St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball at Connecticut
Red Storm Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Anderson and junior wing Julian Champagnie spoke with the media after an 86-78 overtime loss at Connecticut
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement...
“First of all, the country got the chance to see BIG EAST basketball on display. Two teams going tic-for-tac and of course this game came down to overtime. They were able to finish it out. I’m really proud of the effort from our guys. They got down [but] I know this team here, they aren’t going to let go of the rope, they gave themselves a chance. Four seconds [remaining], in my mind, we are built to get a stop. We were able to get one and they [got the rebound] and got to the free-throw line to send it to overtime. Congratulations to them [Connecticut].”
On what he told his team following the overtime defeat…
“I was proud of them. I told them I thought that was the best game we’ve played all year long. We didn’t shoot the ball [well], but I thought we were connected defensively. Connecticut is a good team. They did what they were supposed to do and held serve at home. We have to have a short memory. We’re only three games into our conference [play] right now. We have a lot of basketball left. We have to keep working, believing and trusting in one another.”
On the play of the bench…
“I was really proud of our bench guys who came in and gave us a lift. They gave those guys [the starters] some minutes and you saw the effect [of that], they were able to finish the game strong.”
On what the team needs to work on…
“We have to continue to come in and get better. We battled on the boards grabbing 21 offensive rebounds. We just didn’t shoot the ball well, missed a lot of shots and [UConn] had something to do with that. They recorded 15 blocked shots, that tells me we didn’t do as good of a job attacking and kicking it out”
Junior forward Julian Champagnie…
On what he took away from tonight’s defeat…
“Obviously, that wasn’t a “W” which is what we want. There are things we’re going to watch on film and take away from this. That’s how hard we have to play every game, for the full game. Those last five minutes we picked up and played with pace and aggression. If we play like that the whole game the deficits we face won’t happen.”
On how Aaron Wheeler’s play recently has helped the team…
“Extremely. He hit that big shot to put us down one. I tell him all the time that we trust him and try to instill confidence in him. We know he has it. He has been showing it making shots and rebounding. I couldn’t be prouder of him and I know Coach [Mike Anderson] is too.”
Opening statement...
“First of all, the country got the chance to see BIG EAST basketball on display. Two teams going tic-for-tac and of course this game came down to overtime. They were able to finish it out. I’m really proud of the effort from our guys. They got down [but] I know this team here, they aren’t going to let go of the rope, they gave themselves a chance. Four seconds [remaining], in my mind, we are built to get a stop. We were able to get one and they [got the rebound] and got to the free-throw line to send it to overtime. Congratulations to them [Connecticut].”
On what he told his team following the overtime defeat…
“I was proud of them. I told them I thought that was the best game we’ve played all year long. We didn’t shoot the ball [well], but I thought we were connected defensively. Connecticut is a good team. They did what they were supposed to do and held serve at home. We have to have a short memory. We’re only three games into our conference [play] right now. We have a lot of basketball left. We have to keep working, believing and trusting in one another.”
On the play of the bench…
“I was really proud of our bench guys who came in and gave us a lift. They gave those guys [the starters] some minutes and you saw the effect [of that], they were able to finish the game strong.”
On what the team needs to work on…
“We have to continue to come in and get better. We battled on the boards grabbing 21 offensive rebounds. We just didn’t shoot the ball well, missed a lot of shots and [UConn] had something to do with that. They recorded 15 blocked shots, that tells me we didn’t do as good of a job attacking and kicking it out”
Junior forward Julian Champagnie…
On what he took away from tonight’s defeat…
“Obviously, that wasn’t a “W” which is what we want. There are things we’re going to watch on film and take away from this. That’s how hard we have to play every game, for the full game. Those last five minutes we picked up and played with pace and aggression. If we play like that the whole game the deficits we face won’t happen.”
On how Aaron Wheeler’s play recently has helped the team…
“Extremely. He hit that big shot to put us down one. I tell him all the time that we trust him and try to instill confidence in him. We know he has it. He has been showing it making shots and rebounding. I couldn’t be prouder of him and I know Coach [Mike Anderson] is too.”