Coach Boeheim Quotes
Syracuse v. Cornell
December 22, 2007
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
In the first half, I thought we did a good job in our man-to-man. We really hadn’t played much man-to-man, and they came out and hit a couple of threes. They’re a very good three point shooting team. I thought when we made the switch we got some energy and I thought we did a good job defensively. I thought we moved the ball well on offense and got some good opportunities, and didn’t turn it over. Second half, we turned it over, we didn’t move very well. We were fortunate, I thought, because even though our defense was pretty good they had some open shots and just didn’t make them. It could have been a much closer game.
I think that when you get this last game before vacation, everybody’s half on their way home. Guys haven’t been home in a long time, and I think they start thinking about that at halftime. We didn’t have much focus on offense. Cornell did a good job of getting back and double-teaming inside. We wanted to get it inside, we did get it in there, but they did a good job of getting back in there and double-teaming and getting in front of people. It was a good opportunity for us to play man-to-man, and for the most part, we did a pretty good job, but I think we were fortunate that they missed some open shots, that could have made it a little bit closer for sure.
Nonetheless, it’s a good win for us, and everybody’s looking forward to getting home and coming back up and playing another non-conference game, and then getting ready for the BIG EAST.
On getting the ball inside:
Well, we wanted to get it in there. In the beginning, Cornell didn’t get back in there as quickly. We got some penetration. I thought our spacing was better. Scoop [Jardine] made a couple good passes, Ricky [Jackson] had a couple of lay-ups out there. I just thought that we kind of ran out of gas a little bit.
On the play of Kristof Ongenaet:
He’s good. He had 10 rebounds, he gets on the boards, he goes after the ball, he had a nice block in the first half. I think he’s getting more comfortable with what we’re doing. I think that Kristof and Ricky have really done a good job coming in off of the bench for us, and I think they both continue to get better, and that’s going to be important for us.
On the improvement of Arinze Onuaku:
As a freshman he didn’t get much opportunity. I think he showed some signs that he could do these things as a freshman, and I thought it was a big loss last year when he went down and wasn’t able to play. He’s a finisher, he’s strong, he catches it, he’s a very good finisher around the basket. I think he’s got a lot of room for improvement. I think he’s going to get better. I think he’s got a good understanding of where he should be, and I think the players are doing a good job of looking for him. I think Ricky does a really good job of getting him the ball when he’s in there. I think everybody’s doing a good job looking for him.
On the play of Jonny Flynn:
I think he’s been really good. I think I expect too much from him. I think he can be even better. Obviously, his numbers are great. He’s playing good. I think he can play better. I think that as a team, we’re playing better, but we have to get better. I think we all can play better – we’re making too many turnovers. One thing with Donte’ [Greene] tonight, he didn’t shoot well, but he rebounded, he kept trying to make plays. When he shoots it poorly, we have to do some other things, and find some other ways.
On the “big man” lineup (Kristof Ongenaet, Rick Jackson, Arinze Onuaku, and Donte’ Greene):
We won’t use that lineup – that was a slight error in judgment. I got mad at two people at the same time, and I couldn’t get somebody back in there. But Ricky and Arinze, Donte’ or Kristof could play together, which gives us some good size out there.
On the improvements that need to be made defensively:
We have to get a lot better defensively. I think our man-to-man was pretty good tonight. We hadn’t played it the last two games, we played all zone. I thought tonight, we were pretty good in it. We helped, we did a good job on the screens, talked, helped each other, switched when it was there. Our zone was really good the last two games. It wasn’t very good tonight, but we have to get better with both defenses. We don’t have much time, but we have some time. This group has only been together now a week without Eric [Devendorf], so it’s going to take a little bit more time. He was such a dominant player with the things that we do on offense that we’re going to have to adjust to that over the next week or two. Hopefully, we’ll get some good practices in, another game, and some more practices before the BIG EAST starts.
