St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: No. 10/9 St. John’s at DePaul
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, guard Kadary Richmond and forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo spoke with the media following the Red Storm’s 82-58 win over the Blue Demons on Wednesday
Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening statement…
“Well, we were in tough shape tonight. I’m real proud of Kadary Richmond tonight because
he had the same injury that RJ [Luis Jr.] did, and he just gutted out practice and gutted out in the game, he played great. He's shown his great playing ability. Now he's shown his toughness.
Sadiku [Ibine Ayo] gave us a big lift with RJ out, gave us a tremendous lift. He deserves it. He's the biggest cheerleader on the team for the other guys. He epitomizes everything great about the word team. Sadiku played terrific, he gave us 13 points in the first half and had five rebounds, two assists, which is shocking. It's great. The guys were great tonight. We were really banged up, really injured, and we came through. Proud of Kadary’s leadership, great basketball player, 17 [points], nine [rebounds], five [assists], with a pulled groin. So, if anybody questions his toughness, I can tell you right now, not only the practice, but he’s a physically tough young man.”
On the three-point shooting tonight…
“The thing I'm happy with is we are taking the three now and not counting misses. That's taking a leap for us, not only making it, but taking them the right way. It was a pleasure to see that tonight, the way we shot it, the way we played, the way we rebounded. We did a lot of really good things being an injured basketball team.”
On Ruben Prey’s performance against DePaul…
“I think Ruben played terrific tonight. Gave us a lot of great energy. He was good. We said, next man up.”
On the win against DePaul…
“They did an excellent job of moving the basketball offensively. You know, we get 17 assists and you're shooting high percentages. It's a good thing. We didn't turn it over much, so real proud of this victory. We made sure we didn't take anybody lightly. We knew DePaul could beat us and we brought it the right way.”
On the status of this year’s team and building a culture at St. John’s…
“I'm happy with the team. We're feeling good because we work hard. I think they're getting it, this team. It all started last year, building the culture. We owe Joel [Soriano] and [Daniss Jenkins] and [Chris Ledlum], Jordan Dingle and [Nahiem Alleyne], we owe them a lot. They established the culture we were trying to build, and these guys are taking it to a new level. They always talk about the second year, but the first year is the ones that established the culture. We owe them a lot for establishing that and now we’re taking great pride in what they're doing.”
On Chris Mullin complimenting him earlier this week…
“I've known Chris as a young man, known him as a pro. Chris Mullin is what St. John's is about. He's the most famous player in the history of the school. He's someone that everybody looks up to for what he's accomplished. So, he is St. John's, and I take it as a high compliment because all the players in St. John's history, this is their home. We want them all back. We want them part of the program. I hope we do some great things because they made it happen and we hope we can get it back to that level.”
On Kadary Richmond…
“[Kadary Richmond] doesn't turn the ball over. He makes great decisions. He's always looking up the floor and always trying to advance the ball, which is great. He’s has a great mid-range game. He's improved his free throw shooting in his second part of the season. But look, he played on a bad groin and he played almost 29 minutes, with nine rebounds, five assists and no turnovers. He's been brilliant.”
St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond
On playing with Deivon Smith…
“Everything takes time. We started to mesh well together, playing off each other as a team. So, I feel like that's what it took to get adjusted to each other.”
On how good this team can be with Deivon Smith and him playing at their full potential…
“I think it could be very good. Me and him running the show, playing off each other. We got RJ [Luis Jr.], we got other guys. Sadiku [Ibine Ayo] stepped up tonight. We have a whole team, so it is hard to stop us on any given night.”
On Sadiku Ibine Ayo’s performance…
“We see it every day. Like Coach [Pitino] said, he's always happy for us, so today was our turn to be happy for him. He stayed prepared. He's always working, never complained, never said anything. So, I'm happy to see him have a game like this.”
St. John’s forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo
On what tonight was like for him…
“First of all, thank God. We work hard every single day in practice. You all have seen the documentary of Coach [Pitino]. We get after it every day, but me and RJ [Luis Jr.], we almost get each other every single day, getting better. So today, when RJ came to me and said, ‘You do this every day in practice. Just be yourself out there.’ Kadary [Richmond] told me, ‘Just be yourself out there. Just play.’ Coach [Pitino] before the game told me again, ‘Let the game come to you. You do this every day in practice.’ So, that’s what I did.”
On having a career night…
“It's amazing. Coach [Pitino] is always being hard on me all the time. I think it pays off. He always tells me, ‘Let the game come to you.’”
Opening statement…
“Well, we were in tough shape tonight. I’m real proud of Kadary Richmond tonight because
he had the same injury that RJ [Luis Jr.] did, and he just gutted out practice and gutted out in the game, he played great. He's shown his great playing ability. Now he's shown his toughness.
Sadiku [Ibine Ayo] gave us a big lift with RJ out, gave us a tremendous lift. He deserves it. He's the biggest cheerleader on the team for the other guys. He epitomizes everything great about the word team. Sadiku played terrific, he gave us 13 points in the first half and had five rebounds, two assists, which is shocking. It's great. The guys were great tonight. We were really banged up, really injured, and we came through. Proud of Kadary’s leadership, great basketball player, 17 [points], nine [rebounds], five [assists], with a pulled groin. So, if anybody questions his toughness, I can tell you right now, not only the practice, but he’s a physically tough young man.”
On the three-point shooting tonight…
“The thing I'm happy with is we are taking the three now and not counting misses. That's taking a leap for us, not only making it, but taking them the right way. It was a pleasure to see that tonight, the way we shot it, the way we played, the way we rebounded. We did a lot of really good things being an injured basketball team.”
On Ruben Prey’s performance against DePaul…
“I think Ruben played terrific tonight. Gave us a lot of great energy. He was good. We said, next man up.”
On the win against DePaul…
“They did an excellent job of moving the basketball offensively. You know, we get 17 assists and you're shooting high percentages. It's a good thing. We didn't turn it over much, so real proud of this victory. We made sure we didn't take anybody lightly. We knew DePaul could beat us and we brought it the right way.”
On the status of this year’s team and building a culture at St. John’s…
“I'm happy with the team. We're feeling good because we work hard. I think they're getting it, this team. It all started last year, building the culture. We owe Joel [Soriano] and [Daniss Jenkins] and [Chris Ledlum], Jordan Dingle and [Nahiem Alleyne], we owe them a lot. They established the culture we were trying to build, and these guys are taking it to a new level. They always talk about the second year, but the first year is the ones that established the culture. We owe them a lot for establishing that and now we’re taking great pride in what they're doing.”
On Chris Mullin complimenting him earlier this week…
“I've known Chris as a young man, known him as a pro. Chris Mullin is what St. John's is about. He's the most famous player in the history of the school. He's someone that everybody looks up to for what he's accomplished. So, he is St. John's, and I take it as a high compliment because all the players in St. John's history, this is their home. We want them all back. We want them part of the program. I hope we do some great things because they made it happen and we hope we can get it back to that level.”
On Kadary Richmond…
“[Kadary Richmond] doesn't turn the ball over. He makes great decisions. He's always looking up the floor and always trying to advance the ball, which is great. He’s has a great mid-range game. He's improved his free throw shooting in his second part of the season. But look, he played on a bad groin and he played almost 29 minutes, with nine rebounds, five assists and no turnovers. He's been brilliant.”
St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond
On playing with Deivon Smith…
“Everything takes time. We started to mesh well together, playing off each other as a team. So, I feel like that's what it took to get adjusted to each other.”
On how good this team can be with Deivon Smith and him playing at their full potential…
“I think it could be very good. Me and him running the show, playing off each other. We got RJ [Luis Jr.], we got other guys. Sadiku [Ibine Ayo] stepped up tonight. We have a whole team, so it is hard to stop us on any given night.”
On Sadiku Ibine Ayo’s performance…
“We see it every day. Like Coach [Pitino] said, he's always happy for us, so today was our turn to be happy for him. He stayed prepared. He's always working, never complained, never said anything. So, I'm happy to see him have a game like this.”
St. John’s forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo
On what tonight was like for him…
“First of all, thank God. We work hard every single day in practice. You all have seen the documentary of Coach [Pitino]. We get after it every day, but me and RJ [Luis Jr.], we almost get each other every single day, getting better. So today, when RJ came to me and said, ‘You do this every day in practice. Just be yourself out there.’ Kadary [Richmond] told me, ‘Just be yourself out there. Just play.’ Coach [Pitino] before the game told me again, ‘Let the game come to you. You do this every day in practice.’ So, that’s what I did.”
On having a career night…
“It's amazing. Coach [Pitino] is always being hard on me all the time. I think it pays off. He always tells me, ‘Let the game come to you.’”