Coach Boeheim Quotes vs. San Diego State
Coach Boeheim Press Conference Quotes
Syracuse vs. San Diego State
March 19, 2007
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
“I’m just really thankful for our fans; the support that they have shown us in these two games has been tremendous. I thought tonight we made some bad turnovers in the first half and once we eliminated the turnovers, we were shooting it good and rebounding well. We just made 11 turnovers in the first half that kept it closer than it probably should have been. In the second half I thought we just moved the ball, we were patient. We had 21 assists tonight, I just thought everybody was looking for each other; we did a really good job offensively. San Diego State is a good team; their league has obviously played very well in the tournament. I think they beat UNLV by 15 and UNLV is a very good basketball team, so it was a good win. Obviously going to Clemson is tough. Clemson started out the year 17-0, and they are very tough at home. It will be a great challenge for us and we are looking forward to that challenge Wednesday night.”
On Andy Rautins:
“I thought Andy got in good position tonight, his leg is better. When he gets in good position, I think our guys have been looking for him better and better as our year has gone along. The leg without question cost him, he just was not able to jump and move as well as he needs to but I think he is better now and that showed tonight.”
On breaking the NIT single game attendance record:
“The fans are tremendous, they’ve been tremendous for 31 years here and we just have to really be appreciative how much they were into the game from the beginning. People said up here they didn’t want people to stand up, but I think the fans have more fun when they all stand up and they cheer. This isn’t an opera. I think we have too many fans who just want to sit there and watch the game, but these fans help us win. Those other fans would help us win games too if they would get into the same atmosphere, tremendous atmosphere. It makes a difference; anyone will tell you that, that is why road games are tough because fans can get into the game. Our fans have been tremendous in these last two games. I just think it was so great for them to come out. I think the NIT is on its way to being a pretty good tournament, I really do. I think they’ve got good teams in the tournament now, there used to be bad teams in the tournament but now there aren’t bad teams in the tournament. This team went into Missouri State; and remember, Missouri State beat Wisconsin and a whole bunch of teams this year and they had to go in there and beat them on their home court. That is pretty darn hard to do.”
On the keys to the game:
“I just thought this was our best game rebounding and moving the basketball, we shot pretty well, not great, but we shot pretty well. Our defense was good but it has been good all year, our field goal percentage defense has been good all year. I thought Josh Wright did a great job in the first half, that’s where I think he can play. He came in and did some really nice things. Everybody just really I thought played well tonight.”
On San Diego State’s Brandon Heath:
“Well we were aware of where he was, we tried to find him; I thought we did a good job of being aware of where he is. He is a very good player and I thought we did a good job, a real good job defensively on him and (Mohamed) Abukar, finding where they were.”
On the senior members of the team:
“These guys have won a lot of games, they have won 90 some games, and they have been very successful and they should have been in the NCAA tournament four straight years. You can’t ask much more of a group than that.”
