Coach Fine Postgame Quotes
#9 Syracuse Men’s Basketball vs. Hofstra
Tuesday, December 4, 2001
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York
Associate Head Coach Bernie Fine on the first half of the game:
“Hofstra’s a very aggressive team. They’re very athletic. They were getting every rebound and every loose ball. They were just kicking our butts on the boards and on every loose ball. That’s something we addressed at halftime. They had 12 offensive rebounds in the first half and people can’t come in here and do that to us.”
Fine on whether the team missed head coach Jim Boeheim and whether he was discussed in the locker room before the start of the game:
“We’re a family and Coach Boeheim is like the Papa Bear. Our thoughts are definitely with him and we definitely said something about Coach Boeheim before the game - and after the game.”
Fine on what it was like to be running the show from the sideline:
“It’s a great opportunity, but I’d rather have it under different circumstances. Jim and I have been together for 26 years. We’re running the same stuff we’ve always run. I didn’t all of a sudden try and throw in new stuff. I had a lot of help from Mike (Hopkins) and Troy (Weaver). Mike called a lot of the offensive sets because he works closely with that in practice. I thought it was a great win. I thought our players really responded in the second half. I thought we did a much better job on the boards.”
Fine on DeShaun Williams’ return to the court:
“I thought he looked pretty good. I thought overall he did a great job. He shot the ball well. He had seven assists. I don’t like a lot of turnovers – he had four turnovers, but he was also our leading rebounder for this game. It’s huge to have him back. If you noticed in the Albany game, they played a triangle-and-two on Kueth and Preston. And now you have another offensive player in there and it makes it very difficult to do that. He’s a big part of our team. When he left, he was our leading scorer. It’s huge to have somebody of DeShaun’s ability and leadership and experience and maturity.”
Fine on Syracuse’s athleticism:
“I think we’ve got a very, very quick team, especially when we go small with DeShaun and James in the backcourt and Kueth and Preston up front. But you can’t have everything and when we do that, we sacrifice a little rebounding. So we try to mix it up. Overall, I think we have very good quickness.”
Fine looking ahead to the next game against North Carolina State:
“I still think we need to rebound the basketball better and we need to cut down on our turnovers. I’ll be very happy if we shoot the ball like this against North Carolina State.”
“I have an opportunity to step in for a great coach – I think a Hall of Fame coach and I’m not going to worry about the officials. I want to see the team play as hard as they can and compete and do the little things. Like any coach, you want to see the team improve every game. I want to see them get better every game. That’s what Coach Boeheim wants, that’s what our whole staff wants.”
