St. John's University Athletics
Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. DePaul
1/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2014
Head Coach Steve Lavin
"D'Angelo has a minor concussion and will be a game-time decision tomorrow. The team doctors are comfortable with him traveling and will do more tests to determine if he will be cleared to play."
On the team's identity:
"With a deep bench and our new pieces it has taken us time to gel. At the end of the day we have depth and that is the plus side of the equation. One of the advantages of this group is that they've been tested and faced adversity both on and off the court. They have a resilience about them and they've shown what they are capable of in difficult situations. We have an eager bunch that is ready to play DePaul."
On the upcoming set of games:
"I don't look at this as a soft part of our schedule. I think we need to take advantage of having three of four at home. This is the BIG EAST. It's a great conference and each team has a very small margin of error. This year, other than Georgetown, we've been competitive in every game and our guys have continued to fight back and a degree of resilience. Naturally the objective is to improve and finish games with a win. "
On Max Hooper:
"Max understands his strengths, transports the ball and keeps the game simple. The threat of his shot extends defenses which creates time and space for our big guys to go to work in the basket area. Max is a real plus for us and I'm impressed with what he's brought to the table."
Sophomore Forward JaKarr Sampson
On the team's chemistry:
"We have a really good team. Our starting lineup is always changing and we have a lot of people that can come off the bench and fill in different roles. We all have to pick up and keep getting better every day."
On his performance this season:
"Of course I love to score more but we have a better team this year so I'm not going to get the 15 points like I used to last year. I don't have to force it, I can just play my game and play within the system that Coach has for us."
On the team's morale:
"This team still has a lot of fight. We're a young team. People have seen glimpses of what we can do at the Villanova and Syracuse games, but I feel like we can do so much more."
Sophomore Forward Max Hooper
On playing more minutes against Villanova:
"I was glad I was able to put in more minutes than I have, but whether I play one minute or 40 minutes my mindset is going to be the same. I'm going to have the same confidence shooting the ball and play as hard as I can to make all the smart plays that I can."
On the team's morale:
"The morale is as upbeat as it has always been. We can't control what has happen, so all we can control is the practice we had today and the game against DePaul tomorrow. There is a lot of basketball left to play and I feel like we have the pieces and chemistry coming along to make things happen regardless of what has happen so far."
On the team's progress:
"This is a team that's going to be constantly improving. It's a continuous progress of improvement for each player individually and for the team as a whole. Once we knock off a team in a big-time game that will propel us forward closer to our goals."
