Head Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes on Media Day
"He (Preston) started out last year with big games in the beginning of the year. He shot the ball well in Alaska and continued to shoot it well. He was such a key factor and everybody knew he could shoot the ball. We are working hard to get him to improve on putting the ball on the floor and making plays to get other people involved. I think last year Allen (Griffin) and Damone (Brown) did a great job of helping setting Preston up, and I think this year Preston is going to have to do more with the ball and help other people. He knows that and is definitely capable of that."
On balance of the team:
"When you look at our team we've got two guys we know that can score. DeShaun (Williams) and Preston (Shumpert) have proven they can go out and score 20 to 25 points. Obviously they need to do that on a more consisten basis. We expect they would be able to do that. I've always felt, in this league, when you depend on freshmen, normally you lose. I can't remember a Syracuse team, since I've been here, that has relied on more than one freshman to play a major role. When you look at this team, Preston and DeShaun have proven they can score. Billy (Celuck) and Jeremy (McNeil) have proven at times they can do good things but they did not do it on a consistent basis so that's a question mark. Kueth (Duany) has proven himself at this level. He played extremely well last year and that's something that should give him confidence. He's really worked hard. He's a tremendous worker. So I think we have a nucleus of people who can play and contribute. And that's going to be the key to what success we have this year. How the freshmen fit in is something I can't answer today and probably can't answer until we get into the season. The last two years we were successful even when it wasn?t predicted because we had veteran players."
On challenging schedule:
"We have a very challenging schedule. We have got the conference. We've got some very difficult games on the road at Tennessee and Georgia Tech. Hofstra's coming in here (Carrier Dome) and has been in the (NCAA) Tournament and South Florida is picked to be great in its league. There'll be a lot of tough games and that will help us. Hopefully by the time we get to January we'll have been tested quite a bit."
On options at the number four (power forward) position:
"We could possibly go big with two big guys but I wouldn't necessarily think that would be the way to go right now. A couple of the freshmen could play the four. Preston (Shumpert) could but I'd rather not have him play the four but could if we were going small with Kueth (Duany) at the three. It really depends on situations. When you have that much flexibility it's good, but the other edge of that sword is that you have so much flexibility because you're not really set. Last year we were set."
On the biggest adjustment between high school and college basketball:
"There are so many. It's strength in some cases, the experience. The difference from being a go-to guy to now you're only getting five or six shots, can you make two or three. There's a lot of things. There?s a lot of adjustments all freshmen have to make. Some are more ready than others."
On point guard position:
"We had Jason (Hart) and Allen (Griffin) was basically a four-year player so we've been spoiled. Now we've got untested guys. We're looking at playing DeShaun (Williams) there a little bit and he?s untested at the point. So we don't have the comfort level at the point that we would like to have. We'll try to structure our offense so that we won't rely on the point guard as much as we have the last four years where we?ve let that guy have a lot of freedom. No matter who the point guard is, that guy won't have that kind of freedom this year. There will certainly be a different role for whoever plays the point guard."
On what DeShaun Williams has shown that makes him a candidate for the point guard position:
"I'm very optimistic that, with the right coaching, he can adjust his game to that spot if he has to. He's more of a scorer but he can handle the ball, he can pass the ball. If you look back at the Rutgers game last year he played more like a point guard. He made plays and that's the way I like to see him play. He tends to think shot first -- a lot of point guards do that too and can be successful. I don't have any doubt he can play it. I'd like to make sure that we have somebody playing at the two guard that is a good option there."
On not playing Connecticut or St. John?s this season:
"We've played St. John's since I've been here. It's tough. That's what happens when you have 14 teams in the league. There's nothing you can do about it, it's just the facts of life."
On expectations for Jeremy McNeil:
"I think I'm expecting more out of him than anybody. He?s capable if we can getting him thinking in the right direction of being a big-time defensive player in this country and a big-time rebounder. I'd like to see him become a warrior on the boards. He has the physical ability to do that. If he just rebounds and plays defense, he's going to be a huge factor for us. With him and Billy (Celuck) and Craig (Forth), we've got a great deal of flexibility at the center spot. That position can turn into a strength for us this year where as last year I think it was let's just try to get by at that position."
On how increased size will help rebounding:
"I would hope that would be something we would improve upon. We?re going to be weaker in some areas because of who we lost. We would hope that if we can get the size into the game and the size can play comfortably in this element that size would help us. It's been a long time since we've had a size advantage."
On freshman Josh Pace:
"Josh is an interesting player. He's a little bit like Stevie Thompson. He plays hard. He's all-around, he does a lot of things. He's a competitive player. He's probably as competitive as any freshman we've brought in here. He's going to be a hard guy to keep out of there. He's one of those guys who makes you find a way to get him into the game."
