St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Marquette
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson and sophomore forward Julian Champagnie spoke with the media following Saturday’s 73-71 loss to Marquette.
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“I always say that in conference play it is a matter of a play here and there and we saw that this afternoon. Marquette made one more play than we did. I told our guys that they didn’t lose it, they just ran out of time and they made a play. They had a senior [Koby McEwen] make a play, and we didn’t make the play at the end. I was proud of our guys. I thought in the second half, they came out and played some of the better basketball I have seen this year in terms of consistency throughout the half. It’s a tough loss, especially at home.”
On the final possession of the game…
“We had something on the other side with a screen-and-roll with Greg [Williams Jr.] and Julian [Champagnie], that was the set and we never got to it. They did a good job of covering it, and obviously you always have an alternate, but we didn’t get to that. We ended up with Vince [Cole] and they blocked the shot. We didn’t execute what we wanted to.”
On their game offensively…
“I thought that we attacked, and they blocked some shots, and we didn’t make some shots.”
On the inbounds play with one second left…
“I think that is what they ended up giving us. We didn’t have a timeout, so again, that is what they gave us. [Julian Champagnie] was able to get off the shot. He went 5-for-11 from three. We had him coming to the ball and I think it was Greg [Williams Jr.]. We had two shooters out there and he got the shot off.”
On how Josh Roberts foul trouble in the first half impacted the game…
“We saw the impact that he had on us. I thought that had something to do with us being down, but our inability at times to take care of the ball hurt us. We hurried up some shots and I thought that it enabled Marquette to get opportunities in transition. We had some breakdowns in the first half, but I always tell our guys it is a 40-minute game, but we saw his impact defensively in the second half when we started extending our defense. I thought our pressure really bothered Marquette, but in the end, they made their free throws and made plays going down the stretch.”
Sophomore forward Julian Champagnie
On his feeling as he let the last shot of the game go…
“I mean I felt good about it, I feel good about a lot of shots I take. It came off fine, I was behind the basket, so it kind of faded to the left and it didn’t go in. That’s what happens when we let games go down to the very last second and we don’t get shots we want to take and have to force some shots.”
On the possession before the last shot …
“No, we didn’t get the shot we wanted. ... We had a plan, we had a play to run, and [Rasheem Dunn] didn’t feel the pass was there. If he didn’t feel like it was there, we were going to have to ride or die by that, and I believe him. … It just broke down honestly and truly Marquette played it well.
On the impact of Josh Roberts first half foul trouble…
“It hurt us because Josh [Roberts] is playing really well, but with that being said, we still have Isiah [Moore] and [Arnaldo] Toro and Marcellus [Earlington] and myself. It hurt us because Josh was blocking shots when he was in there. At first, he was trying to get his rhythm in and he got two [fouls] early really fast. It hurt us because we couldn’t get his energy, but everyday that’s not an excuse for us to lay down.”
On Coach Anderson’s message during the team’s 12-0 run …
“He always tells us to pick it up, and we already know what that means. So, he was just saying to us to keep playing defense, it was a defensive thing. Our defense was letting them get open shots, easy shots, and take jump shots. So, he preached to us to play defense and to keep up on the defensive end so we could get easy offense.”
Opening statement…
“I always say that in conference play it is a matter of a play here and there and we saw that this afternoon. Marquette made one more play than we did. I told our guys that they didn’t lose it, they just ran out of time and they made a play. They had a senior [Koby McEwen] make a play, and we didn’t make the play at the end. I was proud of our guys. I thought in the second half, they came out and played some of the better basketball I have seen this year in terms of consistency throughout the half. It’s a tough loss, especially at home.”
On the final possession of the game…
“We had something on the other side with a screen-and-roll with Greg [Williams Jr.] and Julian [Champagnie], that was the set and we never got to it. They did a good job of covering it, and obviously you always have an alternate, but we didn’t get to that. We ended up with Vince [Cole] and they blocked the shot. We didn’t execute what we wanted to.”
On their game offensively…
“I thought that we attacked, and they blocked some shots, and we didn’t make some shots.”
On the inbounds play with one second left…
“I think that is what they ended up giving us. We didn’t have a timeout, so again, that is what they gave us. [Julian Champagnie] was able to get off the shot. He went 5-for-11 from three. We had him coming to the ball and I think it was Greg [Williams Jr.]. We had two shooters out there and he got the shot off.”
On how Josh Roberts foul trouble in the first half impacted the game…
“We saw the impact that he had on us. I thought that had something to do with us being down, but our inability at times to take care of the ball hurt us. We hurried up some shots and I thought that it enabled Marquette to get opportunities in transition. We had some breakdowns in the first half, but I always tell our guys it is a 40-minute game, but we saw his impact defensively in the second half when we started extending our defense. I thought our pressure really bothered Marquette, but in the end, they made their free throws and made plays going down the stretch.”
Sophomore forward Julian Champagnie
On his feeling as he let the last shot of the game go…
“I mean I felt good about it, I feel good about a lot of shots I take. It came off fine, I was behind the basket, so it kind of faded to the left and it didn’t go in. That’s what happens when we let games go down to the very last second and we don’t get shots we want to take and have to force some shots.”
On the possession before the last shot …
“No, we didn’t get the shot we wanted. ... We had a plan, we had a play to run, and [Rasheem Dunn] didn’t feel the pass was there. If he didn’t feel like it was there, we were going to have to ride or die by that, and I believe him. … It just broke down honestly and truly Marquette played it well.
On the impact of Josh Roberts first half foul trouble…
“It hurt us because Josh [Roberts] is playing really well, but with that being said, we still have Isiah [Moore] and [Arnaldo] Toro and Marcellus [Earlington] and myself. It hurt us because Josh was blocking shots when he was in there. At first, he was trying to get his rhythm in and he got two [fouls] early really fast. It hurt us because we couldn’t get his energy, but everyday that’s not an excuse for us to lay down.”
On Coach Anderson’s message during the team’s 12-0 run …
“He always tells us to pick it up, and we already know what that means. So, he was just saying to us to keep playing defense, it was a defensive thing. Our defense was letting them get open shots, easy shots, and take jump shots. So, he preached to us to play defense and to keep up on the defensive end so we could get easy offense.”