Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes vs. UTEP
Coach Jim Boeheim Press Conference Quotes
Syracuse vs. UTEP
November 12, 2006
Carrier Dome-Syracuse, N.Y.
Coach Boeheim
“That’s the way a game is going to be played when we get into the regular season. There will be no change from last year. It is going to be physical. There is going to be hand checking, there is going to be banging, and it was a good game for us because that’s the way it is going to be every night when we go out there. I think for the most part we handled the physical play very well. (Senior center) Darryl (Watkins) got banged up, and I think that we really hung in there. (Senior forward) Matt (Gorman) also did a great job in this tournament; he was great for us out there on both ends of the courts. He is just playing really good basketball.”
“I think we had six guys in double figures, and maybe four or five last night. (Senior forward) Terrence (Roberts) has played tremendous. He was a little off tonight, but everyone else picks him up. We have to get used to that physical play. We made some turnovers because of it that we are going to have to avoid. But we did a good job on both ends of the court. We weren’t great at the end of the game. We made some turnovers where we should have been converting. But it was a tremendous effort.”
“I thought UTEP made a tremendous effort. I think they are a much quicker and much better team than we played last year, and they had a pretty good year then, so I expect them to have a pretty darn good year this year. They have a nice team, with really good penetraters and guys that can shoot it. They shot the ball better than they have been shooting it, but fortunately they didn’t shoot it well enough. This was a good tournament, a good win tonight, and we gained a lot of experience in this tournament.”
How did you think Darryl Watkins played?
“He was great. He was active and was really moving and doing what he needs to do in order for us to be successful.”
What can you take away from these three games?
“There is a lot of tape that we can look at as we go along. There are certain situations where the guys are not sure what to do; they are going on the dribble sometimes when they should be passing. There are just little things we need to fix. When we are patient on offense, we get some really great looks and shots off, but sometimes we are a little impatient with our heads down a little bit. Hopefully we will have a couple of days to think about this and get ready to play on Wednesday. This is a huge learning experience. This team is playing in a whole different way. Everybody is in different roles and there are new guys in, and the guys that are back are in much bigger roles. I thought we got some really good looks from the three point line that we missed. But we needed them more last night so we will take it that way. This was a very good three day effort on both ends of the court.”
How do you feel about (junior guard) Josh Wright’s play?
“He got banged up a little bit and that bothered him, but he did make some very good plays. He just let the physical part of the game get him off of his game a little bit. But he made a good comeback with a couple of good drives to break the game open. He has to handle physical play better.”
How was Terrence Roberts’ performance? What do you think about his emotion on the court?
“I want him to be emotional; he has to be emotional. He went after the guy who had locked (freshman forward Paul (Harris) and he went over there just to protect him. I don’t think that is wrong. I think he was frustrated a little bit because he is hurt. He was getting banged inside, and I think there were some plays where there should have been a whistle, but he is going to have to play through that. He still had 11 rebounds on one leg. He has two or three things wrong with his leg, so to get 11 rebounds and to play the way he played was pretty good under the circumstances. He left the court at the end of the game because he was getting his foot treated. By the time I got back to the locker-room he was already getting treatment on it.
How do you feel about (sophomore guard) Eric Devendorf’s play?
“I think he is learning. He was very tough tonight. He did a lot of good things tonight, he was really tough. If somebody is physical and tough with him, he will come right back at him. He’s not going to let that affect his play. I thought Eric did a really good job of taking the point guard position tonight for a large part of the game.”
How do you feel about Paul Harris’ progression?
“I think he is still learning, trying to figure out where he can go and when he can go there. It is going to take time. It’s a slow process.”
How do you feel about Matt Gorman’s play?
“He has been tremendous. He has been good on defense knocking balls away, blocking shots, and creating movement. He could have made two or three more buckets because he had some good open looks. I think its just confidence. The more he plays the more confidence he is going to gain. It is a great story because he has struggled through times. He helped us a little bit last year but didn’t get as much opportunity last year as he would have liked, but he hung in there. He helped us win these three games, and he is going to help us win a lot of games this year because he is really good down low and he is really finishing down near the basket. He is going to get better and better.”
