Syracuse vs. No. 21/20 Marquette
March 8, 2008
Syracuse, N.Y. - Carrier Dome
Donte’ Greene, Fr., F
On the play of Kristof Ongenaet:
“We’ve been waiting for Kristof to do that the whole season. In the preseason, Kristof used to kill. We thought he was going to come in and start, but his confidence was shaken a little bit at the beginning of the season. I think he definitely got back, he had a [heck] of a game today.”
On the team’s season resume:
“There are definitely some good wins, to knock off two top teams - Georgetown and Marquette are in the Top 25 - but I still think we just need to play. This is what we should have been doing all season. It just took a little while to get it together. We’re playing well now and definitely looking to go down to the [Madison Square] Garden and take it one game at a time and just try to win.
On wanting the win more than Marquette
“We definitely wanted it. Coach [Boeheim] talked about our toughness and questioned how much we wanted to make it to the [NCAA] Tournament. He thought we didn’t want to make it to the tournament, so we knew we had to come out and work hard in practice and show him it’s not all hype. We understand that you don’t just make it to the tournament without putting in the work. We came out today and in previous games, and we just wanted it.”
Kristof Ongenaet, Jr., F
On his back-to-back dunks in the second half
“I don’t know, it was really exciting and obviously we get pumped up by those little plays and they’re so crucial to the game. Those plays were exciting.”
On the physical play of the game
“I’m used to it, playing in Europe, banging against guys that were older and stronger than me. Most of the time I was the little guy and not the strongest guy out there, so I had to hustle for every ball to get one of those defensive plays or to get a block, or a steal or a rebound. That’s what I’m used to.”
On the belief that European players are only shooting specialists
“That’s just a stereotype. I know a lot of people think that, but I think that’s the wrong statement. A lot of people play hard like me and I’m here to confirm it.”
Jonny Flynn, Fr., G
On protecting the ball down the stretch of the game:
“As unfortunate as the Pittsburgh loss was, we really dissected the last three minutes of the game and learned a lot from it. The old saying is, ‘everything happens for a purpose,’ and that Pittsburgh game happened so we could be ready for the Marquette game. We just took what we didn’t do in the Pittsburgh game and used it against Marquette today. ”
On avoiding turnovers against a good defensive team:
“That was big for us. The one thing Coach Hopkins and Coach Boeheim and the rest of the coaching staff harked to us was just being strong with the ball, even our big guys getting rebounds and chinning the ball. Every rebound you get, you’re going to have Jerel McNeal and Dominic James reaching for it. Every rebound, every outlet pass they’re cutting passes off, so we did a good job of being aware of where the Marquette defenders were.”
On his mindset heading into the BIG EAST Tournament:
“We’re playing great basketball right now. We feel like we can play anybody and we’re going to win. We’re peaking at the right time. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs this season, and right now this is an up for us. We feel like whoever we play first, we’re going to beat them.”
