SU Player Quotes vs. Georgetown
SU Player Quotes
Syracuse vs. Georgetown
February 26, 2007
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, NY
Senior forward Demetris Nichols
On the contrast between the first half and second half:
“The first half I was very excited, I had a lot of energy built up in me. Coach kept on telling me to slow down and take my time. When I came out in the second half I knew that I was going to get the shots, all I had to do is slow down. My teammates set great screens for me, and I knocked down the shots.”
On Coach Boeheim’s quote about Georgetown being the best team they have faced all year:
“I think so. We could have easily given them the game, but we kept on grinding it out. Coach kept telling us to be patient on offense, and as long as we rebounded the ball we should be fine. I think it shows we are growing as a team.”
On the significance of the game:
“We just wanted to play our game, and play hard. We were trying to leave it all on the floor. We played well, everyone played well”
On this being the last home game in the Dome:
“It was a great way to go out, a great feeling. I don’t even know what to say.”
Senior Center Darryl Watkins
On the doubts that Syracuse isn’t a tournament team:
“We are still here. Even though people are doubting us we aren’t going to hold our heads down, or give up. We are just going to keep pushing on until we get to where we want to be.”
On shutting down Roy Hibbert
“We just made sure the ball wasn’t in their hands. If they got the ball, we just made sure it was a tough shot.”
On the last game in the Dome:
“I couldn’t imagine this. I couldn’t dream it would be like this.”
On the atmosphere of the Dome:
“It definitely pulled us up a lot. We beat a ranked team on national TV, a lot of people got to see what we can actually do.”
On the emotion of senior night:
“You just want to go out with a bang and give the fans what they’ve been asking for.”
Sophomore guard Eric Devendorf
On the effect Senior nNight had on his performance:
“Demetris and those guys , I love them all. It was great to put them out on a good note. I’m happy for them, and I hope they pursue their career on the next level.”
On Syracuse’s defense:
“Darryl kept his man in check, when you do that the offense will come. The defense makes the offense go. Their shooting percentage wasn’t good. We closed out on the three point shooters, I don’t even know if Sapp had a three tonight.”
On his career-high 11 assists:
“I’m just trying to become the point guard role, it is going to come with time, but I’m not used to it. Coach has been helping me along all season long.”
Sophmore Guard Andy Rautins
On getting a win against a top ten team:
“That was huge for us. I even feel like we could have beaten this team by even more tonight. We had a couple errors late in the game, but we played a great game and I’m really happy for our seniors.”
On Demetris and his shooting troubles in the first half, and then catching fire in the second:
“We were just staying mentally focused, and not dwelling on the negatives. We were just trying to make positive plays whenever we could.”
On the fans changing their tone:
“We stayed positive despite the negativity. I think we gained their respect back tonight. We are going to try and keep this thing rolling.”
On Senior Night:
“We fed off the energy of the four seniors, and I’m really happy for them tonight.”
Freshman Paul Harris
On what the key to success was tonight:
“I think we all really wanted it. The seniors last home game, we just played hard and we need to keep that intensity going into Villanova and the Big East Tournament.”
On whether or not he listens to the “talking heads” on ESPN:
“I’m not going to lie, I really do listen to them. When I hear them saying ‘Syracuse is out’ I use it in practice as motivation and go hard. We will see what they say tonight.”
On whether or not they are in or out
“You can’t be cocky. Anything is possible, so you have to stay humble and keep playing hard.”
