With the Big East Tournament on deck for St. John’s and legitimate NCAA Tournament on the brain, core Red Storm seniors D’Angelo Harrison, Sir’Dominic Pointer, Phil Greene IV, Jamal Branch and Khadim Ndiaye took a timeout for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: You guys haven’t won a game at St. John’s in the Big East tournament.
Harrison: That’s gonna change. … Gotta win a game in the NCAA, gotta do all that.
Q: Any Big East tournament memories stand out?
Pointer: I lost three times.
Q: It must make you sick, right?
Pointer: It does. Because you want to go out on a high note.
Q: Assuming you make the Big Dance, why will this be a dangerous team?
Harrison: ’Cause you can’t guard none of us, and if you try to help off … me … Phil will give you 28, Dom would have 25, 10, 7 and 6 … and if you try to help off them, Jamal will have 20-plus and I’ll have 20-plus.
Greene: I said this before the season started.
Q: You said what?
Greene: Exactly what he said.
Harrison: You saw it the other day, I scored one point against Georgetown. I played maybe less than 10 minutes.
Q: How are you physically now?
Harrison: I’m 100 percent.
Greene: The only way he’s not playing was if he …
Harrison: I can’t walk.
Q: How much noise could you make in March?
Pointer: The possibilities are endless if we all are healthy. We can make a lot of noise and we can surprise a lot of people.
Pointer and Branch: We just gotta get there.
Q: Do you actually dream about …
Branch: Oh yeah.
Q: Tell me about what you dream about.
Branch: I just dream about us just doing something special this year, leaving out with a bang. It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for the longest, something we talked about, but this year we actually … it seems like a realistic goal that we’re just a few steps away from. I feel like when we get there, the sky’s the limit.
Harrison: I want people in South Dakota to buy a St. John’s jersey.
Q: Did you say South Dakota?
Harrison: I’m just saying — weirdest states … will have a Kentucky jersey. They don’t have St. John’s jerseys. If we win, they’ll buy the jersey.
Q: Is this team on a mission?
Ndiaye: Yeah, we’re definitely on a mission. We’ve never been to The Tournament, and it’s our last time as this group. So we want to do something before we leave.
Q: If you get in The Dance, how much noise can this team make?
Ndiaye: I think we’re a dangerous team, and I think we can make a lot of noise, especially since this team hasn’t been there. I think we’ll be real hungry to get a lot of work done.
Q: Which one of you in an interview said he would compare himself to Rajon Rondo with a better jump shot?
Greene: High school, I remember that.
Q: Does that still apply?
Greene: It’s kinda different now. High school, it was very accurate, but now, it kinda changed.
Q: What is it now?
Greene: A shorter Jamal Crawford.
Q: How would you describe Greene’s on-court mentality?
Harrison: Savage.
Q: How do you feel about his answer?
Greene: That was perfect.
Q: Could you elaborate on that?
Harrison: Fierce competitor. Always gonna make the big shot. Is gonna hype you up … talk crazy to the other team.
Q: Is Phil the biggest trash talker on the team?
Greene: All of us.
Harrison: We don’t like losing.
Greene: It gets us going.
Q: How does the other team feel about that?
Harrison: They hate it. When we’re on the road, fans and stuff don’t like to hear it.
Q: You like being the villain on the road?
Harrison: I love it.
Greene: As soon as you hear the nets whenever we make a basket, it gets quiet.
Q: You like shutting people up.
Harrison: Basically.
Q: Who would you say is the best trash-talker of the bunch?
Greene: He gets it started (pointing to Harrison).
Q: The single best line you’ve ever said to a guy?
Harrison: “You can’t guard me. Go home.”
Greene: “I know where you live at.” (laugh) … [Harrison] told somebody, he said, “Why are you talking, you didn’t make scouting report? Nobody knows who you are (laugh).”
Q: Is there a team in the country that talks more trash than you guys?
Harrison: No way.
Branch: I don’t talk.
Harrison: Jamal talks to me though, so I hear what he says.
Branch: I let them talk.
Q: Dom, do you talk?
Pointer: Not too much. A little bit here and there.
Q: How would you describe Harrison’s on-court mentality?
Greene: I say a go-getter, a person that make things happen.
Branch: You said golddigger?
Greene: Go-getter. To be honest, he’s a savage too.
Q: How so?
Greene: Like the intensity and passion he plays with.
Branch: He wants that win. He always to win. He loves to win.
Greene: And you see it come out of him when he makes a big play.
Branch: No matter how we win, he just wants to win.
Greene: When he made that big 3 against Xavier … then everybody just started going crazy.
Q: Why do you like taking the big shot in the big moment?
Greene: I don’t know, it seems like I get better when it’s that time. I’ve been like that since I was little. ’Cause I used to pass, my father always told me like, “Would you rather put some faith in somebody else’s hands or yours?” So I always take it and put it in mine. I got a lot of confidence in myself.
Q: What do you remember about Branch when you played with him in Texas?
Harrison: He’s a pass-first guy. But he can score if he wants to.
Q: After you decided to transfer from Texas A&M, what did Harrison tell you about St. John’s?
Branch: He didn’t really have to say much. It just goes back to over the summer how we’ve been playing together — we played together at A&M camp, and we did really well together. But he chose to come here at St. John’s and just remembering that time where we played together, it was nice for us two on the court together.
Q: How would you describe Branch’s on-court mentality?
Greene: Focused … precise … perfectionist.
Harrison: He gets mad at the little stuff. So he needs everything to be just right.
Q: I would think if you’re a perfectionist, Pointer might drive you nuts.
Branch: Oh yeah, oh yeah, for sure. Dom sees a lot of things differently. Me, it’s kinda tough. No matter what happens with Dom, he can always back what he does up.
Like if he does something wrong, he can back it up and make it right. I’ve played with a lot of different people, and I will definitely say Dom is different.
Q: In what way?
Branch: Just how he gets things done. Like I’ve never seen a player that was like not as flexible as Dom like still do the stuff Dom does. Like he don’t even have to really warm up, it just takes him to get up and down the court maybe one or two times and he’s ready.
Pointer: I see stuff in different ways than other people. Even if I do read something and I read it wrong, my athleticism and reaction time helps me out a lot of times.
Ndiaye: I would say he’s like the Tasmanian Devil, he does everything. He fills up the stat sheet — blocks, steals, points, assists.
Q: What is Your on-court mentality, Sir’Dominic?
Pointer: Energetic, and excited.
Q: Describe Pointer off the court.
Greene: Silly, playful, he’s caring. … He’s a family-oriented guy. That’s why all of us … we fit, ’cause we’re all kinda the same, just silly, goofy, play a lot.
Ndiaye: He’s in his own world — in a good way, not in a bad way.
Pointer: It’s hard to describe me off the court. I think I’m a laid back, chill guy. Everybody always says I’m different.
Q: Do you think you’re different?
Pointer: I am different. Not too many people are like me.
Q: Do you like being different?
Pointer: Being one of a kind is a good thing (chuckle).
Q: One anecdote about Sir’Dom that sums him up off the court.
Ndiaye: One time, we went out to eat, and everybody got the same meal but he ordered a certain type of steak, tartare, something that was raw. I don’t think it sat too well with him. I think he might have thrown up.
Pointer: I’m allergic to shellfish, right? So, I had a steak tartare. Right after, I ordered clam soup by accident.
Harrison: Dom, you said clam chowder, I heard you, bro.
Pointer: The thing is, I ordered chowder. I didn’t say clams.
Q: You ordered chowder not thinking it was clam chowder?
Pointer: Yeah. I ate the clams, and it was over with from there. It went downhill.
Q: What is playing at the Garden in the Big East tournament like?
Ndiaye: To me, it’s almost like magical. Everybody comes out just to watch. It’s really special.
Q: What do you remember about Ndiaye trying to make the team as a walk-on?
Harrison: He didn’t say much. He still doesn’t say much.
Greene: He didn’t say much, but he made every shot.
Q: What’s your favorite St. John’s memory?
Harrison: Beating Syracuse, and Europe.
Branch: Syracuse at Syracuse [69-57, Dec. 6].
Q: Syracuse has always called itself “New York’s college basketball team.”
Pointer: When we beat them, we officially became New York’s team, and every other New York team we played, we beat ’em, and we beat ’em handily.
Q: When Harrison was suspended in March 2013, what do you remember about that period?
Greene: He was at the game, but he wasn’t on the bench, he was in the crowd. I could tell it hurt him a lot, he really wanted to be on the court. We wanted him with us too, but at the time, Coach [Steve Lavin] did what he thought was best. … I just know it really did hurt him.
Q: When you were watching these guys play, what was going through your mind?
Harrison: Anytime one of them probably scored, I stood up, made eye contact, so it was like I was there but I wasn’t. It hurt though. I felt like we coulda made some noise that year.
Q: What do you remember about the day Coach Lavin told you guys he had to leave because of the prostate cancer in 2011?
Greene: I thought that was just gonna be out for a couple of weeks. It was tough not having the coach that recruited you here, going through that. We just wanted him to get well, though.
Q: In 25 words or less, sum up Coach Lavin.
Harrison: He changed my life. … I owe him a lot. I’ll probably talk to him every day for probably the rest of my life.
Branch: I would say he’s a very caring individual. He not only cares about your basketball life, but outside of basketball too. [He] cares about what do you want to do after basketball. I see he always communicates with his past players that played with him in the UCLA days.
Greene: Exactly what he said. This is like a family, it’s not like a regular basketball program, it’s something different. It’s because of him. He motivates you. I know how to win thanks to Coach Lavin just because how he is with us. Like Jamal said, he’s very caring. He takes care of us.
Ndiaye: He makes it like a family. He just cares for everybody.
Pointer: He cares more about what you’re gonna do after basketball: “What’s your fifth-year life plan?”
Q: Phil, your buddy Michael Haynes was shot and killed in 2012 in Chicago trying to protect his cousin. How hard was that to get over?
Greene: I’m not over it. I’m still not over it. It’s very tough, ’cause he was my best friend. He was like my brother. Before the games, every time when they do the national anthem, I talk to him before every game. Every time I do this [cross himself], that’s when I just finished talking to him, so feel like he’s right there with me before each and every game. But still, it hurts.
Q: D’Angelo, your brother Dre, convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2012, has a chance to leave prison in Texas at the end of this month.
D’Angelo: It’ll be like we just have another teammate.
Q: Favorite player.
Harrison: Kobe [Bryant].
Q: Why?
Harrison: He’s … a monster.
Branch: [My] favorite player growing up was Michael Jordan. Now, Kobe and Tony Parker.
Greene: Growing up, Allen Iverson. Now, LeBron [James].
Ndiaye: Growing up I liked [Kevin] Garnett, but now I like [Hakeem] Olajuwon.
Pointer: Growing up, Ben Wallace and Chauncey [Billups], and now it’s Joe Johnson. He has a complete game, he can do it all.
Q: What are you most proud about your career?
Harrison: Finishing out with these guys. The fact that we’ve done so much as a group, from the worst point to the highest point.
Branch: I would definitely say the same thing, finishing out with these guys. They were always hungry, and always wanted more. Nobody was selfish. … D’Angelo, one thing I learned about him … I mean, I’ve known him for a while, but since I’ve been here I really grew closer with him. One thing is he’s caring too. The time that he left, that he got kicked off the team for a little bit, he didn’t decide to go somewhere else or leave us. He decided to stick around and really help us.
Greene: We’re brothers.
Q: How do you hope to be remembered? What do you want your legacy to be?
Harrison: That we were one of the most exciting teams St. John’s has seen in a while.
Q: How about your personal legacy?
Harrison: That you made it to the NCAA tournament.
Pointer: We put on a show for people. We did it the right way. A team that won games every year and got better every year.
Harrison: How they talk about like Chris Mullin. I want them to think about us like that too.