.png)
Jim Boeheim Quotes Versus Manhattan
Jim Boeheim Quotes
Syracuse vs. Manhattan
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
November, 30, 2005
Opening statement…
“I thought obviously we were very fortunate to win. The thing that we did at the end would have been very easy to give up. We went a little small and we made a couple defensive plays in our man to man and we got the ball in and out, we got a couple big threes. The game really was out of hand in terms of expecting to win, that’s why you have to keep fighting, keep battling. The thing that’s disappointing is that really defensively and rebounding wise we were as good as we’ve played all year in the first half. We missed some easy shots and made a couple bad turnovers. We should have been in complete control of the game and the second half we went right back defensively to the way we have been playing, we did not rebound the ball. This was not a big team, they’re active but they were active in the first half too. We just stopped doing the things that got us the lead and there’s really no excuse for us not being able to defend and rebound better. Manhattan has got a nice young team, they have tough kids. They won the loose ball battles underneath the basket and we are just not doing a good job inside. Offensively, we really struggled to score inside. Our big guys tried to put it on the floor when they shouldn’t have and they were not finishing inside. We’re kind of ending up being a perimeter only team and it's a very difficult way to play. When you’re not making shots and you know you’re going to miss shots. You’re missing shots from the perimeter and you’re not rebounding the ball. I think that’s a huge problem for us. We obviously can be better defensively but we’ve got to find a way to score inside. Our big guys shoot jump shots from 15 feet and shots we cant make and have no chance to get back. We either have to find a way to score inside or get on the offensive glass. We are becoming a perimeter or jump shooting team and its awfully hard to win with any kind of consistency just from the perimeter, but we were very fortunate to win this game, we shouldn’t have won this game except for the fact that we made plays to come back, and you have to do that, they didn’t give it to us. We made a lot of plays and a lot of shots. We’re just doing too many things that are just, I mean, a twenty point lead and we make two turnovers in the second half that aren’t even defended turnovers, we just threw the ball away, and we can’t play that way. We have guys in a position where they have to produce consistency over 35 minutes and they cannot do that at this point and time and until they can, we’re going to struggle, every game. We have to get guys that can be consistent. We have guys making good plays, good defense plays, good offense plays and then make just horrific plays. We have to develop that consistency. We had three very consistent players that we lost and we now have three very inconsistent players and until they gain more consistency, we’re going to struggle every game we play I think .”
On Josh Wright…
“I think Josh did a good job, he had a really good first half, he made a big play in over time, a couple big plays. I thought he was tremendous today.”
On taking the shot late in regulation…
“No, we wanted whoever came down with it, we knew Gerry would be defended and we had the extra shooter in. We had four shooters. Eric’s a very talented player who right now is completely lost in college basketball, but he has a lot of confidence and I wasn’t that surprised that he made the shot. But he’s lost right now. He started out pretty well coming off the bench and you think when you move a guy in o the starting lineup it helps him, and sometimes it does, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way. It has not helped him."
On being 10 points down…with under 2 minutes to play…
“All I think about is the next play. If you stopped and thought about it you’d say you’re going to lose. So you don’t think about it, you try to pressure, we finally got a turnover, we made a couple shots, Josh hit a big three. We penetrated, kicked it back out, got a three. I think we got a rebound in that group. They missed two free throws I think, but we missed more than our share too, but you know that’s part of the game you’re going to miss free throws. Our big guys have got to be better.”
On some people maybe thinking the game was over in the second half…
“I’m sure most people thought it was over but you know we kept digging and we made one or two good plays and then when Eric hit the jump shot we got back and I think he got back and got in front of the guy and the guy lost the ball. He made a good play there and I think he made a good play at the end. We couldn’t get the ball to Gerry and Eric is really good in the open court, that’s where he’s good and he made a good drive and he just kind of went away from the guy and he’ll learn to go into the guy there and get to the foul line. I thought the game changed. I thought Mookie (Watkins) had great position all three fouls in the first half. I thought he was perfect position, vertical stance, straight up and down the guy jumped into him and they blew the whistle. They haven’t been calling that and we’re a different team without his presence in there. We go a few minutes without him but we’re just not really to play without him in the middle and tonight he was a factor. This was the best he’s played in a while in terms of rebound and presence, that type of thing. This is one of the remarkable comebacks that we’ve had here. I’m not going to even try and think about how many points we’ve come back from before. I don’t honestly remember being down that much, I’m sure it’s happened but let’s say it’s unusual against a good ball handling team, a good team, a smart team we used the three. I think we made two or three of them and we got the one turnover and we’re very fortunate but we made plays.”
