St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John's vs. St. Francis Brooklyn
12/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On being back at Madison Square Garden:
"I love this place. I always have. I always will. I think I enjoyed playing here more than coaching, but yet again it's a new experience. A 52-year-old guy having a new experience like that is pretty cool. It was nice seeing Coach Carnesecca behind me, which was pretty surreal. It's always special. Madison Square Garden is a place that any player at any level wants to play at and have a good night. We got away with a win and it's another new experience for my young team, playing in the garden for the first time. Overall it was a good day."
On the team's performance against St. Francis Brooklyn:
"I give St. Francis a lot of credit. They are a tough team and they play hard. Glenn Braica is a great coach and a great guy. We will learn from this and in the long run be better for it. If you want to be good, if you want to be successful you take all your experiences and you learn from them. You keep plugging away and then you get you rewarded."
On graduate student guard/forward Durand Johnson finding rhythm early in the season:
"I think he can develop back into a consistent offensive presence. He's been up and down this year and frustrated at times, but the layoff is something you can't underestimate and playing with all new players is something that takes time. I thought [Durand] was big tonight and we will see more of that as the year goes on."
On Yankuba Sima's toughness playing through an injury:
"He's a really tough kid. He's quiet but he's very diligent, each and every day. He's a serious young man. At halftime he said he was okay and he ended up having a great game. It was a great bounce back game for him. When you see him each and every day in practice, the way he works, he's going to be really good. It just won't be there every night."
GS Guard/Forward Durand Johnson...
On his shot in the last possession:
"I caught the ball in scoring range and I saw the shot clock at four seconds so I took the shot with a lot of confidence and it went in."
On his confidence level:
"Basketball is about rhythm. You're going to have good games, you're going to have bad games but you have to do other things to help the team win. I felt like if I'm not scoring at least I can play my butt off on defense, rebound better and just be there for the team."
On the importance of today's win:
"It was definitely big. We come to practice every day and work hard and we had to get back on the winning track. We have Niagara coming into [Carnesecca Arena] this week and we have to move on and keep building."
Freshman Center Yankuba Sima...
On his dislocated finger:
"At the time it happened it was really painful because my finger was dislocated. When they put it back in I felt a lot better and I could play in the second half."
On bouncing back from the Fordham game:
"I was ready to give it my all and play how we usually play because the game at Fordham was so tough. We didn't think about [the Fordham game] and just focused on winning today's game."
St. Francis Head Coach Glenn Braica...
On the performance of Yankuba Sima:
"He's going to be a real good player. He played for a friend of mine overseas. But he's a good player. He's a developing player; St. John's has a lot of young guys that are developing. I think St. John's is going to be good, but when you have a lot of young guys like that it's tough. I thought Yankuba hit a couple of shots, especially that 3-pointer surprised me. He's a good player, with a lot of heart and he has a big upside. He's really athletic and long around the basket and that affects you. We got into the lane a lot and their athleticism and their length bothered us, which is understandable."
