Syracuse Coach and Player Quotes
Press conference prior to Auburn game
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Pepsi Arena, Albany, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
On the BIG EAST:
"The competition in this league has been very difficult, and we were in a battle every night, and that's not just because we were young."
On the team:
"This is a great team to coach because they never give up. They just keep battling and battling and when they have a bad game, they find a way to play through it. This team is as good or better than any team I've coached in terms of their attitude, how they work and how they get ready to play."
On Auburn:
"I'm impressed with Auburn. They surprised me, and not because they beat Wake Forest and St. Joe's but because of how good their inside players are. They do a lot of different things."
On whether or not playing in Albany is an advantage for SU:
"That's irrelevant. We had the majority of the fans in Boston and when it was 27-10 I didn't see those fans helping. If you don't play well, fans won't help at all. This is two and a half hours from us and we got the same number of tickets that Auburn got."
Senior guard Kueth Duany
On playing in Albany:
"I know the students are all hyped up and I know the community is revved up so we should have a good following. Everyone I know is trying to get tickets. We've been in this situation in other tournaments. In 2001, we played Michigan State in Michigan."
On having so many freshmen on the team:
"The second the freshmen stepped on campus it was evident the talent that they had."
On playing in the Tournament:
"This is just a great time of year and you try to go as far as you can and try to enjoy this time with your teammates."
Freshman Forward Carmelo Anthony
On Derrick Bird:
"To be honest, I don't know much about him but I know that he's a great player."
On playing in Albany: "We don't make the brackets. We just go and play were the committee tells us to play at. When I found out we were in Albany, I shut off my phone. I didn't want to talk about tickets."
On what he's learned this year:
"I think I've learned how to have patience. Teams are gonna come out and try to beat me up and have a lot of adrenaline early on, but I need to be patient. On the court, I feel as though I'm not a freshman. I'm just out there to try and help my team."
