St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: No. 15/14 St. John’s vs. Providence
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, guard Kadary Richmond and Providence Head Coach Kim English spoke with the media following the Red Storm’s 68-66 win over the Friars on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening statement…
“Well, first I want to congratulate Providence. That was quite a shooting display, especially [Jabri Abdur] Rahim, that they put on. They were down [19] points. Never quit, dug in and made incredible shots. Prior to that, we had them at three made threes in the first half, and then we just kept breaking our defensive routine of what we're supposed to do. So they deserve all the credit. We're very fortunate and very pleased we won, but very disappointed in the way we played down the stretch, not offensively, defensively.
On the defensive performance down the stretch…
“We didn't do our job defensively. We have to focus on defense because we could have lost the game today by not doing our defensive job. It's always better to learn from winning than it is from losing. We learned a valuable lesson.”
On Providence’s shot-making…
“They shoot almost 40% from the corners and they [make] almost eight threes a game. We didn't switch out. We gave up the corners. We backed up when they were coming down the court. Now look, they're a great shooting team. They put on a display. Rahim was 8-11, so we didn't do a good job of guarding him because we said, ‘Oh, he's way out of his range.’ No, he's not way out of his range. That's his range.”
On winning today’s game despite not playing their best…
“We just had to win the game. They will watch the film and learn from it, and we'll move forward to Marquette.”
On Kadary Richmond…
“He's playing really good basketball and we were going to win it or lose it with Kadary’s shot or his pass. He made a terrific shot. He was shooting the ball well all game. I'm really, really happy for him. The thing I love about Kadary is he owns up to his mistakes. Kadary owns up to everything, and I'm real proud of that. He had a great, great night.”
On Deivon Smith’s return from injury…
“I think he's really rusty. He had two practices where he didn't shoot it well, but it's to be expected. He had six assists in the game, one turnover, three steals. That's to be expected. He didn't shoot it well in practice either. But I don't worry about Deivon. He's a pro. He'll come back, he listens, he'll do the right things.”
St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond:
On making the game-winning shot late in the game…
“I felt very good. The coaches, my teammates - they believed in me to give me the ball at the end of the game, and we executed the play, and I made a big-time shot.”
On the team’s mindset heading into next week’s games…
“There's always room for improvement. We're not overlooking anybody. We're not looking ahead. We're just taking it a game at a time, and whoever we got next is who we got next, and we're going to prepare the same way.”
On what went wrong to make today’s game close…
“Couple miscommunications, a lot of things we didn't do in practice today, we did in the game - turn our back to shooters, leave the shooters open, over help and stuff like that. So, we have to clean up that area if we want to keep on rolling and being the team that we are.”
On what he attributes his calmness to during high-pressure games…
“Just being around for a while, playing a lot of basketball in this conference, and just knowing that my teammates are going to have the will to win. They don't want to lose. I'm a leader on this team. I'm one of the leaders and we have to go out there and play to win every night.”
On why he thinks the team won today’s game…
“We played good defense in the first half, but the second half, the last six or seven minutes, it wasn't St John's Basketball. So, I think we won because we have the will to win and refusing to lose. But I'll say we have to clean up certain parts of the game and get better.”
On how he believes he affects the game…
“I think I affect the game in many ways. If I'm not scoring, I'm rebounding, passing, trying to stop the other team’s best player, trying to affect the game any way I can.”
Providence Head Coach Kim English:
On today’s BIG EAST battle…
“I thought it was a really good BIG EAST game, especially the beginning parts and then down the stretch. Players made big-time plays on both sides, all the way down to the end. Kudos to Kadary [Richmond], making a big-time shot to win it.”
On Kadary Richmond…
“Yeah, I think he's the same player. I mean, he's better. Obviously, he's gotten better because great, great players improve. And I think he's a gamer. Think he loves the moment. Things he did last season, he's doing them again.”
On St. John’s versatility…
“They're a great defense, but when they're turning you over, now, they're a great offense. All the athletes, all the size and transition. You know you got to take care of the ball against them. When you don't, you're not going to win.”
On Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis Jr…
“Zuby Ejiofor is as good as an offensive rebounder as I've ever seen. Dennis Rodman level. He and RJ [Luis Jr.] play so hard. Two of the hardest playing guys in our league and they did a better job on a glass.”
Opening statement…
“Well, first I want to congratulate Providence. That was quite a shooting display, especially [Jabri Abdur] Rahim, that they put on. They were down [19] points. Never quit, dug in and made incredible shots. Prior to that, we had them at three made threes in the first half, and then we just kept breaking our defensive routine of what we're supposed to do. So they deserve all the credit. We're very fortunate and very pleased we won, but very disappointed in the way we played down the stretch, not offensively, defensively.
On the defensive performance down the stretch…
“We didn't do our job defensively. We have to focus on defense because we could have lost the game today by not doing our defensive job. It's always better to learn from winning than it is from losing. We learned a valuable lesson.”
On Providence’s shot-making…
“They shoot almost 40% from the corners and they [make] almost eight threes a game. We didn't switch out. We gave up the corners. We backed up when they were coming down the court. Now look, they're a great shooting team. They put on a display. Rahim was 8-11, so we didn't do a good job of guarding him because we said, ‘Oh, he's way out of his range.’ No, he's not way out of his range. That's his range.”
On winning today’s game despite not playing their best…
“We just had to win the game. They will watch the film and learn from it, and we'll move forward to Marquette.”
On Kadary Richmond…
“He's playing really good basketball and we were going to win it or lose it with Kadary’s shot or his pass. He made a terrific shot. He was shooting the ball well all game. I'm really, really happy for him. The thing I love about Kadary is he owns up to his mistakes. Kadary owns up to everything, and I'm real proud of that. He had a great, great night.”
On Deivon Smith’s return from injury…
“I think he's really rusty. He had two practices where he didn't shoot it well, but it's to be expected. He had six assists in the game, one turnover, three steals. That's to be expected. He didn't shoot it well in practice either. But I don't worry about Deivon. He's a pro. He'll come back, he listens, he'll do the right things.”
St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond:
On making the game-winning shot late in the game…
“I felt very good. The coaches, my teammates - they believed in me to give me the ball at the end of the game, and we executed the play, and I made a big-time shot.”
On the team’s mindset heading into next week’s games…
“There's always room for improvement. We're not overlooking anybody. We're not looking ahead. We're just taking it a game at a time, and whoever we got next is who we got next, and we're going to prepare the same way.”
On what went wrong to make today’s game close…
“Couple miscommunications, a lot of things we didn't do in practice today, we did in the game - turn our back to shooters, leave the shooters open, over help and stuff like that. So, we have to clean up that area if we want to keep on rolling and being the team that we are.”
On what he attributes his calmness to during high-pressure games…
“Just being around for a while, playing a lot of basketball in this conference, and just knowing that my teammates are going to have the will to win. They don't want to lose. I'm a leader on this team. I'm one of the leaders and we have to go out there and play to win every night.”
On why he thinks the team won today’s game…
“We played good defense in the first half, but the second half, the last six or seven minutes, it wasn't St John's Basketball. So, I think we won because we have the will to win and refusing to lose. But I'll say we have to clean up certain parts of the game and get better.”
On how he believes he affects the game…
“I think I affect the game in many ways. If I'm not scoring, I'm rebounding, passing, trying to stop the other team’s best player, trying to affect the game any way I can.”
Providence Head Coach Kim English:
On today’s BIG EAST battle…
“I thought it was a really good BIG EAST game, especially the beginning parts and then down the stretch. Players made big-time plays on both sides, all the way down to the end. Kudos to Kadary [Richmond], making a big-time shot to win it.”
On Kadary Richmond…
“Yeah, I think he's the same player. I mean, he's better. Obviously, he's gotten better because great, great players improve. And I think he's a gamer. Think he loves the moment. Things he did last season, he's doing them again.”
On St. John’s versatility…
“They're a great defense, but when they're turning you over, now, they're a great offense. All the athletes, all the size and transition. You know you got to take care of the ball against them. When you don't, you're not going to win.”
On Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis Jr…
“Zuby Ejiofor is as good as an offensive rebounder as I've ever seen. Dennis Rodman level. He and RJ [Luis Jr.] play so hard. Two of the hardest playing guys in our league and they did a better job on a glass.”