St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. Xavier
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino, Joel Soriano and Nahiem Alleyne spoke with the media following the Red Storm’s 81-66 win over Xavier at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening statement…
“I’m really proud of our guys, the way they prepared. I basically told them that we were going to play some zone, which we haven’t. It’s imperative that we mix it up and play zone. I also told them that I’ve known [Xavier Head Coach Sean Miller] since he was nine years of age and he is one of the premier coaches in the nation. I’ve always felt he was a great coach from a great family. We knew because their pace was so good. They are also a gigantic assist team. Tonight, our defense held them to eight assists on 4-for-21 from the three. We did a fabulous job on their great three-point shooter [Quincy Olivari], who has been on fire, and he was 0-for-2. Great defensive night by all the guys. … I’m really proud of all the guys, good win. In this league, you’ve got to win your home games.”
On Nahiem Alleyne starting against Xavier…
“Like I said, it’s all based on practice. Nahiem has had some very poor practices and didn’t deserve to start. Then, Nahiem had two great practices where Simeon Wilcher had two highly poor practices, so we reward the guys with how they practice. That’s the only way you can do it here because you can’t base it on what someone does at VMI or Penn. You can’t base it on that, you must base it on practice. Now of course, Daniss [Jenkins] and some of the other Iona guys, I know what they can do so it’s a little easier, but Nahiem played a great game. He is very important to us with his defense. He is highly intelligent and I’m really happy for him.”
On the improved defensive play…
“We knew coming into this year that there were two guys who could defend, Nahiem and Daniss. No one else could defend. We are trying to make all of them defensive players in the system. ... We are pressing very well and we have pressed very well throughout the year. Tonight, the half-court defense was better because we mixed in the zone and it made our man defense better. I think Jordan [Dingle] is getting much better defensively. We still have a long way to go with Joel because tonight he didn’t get up on screens enough, but you get 18 [points] and 14 [rebounds] from him. It’s nit-picking to talk about anything like that, so I can’t say enough about his great play, his great hands, great rebounds, great finishes.”
On if the last two games have been a turning point defensively…
“I think definitely. I was really discouraged with our defense and rightfully so. We recruited four scorers who didn’t guard, then throw in Joel and Drissa [Traore]. They had to be taught how to play defensively as well. Joel got himself in great shape and he moves his feet. Drissa is giving us great minutes off the bench. Everyone is improving and they are enjoying the improvement. Just like Jordan Dingle, I mean he is getting better and better, and he knows now that if he wants playing time, he has to guard just like he can score. He has turned the corner on that.”
St. John’s center Joel Soriano
On tonight’s win against Xavier being best game of the season…
“Definitely from start to finish. We improved again defensively. We knew this was going to be a tough game. [Xavier] is a well-coached team. We paid attention to the scouting report well today. Olivari is one of the hottest shooters in the country right now and he went 0-for-2 from three. I think that goes in hand with our guards playing to our scouting.”
On Naheim Alleyne…
“Naheim can shoot the hell out of the ball. I feel like his best trait is his leadership and defensive intensity. If you see him on the ball, he is like a ball hawk. He gets over screens, he gets his hands on the ball and in the press, he gives us great energy. I feel like his defense is really what sparks our team. Him and [Daniss Jenkins] in that press is really what gets our team going.”
On how Coach Pitino has helped him grow his game…
“One thing I will say about Coach P is he is one of the most intense coaches, but he makes you a better man. He prepares you for the road ahead and tells you to be the best version of yourself that you can be. This is the hardest I have ever been playing in my life. I give a lot of credit to that to the whole coaching staff because they have been on me since day one, telling me how hard I have to play to be the type of team we want to be. I just got to keep going. There’s a lot of room for improvement and I can’t get complacent.”
St. John’s guard Nahiem Alleyne
On what Coach Pitino expects from him…
“It starts with my defense. He knows I’m a good defensive player, so I just try to lead with my defense every single day in practice and that’s just going to roll into my offense. He knows how good I am. I just got to treat every practice like it’s a game. That’s all of us though. For me, especially just treat every practice like a game and continue to stay ready.”
On what he has seen from the defense tonight…
“Coach really gave a good scouting report. He knew the zone would be effective against them and I think they shot 4-for-21 [from three] against the zone. That’s really good from us. I felt like the players really played with a lot of intensity on defense and we improved on that. Coach knew it was going to be a struggle for us to rebound, but I felt like the second half, we rebounded really well. Shoutout to the coaches for the good scouting report.”
On if there’s any extra motivation returning to UConn on Saturday…
“I’m just going to take every game like it’s a regular BIG EAST game. We have to fight hard, play with great intensity. Obviously, I did come from UConn so there’s a little bit motivation, but same intensity, same poise, and same passion about the game. We know UConn is coming off a loss and know they are going to come back even stronger. We have to be prepared for that and play with great defense, great energy and the rest will take care of itself.”
Xavier Head Coach Sean Miller
On St. John’s…
“They beat us. They were the better team. You know BIG EAST opener – they had a lot of energy in the arena. They were clearly ready and their scheme hurt us. They haven’t played zone all year and they surprised us. ... I thought they took our effectiveness and our rhythm on offense away from us. It was almost like we got to play against the crowd, play against a hard-playing team that’s ready to play and you got to play against a scheme that you are not as ready for as you would like to be. That happens sometimes in conference play where coaches and teams are adjusting and finding their identity, but clearly, I thought their scheme hurt us and that was a part of our 18 turnovers, bad shot selection and rhythm on offense.”
Opening statement…
“I’m really proud of our guys, the way they prepared. I basically told them that we were going to play some zone, which we haven’t. It’s imperative that we mix it up and play zone. I also told them that I’ve known [Xavier Head Coach Sean Miller] since he was nine years of age and he is one of the premier coaches in the nation. I’ve always felt he was a great coach from a great family. We knew because their pace was so good. They are also a gigantic assist team. Tonight, our defense held them to eight assists on 4-for-21 from the three. We did a fabulous job on their great three-point shooter [Quincy Olivari], who has been on fire, and he was 0-for-2. Great defensive night by all the guys. … I’m really proud of all the guys, good win. In this league, you’ve got to win your home games.”
On Nahiem Alleyne starting against Xavier…
“Like I said, it’s all based on practice. Nahiem has had some very poor practices and didn’t deserve to start. Then, Nahiem had two great practices where Simeon Wilcher had two highly poor practices, so we reward the guys with how they practice. That’s the only way you can do it here because you can’t base it on what someone does at VMI or Penn. You can’t base it on that, you must base it on practice. Now of course, Daniss [Jenkins] and some of the other Iona guys, I know what they can do so it’s a little easier, but Nahiem played a great game. He is very important to us with his defense. He is highly intelligent and I’m really happy for him.”
On the improved defensive play…
“We knew coming into this year that there were two guys who could defend, Nahiem and Daniss. No one else could defend. We are trying to make all of them defensive players in the system. ... We are pressing very well and we have pressed very well throughout the year. Tonight, the half-court defense was better because we mixed in the zone and it made our man defense better. I think Jordan [Dingle] is getting much better defensively. We still have a long way to go with Joel because tonight he didn’t get up on screens enough, but you get 18 [points] and 14 [rebounds] from him. It’s nit-picking to talk about anything like that, so I can’t say enough about his great play, his great hands, great rebounds, great finishes.”
On if the last two games have been a turning point defensively…
“I think definitely. I was really discouraged with our defense and rightfully so. We recruited four scorers who didn’t guard, then throw in Joel and Drissa [Traore]. They had to be taught how to play defensively as well. Joel got himself in great shape and he moves his feet. Drissa is giving us great minutes off the bench. Everyone is improving and they are enjoying the improvement. Just like Jordan Dingle, I mean he is getting better and better, and he knows now that if he wants playing time, he has to guard just like he can score. He has turned the corner on that.”
St. John’s center Joel Soriano
On tonight’s win against Xavier being best game of the season…
“Definitely from start to finish. We improved again defensively. We knew this was going to be a tough game. [Xavier] is a well-coached team. We paid attention to the scouting report well today. Olivari is one of the hottest shooters in the country right now and he went 0-for-2 from three. I think that goes in hand with our guards playing to our scouting.”
On Naheim Alleyne…
“Naheim can shoot the hell out of the ball. I feel like his best trait is his leadership and defensive intensity. If you see him on the ball, he is like a ball hawk. He gets over screens, he gets his hands on the ball and in the press, he gives us great energy. I feel like his defense is really what sparks our team. Him and [Daniss Jenkins] in that press is really what gets our team going.”
On how Coach Pitino has helped him grow his game…
“One thing I will say about Coach P is he is one of the most intense coaches, but he makes you a better man. He prepares you for the road ahead and tells you to be the best version of yourself that you can be. This is the hardest I have ever been playing in my life. I give a lot of credit to that to the whole coaching staff because they have been on me since day one, telling me how hard I have to play to be the type of team we want to be. I just got to keep going. There’s a lot of room for improvement and I can’t get complacent.”
St. John’s guard Nahiem Alleyne
On what Coach Pitino expects from him…
“It starts with my defense. He knows I’m a good defensive player, so I just try to lead with my defense every single day in practice and that’s just going to roll into my offense. He knows how good I am. I just got to treat every practice like it’s a game. That’s all of us though. For me, especially just treat every practice like a game and continue to stay ready.”
On what he has seen from the defense tonight…
“Coach really gave a good scouting report. He knew the zone would be effective against them and I think they shot 4-for-21 [from three] against the zone. That’s really good from us. I felt like the players really played with a lot of intensity on defense and we improved on that. Coach knew it was going to be a struggle for us to rebound, but I felt like the second half, we rebounded really well. Shoutout to the coaches for the good scouting report.”
On if there’s any extra motivation returning to UConn on Saturday…
“I’m just going to take every game like it’s a regular BIG EAST game. We have to fight hard, play with great intensity. Obviously, I did come from UConn so there’s a little bit motivation, but same intensity, same poise, and same passion about the game. We know UConn is coming off a loss and know they are going to come back even stronger. We have to be prepared for that and play with great defense, great energy and the rest will take care of itself.”
Xavier Head Coach Sean Miller
On St. John’s…
“They beat us. They were the better team. You know BIG EAST opener – they had a lot of energy in the arena. They were clearly ready and their scheme hurt us. They haven’t played zone all year and they surprised us. ... I thought they took our effectiveness and our rhythm on offense away from us. It was almost like we got to play against the crowd, play against a hard-playing team that’s ready to play and you got to play against a scheme that you are not as ready for as you would like to be. That happens sometimes in conference play where coaches and teams are adjusting and finding their identity, but clearly, I thought their scheme hurt us and that was a part of our 18 turnovers, bad shot selection and rhythm on offense.”