St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Georgetown
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson, senior center Joel Soriano and freshman guard AJ Storr spoke with the media following a 75-73 win over Georgetown at Madison Square Garden on Sunday
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement…
“We always talk about the game being two halves. Obviously, in the first half, Georgetown ended with the momentum with the three-pointer at the buzzer, but it was a tale of two halves. There were two things I wrote on the board at halftime: turnovers and effort. I thought our guys took the message. In the second half, we only had two turnovers and we had a lot more effort, especially the last seven or six minutes. St. John’s versus Georgetown has had some epic battles and this one here went down to the wire. We made enough plays. I’m very proud of the multiple defensive stops we had when we went down. I thought we were engaged on defense. On offense, I thought we did a good job of making sure [Joel Soriano] touched the ball multiple times. I can’t say enough about Andre [Curbelo]. I thought he managed the game, got the ball to AJ [Storr] and AJ did what he was supposed to do and knocked down the shot. We made one more play than Georgetown did.”
On the game-winning play…
“They came out in a zone defense and I think Andre did a great job of drawing [the defense]. AJ saw the lane was open and that his man had dropped in [the paint]. He knocked the shot down. It’s all about making plays.”
On David Jones…
“He’s important to what we do. I though he was poised and ready to go help our basketball team. As big as he was, it wasn’t just on the offensive end. Defensively, he was engaged. That David Jones helps our basketball team. He’s got the ultimate confidence. With this team, we have to have a lot of parts working. That’s why we brought him here: to keep impacting this team.”
On the team’s performance…
“We had some adversity. We’ve had that in some other games, and we haven’t responded the right way. The guys we put out on the floor came together and said, ‘We have to make plays.’ I saw some ownership taking place in that moment. I thought we showed a sign of maturity, knowing we have to hang our hats on our defense. I think we can play better, but we have to take it one day and game at a time.”
Senior Center Joel Soriano
On the team’s mindset heading into today’s game…
“We want to win every game. The emphasis was that Georgetown is a very well-coached team and very good, even if the record doesn’t show it. We knew that Primo Spears is a bucket-getter. We knew to win this game, we had to play defense. Today, we wanted to make a statement for ourselves and the rest of this season. If we want to be who we want to be, we have to hang our hats on defense.“
On AJ Storr’s growth this season…
“He stuck with it. He’s a big impact for us. He stays working hard and he’s always in the gym; first one in, last one out. I’ve told him to stay level-headed and just keep working. The work will always show. I feel like he’s been a big part for us on both ends of the court. He’s a big key for what we need to do and I’m proud of him.”
Freshman Guard AJ Storr
On his game-winning shot with 4.3 seconds left…
“It was pretty normal. It wasn’t my first game-winning shot. It was a good pass from Andre Curbelo and I knocked it down.”
On how his preparation early in the season led to his recent success…
“I have just stayed consistent and being in the gym every day. I stayed positive and stuck to what I do. I knew things would go well eventually.”
Opening Statement…
“We always talk about the game being two halves. Obviously, in the first half, Georgetown ended with the momentum with the three-pointer at the buzzer, but it was a tale of two halves. There were two things I wrote on the board at halftime: turnovers and effort. I thought our guys took the message. In the second half, we only had two turnovers and we had a lot more effort, especially the last seven or six minutes. St. John’s versus Georgetown has had some epic battles and this one here went down to the wire. We made enough plays. I’m very proud of the multiple defensive stops we had when we went down. I thought we were engaged on defense. On offense, I thought we did a good job of making sure [Joel Soriano] touched the ball multiple times. I can’t say enough about Andre [Curbelo]. I thought he managed the game, got the ball to AJ [Storr] and AJ did what he was supposed to do and knocked down the shot. We made one more play than Georgetown did.”
On the game-winning play…
“They came out in a zone defense and I think Andre did a great job of drawing [the defense]. AJ saw the lane was open and that his man had dropped in [the paint]. He knocked the shot down. It’s all about making plays.”
On David Jones…
“He’s important to what we do. I though he was poised and ready to go help our basketball team. As big as he was, it wasn’t just on the offensive end. Defensively, he was engaged. That David Jones helps our basketball team. He’s got the ultimate confidence. With this team, we have to have a lot of parts working. That’s why we brought him here: to keep impacting this team.”
On the team’s performance…
“We had some adversity. We’ve had that in some other games, and we haven’t responded the right way. The guys we put out on the floor came together and said, ‘We have to make plays.’ I saw some ownership taking place in that moment. I thought we showed a sign of maturity, knowing we have to hang our hats on our defense. I think we can play better, but we have to take it one day and game at a time.”
Senior Center Joel Soriano
On the team’s mindset heading into today’s game…
“We want to win every game. The emphasis was that Georgetown is a very well-coached team and very good, even if the record doesn’t show it. We knew that Primo Spears is a bucket-getter. We knew to win this game, we had to play defense. Today, we wanted to make a statement for ourselves and the rest of this season. If we want to be who we want to be, we have to hang our hats on defense.“
On AJ Storr’s growth this season…
“He stuck with it. He’s a big impact for us. He stays working hard and he’s always in the gym; first one in, last one out. I’ve told him to stay level-headed and just keep working. The work will always show. I feel like he’s been a big part for us on both ends of the court. He’s a big key for what we need to do and I’m proud of him.”
Freshman Guard AJ Storr
On his game-winning shot with 4.3 seconds left…
“It was pretty normal. It wasn’t my first game-winning shot. It was a good pass from Andre Curbelo and I knocked it down.”
On how his preparation early in the season led to his recent success…
“I have just stayed consistent and being in the gym every day. I stayed positive and stuck to what I do. I knew things would go well eventually.”