St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: No. 7/7 St. John’s at Butler
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, forward RJ Luis Jr. and forward Zuby Ejiofor spoke with the media following the Red Storm’s 76-70 win over the Bulldogs on Wednesday
Head Coach Rick Pitino
On what makes Butler such a difficult matchup…
“Teams like Villanova and Butler hurt us with their styles of going one-on-one on straight-line drives. We have been a better defensive team going against teams that run a lot of motion. ... Certainly, we didn't play our best game, but late in the game, we made all the right plays to win the game, and all that counts is winning the game. Make your adjustments from the film and get ready for the next game.”
On clinching a share of the regular season title tonight…
“I just told the guys, ‘We didn't come here to share anything.’ We have our goals. We came to win this thing. We said it weeks ago and it's in our hands right now. We have two games to win it and we'll see what happens.”
On what his expectations for Saturday are…
“Just like it's been: sold out. Already have 17,000 tickets out. We get to sell out Madison Square Garden; our fans have been great. There won't be a whole lot of celebration. We'll celebrate, certainly, if we can do it on Saturday, but we have to get ready for Marquette.”
On the way the team closed the game tonight…
“With four minutes to go in the game, I just watched the last four minutes, they did everything correct with the exception of giving up a corner three coming off the strong side. Everything else was perfect.”
On grinding out a win in a tough environment…
“You're not going to play a Connecticut-type game every night, especially off one day prep. The guys dug deep, like they have all year, won the game in a very hostile environment. You have to give the guys a tremendous amount of credit for making the right plays with the game on the line and that's what counts.”
On his team’s ability to grind out wins…
“They've done it the whole year. This is a tough place to play. [Butler] was playing great at home. They won four out of five games. They beat Seton Hall by like 30. They were playing terrific basketball. They've got great one-on-one talent. They shoot the three as well. So, we're very pleased with the victory. We just made some mental mistakes defensively that we don't normally make.”
On tonight’s emphasis on attacking the basket…
“They play drop coverage, so you can get downhill, but you got to have the right spacing. We did a lot of good things early in the game by making our mid-range game. We're a very good mid-range shooting team.”
On this season as a whole…
“I'm really, really proud of the guys. Really happy for them. I'm really proud of the fans that packed Madison Square Garden, happy for the student body. I'm really happy for our student body because they've gotten behind the team in heavy numbers. So, to me, to see the students there, to see the subway alumni there, the alumni, they're packing Madison Square Garden. They'll pack it four or five times in a row. Madison Square Garden is 19,800 people. Last year, we had an average of 12,000.”
St. John’s forward RJ Luis Jr.
On if there was a celebration for winning a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Title…
“No celebration. We haven’t won anything yet. It feels good to have part of it clinched, but like Coach Pitino said, ‘I don’t want to share it and the team doesn’t want to share it.’ We have put a lot of work in this season. We kind of let Coach Pitino down tonight defensively, but like he says, ‘Good teams know how to win when they have a bad game.’ We still ended up winning, so we are just going to get prepared for Seton Hall on Saturday.”
On the feeling of this season after the way last year ended…
“It feels great. This group is really special. It's just really a blessing for me to be able to play at this level. It's awesome to see [Zuby Ejiofor] grow. I feel like every other game we're great - we're doing something new, we're breaking records and stuff like that. Just to know that come Saturday, if we take care of business, we get a [BIG EAST] Regular Season Title for the first time in 40 years. It feels great to be a part of that.”
On what he thinks The Garden will be like on Saturday…
“I think The Garden is going to be amazing. I think [Seton Hall] is going to try to play their best game against us. We have to defend our house. We have to defend our house like we've been doing all season. We want to stay undefeated at home.”
St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor
On how it feels to clinch a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Title…
“It obviously feels great. Coming into this game, we were not going to put our fate into someone else’s hands. So we came in here, handled business and got the win.”
On if today’s game was symbolic of the season….
“Today, we didn't stay to the defensive game plan and let up a lot of straight-line drives. Our defensive identity wasn't at the level of a championship group and that needs to be fixed and talked about. We're going to watch the film and see what we have to improve. But that's kind of how our season has gone – a lot of ups and downs, fighting through adversity and coming out with the win.”
On what allowed him to finish the game strong…
“The coaching staff and my teammates kept on trusting me throughout the entire game. I was having a bad game, but I tend to stay level-headed no matter how the game is going. There was a little bit of frustration in the first half for me, but I just can't be complacent and just glad to move on from that. As a leader, I just do whatever it takes to get the win.”
On if it was fitting to win this game with toughness…
“Absolutely. We came into this game knowing exactly what they were going to do and we knew they were going to come out, especially on their home court. It was going to be a tough game to the nail and that's exactly what it was. All in all, we were able to come out to win. Like I said, there were some mistakes that we made, but tomorrow we will watch film and just figure out ways to improve.”
On what makes Butler such a difficult matchup…
“Teams like Villanova and Butler hurt us with their styles of going one-on-one on straight-line drives. We have been a better defensive team going against teams that run a lot of motion. ... Certainly, we didn't play our best game, but late in the game, we made all the right plays to win the game, and all that counts is winning the game. Make your adjustments from the film and get ready for the next game.”
On clinching a share of the regular season title tonight…
“I just told the guys, ‘We didn't come here to share anything.’ We have our goals. We came to win this thing. We said it weeks ago and it's in our hands right now. We have two games to win it and we'll see what happens.”
On what his expectations for Saturday are…
“Just like it's been: sold out. Already have 17,000 tickets out. We get to sell out Madison Square Garden; our fans have been great. There won't be a whole lot of celebration. We'll celebrate, certainly, if we can do it on Saturday, but we have to get ready for Marquette.”
On the way the team closed the game tonight…
“With four minutes to go in the game, I just watched the last four minutes, they did everything correct with the exception of giving up a corner three coming off the strong side. Everything else was perfect.”
On grinding out a win in a tough environment…
“You're not going to play a Connecticut-type game every night, especially off one day prep. The guys dug deep, like they have all year, won the game in a very hostile environment. You have to give the guys a tremendous amount of credit for making the right plays with the game on the line and that's what counts.”
On his team’s ability to grind out wins…
“They've done it the whole year. This is a tough place to play. [Butler] was playing great at home. They won four out of five games. They beat Seton Hall by like 30. They were playing terrific basketball. They've got great one-on-one talent. They shoot the three as well. So, we're very pleased with the victory. We just made some mental mistakes defensively that we don't normally make.”
On tonight’s emphasis on attacking the basket…
“They play drop coverage, so you can get downhill, but you got to have the right spacing. We did a lot of good things early in the game by making our mid-range game. We're a very good mid-range shooting team.”
On this season as a whole…
“I'm really, really proud of the guys. Really happy for them. I'm really proud of the fans that packed Madison Square Garden, happy for the student body. I'm really happy for our student body because they've gotten behind the team in heavy numbers. So, to me, to see the students there, to see the subway alumni there, the alumni, they're packing Madison Square Garden. They'll pack it four or five times in a row. Madison Square Garden is 19,800 people. Last year, we had an average of 12,000.”
St. John’s forward RJ Luis Jr.
On if there was a celebration for winning a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Title…
“No celebration. We haven’t won anything yet. It feels good to have part of it clinched, but like Coach Pitino said, ‘I don’t want to share it and the team doesn’t want to share it.’ We have put a lot of work in this season. We kind of let Coach Pitino down tonight defensively, but like he says, ‘Good teams know how to win when they have a bad game.’ We still ended up winning, so we are just going to get prepared for Seton Hall on Saturday.”
On the feeling of this season after the way last year ended…
“It feels great. This group is really special. It's just really a blessing for me to be able to play at this level. It's awesome to see [Zuby Ejiofor] grow. I feel like every other game we're great - we're doing something new, we're breaking records and stuff like that. Just to know that come Saturday, if we take care of business, we get a [BIG EAST] Regular Season Title for the first time in 40 years. It feels great to be a part of that.”
On what he thinks The Garden will be like on Saturday…
“I think The Garden is going to be amazing. I think [Seton Hall] is going to try to play their best game against us. We have to defend our house. We have to defend our house like we've been doing all season. We want to stay undefeated at home.”
St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor
On how it feels to clinch a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Title…
“It obviously feels great. Coming into this game, we were not going to put our fate into someone else’s hands. So we came in here, handled business and got the win.”
On if today’s game was symbolic of the season….
“Today, we didn't stay to the defensive game plan and let up a lot of straight-line drives. Our defensive identity wasn't at the level of a championship group and that needs to be fixed and talked about. We're going to watch the film and see what we have to improve. But that's kind of how our season has gone – a lot of ups and downs, fighting through adversity and coming out with the win.”
On what allowed him to finish the game strong…
“The coaching staff and my teammates kept on trusting me throughout the entire game. I was having a bad game, but I tend to stay level-headed no matter how the game is going. There was a little bit of frustration in the first half for me, but I just can't be complacent and just glad to move on from that. As a leader, I just do whatever it takes to get the win.”
On if it was fitting to win this game with toughness…
“Absolutely. We came into this game knowing exactly what they were going to do and we knew they were going to come out, especially on their home court. It was going to be a tough game to the nail and that's exactly what it was. All in all, we were able to come out to win. Like I said, there were some mistakes that we made, but tomorrow we will watch film and just figure out ways to improve.”