St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John's Men's Basketball at RV Xavier
Head Coach Rick Pitino:
Opening Statement…
“Well, for 37 minutes tonight, that's the best basketball we played this season. I thought Kadary [Richmond] set the tempo by being overly aggressive, going to the basket and making plays. He played every minute out there and he was a major factor in the game. I thought [Simeon Wilcher] was big time as well. You know, Sim was one-for-five from three, but he's by far one or two of the best shooters on the team. I got to get him to take about seven threes because he's going to make four. Even when he misses, it's in and out. Sim was great tonight and Kadary was great. Zuby [Ejiofor] is one of the most special players I've coached. I thought Aaron [Scott] was gigantic tonight on the backboard. So great win. We're really excited and really happy. To get road wins in this conference is not easy. This is a team that played UConn to overtime, lost at Marquette by two and beat some outstanding teams. I've got great respect for [Xavier Head Coach] Sean Miller and great respect for their players.”
On the complete performance by the Red Storm tonight…
“Basketball is a game of runs. You're not going to go up 15, 18, then go up 30, you're on the road playing Xavier. They're going to have runs. We're going to have runs. But the one thing you have to appreciate is that we play so hard. I mean, it was 50 to 30 on the backboards. I said to them yesterday in practice, ‘Take your open threes. Just get the rebound. You've got an option, get the rebound.’ They did it tonight. I just think basketball is a game of runs. We're going have runs, they're going to have runs, this is the BIG EAST. Basketball is a game of runs and when you play a Xavier team, they're going to have their run and we're going to have our runs. Tonight was a brilliant performance by the guys, all of them.”
On Kadary Richmond’s strong performance…
“He did it the whole night. The other night [against Butler] he did it for the last five minutes. I told you, he's the exact same player he was at Seton Hall, but he doesn't always have the ball in his hands. Tonight, he was brilliant in all areas. I mean, he's two-for-two from the line, he gets four rebounds, he gets six assists and three steals. I mean, the guy was brilliant.”
On his team’s mentality…
“I just think you want to ascend. You don't want to look ahead, you just want to keep ascending and we want to play great basketball. We obviously see that we were not shooting the three again today, but they were all good threes and we got the rebound. If you make a turnover and you go out and get a stop, it's not a turnover anymore. So that's the mentality we are trying to build. If you turn it over, don't get upset, get a stop.”
St John’s guard Simeon Wilcher:
On his performance tonight…
“For me, it was just about having faith and trust in everybody that surrounded me. They always make sure that I keep my head up regardless of how I play and that's just what they did tonight.”
On the team’s trajectory…
“I feel like we're on a great path and a great trajectory. I feel like we just have to keep doing what we're doing. Just keep getting better day in and day out, believing in one another and we can go places we never thought we could.”
On what Coach Pitino told the team before the game…
“There are more parts to the game than just threes and we know what we can do as a team together. Coach [Pitino] puts it in our head every day that [3-point shooting percentage] doesn't matter, as long as we're crashing boards and playing great defense. We don't have to worry about the percentage that we're shooting and that's just what we did tonight.”
St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond.:
On the energy that the team had in the second half…
“[Energy] is what we preach. We have that every day. It was nothing new seeing them perform in the second half and pick it up.”
On what the team does to succeed…
“We’re playing winning basketball. Regardless of if I'm scoring, guys are rebounding and just making sure I make the right play.”
Opening Statement…
“Well, for 37 minutes tonight, that's the best basketball we played this season. I thought Kadary [Richmond] set the tempo by being overly aggressive, going to the basket and making plays. He played every minute out there and he was a major factor in the game. I thought [Simeon Wilcher] was big time as well. You know, Sim was one-for-five from three, but he's by far one or two of the best shooters on the team. I got to get him to take about seven threes because he's going to make four. Even when he misses, it's in and out. Sim was great tonight and Kadary was great. Zuby [Ejiofor] is one of the most special players I've coached. I thought Aaron [Scott] was gigantic tonight on the backboard. So great win. We're really excited and really happy. To get road wins in this conference is not easy. This is a team that played UConn to overtime, lost at Marquette by two and beat some outstanding teams. I've got great respect for [Xavier Head Coach] Sean Miller and great respect for their players.”
On the complete performance by the Red Storm tonight…
“Basketball is a game of runs. You're not going to go up 15, 18, then go up 30, you're on the road playing Xavier. They're going to have runs. We're going to have runs. But the one thing you have to appreciate is that we play so hard. I mean, it was 50 to 30 on the backboards. I said to them yesterday in practice, ‘Take your open threes. Just get the rebound. You've got an option, get the rebound.’ They did it tonight. I just think basketball is a game of runs. We're going have runs, they're going to have runs, this is the BIG EAST. Basketball is a game of runs and when you play a Xavier team, they're going to have their run and we're going to have our runs. Tonight was a brilliant performance by the guys, all of them.”
On Kadary Richmond’s strong performance…
“He did it the whole night. The other night [against Butler] he did it for the last five minutes. I told you, he's the exact same player he was at Seton Hall, but he doesn't always have the ball in his hands. Tonight, he was brilliant in all areas. I mean, he's two-for-two from the line, he gets four rebounds, he gets six assists and three steals. I mean, the guy was brilliant.”
On his team’s mentality…
“I just think you want to ascend. You don't want to look ahead, you just want to keep ascending and we want to play great basketball. We obviously see that we were not shooting the three again today, but they were all good threes and we got the rebound. If you make a turnover and you go out and get a stop, it's not a turnover anymore. So that's the mentality we are trying to build. If you turn it over, don't get upset, get a stop.”
St John’s guard Simeon Wilcher:
On his performance tonight…
“For me, it was just about having faith and trust in everybody that surrounded me. They always make sure that I keep my head up regardless of how I play and that's just what they did tonight.”
On the team’s trajectory…
“I feel like we're on a great path and a great trajectory. I feel like we just have to keep doing what we're doing. Just keep getting better day in and day out, believing in one another and we can go places we never thought we could.”
On what Coach Pitino told the team before the game…
“There are more parts to the game than just threes and we know what we can do as a team together. Coach [Pitino] puts it in our head every day that [3-point shooting percentage] doesn't matter, as long as we're crashing boards and playing great defense. We don't have to worry about the percentage that we're shooting and that's just what we did tonight.”
St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond.:
On the energy that the team had in the second half…
“[Energy] is what we preach. We have that every day. It was nothing new seeing them perform in the second half and pick it up.”
On what the team does to succeed…
“We’re playing winning basketball. Regardless of if I'm scoring, guys are rebounding and just making sure I make the right play.”