Coach Boeheim Quotes vs. Connecticut
Coach Boeheim Press Conference Quotes
Syracuse vs. Connecticut
February 17, 2007
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
“I thought the big difference between this game and the last one was that we rebounded the basketball, 55 rebounds we made. Mookie (Darryl Watkins) went after the ball and Paul (Harris) did a tremendous job rebounding, Paul particularly early. The difference, Connecticut hasn’t shot the ball well but they shot the ball pretty well from the three point line both times we played them, they started out tonight 4-for-6. We went man-to-man when it was 16-11 or 16-9 or something. I thought our man to man was good, it was the difference in the game and we got control of it. We didn’t shoot it well either but some of that is that Connecticut is a very good defensive team. Eric (Devendorf) got some good looks tonight he just didn’t make anything but when it got close Demetris (Nichols) called and wanted the ball and I thought he made two great plays. I think earlier in the year we weren’t sure and we made bad plays when we needed to make good plays, and today we certainly made good plays when we had to. The real story of the game was that Mookie was great inside, defensively and on the boards. That’s two games in a row where he has been tremendous, and that just makes us a different team. Andy (Rautins) hit his shots when he was open, he is doing a good job of getting open. Down in Connecticut we shot 4-for-18 and tonight we shoot 5-for-18. I really would have thought we had to shoot better than that to win but the rebounding was the difference. I think we out rebounded down there by probably 20, and we just did a better rebounding job tonight and our man to man was good.”
On Paul Harris against the Connecticut defense:
“Man-to-man, they’re pressuring and he is able to get in the lane. They’re a pressure man-to-man team, other teams play off him and it is harder for him in the half court to get to the basket. They make it easy for him because that’s their defense, they’re a pressure team, they’re going to get up on you and that’s the way they play but he is going to be able to get up in the lane. I thought he went after the ball harder today than in a couple games and he finished around the basket. We played him a little more when Terrence (Roberts) was out, his knee has been bothering him and he is just struggling to get anything going right now. Hopefully this week will help us, we’ve played a lot of games and we haven’t had any rest and I’m very happy that we have this time right now. We need it, we have a lot of guys bumped up and Mookie turned his ankle, I thought he showed a lot of guts, a lot of heart, he was hurt in the last four minutes but I just tried to ignore him. He didn’t say he had to come out, and I wasn’t going to take him out.”
On Andy Rautins:
“People think he is just a shooter and that is far from the truth. I think he can do everything, he has good hands on defense, and he is a good passer. I had a long talk with his dad yesterday. Andy just has to get a little stronger and he’ll finish some things that he is close to finishing now but he understands how to play and where to find his shots. Other guys are looking for him, they’re trying to find him and I think as a team we’re getting better at that.”
On the teams progress this season:
“I think Gerry (McNamara) did all that stuff for us for the last two or three years, and especially all last year and now even at the end of the game we’re not good in that trying to hold the ball and make decisions down the stretch. That is stuff that Gerry did and we don’t have the lead a lot so it is not something we’ve had to do a lot, we’ve been battling most of the time. I think we’re getting better offensively, I don’t think we’ve played anywhere near where we could. We played great at Marquette and Villanova; they were two great wins where we really played well. Villanova is a great team, I watched their game today before our game, people underrate some of our wins, I guess when we win it doesn’t matter but that was a tremendous win. I think the one thing we did this year is we tried to play as many non-league games against quality teams as we could and everybody says well our schedule was bad. That’s not the case, those teams are all good. Hofstra and Holy Cross and those people that we played and I think those teams helped us to get better. I think we’re a better team now, I still think we can play better but that’s time that happens a lot that happens with a lot of teams. I think we’re a team that is getting better and will get better.”
On Demetris Nichols:
“It’s hard to get him the ball sometimes, they had a guard on him and he posted him and did a good job there. It’s hard to make a jump shot when somebody is holding your hand, but he did and then he made the next one. He has made big shots for us, the St. John’s game; he has done it all year really. Against Okalahoma State he was unbelievable, we were out of the game and he got us back in and gave us a chance to win. He has had a tremendous year and you know when you don’t win a lot you get overlooked a little bit and he gets overlooked a little bit but he has had a tremendous year.”
On Terrence Roberts:
“We have to balance the floor more, one night he only had 8 points and we won by 17. We have other guys, Eric had a bad shooting night. Eric would have had a big game today if he had been shooting a little bit better. We didn’t get anything out of Terrence and we really didn’t get Mookie much either, he didn’t get many opportunities, their big guy is pretty tough, a couple times he had an opportunity and couldn’t finish in there.”
On the key to the game:
“For us to win and play poorly offensively is a good thing, we played well defensively here, and we played well defensively in South Florida and that is something that we missed a little bit before that. I think that is important and we have to continue to get better on offense but the defense and the rebounding is really the big key. If we didn’t have rebounds tonight we would have lost by eight to ten points like we did when we played at Connecticut, it was all rebounds, that’s all it was, all rebounds.”
On Connecticut’s Jerome Dyson:
“He had a great game today; he was coming off a good game. He got that first one, when he shot that first one it bounced around and then went in and when that happens that’s danger. He is the reason we came out of the zone, I didn’t want to do that and give them the opportunity to use their quickness and Demetris did a good job standing in front of them and Andy did a good job standing in front. When you think about it Dyson was pretty controlled until right at the end there, he got something right at the end, but he was on 18, 19, and 20 for a long time so I think we did a good job with him.”
On difference playing Connecticut:
“We try to win every game, I get up for every game, every game. The biggest mistake you can make in this job over anything else is to try and get up for just one game and not for another. You get up the same for every game you play or you’re not doing a good job. If you get up in the morning and you don’t get ready to do your job everyday the same way then you’re not going to be very successful either.”
On Darryl Watkins:
“He has been tremendous as I said; he was the difference in both games. There is not a category for that but his screens are getting people open, that’s how Demetris gets open, and if he isn’t setting those screens those guys don’t get open. That’s a huge part of it. For guys to get their own shots we’ve got to get them open and I thought we’ve gotten people open and found them, that’s part of evolving as a team offensively, we’re getting better.”
