Head Coach Jim Boeheim's Post Game Press Conference
Syracuse vs. Rutgers
January 16, 2007
Syracuse, N.Y. – Carrier Dome
Opening statement:
“I thought we did a good job defensively in our zone. Our movement was much better than it has been. I thought we rebounded better. On offense, I thought we moved the ball well except for a couple mistakes at the end of the 1st half. In the 2nd half, we made some good transitions and I thought we were very well balanced. Jonny (Flynn) had some good looks and he knocked them down.
“When the ball goes in the basket, the game is always easier. The last two games, even though we didn’t execute as well as we would have liked to, we got a lot of the shots we got tonight. But when the ball doesn’t go in the basket, it is a tough game. Tonight the ball did go in and it makes the game a lot easier.”
On Scoop Jardine’s play tonight:
“I told him, ‘you don’t have to score to be effective.’ He got the ball with six rebounds. Other than one bad mistake in the first half, he was good. He was good on defense. We have some guys who can score and he will get some opportunities to score. I thought tonight he made good decisions and that is important.”
On what Jonny Flynn did different this game:
“He made the shots instead of missing them. He had the same shots he had in Cincinnati. When the ball goes in things work out a lot better.”
On Arinze Onuaku’s play:
“I thought he was good. He was efficient and good on defense. He got in good position. I don’t think it was a game where he necessarily had to score. When they went to the zone Jonny got wide open and we got wide open threes. Arinze got a couple opportunities early and he was very solid on defense.”
On whether the young players needed a night like this:
“Well it is always good when the ball goes in, but this is about their comfort level. We got some easier shots and better looks. At West Virginia, we didn’t get any good looks period.”
On upcoming Villanova:
“They are very good. They have tremendous players and tough guys inside. They are a very difficult team to play against.”
On why no BIG EAST teams are winning on the road:
“Well I think what you have is better top to bottom balance. I think you have teams all the way up and down that get you on their home court and can win. In the past you might have had three or four teams that were good enough to hold their home court. Now really everybody is. I think it will continue to be difficult. There are so many teams so close, but with such wide disparities and big swings. I think traditionally teams have always played a little better at home anyway.”
On upcoming teams:
“We can see that anybody is good enough to beat us. We got hammered by two teams. They are all good and everybody we play is tough. We have young guys who are trying to learn this game, so every time we go out, it is going to be very difficult for us.”
