St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: No. 1 ST. JOHN’S vs No. 9 PROVIDENCE
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, senior guard Oziyah Sellers and graduate student forward/guard Bryce Hopkins spoke with the media after defeating Providence 85-72 in the BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals
Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening statement….
“We played awesome defense tonight, especially the first half it was as good as we played all year. … The first half was brilliant on offense, brilliant on defense. It's tough to play with a lead against a good shooting team. They made some threes that were amazing. It's very difficult for our players because the rules have changed so much. Right now on every basket, the offensive player just buries himself into the defensive player. It's always a foul. Where before it was 50-50, now it's 90-10. You have to leave your feet. So that's where we have to learn to do that, because they fake, and they barrel into you. You got to leave your feet and go vertical instead of into the man. Outside of that, we played a great game. Bryce [Hopkins] was tremendous, and when you watch Oziyah [Sellers] play, he really doesn't make too many [mistakes], he's steady, knows how to cut, knows how to play. He's a terrific basketball player.”
On Bryce Hopkins’ performance against Providence…
“Well, I think Bryce [Hopkins] is still getting better. I still think there's room for improvement. Bryce is getting his quickness, his vertical's getting better in the second half of the season. He's a good ball handler. I wish he would shoot it a little quicker and take more threes, because he's worked very hard at that. Both of these guys are very unselfish pros. They're professional basketball players in their attitude, the way they conduct themselves, the way they pay attention. Both guys are terrific, but Bryce has gotten better.
On winning in dominant fashion against the Friars and Oziyah Sellers play…
“The reason we played such great defense is how much respect we have for their offensive ability. I think [Oziyah] Sellers is a lock NBA player. Lock. He can score against anyone. He has a pro-type game. He has a James Harden-type game. He goes to the basket great. He uses his body. He has step-back shots. He has great range. He has a great burst. He gets above the rim. He has a great vertical. So, he's a tremendous basketball player. He's not on a lot of first-round draft boards. … I guarantee he plays 12 years league.”
Senior forward/guard Bryce Hopkins
On playing against his former team in the BIG EAS Tournament…
“l try not to make it all about me. I know there was a tension coming into the game, me playing my former team. But the biggest thing was just playing through my teammates, not doing too much and coming out with the win. This is the best time to play basketball in March. Our goal is to win the BIG EAST Tournament Championship, and Providence just so happened to be our first matchup. The biggest thing was just coming out today with the win.”
On the team’s physicality and rebounding advantage…
“I feel like that's the biggest thing with us is our frontcourt is very athletic or physical, and we try to just impose that night in and night out. We knew playing Providence that they shoot a lot of threes, so there would be a lot of long rebounds. That was a key in our preparation and a main topic that we were focusing on while we were watching film. I think that was pretty much the biggest part, was just knowing that they are shooting a lot of threes and that there would be long rebounds.”
Senior guard Oziyah Sellers
On the preparation going into today’s game…
“Obviously we found out who we were playing yesterday, so you kind of have to prepare quickly, move fast and just go over everything. We watched a lot of our mistakes from previous games, found out things we could do better, and we went out there today and tried to execute that.”
Opening statement….
“We played awesome defense tonight, especially the first half it was as good as we played all year. … The first half was brilliant on offense, brilliant on defense. It's tough to play with a lead against a good shooting team. They made some threes that were amazing. It's very difficult for our players because the rules have changed so much. Right now on every basket, the offensive player just buries himself into the defensive player. It's always a foul. Where before it was 50-50, now it's 90-10. You have to leave your feet. So that's where we have to learn to do that, because they fake, and they barrel into you. You got to leave your feet and go vertical instead of into the man. Outside of that, we played a great game. Bryce [Hopkins] was tremendous, and when you watch Oziyah [Sellers] play, he really doesn't make too many [mistakes], he's steady, knows how to cut, knows how to play. He's a terrific basketball player.”
On Bryce Hopkins’ performance against Providence…
“Well, I think Bryce [Hopkins] is still getting better. I still think there's room for improvement. Bryce is getting his quickness, his vertical's getting better in the second half of the season. He's a good ball handler. I wish he would shoot it a little quicker and take more threes, because he's worked very hard at that. Both of these guys are very unselfish pros. They're professional basketball players in their attitude, the way they conduct themselves, the way they pay attention. Both guys are terrific, but Bryce has gotten better.
On winning in dominant fashion against the Friars and Oziyah Sellers play…
“The reason we played such great defense is how much respect we have for their offensive ability. I think [Oziyah] Sellers is a lock NBA player. Lock. He can score against anyone. He has a pro-type game. He has a James Harden-type game. He goes to the basket great. He uses his body. He has step-back shots. He has great range. He has a great burst. He gets above the rim. He has a great vertical. So, he's a tremendous basketball player. He's not on a lot of first-round draft boards. … I guarantee he plays 12 years league.”
Senior forward/guard Bryce Hopkins
On playing against his former team in the BIG EAS Tournament…
“l try not to make it all about me. I know there was a tension coming into the game, me playing my former team. But the biggest thing was just playing through my teammates, not doing too much and coming out with the win. This is the best time to play basketball in March. Our goal is to win the BIG EAST Tournament Championship, and Providence just so happened to be our first matchup. The biggest thing was just coming out today with the win.”
On the team’s physicality and rebounding advantage…
“I feel like that's the biggest thing with us is our frontcourt is very athletic or physical, and we try to just impose that night in and night out. We knew playing Providence that they shoot a lot of threes, so there would be a lot of long rebounds. That was a key in our preparation and a main topic that we were focusing on while we were watching film. I think that was pretty much the biggest part, was just knowing that they are shooting a lot of threes and that there would be long rebounds.”
Senior guard Oziyah Sellers
On the preparation going into today’s game…
“Obviously we found out who we were playing yesterday, so you kind of have to prepare quickly, move fast and just go over everything. We watched a lot of our mistakes from previous games, found out things we could do better, and we went out there today and tried to execute that.”