St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Mississippi Valley State
St. John’s guards Tareq Coburn, Posh Alexander and Head Coach Mike Anderson spoke to the media after a convincing season opening win
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the gym and had fans. I first want to shout out our fans that showed up here tonight. There was energy in the building and I thought it got our guys off to a really good start. I was of the mindset that we wanted to come out and establish [ourselves] defensively. We really wanted to guard and rebound the basketball, and then on offense, let’s share the basketball. At halftime we had 18 points that we gave up. We had 23 field goals made and we had 15 assists, and we finished the night with 30 [assists]. That means we shared the basketball, but it goes back to our defense and the mindset. Our bench, hopefully, will really be a strong component of this basketball team. They scored 53 points tonight. We did what we were supposed to do. We had a size advantage, and we used that size advantage. It’s game one of a new season, and we’re excited to continue to play basketball.”
On having fans in attendance...
“It makes a big difference. The adrenaline gets going. Here’s a guy in Dylan [Adae-Wusu]; I didn’t think he would play tonight. In the last couple days, he made some tremendous strides in his rehab and getting out on the floor, and I thought that had an effect on him. You saw him out there doing the things he does to help our basketball team. It makes a big difference.”
On the makeup of the team...
“We have potential. We have some guys that can do some things that we hadn’t been able to do. I like how we rebounded the basketball tonight. We have some guys that are older guys. They’re figuring out their roles with our basketball team. They all had some bright moments tonight. Joel [Soriano] played aggressive. I thought he was in attack mode. He rebounded the basketball. Stef [Smith] is just one of those guys; he’s just steady. He’s a steady guy. He does all of the little things, and you know he can shoot the basketball. They all had flashes. There’s still a lot of work to be done, without a doubt, but they all had some flashes. We just have to get better.”
On Tareq Coburn...
“When you look at Tareq [Coburn], he can [score] in a hurry. I think he had of run of eight or nine points in a row. To me, he’s getting the chance to showcase his athletic ability. He [drew] back-to-back charges. I was more excited about that than the scoring. He kept the ball in front of him, and he got back-to-back charges guarding the ball. That’s a mature guy and an older guy.”
Sophomore guard Posh Alexander
On his shooting...
“I worked on my shooting a lot in the summer. I feel like I’m shooting well and building up my confidence. I focus on it in practice every day, so I just had to bring that to into a game setting.”
On his role with the team…
“I’m trying to be a leader. I trust my team and I want the team to trust me to take shots and facilitate on the offensive end. I want to get everyone involved and be a good teammate.”
On adding veteran big men Joel Soriano and Aaron Wheeler...
“Adding them is great. Having Joel [Soriano] on pick-and-rolls is great, no one can really get off his screens with his size. If people come towards me on a drive, I can drop it down to him. Aaron [Wheeler] on the pick-and-roll is helpful too, he can pick and pop then I can kick it out to him to make shots. They are both great players.”
Graduate student guard Tareq Coburn
On his first game at St. John’s...
“It’s a new style of play for me, but I like it. It feels like this is home already, I’m really cool with the guys and we have a strong brotherhood here. We play a very upbeat tempo and play at a fast pace. I think we have a lot to prove this year.”
On the fan support...
“It was a great atmosphere. We had a lot of fans come out to support us. Thank you to the St. John’s community. ... I’m blessed to have this opportunity to play for such a great program and extend my basketball career another year. I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful for my classmates in my physicians assistant [graduate] program. There were around 100 students from my program there supporting at the game, so shoutout to them too. I’m just happy to be a part of St. John’s.”
On what advice Head Coach Mike Anderson had for him during the game...
“He told me to keep fighting, regardless of the score. He told me to keep playing my game no matter the competition. He said to just keep playing St. John’s basketball regardless of who we are going against.”
Opening statement…
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the gym and had fans. I first want to shout out our fans that showed up here tonight. There was energy in the building and I thought it got our guys off to a really good start. I was of the mindset that we wanted to come out and establish [ourselves] defensively. We really wanted to guard and rebound the basketball, and then on offense, let’s share the basketball. At halftime we had 18 points that we gave up. We had 23 field goals made and we had 15 assists, and we finished the night with 30 [assists]. That means we shared the basketball, but it goes back to our defense and the mindset. Our bench, hopefully, will really be a strong component of this basketball team. They scored 53 points tonight. We did what we were supposed to do. We had a size advantage, and we used that size advantage. It’s game one of a new season, and we’re excited to continue to play basketball.”
On having fans in attendance...
“It makes a big difference. The adrenaline gets going. Here’s a guy in Dylan [Adae-Wusu]; I didn’t think he would play tonight. In the last couple days, he made some tremendous strides in his rehab and getting out on the floor, and I thought that had an effect on him. You saw him out there doing the things he does to help our basketball team. It makes a big difference.”
On the makeup of the team...
“We have potential. We have some guys that can do some things that we hadn’t been able to do. I like how we rebounded the basketball tonight. We have some guys that are older guys. They’re figuring out their roles with our basketball team. They all had some bright moments tonight. Joel [Soriano] played aggressive. I thought he was in attack mode. He rebounded the basketball. Stef [Smith] is just one of those guys; he’s just steady. He’s a steady guy. He does all of the little things, and you know he can shoot the basketball. They all had flashes. There’s still a lot of work to be done, without a doubt, but they all had some flashes. We just have to get better.”
On Tareq Coburn...
“When you look at Tareq [Coburn], he can [score] in a hurry. I think he had of run of eight or nine points in a row. To me, he’s getting the chance to showcase his athletic ability. He [drew] back-to-back charges. I was more excited about that than the scoring. He kept the ball in front of him, and he got back-to-back charges guarding the ball. That’s a mature guy and an older guy.”
Sophomore guard Posh Alexander
On his shooting...
“I worked on my shooting a lot in the summer. I feel like I’m shooting well and building up my confidence. I focus on it in practice every day, so I just had to bring that to into a game setting.”
On his role with the team…
“I’m trying to be a leader. I trust my team and I want the team to trust me to take shots and facilitate on the offensive end. I want to get everyone involved and be a good teammate.”
On adding veteran big men Joel Soriano and Aaron Wheeler...
“Adding them is great. Having Joel [Soriano] on pick-and-rolls is great, no one can really get off his screens with his size. If people come towards me on a drive, I can drop it down to him. Aaron [Wheeler] on the pick-and-roll is helpful too, he can pick and pop then I can kick it out to him to make shots. They are both great players.”
Graduate student guard Tareq Coburn
On his first game at St. John’s...
“It’s a new style of play for me, but I like it. It feels like this is home already, I’m really cool with the guys and we have a strong brotherhood here. We play a very upbeat tempo and play at a fast pace. I think we have a lot to prove this year.”
On the fan support...
“It was a great atmosphere. We had a lot of fans come out to support us. Thank you to the St. John’s community. ... I’m blessed to have this opportunity to play for such a great program and extend my basketball career another year. I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful for my classmates in my physicians assistant [graduate] program. There were around 100 students from my program there supporting at the game, so shoutout to them too. I’m just happy to be a part of St. John’s.”
On what advice Head Coach Mike Anderson had for him during the game...
“He told me to keep fighting, regardless of the score. He told me to keep playing my game no matter the competition. He said to just keep playing St. John’s basketball regardless of who we are going against.”