Syracuse Player Quotes
#10 Jonny Flynn, G, So.
On his experiences at the LeBron James Camp:
“It was fun going up against Chris Paul, one of the guys I most look up to in the NBA. LeBron James can be said to be the best player in the NBA and I learned a lot. They may not tell you a lot, but just seeing them on the court, seeing how they take care of things, and seeing how hard they work at the craft of basketball, just says a lot.”
On how much his game has improved in the last year:
“I think my game has improved a lot. I think personally, I matured a lot over the past year from all the things that happened and because of the people around me. Making my inner circle a closer group of people made me mature a lot. I’m looking for a big year.”
On feeling more confident as a leader:
“Definitely, one thing I kick myself for not doing more of last year is being a better leader. The point guard is primarily going to be the leader on the court and I feel like I didn’t step up in that role enough. This year, you can be looking forward to me being a leader on this team.”
On transitioning to a team with so many players compared to last year:
“Having all these youthful guys out here is great. Maybe I can get 30 seconds of rest a game this year. It is good to have a lot of people out here. It brings the level of practices up and brings the competitiveness up because guys are looking for playing time. Just because of the nucleus of our team and the newcomers, we are going to have a good year.”
On what he worked on most in the off season:
“I just tried to work on everything. I didn’t really pinpoint one aspect of my game. I just tried to make my whole game a lot better.”
On how hungry the team is to get to the NCAA Tournament:
“We are definitely hungry. If I said last year wasn’t a letdown, I would be lying. I just think we have a good team and our pickup games have been great, so I am looking for a lot out of us this year.”
#25 Kevin Drew, G, Fr.
On the impact of being able to play both lacrosse and basketball when choosing to come to Syracuse:
“I was looking at other schools for lacrosse mainly. Because the recruiting process for lacrosse is getting earlier and earlier, I was getting offers from a lot of schools during my junior year. I came up here to visit and as soon as I heard that I could try to play both sports it was a no-brainer. I love that I made that decision.”
On the role he expects to have on the basketball team:
“I just want to work hard and get everyone else to work hard. I want to just follow these guys around at practice, run and get in shape with them, and help them out anyway I can.”
On his hopes for the season:
“This year I will probably just be practices with these guys and making them work harder. I’ll play defense on them, make them run harder, and make them play better.”
#32 Kris Joseph F, Fr.
On his hopes for the team this season:
“I want to get far into the tournament. I feel like we have a good enough team this year with Andy and Eric back, that we can really make it far into the tournament.”
On his goals as an individual player:
“As an individual, I am just going to do whatever it takes to get us there. I am going to do whatever Coach asks and help the team in whatever way I can.”
On what it has been like practicing with the older players:
“It has been great. They teach me a lot. Since the summer, Eric has been teaching me how to fight the screen or go through them and which cuts or angles to take to get through defenders. It has really been helpful.”
On the pressure he feels as one of the top recruits:
“It is no pressure at all. I feel like if you know how to play basketball, there shouldn’t be any pressure. I know what I can do, what I’m capable of, and what I’m not capable of, so I’m not going to force the issue. I am just going to do whatever I know I am capable of on the court.”
#21 Arinze Onuaku C, Jr.
On how dominate he can be down low this season:
“I just have to go out there and play hard every game. I know I can play with anybody in the country. I just have to come out and be consistent.”
On what the return of key players does for his game:
“When you have two great shooters like Andy and Eric, they have to honor them every time down court. When the double comes, I will be able to kick it to them for the three. If no double comes, then I will be able to take my man one-on-one, so it is a great asset to have.”
On whether he sees his game improving a lot more this year:
“I hope it will. I just have to keep working hard. I hope every year I can improve on something and add a little bit more to my game.”
On how he approaches this season:
“I just have to be a leader on the floor. I have to be consistent every night, so the team knows what they are going to be able to get from me. I have to be a leader vocally and be an example for the team. Every night I have to go out there and play hard and show the team we are going after it from the tip to the end.”
#33 Scoop Jardine, G, Soph.
On how hard redshirting will be:
“It isn’t going to be hard -- it is just going to be a year of patience. I’ll get a year to get healthy and also get smarter, and learn from Coach Boeheim. I'll also be there for my team. I’m not going to be playing but I’ll still be helping them out off the court. I’ll be able to come back better next year and plus I get another year of school so that is even better. That’s a great thing.”
On how his leg is feeling:
“I’m at 70 percent.”
On when his injury happened during the 2007-08 season:
“It just started hurting when I came back in January.”
On why he didn’t tell anyone about his injury:
“I had a crazy year, I didn’t want to sit out having just come back from suspension so I just sucked it up and played through it.”
On his freshman year:
“It was up and down, more of a learning experience. A lot of guys come to college and staying in college is tough. I had some good times and some bad times and I got through them. I’m here to help the younger guys out so they don’t go through what I went through.”
On what he learned from his freshman year:
“It was a learning experience. Everything I went through last year was a learning experience and I got to see who was there for me and who really wasn’t. I made some tough decision but I have to live with them, deal with them and move on. It made me so much better. :ike Coach says sometimes you have to take a step back to take two steps forward and I think that’s what I did. I was able to see what I really wanted out of college and out of life. I almost had my college career taken away from me so I had to just sit back, see what I really wanted in life and now I know what I really want.”
#3 Mookie Jones, F, Fr.
On how big of advantage starting school over the summer was:
“Its good, I’m glad I did it. If I didn’t go to summer school and just came here in the fall I would be lost. Summer was definitely good. I got some credits, I got used to the weights a little bit and now I’m here and used to everything.”
On one thing he wanted to improve on before the season:
“I wanted to get stronger. They had me in the weight room a lot (over the summer). I did get stronger just from me coming in until now, I’ve just been improving. When I came here I couldn’t bench 135. I can now lift 135 10 times. Even when I was benching 135, 10 times I couldn’t even lift up 185. We just tested yesterday and I got 185 up four times so that is big progress for me. That’s the benchmark for me but I’m getting a lot stronger in everything else -- the abs, everything. I feel a lot stronger now than I did when I finished high school.”
#00 Rick Jackson, F, Soph.
On his expectations for the season:
“I’m looking forward to a good year. We have a lot of our players back and we’re healthy now. I just think it is going to be a good year for us, we should go far in the tournament this year and just do well.”
On what he is looking to improve on from last year:
“As far as me, just more foul shots and shooting. For the team we can improve on finishing better in the second half. We lost a lot games last year by not finishing in the second half.”
On Coach Boeheim saying he will play a big role in the upcoming season:
“That just makes me feel good because it tells me he is really counting on me this year and that he has seen me working and he knows that I really want to be out there. I’ve been working on things and just want to help the team.”
On how having Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins back helps the team:
“It just adds better shooting for us. Now they can’t double team the post and it just helps our team out a lot when we have more shooters on the team.”
On how he changed his workouts in the offseason:
“I tried to run more, to get faster, work on my shooting, work on my foul shots. I did a lot of rebounding drills, around the basket drills, just trying to get better.”
