Syracuse Post-Game Quotes vs. Upstate NY AAU
Syracuse University - Carrier Dome
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening statement regarding the game: “I thought the first half was exceptional for this time of year.”
”We didn’t turn the ball over, we got the ball to people, I thought we rebounded well and everyone made a contribution.”
On the freshmen: “Overall the freshmen had a good first night, I think they got involved and didn’t show any real stage fright. I thought they did very well.”
On the game in general: “The overall effort was good and we were unselfish. We turned the ball over too much in the second half, but overall it was a good night.”
On DeShaun Williams: “When you have a point guard that is an offensive threat, the defense plays close to him and it gives other people opportunities and gives him an opportunity to penetrate.”
“I thought he did a very good job penetrating and finding people tonight. He had a very good, solid night.”
On Craig Forth: “Craig was excellent helping on defense getting blocks and position to change some shots.”
On Josh Pace “Josh Pace was very good and active. He is a lot like Stevie Thompson, and I don’t say that lightly He does a lot of things on the court.”
Closing Statement “Some guys have to step up a bit better, but for the first time out, this was a good start to the season.”
Player Quotes
Preston Shumpert on the play of the freshman: "They brought a lot of energy and that is what we need from them. They got some quality playing time and they know that they will be getting quality time in games. I think they will play with confidence every night. We expect good things from them."
On what the team will work on to prepare for the next game: "The basics, regular stuff. There isn't one thing that we really need to work, but in general we need to work on everything. We need to concentrate on fundamentals. We need to focus for 40 minutes. There were times when we lost focus tonight."
On the play at the point guard position: "DeShaun (Williams) played well tonight. We have a lot of versatile guys. DeShaun handled the point well and James (Thues) played extremely well in terms of running the offenses how they needed to be run. Both of them bring something positive to the floor and they will contribute."
DeShaun Williams on playing the point guard position: "It felt good to play the point. It's just a new position. I was looking to get my teammates involved and then I was looking for my shots."
On the game: "We have a lot of things to work on. Defensively we struggled a bit. We let them get a lot of open shots."
