St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: St. John's Men's Basketball vs. Rutgers
11/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On the Gavitt Tipoff Games matchup with Rutgers:
"It will be a big-time test. [Rutgers] has experience and plays in a tough league. They are very athletic and physical so it's going to be a tough game."
On his thoughts about comparisons to Rutgers head coach Eddie Jordan:
"Eddie was a great player at Rutgers and came back to coach at his school. He had a long career in the NBA so there are some similarities there [as far as coming back to coach at our alma maters].
On the pressures leading a program back to prominence:
"I feel like it's more of a responsibility [to bring the program back to prominence]. When you are a player there is pressure, but what I did [to lessen that pressure] was get lost in the preparation. Each and every program is at different stages and we understand where we are [right now]. We're realistic about that so we carved out our game plan to build it."
On his thoughts about Christian Jones:
"He has been great. He put in a lot of hard work over the summer and his improvement has shown. He has a quiet confidence as well as some experience. Christian, Durand [Johnson], Ron [Mvouika] and Felix [Balamou] have really been good leaders. He didn't get those opportunities [in the past] but he's worked hard to be ready for it. I'm happy for him."
Graduate Student Guard/Forward Durand Johnson...
On the improvement of handling the press:
"In the [first two] games, we were rushing. All we had to do was slow down, take our time, be calm, and the rest will take care of itself. In practice, we have been going over press break and things like that getting ready for teams that may pressure us to force turnovers. We're well aware of it and work on it every day."
On playing Rutgers:
"We have Rutgers coming in, a member of the Big Ten, obviously it's an important game. Like we did [in the past two games] to help us get to 2-0, we're going to focus on the defensive end. [Tomorrow] will definitely be a good test before we head to Maui."
RS Junior Forward Christian Jones...
On the difference between last year and this year:
"Last year, I was a guy who came in [off the bench]. This year I have a bigger role since I am an older player. I'm here to do what I need to in order to win."
On his thoughts about serving a key role:
"I'm happy I have a big role. With an opportunity like this you shouldn't let it go to your head. It's a good opportunity for me and the rest of the team knowing I have past experience that can help our team win."
