BoeheimMediaDay
Men’s Basketball Media Day
10/14/11
Coach Boeheim
Obviously we are excited, ready to go, looking forward to a great night tonight. We have a lot of guys back. It should be a great, fun event tonight, I hope. Practice starts tomorrow and there are a couple of weeks before we start playing games -- which isn’t a lot of time but we have a good group of veteran guys and I think they have worked hard in the fall. I think they understand what has to get done and we’re looking forward to starting tomorrow.”
On the team's ranking:
“I don’t worry about that one way or the other. Coming off of a successful year and you have a lot of guys back your rankings going to be pretty good. As it should be.”
Impact of the freshmen:
“You know until we really see them, you just never know what freshmen are going to do. We like our guys. We think they are good players. We think they can contribute. But you need to get into practice a couple weeks and then get into some game situations and see how they react in those situations.
Loss of Rick Jackson:
“Well, Ricky was the best inside player defensively and rebounding wise in the league last year and that says a lot. The league was very good, obviously, probably the best year in the history of the BIG EAST. With 11 teams going to the tournament, Ricky was the best inside player night in and night out.
It’s up to the guys that are going to be in there now to pick up that responsibility that Ricky was so consistent with last year. We think we have enough guys with experience to be able to do that. Ricky played most of the time over his career at center and we think we have guys in that position who can do the things that need to be done for us to be successful.”
It’s up to the guys that are going to be in there now to pick up that responsibility that Ricky was so consistent with last year. We think we have enough guys with experience to be able to do that. Ricky played most of the time over his career at center and we think we have guys in that position who can do the things that need to be done for us to be successful.”
On making the most of the season:
“I think every guy wants to make the most of the season. I don’t think that’s seniors or juniors. I think every guy wants to make the most of it. When it’s your last year, then there is no next year. Realizing that you are probably going to put a little more focus and concentration on making sure you go out the right way.
I think our seniors, Scoop [Jardine] and Kris [Joseph], I think they worked hard last year. I think they both had tremendous years. I think they have had two good years in a row. Both guys played tremendously two years ago and they had really good years last year. That leads to expectations for them to have very good years this year because that is what they have been doing. I think they will be focused and ready to go. I think Kris has gotten himself healthy. He had a long recuperation period this summer. I think he's focused on what he could do and did a good job on that. I think he is ready to start practice.”
I think our seniors, Scoop [Jardine] and Kris [Joseph], I think they worked hard last year. I think they both had tremendous years. I think they have had two good years in a row. Both guys played tremendously two years ago and they had really good years last year. That leads to expectations for them to have very good years this year because that is what they have been doing. I think they will be focused and ready to go. I think Kris has gotten himself healthy. He had a long recuperation period this summer. I think he's focused on what he could do and did a good job on that. I think he is ready to start practice.”
On the team’s depth:
“I think we’ve had good depth the last couple of years. I think this year we probably have the opportunity to have the most depth that we’ve ever had. I think there are two things about that that are good. One, your practices are more competitive. I think five or six days a week you are getting the kind of competition in practice that is going to make you a better player. I think that really makes your team better. I think there have been some years where we have had six or seven real good players and I don’t think we have had as competitive of practices as we liked to have in those situations. So I think that’s a tremendous plus for this team that we’re going to have competitive days every day in practice. I think their workouts have been competitive. The pickup games that they have been playing have been, I think, very competitive. That’s what makes you a better team. “
On summer games:
“You know, I haven’t seen anything much from anybody. I have watched a few minutes as you can by the rules, a little bit of the workouts that we’ve had.
I think the biggest thing with our two sophomore centers in my experience; centers from freshmen to sophomore years take big jumps. I think our centers will take big jumps this year and be much more effective this year. I think last year was a good learning experience -- the fact that they got to play so much as freshmen. We’ve had some really good freshmen centers -- Arinze [Onuaku], Etan Thomas -- that didn’t always play that much as freshmen -- Danny Schayes -- we have had several guys like that. They got an opportunity and I think they really took advantage of that and I think they know how difficult it is and what they have to do to be successful. I think both our centers had some tremendous moments last year and I think that’s very much a positive. They don’t have to look back like everything was bad because it wasn’t. There were a lot of positives to take out of last year and I think they will both be better this year.
I think the biggest thing with our two sophomore centers in my experience; centers from freshmen to sophomore years take big jumps. I think our centers will take big jumps this year and be much more effective this year. I think last year was a good learning experience -- the fact that they got to play so much as freshmen. We’ve had some really good freshmen centers -- Arinze [Onuaku], Etan Thomas -- that didn’t always play that much as freshmen -- Danny Schayes -- we have had several guys like that. They got an opportunity and I think they really took advantage of that and I think they know how difficult it is and what they have to do to be successful. I think both our centers had some tremendous moments last year and I think that’s very much a positive. They don’t have to look back like everything was bad because it wasn’t. There were a lot of positives to take out of last year and I think they will both be better this year.
On C.J. Fair and Dion Waiters:
“Well I think they both played a lot. C.J. [Fair] and Dion [Waiters] both were in big games all year long and they held up. They were very good in big-game situations. I think both guys have worked hard this summer. I see better players -- I see better physical specimens. They are more than ready for this year.”
On Brandon Triche:
“I think Brandon [Triche] had a good year, I think he can have a better year this year. I would be disappointed if our back court play wasn’t a lot better. And I think it was good last year. I think it can be a lot better. I think it will be a lot better this year. The reason that people expect a lot from us is we have veteran guards back, veteran small forward, and a lot of guys who have played.”
On the short time between now and the season:
“I think that you look at the preparation time really is, you know, not just the two weeks, the exhibition games, you look at the three to four weeks you have before you start the regular season. I think you really even look beyond that. You look through November, even though those games are very important obviously, you look at the first six weeks as preparation to get your team to where you want to get. Obviously you want to win every game you can during that period but you want to get better during that six week period because you certainly aren’t going to put a team together in a couple weeks. The advantage of having veteran guys is that it’s easier to play early because they understand what needs to be done and how you have to play to win. I think that’s the good thing with this team is that we have so many guys that are experienced.”
On the move from the BIG EAST to the ACC:
“We are not even thinking about anything. We know right now, this year, we are in the BIG EAST, and we are going to play, concentrate and focus on that. That’s the only thing we are thinking about. Anything else would not be helpful.”
On the sophomores:
“I think the key, as I mentioned, with these four guys is that they all got to play last year, they all contributed. I think they all learned a lot and obviously Ricky Jackson is the biggest hole that we have to replace and that’s where the two big guys come in. They have to step up and do what Ricky did for us last year and obviously C.J. [Fair] and Dion [Waiters] played well last year. You would expect for them to build on that and have great years this year.”
On C.J. Fair:
“C.J. is a very good player. His role is going to be to go out and play. I think he has worked hard. I think he has improved his shooting. I think he is more physical. I think he is a tremendous player. I think the one thing with our team this year is that I think there is going to be less of a definition between who is starting and who is coming off of the bench. Obviously, five guys are going to start and guys are going to come off the bench but I think there could be a little less definition between who starts and who doesn’t.”
On new assistant coach Adrian Autry:
“We lost a great assistant -- Rob Murphy -- who did an unbelievable job here and he will be missed but I think Adrian [Autry] has come in right away and understands the system, understands what we need to have done. He comes from a real good program where he has had a lot of responsibility. I think it has been an easy transition for him. Of course we have veteran assistant coaches here, Bernie [Fine] and Mike [Hopkins] who make it easier for him to kind of fit in and figure out what needs to be done.”
On the former players attending Midnight Madness:
“What I am excited about -- I think it will be fun watching them play. I think it is a great opportunity for our fans coming back not just to see our team, which is hopefully exciting enough, but they will get an extra bonus of being able to see these guys come out and play and I’m looking forward to it myself.”
On the former players being around the current team:
“I think the more our guys get the opportunity to be around guys like they have this fall -- Wesley [Johnson] and Andy [Rautins] and Eric [Devendorf] have all been here a lot -- I think that’s a tremendous experience for these guys.”
On starters:
“We’re going to play the guys that we think can get the job done every year. Some years it might be a couple guys, three guys, four, we just have to see how things evolve, but, those things usually work themselves out. Rotations usually figure themselves out as you go along. We definitely feel that were not going to lose a lot when we bring someone in off the bench. I think sometimes in the past that may not have been the case where there has been a big gap between the fifth guy and the ninth guy. If there is a big gap there you don’t want the guy to come out there too much especially in crucial situations. I think this year is the year that you will see that there is not as big a gap there and more guys will get in. I think it’s important for the players to know they are going to get the opportunities. Like anything, when a guy has a bad game, you don’t go away from them. You try to get him to understand that that’s going to happen.”
On Scoop Jardine:
“Well I think Scoop is a good player. First of all, he led the league in assists last year. I think he gets a little too much criticism more than he probably should. But that’s what happens when you’re in a town where there’s nothing else to talk about. You have to learn to understand that and live with that. He had a great year last year and I think he will have a great year this year. His experience is going to be important. Brandon’s third year starting, that’s a great combination. There are not too many teams have that combination in terms of experience and talent.”
On scoring:
“Well the important thing in scoring is to have balance. If you have more than one guy who can score and be a go-to guy, that’s important and I think that’s what we have. I think we have had that last year and we have had that in other teams. Even when Carmelo [Anthony] was here, Gerry [McNamara] made as many big shots as Carmelo did. Hakim [Warrick] made great plays that year -- Josh Pace made big plays that year. Everybody says you have to have that one guy, I think that’s a real weakness if you have one guy because I think the other team is going to know that and they are going to take that guy away. So, I think the important thing in the games where we have been very good is that you look back at our history last year and the year before, what years you want to, different guys made big plays. Different guys made winning baskets and that’s why we have won so many games. When you lose one then people tend to focus in and say there wasn’t one guy there. Over the course of the season we had a lot of guys that made big plays and that’s why we were successful.”
On the BIG EAST:
“Obviously last year there were 11 teams in the tournament. I don’t know what is going to happen this year but looking at the league I think that some of the top teams are probably better this year than they were last year. I think that it is probably surprising a little bit that there are so many good teams because teams lost a lot, but our league is just difficult. Connecticut was 9-9 in our league and they won the whole thing. That’s not that big of a shock to have happen in our league but there is a number of teams that are going to be very very good this year and I think the middle range of the league is good again. We are going to have 12 teams that are certainly good enough to be tournament teams whether they will all get a bid or not I don’t know. We will have pretty close to the same number of quality teams and I think the top teams could be better than people might have thought heading into this year.”
