St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: St. John's vs. Seton Hall
2/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
On the team’s performance last time out against Seton Hall on Jan. 22:
“It might have been one of our worst performances of the year from an energy and effort standpoint and I thought it was one of our most selfish games of the year. Since then we’ve been playing better; that’s the good thing. They exposed us on the boards. You can lose the rebound battle a little bit, hopefully not on the offensive glass as much, but you can’t lose 50-50 balls, the energy game and rebounds and be selfish. That’s the way we played that day, but I think we’ve played better since then.”
On the team’s energy problem against Seton Hall in Newark:
“Sometimes you just get stagnant and I don’t think it was anything malicious. We got down and guys tried to do it on their own and that’s just a product of what was happening, but since then we’ve been better at being conscious of that.”
On his team’s rebounding troubles and Seton Hall forward Angel Delgado, the nation’s leading rebounder:
“Rebounding is sometimes a deceiving stat. For us, we’ve been outrebounded quite a bit and unfortunately a lot of those have turned into direct points, which is what really kills you, but I think it’s a little more demoralizing when you get a stop and you just don’t get the ball back. For us, we like to get out in the open floor, so that takes away that opportunity. [Delgado has] been rebounding against everybody. He’s at the top of the scouting report and that’s one of the things you want to take away, but one guy’s not going to beat you.”
On rebounding and its effect on the game:
“Nowadays, with the increase in the amount of threes that are shot, there are long rebounds, so you can have a great box out and not get it, but the thing is if you’re going to lose rebounds, don’t lose other parts of the game. I’ve seen some really good teams get outrebounded by 30 and win… If you’re a little smaller, not as strong, then you can’t turn it over, you have to shoot a higher percentage, get more assists. There are other parts of the game. And that’s not to say we can’t get better at [rebounding]. [Delgado], his game is more strength, not jumping or things like that. It depends who you’re playing with. When I was playing against Patrick [Ewing], we used to try and send our guard down and double-box him out but that didn’t work either. You do the best you can, you box out, whatever you can do, and if you do all that it still sometimes depends on where the ball bounces.”
On the reason for his team’s turnaround as of late:
“I just think they’re gaining trust and confidence in themselves. A lot of the stuff that we work on in the practice setting and in the film room, all the things we do to prepare, I think it’s starting to be part of who they are. Some games we’ve had, probably more recently at Providence and against Marquette, where there were sections of that game where things weren’t going well and they played through it and figured out a way to get back on track. I think that shows improvement, shows maturity and now the next step is being consistent with that.”
Redshirt Sophomore Forward Tariq Owens…
On what sticks out in his mind from the last matchup with Seton Hall:
“Rebounding was a major factor in that game; we got outrebounded and we have to hit the glass hard and keep them off.”
On containing Seton Hall forward Angel Delgado:
“It’s a team effort, but it definitely starts with our big men in me, Kassoum [Yakwe], [Darien Williams] and whoever else plays down low. We have to make a conscious effort to find him every time and make sure he doesn’t get the ball, even if we don’t get the rebound.”
On looking forward to the matchup with Angel Delgado:
“Yes, he put up 20 [points] and 20 [rebounds] against us. Me, personally I don’t like that, so it is something I am looking forward to and it should be a good game.”
On what’s caused them to play better in recent weeks:
“Sticking together, we have been saying that since the beginning of the year and have gotten better. There have been times when we have dropped a few games in a row, but we have gotten better by sticking through it and staying together as a team by competing for a full 40 minutes.”
Redshirt Freshman Guard Marcus LoVett…
On what sticks out in his mind from the last matchup with Seton Hall:
“Just having to box out and keep them off the boards. You saw what [Angel Delgado] did last game and we want to contain and stop him as much as possible.”
On effort in rebounding:
“To me it is all heart; we have to give it our all out there. If we are doing that, we can do a lot, so with this team that is what it is about. Going into the game we are conscious of what we really need to do. If it is defensive or offensive principles, we have to execute and give it our all out there on the court.
On how sticking together has helped the team turnaround:
“We talked about a lot of stuff, but didn’t actually go out there and do it. Now, we are doing it much better and it’s about being consistent. Through our ups and downs, we have to stick together and work things out with each other.”
On potentially being a spoiler for Seton Hall:
“We don’t really pay attention to that. We are just paying attention to our team and what we need to do to get where we need to be. We are just taking it one game at a time.”
