Norm Roberts Quotations

Gino did a great job; the ball just didn't fall. And Darryl was just being unselfish. He thought someone was open and the guy made a steal.

Give DePaul credit. They did a good job of making plays down the end. They had been really struggling down the line. They shot 92 percent today so they did a good job at that.

Give Quincy credit. We tried to guard him but he makes you pay. He's a terrific player and he hit some big-time bombs today.

He's a great, great player. All he does is make unbelievable shots.

Guys are just playing so hard and you've got so many big bodies out there, it's going to be physical.

Having Darryl back was a big emotional boost. He's such a presence on the floor.

My team, we are not a great scoring team. And if we do not have a defensive mindset, that hurts us.

I think this is a statement that we are improving. We are a tough basketball team. We have to take that toughness on the road as well as home.

It definitely was not a 16-point game. We held them 20 under what they usually score, and we didn't even play good defense in the second half.

That was a huge win for our program because we're rebuilding. The way this league is set up now is incredible. Anyone can beat anyone else on any given night. Being 2-2 is good for us. We know we have a long way to go. But, hopefully, the win against Louisville will give our guys some confidence.

We aren't desperate. We won't call it that. We know there's an urgency to win. ... It's not desperation - that's panic.

We couldn't make a basket there at the end.

We have a good basketball team but we are limited in certain ways. At this time of year, everybody knows what everybody can do. We have to take those things away from people. If you allow people to play to their strengths, and we let Syracuse play to their strengths, then you know you are going to struggle.

We got frustrated. Duke does that to you. We tried to keep our composure, but we're a young team and this is a tough environment.

We play very well at certain moments and we have times where we struggle. We have to be more consistent.

We didn't have any more timeouts. I just wanted us to attack the basket. In key moments like that, no one wants to foul.

We paid a lot more attention to detail. We know we can defend, we can rebound and we can play hard. We did that tonight. I'm really proud of my team.

We're young, and we let too many things bother us too quick as a team. And that's when leadership comes in, and we didn't do a good job of leadership tonight. We'll regroup and come back.

We're not in it for moral victories. We've got a good basketball team. We have to continue to get better. They have so many weapons, they can beat you in so many ways.

We are getting better. We are just happy to have a chance to finally do this and now we'll go from here.

Dexter has left the team for personal reasons. He leaves the university in good academic standing.

It was a hotly contested game. They've got so many different weapons, they can beat you in so many ways.

We did a great job of getting out and pressuring them. We made them catch it a little further out, which made them a little uncomfortable.

(Rutgers) is a big game. I think we'll have a chance to be in the Big East Tournament.

Our thought our guys battled hard, played hard throughout the whole game. They couldn't make a basket there at the end...pretty close to, but just couldn't put any in. It definitely was not a 16-point game.

We just have to stay focused on what we do and realize this is a great opportunity for us to play against a very good basketball team. Our guys are excited to play the top team in the nation. You don't always get these opportunities in a lifetime or career.

This was a great win for us. Now we have to build on it.

You're never gonna win on the road turning it over as many times as we did. We turned it over 27 times and that's the most turnovers I think we've had all year in a game.

I'm really, really proud of the kids. We kept telling the guys about sticking together. We went through a hard road, playing four nationally ranked teams in a row and three of them on the road. I'm proud that we stuck together and understood we could get it done if we just stayed focused and did the things we knew we could do.

It's probably odd. You shouldn't be able to play in a prestigious tournament if you are under .500. You take a conference like ours, to get to .500, it's unbelievable. With conference record, you could be under .500, but overall record, you should be over .500.

It's Big East basketball. Big East basketball is that way. It's a physical game every time you play in the league.

In the second half we played with energy, we played hard. We had to attack the basket and we did.

It was a family decision. I didn't feel there was any negativity. Cedric has to know he's been important to us.

Anthony is getting better every game. He can really shoot the basketball, and he's coming into his own as far as putting it on the floor, rebounding and playing with energy throughout the whole game.

All through the recruiting process his dad was involved, but he wanted to let his son make his own decision. He didn't want his son to come to St. John's because he felt pressure to come to New York. His son made his own decision and I think it worked out pretty good for him.

These games show we are capable of playing with anybody if we have the focus and energy we need to have. Now we have games coming against non-ranked teams that are still good basketball teams and we have to play with the same passion. If we do that, we will win our share of games.

I told them we've got to have a defensive mindset. We're not good in high-scoring games. I thought we did some really good things in this game but we just didn't play well in the last four minutes.

It's a huge win for our program. But we have to take this and learn from it just as we have learned from our losses. If we can have the same focus we did this week in practice and in this game, we have a chance to compete with anybody in the country.

I told them in the locker room that it does hurt, but that means we're playing games that mean something.

The young man was definitely excited about the Garden and St. John's, but it wasn't a slam dunk. Anthony told me early on: 'I'm not telling my kid where to go. We may be friends, but my son is going to choose where he wants to go.'

They have a great player, he makes unbelievable shots. Most people don't make those shots.

They're a very, very, very good team. They deserve to be No. 1, no doubt about that.

Gray his huge. He's one of the biggest human beings I've ever seen. But he's done a great job getting his body in shape.