St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 66, UCLA 63
2/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Head Coach Steve Lavin
On the team's performance in the win:
"I'm proud of the resiliency our team demonstrated today. The key defensively was the Johnnies' effectively swarming Josh Smith like bees on honey. The collective effort to collapse into the basket area forced UCLA to live mostly with perimeter shots. Offensively the fellas played with both a confident and intelligent approach. The victory is a timely jolt of positive energy for the kids, staff and Johnnies' nation."
On his health:
"I feel well. I've stuck with my workout routines, eating my Popeye's spinach and as Coach [John] Wooden said it's important to get that oatmeal in early in the day. All things are improving. Right now, I'm putting a lot of energy into recruiting and that's the most effective way for me to lead the program forward and have value. We're burning the fuel on the road and determined to sign another stellar class here in 2012."
On the stamina required to coach:
"The out-of-body experiences or vital signs go north. Coaches have different styles and I'm pretty active along the sidelines, so it wouldn't be fair to the kids for me to ask them to give 100 percent if I'm not capable."
On the play of the team today:
"Two storied programs with [Lou] Carnesecca in the house on a beautiful Saturday so it doesn't get much better for New York college basketball fans. I like the pluck that our players are showing. They have confidence and aggressiveness and that's what most important because they're young. We knew this was going to be a three-year process and we're establishing a blueprint to build this program. We surprised people and were ahead of schedule last year by making the tournament, but clearly you can see the upside of this young team and they're blossoming right before our eyes."
On UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland's gesture of wearing white sneakers:
"That's a really classy move by Ben Howland. Ben actually was helpful in choosing the doctor that I used for my surgery at Sloan. Dr. Scardino and his team of experts really did an excellent job and that's why I'll be cancer-free moving forward. I just have to get the strength and energy back. All former UCLA coaches form a relationship because the hot-seat there is tough, so we appreciate the challenges of that job."
On a return timeline:
"They've told me it's important that we go week-to-week. I'm going to continue to focus on recruiting. I still come in and watch film with the players and I'm obviously involved in game preparation. I meet with the kids individually and make sure to get a meal with them every couple of weeks. They get to spend time with my wife, because she's more inspiring than I am in terms of their spirits. We're on track to be back next year."
Assistant Coach Mike Dunlap:
Opening Statement:
"Defensively, I thought that we battled them all night. By and large, they didn't take advantage of us on the boards and we were able to run off their misses. We had a lot of guys sharing the ball and a lot of contributors offensively and we had more balance. The fact of the matter is, we didn't feel good about the Seton Hall game and we tried to do something about it."
On the contrasting styles of the two teams:
"League in and league out, you've got to target physical players at some spots, the 4's and the 5's in particular, because if you play small ball over the breadth and depth of the season, you're going to get pounded on the glass. West coast basketball is typically finesse, running and more wide open, while East coast basketball is typically grind it out and possession to possession. Ben [Howland] played in the BIG EAST, so he took that back to UCLA, where they grind it out and they're very precise in how they play."
On close proximity in rebounding numbers despite UCLA's size:
"In the Seton Hall game we got dominated in all phases, but rebounding is one of the phases where we have to gang-tackle. We were more cognizant of that today and when we were closing the ball out, we came back in the play. At Seton Hall we had a bunch of guys leaking out, and you can't get away with that. We just kind of corrected that in the time from the Seton Hall game to this game."
On differences in approach with four days off before today's game:
"After the Seton Hall game, we took a day off, and yesterday Coach Lavin came back into the fold and did a wonderful job of framing some things in. It's good to have the leader back in there; he's been working hard on the recruiting trail but that energy and that voice got everybody pepped up and it was fantastic for us, as witnessed by the outcome today."
Freshman Swingman Moe Harkless
On the trust and communication the players have on certain plays:
"[During one play], when I caught the ball, I saw [Sir'Dominic Pointer] on the other side in the corner and the whole defense was looking at me. I saw him point up, so I just threw it up and when he's going like that, he's real athletic and he can just go up and get it."
On the feelings after a win like this:
"A big win gives us back our confidence and gives us a little momentum heading back into BIG EAST play and the BIG EAST tournament that's coming up."
On the differences in style of play between St. John's and UCLA:
"We play scrappier than they do. We got a lot of offensive rebounds, they got a lot of long ones and today we just played harder than they did. They played well, but I think we just wanted it more."
On possible future games between the two schools:
"I think every year playing against these guys, where both programs have a lot of tradition, it's a great series and I think we should keep it going. It's New York versus L.A. and it's big especially for Amir [Garrett] because he's from L.A. and if we keep going, his family will get to see him in person out there."
Freshman Swingman Sir'Dominic Pointer
On the thought process going into this game:
"We wanted to go out there and play hard, really bounce back from the Seton Hall game and just go out there to play hard and win the game."
On different styles of play between the two teams:
"I think everybody plays different styles all across the world. We play a little bit faster; they're more of a half-court team while we're more open floor, trying to get the ball up and down the court."
On offensive aggressiveness today:
"The coaches were encouraging me, because they saw me passing up a lot of open shots, not really being aggressive and passing too much. They told me that wasn't really helping the team because it's like playing five-on-four, so they told me to attack then look for my teammates, and I made plays."
