Coach Boeheim Quotes
January 24, 2004
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
On the game:
“Our defense was as good as it’s been all year long but we just didn’t rebound the ball. Offensively, two teams in a row have been really physical and bumped us and we’re just not being as physical. That’s something we’ve got to do if we’re going to be successful. We just didn’t respond well.
“We’ve been doing a much better job on the boards against good rebounding teams, but there were a lot of loose-ball situations that I thought we didn’t get to, and that just dug us a big hole. We didn’t finish inside around the basket a few times and you just can’t do that in this type of game.
“We had a chance at halftime but we just couldn’t get anything going in the second half. We’ve gone to Hakim (Warrick) a little too much and we have to find other options offensively.
“Tonight was a chance for the freshmen to see what it’s like to play a veteran team. Some of our young guys needed a game like this to understand that this is a pretty tough physical league and they are going to have to make some adjustments.
“Hopefully our young guys will learn for this. Fortunately we have a week to give us a little bit more balance on offense and try to get the guys to understand how physical and tough this league is. Most of the physical games are ahead of us.
“Pitt’s a veteran physical team and they’re at least as good or probably better than they were last year. They’ve got a strong basketball team and have been underrated all year long. They’re just too strong for us right now.”
On Hakim Warrick’s Performance:
“They didn’t really even doubleteam Hakim much. I thought he had some good opportunities early and he rushed them and didn’t finish them. That was the story of his game tonight. He never quite finished, but we’re asking him to do a lot down there and we need to get a little bit more balance. We depend on driving to the basket and there are teams that we play against where we can’t do that. On a steady basis, our veterans are going to have to pull the weight this year.”
On Gerry McNamara’s Injury:
“Almost invariably it’s a struggle when you don’t practice. He moved alright and looked alright, but when you don’t practice and have an injury like he has, generally your timing isn’t as good as it used to be. Part of it’s that and part of it is defensively. He’s taking a lot of tough shots against a lot of good defensive players.”
On the lasting effect of the loss:
“Every game’s the same. Every game is of this magnitude and is important. We play 16 games and every one counts. There’s no one game that counts more than the other ones. I don’t think we’ll have carry-over from any game we play, whether it’s positive or negative. We’ll just get back to work and play next week.”
