St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs Towson
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino and senior forward Aaron Scott spoke with the media following the team’s 64-46 charity exhibition win over Towson on Saturday at Carnesecca Arena
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening Statement…
“We played well against Rutgers, but this was a much better performance. We knew we scheduled two different types of teams. Towson, pace-wise, is one of the slower teams in the country. They're also one of the better defensive teams in the country, sort of like a Seton Hall-type team, and we wanted to be the better defensive team against an outstanding defensive team. And we certainly did a lot of great things defensively. We rotated well, we stopped the ball, we challenged shots, we just didn't block out well, and that was the only negative from the defensive standpoint. But when you hold the team to 28.8% from the field, 21.7% from three and force 25 turnovers, you're really playing great defense, and that's what we wanted to get out of this game. We've been working about 75% of our practices just with man defense. One of the reasons we weren't ready last year, at the beginning of the year, we weren't very good defensively, so we learned a valuable lesson. Today, we came away with an outstanding defensive performance. I also wanted to play guys that I haven't seen in games to see what they can do getting ready for [the season opener against] Fordham, and I didn't care about playing starters too much because I know what they can do.”
On being able to play a scrappy, defensive game…
“That's what you have to do. Towson is a very well-coached team, very good defensively, very physical, and we got a lot out of playing against them, so it was really, really good for us today.”
On Vince Iwuchukwu’s improvement…
“He’s really improving offensively. The one thing he's not doing is being a quick rebounder, reacting quickly to go get the ball, and that's what he has to do. His post-game is good. His touch is good. Shoots good free throws. He's just got to be a quicker twitch on the glass. He goes about a second or two late on his jump. But we see tremendous improvement in him.”
On testing the team’s depth against Towson…
“Well, I wanted to see what Vince [Iwuchukwu] has. I wanted to see what Jaiden [Glover] has. I wanted to give [Lefteris Liotopoulos] a chance and Ruben [Prey] to play, just to see who can be part of our rotation, who can play against Fordham.”
On the development of the team’s big men…
“Ruben [Prey] is the better five-man on the perimeter and [Vince Iwuchukwu] is better inside. Ruben's a very good European player, he knows how to pass, he knows how to move. So, I have confidence in both of them now, and I found that out today. The last two practices, we've had the white team, the team that you saw start, dominate the starters by four and 30 points. Just routed them the other day. So I wanted to see them because it was so impressive in practice the last two days.“
St John’s senior forward Aaron Scott
On the team’s mindset against Towson…
“Our mindset coming into this game was that we had to work on our defense because we gave up a lot of points against [Rutgers]. We knew [Towson] was a very experienced team. They got a lot of starters coming back and we just had to lock in on the defensive end.”
On getting comfortable at St. John’s…
“Right now, I'm comfortable. We all settled in. The season is approaching and I'm locked in. I'm all comfortable. But early on, it was difficult coming from Texas. New York and Texas are two totally different states. But I got out here in June and the guys and I hung out off the court and on the court. We got closer, and it's time now. We’re all locked in. We're all together right now and we're just waiting on the season.”
On playing the three or the four position for Coach Pitino…
“Honestly, I just like being on the court. It doesn't matter if it's the three spot or the four spot. It’s difficult learning the three as a four, as far as the plays on the offensive side. But on the defensive side, I can guard it. I can guard one through four, honestly, so I'm comfortable playing the three or four.”
On the team’s depth…
“We got a lot of depth. As you can see, we started five in and five out. We still kept the intensity up with the subs. We got a lot of depth. But, you know, the freshman, it's their first year and you got to get used to the game speed and everything. Today was really a good showing for them to build trust with Coach [Pitino] so that they can play. So, today was a good game for the freshmen.”
Opening Statement…
“We played well against Rutgers, but this was a much better performance. We knew we scheduled two different types of teams. Towson, pace-wise, is one of the slower teams in the country. They're also one of the better defensive teams in the country, sort of like a Seton Hall-type team, and we wanted to be the better defensive team against an outstanding defensive team. And we certainly did a lot of great things defensively. We rotated well, we stopped the ball, we challenged shots, we just didn't block out well, and that was the only negative from the defensive standpoint. But when you hold the team to 28.8% from the field, 21.7% from three and force 25 turnovers, you're really playing great defense, and that's what we wanted to get out of this game. We've been working about 75% of our practices just with man defense. One of the reasons we weren't ready last year, at the beginning of the year, we weren't very good defensively, so we learned a valuable lesson. Today, we came away with an outstanding defensive performance. I also wanted to play guys that I haven't seen in games to see what they can do getting ready for [the season opener against] Fordham, and I didn't care about playing starters too much because I know what they can do.”
On being able to play a scrappy, defensive game…
“That's what you have to do. Towson is a very well-coached team, very good defensively, very physical, and we got a lot out of playing against them, so it was really, really good for us today.”
On Vince Iwuchukwu’s improvement…
“He’s really improving offensively. The one thing he's not doing is being a quick rebounder, reacting quickly to go get the ball, and that's what he has to do. His post-game is good. His touch is good. Shoots good free throws. He's just got to be a quicker twitch on the glass. He goes about a second or two late on his jump. But we see tremendous improvement in him.”
On testing the team’s depth against Towson…
“Well, I wanted to see what Vince [Iwuchukwu] has. I wanted to see what Jaiden [Glover] has. I wanted to give [Lefteris Liotopoulos] a chance and Ruben [Prey] to play, just to see who can be part of our rotation, who can play against Fordham.”
On the development of the team’s big men…
“Ruben [Prey] is the better five-man on the perimeter and [Vince Iwuchukwu] is better inside. Ruben's a very good European player, he knows how to pass, he knows how to move. So, I have confidence in both of them now, and I found that out today. The last two practices, we've had the white team, the team that you saw start, dominate the starters by four and 30 points. Just routed them the other day. So I wanted to see them because it was so impressive in practice the last two days.“
St John’s senior forward Aaron Scott
On the team’s mindset against Towson…
“Our mindset coming into this game was that we had to work on our defense because we gave up a lot of points against [Rutgers]. We knew [Towson] was a very experienced team. They got a lot of starters coming back and we just had to lock in on the defensive end.”
On getting comfortable at St. John’s…
“Right now, I'm comfortable. We all settled in. The season is approaching and I'm locked in. I'm all comfortable. But early on, it was difficult coming from Texas. New York and Texas are two totally different states. But I got out here in June and the guys and I hung out off the court and on the court. We got closer, and it's time now. We’re all locked in. We're all together right now and we're just waiting on the season.”
On playing the three or the four position for Coach Pitino…
“Honestly, I just like being on the court. It doesn't matter if it's the three spot or the four spot. It’s difficult learning the three as a four, as far as the plays on the offensive side. But on the defensive side, I can guard it. I can guard one through four, honestly, so I'm comfortable playing the three or four.”
On the team’s depth…
“We got a lot of depth. As you can see, we started five in and five out. We still kept the intensity up with the subs. We got a lot of depth. But, you know, the freshman, it's their first year and you got to get used to the game speed and everything. Today was really a good showing for them to build trust with Coach [Pitino] so that they can play. So, today was a good game for the freshmen.”