St. John's University Athletics
QUOTES: St. John's Men's Basketball vs. Sonoma State
11/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On the team's preparation following the first exhibition:
"The most important thing is how we handled our last game. I thought we had two really good practices that were very intense. One focused on defense, one focused on offense and the carryover was there. I am pleased with how we bounced back. We put good work in [practice] and were able to transfer some of that into a game situation."
On the differences in today's performance:
"Their resiliency and transferring what we worked on in [practice]. I think they learned it is different. It's not practice pace; it's not playing against your teammates. You could emulate as much as you want in practice but when you get into the game [it's different]."
On building a team:
"Over the course of my life I've built a few homes and the building [process] is tedious. It takes talent so that's where patience and perspective comes in. After last game we just broke it down and went back to fundamentals."
On using last game as a learning experience:
"Sports are a great metaphor for life. Sometimes you learn more from losses and tough times than you do with good times. I wouldn't go through [last game] again but to me it's more how you react to things like that than what happens. You assess it, you don't run from it, you claim it and you try to do something about it."
On what the team needs improve:
"Turnovers are still a problem, but in a nutshell it comes down to inexperience. We'll keep working with these guys. I thought coming off Wednesday, we had two good practices and there was some carryover."
Redshirt Junior Forward Christian Jones...
On the team's confidence after today's win:
"Even though these [games] don't count, for the new guys who don't have college experience, this is definitely a confidence booster. Coming off last game we had something to prove, it wasn't us out there. We had a lot more fire [today] and everyone was ready to play."
On his play over the course of two exhibition games:
"I just have to keep doing what I'm doing, taking full advantage of every opportunity that I have and just doing what I have to do for the team [to excel]."
On being a leader:
"Being a junior, I want to be the leader for these guys because that is what I had when I came in. Most freshmen and sophomores hit walls and it's hard for them to transition into league play, so I'm just trying to mentor the younger guys."
Freshman Center Yankuba Sima...
On today's play:
"I felt good on the court. I gave it my best and did everything I could do to help the team win."
On what today's win does moving forward:
"I think it builds our confidence so we aren't nervous in the first [regular-season] game. These [exhibitions] will help us going forward."
Sonoma State Head Coach Pat Fuscaldo...
On the performance of his team:
"I thought St. John's played a lot better and our team played well, but it was only in spurts. We didn't have the consistency we needed to overcome the eight-point deficit. We turned the ball over and started missing free throws. I thought St. John's was impressive in their ability to get to the glass and score. To play with them as long as we played with them, I'm happy."
On traveling to New York to play St. John's:
"I'm actually from here. We had a great day yesterday. We got a chance to go into the city and do some sightseeing and overall it was a great experience. This is a real bonding experience and I thought it brought us closer together."
On his thoughts going into the season:
"I think we can be good, and if we can get better every game we can be right there at the end. I think we have it all, we have height, quickness and shooting. In the long run I'm really excited about this season."
