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Syracuse Player Quotes
West Virginia at Syracuse
January 22, 2005
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Player Quotes
Junior Guard Billy Edelin
On his shooting:
“I’ve been hitting it a lot more in practice but, in games before, there were times where I was so cold and only in for a few minutes so I was so much out of the flow, I didn’t want to take a long shot. Today, I was able to get in early and it felt good.”
On coming off the bench:
“I’m not as comfortable as I am starting but you can’t really worry about that. You want to go out there and help your team win. So when you get in, you have to do what you can do.”
On playing at Rutgers next week:
“I wasn’t with the team last year when we played there but I know the year before, we lost. (The atmosphere) was crazy. I think we played well but they just found a way to win. I think we lost on a game-winning shot so that was tough…I’ll never forget that play.”
On the challenge of facing Rutger’s toughness and shooting:
“It seems like West Virginia and Rutgers are some of the other teams that people overlook. They’re not Connecticut or Pittsburgh but those are the teams that you could easily slip and lose on. Kansas lost today to Villanova. Villanova came out full throttle with nothing to lose and that is how teams play us so we have to be ready to play everyday. I’m excited we got this win.”
Junior Guard Gerry McNamara
On West Virginia’s offense:
“They kind of remind me of Notre Dame in how they shoot the ball from the outside. Especially from in the zone, they were getting in a high post easily and doing a good job of finding shooters. They were doing a great job of kicking out and knocking down shots. Anytime you play a team like that, it’s going to be tough to put them away.”
On making the shot in the corner that sealed the win:
“Hakim (Warrick) did a great job. I saw two guys and I just floated to the corner. I saw two guys drop down on him and he was about to spin and I think he caught me in the corner of his eye and just dropped it back. Once I hit that, once I let it go I knew it was going down, that was pretty much it. It pushed it to eight and there wasn’t a lot of time. So that was a key play in the game.”
Senior Guard/Forward Josh Pace
On the game:
“We came out there and were aggressive. We knew that we were going to play some man-to-man today so I think the guys were excited about that.”
On playing at Rutgers next week:
“It’s one of the toughest places to play in the BIG EAST so we’re looking forward to their talent and I don’t think our guys have had a win there since I’ve been here so this will be a good, tough time to get a win.”
On the challenge of playing a streaky team like West Virginia and Rutgers:
“It’s tough to play teams like that but I think that you just have to be ready. You have to think that they’re going to make the shots and you have to get on with the test regardless of the game or the team, whether they’ve won or loss. You just have to be ready.”
Senior Forward Hakim Warrick
On connecting with Gerry McNamara for the three-pointer to seal the win:
“I saw him coming over and I kind of heard him calling my name and saw him at the last second.”
On Syracuse and their ability to score in the double digits:
“I think it’s just the guys showing the depth of the team. They (opponents) try to focus on me and Gerry, but we have a lot more guys who can do things. Every other night it seems like we have someone new stepping up, Billy (Edelin), Craig (Forth), Josh (Pace) is going to be there consistently, and Terrence (Roberts)…and I think that’s why it’s tough to dodge that because you really don’t know who is going to go out there and have a big night for us.”
On how that helps in the long stretch:
“It definitely helps. We won a championship two years ago and it was guys like Billy (Edelin) and Josh (Pace) coming out big for us. They tried to double Carmello (Anthony) but I think it was the other guys that really got them and I think that’s why we won the National Championship.”
