Boeheim Quotes Providence
Syracuse vs. Providence
December 28, 2010
Syracuse, N.Y. – Carrier Dome
Head Coach Jim Boeheim Postgame Quotes
Opening Statement:
“Providence played us like everybody’s played us in here, very patient. I thought they did a great job moving the basketball and spreading us out. I thought we had a stretch in the first half where we played really well offensively. We got control of the game and when we got the lead we made a couple of bad plays and we came back when it got to four and made really good offensive plays against their defense.
Their (Providence) defense is much better this year. When they match up and they're competing, you don’t get a lot of easy things against them. But I thought we really played well and got back and established control of the game and then we let down on defense. We didn’t rebound two shots and they got four points off the two misses. And then (Vincent) Council banked the three in and stuff like that happens sometimes and you have to be able to overcome it.
I thought that at the end of the game, we’ve been in four or five games like this this year whether we’ve wanted to be or not, and we made good plays defensively at the end of those games. I think that helped us tonight. We made our free throws. We didn’t turn the ball over late and they’re a good pressing team.
(Bilal) Dixon is a heck of a player. He’s really an outstanding player. I thought overall we just had some breakdowns defensively that you can’t have and they took advantage of them. We went smaller tonight against that matchup. We wanted to get the extra offensive player in the game. I thought that James (Southerland) hit a couple early and I thought he was going to get going. He pretty much took himself out of the second half. I thought Scoop (Jardine) and Brandon (Triche) took advantage of some lanes and they were concentrative. I thought Ricky (Jackson) made some great passes out of the post. And Kris (Joseph) had an outstanding offensive game.
But this is not unlike the games that are going to be in this league. Providence -- I had a lot of respect for them coming in and I have more respect for them now. They were 11-2 and they’re a pretty good basketball team. They play much better defense this year. They don’t have as many offensive weapons, but their defense is much better and they still can score. This was a good win and we’re happy to get it.”
How key was it for Scoop (Jardine) with Rick (Jackson) going to the bench? It seemed like Scoop took things over.
“He (Scoop) played great. You know the rule, it’s a terrible rule. Guys run around you so you try to protect the ball. Rick (Jackson) didn’t even really swing. The guy ran into his elbow. He said he moved his elbow. I don’t even think he moved it. It’s a terrible rule. The big guy can’t protect the ball. What are you supposed to do, just hold the ball down here so the little guy can come take it away? It’s just a terrible rule. They overreacted to swinging of elbows. If you swing your elbows like the rule was where you really swing it fast, that’s alright. That’s a good rule. When you’re just standing there and I don’t even think he moved it. If he moved it, it was just a hair and the guy almost ran up into him. It’s a terrible rule. It could have changed the whole complexion of the game. It got Rick in foul trouble. Luckily they made one shot and we got a turnover off it.”
After that foul you went on a 14-2 run. Did it spark you guys?
“It had nothing to do with it. We just played better. We made some good plays, some really good plays.”
Did you do something defensively in the second half on Brooks?
“Yeah. He was in the corner so we were trying to keep the ball from going there. We caught it and we wanted to run at him with the center and the forward and double him. Then they put him in the post and he got a bucket there. Then we tried to take the post away. But then we were really had it under control and then (Vincent) Council banked that shot. We didn’t get the two rebounds and that hurt us and it gave them seven points. I don’t know what Brooks had in the second half, but it wasn’t as many obviously.”
Scoop (Jardine) had a period where we had nine of your 14 points and had an assist. What were your thoughts about how he played?
“He’s played good all year. He made good decisions. They had a couple of turnovers and he finished. Transition points, he had a couple of transition baskets. Even the three that he got was kind of in transition. When we did get the rebound and got it out, Rick (Jackson) did a great job. He’s a great outlet passer. We got it out and got some transition baskets.”
Can you talk about Rick’s (Jackson) play on the boards on the defensive end?
“He’s been a monster all year just rebounding. What he did great tonight was he didn’t force it when they came to double and he hit guys. He got five assists and really moved the ball to people. He’s played really smart and really under control.”
Can you talk about the significance of this tough BIG EAST stretch starting now?
“They’re all tough. Every game is tough and you just got to get ready every game. Anything can happen any night and you just got to make sure you’re ready every night. They’re all going to be like this. I told the players there’s not going to be many easy nights. I don’t think in this league. If you have one maybe, I not even sure if you really have one. If we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight we wouldn’t have won the game. We made nine threes.
Going back earlier in the year we played against a lot of zones and that helped us. We played against a couple matchups this year and we played against zones. Some of the teams in this league do play zone and we’ve had good experience against them. Especially early Kris (Joseph) got going. He got some good looks and knocked them down. If we had a bad start shooting the ball we would have been even or behind at halftime. You play against zones that people are going to play against, you have to make some shots. Bottom line. And tonight we made some shots.”
Did you have C.J. (Fair) available tonight?
“He couldn’t really jump yesterday in practice. He was running. He’s run that past two days. He just didn’t look like he couldn’t go off one foot, not two and when they started in zone I was going to go with James (Southerland) anyway. He looked good especially when he hit those two threes in the first half. James played well. He did a good job on defense. He was on Brooks’ side and did a nice job over there. He’s a big time threat to make shots. It looks to me like we’re going to see some zones and we’re going to need him to be able to step up.
The one thing with our centers, both centers, not only the offensive end, but getting back on defense, they’re (Providence) going to push you. Providence is a team that’s going to push you. We don’t get back. So it’s another thing that we have to consider. We’re fortunate that we have Rick (Jackson) and he can play that position as well as just about anybody. It’s just the first of many, many tough games in this league. Everybody has to be aware of that.”
