St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John's vs. Marquette
2/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On John McEnroe speaking into the team in the huddle:
"I've been really close friends with John for a long, long time. He likes to come out and support. As a kid he watched St. John's. ... I met John when I was in high school and we stayed friends ever since. We support each other. John is the ultimate competitor, ultimate New Yorker. It's nice to have that support."
On Kassoum Yakwe's performance:
"It was great [to see]. I felt like it was coming. Kassoum is one of the nicest human beings on the planet earth so you just want good things for him. He's had some tough breaks, but it never affects his attitude and impact as a teammate. ... I was happy for him and we needed it. Tonight was probably our best 40 minute, complete game performance [of the season]."
On the defensive effort:
"A lot of times we talk offense, sharing the ball and getting assists, but defense is teamwork too. It takes time to understand a guy's tendencies. We always want to pressure the ball, but you can't have five guys running around wild. I think we're getting more comfortable when and where to do that."
On winning the battle in the paint:
"A lot of that is attacking the paint different ways, not just posting up, but attacking the paint off the dribble. [Marquette is] a really good offensive team with great shooters. They spread the floor. We thought we were going to be able to score, but the big thing was finding that balance. We did a good job with four guys in double figures."
On the play of Tariq Owens and Darien Williams:
"I thought Tariq and Darien had a huge impact on the game without hitting a shot. They were really big on defense. Darien didn't have any rebounds, but he was huge boxing out and clearing space so someone else could get it. Tariq finished with 11 rebounds and no points, but he had a huge impact. Those stats are deceiving. ... Those two without scoring a bucket, coming off the bench had a huge impact on the win."
Junior Guard/Forward Bashir Ahmed...
On the 9-4 spurt to close the first half:
"That definitely gave us more momentum going into the second half. Our coach told us to just keep playing hard and come out with the same intensity and that's what happened."
On the team chemistry when Kassoum Yakwe plays well:
"It definitely opens the floor up for everybody, especially the other guards and me. He was really aggressive today; he was getting to the basket, he made free throws and that just opened it up for us. Every time they clogged up on him, he just kicked it out."
Sophomore forward Kassoum Yakwe...
On his offensive performance:
"In my mind, I just told myself to keep playing hard. I was really focused on getting on the board and being more aggressive on the offensive side too. Our guards were finding me in the right spot. It's a team game. When we play together, we get a good result."
On his confidence level after making shots:
"That helped me a lot. I had good momentum and all my guys helped me out by passing me the ball and encouraging me, so that helped me a lot."
On his performance this season overall:
"I know I wasn't playing well like I did last year, but I just kept practicing and it was going to happen sometime. I just kept practicing and playing hard and one day I knew I would get a good result. Today was a perfect moment for me."
Freshman Guard Marcus LoVett...
On the team chemistry when Kassoum Yakwe plays well:
"We're definitely a different team when Kassoum is on fire, like he was today; and Bashir as well. We have so many players that can really score the ball that you can't just look at Shamorie [Ponds] and I. You have to look at people like Kassoum and Bashir and guys like Malik [Ellison] and Federico [Mussini] and all the guys. We have a lot of weapons on this team, we just have to know how to use them."
On figuring out Marquette's zone in the second half:
"It was an adjustment, but I think we adjusted to it really quick. We knew we had the lead, and we wanted to keep our lead up, so we were doing anything possible to keep that lead. Coach put us in the right position to succeed."
On how Sunday's game helped the team prepare:
"It helped us a lot. That was a winnable game for us, so we took what we did against Xavier and tried to implement it in this game, and I think we did well with that."
On how his defense affected the game:
"We always talk about defense in practice, and I just felt like I had to step it up defensively. If I could get steals or do anything to help my teammates, I was going to do it as much as I could. I tried to do whatever I could out there."
On the team's rebounding philosophy:
"Kassoum [Yakwe] was on the boards and when we're playing like that, I feel like we can beat any team out there. That gives us energy. When he's grabbing boards and putting them back in, that's what we need."
