Syracuse Player Quotes
Notre Dame at Syracuse
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2003
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Freshman forward Carmelo Anthony
On playing in the Carrier Dome:
"There's nothing better than playing in the Carrier Dome. I don't care what anyone else says about their home court, there's nothing better. Once you get 30,000 yelling, it's incredible."
On Gerry McNamara's game-winning shot:
"We tried to open the floor up and let Billy penetrate. Everybody came to me and they left the wrong person open. I don't know why they'd leave him open, but I saw him setting up and I knew he would hit it."
Sophomore forward Hakim Warrick
On being behind by 12 points in the second half:
"When we're at home we never feel like we're out of a game. We just kept trying to come at them and we got a couple key defensive stops that let us get back in it."
On McNamara's game-winning shot:
"Once I saw that he had an open shot, I knew it was good. You give him an open look and he's going to hit it, and I just knew that he was going to knock that one down. It was a lot of pressure (considering the number of fans from Scranton in attendance), but he's got a lot of heart. He really goes out there and puts it on the line all the time."
Freshman guard Gerry McNamara
On his game-winning shot:
"For some reason, I was wide open. I'm still trying to figure out why, but I'm not going to ask too many questions. They (my teammates) kept telling me, the next one's going in, and I was fortunate enough to decide the game. It was the biggest shot I've hit this year."
On the number of fans from Scranton at the game:
"It's great because they don't care what I do, they just want to see me play. To end it like this, I couldn't be happier."
On the team coming from behind to win:
"This team – it never quits. We've done it all year. We've found ourselves in a hole game after game. We've fought back in a lot of games this year and came out with wins. That says a lot about what these guys are all about."
On Carmelo Anthony's second-half play:
"He's a guy you can just go to, and he's going to carry you for as long as you need him, and we needed it. He just kept getting to the line. That's what he did last game. He's just a great player – he's our guy. We're going to go to him when we need him, and he came through for us tonight."
On the maturity of the team's freshmen:
"What we do shows a lot about what these guys are about. We're down 10 or 12, and we fought back. We're young players and we're going to learn every game, and to come back like we did against a team like that, it says a lot about what we're about."
Freshman guard Billy Edelin
On the Carrier Dome crowd:
"To play in front of a crowd like that is what you come to college for. They were the sixth man out there tonight. They did their job."
