Coach Boeheim Post-Game Quotes
Coach Jim Boeheim Press Conference Quotes
Syracuse vs. Bryant
November 1, 2006
Carrier Dome-Syracuse, N.Y.
Coach Jim Boeheim
“This was a great game for us. Bryant was very well coached and really moved the ball. It was a really good experience for us to have to play against them. I was very impressed with the calls and I hope that referees continue to call the fouls. We have to get used to having hand checks and things like that. That is the way the game is supposed to be called, and I hope they continue to call it like that all year. These are two veteran officials. We have to learn that you cannot put your hands on, and this was a good learning experience for us tonight.”
“Offensively, we scored 92 points. This was probably the worst we have played offensively in 20 days. Josh Wright just could not get it going, but has been playing well in practice. Demetris Nichols struggled for a long time. Whenever we play against a team that is utilizing five guys and they do not have a center, it is always going to be a difficult game for Center Darryl Watkins, because he is not used to being away from the basket. It is just not going to be a good game for him.”
“I was disappointed in the team in terms of rebounding. We got spread out and Terrance Roberts did a good job, but everybody else has to do a little better job of rebounding. We did not get enough rebounds. We have a long way to go with our defense. This was a very good first step for us. I think that not having Gerry McNamara on the court for the first time in four years is definitely something that we have a lot of adjusting to do. We have a lot of turnovers because a lot of people are doing things with the ball that they normally would not do and it is going to take awhile to get used to that. What we are however, is a pretty good three-point shooting team and we did not shoot very well tonight, and that is something that is important. We also did not shoot very well from the foul line, but for the first game of the year, those are pretty normal things to have happen.”
“I thought that it was a good experience game for Forward Mike Jones and Guard Paul Harris because they need to compete. There are good things and bad things they can learn from tonight. This was a great game for us and hopefully we will go to practice tomorrow and work on some things. This has been a very helpful game for us.”
Talk about Paul Harris and his first game.
“I think the worst thing that happened to Harris is that he played zone for the whole thing. He is obviously much better suited right now to be playing man-to-man. He did a good job. I thought he was good on defense. He is not used to playing away from the basket so much, but that is something that will take time to get used to.”
Talk about Josh Wright playing at point guard.
“He struggled tonight. He’s been playing great in practice. His turnovers were good and he had eight assists. He’s much better than he played tonight.”
Talk about Eric Devendorf and his 30 points.
“He shot the ball very well today. That is what he does.”
Talk about Matt Gorman and his shot-blocking.
“The problem with Gorman is that he will not be able to block those shots in our league. When we get against a team with size, those will be baskets. He was blocking shots tonight because our defense was breaking down. And that is not a position we want to be in.”
Are you looking for someone to pick up the role that has been vacated since the departure of Gerry McNamara?
“The point guard position is arguably the most important position. We had McNamara for four years and he is not going to be replaced today, tomorrow or anytime soon. Certainly Wright has to be better there and he is a better player than he played today. This was his first start and that is always going to be a traumatic situation. I also thought Devendorf did a pretty good job at playing point and Harris played a little bit. That is an experimental area that will take time for us to get better at and it will not happen right away.”
Do you feel like this team can be a good man-to-man defensive team?
“We are not going to know that right now. We have a long way to go. At the beginning I thought we were pretty good and we just lost people towards the end. We forced some turnovers and we did some things that were pretty good. We have a lot of work to do on our defense. I do not think our zone was very good today either.”
