St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. Boston College
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino, Drissa Traore and Chris Ledlum met with the media on Friday ahead of the Red Storm’s matchup with Boston College on Sunday at Barclays Center
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino
On Jordan Dingle’s development…
“The one thing I’ve tried to stress with him is the idea that you can’t play any form of professional basketball if you are a one-dimensional basketball player. You have to have the ability to guard people. You have to have the ability to create for your teammates and in the last game he did a very good job of passing, but they were hockey assists. He was creating a pass to the open man, and they were making the extra pass, which is good basketball. His defense has improved, his passing has improved, his toughness has improved and he is no longer just a one-dimensional shooter.”
On Boston College’s center Quinten Post …
“He is very difficult for any center to play because they run a pick and roll, that if you help at all off the pick and roll, he pops out and is a lethal three-point shooter. He is a great free throw shooter. He does for them what [Nikola Jokic] does for the Nuggets. He is an outstanding college basketball player.”
On Drissa Traore…
“Everyone just said he is a phenomenal person. He accepts his role; he isn’t trying to be something he’s not. He knows he will get five, eight, 12 minutes. He makes those minutes count and is a wonderful human being. He is an asset to the team because of what type of person he is.”
On the value of playing at Barclays Center…
“I think playing in any major venue is what big time college basketball is all about. That’s what Kansas and the teams like Kentucky, they are always playing in these big venues. Playing in the tournament we were in at Charleston, playing at the Barclays Center, playing at The Garden, playing at UBS Arena, its big-time basketball.
St. John’s forward Drissa Traore
On how the team is developing chemistry…
“I think every day we are getting better little by little. …We understand we have 14 new players, but we are also always around each other to grow that chemistry off the court. When we get on the court, let’s say Chris [Ledlum] messed up, I can get on him and he won’t have a bad response. Every day we are getting better.”
On how the off-the-court chemistry translates on the court…
“You see Joel [Soriano] and [Daniss Jenkins], you can tell they have a connection because we are all together all the time. You especially want to have that with your big man and point guard to have a special connection because then that opens up the whole floor for everybody else.”
St John’s forward Chris Ledlum
On the importance of Drissa Traore …
“He is extremely important. When you have a new team and you’re getting into those few bad practices where things seem to be going downhill, no one knows how to react to one another. But then you see his type of energy and you know you can do this together. It's how you build trust in one another. … To be honest, he’s a great person. It’s never a bad day for Drissa. He always has a smile, always picking someone up. He’s just always there for you.”
On the improvements before BIG EAST play…
“We know that the way we have been playing isn’t where we want to be and we know that in order to get BIG EAST wins, we’ve got to pick it up and learn things quicker. There is definitely an urgency in practice.”
On Coach Pitino critiques of the team…
“Obviously, Coach Pitino knows what he’s talking about because he's a Hall of Fame Head Coach. You have to take what’s said and know how it's said. Sometimes we are going to get yelled at, that’s just part of the game. I think one of the biggest things that we try to do is to take what the message is and not how it's said.”
On Jordan Dingle’s development…
“The one thing I’ve tried to stress with him is the idea that you can’t play any form of professional basketball if you are a one-dimensional basketball player. You have to have the ability to guard people. You have to have the ability to create for your teammates and in the last game he did a very good job of passing, but they were hockey assists. He was creating a pass to the open man, and they were making the extra pass, which is good basketball. His defense has improved, his passing has improved, his toughness has improved and he is no longer just a one-dimensional shooter.”
On Boston College’s center Quinten Post …
“He is very difficult for any center to play because they run a pick and roll, that if you help at all off the pick and roll, he pops out and is a lethal three-point shooter. He is a great free throw shooter. He does for them what [Nikola Jokic] does for the Nuggets. He is an outstanding college basketball player.”
On Drissa Traore…
“Everyone just said he is a phenomenal person. He accepts his role; he isn’t trying to be something he’s not. He knows he will get five, eight, 12 minutes. He makes those minutes count and is a wonderful human being. He is an asset to the team because of what type of person he is.”
On the value of playing at Barclays Center…
“I think playing in any major venue is what big time college basketball is all about. That’s what Kansas and the teams like Kentucky, they are always playing in these big venues. Playing in the tournament we were in at Charleston, playing at the Barclays Center, playing at The Garden, playing at UBS Arena, its big-time basketball.
St. John’s forward Drissa Traore
On how the team is developing chemistry…
“I think every day we are getting better little by little. …We understand we have 14 new players, but we are also always around each other to grow that chemistry off the court. When we get on the court, let’s say Chris [Ledlum] messed up, I can get on him and he won’t have a bad response. Every day we are getting better.”
On how the off-the-court chemistry translates on the court…
“You see Joel [Soriano] and [Daniss Jenkins], you can tell they have a connection because we are all together all the time. You especially want to have that with your big man and point guard to have a special connection because then that opens up the whole floor for everybody else.”
St John’s forward Chris Ledlum
On the importance of Drissa Traore …
“He is extremely important. When you have a new team and you’re getting into those few bad practices where things seem to be going downhill, no one knows how to react to one another. But then you see his type of energy and you know you can do this together. It's how you build trust in one another. … To be honest, he’s a great person. It’s never a bad day for Drissa. He always has a smile, always picking someone up. He’s just always there for you.”
On the improvements before BIG EAST play…
“We know that the way we have been playing isn’t where we want to be and we know that in order to get BIG EAST wins, we’ve got to pick it up and learn things quicker. There is definitely an urgency in practice.”
On Coach Pitino critiques of the team…
“Obviously, Coach Pitino knows what he’s talking about because he's a Hall of Fame Head Coach. You have to take what’s said and know how it's said. Sometimes we are going to get yelled at, that’s just part of the game. I think one of the biggest things that we try to do is to take what the message is and not how it's said.”