JE NS SERBY’S SUNDAY Q&A WITH ... Dannis JENKINS
SERBY'S SUNDAY Q&A WITH...
Senior St. John’s point guard Daniss Jenkins, who transferred from Iona to follow coach Rick Pitino, takes a shot at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: What do you think when you saw Friday’s “Stayin’ Alive” New York Post back page with Coach Pitino dancing in his white suit?
A: When I see that, this was the plan all along. The way that we’re playing right now, we’re all just confident, and it’s really good to see that we’re all rising to the level, we’re rising to the occasion, we’re all playing really good . ... This is all he used to talk to us about, since the beginning, around this time [to be] playing your best basketball. We let a lot go, we let a lot of games go, but we have never been playing like this.
Q: What do you like best about how you’re playing right now?
A: We are a team. We’re all playing as one now. I’m ready to practice every day and ready to keep playing games. We’re not stopping now. We’re just getting started.
Q: Would you like to see him wear the white suit again?
A: He can wear that again! I like that. He was fly.
Q: What kind of impact can the Garden crowd make in the Big East Tournament?
A: Coach P. always tells us we’re probably gonna have a great crowd every game we play, but at the same time, you can’t get caught up in playing for the crowd. You just play. You play the right way, and then the crowd will get in to it. As long as we keep playing the right way, the fans will love it because it’s gonna result in a W for us.
Q: How dangerous can St. John’s be in the Big East Tournament?
A: We just showed that we can play with every team in the conference. We can beat any team in the conference, and we can definitely lose to any team in the conference. It’s never really been about the opponent we’re playing. Yes, you have to know their strengths and their weaknesses, and you got to respect the team that you’re playing, but at the same time, it’s on us to go out and execute the game plan that we have, and go be confident on offense and play together as a team, go get every rebound, all those little effort and hustle plays. That’s why we lost those games. Now it’s just on us if we get that chance again to go show how we’ve grown to make that play.
Q: Thoughts on UConn?
A: I want to beat ’em. I want to beat ’em. I want to beat ’em. They are viewed as the best in college basketball. I’m a very competitive type of guy, and I know I’ve lost ... three times now to ’em. So yeah, I want to beat ’em. I hope we get to play ’em again, I want to beat ’em.
Q: Marquette?
A: Oh, I definitely want to see them. I have to. I have to. I have to. I have to see them. [Tyler Kolek] made a comment about us after [an 86-75 St. John’s loss Feb. 10]. He said once we went man, we were barbecue chicken. He’s trying to say like we were food, like it was easy for him.
Q: Creighton?
A: They are all viewed as the best. So we want to play all of ’em. We just want to show that we can come out and compete.
Q: Seton Hall?
A: They probably are the toughest team in our conference. You put the ball in front of ’em, they’re gonna try to take it. You get a rebound, they’re gonna try to take it. They’re going to the hole, they’re gonna be strong. That’s why they win a lot of their games, they out-tough the other team.
Q: What would you hope the NCAA Selection Committee would consider about whether to invite St. John’s?
A: You watch the games that we lost at the end, and you watch how different we are now, I just hope they see that we’re a team that’s definitely a tournament team. I don’t think there’s that many teams out there that’s better than us.
Q: How hard is he on the team?
A: Coach P. expects (chuckle) a level of greatness out of every single player, no matter what type of player you are, no matter what level he’s at, he only knows great, that’s it. Say I get chipped on a screen or something like that, I kind of get through but then the dude gets a layup or something, we’re watching film: “Now, c’mon
D.J. You gotta be better than that D.J. You gotta be tougher than that.”
Q: Has he ever been so harsh on a teammate that you felt bad for your teammate?
A: Nah, because I know that whenever he does something like that, it’s always out of love, and I try to tell the team that, “Don’t ever take anything he does personal.”
Q: Did you speak to your teammates after Coach P.’s public criticisms of the team?
A: Yes I did . ... I said, “Coach didn’t mean it that way. Don’t try to take that narrative of Coach is trying to embarrass us. It’s not like that.” He just wants a response. Coach wanted us to respond, in a way that was gonna turn the season around for us. If you’re on the team, he knows you can play. He knows you’re good. So don’t think he thinks you’re bad at basketball, you’re not a good player. Coach P. does things for a reaction, and that’s a great job, because we responded in a type of way where you can’t lay down. You got to show some pride, because it’s like, honestly, you just want to prove him wrong. “All right Coach, we’re gonna prove you wrong.” So that was just kind of the mindset I wanted is to have as a team, not in a way of like our head coach is talking down to us, ’cause that’s not what he did. Q: What did you think when he apologized the next day? A: I never really paid too much attention to it, because I know what he meant by him saying that. I knew what he was trying to do. Q: How about the rest of your teammates? a leader and as the point guard, I just tried to, like I said, change the narrative of it. I never wanted it to be a negative-type of narrative, because that’s not what Coach P. meant to do.
Q: Did the team appreciate him apologizing?
A: I think they really did. Just because they haven’t been with him, they don’t have no prior history with him. And they didn’t really understand at the time.
Q: What are the traits of the ideal Rick Pitino basketball player?
A: Number one is confidence. Two is you have to have no fear. You can’t have no fear when you’re playing for him. And then three, you have to be a dog to play for Coach P., ’cause he doesn’t like you being soft on the court. You just go for it. Listen to what he’s saying. Listen to the little technical things he’s telling you, but then just go out and do it. Because on the court as a basketball player, somebody that’s confident, is nothing nobody can do with that.
Q: Do you believe you can be an NBA player?
A: Most definitely. I definitely think I could play at that level. When I get bigger, add a little more weight to myself, get a little stronger, I think I’ll be ready. And not even just because of my skill set or anything like that, I just know I like to compete. When somebody like that likes to compete and is a dog, there’s always a space for you in the NBA.
Q: Four dinner guests?
A: Barack Obama; my mom, she made me who I am today; Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Q: Favorite movie? A: “Bad Boys 2.” Q: Favorite actors? A: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence. Q: Favorite actress? A: Zoey Saldana. Q: Favorite entertainer? A: Rod Wave.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: I eat wings a lot, but when I’m at home, I like everything my mom makes ... spaghetti.
Q: What do you hope your St. John’s legacy will be?
A: I want to be able to look back and say I was a part of that team that started St. John’s to get back on the right track of winning.