St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Rutgers
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino, forward Glenn Taylor and guard Nahiem Alleyne spoke with the media following the team’s charity exhibition versus Rutgers on Saturday at Carnesecca Arena
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening statement…
“I don’t think we could have asked for anything better. … I’m so proud of a lot of things we did right and we have to work on a lot of things we did wrong. … I was delighted when Rutgers agreed to play this game because when you play against a well-coached team this early in the year. … Winning by 20 or 25 would have killed my team. Going into double overtime in an exhibition game is a dream come true. I told my team I’d rather have lost than win by 20 because of all the lessons learned in a close game. It’s all for charity. It’s all for the Jimmy V Fund for pediatric cancer research, and there is no charity better than that. We are so happy that we could have done it with a great crowd.”
On the lessons learned and the team’s growth…
“The number one weakness in the game was fouling. I tell our guys every day, ‘you put your hands on them, they’re going to call that’. For us to get called for that many fouls was awesome, because I’m telling them every day. We learned an awful lot and I’m sure they learned an awful lot. When you get to play a double-overtime exhibition game, it’s awesome. We are about 50 percent of our potential, which is great. Once we get RJ [Luis], once we get Jordan [Dingle], once Simeon [Wilcher] and Brady [Dunlap] grow, especially Brady defensively, we are going to be much better.”
On bouncing back after losing the lead in the second half...
“I think they were awesome because they made every intelligent play down the stretch for a group that has not been together. [Chris] Ledlum throwing the ball out twice and [Nahiem Alleyne] taking it. The defense they played down the stretch was great. They did so many things that were a little surprising for me for a team that hasn’t played together.”
On Nahiem Alleyne...
“Nahiem is the best defensive player in the backcourt. There were times where [Daniss Jenkins] looks to facilitate and get everyone shot, Nahiem has to learn that. He was great. I think everybody overlooks him, but we don’t because he is our best defensive player [in the backcourt] as well as being able to make his shots.”
On his team’s performance…
“I thought our half-court defense was very good. They hurt us in transition, but we took away the three and rebounded well. Statistically, we did a lot of things well. We held them to 37.3 percent from the field and from three we held them to 20 percent. I think our defense is getting there. I like what happened tonight. I think it made us a lot better and playing a double overtime game in front of the fans, in this atmosphere, is great for the brand we’re building.”
St. John’s forward Glenn Taylor Jr.
On today’s game…
“It was great. We learned a lot from going into double overtime in an exhibition game. Like Coach said, that is something we were praying for. Something like that to learn key things. The atmosphere was great, and to get that early in our season, was great.”
On lessons learned from today’s game…
“When they went on their run, we were still standing together and rallying through adversity. I feel like that was great, especially with a team with 14 new guys and not having played one game with each other. I feel like that was great. That’s going to help down the way.”
On team’s potential…
“I feel like we are going to be exciting. I feel like we are going to bring winning back to St. John’s. I feel like with Coach Pitino’s playing style up-and-down. You saw it in the first half, we were getting up-and-down, I feel like it’s going to be very fun and exciting to watch and we for sure going to win.”
On importance of today’s game…
“I feel like it’s super big. Like I said, having a new team and getting that confidence that whenever we are down, we can still rally and win the game. I feel like all 14 guys knew we were winning that game from start to finish.”
St. John’s guard Nahiem Alleyne
On his three at the end of the first overtime…
“I thought that first one was going to go in, kind of went in and out. I give all credit to the bigs, Joel [Soriano] and Chris [Ledlum], for getting that extra rebound for us and hustling. We need that all season. [Ledlum] pitched it back to me and the guy jumped and it felt good off of my hands. That was a very exciting exhibition game. Hopefully, we don’t have too many double overtimes so we can be better, but it was exciting.”
On being overlooked going into this season…
“Coach [Pitino] said to just play my game. He knows what I can do – three-level scorer, can defend multiple positions. You make your own role on this team. You define yourself. It’s not like coach says, ‘You are going to be strictly a 3-point shooter and just play defense’. No, you have to go get it. All of us have been doing a good job trying to define ourselves.”
On lessons learned…
“All credit to Rutgers, they played their hearts out. They were down double digits and they came out and fought. We just came together, like let's calm down, we know what we need to do and I feel like we handled adversity really well. I think that was the biggest take from our team is that we handle adversity really well. We just didn’t get down and be like ‘the game is over.’”
On the Carnesecca Arena atmosphere…
“It felt like a BIG EAST Tournament game how all the fans were into it. I was excited about that. There were a lot of people in the crowd. Shoutout to St. John’s fans, just keep coming out. We are going to keep proving to y’all that we deserve it. It was just an exciting feeling.”
Opening statement…
“I don’t think we could have asked for anything better. … I’m so proud of a lot of things we did right and we have to work on a lot of things we did wrong. … I was delighted when Rutgers agreed to play this game because when you play against a well-coached team this early in the year. … Winning by 20 or 25 would have killed my team. Going into double overtime in an exhibition game is a dream come true. I told my team I’d rather have lost than win by 20 because of all the lessons learned in a close game. It’s all for charity. It’s all for the Jimmy V Fund for pediatric cancer research, and there is no charity better than that. We are so happy that we could have done it with a great crowd.”
On the lessons learned and the team’s growth…
“The number one weakness in the game was fouling. I tell our guys every day, ‘you put your hands on them, they’re going to call that’. For us to get called for that many fouls was awesome, because I’m telling them every day. We learned an awful lot and I’m sure they learned an awful lot. When you get to play a double-overtime exhibition game, it’s awesome. We are about 50 percent of our potential, which is great. Once we get RJ [Luis], once we get Jordan [Dingle], once Simeon [Wilcher] and Brady [Dunlap] grow, especially Brady defensively, we are going to be much better.”
On bouncing back after losing the lead in the second half...
“I think they were awesome because they made every intelligent play down the stretch for a group that has not been together. [Chris] Ledlum throwing the ball out twice and [Nahiem Alleyne] taking it. The defense they played down the stretch was great. They did so many things that were a little surprising for me for a team that hasn’t played together.”
On Nahiem Alleyne...
“Nahiem is the best defensive player in the backcourt. There were times where [Daniss Jenkins] looks to facilitate and get everyone shot, Nahiem has to learn that. He was great. I think everybody overlooks him, but we don’t because he is our best defensive player [in the backcourt] as well as being able to make his shots.”
On his team’s performance…
“I thought our half-court defense was very good. They hurt us in transition, but we took away the three and rebounded well. Statistically, we did a lot of things well. We held them to 37.3 percent from the field and from three we held them to 20 percent. I think our defense is getting there. I like what happened tonight. I think it made us a lot better and playing a double overtime game in front of the fans, in this atmosphere, is great for the brand we’re building.”
St. John’s forward Glenn Taylor Jr.
On today’s game…
“It was great. We learned a lot from going into double overtime in an exhibition game. Like Coach said, that is something we were praying for. Something like that to learn key things. The atmosphere was great, and to get that early in our season, was great.”
On lessons learned from today’s game…
“When they went on their run, we were still standing together and rallying through adversity. I feel like that was great, especially with a team with 14 new guys and not having played one game with each other. I feel like that was great. That’s going to help down the way.”
On team’s potential…
“I feel like we are going to be exciting. I feel like we are going to bring winning back to St. John’s. I feel like with Coach Pitino’s playing style up-and-down. You saw it in the first half, we were getting up-and-down, I feel like it’s going to be very fun and exciting to watch and we for sure going to win.”
On importance of today’s game…
“I feel like it’s super big. Like I said, having a new team and getting that confidence that whenever we are down, we can still rally and win the game. I feel like all 14 guys knew we were winning that game from start to finish.”
St. John’s guard Nahiem Alleyne
On his three at the end of the first overtime…
“I thought that first one was going to go in, kind of went in and out. I give all credit to the bigs, Joel [Soriano] and Chris [Ledlum], for getting that extra rebound for us and hustling. We need that all season. [Ledlum] pitched it back to me and the guy jumped and it felt good off of my hands. That was a very exciting exhibition game. Hopefully, we don’t have too many double overtimes so we can be better, but it was exciting.”
On being overlooked going into this season…
“Coach [Pitino] said to just play my game. He knows what I can do – three-level scorer, can defend multiple positions. You make your own role on this team. You define yourself. It’s not like coach says, ‘You are going to be strictly a 3-point shooter and just play defense’. No, you have to go get it. All of us have been doing a good job trying to define ourselves.”
On lessons learned…
“All credit to Rutgers, they played their hearts out. They were down double digits and they came out and fought. We just came together, like let's calm down, we know what we need to do and I feel like we handled adversity really well. I think that was the biggest take from our team is that we handle adversity really well. We just didn’t get down and be like ‘the game is over.’”
On the Carnesecca Arena atmosphere…
“It felt like a BIG EAST Tournament game how all the fans were into it. I was excited about that. There were a lot of people in the crowd. Shoutout to St. John’s fans, just keep coming out. We are going to keep proving to y’all that we deserve it. It was just an exciting feeling.”