Postgame Player Quotes
Syracuse vs. Colgate
Monday, December 1, 2008
Carrier Dome/Syracuse, N.Y.
Paul Harris, Jr., Forward
On the teams focus in the first 10 minutes:
“It all started with Jonny Flynn pressuring the ball, he was being so aggressive and that led to a lot of turnovers and transition baskets.”
On his practice the day before the game:
“Coach (Boeheim) was really hyped about me at practice yesterday. He put me on the second team for a couple minutes and I was getting a lot of guys a lot of open looks and going to the basket. (Coach Boeheim) talked to me after practice and today I just came out and played hard, that is all it was about.”
On his motivation for changing his hair:
“It was actually Jonny Flynn. He had said that if I wore my hair out one game then he was going to cut his hair off and go bald, so you have to be watching next game to see if Jonny Flynn will go bald.”
On being ranked:
“It feels so good to be ranked, but I’d rather be ranked at the end of the season then during the beginning of the season.”
On how the team was able to limit Colgate scoring:
“I think it was our pressure defense, once again I say it started with Jonny Flynn because he was all over the ball that they couldn’t get into their offense. That led to so many transition baskets and a lot of dunks. It was a fun night for the team.”
On the man-to-man defense:
“The two-three (zone) works at certain times, but tonight was a man-to-man night.”
Jonny Flynn, So., Guard
On Mookie Jones:
“He played well.It is tough like that with a guy coming from high school to come in here and really play a role. I think he has done a good job of just staying focused. He comes in before practice, gets shots up working with Coach Mike Hopkins and he really got time to show his skills tonight.”
On his steal off Colgate’s first possession:
“I didn’t want to come out flat today. The previous four games I thought we came out really, really flat in the first half. When you start playing better teams you can’t come out like that. You dig yourself a deep hole like we have been doing. I thought it was on me to get up in the guy on the first possession and set the tempo of the game. That is one thing we want to do, we want to set the tempo, not let them.”
On holding Colgate to 13 first-half points:
“We were trying to keep them under double digits for the first half. That was one thing me and (Eric Devendorf) said going into it. Even Devendorf was picking up 94 feet. When you have a guy like that coming off knee surgery and really using all his energy to try and stop guys, that just brings up the level of play.”
On how much the team needed a game like this after last week:
“You definitely need something like this after last week. There was a whole lot of energy used last week, but I think we just came out well and did what we were supposed to do. Today the team was very pass first and very unselfish.”
Eric Devendorf, Jr., Guard
On the change of pace this week:
“This is definitely a tough stretch. We have eight games pretty close together, so a lot of the guys are tired. We haven’t had a day off yet so I’m not saying we’re looking forward to the break, but it is going to be a relief to get a couple days off and rest our bodies. We have to go out here Wednesday against a good Cornell team and get a win.”
On the win:
“It always feels good to go out there and finish your opponent early and that is what we did in the first half. Then we went out there in the second half and finished the job. It always feels good, but we have a big game Wednesday so we have to put this behind us.”
On what the team has to do to keep up with Cornell:
“Same thing we have been doing these last seven games, they’re all wins so we must be doing something right. Hopefully, we can just go out there and perform the way we have been and get a win.”
On the national rankings:
“It feels good, but obviously it doesn’t mean a lot because it doesn’t bring you a national championship It’s definitely a good feeling knowing that we’re a top 20 team, but we still haven’t really hit our potential yet. I know we can definitely be a better team and get a higher ranking at the end of the season.”
On the first half:
“It was good to get out to a fast start and get up and down the court and score a lot of points to get that big advantage at halftime.”
On Coach Boeheim emphasizing coming out strong in the first half:
“Coach told us that Colgate was a pretty good team and they had some good shooters and I think we stepped up our defense in the first half and got out and ran a lot. We got some easy transition buckets and pushed the lead up at halftime.”
On his full court defense:
“I’ve been trying to work on my defense. Coach Hopkins always reminds me in every huddle to keep pressuring and keep the intensity up on the defensive end and that is what I’ve been trying to do.”
