St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: St. John's Men's Basketball vs. Providence
3/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On Kris Dunn:
"He's a real big-time player and the total package. He's got size, length and he's a really good defender. Offensively, he can play in the post, he's good at passing, plays in transition and runs the pick and roll. He's a really good player."
On the team's effort this season:
"They fought for each other and gave an honest effort each and every day. They haven't given in to adversity and I think ultimately, we'll see residual effects of it in the future."
On the last two games:
"Defensively, against DePaul our close outs were horrible. Against Creighton, it was a combination of them shooting the ball really well and us not getting out [to defend the three-ball]. We've had really good games where we've done both well. We have to get back to the effort we put forth against Seton Hall."
On his development as a coach:
"I've got enough bulletin board material to last me the rest of my life so that's a good thing. Sometimes when you go through tough times those are the things you remember. I think if you're open minded and have some vision, you're vision is to right those wrongs with solutions."
On how he's handling this season:
"I knew it was going to be a rebuilding year. If you take it game-by-game, practice-by-practice, you really don't let it mount up to all those [losses] in a row. You try to correct your mistakes from the previous game and then you move on to the next game."
On the next step:
"I want these guys to finish up strong. Moving forward, we'll be fine. We're going to turn this thing around. But for the immediate future, I want the seniors that are here to finish up strong, feel good about themselves and move on to good things post-career."
On trials and tribulations this season:
"For this team here, I think it's really important to not only recognize what they went through, but also how they've handled it. To be a good winner you have to learn how to lose. Before you succeed, you fail, and how you handle it, paves the way for success. Although this year has been really hard from a win-loss standpoint, I think the way the players and my staff have handled it has really paved the way for a bright future."
Senior Guard Felix Balamou...
On Kris Dunn and Providence:
"He's a good player. We're just going to have to stick to our game plan. We have guys that can get it done too. We respect them, I'm pretty sure they respect us and we're just going to go out there and play."
On heading into the tournament with a win:
"Of course we want to win [on Saturday]. This season we didn't win many games but it was more about how we stuck together and nobody gave up. We come out here and work hard every single day."
On the season and the rebuilding year:
"We are just trying to build on the tradition here and carry the tradition from other generations."
Gradaute Student Guard/Forward Ron Mvouika...
On the team's mindset:
"Positive as always. We never really let ourselves go down. A new season is about to start on Wednesday [at the BIG EAST Tournament], but before we get to that we have to take care of business tomorrow. It's our last real college game, not including the BIG EAST, so it's about us three -- Felix Balamou, Durand Johnson and Ron Mvouika -- tomorrow. We need to do it the right way and give everything we've got."
On how he wants this team to be remembered:
"I don't know if you'll find any team in the country that went through what we went through and still shows up every day and works as hard as we do with a smile. We don't let results take us down and that's how you see the true character of a team. For the future that's a great sign and that's how I know they're going to be very successful [for years to come]. I just want people to remember us as guys that were soldiers that came out here and gave everything they had every time they played on that court."
On staying positive throughout the season:
"It's not easy, but we have to keep fighting. That is what life is all about. We have to get right back up and that is what coach has taught us and I helped lead the younger guys. We have had a couple of good games and others we just came up short."
