Syracuse Player Quotes
Northern Colorado at Syracuse University
Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, First Round
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Senior Guard/Forward Josh Pace
On the game:
“When we focus and we put our mind to it, we can do something big. The last couple of years, we haven’t won our first games so it’s good to win the first game at the (Carrier) Dome.
On the playing Princeton:
“We just have to try and do the same we did tonight. They’re going to be able to hold the ball longer, throw more passes, a lot more back door cuts. We’ve been working on it and we’ve been practicing it everyday so we should be okay. We’re going to keep pushing the ball up, and try to get the points.”
On whether the offense or defense won the game:
Defense. The defensive end and playing defense is what will determine our season. We’re going to try to keep our defense going. You can have a bad offensive night but playing defense, you can still win the game.”
Sophomore Guard Louie McCroskey
On his role for this year:
“It’s tough when you go into a game. You have to pick and chose your spots. Me being such an aggressive player, I have to know when to shoot and when not to. It’s tough but hopefully my experience from last year will help me.”
Sophomore Forward Demetris Nichols
On the challenge of playing Princeton:
We just have to play great defense from the start. That is what’s going to win our games. It all starts with the defense since we all play such great defense. When you play great defense, the offense comes. That’s what happens.
Junior Guard Gerry McNamara
On the game:
We gave Northern Colorado a lot of respect. We knew that they could shoot but we just didn’t let them shoot. I think that was key. We didn’t give them open shots and everything was protested. We just played great defense from the beginning.
On what was going through his mind after the 14-0 run:
“My dad. Tonight was emotional for me. He had surgery and he hasn’t been with me for awhile. Seeing him in the stands is why I had all that energy. I wanted to play for him and all my family is over there so I wanted to acknowledge them.”
On how the players contributed:
We played great as a team. When you play unselfishly, you’re that much better. When you’re playing great defense and you’re playing unselfishly, it makes that much of a difference. I think we had both of those clicking. We played great defense and we played unselfish on offense. We were patient but we were scoring points. Everyone got involved tonight and that’s what we’re going to need to be successful.
On starting the season:
“We’re starting now, enough of the exhibition. These games count and that’s when we come to play. You saw a different Syracuse team than you did in the exhibition games. I know I did. I played, individually, as a different player. I had that energy. It’s just a different level when you play games that count for that record and count for something. It was just coming out and getting the job done and we did that.”
Senior Forward Hakim Warrick:
On the scoring streak in the beginning of the game:
“It was great. One of the players came up and asked me, ‘are you guys going to miss a shot’ and there was just a lot of energy. We couldn’t wait for the season. Gerry (McNamara) came out and fired it up and we all came out and fired it up. We put it all out on the floor.”
On being part of the dynamic team tonight:
“I’ve never seen a start like that, especially us. We’ve been starting slow in a lot of games and to come out there and start the game off like that is starting the season off on a good note.”
On how challenging it will be to play Princeton:
“It’s going to be a lot tougher. It’s a team that likes to control the ball and we really want to try to force them to make mistakes and try to play up the tempo with them. It’s a tournament team and they’ll probably go to the tournament again this year so it’s good to get that tough challenge early on in the season.”
On the crowd tonight:
“It was a great showing, especially the student section. They did a really good job of coming out and getting us going. I think that really got us fired up and made us want to go out there and play even harder.”
