St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Providence
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson, Junior LJ Figueroa and Sophomore Marcellus Earlington spoke with the media after Wednesday’s 80-69 win over Providence
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“First of all, it was good to play at Carnesecca Arena. … Great turnout from our students and our fans. I want to thank them for coming out and creating an enthused atmosphere. I thought that was really big in this game tonight.”
“I thought defensively, we were good for the most part. We made shots. We played for each other. ... One of the things that I said was going to be big in this game was second chance points. At their place, they did pretty good on the boards. … [Providence] got some offensive rebounds going down the stretch, but our guys stayed true to the script. We’ve been in games where we’ve been up and teams made runs at us and I thought we played not to lose, but tonight I thought we played to win.”
On the game plan…
“I told our guys that it’s time to get back to how we were playing early [this season]. We’ve got more guys that are ready and understanding. When our defense is intense it can create some offense for us. ... We wanted to force tempo and get the game up into the 80s. … That favors us without a doubt. We wanted to be in attack mode and I thought we were tonight.”
On the team’s response playing without Mustapha Heron…
“I thought they responded well. … When he got hurt [earlier this season] guys had an opportunity to play and I thought those guys played really well. That moment came again and now they’re even more engaged and more ready to play. We had a lot of guys that stepped up for us.”
On Marcellus Earlington and LJ Figueroa…
“I thought he stayed aggressive. … In the second half I thought he settled down. He’s been working. … You’ve got to have guys that make plays. When teams make runs, because basketball is a game of runs, you’ve got to have some guys step up and make some plays. I thought LJ [Figueroa] was a great leader tonight. I thought he led the charge. … At the end of the day, I thought we finished much better than we have in previous games.”
On Josh Roberts’ defense…
“He gives us energy and I think our guys feed off of it. … He’s that rim protector back there. I thought he was very active. It was good to see him back in that rhythm and how he was playing earlier [this season]. … I want to see the best version of Josh and he was big [for us tonight].”
St. John’s Junior Guard/Forward LJ Figueroa
On getting the win...
“It feels great. There isn’t any other word. It feels great to win. I feel like we’re going to build off of this win, get momentum and keep it going.”
On the team’s defense tonight...
“Defense makes our offense. When we play defense and we run out on the floor, it just helps our offense. It keeps us free, backdoor cutting and just playing free, so when we play defense at full intensity, it just creates easy baskets for us.”
On playing for Coach Mike Anderson…
“Any type of transition is easy when you're willing to adjust. You have to take the teaching and be willing to just accept something new. I think as a team, we've done a pretty good job. I think we've done a great job actually of just accepting his experience from other schools, his coaching and his leadership.”
St. John’s Sophomore Forward Marcellus Earlington
On getting the win…
“I feel like we fought tonight. We’ve been in a lot of close games and we just have to learn how to win and today we did that.”
Opening statement…
“First of all, it was good to play at Carnesecca Arena. … Great turnout from our students and our fans. I want to thank them for coming out and creating an enthused atmosphere. I thought that was really big in this game tonight.”
“I thought defensively, we were good for the most part. We made shots. We played for each other. ... One of the things that I said was going to be big in this game was second chance points. At their place, they did pretty good on the boards. … [Providence] got some offensive rebounds going down the stretch, but our guys stayed true to the script. We’ve been in games where we’ve been up and teams made runs at us and I thought we played not to lose, but tonight I thought we played to win.”
On the game plan…
“I told our guys that it’s time to get back to how we were playing early [this season]. We’ve got more guys that are ready and understanding. When our defense is intense it can create some offense for us. ... We wanted to force tempo and get the game up into the 80s. … That favors us without a doubt. We wanted to be in attack mode and I thought we were tonight.”
On the team’s response playing without Mustapha Heron…
“I thought they responded well. … When he got hurt [earlier this season] guys had an opportunity to play and I thought those guys played really well. That moment came again and now they’re even more engaged and more ready to play. We had a lot of guys that stepped up for us.”
On Marcellus Earlington and LJ Figueroa…
“I thought he stayed aggressive. … In the second half I thought he settled down. He’s been working. … You’ve got to have guys that make plays. When teams make runs, because basketball is a game of runs, you’ve got to have some guys step up and make some plays. I thought LJ [Figueroa] was a great leader tonight. I thought he led the charge. … At the end of the day, I thought we finished much better than we have in previous games.”
On Josh Roberts’ defense…
“He gives us energy and I think our guys feed off of it. … He’s that rim protector back there. I thought he was very active. It was good to see him back in that rhythm and how he was playing earlier [this season]. … I want to see the best version of Josh and he was big [for us tonight].”
St. John’s Junior Guard/Forward LJ Figueroa
On getting the win...
“It feels great. There isn’t any other word. It feels great to win. I feel like we’re going to build off of this win, get momentum and keep it going.”
On the team’s defense tonight...
“Defense makes our offense. When we play defense and we run out on the floor, it just helps our offense. It keeps us free, backdoor cutting and just playing free, so when we play defense at full intensity, it just creates easy baskets for us.”
On playing for Coach Mike Anderson…
“Any type of transition is easy when you're willing to adjust. You have to take the teaching and be willing to just accept something new. I think as a team, we've done a pretty good job. I think we've done a great job actually of just accepting his experience from other schools, his coaching and his leadership.”
St. John’s Sophomore Forward Marcellus Earlington
On getting the win…
“I feel like we fought tonight. We’ve been in a lot of close games and we just have to learn how to win and today we did that.”