Head Coach Jim Boeheim -- December 4, 2004
Coach Boeheim Quotes
SU vs. Colgate
Saturday December 4, 2004
Opening Statements:
“Colgate really did a nice job tonight. They played very well and deserve a lot of credit. This is maybe the best team I have seen down there in a while. I was very impressed with their guard play and their ability to handle the ball. We did a pretty good job pressuring them the second half. I thought they made some tough shots against us. Our centers are obviously going to have to play better. We can afford missed shots, but we can’t afford defensive errors in the middle. They executed pretty well, but I thought our defensive in the second half was good. We did a pretty good job in the press. They are a pretty good ball handling team, and we were able to force a couple of turnovers. They made two or three pretty tough threes against our zone, but I thought we played the zone well tonight. I think Gerry had a little problem physically in the first half breathing. He couldn’t get his breath going, and I think that was a factor for his play. The key thing in this game is that you find a way to win the game. We are just playing to try to get better. Hopefully we will learn some lessons from this game, but we now have to get ready for Tuesday night when we play a veteran Final Four team.”
On the play of sophomore center Terrence Roberts:
“Terrence is difficult for Colgate because he is big and quick. He was close to where he could have had a monster game. He still needs to be more physical inside. He’s big, but he is more of a finesse player and he needs to be more physical as he goes through his career. This is something that is important for us and important for him to become more physical. I thought he obviously did a very good job as he did in the Princeton game so I’m not surprised he can go out and do that. He is a very talented player.”
On the play of freshman guard Josh Wright:
“I thought Josh Wright was very good tonight. I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t get him back in there. I thought the other night, and again tonight, he was very good. He did some really good things in the first half. We wanted to get a little more offensive in there with Louie McCroskey and that’s why Josh didn’t get back in.”
On the play of Colgate’s players:
“Their guards were very good. Reid and Simon both are really good solid players. I was very impressed with the way they played. Zinger is a very solid player. This game was a fight all the way. They had some better players.”
On steroids:
“You have to have testing programs. We have them in college, they have them in the NFL and in every place except baseball. Its unfortunate. Obviously it’s not good. People are going to do things and try things that will help make them better.”
On College Football:
“What is disappointing to me is to see Notre Dame fire their football coach after only three years. I didn’t think that was the way Notre Dame operated but obviously it is. I was kind of glad the guy went to Florida although I didn’t exactly want them to get anyone good either because they fired their coach before the season got started.
I am glad the Big East won the ACC football championship this year. That just goes to show that we are by far a better football league and they said they were a better football league for the past 10 years. Obviously this proves that we were by far a much better football league than they were. I am sure that the coaches at Wake Forrest, Georgia Tech and Clemson are really happy that Miami and Virginia Tech are in their league, so instead of finishing third, fourth and fifth they can finish fifth, sixth and seventh. So I am sure those coaches are happy.
The extra money the schools get will be nice, but then they are working as an assistant coach someplace else. It’s about money, but they are not going to make more money because their teams are going to end up playing worse, not winning and falling in the ranking. They are going to get fewer fans and they added three teams so they are going to get more money divided three more ways and then the basketball money will get divided three more ways. In the end, when all the money gets counted, they will find that its really not that much more money. Then taking into consideration the travel costs and the lost fan interest when some teams start playing basketball teams that aren’t ranked as high, it will end up that the money wont be as much as people think it will be. But I feel bad for the football coaches at all those schools who are going to get fired because Virginia Tech and Miami are now in the league, and that’s what is going to happen. Down the road, we will see what happens with all of that. I have just been amazed with the different happenings with everything going on. Obviously somebody wants to win really badly.”
