St. John's University Athletics
QUOTES: BIG EAST Men's Basketball Teleconference
12/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On the team's play thus far:
"As most people know we're very young and inexperienced. We've kind of shown that with some really good games and some really bad games...With experience, we're looking to get more consistency. Our last game [against Syracuse] was one of the good ones. We shared the ball and had a good game on defense and came out with a nice win. We are looking forward to getting into conference and playing against some really good teams."
On Butler:
"Butler is a really good team. They're solid up and down, and they don't turn the ball over. They have solid players at every position and they play well together, so we have a really tough game coming up and it's going to be important we play 40 minutes."
On being ready for BIG EAST play:
"The schedule is obviously laid out and everyone knows the deal coming in. Being antsy and enthusiastic is all good, but more importantly you have to be focused and execute. It's the balance of excitement, anticipation and all those other things. But going out and playing solid basketball is really the focus."
On similarities between the old and new BIG EAST:
"It feels more like the original BIG EAST. [With] the way it's set up now, it [allows] for real rivalries. There are really good teams [in the BIG EAST], home courts are really nice places to play, [and] there are great coaches and players. Playing home-and-home is really where it's at. It takes time to develop real rivalries and I think the BIG EAST is set up for that."
On the Syracuse game being a breakthrough for the team:
"It was a good game, [but] we need to focus on being more consistent. Each game takes another tone and its own personality so it's on us to impose our will and our personality on that particular game."
On staying consistent:
"[We need to] keep working. Experience is part of it and that's what we're working towards."
St. John's Sophomore Malik Ellison...
On the win at Syracuse:
"It was a great win for us. We have a young group of guys and for us to go on the road and win by such a large margin was great."
On what changed after the Penn State game:
"Nothing has really changed. After the Penn State game, we just made sure to come out with more energy and focus and that's what we did in that Syracuse game."
On closing out games against good teams:
"Everybody was mentally locked in the entire game. We just made sure that we went out there and executed the game plan that the coaches gave us. Like you said, those games were early on and I feel like we have the experience now and we're at the point where we can start finishing these games."
On how to stay consistent:
"Having the repetitions and going out there each day in practice and making sure that we play with that same intensity and energy and transfer it over to the floor in games."
On being eager for BIG EAST play:
"[We are] very eager. I am very confident with this team. We have a great group of guys in that locker room and we have a lot of talent so I am confident in what we could do this year in the BIG EAST. For the returning guys, it's kind of a revenge year for us as we only won one game [last season]. Obviously, we want to change that."
On Butler:
"We have a lot of competitors on this team and we always want to play against the best. Butler is at the top of the BIG EAST right now so it'll be a great opportunity for us to experience that early."
On how to win games:
"First off, we have to defend and make sure that we take pride in our defense because we have the offensive capability. We have a lot of great scorers on this team so I think it [comes down to our] defense and locking in mentally to the game plan."
