Coach Boeheim Quotes from Media Day 2005-06
Coach Boeheim on what it’s like facing this season without Hakim Warrick, Josh Pace and Craig Forth:
“To lose Hakim, Josh and Craig, those three guys were tremendous for us. I really can’t say enough about what they accomplished here. You know that’s going to happen…guys move on. We’re ready to go forward.”
Boeheim on the international experience garnered by three of his players this past summer (McNamara, Roberts, Rautins):
“I think it’s helped Terrence, Gerry and Andy Rautins. I think all that competition, the practices, I think that’s a positive for you, without any question. I think one negative thing is that Andy Rautins has been diagnosed with mono, so he probably won’t practice for a couple of weeks anyway in the short term and that’s unfortunate. Hopefully, he’ll get better and be able to be back with us in a couple weeks. But, summer basketball that’s a positive.”
Boeheim on freshman guard Eric Devendorf:
“He was an outstanding high school player and we’ll see in the next few weeks in practice how he fits in and what he can do. We’ll see how he does once we get to competition. He has a lot to learn, like most freshman, so we’ll give him some time and see how he develops.”
Boeheim on Gerry McNamara and who he expects to act as leaders this year:
“I think Gerry knows that he’s a senior. He’s been here the longest. He has a leadership role on the team, but I think it’s important for our juniors who have now been here for three years – all of them – to be aware of being in a leadership position. I think that’s crucial for this team. Those guys have to be ready to step up and play. They’ve all contributed. They’ve all had real good moments, but they haven’t had consistency which is normal because they haven’t been in a starting position for long periods of time. I think that this is an opportunity for them and we’ll see how they handle that. We have obviously some very talented guys, particularly on the defensive end. I think we’re as good on the defensive end as we’ve been in a long time. I think we’ve got a lot of work to replace the offense that we lost from last year. That will really be key. I think our defense will be good.”
Boeheim on Matt Gorman:
“I think Matt’s a very good offensive player. I think that’s what he does best. He shoots, he scores. He’s a good low post player. I think there’s an opportunity down there for him to give us some offensive contributions. I think this is a good opportunity for him this year. He’s come back in better shape. He’s lost some weight. He’s a lot more mobile. I think he’s worked hard in the off-season. I think this whole group has prepared pretty well in the off-season. I think they’re really ready to go.”
Boeheim on his team’s non-league schedule:
“We have created a very difficult non-league schedule. These guys are going to have to focus and concentrate every night. We’re playing a lot of teams that are going to be in the NCAA Tournament. Sometimes people underestimate people – and you really shouldn’t anymore – but when you play teams like Davidson, Bucknell, Kent, UTEP, TCU, Manhattan – you can really go up and down the line. These teams are all going to be real close or in the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year. We’ve never played that many teams that are capable of beating us if we don’t play well. There are teams that we’re certainly going to be favored to win against – and should win against – but they’re not teams that you can have an off night against. And I think that’s good for this team. They have to go out every night for a series of games in the preseason and they have to know they have to be ready to play. That will carry over, hopefully, into the league. If you have a more veteran team with seniors, they may not need that kind of preparation. They know when it comes time for the league, they have to be ready to play. This team will have to be ready every time they go out there.”
Boeheim on his backcourt:
“I think it’s obvious that our backcourt – Gerry, Josh Wright – are experienced at the point guard. Louie McCroskey has played a lot at the 2. Eric Devendorf, a freshman, is capable really of playing either 1 or the 2. So, I think we’ve got a nucleus of guys that are good players. I think we have a lot of flexibility because Gerry can play off the ball. He can play on the ball - Eric the same thing. Louie gives us size at that position. He’s a real good rebounder for a guard. I think defensively, he’s very good. I think there will be some situations where we can play three guards this year. I think there will be some situations where we do that. There will be some situations we may play three bigger guys. I think this team has a lot of flexibility and I think that’s good. I think that’s a positive thing.”
Boeheim on the expanded BIG EAST:
“I really don’t think about it. We’re going to play 16 tough games in the BIG EAST. We’ve had nine teams, we’ve had 12 teams, we’ve had 14 teams. Now we have 16 teams. It’s really no different. You’ve got to go out and play. The numbers really don’t matter at all, they just don’t. You can have 18 teams, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to go play and you’ve got to win. You don’t win games, you’re going to be in trouble and that doesn’t matter how many teams you have in the league.”
Boeheim on the maximum number of teams he thinks the NCAA will take from the BIG EAST this year:
“I’m not even going to think about that. That’s all everybody’s going to talk about all year long. I’m not even going to think about it. We had nine teams in last year and who knows? That’s something the committee’s going to have to figure out. It’s going to be a hard decision. As there has been in the past, I think there will be teams that won’t make it that will be real good teams, but they won’t make it because they’ve lost to teams that are REALLY good in our league. That’s just the way it’s going to be, I guess.”
Boeheim on Josh Wright:
“I think he’s learned a lot. He realized some of the things he needed to work on. I think he worked hard over the summer, from what I’ve seen. I think his attitude has always been good. He’s always been positive. That’s unusual when you don’t play as a freshman. His attitude was good throughout the year and I think he’s come back determined to show people that he can play and produce and help us and I believe he can.”
Boeheim on his coaching staff:
“I think our coaching staff is as good as any we’ve ever had and as good as anybody’s. Coach Hopkins, Coach Fine, Coach Murphy they’ve been tremendous working with players individually. Their basketball knowledge is very good and I’m very comfortable that we’re going to have a very well-coached team with those guys coaching.”
Boeheim on Gerry McNamara’s Scranton following:
“I think Gerry is a special player. I think he’s from close by. People from Scranton can get up here and they obviously do that. I’m happy that we can play a game down there. That will be great for that area and for Gerry to go back home and play. He’s the kind of player that everybody likes because he goes out, plays, and gives it everything he’s got every game. I think that’s what people admire and respect about him.”
Boeheim on his crop of newcomers:
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity for Arinze to help us inside. He’s very physical, strong for a freshman. I think Andy Rautins is a tremendous shooter. I think he’s a good offensive player. I wouldn’t say that anybody couldn’t make a contribution in this group. I think we will more than likely play more people a little bit this year than we have in the past because I think we have more balance and more guys that are capable of contributing. But, I think the junior class is obviously crucial to the success that we’re going to have this year.”
Boeheim on Darryl Watkins:
“I happened to watch some tape last week of our Connecticut game and I thought Darryl probably played as well in that game as any center we’ve ever had for the minutes he played. He’s got to be able to sustain that over 30 minutes, stay out of foul trouble and yet still maintain that kind of effort. Above all, he’s got to be there for us defensively and rebounding. I think that’s a huge key for our success this year – how well our big guys inside rebound – Darryl, Terrence, Matt, Arinze. How well those guys rebound, how well Demetrius rebounds at his spot. I think those things are all key for our success this year. That’s something we’ve got to work hard on during this practice time and in our non-conference games so that we get to where we need to get to. We’ve got a lot of work to do there. I think we have a chance to be a very good defensive team. We’ve got to work hard on getting our offense up there.”
Boeheim on his junior class:
“I think when you’re waiting for your opportunity - and different guys over the years – sometimes they get it right away as a freshmen, sometimes you have to wait a year until your sophomore year – sometimes when you’re a junior you get that opportunity to where you can seize upon an opportunity to play a lot of minutes. I think our juniors are right in that position. They put themselves in a good position. I think they’re ready. They have to be able to go out, night in, night out and produce consistently, but that’s what they want to do. They want that opportunity and I’m sure they would have liked to have had it last year, but there were people there in their way. I think they’re more than ready this year. I think they would have been ready last year, but I’m glad that they’ve had another year to learn what needs to be done and get themselves ready, get themselves prepared, but I think they’re ready.”
Boeheim on what kind of defense his team will play:
“I think we can pressure more. I think our defense certainly can be good. I think our zone will be good. I think we probably have some work to do on our man-to-man. We’re going to try to do that. I think we’re bigger than we’ve been in a long time. I think we’re probably more athletic than we’ve been in a long time, with more size, more length and that’s always been good for our zone. I think we can press and play man-to-man in certain situations.”
Boeheim on Gerry McNamara’s minutes:
“Gerry’s going to play a lot of minutes, but I think we have guys that are capable of playing. I don’t think last year we really could afford to take him out of the game. This year we should be in a position where we can get to that, I hope. That’s up to the players. That’s not my decision. It’s up to how they play.”
Boeheim on having a second or third option from the outside:
“I think the weakness of last year’s team was that we really depended on two guys to score – Gerry and Hakim. Josh would score on occasion, but he wasn’t really a scorer. I think we were limited as an offensive team. We should be and need to be more balanced. That’s going to be a key for us. You look at Terrence Roberts – he’s scored 20 points in a game. You look at Demetrius Nichols – he’s scored 17, 18 points in a couple of our games. Louie’s scored 15, 17 points in a game. So, I think all these guys have had success offensively, now we’ve got to get that offensive success on a little bit more consistent basis. I think we certainly can do that and that’s really going to be the focus of what we’re trying to do. I think that last year’s team - one of our weaknesses was that we just couldn’t get enough scoring from different people. But, we had a good basketball team and certainly won a lot of games.”
Boeheim on how the season ended last year:
“Well, I don’t think you need to talk about that. Everybody’s aware of that. That will be something that motivates people but it will be even more of a motivation when you have a successful year and go to the tournament. Those things happen in college basketball, that’s the way it is. That’s the game.”
