St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. USF
2/19/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2013
Head Coach Steve Lavin
On Jamal Branch's progress:
"When he's cutting or with lateral movement, there's still some pain. I don't know if it's a week, two weeks, the conference tournament or whether we'll have to wait until next year. We won't play him until he can go at full speed and have the explosiveness you need to play at both ends of the floor and play this game effectively. He's making really good progress and is excited about the progress, but at this point it's about explosiveness and lateral movement."
On his message to the team coming off a daunting stretch:
"We talked about putting it into context the fact that we lost to three teams that are at the top of our league and that all three of those teams are going to be top-3 seeds in the NCAA tournament. So we lost to three tough teams on their home courts, playing well in stretches and getting the win at home that we had to get against Connecticut. Up and down this league, teams have their difficult stretches where they lose 2-of-3 or 3-of-4 and so the important thing is that we're continuing to make progress. We want to hold serve at home, and if you can steal one on the road, that's great. Then you've got the conference tournament after that, so it's really about making progress and not overreacting to the difficult stretch."
On the team's outlook towards the NCAA Tournament:
"We're just trying to get enough wins coming down the stretch, and then in the postseason tournament, build the resume or body of work so when the selection committee looks at it with this strength of schedule, with this RPI and the quality wins over Cincinnati, Notre Dame and UConn, with hopefully a few more quality wins. Now you've got five quality wins, a top-20 schedule coming out of the best conference in America with a good RPI, and you package that all together and that's how you present your resume and as a result you hope to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament."
On the reception when he got back:
"We touched on where we are in the season, which is something I do periodically throughout the year. It's building blocks: the non-conference sets the table for conference play, which sets the table for the conference tournament, and then all three of those set the table for the postseason, where you want to be playing your best basketball."
"It was just nice to be back with the team. As important as it was to spend time with my siblings and my mother - because that was the appropriate thing to do given my father's passing - equally as important was to get back with the team and my staff and continue to move down the path as we try to accomplish some special things. We're still in pursuit of the postseason and doing something special come March. The support this team provided is something I'll never forget, and I'm forever grateful to them."
Sophomore forward Sir'Dominic Pointer
On coming out of the difficult stretch of the last two weeks:
"We've been practicing hard. Obviously, 1-3 wasn't the goal, but it happened. We've got to get back on the horse and get back at it again."
On the team's NCAA Tournament prospects:
"We just have to go out and play hard. We have to take care of what we can handle. Our goal is to win every game and let the chips fall where they may.
On Coach Lavin's return:
"He went through a tough stretch. I haven't lost a family member personally, but that's a hard thing to come back from. Having him back was great. Seeing him for the first time yesterday brought the energy back."
Sophomore guard Phil Greene IV
On the team's mindset down the stretch:
"We're focused on finishing strong. The goal is to make the NCAA Tournament. We're all coming together as one, so we can make that goal complete."
On Coach Lavin's attitude upon his return:
"He had the same energy, same passion. He was basically coaching as the same way he had all year. His message was to finish the season strong. We have one goal: to make the NCAA Tournament."
On the game against USF:
"We know every team in the BIG EAST is tough and can beat you at any time. We know we have to prepare the same and be as hyped as we always are to play South Florida. We come out every time ready to play the same game."
