St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Georgetown
1/11/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2013
Head Coach Steve Lavin
On the early 11 a.m. start:
"The good news is that it's for both sides. Georgetown has more day's rest, but [Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III's] concern will be rust since they've been off so long. The final outcome really determines how the 11 a.m. start or having played more recently will affect everyone."
On what the team needs to focus on against Georgetown:
"We play a zone, but if we played more man-to-man the main concern is their spread court offense which is predicated on spacing, passing, timing and precision. However, because we play a majority of zone, I would say the concern is their length and their talent. They work in concert so well together, so we have to focus on their length and taking care of the boards. Coming into conference play, our biggest concerns were rebounding and defense and now we're near the top of the league in field goal percentage defense and we've outrebounded our last two opponents. Now we've got something else we need to work on, and that's taking care of business from the free throw line. We'll probably be looking at it in a couple of weeks and there will be some other element that surprises us, and it just comes down to the fact that it's all new."
On moving forward from the Rutgers loss:
"We had a four and a half hour practice yesterday that was like going to the dentist, but that's what we needed. We watched the entire film from Rutgers and looked at all the areas we need to shore up. Rutgers did some things well, but we're disappointed in the areas where we beat ourselves. The free throws, getting beat off the bounce from the high post and the missed layups are the areas we can dictate moving forward if we can pull some things away. The best indication for how our team would move forward was today, when they took the floor they had a bounce, it was lively and they executed well. I expect a battle. I don't think we're over the hump; it's the BIG EAST and every week is going to be a grind. Through some of these painful defeats; however, we're coming of age."
On Georgetown's ability to hit the three:
"The team is getting a better sense of how to defend the three and still out-rebound teams. Within our zone we have the ability and quickness to extend on three-point shooters, but it takes a lot of work. Earlier in the year we struggled because younger players tend to be ball-watchers and have a hard time with their split vision. We've improved dramatically in league play."
On improving the team's free-throw shooting:
"You don't make such an issue of it because it's, like putting in golf, you have to work on it but it can become too psychological. You look at the mechanics and you get your reps in, but you don't want to put any more undo pressure than the kids are already putting on themselves. It's not an effort thing. If you're team's not rebounding you can really challenge them, but free-throw shooting isn't something you scream about. It's going to be diminishing returns if you're screaming at your guys about free-throws."
