St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Xavier
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson and redshirt senior guard Rasheem Dunn spoke with the media following Wednesday’s 69-61 loss to Xavier.
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“It wasn’t because of a lack of effort on our guys part. I thought Xavier in the last ten minutes really started packing the glass on us. They were in the right position and we were in one of those lulls where we couldn’t score and if you told me we were going to keep Xavier, a really good 3-point shooting team down and guard the arc, I would be happy, but the end part is rebounding the basketball and our ability to do that was key and it put them on the free throw line. You can’t give up 21 free throws when you only make eight and lose by nine. That is the ball game. We had a rash of turnovers at the wrong time as well. They went to the zone and I didn’t think we did a good job of attacking it. They packed it in there and you have got to make shots and we did a bad job of stretching the zone and getting it to shift. I could count a number of layups that we missed. We had a big lull in the first half as well where it was 25-21 and we had a stretch where we could have cushioned ourselves and couldn’t do it. Again, that is life on the road and we just have to regroup and continue to try and get better.”
On the play of Rasheem Dunn…
“He played like a veteran, a guy that has been through the wars before, including last year, so we expect that out of Rasheem [Dunn].”
On the rebounding discrepancy…
“I think we should be able to rebound with Xavier. We have guards that can rebound. I think we have guys that should be more physical, especially going down the stretch. They got key offensive rebounds and obviously defensive ones too, because we missed a lot of shots. When you don’t shoot the ball well, that is what is going to take place when you miss shots. The one thing I am disappointed with was the offensive rebounds because the fouls piled up and they were able to get to the free throw line.”
Redshirt senior guard Rasheem Dunn
On the team’s game offensively…
“I feel that it was most of getting guys moving, ball movement. As far as not going through the motions, giving our all out on the floor, moving without the ball, attacking before they even get the zone set up. Today, I felt that we struggled as far as not knocking down 3-point shots that we normally knock down. … I just felt like we weren’t ourselves today on the offensive end as far as knocking down open three’s that we normally hit.”
On whether he felt this was his best game since returning from the concussion…
“Yeah, I feel like the break actually helped me get in tune with myself and actually helped me get more mentally focused. It gave me a chance to look at how I can be better for my team, with me being a senior guard and playing college basketball for five years. I just felt like I had to reflect back on myself and actually sit down and think about what I can do to lead this team to be a better program. Today, I felt like I had one of my best games since the season started, I kind of used that break we had to mentally challenge myself.”
On playing with aggression …
“It was hard suffering that concussion during the first game and me being out the five games and then coming back and not really playing like myself. It’s a new year like coach always says on the team, and he wanted me to get back to my usual self. I just came out trying to get my team going early instead of playing catch-up as you can see it kind of worked, we were in the game, and then a couple of missteps happened but that’s basketball and we can always fix that.”
Opening statement…
“It wasn’t because of a lack of effort on our guys part. I thought Xavier in the last ten minutes really started packing the glass on us. They were in the right position and we were in one of those lulls where we couldn’t score and if you told me we were going to keep Xavier, a really good 3-point shooting team down and guard the arc, I would be happy, but the end part is rebounding the basketball and our ability to do that was key and it put them on the free throw line. You can’t give up 21 free throws when you only make eight and lose by nine. That is the ball game. We had a rash of turnovers at the wrong time as well. They went to the zone and I didn’t think we did a good job of attacking it. They packed it in there and you have got to make shots and we did a bad job of stretching the zone and getting it to shift. I could count a number of layups that we missed. We had a big lull in the first half as well where it was 25-21 and we had a stretch where we could have cushioned ourselves and couldn’t do it. Again, that is life on the road and we just have to regroup and continue to try and get better.”
On the play of Rasheem Dunn…
“He played like a veteran, a guy that has been through the wars before, including last year, so we expect that out of Rasheem [Dunn].”
On the rebounding discrepancy…
“I think we should be able to rebound with Xavier. We have guards that can rebound. I think we have guys that should be more physical, especially going down the stretch. They got key offensive rebounds and obviously defensive ones too, because we missed a lot of shots. When you don’t shoot the ball well, that is what is going to take place when you miss shots. The one thing I am disappointed with was the offensive rebounds because the fouls piled up and they were able to get to the free throw line.”
Redshirt senior guard Rasheem Dunn
On the team’s game offensively…
“I feel that it was most of getting guys moving, ball movement. As far as not going through the motions, giving our all out on the floor, moving without the ball, attacking before they even get the zone set up. Today, I felt that we struggled as far as not knocking down 3-point shots that we normally knock down. … I just felt like we weren’t ourselves today on the offensive end as far as knocking down open three’s that we normally hit.”
On whether he felt this was his best game since returning from the concussion…
“Yeah, I feel like the break actually helped me get in tune with myself and actually helped me get more mentally focused. It gave me a chance to look at how I can be better for my team, with me being a senior guard and playing college basketball for five years. I just felt like I had to reflect back on myself and actually sit down and think about what I can do to lead this team to be a better program. Today, I felt like I had one of my best games since the season started, I kind of used that break we had to mentally challenge myself.”
On playing with aggression …
“It was hard suffering that concussion during the first game and me being out the five games and then coming back and not really playing like myself. It’s a new year like coach always says on the team, and he wanted me to get back to my usual self. I just came out trying to get my team going early instead of playing catch-up as you can see it kind of worked, we were in the game, and then a couple of missteps happened but that’s basketball and we can always fix that.”