Boeheim Columbia
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Syracuse v. Columbia
Friday, November 27, 2009
Opening statement:
We came out in the second half and we were a little bit better defensively. We found the shooters ¬-- I thought we got on the boards better -- we got a couple second-chance efforts that we didn’t get in the first half. I think, obviously, when Andy (Rautins) or Wes (Johnson) gets open looks, they’re going to make them, and Wes got two or three right in a row, and that pretty much broke the game open. But, I thought our defense was good, I thought we were active, and they’re a good three-point shooting team. Except for the one guy, I think we did a good job finding the other guys. It was a solid win. Now we get a couple days to get ready for Monday night.
On the play of the offense:
We moved the ball better, and they were giving us open looks against their zone. In the first half we didn’t really move the ball or find the shooters very well. The second half, I thought we did a better job finding the right guys, and when we did miss, we got some put-backs, which was good.
On the play of Mookie Jones:
He’s a good shooter. We just want to get him some opportunities. Defensively is the big key -- his defense is getting better and he’s got to do a real good job there. He’ll get opportunities to get shots. He gets himself into position on the offensive end very well. I thought it was good for him to get in. DaShonte (Riley) got in, did a couple nice things, and it’s good for those guys to get an opportunity. Some games, they’re not going to get the opportunity. It’s important early in the year to get them some opportunity to just get their feet wet and to get used to the college game.
On the play of Wes Johnson:
I think he’s a smooth player, I think he uses a lot of effort, but he’s smooth, and he gets into good positions. He’s a good player, he understands how to play the game and where his opportunities are going to be, and he takes advantage of them.
