St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: ST. JOHN’S VS. BUTLER
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino and senior forwards Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell spoke to the media after defeating Butler, 92-70, at the Madison Square Garden on Wednesday
Head Coach Rick Pitino
On Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell…
“Zuby is really adding to his game. He’s become a great passer, a willing passer, great passer. And you know what? I’m having so much fun watching Dillon Mitchell play. I don’t think I’ve said that too many times in my 52 years of [coaching], having fun watching a person play. Whether it’s him coming down as a point forward and attacking the basket, or making a great pass, or throwing it to Zuby and cutting to get him open. He really knows how to play.”
On Dillon Mitchell’s impact…
“It’s not like having another point guard on the floor, it’s like having another coach on the floor, which is great.”
On Dillon Mitchell evolving into a point forward…
“I think sometimes, because we didn’t have a point guard, a true point guard starting, that [Mitchell] has evolved much more than we anticipated. He’s a tremendous player to coach ad watch.”
On Dillon Mitchell’s impact as a starter…
“It’s obvious that when he’s on the court, we’re a much better basketball team at all phases of the game. Defense, offense, rebounding, shot blocking. … We’re a good basketball team because of his presence on the court.”
On Dillon Mitchell making others better…
“[Dillon Mitchell] knows how to play without the ball, and he knows how to play with the ball. He just makes everybody better. The offense flows much better with him because he’s constantly moving and he’s always looking for people. Zuby [Ejiofor] has become a much better passer because of Dylan.”
Senior forward Zuby Ejiofor
On the team’s complete performance…
“It feels great. This is why Dillon Mitchell is here and Ian Jackson and Joson [Sanon]. They came here to win and win at a high level. I think we’re finally starting to get it and are starting to understand Coach Pitino and his system.”
On Dillon Mitchell…
“[Dillon Mitchell] is a versatile player who is able to do a little bit of everything. He’s just a really gritty guy. Dillon gets it done on both sides of the ball. He’s just a great player and an even better person off the court.”
On addressing early season weaknesses…
“We have a great coaching staff that spends tons and tons of hours on film. It’s our job to execute. It takes a full team commitment, realizing what our weaknesses are and trying to exploit on those.”
On staying grounded and taking things one day at a time…
“We move on from here. [We’re] never going to think too far ahead. [We’ll] just approach each and every single day to the best of our abilities and see how far we can go.”
Senior forward Dillon Mitchell
On the St. John’s culture…
“This is a big reason why I came to play here for Coach [Pitino]. The history he has and the way he gets us to play, it’s like family here. It’s a culture that Coach [Pitino] and the staff has built here.”
On playing a complete game…
“[We’re] still working to put together 40 minutes consistently. It starts with every four minutes at a time, each segment coming out with the right type of pressure and with the right type of mindset.”
On the team’s mentality…
“We never hung our heads. We just stayed level-headed and just attacked each and every game playing team defense, team offense and just playing well, collaborating with each other.”
On the team’s commitment to winning…
“It takes every guy on the team being committed to our team goals. We want to attack each and every game, because [the BIG EAST] is a tough league to play in.”
On Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell…
“Zuby is really adding to his game. He’s become a great passer, a willing passer, great passer. And you know what? I’m having so much fun watching Dillon Mitchell play. I don’t think I’ve said that too many times in my 52 years of [coaching], having fun watching a person play. Whether it’s him coming down as a point forward and attacking the basket, or making a great pass, or throwing it to Zuby and cutting to get him open. He really knows how to play.”
On Dillon Mitchell’s impact…
“It’s not like having another point guard on the floor, it’s like having another coach on the floor, which is great.”
On Dillon Mitchell evolving into a point forward…
“I think sometimes, because we didn’t have a point guard, a true point guard starting, that [Mitchell] has evolved much more than we anticipated. He’s a tremendous player to coach ad watch.”
On Dillon Mitchell’s impact as a starter…
“It’s obvious that when he’s on the court, we’re a much better basketball team at all phases of the game. Defense, offense, rebounding, shot blocking. … We’re a good basketball team because of his presence on the court.”
On Dillon Mitchell making others better…
“[Dillon Mitchell] knows how to play without the ball, and he knows how to play with the ball. He just makes everybody better. The offense flows much better with him because he’s constantly moving and he’s always looking for people. Zuby [Ejiofor] has become a much better passer because of Dylan.”
Senior forward Zuby Ejiofor
On the team’s complete performance…
“It feels great. This is why Dillon Mitchell is here and Ian Jackson and Joson [Sanon]. They came here to win and win at a high level. I think we’re finally starting to get it and are starting to understand Coach Pitino and his system.”
On Dillon Mitchell…
“[Dillon Mitchell] is a versatile player who is able to do a little bit of everything. He’s just a really gritty guy. Dillon gets it done on both sides of the ball. He’s just a great player and an even better person off the court.”
On addressing early season weaknesses…
“We have a great coaching staff that spends tons and tons of hours on film. It’s our job to execute. It takes a full team commitment, realizing what our weaknesses are and trying to exploit on those.”
On staying grounded and taking things one day at a time…
“We move on from here. [We’re] never going to think too far ahead. [We’ll] just approach each and every single day to the best of our abilities and see how far we can go.”
Senior forward Dillon Mitchell
On the St. John’s culture…
“This is a big reason why I came to play here for Coach [Pitino]. The history he has and the way he gets us to play, it’s like family here. It’s a culture that Coach [Pitino] and the staff has built here.”
On playing a complete game…
“[We’re] still working to put together 40 minutes consistently. It starts with every four minutes at a time, each segment coming out with the right type of pressure and with the right type of mindset.”
On the team’s mentality…
“We never hung our heads. We just stayed level-headed and just attacked each and every game playing team defense, team offense and just playing well, collaborating with each other.”
On the team’s commitment to winning…
“It takes every guy on the team being committed to our team goals. We want to attack each and every game, because [the BIG EAST] is a tough league to play in.”