St. John's University Athletics
PREGAME QUOTES: ST. JOHN’S VS. MARQUETTE
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, senior forward Zuby Ejiofor and senior guard Oziyah Sellers met with the media on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s home matchup against Marquette at Madison Square Garden
Head Coach Rick Pitino
On sticking with the three-forward lineup and Dillon Mitchell’s role…
“I’ll probably stay with it. I think more so than the big lineup, it’s getting Dillon Mitchell more minutes. He’s the key. He enhances the tempo, makes us better defensively, and ignites us in the half court.”
On Dillon Mitchell…
“Outside of Zuby [Ejiofor], he’s probably the most valuable player because he adds so much more than scoring. He does things that don’t show up in the stat sheet, and that’s why he has tremendous value.”
On Zuby Ejiofor’s development as a passer…
“All the double teams and people going after him have made him a good passer. He reads defenses very well. Our best play from a percentage standpoint is throwing it into him, getting people to come after him and throwing it back out.”
On Zuby’s unselfishness…
“If I’m a coach, I’m not letting Zuby [Ejiofor] go one-on-one. There’s no way. He’s smart enough to find the open people and unselfish enough to not force the issue.”
On a team meeting that changed the offensive approach…
“I said to the team, ‘The difference between last year’s team and this year’s team is those guys threw Zuby [Ejiofor] the ball in the low post.’ Once they started throwing it to him, a light bulb went off.”
On limiting turnovers in conference play…
“You’re going with veterans that understand the value of the basketball. Once we get everyone to value it the same way, we’re going to have a hell of a team.”
Senior forward Zuby Ejiofor
On becoming a playmaker out of the post…
“I’ve watched a lot of film and spent a lot of time just reading the defense. Coming off last year, I knew I was going to be expecting a lot more double teams, so it was important for me to work on my weaknesses and see areas where I could exploit the defense when the double teams come.”
On keeping teammates engaged…
“Every time I pass the ball out of the post and see a guy knock down a shot, it feels good because everybody’s fully engaged. When everybody’s engaged, offensively, the defense follows suit.”
On trusting the system and his role…
“Coach Pitino emphasizes passing the ball in the post a lot. If I’m one-on-one, I can score, and if the double team comes, I’m able to find my teammates wide open.”
On Coach Pitino’s trust in him…
“He has my back and my full trust that I’m able to make the right play every time I’m on the court. We’ve been feeding the ball in the post more and we’ve been able to put ourselves in really good positions.”
Senior guard Oziyah Sellers
On feeding Zuby in the post and how it impacts the offense…
“When Zuby gets the ball down low, he attracts a lot of attention from multiple defenders, so that benefits the guards and it benefits him as well. We watched film and saw there were a lot of times where he needed to get the ball.”
On generating open shots…
“A lot of the plays we get are kick-outs just from Zuby drawing attention. I feel like pretty much everybody’s been getting a lot of open shots from that.”
On Zuby’s overall impact…
“When he touches the ball, I feel like I have no defender near me. The attention he draws is crazy. He dominates the boards, he’s a leader and he’s just an all-around great player.”
On sticking with the three-forward lineup and Dillon Mitchell’s role…
“I’ll probably stay with it. I think more so than the big lineup, it’s getting Dillon Mitchell more minutes. He’s the key. He enhances the tempo, makes us better defensively, and ignites us in the half court.”
On Dillon Mitchell…
“Outside of Zuby [Ejiofor], he’s probably the most valuable player because he adds so much more than scoring. He does things that don’t show up in the stat sheet, and that’s why he has tremendous value.”
On Zuby Ejiofor’s development as a passer…
“All the double teams and people going after him have made him a good passer. He reads defenses very well. Our best play from a percentage standpoint is throwing it into him, getting people to come after him and throwing it back out.”
On Zuby’s unselfishness…
“If I’m a coach, I’m not letting Zuby [Ejiofor] go one-on-one. There’s no way. He’s smart enough to find the open people and unselfish enough to not force the issue.”
On a team meeting that changed the offensive approach…
“I said to the team, ‘The difference between last year’s team and this year’s team is those guys threw Zuby [Ejiofor] the ball in the low post.’ Once they started throwing it to him, a light bulb went off.”
On limiting turnovers in conference play…
“You’re going with veterans that understand the value of the basketball. Once we get everyone to value it the same way, we’re going to have a hell of a team.”
Senior forward Zuby Ejiofor
On becoming a playmaker out of the post…
“I’ve watched a lot of film and spent a lot of time just reading the defense. Coming off last year, I knew I was going to be expecting a lot more double teams, so it was important for me to work on my weaknesses and see areas where I could exploit the defense when the double teams come.”
On keeping teammates engaged…
“Every time I pass the ball out of the post and see a guy knock down a shot, it feels good because everybody’s fully engaged. When everybody’s engaged, offensively, the defense follows suit.”
On trusting the system and his role…
“Coach Pitino emphasizes passing the ball in the post a lot. If I’m one-on-one, I can score, and if the double team comes, I’m able to find my teammates wide open.”
On Coach Pitino’s trust in him…
“He has my back and my full trust that I’m able to make the right play every time I’m on the court. We’ve been feeding the ball in the post more and we’ve been able to put ourselves in really good positions.”
Senior guard Oziyah Sellers
On feeding Zuby in the post and how it impacts the offense…
“When Zuby gets the ball down low, he attracts a lot of attention from multiple defenders, so that benefits the guards and it benefits him as well. We watched film and saw there were a lot of times where he needed to get the ball.”
On generating open shots…
“A lot of the plays we get are kick-outs just from Zuby drawing attention. I feel like pretty much everybody’s been getting a lot of open shots from that.”
On Zuby’s overall impact…
“When he touches the ball, I feel like I have no defender near me. The attention he draws is crazy. He dominates the boards, he’s a leader and he’s just an all-around great player.”