Coach Boeheim Oakland Quotes
Syracuse vs. Oakland
December 22, 2009
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening statement:
"Brandon (Triche) got some good looks and knocked them down. He’s worked hard on his shooting -- I think he’s a good shooter. That just broke the game open. It was a very competitive game until he started to knock down those shots. I think what’s good with us right now is that everybody’s looking for each other. We had another 24 assists tonight and if Andy (Rautins) doesn’t have a good shooting night, Brandon does, and if Arinze (Onuaku) can’t go, Ricky (Jackson) and DaShonte (Riley), do a good job in the middle.
We think Arinze will be fine. He’s moving around better, he’s a little sore -- so we just want to be precautionary with him, but we think he’ll be back when we come back from the break and be fine. We got through this part of our non-conference schedule the way we wanted to, and when we come back, we have a couple days, and then we open up with a very, very good Seton Hall team, so we’re looking forward to that challenge."
On if Triche has had to work on his shooting
"He was shooting all right coming into tonight from the three. I think he’s a pretty good shooter, and tonight he had an exceptional night, but he’s a pretty good shooter."
On Onuaku playing for five minutes
"We wanted to get him out there a little bit. He can’t hurt himself, it’s just a bruise. There’s a little, tiny bit of swelling in there in his thigh. It’s a new place. There’s nothing wrong with the surgery he had, nothing wrong at all. So he was cleared to play, he just didn’t feel comfortable going on it. I wanted to just get him out there and get him up and down a few times. If we would have needed him, he would have played a bit more."
On the play of DaShonte Riley
"He’s got a lot to do, he’s got a lot of work to do, but he’s a big guy and he gives us a threat to possibly block a shot."
On why the team has shared the ball so well this year:
"They are all unselfish, I don’t think anybody is looking just to try to score. I think they’re all good passers. Andy (Rautins) is a good passer, Brandon (Triche), Scoop (Jardine) -- our guards are very good passers, and they look to pass first. Nothing against them, but I think Eric (Devendorf) and Jonny (Flynn) were more offensive-minded, they wanted to score, and they were looking to score more. I think our guards can score, but they look to pass the ball. Wesley (Johnson) is a very good scorer, but he looks to pass. Ricky (Jackson) and Arinze (Onuaku) are very good passers. I think it’s the tools they have, they’re all very good passers. I think they’ve gotten better over the course of their careers, the two big guys especially. They’ve both become really good interior passers, that’s a big part of it, too."
On how good Seton Hall is this year
"They're very good. I think Cornell is one of the better teams I’ve seen this year, one of the better we’ve played. Next to Carolina, they’re probably the second-best team we’ve played, and they (Seton Hall) beat them at Cornell. They have a great team. They have a lot of guys: inside players that they didn’t have last year, two good point guards, guys that have transferred in that are very good. They’re one of the deepest teams in the league. I think they’re really good. A really good team, as good as anybody in the league, based on what I’ve seen. That’s the way the league will be.
