St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. DePaul
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino, Jordan Dingle and Daniss Jenkins met with the media following the Red Storm’s 85-57 win against DePaul on Tuesday at UBS Arena
St. John’s Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening Statement…
“We did a good job of moving the basketball in the beginning when we weren’t making many shots. I told the guys, they are all good shots, keep shooting. I wasn’t upset at Jordan Dingle for going 0-for-11 [from three in the last three games]. I was upset he didn’t try to go 0-25. He was counting his misses and not moving enough to take the shots. I’ve been with him with every player development drill, and he sets all types of records with his shooting. I felt tonight, he came out and missed the first two or three and then he let it happen. We need that because he is a great shooter. He has improved his defense, he’s improved his passing, and we needed that. [Daniss Jenkins], besides having a great year, he never takes a possession off. He is tougher on the guys than I am. He’s tougher on the guys in a good way because he holds them accountable. He’s having a phenomenal year. I think we are seven or eight points away from being a ranked team and that sometimes happen in a first year. We took Creighton to the wire at Creighton, Connecticut to the wire in Connecticut, Marquette in The Garden. We could have won all those games, but we didn’t because we don’t do the little things that get you over the hump in those close ones. I’m happy tonight, in a lot of different areas, but I’m happy we got movement and let those shots fly.”
On the volume of 3-point shots…
“I wanted movement and I wanted them to take open shots. I didn’t want them to count their misses. [Opponents] are looking at the stat sheet and saying, ‘give them the outside shot’. ... I want them to take it, I’ll take 40 threes if they can shoot 37 percent. I’ll take that every night.”
On Jordan Dingle…
“This is something you don’t see in the Jordan Dingle line; four assists, no turnovers and two steals. That’s pretty good as well. Look, we need him to score. The more he moves, the more [Jenkins] will get him a wide-open shot. He is good off pick and rolls. He is a heck of a basketball player and is playing with other guys that are really good. He is improving and getting better. I want him taking more shots than he is taking, but 13 [shots] is pretty good. 10 threes is pretty good. I’m happy with that.”
On Daniss Jenkins…
“Look, he is the MVP of this basketball team. He is a great point guard. Good size, good athleticism, works every single possession on defense. Every possession the entire season and he works every possession in practice as well. I’m real proud of him.”
St. John’s guard Jordan Dingle
On Coach Pitino encouraging him to shoot more…
“To be honest, it really does mean a lot. I don’t think that there is more of a supportive group that I’ve ever been around in my entire life as far as my teammates and the coaching staff. I just need to step up and continue to do my job. Tonight was great. They found me all night and I’m thankful for them and the effort that they put into it. As far as myself, I just need to do my due diligence and listen to my coaches when they tell me to look at certain guys and what to do.”
On preparation between games…
“Each team proves to be a different task so the things we need to focus on in our preparation might be different. But our level of intensity and our attention to detail doesn’t change and that’s one of the things we need to work on. Like [Jenkins] said earlier, we took a lot of steps in the right direction, and we need to continue to focus on the small things that make great teams great. That’s going to be the difference in those seven or eight points, that Coach [Pitino] said might make us a nationally-ranked team, in those close games.”
St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins
On the mindset of the team tonight…
“We definitely started going in the right direction tonight. We executed exactly what the game plan was. When we came out, we wanted to turn them over. We wanted to really make our mark on defense and let our defense influence our offense. I think we did a good job of that tonight.”
On Jordan Dingle…
“It gives us a different dynamic. Jordan is an unbelievable scorer. If you come watch practice and watch the shots that he makes, I'm talking with him and planning in practice telling him ‘You better not make that shot’ because you don’t know what he’s going to make. No shot on the court is a bad shot to him and he can make it. Coach [Pitino] just encourages him to get easier shots and that’s what I want him to do too. I tell him all the time ‘Jordan keep moving’. It’s not even about him not scoring or not shooting the ball well, as long as we keep learning how to move and play with each other, I know the points will take care of themselves and his shots will fall. I know it’s very important for him to get going because he’s a great scorer.”
Opening Statement…
“We did a good job of moving the basketball in the beginning when we weren’t making many shots. I told the guys, they are all good shots, keep shooting. I wasn’t upset at Jordan Dingle for going 0-for-11 [from three in the last three games]. I was upset he didn’t try to go 0-25. He was counting his misses and not moving enough to take the shots. I’ve been with him with every player development drill, and he sets all types of records with his shooting. I felt tonight, he came out and missed the first two or three and then he let it happen. We need that because he is a great shooter. He has improved his defense, he’s improved his passing, and we needed that. [Daniss Jenkins], besides having a great year, he never takes a possession off. He is tougher on the guys than I am. He’s tougher on the guys in a good way because he holds them accountable. He’s having a phenomenal year. I think we are seven or eight points away from being a ranked team and that sometimes happen in a first year. We took Creighton to the wire at Creighton, Connecticut to the wire in Connecticut, Marquette in The Garden. We could have won all those games, but we didn’t because we don’t do the little things that get you over the hump in those close ones. I’m happy tonight, in a lot of different areas, but I’m happy we got movement and let those shots fly.”
On the volume of 3-point shots…
“I wanted movement and I wanted them to take open shots. I didn’t want them to count their misses. [Opponents] are looking at the stat sheet and saying, ‘give them the outside shot’. ... I want them to take it, I’ll take 40 threes if they can shoot 37 percent. I’ll take that every night.”
On Jordan Dingle…
“This is something you don’t see in the Jordan Dingle line; four assists, no turnovers and two steals. That’s pretty good as well. Look, we need him to score. The more he moves, the more [Jenkins] will get him a wide-open shot. He is good off pick and rolls. He is a heck of a basketball player and is playing with other guys that are really good. He is improving and getting better. I want him taking more shots than he is taking, but 13 [shots] is pretty good. 10 threes is pretty good. I’m happy with that.”
On Daniss Jenkins…
“Look, he is the MVP of this basketball team. He is a great point guard. Good size, good athleticism, works every single possession on defense. Every possession the entire season and he works every possession in practice as well. I’m real proud of him.”
St. John’s guard Jordan Dingle
On Coach Pitino encouraging him to shoot more…
“To be honest, it really does mean a lot. I don’t think that there is more of a supportive group that I’ve ever been around in my entire life as far as my teammates and the coaching staff. I just need to step up and continue to do my job. Tonight was great. They found me all night and I’m thankful for them and the effort that they put into it. As far as myself, I just need to do my due diligence and listen to my coaches when they tell me to look at certain guys and what to do.”
On preparation between games…
“Each team proves to be a different task so the things we need to focus on in our preparation might be different. But our level of intensity and our attention to detail doesn’t change and that’s one of the things we need to work on. Like [Jenkins] said earlier, we took a lot of steps in the right direction, and we need to continue to focus on the small things that make great teams great. That’s going to be the difference in those seven or eight points, that Coach [Pitino] said might make us a nationally-ranked team, in those close games.”
St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins
On the mindset of the team tonight…
“We definitely started going in the right direction tonight. We executed exactly what the game plan was. When we came out, we wanted to turn them over. We wanted to really make our mark on defense and let our defense influence our offense. I think we did a good job of that tonight.”
On Jordan Dingle…
“It gives us a different dynamic. Jordan is an unbelievable scorer. If you come watch practice and watch the shots that he makes, I'm talking with him and planning in practice telling him ‘You better not make that shot’ because you don’t know what he’s going to make. No shot on the court is a bad shot to him and he can make it. Coach [Pitino] just encourages him to get easier shots and that’s what I want him to do too. I tell him all the time ‘Jordan keep moving’. It’s not even about him not scoring or not shooting the ball well, as long as we keep learning how to move and play with each other, I know the points will take care of themselves and his shots will fall. I know it’s very important for him to get going because he’s a great scorer.”