Jim Boeheim Quotes vs. Louisville
Jim Boeheim Quotes
Syracuse vs. Louisville
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
February 19, 2006
Opening Statement…
“I thought this was the first time in a long time that we were active on defense in our zone. We got in such foul trouble playing man to-man. That’s the one danger in playing that much man-to-man. We committed some bad fouls and got into some bad foul situations. I thought the key, overall, to the game besides Gerry (McNamara) playing the way he can play, was the bench. Louie (McCroskey), Matt (Gorman), Arinze (Onuaku) and Josh (Wright) came in and did a tremendous job of controlling the basketball and making sure the ball got to the right places. Really it was on the defensive end. Our coverage was tremendous. Both teams were in severe foul trouble. Our bench really stepped up big. We did a good job on offense moving the ball and getting the ball to the right people again when they were in the zone. When you play Rick Pitino’s teams they’re going to pressure for 40 minutes and you’ve got to be able to handle that/ I thought Eric (Devendorf) was really good. He drew a charge and tried to get another one. That’s important for us. The overall defensive intensity that we played with and the bench coming in and playing so well, especially defensively, really made the difference in the game. We got to their shooters. We didn’t let then get good looks. We’ve been letting too many people get easy looks and teams in this league are going to make those shots. Our defense was much better and more active tonight.”
On extending their defense…
“We went out all the way, as far as we could possibly go. We still did a pretty good job on the post. Mostly that high post guy in their offense is going to pass. He’s looking to pass and you have to find where he’s going. Finally when they did get it in even low they would pass it out. So we were just sending our guards to the shooters. I thought that’s something we did a much better job of as the game went on.”
On second half…
“When we talked about Cincinnati we came out and made three turnovers so we wanted to try and avoid that. I thought we made some good plays and we made some good defensive plays at the same time and got transition. Eric (Devendorf) made a couple great plays getting to the basket. He had a great little run right there and then Gerry (McNamara) made a couple great plays too.”
On the quick turnaround…
“It’s going to be very difficult. We had to give it a lot tonight. We’ve played a lot of basketball. We’re just going to have to get ready and be ready to play Monday night. West Virginia’s playing as good as anybody. It’s a tremendous test, a tremendous game for us.”
On the full court pressure…
“I like pressure with our team. I think even though we might make a mistake, we can attack it and get some things. There were a couple times we made some bad decisions early in the first half and that cost us, but I like to attack and get some open situations for Gerry (McNamara). This was the first game in a long time that’s he’s really gotten some pretty good looks at the basket. The guys found him and looked for him. I think we got him open pretty well all night.”
