John Giannini Quotations

If we didn't turn it over, we probably would have had a chance to win the game. But 19 turnovers to nine is an awfully big discrepancy to overcome.

Give Duquesne credit. They only had eight scholarship guys and they came out extremely hard and they beat us. It wasn't like we were lying down.

Give credit to Saint Joseph's for running its offense so well in the second half. I wouldn't say (our players) ran out of gas; I think it's more accurate to say we weren't able to sustain our intensity.

He's a very gifted player, and he's really worked hard to develop his skills. In the short term, we couldn't have had the success we've had (this year without him). He has helped turn the program around this year.

I think the personnel they had on the court helped them attack our zone a little bit better.

I thought it was a great challenge, a great chance to see where we are. That's a good team they have over there.

This was a great team win. We are gradually becoming a solid program for our level.

We've hit a wall. I don't know if it's physical or mental. I tend to think it's more mental. We're not as focused or as intense in practices or in games as we were earlier.

We'll have to come close to that 20-win mark to get a serious at-large consideration. We have to win this next game and the one after that. I don't think it's unrealistic, but I think we're a long way from that.

Tonight shows we have more steps to go. But we competed.

The Temple win was a great win for us. It was a huge conference game, and it was a Big 5 game. In Philadelphia, that means a lot to our alumni. To have our seniors get a win in their last chance in a city game is a huge thing.

Defense and rebounding are the reasons we are more competitive this year. We're a better team.

They were guarded on every shot (in the first half). That was not an accident. That was not them just being cold. In the second half, we weren't able to sustain that level of effort. They really stayed with their offense. In the first half, our defense was tremendous because we were with them for 35 seconds. In the second half, they stuck with what they did. When we broke down, they did make their open shots.

They turned up the defensive pressure and it revealed a lack of skill on our part.

It means so much to the seniors. They've had some hard times, but they're resilient and they never quit. They always fought hard.

(St. Francis) scored (12) points in the first 17 minutes of the second half.

The atmosphere is far most positive because of the results. La Salle has an unbelievable basketball tradition. Our other peers in the city, St. Joe's, Temple, Penn and Villanova, have consistently been strong. We've had an inferiority complex with seeing our peers being in the postseason every year. There's really been a resurgence of pride that La Salle can get back to where we were in the past, which is a prominent program.

It was a great game, a great environment for our fans and for our community. Our seniors are phenomenal people who have invested their blood, sweat and tears. Then, we also passed the ball extremely well against one of the best zones in America, which shows progress.

They did a great job doubling Steve. But we had a lot of contributions.

They are huge for us. We don't have a lot of offensive firepower. Jermaine and Darnell are solid guards, and we are much better when they are able to make their shots.

I just thought it was very important for us to have a winning season. I think the fact it happened very early is a great testament to our players. It really speaks to how much they've improved and how hard they've worked.

I really thought the difference was our defense in the second half. (Enright) had a tremendous first half.

These guys have been through far, far worse. Most of these guys were on the 20-loss team from a couple years ago; last year we were on a seven-game losing streak. They've seen it all.

The first half was really a disaster. We didn't match Duquesne's intensity. We couldn't make a lay-up. We were very fortunate to be within eight points. The second half, we played tremendous.

The depth of this league is grossly understated. There's a lot of teams that can pull off an upset over George Washington. So yeah, I think it's a wide-open tournament.