St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John's vs. Manhattan
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella, Skye Owen and Unique Drake speak to the media after 67-47 win over Manhattan.
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening statement…
“ Pleased obviously with the way we played in the second half to be able to open it up. I think we gave away a lot of opportunities in the first half to put them away and then the same throughout the third quarter. I thought we did a nice job of closing the game. We did show some growth here from our second game of the year where we were kind of in a similar situation with Monmouth, but we were on the road. It was good to see us break away. Unique [Drake] had a great game, career highs in many things. I thought Skye’s [Owen] been pretty consistent for us, especially coming off the bench because she gives us a good spark.”
On finding ways to get Unique Drake the ball when she’s in the zone…
“ I think whenever you see a player have a hot hand you try to do everything you can do to put the ball back in it. It’s two-fold, one as what we try to call as coaches and also our players understanding what’s going on at the same time. I thought we did a much better job of making extra passes and being able to set her up to get shots. But, two she created shots on her own and it’s only going to get harder for her. So, she's going to have to keep doing that as she goes into each game. I thought she made some better reads. We really talked to her about being efficient. Obviously, nine threes is really high, but when you make seven that’s ok. Even the shots she made towards the end of the game were a better read than she made in two other plays which I didn’t really understand. So, I was happy that she was able to adjust on the fly a little bit in where she was able to get her shots from. I think I was able to get her enough of a break today which helped her. She played 31 minutes not 38, which I think makes a big difference.”
On the defensive performance…
“I thought we did enough to bother them. I don’t think they had faced a game yet where they saw the type of pressure that we can apply at times. By no means am I happy with how we really played overall in that area. I thought we did enough. Quite honestly we gave them I would say 10 points with just the ball coming out of our hands and giving up offensive rebounds. But, I think we wore them down a little bit too.”
On Jailah Donald’s play…
“Look, I love Jailah Donald and I want her to be great. She needs to be able to give us something on both ends of the floor because she has the capabilities. In practice, she has done it for over a year and a half. I think she was a lot more aggressive today which I’m happy about… She was better today. I was encouraged today by what she did. She was aggressive and her shots were open. As we go through this season Jailah’s got to be a factor if we want to do anything. I think she’s going to get there. She works. She’s put herself in a position to be physically where she needs to be and as she continues to build on herself from the summer and even last year to now. I think she’s got a chance to be good for us. I know it hasn’t shown up on the stat sheet yet, but today she was much more aggressive which I was happy about. It was good to see.”
Sophomore guard Skye Owen
On her feelings following today’s game…
“Today was a really fun game for me and the whole team brought the energy so it was great.”
On feeling more comfortable running the offense this year…
“I feel like I spent a lot of time last year really learning the system and learning everything Coach wants. This year, it’s just about putting all that into play…. I took the time over the summer to really break down our plays and learn what we want exactly from each play. So when I call a play, I know exactly where it’s supposed to end. And if it doesn’t end where it’s supposed to, I know exactly what happens when it breaks down, so all that made it a lot easier this year.”
Redshirt senior guard Unique Drake
On being a well-rounded player…
“It’s just about making the right play at the end. If I’m open, I shoot the ball, if I’m not, someone else is open. I would just say making the right play and playing my game.”
On her development so far this season…
“I would just say it’s from putting in the work in the off-season. Knowing we had a new team coming in, getting in the gym every day, talking to [Coach Tartamella]. The off-season really prepared me for the season and it's showing.”
Opening statement…
“ Pleased obviously with the way we played in the second half to be able to open it up. I think we gave away a lot of opportunities in the first half to put them away and then the same throughout the third quarter. I thought we did a nice job of closing the game. We did show some growth here from our second game of the year where we were kind of in a similar situation with Monmouth, but we were on the road. It was good to see us break away. Unique [Drake] had a great game, career highs in many things. I thought Skye’s [Owen] been pretty consistent for us, especially coming off the bench because she gives us a good spark.”
On finding ways to get Unique Drake the ball when she’s in the zone…
“ I think whenever you see a player have a hot hand you try to do everything you can do to put the ball back in it. It’s two-fold, one as what we try to call as coaches and also our players understanding what’s going on at the same time. I thought we did a much better job of making extra passes and being able to set her up to get shots. But, two she created shots on her own and it’s only going to get harder for her. So, she's going to have to keep doing that as she goes into each game. I thought she made some better reads. We really talked to her about being efficient. Obviously, nine threes is really high, but when you make seven that’s ok. Even the shots she made towards the end of the game were a better read than she made in two other plays which I didn’t really understand. So, I was happy that she was able to adjust on the fly a little bit in where she was able to get her shots from. I think I was able to get her enough of a break today which helped her. She played 31 minutes not 38, which I think makes a big difference.”
On the defensive performance…
“I thought we did enough to bother them. I don’t think they had faced a game yet where they saw the type of pressure that we can apply at times. By no means am I happy with how we really played overall in that area. I thought we did enough. Quite honestly we gave them I would say 10 points with just the ball coming out of our hands and giving up offensive rebounds. But, I think we wore them down a little bit too.”
On Jailah Donald’s play…
“Look, I love Jailah Donald and I want her to be great. She needs to be able to give us something on both ends of the floor because she has the capabilities. In practice, she has done it for over a year and a half. I think she was a lot more aggressive today which I’m happy about… She was better today. I was encouraged today by what she did. She was aggressive and her shots were open. As we go through this season Jailah’s got to be a factor if we want to do anything. I think she’s going to get there. She works. She’s put herself in a position to be physically where she needs to be and as she continues to build on herself from the summer and even last year to now. I think she’s got a chance to be good for us. I know it hasn’t shown up on the stat sheet yet, but today she was much more aggressive which I was happy about. It was good to see.”
Sophomore guard Skye Owen
On her feelings following today’s game…
“Today was a really fun game for me and the whole team brought the energy so it was great.”
On feeling more comfortable running the offense this year…
“I feel like I spent a lot of time last year really learning the system and learning everything Coach wants. This year, it’s just about putting all that into play…. I took the time over the summer to really break down our plays and learn what we want exactly from each play. So when I call a play, I know exactly where it’s supposed to end. And if it doesn’t end where it’s supposed to, I know exactly what happens when it breaks down, so all that made it a lot easier this year.”
Redshirt senior guard Unique Drake
On being a well-rounded player…
“It’s just about making the right play at the end. If I’m open, I shoot the ball, if I’m not, someone else is open. I would just say making the right play and playing my game.”
On her development so far this season…
“I would just say it’s from putting in the work in the off-season. Knowing we had a new team coming in, getting in the gym every day, talking to [Coach Tartamella]. The off-season really prepared me for the season and it's showing.”