Opening Statement…
“We had a really charged up atmosphere when we walked into the gym. We had a lot of students there tonight. You could just sense that the energy was different starting off this game. It really trickled to our basketball team. We had jitters early on, but once we settled down we really locked in defensively. I thought the tempo was to our liking. Our defense forced them to play to the up-tempo pace. We had five guys in double figures, so when we talk about the balance of this basketball team, you really saw it on display. I loved how we dominated on the boards. We had a size advantage, and I thought we took advantage of it. Our bench is going to be the strength of our basketball team. I thought the starters went out and established the tempo, and they were making shots and making the extra pass. It was a good win to start off the year.”
On Montez Mathis reaching 1,000 points…
“Congratulations to Montez [Mathis] for getting to 1,000 points tonight. That’s big for him and you can see his improvement. We see him being a disruptor defensively, and offensively, he’s put some work in, and it’s paying off.”
On Posh Alexander’s leadership…
“I was proud of him. I think, at one point, [Merrimack] cut it to 15, and he got in the huddle and got after the guys. He challenged them. I saw Posh in the huddle, talking about defense, and we went into defense mode. He’s growing into that leadership role. When you think about the type of player he is, he’s in that position. He knows what I want from him. They will follow his lead.”
On David Jones…
“You talk about him as a three-point shooter, but I think he’s a slasher and can get to the basket. I love his activity on the glass. I really believe the up-tempo pace will make him an even better player. Now, he’s catching the ball in space. We saw him make a little euro step and get to the basket. He’s capable of doing that. He’s a pretty good passer too. I love the grit he plays with. He played with a lot of toughness tonight. He can go get the rebound whenever he wants it. He’s really gifted and he’s finding his role on this basketball team. We’re excited to have David on our team.”
On the turnovers…
“I thought we got sloppy. We got a lead and we got sloppy with the basketball. I thought we got quick, and we were in a hurry. That will be addressed. That’s not something I condone. We work hard to get the basketball and not give it away.”
On the transition offense…
“I thought we played unselfish. We shared the basketball. We hit the open guy. Guys made the right decision. Those are the things that we preach and work on each and every day. We attacked before their defense got set. I thought guys did a great job of knocking shots down and finishing off plays. That’s called basketball. It’s playing unselfish.”
On if the team’s performance met his expectations…
“My expectation is for us to win, play hard, compete and bring our practice to the game. I thought for the majority of the game we did that. It’s a start against a team that had nothing to lose and everything to gain. They didn’t quit. That’s a testament to their coach, coaching staff and their kids. Our guys were excited to play, and I thought they came out and played with great energy. I thought the game was won defensively. We made some shots, but I thought our defense was really good.”
Junior guard Posh Alexander
On how he thought the team looked on opening night…
“I thought overall we did a fantastic job today. We came out strong. … We just got to try to bring that same energy to the next game and the next practice.”
On his relationship with Andre Curbelo …
“That’s my guy, man. Having a point guard like him is great, truly a blessing. That was everyone’s biggest question was ‘how are you going to work that out’ and today showed everything. Our defense is incredible. Me and him both playing up, the full 94 feet, getting steals, playing off each other, I see him in the fastbreak, I kick it up to him he scores, I get hyped for him. He does the same and gets hyped for me. It’s just that brotherhood that we started back in the trip to the Dominican Republic. In practice every day, we compete against each other and try to make each other better.”
On how the team utilizes it speed…
“Throughout this year, we are going to try and speed people up and make them turn the ball over so we can get on the fastbreak. That’s just it right there.”
Junior forward David Jones
On how he felt in St. John’s up-tempo offense…
“The point guards Posh [Alexander] and Andre [Curbelo] are always telling me to keep shooting the ball and it will go in. The coaches were telling me as well. I just keep playing basketball trying to get rebounds and I know the shots will come.”
