Coach Boeheim Quotes
Syracuse vs. Colgate
December 18, 2007
Syracuse, N.Y. - Carrier Dome
Opening Statement:
I thought tonight our defense was a pleasant surprise. I thought that we really were more active. The last two games, we really were more active, and got more traps. We struggled offensively in the first half, we made some bad turnovers that we’re going to have to adjust and get better with. I just thought we were so much more active defensively than we have been.
I think Colgate is a good, solid team. I think they’re better than last year when I think we were up five at halftime. I just thought that it’s just about getting our defense better these next couple weeks. We’re not going to score as many points as we would have before, so we’ve got to find a way to defend better.
We’ve got to get Scoop as much experience. Our guards turned it over way too may times today. We’ve got to do better there. I just liked our defense – I liked the way we moved.
I think Arinze [Onuaku] continues to get better and better inside. Donte’ [Greene] is playing well. Paul [Harris] I thought had a real good second half. I thought we had an opportunity to get Kristof [Ongenaet] in there and I thought he did a couple of real nice things. He is capable of being a good player in this league and I think this is a great opportunity for him.
I thought overall this was a real good solid night. Losing a guy like Eric [Devendorf], that’s tough mentally. Players have to step it up. It’s an opportunity for them and I think the guys that got those opportunities stepped up tonight and did a lot of good things.
On the play of Scoop Jardine:
I thought he was active, showed some signs of getting to the lane, which is what he does best. He missed a couple runners, two lay-ups and another fairly easy shot. He could have had a solid night. He just had two real bad turnovers. That pass to Jonny [Flynn] just wasn’t long enough and that pass to Kristof [Ongenaet] on the break – those were just two really glaringly bad turnovers. He was on the verge of where he would have had a real good night if he would have had a couple of those. The two lay-ups he got in there and missed, we got them back and tipped them in from his penetration – that’s what he does. Again, I thought both Scoop [Jardine] and Jonny [Flynn] are capable of playing a lot better and will play a lot better.
On what effect the loss of Eric Devendorf will have:
We talk about the opportunity it presents for guys like Scoop and Kristof, and now Sean Williams is in the mix. I was very happy with getting him out there – he did what he can do. He can block a couple shots and I think he can do that against anybody. When he catches it down low, he doesn’t have to jump very high to dunk. We talked to the players about it – it’s a great opportunity for those guys. Of course, we want Eric [Devendorf] to be out there but he’s not – we have to move on. Eric’s been great, he’s been rehabbing the last couple days – getting himself ready and very positive about what can happen. He can bounce back and we’ve got two pretty good shooters next year.
On losing two starters this year:
You coach the guys you have. If everybody gets sick and you only have five walk-ons, you coach them. You just coach the guys you have and you do the best you can with them – nothing tough about it mentally. Whatever you have, you coach. You’d like to have Eric [Devendorf]. You’d like to have Andy [Rautins]. The only thing that crosses my thoughts are the guys we have and how can we utilize these guys.
We’ve really never lost a player – a starter, a guy who played a lot – since I’ve been here. Arinze [Onuaku] got hurt last year, we lost him early, but he was a guy coming off of the bench. I don’t think we’ve ever lost a starter – one starter all season – and another ten games into the season. It’s rare when you watch college basketball as much as I do. It is so rare for a really good player to go down at all. It’s very rare, and both of these injuries were freaks – just missteps. Usually, you get in traffic and somebody rolls into you, and you hurt your knee. These were both kind of freak things. I know we’ve never had two starters. I don’t think we’ve ever lost a starter in the beginning of the year.
We came into this year thinking we would have Eric [Devendorf] and Andy [Rautins] and Paul [Harris] back. Paul [Harris] started some, but now we have nobody that really started last year. You just adjust, you go with the players you have and you do the best job you can with these players.
On the play of Justin Thomas:
I think he can give up some minutes on a very good level. I think he’s a good defender, he knows how to play, and I think he can give us some good minutes.
On getting points in the paint:
We always want to try and get it inside if we can and they played man-to-man early. We were able to get it in there, which is what we like to do. The first time they went to zone, Donte’ [Greene] hit that three and that got them out of that. Later, they played more zone, and we’ll have to work harder against zone than we would with Eric [Devendorf] out there. That’s one thing that will be more difficult, but we don’t see a lot of zone.
