St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: RV/RV St. John’s vs DePaul
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, Zuby Ejiofor and Deivon Smith spoke with the media ahead of the team’s conference-opener against DePaul on Tuesday at Carnesecca Arena
Head Coach Rick Pitino
On the strength of the BIG EAST Conference…
“I look at the league, and to be perfectly honest, I don't see a difference between the last-place team and the first-place team. I really don't. I think some teams shoot it better, some teams are deeper, some teams are more talented. … I really think this is a balanced league.”
On how Deivon Smith impacts the game…
“The pace picks up [when he is in the game]. I think if you watched Connecticut play against Gonzaga [on Saturday night], it was an awesome pace the entire game. And that's the way we want to play. When Deivon is out of the game, we don't play at that pace. It just creates more opportunities to offensive rebound and creates more opportunities to dribble penetrate. And those are some of the things we do well.”
On what it will take to become a great team…
“I think we have to shoot the ball better. I think we have to contain the basketball better because if you contain the ball, you don't give up threes. I do look at basketball as a game of runs. I think our mental toughness is very good. I think we dig in when we have to dig in. Tomorrow, the games really start. I mean, we have played some really good games, but tomorrow, the new season starts.”
On DePaul…
“I think this is a very unique team. It’s a very well-coached team and they are very good on the defensive end. The point guard draws more charges than probably any player in the country. I think this is a very tough opponent to play against because of the way they shoot the ball. So you can't have them making 15 [3-pointers] and we make six. That disparity will get you beat.”
St John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor:
On the main focus entering the DePaul game…
“Obviously, the first half and right now, we've been working entirely on our defense, one-on-one defense, and keeping guys in front and trying to keep our opponents out of the lane.”
On if he believes St. John’s can win the BIG EAST…
“I mean, absolutely, that's our mindset. Every single one of us believes that we can win the league, but right now, we're just taking it one game at a time, and our next opponent is DePaul. So, that's what we're looking forward to tomorrow. Now our preparation, our mindset, is just handling business and keeping them away from shooting as many threes as possible and just getting a win.”
On Deivon Smith’s value to the team when he’s on the court…
“He's a guy that does a little bit of everything. He rebounds the heck out of the ball and he gets guys open. He's able to hit knockdown shots as well. So, he's a really valuable player on the team and we're going to need him for the rest of the season as well.”
On where the team is at this point of the season…
“Right now, I would say we're at a good point. We're playing really well collectively, especially on the offensive end. I think that we could put up as many points as we want to. We have guys that can knock it down. We have guys that could get in the lane as well. Our main model right now is just trying to find a defensive identity. That's what we're trying to work on. Just keeping guys in front and trying to limit guys to the paint as much as possible.”
St. John’s guard Deivon Smith
On the team entering BIG EAST play…
“I think we're a very good team. I think it's all about the work we put in and just being collective as a team and putting two halves together and just finishing games. I think we could beat any college team, honestly. We just got to have the right mindset and focus to get things done.”
On if he tries to speed up the game or if it’s just his game…
“I think it's just my game. Playing hard. I know I have a quick first step, so I'm always trying to blow past my defender. Sometimes it seems like I'm always playing super-fast because I rebound a lot and I start to break a little quicker. I think playing at that fast pace gives us an advantage and it works. We score points quickly, get shooters second chance shots and stuff like that. So, I think that’s an advantage and a plus that I bring to this team.”
On the team’s confidence heading into the opener against DePaul…
“I think we're a super confident team. We have some older guys; Kadary [Richmond], Aaron [Scott], me, who have played in some experienced games, so I think we're pretty confident.
We saw where we could be at against Baylor. ... So, we know we have the potential to play against anybody. Just putting two halves together and putting together a good season for us to make the [NCAA] Tournament and win our conference and accomplish all the goals we want. I think individually, we could accomplish a lot of goals for ourselves, playing with each other, playing together. So, I think it's a special group, one of the best teams I've played on with talent. So, I think we got a lot of confidence.”
On the strength of the BIG EAST Conference…
“I look at the league, and to be perfectly honest, I don't see a difference between the last-place team and the first-place team. I really don't. I think some teams shoot it better, some teams are deeper, some teams are more talented. … I really think this is a balanced league.”
On how Deivon Smith impacts the game…
“The pace picks up [when he is in the game]. I think if you watched Connecticut play against Gonzaga [on Saturday night], it was an awesome pace the entire game. And that's the way we want to play. When Deivon is out of the game, we don't play at that pace. It just creates more opportunities to offensive rebound and creates more opportunities to dribble penetrate. And those are some of the things we do well.”
On what it will take to become a great team…
“I think we have to shoot the ball better. I think we have to contain the basketball better because if you contain the ball, you don't give up threes. I do look at basketball as a game of runs. I think our mental toughness is very good. I think we dig in when we have to dig in. Tomorrow, the games really start. I mean, we have played some really good games, but tomorrow, the new season starts.”
On DePaul…
“I think this is a very unique team. It’s a very well-coached team and they are very good on the defensive end. The point guard draws more charges than probably any player in the country. I think this is a very tough opponent to play against because of the way they shoot the ball. So you can't have them making 15 [3-pointers] and we make six. That disparity will get you beat.”
St John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor:
On the main focus entering the DePaul game…
“Obviously, the first half and right now, we've been working entirely on our defense, one-on-one defense, and keeping guys in front and trying to keep our opponents out of the lane.”
On if he believes St. John’s can win the BIG EAST…
“I mean, absolutely, that's our mindset. Every single one of us believes that we can win the league, but right now, we're just taking it one game at a time, and our next opponent is DePaul. So, that's what we're looking forward to tomorrow. Now our preparation, our mindset, is just handling business and keeping them away from shooting as many threes as possible and just getting a win.”
On Deivon Smith’s value to the team when he’s on the court…
“He's a guy that does a little bit of everything. He rebounds the heck out of the ball and he gets guys open. He's able to hit knockdown shots as well. So, he's a really valuable player on the team and we're going to need him for the rest of the season as well.”
On where the team is at this point of the season…
“Right now, I would say we're at a good point. We're playing really well collectively, especially on the offensive end. I think that we could put up as many points as we want to. We have guys that can knock it down. We have guys that could get in the lane as well. Our main model right now is just trying to find a defensive identity. That's what we're trying to work on. Just keeping guys in front and trying to limit guys to the paint as much as possible.”
St. John’s guard Deivon Smith
On the team entering BIG EAST play…
“I think we're a very good team. I think it's all about the work we put in and just being collective as a team and putting two halves together and just finishing games. I think we could beat any college team, honestly. We just got to have the right mindset and focus to get things done.”
On if he tries to speed up the game or if it’s just his game…
“I think it's just my game. Playing hard. I know I have a quick first step, so I'm always trying to blow past my defender. Sometimes it seems like I'm always playing super-fast because I rebound a lot and I start to break a little quicker. I think playing at that fast pace gives us an advantage and it works. We score points quickly, get shooters second chance shots and stuff like that. So, I think that’s an advantage and a plus that I bring to this team.”
On the team’s confidence heading into the opener against DePaul…
“I think we're a super confident team. We have some older guys; Kadary [Richmond], Aaron [Scott], me, who have played in some experienced games, so I think we're pretty confident.
We saw where we could be at against Baylor. ... So, we know we have the potential to play against anybody. Just putting two halves together and putting together a good season for us to make the [NCAA] Tournament and win our conference and accomplish all the goals we want. I think individually, we could accomplish a lot of goals for ourselves, playing with each other, playing together. So, I think it's a special group, one of the best teams I've played on with talent. So, I think we got a lot of confidence.”