Coach Boeheim Postgame Quotes
Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes
Syracuse vs. DePaul
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Carrier Dome/Syracuse, NY
Opening Statement:
“In the first half, I thought our defense was good for long stretches. We really helped each other, and did a good job rebounding, and offensively we moved the ball. In the second half, we came out and, a little bit like the game against South Florida, made two or three mistakes early and just couldn’t get a rhythm going on offense. Sometimes that happens when you have a lead, but you still don’t want that to happen. We made enough plays and we got an opportunity to work on our defense, and I thought we did a lot of good things. We did some things that we need to do better, but it’s the first time we’ve really played man-to-man for an extended period of time, and I thought that was good. We have to get ready for Saturday and not worry about whatever happened here.”
On Paul Harris’ play:
“I think he was rusty at first. He missed a couple of easy ones, and that’s probably to be expected. He made a couple of put-backs, his defense was good, and he got on the boards which I think is important. I think Arinze [Onuaku], Rick [Jackson], and Paul [Harris] did a pretty good job on the boards for us and that’s a good thing. It’s good to have him back, and he’ll get better.”
“The strength of his game is going to the basket. He went to the basket a couple of times really well. He got out on the break well and he got a couple of offensive rebounds. When he’s doing those things, that’s when he’s at his best.”
On Andy Rautins’ return from last year’s injury:
“I think the summer helped him tremendously. Without the summer [with the Canadian National team], he’d be way back. He still wouldn’t be anywhere near where he is now. He handled the ball a lot and made a lot of plays for that team and that helped him. I think he’s ahead of Eric [Devendorf] because he had that summer, but I think that they are both getting back to where they need to be.”
“It’s encouraging to win these last two games when we could have played better. We are still making some mistakes that we can correct. The schedule is what it is. I’d say were probably playing the toughest schedule in the BIG EAST. When you look at schedules, you look at the 18-game BIG EAST schedule, and I’d say we are playing the toughest schedule. We did start out a little easy, but that will all change. There is no game that’s too easy, you just have to gear up and try to play every game and see what happens. Over the 18 games in the league, we’ve got all we need to have.
On Eric Devendorf’s play:
“Whenever you don’t practice for a couple of days, it hurts. I’m surprised that he shot the ball so well tonight. He didn’t move that well, but Eric can shoot the basketball.”
On Jonny Flynn’s affect on the game:
“His defense was good the whole time. He didn’t shoot it well tonight but he had eight assists. He’s playing as well as anybody, and he’s only going to get better. He’s only at the start of his sophomore year.”
On preparing for Rutgers:
“Rutgers is a tough place to play. I did see the Pittsburgh game, and [Rutgers] played great. Pittsburgh is one of the best man-to-man teams in the country, and it was tied late in the game. Pittsburgh played some zone, Rutgers missed some shots and Pittsburgh won the game. Every game, we have to be ready and do the things we need to do to play well.”
