St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: St. John's Men's Basketball vs. DePaul
2/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On Malik Ellison:
"I think the biggest thing for Malik is that he's been on the court consistently in practice. He had several injuries, which took him in and out pretty much the whole year. It reinforces the importance of practice and repetition. He's made some good strides. The last month he's really come on pretty good."
On Malik Ellison's ability to penetrate the lane:
"With his size, speed and strength, he's one of the guys we try to get into the lane and make things happen. He's been good."
On freshmen Malik Ellison and Kassoum Yakwe handling the BIG EAST season:
"The first thing I would point to is their physical stature and athleticism, which is up to par for a BIG EAST athlete. It is their strength, speed, and quickness. I think Federico [Mussini] and [Yankuba] Sima need a good offseason of weightlifting and conditioning."
On what the team needs to do to be successful:
"It's [about] having that carryover. We've had plenty of examples of playing well and we've had a lot of examples of not [playing well]. We've played sections of games where I would say, if we could maintain that type of play [the entire game] we'll be okay."
Graduate Student Guard/Forward Ron Mvouika...
On playing at Carnesecca Arena for the final time:
"[It's] my last game here [along with Felix Balamou and Durand [Johnson], so we're going to try and go out the right way. The crowd and the people of St. John's deserve it. I want to be able to say that in my last game at Carnesecca, I went out with a win."
On reflecting on the season:
"I like to see us [graduating seniors] as the bridge between this year and what's going to happen [in the future]. The successful team that they're going to have next year, we started that and we had something to do with it. [Malik Ellison] is going to remember next year how Ron [Mvouika] used to push me through tough times."
Freshman Guard Malik Ellison...
On the reaction around campus:
"There's not really anybody saying anything negative. They know that we go out there and fight every game. We have great fan support."
On going through a losing streak:
"It's tough. I didn't expect it, but it's a learning process, especially for us young guys. We have a year under our belt now and the future looks bright."
