Canisius player quotes
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Sunday, November 14, 2010
SU vs. Canisius
Carrier Dome
Student-Athlete Quotes
Scoop Jardine, Junior, Guard
Coach Boeheim said that you guys are the most overrated team he has ever coached. What do you think about that?
Coach has been coaching for 35 years. He knows. I don’t think we are as good as we can be right now, but our talent level is out the window, and Coach knows where we need to be. He is going to push us in practice to be where we need to be.
What things do you think need to be improved upon?
Whatever Coach said. From my point of view I think we need to be better on defense and everyone needs to get rolling and play to the best of their ability. Our team is young. We’re really talented, we have a high-powered offense and good guys that can come off the bench and give us 20 points. We just need to follow Coach’s lead and do everything we need to do on the defensive end. Once we get that, we’re going to be a dangerous team.
Coach talked about you four veterans being the heart and soul of this team. The four of you have played a lot of minutes, you guys really stepped up in the second half and you weren’t going to let it slip away. Can you comment on that?
At halftime Coach kind of got on some guys to pick it up, and obviously you see Brandon Triche responded, and Kris (Joseph) and Rick (Jackson) also responded. That’s what we’re going to need. We’re going to need the veterans every night to bring something to the team even if it’s not scoring, and let the young guys follow.
People are wondering if two point guards can be on the court at the same time and you and Brandon Triche are making it happen.
Oh, definitely. You look at these teams around the country and you have three or four point guards on the team. You look at a team like Villanova -- they have a lot of guards. Kansas State did it last year. It can be done, and Brandon and I both have to make the right plays at all times. We are great teammates with each other and with our other teammates and that’s what it’s all about.
Brandon Triche, Sophomore, Guard
With Andy (Rautins) and Wes (Johnson) gone, have you had to change your mind set at all?
I think so, I think we had to fill both roles. I think Kris (Joseph) can hold his own with the role that Wes (Johnson) played, but Andy is missed a lot because he was our leader. He had the ability to trust the defense to knock down a lot of shots, and that’s what I’ve got to do, I’ve got to trust the defense. I think that’s going to be my role a lot this year, to knock down three-pointers, but also to be aggressive and take those charges.
Do you think you can be the three-point shooter that Andy (Rautins) was? You seem to be a lot more confident in yourself.
Probably not exactly the same, but I think I can hold my own and do a similar job to that.
What was the message at halftime that got you guys going?
We needed to concentrate on rebounds and getting it out. The first half we didn’t get any rebounds, and we weren’t able to get in transition. I think we beat them by about 15 rebounds in the second half, and I think that was the biggest thing that helped us open up the lead.
Coach seemed less than pleased after the game, what was the biggest message he tried to get across to you guys?
We have to play much better. He knows we’re a much better team than that. Two games in a row he stressed that we aren’t getting our job done. We have a job, we have a goal for each game to get the rebounds and play tough defense and those two things we haven’t been doing. The second half we were able to bounce back and do those things.
Kris Joseph, Junior, Forward
Coach said you guys are only going to go as far as the four veterans take this team; you guys really stepped it up in the second half, and in the end you guys pulled out it with a win. How important is this veteran leadership to this team?
Really important because these guys are going to look to us. It might not always be all four of us, but today it was. It is going to have to be the majority of the four of us that pick it up. Today Brandon Triche did a great job in the second half of getting going early. At halftime, Coach said he needed to start playing like he knows Brandon can. He took pride in coming out in the second half and showing everyone what he can do.
What about the job C.J. Fair did today with Fab (Melo) in foul trouble, and the job he did on the boards today?
We knew what he was all about in the preseason. He’s a great rebounder, he’s everywhere. He’s a hard worker in practices and games, and it shows by the way he goes up for every rebound and the way he played tonight.
You guys have three games in five days. One day at practice tomorrow, then back at it on Tuesday night. Talk about the challenges of playing three games in five days.
We’ll be alright. We’ve done it before, as far as the veterans go. The new guys are going to have to get used to it, they’re going to have to take it as it comes, but as a team I think we’ll be ready for Detroit.
These last two games you guys have been able to assess where you are. What do you guys want to see improve in the next couple of days?
Just picking it up in the first half, I think the last two games we were up by three at halftime, and we really want to have a bigger lead at halftime. We also need to play better defense and execute on offense.
