Syracuse Player Quotes
Syracuse vs. Villanova
February 23, 2004
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
Junior Josh Pace
On winning close games:
“I think that it says something about our team -- that we do have heart. The games that we lost, we lost big, but we’ve always won our close games. I think it’s good to be able to win close games.”
On the Defense:
“Our defense was pretty good. Our defense was good against Georgetown as well, but I think this game we got our offense going a bit better than we did against Georgetown. Our zone kept them off balance. They’re a good team. They can shoot, but they can drive as well and we were just trying to take one of those things away from them.”
On the importance of the last three games:
“They’re very pivotal. We need to keep playing well and keep winning. There’s no telling what’s going to happen, but if we keep playing hard, then hopefully we’ll come out on top.
On Freshman Louie McCroskey:
“He’s stepped up for us. I knew he was a good player and when he gets his time he gets in there and contributes.”
Sophomore Gerry McNamera
On winning tight games:
“We gutted out wins last year. If you look at some of the games we won by two, three, four points against teams that were at the bottom of the conference just like this year. Every game, no matter who it is against, it’s a tough game. I think that’s what’s great about our league: every night you’re getting someone’s best.”
On Junior Josh Pace:
“Josh plays great when he’s aggressive. We need him to play like that, we need him to play aggressive, because when he doesn’t it hurts us. I don’t know if Josh realizes how good he is. He gets in the lane at will and he just breaks the defense down. When he does that we’re so much better.”
Junior Hakim Warrick
On being able to withstand Villanova’s comeback:
“It shows a lot of character. We just went out there and kept our composure. Whenever they would take the lead we would get ourselves back together and would always keep coming back at them.”
On the rest of the season:
“It’s going to be tough. Pittsburgh hasn’t lost at home in 40 or 41 games, so that’s going to be a tough atmosphere with a soldout crowd, but we’re looking forward to it.”
On the defense being more active:
“We had to get more active. That’s important, especially against a team like Villanova that likes to take a lot of outside shots. I think we did a really good job of contesting shots.”
On Junior Josh Pace:
“He did a good job. He really takes a lot of pressure off of Gerry bringing the ball up. He did a really good job of getting into the lane and making plays for us. He stepped up and I think he really won the game for us.”
On the team’s heart:
“I think it’s there. Every close game we’ve had we’ve won. Going back to last year, we’ve proven that we can win and hang in there with teams. We can tough it out and pick up the win so we definitely want to keep the game close.”
On the Freshmen:
“I knew Louie was a big time player coming in. It was just good to have him out there. He’s really been playing great these last couple of games. I think Terrence did a good job of stepping up and being really aggressive and making some plays. Demetris -- he’s doing a good job as well.”
