St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Seton Hall
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella spoke with the media following the team’s 59-43 loss to Seton Hall on Monday.
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening statement…
“I thought we struggled to score the ball today. I actually thought that we played relatively hard, especially on the defensive end. I thought our transition defense in the first half, we did a good job of getting back, taking away points, and forcing them to play a little bit faster. We just got grinded-down and gave up too many easy baskets that you can’t give up against teams that will take advantage. Obviously, we got hurt by [Desiree] Elmore and their big-three so to speak. So, as I said to them inside, even from the first game, I thought that we did a much better job even though maybe the score isn’t as indicative of what the game was like.”
On the play of Unique Drake…
“In the second half of the season, she has scored the ball the way that we thought she could. We are still challenging her to be able to run the flow of the offense and make the right reads, and I thought she made her shots today and made some big ones. Again, she was being aggressive, and I thought that she passed up a bunch of opportunities that she could have been more aggressive. So, I would love to see her have some assists and be able to attack and draw people. We have started to see it at times, but I thought that she was active today and is continuing to grow as a player.”
On the matchup with Xavier in the BIG EAST Tournament…
“I think it is very similar to every other game that we play, just the stakes are higher and if you lose, you go home. You have to have everyone show up to play and be energized. I watched their last game they played, and they looked pretty good against Georgetown in their last home game, so it presents some matchup things that will be different. It is the first time that we have seen them, so it will be somebody different and fresh so I think that will be good. We have to play very much in sync and aggressive and with some passion to be able to play until the following day.”
On what it has been like getting through this season during a pandemic…
“I think our University, and I told our players, the University and all of our senior administration, they have been great. All of the work they have put in is incredible and that goes down to the training staff and everyone who has been doing things on the side outside of their window of responsibility. So, it certainly takes a village as we have said, and everybody has stepped up. We haven’t been perfect, but I think the fact that we got to this day has been fairly amazing when you consider where we were a year ago at this point. So, I can’t say enough about our staff and Mike Cragg, Kathy Meehan and John Diffley, and the whole task force that was put together. We wouldn’t be able to do it without them."
Opening statement…
“I thought we struggled to score the ball today. I actually thought that we played relatively hard, especially on the defensive end. I thought our transition defense in the first half, we did a good job of getting back, taking away points, and forcing them to play a little bit faster. We just got grinded-down and gave up too many easy baskets that you can’t give up against teams that will take advantage. Obviously, we got hurt by [Desiree] Elmore and their big-three so to speak. So, as I said to them inside, even from the first game, I thought that we did a much better job even though maybe the score isn’t as indicative of what the game was like.”
On the play of Unique Drake…
“In the second half of the season, she has scored the ball the way that we thought she could. We are still challenging her to be able to run the flow of the offense and make the right reads, and I thought she made her shots today and made some big ones. Again, she was being aggressive, and I thought that she passed up a bunch of opportunities that she could have been more aggressive. So, I would love to see her have some assists and be able to attack and draw people. We have started to see it at times, but I thought that she was active today and is continuing to grow as a player.”
On the matchup with Xavier in the BIG EAST Tournament…
“I think it is very similar to every other game that we play, just the stakes are higher and if you lose, you go home. You have to have everyone show up to play and be energized. I watched their last game they played, and they looked pretty good against Georgetown in their last home game, so it presents some matchup things that will be different. It is the first time that we have seen them, so it will be somebody different and fresh so I think that will be good. We have to play very much in sync and aggressive and with some passion to be able to play until the following day.”
On what it has been like getting through this season during a pandemic…
“I think our University, and I told our players, the University and all of our senior administration, they have been great. All of the work they have put in is incredible and that goes down to the training staff and everyone who has been doing things on the side outside of their window of responsibility. So, it certainly takes a village as we have said, and everybody has stepped up. We haven’t been perfect, but I think the fact that we got to this day has been fairly amazing when you consider where we were a year ago at this point. So, I can’t say enough about our staff and Mike Cragg, Kathy Meehan and John Diffley, and the whole task force that was put together. We wouldn’t be able to do it without them."