St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Baruch
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson and junior forward Julian Champagnie spoke with the media following Wednesday’s 107-43 exhibition win over Baruch.
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“It was great to play against somebody other than ourselves. At some point practice, you get edgy and things get stale, so it was [good] to play against someone other than ourselves. I thought we did what we were supposed to do. I thought our defense was intense, and it got better as the game went on. I appreciate Baruch coming over and playing. At the same time, there is still a lot of work to be done. I’ve talked about [how] we have to get questions answered. This is a process. We get a chance to scrimmage on Sunday, and we’ll find out a little bit more about our basketball team.”
On the team’s performance…
“I thought we did what we were supposed to do. We talked about playing hard on defense. They shoot the ball pretty well. I thought our length bothered them a lot. We kind of got them out of their rhythm, and that’s what I wanted to see with this new group. ... They got the nerves out. I thought they came out and played hard. We shared the basketball. [We had] 26 assists. We have to clean up the turnovers, but for the most part, I thought we did what we had to do. No matter who you play, you got to come out and play the best you can play. We came out and played with a lot of confidence.”
On O’Mar Stanley and Rafael Pinzon…
“I think in practice they’ve been holding their own. Our practices are really competitive. I always say I want a game-like simulation in practice, so I saw them carry their practice to the game. That’s what I saw tonight. I think they play with the ultimate confidence. [They] don’t get caught up with the speed of the game. As we start playing more and more people then you’ll really get a chance to see [their confidence].”
On Posh Alexander…
“The thing that I like about Posh is that he’s staying true to who he is. His DNA is getting after people defensively. Obviously, I think he’s going to continue to take steps. He’s shown [that] he is capable of scoring. Tonight, I thought he took a big step in distributing the basketball. He’s got more weapons now, and so he is utilizing that. We know the target is on him, and now he’s got those guys that he can ‘spread the love’ [to], so to speak. I think that speaks volumes. He’s a capable scorer, so it was good to see him get 10 assists. I don’t think he’s ever had 10 assists in a game, whether it be regular-season or exhibition. I think a lot of those came in the second half as well.”
Junior forward Julian Champagnie
On being back out on the court...
“It felt good to see some shots go in. I’m only six days into full [participation] in practice. It felt good to face someone else besides my teammates in practice, but those guys push me every day.”
On rebounding…
“You have to rebound. Scoring the basketball is not the whole game. I think I had 11 defensive rebounds, that’s how we will stop opponents. That’s how we gain possessions and get going offensively.”
On coming together as a team..
“We had fun tonight. That was a key for us, it was fun to be out there. Everyone came in and did their job and knew what they were supposed to do.”
Opening statement…
“It was great to play against somebody other than ourselves. At some point practice, you get edgy and things get stale, so it was [good] to play against someone other than ourselves. I thought we did what we were supposed to do. I thought our defense was intense, and it got better as the game went on. I appreciate Baruch coming over and playing. At the same time, there is still a lot of work to be done. I’ve talked about [how] we have to get questions answered. This is a process. We get a chance to scrimmage on Sunday, and we’ll find out a little bit more about our basketball team.”
On the team’s performance…
“I thought we did what we were supposed to do. We talked about playing hard on defense. They shoot the ball pretty well. I thought our length bothered them a lot. We kind of got them out of their rhythm, and that’s what I wanted to see with this new group. ... They got the nerves out. I thought they came out and played hard. We shared the basketball. [We had] 26 assists. We have to clean up the turnovers, but for the most part, I thought we did what we had to do. No matter who you play, you got to come out and play the best you can play. We came out and played with a lot of confidence.”
On O’Mar Stanley and Rafael Pinzon…
“I think in practice they’ve been holding their own. Our practices are really competitive. I always say I want a game-like simulation in practice, so I saw them carry their practice to the game. That’s what I saw tonight. I think they play with the ultimate confidence. [They] don’t get caught up with the speed of the game. As we start playing more and more people then you’ll really get a chance to see [their confidence].”
On Posh Alexander…
“The thing that I like about Posh is that he’s staying true to who he is. His DNA is getting after people defensively. Obviously, I think he’s going to continue to take steps. He’s shown [that] he is capable of scoring. Tonight, I thought he took a big step in distributing the basketball. He’s got more weapons now, and so he is utilizing that. We know the target is on him, and now he’s got those guys that he can ‘spread the love’ [to], so to speak. I think that speaks volumes. He’s a capable scorer, so it was good to see him get 10 assists. I don’t think he’s ever had 10 assists in a game, whether it be regular-season or exhibition. I think a lot of those came in the second half as well.”
Junior forward Julian Champagnie
On being back out on the court...
“It felt good to see some shots go in. I’m only six days into full [participation] in practice. It felt good to face someone else besides my teammates in practice, but those guys push me every day.”
On rebounding…
“You have to rebound. Scoring the basketball is not the whole game. I think I had 11 defensive rebounds, that’s how we will stop opponents. That’s how we gain possessions and get going offensively.”
On coming together as a team..
“We had fun tonight. That was a key for us, it was fun to be out there. Everyone came in and did their job and knew what they were supposed to do.”