Coach Hillsman Quotes
Syracuse vs. West Virginia
March 1, 2010
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
“Obviously, it is a big win for us. It keeps us alive in every aspect. Beating a top ten team helps a lot. That was huge for us to come out and win this basketball game. No matter who we played tonight we knew we needed another win. We were trying to get to 20 to stay relevant in the equation. What we have done is given ourselves a chance to go to the tournament and show up and win a few games and still have an opportunity to go to the NCAA tournament. That is the goal. Our first goal is what we call bowl eligible, which is being able to play in the post season. I wish we did that awhile back. Now we are just trying to figure which one we are going to play.
Our kids really showed up in the second half. They played really well. The 27 offensive rebounds I thought were very huge against a team that we view as one of the top two physical teams in the conference. Erica Morrow played aggressive by shooting the ball. It was an overall team effort. We played well. I was really proud of my players of coming out and not throwing the towel in and thinking that this game doesn’t matter. We knew that it did matter. That is what I was trying to get across this whole night, day and yesterday. I told them, ‘This game really matters. You have a chance to beat a very good basketball team that hasn’t lost many games.’ I was very happy for our players to win the basketball game.”
On poor shooting in first half and the change in the second half:
“I have no idea. It was the same shots. We missed a lot of chippies. A lot of it is playing at the rim, which is the way we play. They are a very good defensive minded team and they were not going to let us get easy looks. Whether they are making contact with you or if the shots are contested. They are not going to give easy looks at the basket. We shot 75 shots and made 25 of them, so we got a lot of shots at the basket. We missed 50 shots, which is a lot of shots. We got looks and that was the key. If we shoot 30%, we at least have to shoot double the shots if you want a chance to win the basketball game.”
On gaining the lead in the second half and not letting go of the lead:
“We knew if we could pressure and then get our half court defense set that they would have a hard time shooting the basketball because they are not a three-point shooting team. We knew the only way they could beat us was playing off the bounce, so we really wanted to get back and get the pressure and get the shot clock down under 18 seconds when they got into the half court offense. We would only have to guard one ball reversal and then guard the bounce. Overall, our players did a good job of controlling that tempo and being able to get the shot clock less than 18 seconds and into the low teens. We only would have to guard three passes and then the bounce.
On how this win helps going into the post season:
“I never doubted it. It is one of those things that you have to be careful what you read and what people say when you know what you have. I know that we have a very talented basketball team. I never doubted our team for one minute. I knew we had the ability and we had the personnel to win these kinds of basketball games. Talk about losing five or six games by less than three points you just turn three of those games around and you have 23 wins or six losses. It is different. I never doubted our team and I never doubted their abilities. I know they don’t either. They are very confident players. It is a big win for hour program and our kids.”
On the seniors:
“When you look at this class who walked out on the floor today, Nicole Michael has been here from the beginning. One thing that I have to give her a lot of credit for is her last three schools at the time were Rutgers, Georgia and us. The last thing that I told her when she committed to Syracuse was, ‘you are going to have an opportunity to do great things here, but that is up to you. I am going to give you the opportunity to do great things. If you work hard and you do the things on and off the floor you are going to be a great player.’ Never in my wildest dreams did I think she was going to be the all-time leading scorer and rebounder here. I knew she was a kid that could either A: take this program of over or B: kind of go with the flow. She took the team over. She put the team on her back when she came here. I owed it to her to give her a chance to get all the things that she deserved. Making such a courageous decision to come here. Nobody told her to come here and she decided to come here and play for us. She is the reason that I am standing here today because she showed pride in this community and our administration and other recruits that we have a great player here, come play with her. We have a chance to be a pretty good basketball team.
I give her a lot of credit and I feel saddened for her, Lynnise Nixon. She is a great basketball player. She is a top ten JUCO prospect, but the injuries that spiraled her downward had nothing to do with her heart. It has everything to do with her luck.
Juanita Ward is a phenomenal player. For her to come here and let me coach her and put her into our system. I give her a lot of credit.
Vionca Murray transferred in. I wanted Vionca before she even went to Virginia Tech. When she called and said that she wanted to come, we were gracious to have her. She has had a great career here.
All of those guys mean so much to us. They are the reason we are standing here today with the winning program and the winning records and playing in the post season.”
