and NBA schedule. We haven't had that traditional stretch of practices between games. Now it's nice because we have a Saturday game, another Saturday game and then a Friday game, so it's more traditional work weeks in terms of practice, which will be good for us."
Sophomore swingman Sir'Dominic Pointer
On what the older players told the newcomers about playing in Madison Square Garden:
"We haven't stressed to them how important it is, but we told them that it's a different vibe. We told them that walking in you're going to get hyped. It's the Garden, everyone wants to play there, so we told them to just play your game."
On what the team had been working on defensively in practice:
"Just keeping the ball in front of us, when to help on shooters and when not to, helping and recovering, doing everything we can to stop the three-point shot."
On where the team is at this point of the season:
"I think we're right on schedule. Even though we lost a few games we're moving forward and we learned from them."
Sophomore swingman Amir Garrett
On the importance of the Red Storm's upcoming matchup against Fordham:
"It's a big rivalry game. These two teams have a history of playing against each other so I would say it's important."
On what the team took away from the loss against San Francisco:
"Our defense was exposed. We have a lot of things to work on in practice today and we just have a lot of maturing to do as a team. Us, the veterans, have to take charge in order to get better. We have to step up and be leaders and show the younger guys what to do."
Junior guard Marc-Antoine Bourgault
On his play so far since joining the team:
"Coach Lavin always tells me to be ready to come in the game and be ready to shoot. I'm getting better every practice and I'll be ready whenever the team needs me."
On stepping onto the floor at Madison Square Garden for the first time
"It's going to be fun and exciting. As a basketball player it's a dream come true."
