Boeheim Quotes N.C. State
Syracuse vs. N. C. State
December 4, 2010
Syracuse, N.Y. – Carrier Dome
Head Coach Jim Boeheim Postgame Quotes
Opening Statement:
“We got off to a great start, we left (Scott) Wood open twice and we just cannot leave him open. He is a pretty good shooter. For the most part after that we did a pretty good job of taking the score. We got beat a little too much on the isolation on the post. On the main grounds of offense they couldn’t stop us man-to-man so they went zone. We were two for16 from the three and we have to be able to make some shots out there. We have to find a way to make some of those if we are going to be good. You can’t shoot two for16 from the three. We played great defense the last four minutes during the last four games. They had a shot clock violation, a turn over and our defense really turned it over. Offensively we have to do better. The only guy that is getting a lot of shots is Scoop (Jardine) and he has to find people. He probably has to take six or seven fewer shots and give it to people as more of a scorer than a point guard. He has to give people the ball and find some ways to hit some shots from the perimeter. At the end he didn’t take it, he kept trying to drive the ball and get to the basket so fortunately our press worked. We got two turnovers and a couple buckets out of it. We had the lead three straight positions and we couldn’t press because we turned it over three times. Our defense was good at the end. At least we have proven we can win a close game at this stage. We have two days of practice and we will play one of the top three or four teams in the country. One good thing is we only turned it over five times and that was the difference in the game. If the turnovers (19-5) were any different, we had no chance to win.”
You said a few days ago that for the most part they were good shots but they were not falling in.
“Scoop (Jardine) is taking a couple because he sees we’re not scoring and he is probably trying to force that action a little bit. Two or three of those drives I talked to the big guys that we have to get that. If he is drawing people to him we have to get that rebound. That is an easy offense to rebound if you get the rebound and put it back in.
When looking for people to get shots, it is (Rick) Jackson, Kris (Joseph), Brandon (Triche) or Dion (Waiters)?
“Kris (Joseph) had some opportunities tonight but he is trying too hard. It looks like he is trying to audition for something. He is missing shots and hanging his head. It is better to just keep playing. The last drive he tried to make, he just threw it up in the air so he has to play better. The only reason we won in Atlantic City is because he played well. This is an eight game thing and defense has kept us in games. We would have had two or three losses if we were playing just average or pretty good defense. You don’t win games shooting 30 percent from the three.”
What was the change on (Scott) Wood with his shooting?
“We moved up on him and because he was getting easy looks. He had one easy one but when you don’t get any easy ones then after a while it is hard. We did a much better job on him. (Javier) Gonzalez hurt us in the second half because he had a couple good moves that hurt us in the inside. (C.J.) Leslie hurt us in the inside and they did a good job of getting him the ball. We just couldn’t defend him. We have to be able to defend.”
You talk about shooting every game, what is the thing that is going to wake-up the team and get it through to them?
“It is not anything about waking them up or getting through to them. We will found out in the next 20 games if we can make shots or not so it is nothing technical, they are good shots.” There were a couple shots maybe that we were forcing a little, Scoop (Jardine) might have forced a couple. For the most part the shots he took he can make. He made at least two or three early so he is getting shots. He has to get in the lane and see if we can give it somebody. They are making him shoot it and they are staying with the other people. That is when we have to give it to Kris (Joseph). Brandon (Triche) has to get in there. Dion (Waiters) can make plays, he just can’t play defense. He left a guy open twice in a row. We had a 12 point lead to make a change and he did not get to the guy twice and that can’t happen. When they start making shots we will be fine. We are shooting 30 percent at the three point line and last year we were around 40 percent. We are not going to make a lot of them but we have to make some of them. Great determination. This is another game that could have gotten away. We got a couple steals off the press. We got the lead and just had some great defensive stops. Baye (Moussa Keita) did a good job of trying to go to the post like they had been. Baye stopped them and they tried to throw out, but Scoop (Jardine) stole it. We stole it from the side and they had a shot clock violation. The last four possessions they did not get a shot. Our defense has been good down the stretch in those situations. We will work on it and that’s the bottom line.”
