St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. No. 1/1 UConn
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino and Daniss Jenkins spoke with the media after St. John’s 77-64 setback to No. 1/1 UConn inside a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd on Saturday
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening Statement …
“It was a great crowd. A couple of key plays, turnover-wise, led to our demise. But they are better than us and those key plays, not only when we are down three or four, but when it goes down to eight or 10, to a team that shoots free throws like this, you’re going to lose the game. It’s been the same problem all season. We’re not a great shooting team and we are not a great defensive team. When a team shoots 49 percent from the field, almost 47 percent from three and they outrebound you by 15, you’re not going to win too many games. They are better than us. They have been better twice. I think Daniss [Jenkins] is playing at a high level. Unfortunately, nobody else is and that’s one of the reasons why we are not playing great against great teams. We will give them all credit it was a great performance by them at every phase of the game.”
On his concern level after losing five of six games…
“… This is the BIG EAST. I’ve been through it in my first year at Providence, it’s going to take time. We have to get five or six Daniss Jenkins. Guys who can do multiple things and play great defense. They are going to continue to play hard, just have to play better. We have to improve as a basketball team defensively, improve with our offensive rebounding. We have to improve with not making turnovers at crucial times that make the lead go from three to six, six to eight, even though we didn’t turn it over a whole lot.”
St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins
On what the team needs to do to improve…
“I think in order for us to get on the right track and really sustain the team that we know we can be, our mindset has to change. It’s a mindset thing with us. ... We will have a comeback, instead of just saying ‘that’s my fault’ and just move on from it and try to learn. Obviously, as you see the games we keep losing, it’s the same things. … I think we can get there, but like I said the mindset has to change and it starts with me. … I really believe that when we get better at that, we can actually start learning and being a better basketball team. That’s all it’s coming down to. It’s just executing and being a good basketball team. It’s not one turnover, it’s not one missed rebound, it’s being a good, fundamentally-sound basketball team and we’re not that right now. That’s why we keep losing a lot of tough games.”
On the standard the team has to have going forward…
“I know personally for me, back where I came from before I got to this point, playing at The Garden, playing for Rick Pitino, I’ve gone through different situations so I know how to play different things and be who I need to be to help the team win. I just think from a mindset standpoint, for each possession, we need to be smart enough to know what we need to do. If it’s taking away the three, if it's going to get the rebound, if it’s getting that loose ball we have to do it and that has to be the standard. It can’t keep wavering like some games we do it, or this time we will work hard and do it. It has to be the standard of who we are. I think once our mindset gets there and we hold each other to that standard every time, I know we will be a whole lot better.”
Opening Statement …
“It was a great crowd. A couple of key plays, turnover-wise, led to our demise. But they are better than us and those key plays, not only when we are down three or four, but when it goes down to eight or 10, to a team that shoots free throws like this, you’re going to lose the game. It’s been the same problem all season. We’re not a great shooting team and we are not a great defensive team. When a team shoots 49 percent from the field, almost 47 percent from three and they outrebound you by 15, you’re not going to win too many games. They are better than us. They have been better twice. I think Daniss [Jenkins] is playing at a high level. Unfortunately, nobody else is and that’s one of the reasons why we are not playing great against great teams. We will give them all credit it was a great performance by them at every phase of the game.”
On his concern level after losing five of six games…
“… This is the BIG EAST. I’ve been through it in my first year at Providence, it’s going to take time. We have to get five or six Daniss Jenkins. Guys who can do multiple things and play great defense. They are going to continue to play hard, just have to play better. We have to improve as a basketball team defensively, improve with our offensive rebounding. We have to improve with not making turnovers at crucial times that make the lead go from three to six, six to eight, even though we didn’t turn it over a whole lot.”
St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins
On what the team needs to do to improve…
“I think in order for us to get on the right track and really sustain the team that we know we can be, our mindset has to change. It’s a mindset thing with us. ... We will have a comeback, instead of just saying ‘that’s my fault’ and just move on from it and try to learn. Obviously, as you see the games we keep losing, it’s the same things. … I think we can get there, but like I said the mindset has to change and it starts with me. … I really believe that when we get better at that, we can actually start learning and being a better basketball team. That’s all it’s coming down to. It’s just executing and being a good basketball team. It’s not one turnover, it’s not one missed rebound, it’s being a good, fundamentally-sound basketball team and we’re not that right now. That’s why we keep losing a lot of tough games.”
On the standard the team has to have going forward…
“I know personally for me, back where I came from before I got to this point, playing at The Garden, playing for Rick Pitino, I’ve gone through different situations so I know how to play different things and be who I need to be to help the team win. I just think from a mindset standpoint, for each possession, we need to be smart enough to know what we need to do. If it’s taking away the three, if it's going to get the rebound, if it’s getting that loose ball we have to do it and that has to be the standard. It can’t keep wavering like some games we do it, or this time we will work hard and do it. It has to be the standard of who we are. I think once our mindset gets there and we hold each other to that standard every time, I know we will be a whole lot better.”