St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. Butler
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino, Daniss Jenkins and Brady Dunlap met with the media after the Red Storm’s 86-70 win over Butler on Tuesday at Carnesecca Arena
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening Statement…
“It was a great win for us. I hate to see [Butler Head Coach] Thad [Matta] get ejected from the game because he’s a great guy and a great coach. ... We did some really good things and we did a lot of things we got to get better at. We still don’t understand the matchup zone yet but that takes time. I thought overall we were very intelligent on offense. We didn’t turn the ball over and I thought our pressure was very good as well. We did a lot of really good things. Happy with the guys. We have a big game coming up against Villanova and every game you get a little bit better.”
On Brady Dunlap…
“He practiced well, both in player development sessions as well as practice. We weren’t getting rebounds from the one, two and three-spot and tonight there were a lot of loose ball rebounds we had. Brady, although he may be physically weak, he gets in there and is not afraid of contact. I wanted to play him and I wanted to certainly play [Simeon Wilcher] more, but it’s very tough when [Daniss Jenkins] is such a glue guy for us that it gets tough taking him out of the game. But we did play really well without him tonight when he went out”
“We have great confidence in him. I was planning on starting him in this game, but [Chris] Ledlum was ready. If Ledlum wasn’t ready, he was starting because of what he did in practice. I have the upmost confidence in him. I’m not afraid to put him in at any point in time. His stamina has to get better, but he works his butt off. He is a heck of a player. I’ve said that from the moment we got him. He is going to develop into a great player. I’m not going to tell you he is going to be Chris Mullin, but he is going to be a great scorer at St. John’s with the likes of a Chris Mullin. He’s only a freshman, but he is going to be a great one. So is [Simeon Wilcher], Sim is going to be a great one.”
On his team’s improvement over BIG EAST play…
“I think Joel [Soriano] is so much better than he’s playing. You look at his numbers around the basket, he’s like number one in the country, but he’s still nowhere near his potential and that’s a great thing. I think [Daniss Jenkins] is a very good shooter, he’s not showing it necessarily, but he’s a very good shooter. I’ve been with him for two years and he kills the drills, but Joel can get a lot better, [Jordan] Dingle can get a lot better. I thought [Naheim Alleyne] played a really good game tonight and I thought [Chris] Ledlum deserved a lot of credit. He’s only about 70% back and he said, ‘I’ll play for you coach.’ He’s out of shape, he hasn’t practiced and he has a tough ankle. Our trainers did a great job in getting him ready, but he gutted it out and we needed that. We are improving, we still need to get better in our matchup zone. They are starting to get scouting much better, which is a good thing.”
On the environment at Carnesecca Arena tonight…
“We want to thank the crowd. The crowd was great tonight. Late in the game, the crowd was great. I’m going to miss playing at Carnesecca. It was a great crowd and we are very thankful for our fans.”
St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins
On Brady Dunlap…
“I think Brady came in very confident at practice and that’s how he played. That’s what he looks like in practice and we encouraged him to shoot. Whenever he's open, you shoot. Brady is like me, you know he’s skinny, we are tough. That’s what I love about him. He played hard and that is what Coach is always talking about with Brady that’s why he’s getting more minutes. On offense, we just tell him to be confident.”
On playing against Posh Alexander…
“At the end of the day, all I care about is winning. When you get on the court, I’m competitive. If you say something, I’m going to say a little something back too. Nothing personal like that. I was glad they gave him an ovation. He did a lot for this program and he put in a lot of hard work and things like that, but I just wanted to get the win. That’s all that mattered to me, coming out with a big win because they are a great team.”
On his improved play throughout the season…
“I just try to slow down and be confident in every pass. I always tell the guys we are always meant to do things, so whatever you do you, do it like you mean it. If I throw a bad pass, I throw it and can’t take it back. Everything I do, I do like I want to do it. Early on in the season, I was unsure. I was thinking too much about trying to make a home run play. Now I’m just trying to make a good play.”
St. John’s forward Brady Dunlap
On receiving more minutes against Butler…
“When I committed here, I knew what it was. There were a lot of older guys and I’m trying to learn under them, obviously with Coach Pitino, his pedigree and how he develops players throughout the years. I wasn’t committing to this program expecting lots of minutes. I just wanted to get up and get as good as I can throughout this year. At the same time, I’m always staying ready if he calls my name. I don’t want to be on the bench and not prepared to go into this game.”
On personal confidence…
“[I get confidence] from my teammates. I have a great relationship with [Simeon Wilcher] and every day we go back to the dorm, whether we play or not, and it’s always positive in that room and we uplift each other. That’s one of my best friends right now. We just keep each other up and that’s why we keep the confidence. DJ is always telling me to shoot the ball and Coach [Pitino] never says anything to me about offense. I get a lot of my confidence from shooting the ball and doing as much extra work as I possibly can.”
On tonight’s game…
“My dad is a college coach, so I’ve always grown up watching their games and how they go through their process. It’s been a dream of mine since I was shooting on my mini hoop in like first grade in my house to go out and play college basketball at the highest level and perform. To go out there and hit a couple of shots is just a dream come true for me and I’m thankful that Coach Pitino gave me the opportunity today and for my team to find me, give me the ball and be confident in me.”
Opening Statement…
“It was a great win for us. I hate to see [Butler Head Coach] Thad [Matta] get ejected from the game because he’s a great guy and a great coach. ... We did some really good things and we did a lot of things we got to get better at. We still don’t understand the matchup zone yet but that takes time. I thought overall we were very intelligent on offense. We didn’t turn the ball over and I thought our pressure was very good as well. We did a lot of really good things. Happy with the guys. We have a big game coming up against Villanova and every game you get a little bit better.”
On Brady Dunlap…
“He practiced well, both in player development sessions as well as practice. We weren’t getting rebounds from the one, two and three-spot and tonight there were a lot of loose ball rebounds we had. Brady, although he may be physically weak, he gets in there and is not afraid of contact. I wanted to play him and I wanted to certainly play [Simeon Wilcher] more, but it’s very tough when [Daniss Jenkins] is such a glue guy for us that it gets tough taking him out of the game. But we did play really well without him tonight when he went out”
“We have great confidence in him. I was planning on starting him in this game, but [Chris] Ledlum was ready. If Ledlum wasn’t ready, he was starting because of what he did in practice. I have the upmost confidence in him. I’m not afraid to put him in at any point in time. His stamina has to get better, but he works his butt off. He is a heck of a player. I’ve said that from the moment we got him. He is going to develop into a great player. I’m not going to tell you he is going to be Chris Mullin, but he is going to be a great scorer at St. John’s with the likes of a Chris Mullin. He’s only a freshman, but he is going to be a great one. So is [Simeon Wilcher], Sim is going to be a great one.”
On his team’s improvement over BIG EAST play…
“I think Joel [Soriano] is so much better than he’s playing. You look at his numbers around the basket, he’s like number one in the country, but he’s still nowhere near his potential and that’s a great thing. I think [Daniss Jenkins] is a very good shooter, he’s not showing it necessarily, but he’s a very good shooter. I’ve been with him for two years and he kills the drills, but Joel can get a lot better, [Jordan] Dingle can get a lot better. I thought [Naheim Alleyne] played a really good game tonight and I thought [Chris] Ledlum deserved a lot of credit. He’s only about 70% back and he said, ‘I’ll play for you coach.’ He’s out of shape, he hasn’t practiced and he has a tough ankle. Our trainers did a great job in getting him ready, but he gutted it out and we needed that. We are improving, we still need to get better in our matchup zone. They are starting to get scouting much better, which is a good thing.”
On the environment at Carnesecca Arena tonight…
“We want to thank the crowd. The crowd was great tonight. Late in the game, the crowd was great. I’m going to miss playing at Carnesecca. It was a great crowd and we are very thankful for our fans.”
St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins
On Brady Dunlap…
“I think Brady came in very confident at practice and that’s how he played. That’s what he looks like in practice and we encouraged him to shoot. Whenever he's open, you shoot. Brady is like me, you know he’s skinny, we are tough. That’s what I love about him. He played hard and that is what Coach is always talking about with Brady that’s why he’s getting more minutes. On offense, we just tell him to be confident.”
On playing against Posh Alexander…
“At the end of the day, all I care about is winning. When you get on the court, I’m competitive. If you say something, I’m going to say a little something back too. Nothing personal like that. I was glad they gave him an ovation. He did a lot for this program and he put in a lot of hard work and things like that, but I just wanted to get the win. That’s all that mattered to me, coming out with a big win because they are a great team.”
On his improved play throughout the season…
“I just try to slow down and be confident in every pass. I always tell the guys we are always meant to do things, so whatever you do you, do it like you mean it. If I throw a bad pass, I throw it and can’t take it back. Everything I do, I do like I want to do it. Early on in the season, I was unsure. I was thinking too much about trying to make a home run play. Now I’m just trying to make a good play.”
St. John’s forward Brady Dunlap
On receiving more minutes against Butler…
“When I committed here, I knew what it was. There were a lot of older guys and I’m trying to learn under them, obviously with Coach Pitino, his pedigree and how he develops players throughout the years. I wasn’t committing to this program expecting lots of minutes. I just wanted to get up and get as good as I can throughout this year. At the same time, I’m always staying ready if he calls my name. I don’t want to be on the bench and not prepared to go into this game.”
On personal confidence…
“[I get confidence] from my teammates. I have a great relationship with [Simeon Wilcher] and every day we go back to the dorm, whether we play or not, and it’s always positive in that room and we uplift each other. That’s one of my best friends right now. We just keep each other up and that’s why we keep the confidence. DJ is always telling me to shoot the ball and Coach [Pitino] never says anything to me about offense. I get a lot of my confidence from shooting the ball and doing as much extra work as I possibly can.”
On tonight’s game…
“My dad is a college coach, so I’ve always grown up watching their games and how they go through their process. It’s been a dream of mine since I was shooting on my mini hoop in like first grade in my house to go out and play college basketball at the highest level and perform. To go out there and hit a couple of shots is just a dream come true for me and I’m thankful that Coach Pitino gave me the opportunity today and for my team to find me, give me the ball and be confident in me.”