Coach Boeheim Quotes Following the Rice Game
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim quotes following the Rice game - Dec. 22, 2004
Opening remarks:
"I thought we played a good stretch at the end of the first half and then defensively we picked it up to start the second half. I thought this game we were more patient on offense. When Hak got the ball, if they double-teamed him, he found the open guys. I thought Gerry was back. Obviously, we're a different offensive team when he's playing like he can play. He struggled two games and we struggled for two games. I thought he was more aggressive tonight, going to the basket. When people are over-playing him, he's going to have to get by and get in the lane and make some things happen. I thought Craig got in the open spots. He's been open and he hasn't been doing that. He did it tonight. He got in the open spots and he finished and that was the difference. I thought he was very good defensively on their low post guy. He got some deflections and kept them from getting anything inside for a long period in the second half. I just thought we had real good balance. Josh Wright did a good job in the first half and Louie. Somebody picks it up. Mookie played good last week. Craig played good this week. Terrence was a little down tonight, but somebody else picked him up. Rice is a good team and I thought we did some good things tonight. We'll be able to take a couple days off now and come back Christmas and get ready for the next two games before the conference starts."
Boeheim on the offensive game his team played against Rice:
"I think we had better patience than we've had. We started to show it a little bit in the first half and then the second half we were much more patient. When they double-teamed, Hak's a very good passer and he got it to Gerry and then Gerry penetrated and found open people. Obviously, he had a big game. He had a lot of rebounds, a lot of long rebounds. I thought our big guys didn't rebound like they have been. That was a disappointment. Terrence didn't get going. He did a nice job defensively in the second half, but he didn't get going in the first half. We had good patience. We got the ball to the right people in the right spots and made some good shots. We moved up better on Gillespie and McKrieth after they made a couple. Again, I think our defense has been pretty solid all year."
Boeheim on the aggressive play of Craig Forth against Rice:
"He got some openings and he's had those before, but he hasn't really gone strong to the basket. And he went strong to the basket. He's done that. He did that in early preseason practices. He was getting up the court. The other night he got up the court and missed that one pass from Hak. Tonight he got up the court and finished. He has been doing that. He was doing that more in preseason practices and hasn't been getting out in games as much. But, I just thought when he got the ball, he finished. He went to the basket and finished, so that's something that he's got to do for us."
Boeheim on Gerry McNamara and his numerous moves to the basket against Rice:
"Gerry's going to be overplayed all year and the only way to beat that is to put the ball on the floor."
On Josh Pace:
"He does it every night. He's a pretty good player."
Boeheim on what he wants to see out of his team before conference play begins:
"Well, we've got to continue to get better. We're inconsistent because of the inconsistency of our younger guys. The three veteran guys are pretty much doing what they're going to do and have been doing it. They're playing at a very high level. Craig and Mookie have been inconsistent and then the other guys have been also, which you would expect from younger guys. So, we're just going to have to keep practicing, keep working hard everyday. This is kind of a tough stretch when you play three games like this. It's quiet. Our fans are out shopping or something. I might be in trouble because we're not drawing any people here and that's one of the reasons they like to fire coaches around here. So, I might be in trouble. We don't have enough fans coming to the games. I better start worrying, huh?"
Boeheim on Hakim Warrick being more aggressive:
"I think he settles a little bit offensively. Although he made some good passes out of double teams tonight. They were doubling him. This was the first team that really double-teamed him a lot. I thought he handled it well. He's not probably going to put big numbers up. He doesn't have that mentality, I don't think, point-wise. But, hopefully, he'll fool me one of these games."
Boeheim on Demetrius Nichols' back:
"He practiced for the first time yesterday. And I thought he had a pretty good practice, but it stiffened up. He probably could have played, but he's still stiff and sore. It's really his call. The rest will help it, but there's no guarantee that rest is going to get it better. He's being treated, will continue to be treated. It's tough to play this game when your back's acting up. We think it can get better, but we don't know when it will get better. So, we'll just have to wait and see and be patient."
"Have good holidays."
