St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Seton Hall
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson and junior Greg Williams spoke with the media following Saturday’s 81-71 win over Seton Hall
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“I believe we are shaping into form, so to speak. The tendency of a lot of my teams is maybe not to get down so much early, but we always have been a second half team. In this particular game, I thought that momentum changed in the second half and they came out and obviously attacked us and we were settling in the first half, but that happens on senior day. That is why I tried to remind our guys that emotions can only take you so far and I thought Seton Hall came out and established themselves. ... How about our bench coming in and playing some quality minutes, whether it be John [McGriff], Dylan [Addae-Wusu], and Josh [Roberts]. That was the Josh that I know, protecting the rim and playing like his hair is on fire. Marcellus [Earlington] was big tonight because he was a tough matchup for them. Then the starters came back and settled down and I thought our defense picked up in the second half. Sometimes defense leads to offense and the tempo got to our liking. I thought fatigue became a factor in this game, but thank goodness for our bench.”
On how the team has been able to face adversity…
“They have been through the wars in the games that we have played up until this point. They are starting to compete and hang our hats on our defense and our bench is big in this category. The seniors that played tonight, a guy like [Arnaldo] Toro who hasn’t played too much all year, he came in and played some big minutes. He had a big rebound going down the stretch where they were trying to get back into it. They play for each other, they play unselfish offensively and defensively when they are called upon.”
On the team’s effort tonight…
“We played active defensively and the pressure picked up. We played with a little bit of motivation. We could talk about it all the time, but at this point in the season it is one game at a time. Our guys played like it was their last game of the season. You take the first half and other games where we have been down, I think throughout the season we have learned how to navigate being down in games. Our defensive intensity was good. Then the guys who come off the bench see what is going on out there and they have been good students of the game, because they watch and then the intensity picks up even more when they go out there. Tonight, it was all about the stops. Three or four stops.”
On the qualities that the team needed to have to come back…
“You have to have a little bit of confidence. … I thought we started attacking and getting to the basket, and Dylan [Addae-Wusu] got an and-one to get us started. Then Greg [Williams Jr.] started getting to the basket and all of a sudden [John] McGriff comes in and starts making plays. You saw them start to get a little bit on their heels. But give Seton Hall credit, they came out and were attacking and we weren’t helping because they were getting dunks and layups. I thought in the second half we did a good job of making an adjustment.”
On the play of John McGriff…
“I thought he was key. He made a strip early in the game and I thought that he set the tone. Early on, I thought that our pressure defense full-court, we didn’t get into it because we couldn’t score. But when we could get into it, you saw John spearhead it because once he started it was like the domino effect. Other guys started to feed off of it. We started rebounding the ball and pushing the ball and the tempo changed when he was in there. He was my energizer bunny tonight.”
On the potential of playing Seton Hall first in the BIG EAST Tournament…
“At this time of year, you are going to play somebody that you have already played. So we are still in the family and now we are in the tournament setting. It brings a lot of different circumstances. It is about surviving and advancing in that tournament. .... We get a chance to play at our other home arena that we haven’t played at this year, Madison Square Garden, so it should be an exciting tournament.”
Junior Greg Williams Jr.
On the team’s mentality being down 18-0 …
“We were getting smacked and the coaches helped gather our emotions and reunited us. We kind of got the jitters out with senior day and we just had to bounce back, play with our backs against the wall and we just had to come back with a different type of intensity.”
On being a team that thrives when facing adversity even with Posh Alexander out…
“IA number of us on the team have gone down at some point and like coach said ‘next man up.’ The bond that we all have, we all just use that as kind of motivation for the people that fell. So I think that we all just bonded together once Posh [Alexander] went down, kind of do it for the whole team.”
On what it means to have a winning record in BIG EAST play for the first time in six years…
“I think it’s a great thing for the history of this school. We definitely have a different culture and I think it’s a good direction moving forward.”
On the most important things needed to make a comeback …
“Definitely staying together. I think that when adversity hits, we stay together, we didn’t bicker as much at each other or anything like that. We just kept being positive and trying to make a difference in the game.”
On the excitement level to play in conference tournament after last year…
“I still think about that game [last year’s matchup with Creighton], every time we talk about the tournament that’s all I think about, just the season in general. It definitely feels great to be back there and I hope that doesn’t happen again because we have looked forward to this moment this whole year. I really look forward to that time again.”
Opening statement…
“I believe we are shaping into form, so to speak. The tendency of a lot of my teams is maybe not to get down so much early, but we always have been a second half team. In this particular game, I thought that momentum changed in the second half and they came out and obviously attacked us and we were settling in the first half, but that happens on senior day. That is why I tried to remind our guys that emotions can only take you so far and I thought Seton Hall came out and established themselves. ... How about our bench coming in and playing some quality minutes, whether it be John [McGriff], Dylan [Addae-Wusu], and Josh [Roberts]. That was the Josh that I know, protecting the rim and playing like his hair is on fire. Marcellus [Earlington] was big tonight because he was a tough matchup for them. Then the starters came back and settled down and I thought our defense picked up in the second half. Sometimes defense leads to offense and the tempo got to our liking. I thought fatigue became a factor in this game, but thank goodness for our bench.”
On how the team has been able to face adversity…
“They have been through the wars in the games that we have played up until this point. They are starting to compete and hang our hats on our defense and our bench is big in this category. The seniors that played tonight, a guy like [Arnaldo] Toro who hasn’t played too much all year, he came in and played some big minutes. He had a big rebound going down the stretch where they were trying to get back into it. They play for each other, they play unselfish offensively and defensively when they are called upon.”
On the team’s effort tonight…
“We played active defensively and the pressure picked up. We played with a little bit of motivation. We could talk about it all the time, but at this point in the season it is one game at a time. Our guys played like it was their last game of the season. You take the first half and other games where we have been down, I think throughout the season we have learned how to navigate being down in games. Our defensive intensity was good. Then the guys who come off the bench see what is going on out there and they have been good students of the game, because they watch and then the intensity picks up even more when they go out there. Tonight, it was all about the stops. Three or four stops.”
On the qualities that the team needed to have to come back…
“You have to have a little bit of confidence. … I thought we started attacking and getting to the basket, and Dylan [Addae-Wusu] got an and-one to get us started. Then Greg [Williams Jr.] started getting to the basket and all of a sudden [John] McGriff comes in and starts making plays. You saw them start to get a little bit on their heels. But give Seton Hall credit, they came out and were attacking and we weren’t helping because they were getting dunks and layups. I thought in the second half we did a good job of making an adjustment.”
On the play of John McGriff…
“I thought he was key. He made a strip early in the game and I thought that he set the tone. Early on, I thought that our pressure defense full-court, we didn’t get into it because we couldn’t score. But when we could get into it, you saw John spearhead it because once he started it was like the domino effect. Other guys started to feed off of it. We started rebounding the ball and pushing the ball and the tempo changed when he was in there. He was my energizer bunny tonight.”
On the potential of playing Seton Hall first in the BIG EAST Tournament…
“At this time of year, you are going to play somebody that you have already played. So we are still in the family and now we are in the tournament setting. It brings a lot of different circumstances. It is about surviving and advancing in that tournament. .... We get a chance to play at our other home arena that we haven’t played at this year, Madison Square Garden, so it should be an exciting tournament.”
Junior Greg Williams Jr.
On the team’s mentality being down 18-0 …
“We were getting smacked and the coaches helped gather our emotions and reunited us. We kind of got the jitters out with senior day and we just had to bounce back, play with our backs against the wall and we just had to come back with a different type of intensity.”
On being a team that thrives when facing adversity even with Posh Alexander out…
“IA number of us on the team have gone down at some point and like coach said ‘next man up.’ The bond that we all have, we all just use that as kind of motivation for the people that fell. So I think that we all just bonded together once Posh [Alexander] went down, kind of do it for the whole team.”
On what it means to have a winning record in BIG EAST play for the first time in six years…
“I think it’s a great thing for the history of this school. We definitely have a different culture and I think it’s a good direction moving forward.”
On the most important things needed to make a comeback …
“Definitely staying together. I think that when adversity hits, we stay together, we didn’t bicker as much at each other or anything like that. We just kept being positive and trying to make a difference in the game.”
On the excitement level to play in conference tournament after last year…
“I still think about that game [last year’s matchup with Creighton], every time we talk about the tournament that’s all I think about, just the season in general. It definitely feels great to be back there and I hope that doesn’t happen again because we have looked forward to this moment this whole year. I really look forward to that time again.”