St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. Villanova
Head Coach Mike Anderson and graduate student Aaron Wheeler spoke to the media after falling to No. 15/15 Villanova, 75-69, at Madison Square Garden
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement...
“I think, in this particular game, we ran out of time. We mounted a really concentrated effort. We were down two of our better players. I was proud of the guys that were out there on the floor, leaving it all out on the floor and playing with fire in their bellies. We have to do that for 40 minutes. That’s what I’ve been looking for. Villanova is a very good basketball team, a very poised team even as we got the lead down to three. I thought the shot Tareq [Coburn] had was a good shot. We had such a huge deficit to overcome. I was proud of our guys. I appreciate all the fans that came out.”
On the potential game-tying shot…
“We had a good look. I thought our guys did a good job of getting ball movement and got it to a guy that is capable of knocking a shot down. I have no problem with that particular shot.”
On the run at the end of the game…
“If you look at how we’ve been playing, you’ve been seeing that. You’ve been seeing guys come off the bench and give us quality minutes. Sometimes it’s not even in scoring. You think about Esahia [Nyiwe], O’Mar [Stanley], Stef [Smith] and Tareq [Coburn], those guys were playing to win. They didn’t want to go down like that. We were down 20 and they just didn’t want to go down. You saw the fire. That’s the fire I’m looking for.”
On the full court press…
“I just think the energy has to be there from the start. I think the guys have to play with that same mindset early on. I thought Villanova was very confident in doing what they were doing. When you start getting deflections and scoring it lets you set your defense a little more. It triggered our offense. We were attacking the lanes. We were penetrating, kicking out and making shots. We were getting dunks and layups. That’s what we’re looking for with our basketball team.”
Graduate student forward Aaron Wheeler…
On a career high 31-point performance…
“I’ve started playing more confidently in the past month or so. Just continue to stack [these performances]. I’m trying to contribute on both ends of the floor. My teammates did a good job of finding me.”
On the team’s adjustments without sophomore guard Posh Alexander…
“We knew we were going to need a lot of guys to step up tonight, as we were going to be shorthanded. We knew it had to be a collective effort. I was proud of how guys stepped up. Stef [Smith] had a great effort. He gave us a great spark when we were down. We didn’t give up. I’m proud of our guys.”
On playing as a unit…
“Just playing with a collective effort, grinding it out, things like that. Our morale wasn’t low, we were trying to [continue] to bring more energy. [We have a] next man-up mentality.”
Opening statement...
“I think, in this particular game, we ran out of time. We mounted a really concentrated effort. We were down two of our better players. I was proud of the guys that were out there on the floor, leaving it all out on the floor and playing with fire in their bellies. We have to do that for 40 minutes. That’s what I’ve been looking for. Villanova is a very good basketball team, a very poised team even as we got the lead down to three. I thought the shot Tareq [Coburn] had was a good shot. We had such a huge deficit to overcome. I was proud of our guys. I appreciate all the fans that came out.”
On the potential game-tying shot…
“We had a good look. I thought our guys did a good job of getting ball movement and got it to a guy that is capable of knocking a shot down. I have no problem with that particular shot.”
On the run at the end of the game…
“If you look at how we’ve been playing, you’ve been seeing that. You’ve been seeing guys come off the bench and give us quality minutes. Sometimes it’s not even in scoring. You think about Esahia [Nyiwe], O’Mar [Stanley], Stef [Smith] and Tareq [Coburn], those guys were playing to win. They didn’t want to go down like that. We were down 20 and they just didn’t want to go down. You saw the fire. That’s the fire I’m looking for.”
On the full court press…
“I just think the energy has to be there from the start. I think the guys have to play with that same mindset early on. I thought Villanova was very confident in doing what they were doing. When you start getting deflections and scoring it lets you set your defense a little more. It triggered our offense. We were attacking the lanes. We were penetrating, kicking out and making shots. We were getting dunks and layups. That’s what we’re looking for with our basketball team.”
Graduate student forward Aaron Wheeler…
On a career high 31-point performance…
“I’ve started playing more confidently in the past month or so. Just continue to stack [these performances]. I’m trying to contribute on both ends of the floor. My teammates did a good job of finding me.”
On the team’s adjustments without sophomore guard Posh Alexander…
“We knew we were going to need a lot of guys to step up tonight, as we were going to be shorthanded. We knew it had to be a collective effort. I was proud of how guys stepped up. Stef [Smith] had a great effort. He gave us a great spark when we were down. We didn’t give up. I’m proud of our guys.”
On playing as a unit…
“Just playing with a collective effort, grinding it out, things like that. Our morale wasn’t low, we were trying to [continue] to bring more energy. [We have a] next man-up mentality.”