Quote Center: St. John's Postgame vs. Marquette
COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S RED STORM ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin…
On the 44-point performance from Shamorie Ponds:
"I think its self-explanatory. Historic. He broke the building record, so that speaks for itself. Just an incredible performance, he's played really well since he's been here. Looks like he's got more pop and more energy. ... I was glad to see that. It was a legendary, historic performance no comparisons."
On sold-out Carnesecca Arena being similar to when he played:
"Everybody loves winners, right. That's what happens when you win. I think more importantly there's an appreciation for what these kids have gone through and not hanging their heads or giving up. There's as much appreciation for that as there is for the wins. Obviously, anytime you compete you want to win. If you handle it the right way and don't give up and keep working, I think there's a lot to be said for that."
On the three wins this past week:
"The six weeks before that felt like six years. I don't know if you want to compare that. This week has been the same; we feel better no question about it. … Of course it feels good to be on the other side, but like I said the process of hanging in there and maintaining work ethic and positive attitude might be more gratifying than winning. We know what could happen during a streak like that, so that's a testament to the players."
On whether the win over Duke gave the team a spark or was it a culmination of hard work:
"It's both. When you're close it's ok to be that, but you feel terrible. That's the time when it's more important to maintain your positive attitude and work ethic. When you rise up and shoot a shot, you're either going to miss or make it, that's basketball. When you walk into a game, you're either going to win or lose. A lot of stuff in between you don't control, your attitude and preparation that you control. When it goes the other way, its frustration and disappointing, but like I said that's what is most gratifying about these wins, what we went through to get to this point. We also understand that on a given day, it happens. A lot of things happen to different people over the course of their lives, we are all going to go through adversity, but how you handle it is as important as or more important than actually what happens. … I'm old so it doesn't really matter to me, but for [our players] it's a good life lesson that they hung in there and have started to get rewarded. They didn't give up and if you give up you have no chance. Give yourself a chance, keep working hard and who knows what's going to happen. It doesn't mean it's going to happen, but give yourself a shot."
On maintaining work ethic throughout the season:
"To me, being consistent is the most important thing. That's how you develop the respect of your teammates, that's how you develop your daily habits. That's win or lose, you have your routine and you stick to it. When you get knocked down you don't all of a sudden not show up, that's not how you do it. No matter what goes on you have your core values and you stick to them. When you stick to your routine, assuming you have a good routine that is, that's how you gain respect. That's the daily approach, we don't really change that much when we win or lose."
Sophomore guard Shamorie Ponds…
On the sold-out Carnesecca Arena crowd:
"I mean it feels good to know that they are back with us. We had a sellout crowd. So I mean, we have to credit them. We feed off their energy and got the win."
On his amazing performance:
"It felt good to see the ball go in, trying to mix it up. Going to the rack, free throws, mid-range, three point, it felt good out there. … Just to see one go in from the beginning of the game. I was confident the entire game. I just try to keep the foot on the gas."
On feeling in the zone and his second-half performance:
"I was confident. My teammates believed and trusted me. And they fed off of me."
On scoring the most points in Carnesecca Arena history:
"It's a blessing. All the great players who came through this university, for my name to be up there, it is a dream come true. A blessing."
On the atmosphere from the crowd:
"Indescribable. It was just unbelievable out there."
Redshirt sophomore guard Justin Simon…
On the feeling around the team during the winning streak:
"It's about time we turned it around. Coach [Mullin] has said all we need is one. ... We've lost every way we could, and now we learn from our mistakes. We limit them. We play hard and play together. Shamorie [Ponds] had an unbelievable night tonight. I thought everyone played well. It was just an amazing atmosphere tonight. It was good."
On Shamorie Ponds' performance:
"Amazing. He's been playing amazing basketball these past couple of games. I'm just like you. I get caught up watching. … I love giving [Shamorie] the ball and seeing him go to work. And these past games he's done just that."
On the arena reacting to your performance:
"That's just the excitement we've been waiting to have. We've had a stretch of a couple of bad games. We haven't played well [at Carnesecca Arena] but that's just the excitement that we can feel from the community. All of the fans. Everybody. We can feel that energy. And just like Shamorie said 'we just play even harder'."
On the mood around the team during the winning streak:
"Like I said, it's about time. We were getting that feeling that it's about time. We had a tough stretch starting conference play 0-11. All we needed was one, and now we're going to keep it going."