Cincinnati Coach Boeheim Quotes
Syracuse vs. Cincinnati
January 21, 2013
Coach Boeheim Quotes
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
I thought that early we had trouble shooting the ball. I think that similarly to Louisville, Brandon (Triche) picked it up in the first half and made those three's to get us into the game. At this point, he’s the guy that we've got. We don’t have a lot of options shooting it. We tried to play the three guards together and tried to get another shooter in the game – It hurt us defensively. But, when you’re not scoring, you’ve got to try and find a way to score.
Freshmen are going to make mistakes. That’s why they don’t play here. Trevor (Cooney) left (Sean) Kilpatrick twice and Jerami (Grant) left him twice. Two freshmen, 12 points. We can’t afford that. They just didn’t make the right read in the defensive situation. You can’t leave a guy like that open.
The first play of the game, Rakeem (Christmas) didn’t get up. He’s the one guy we wanted to concentrate on because we knew [Cashmere] Wright was coming off not playing. Sometimes, you’re going to be a little off in that situation. But we knew that (Sean) Kilpatrick was coming off a 36 point game and we wanted to make sure we knew where he was and Rakeem (Christmas) didn’t and the two freshmen did not. They just did not recognize where they were.
When you don’t shoot the ball well, you’re going to struggle – it’s the bottom line. When you’re playing against zones – when people play against us and don’t shoot it well, they usually don’t beat us. We’re struggling to shoot the ball. Brandon (Triche)saved us at Louisville. But at the end of the game at Louisville, you know they turned it over three straight times. In this game, at the end of the game, they didn’t get a good shot – two or three times. Brandon (Triche) and Michael (Carter-Williams) scored 11 straight points and somebody tipped it in. C.J. (Fair) is claiming it’s his, but he might’ve been the closest guy to it, but I don’t think he got any part of it.
Without those two things happening we’re 0-2 and everybody is going Syracuse is in trouble.That’s what I’m saying, because we should’ve lost both these games. That’s why Rick (Pitino) was so upset the other day. There was no way on earth that Louisville should’ve lost that game Saturday. And there was less of a chance, for Cincinnati to lose this game than on Saturday. They had this – this game was over. The game was completely over. Brandon (Triche) has to make those two, Michael (Carter-Williams)has to make the one on the baseline, the one in the lane and then he has to make the three, which he shooting at not a good percentage. But he believes he can make them and that’s why we let him make those shots. He believes in himself – that’s a great thing. I can’t cook, but if I believed in my cooking, like Michael Carter-Williams does, I would win the show Iron Chef. I would win and I can’t boil water.
These guys have made plays in the games we’ve had and even the game we lost. At Temple, we made some great plays but in the end, we just missed a couple shots in that game.They fight it and when we’re not playing well, they keep fighting it. If they weren’t battlers, we easily could’ve had two, maybe three losses in the (BIG EAST) Conference.
We’ve got to get better. This was their first really bad game. They’ve been averaging almost ten and ten, which we take. If they can do that, we can win. Today was their first day where they struggled and they struggled on defense. Baye (Moussa Kieta) gives us the best chance on defense. DaJuan (Coleman) is probably are best offensive player, but the worst defensive center and Rakeem (Christmas) is kind of in the middle of those. When he plays, he’s probably our best center, but when he watches, he’s not very good. Trevor (Cooney) and Jerami (Grant) have got to keep working to get better. And we’ve got to get a little better against zones – no question about that. I think people don’t like to play zone and don’t play it much, but they’re going to try and play it against us I think, so we’ve got to get better.
This is the second game in a row where you’re guys have come up with big plays, can one game lead to another in a situation like that?
“I think they make good plays down the stretch. They’ve made them and we’ve made them all year. Even against Temple, we made good plays, we just missed the shot. Brandon (Triche) had a wide open three and C.J. (Fair) had a really good opportunity and he stepped out of bounds. We’re making plays at the end of games, but you can’t keep being in those situations because nobody makes those plays all the time. If you miss one of those shots, we won’t win.”
You coach a lot of really competitive guys who hate to lose – really confident guys. What do you think about Michael Carter-Williams?
“Oh he wants to win. He plays to win. He’s trying to win and C.J. (Fair) is trying to win. But, Brandon [Triche] is getting better. I think we still can’t get through to him. I could read his mind when he went to the foul line, he thought ‘I’m going to miss this one,’ and great players, go to the line thinking, ‘I’m going to make this one. This is easy two.’ He’s not thinking that way. He’s got to think that way. He’s got to want to go to the line and shoot that ball because we’re going to need him to do that.
He finally thought that way on his jump shot. He took those two jump shots and he took it in there. We had to have those. The game is resting on those shots and he made them. He can do it. He’s proven over and over again that he can do it. So he’s got to take it to another level. I believe he’s a first round pick in the NBA Draft – a tremendous guard. And a tremendous guard in our system, the way we play, averages 18 or 20 points a game and six or seven assists. That’s what he can do. He can do that. He’s got to do that.
We’re challenged offensively. Our guards have got to play really well and we’re hoping the other guys can contribute. Jerami (Grant) got ten last game and then the other game. Tonight he was not quite as good, but he’ll get something. Our guards have got to play great. That’s the bottom line with this team.”
If Michael [Carter-Williams] shoots the way you cook, are you ok when he comes off that screen and roll and takes that three pointer?
“If we can’t win any other way, yeah I’m ok. If we had a couple other guys that were out there that he could get in the lane and pass the ball for them to shoot, I’d probably rather have that, but I don’t see that.”
So what do you make of this team? Are you pleased with them?
“I think I already said everything. This team has got to get better, that’s the bottom line – like a lot of teams. The problem with being one of eighteen teams, which I think we probably are, I’m not sure which, but we’re in that group, is that you can lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament easily. It's easy because you are going to play another one of those teams and we don’t want to be there and if we don’t get better, that’s what’s going to happen. We have to get better.
This isn’t like last year. We were better. This team can get better and will get better I think because freshmen are playing, they are making mistakes and will start learning. Our big guys are going to get better and Michael (Carter-Williams) will get better. He’s a good player – he’s going to get better. So, I think we can get better. That’s what my absolute belief is and last year you never heard me say that. I don’t think I said that the whole year. If I did, it was a mistake.”
January 21, 2013
Coach Boeheim Quotes
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
I thought that early we had trouble shooting the ball. I think that similarly to Louisville, Brandon (Triche) picked it up in the first half and made those three's to get us into the game. At this point, he’s the guy that we've got. We don’t have a lot of options shooting it. We tried to play the three guards together and tried to get another shooter in the game – It hurt us defensively. But, when you’re not scoring, you’ve got to try and find a way to score.
Freshmen are going to make mistakes. That’s why they don’t play here. Trevor (Cooney) left (Sean) Kilpatrick twice and Jerami (Grant) left him twice. Two freshmen, 12 points. We can’t afford that. They just didn’t make the right read in the defensive situation. You can’t leave a guy like that open.
The first play of the game, Rakeem (Christmas) didn’t get up. He’s the one guy we wanted to concentrate on because we knew [Cashmere] Wright was coming off not playing. Sometimes, you’re going to be a little off in that situation. But we knew that (Sean) Kilpatrick was coming off a 36 point game and we wanted to make sure we knew where he was and Rakeem (Christmas) didn’t and the two freshmen did not. They just did not recognize where they were.
When you don’t shoot the ball well, you’re going to struggle – it’s the bottom line. When you’re playing against zones – when people play against us and don’t shoot it well, they usually don’t beat us. We’re struggling to shoot the ball. Brandon (Triche)saved us at Louisville. But at the end of the game at Louisville, you know they turned it over three straight times. In this game, at the end of the game, they didn’t get a good shot – two or three times. Brandon (Triche) and Michael (Carter-Williams) scored 11 straight points and somebody tipped it in. C.J. (Fair) is claiming it’s his, but he might’ve been the closest guy to it, but I don’t think he got any part of it.
Without those two things happening we’re 0-2 and everybody is going Syracuse is in trouble.That’s what I’m saying, because we should’ve lost both these games. That’s why Rick (Pitino) was so upset the other day. There was no way on earth that Louisville should’ve lost that game Saturday. And there was less of a chance, for Cincinnati to lose this game than on Saturday. They had this – this game was over. The game was completely over. Brandon (Triche) has to make those two, Michael (Carter-Williams)has to make the one on the baseline, the one in the lane and then he has to make the three, which he shooting at not a good percentage. But he believes he can make them and that’s why we let him make those shots. He believes in himself – that’s a great thing. I can’t cook, but if I believed in my cooking, like Michael Carter-Williams does, I would win the show Iron Chef. I would win and I can’t boil water.
These guys have made plays in the games we’ve had and even the game we lost. At Temple, we made some great plays but in the end, we just missed a couple shots in that game.They fight it and when we’re not playing well, they keep fighting it. If they weren’t battlers, we easily could’ve had two, maybe three losses in the (BIG EAST) Conference.
We’ve got to get better. This was their first really bad game. They’ve been averaging almost ten and ten, which we take. If they can do that, we can win. Today was their first day where they struggled and they struggled on defense. Baye (Moussa Kieta) gives us the best chance on defense. DaJuan (Coleman) is probably are best offensive player, but the worst defensive center and Rakeem (Christmas) is kind of in the middle of those. When he plays, he’s probably our best center, but when he watches, he’s not very good. Trevor (Cooney) and Jerami (Grant) have got to keep working to get better. And we’ve got to get a little better against zones – no question about that. I think people don’t like to play zone and don’t play it much, but they’re going to try and play it against us I think, so we’ve got to get better.
This is the second game in a row where you’re guys have come up with big plays, can one game lead to another in a situation like that?
“I think they make good plays down the stretch. They’ve made them and we’ve made them all year. Even against Temple, we made good plays, we just missed the shot. Brandon (Triche) had a wide open three and C.J. (Fair) had a really good opportunity and he stepped out of bounds. We’re making plays at the end of games, but you can’t keep being in those situations because nobody makes those plays all the time. If you miss one of those shots, we won’t win.”
You coach a lot of really competitive guys who hate to lose – really confident guys. What do you think about Michael Carter-Williams?
“Oh he wants to win. He plays to win. He’s trying to win and C.J. (Fair) is trying to win. But, Brandon [Triche] is getting better. I think we still can’t get through to him. I could read his mind when he went to the foul line, he thought ‘I’m going to miss this one,’ and great players, go to the line thinking, ‘I’m going to make this one. This is easy two.’ He’s not thinking that way. He’s got to think that way. He’s got to want to go to the line and shoot that ball because we’re going to need him to do that.
He finally thought that way on his jump shot. He took those two jump shots and he took it in there. We had to have those. The game is resting on those shots and he made them. He can do it. He’s proven over and over again that he can do it. So he’s got to take it to another level. I believe he’s a first round pick in the NBA Draft – a tremendous guard. And a tremendous guard in our system, the way we play, averages 18 or 20 points a game and six or seven assists. That’s what he can do. He can do that. He’s got to do that.
We’re challenged offensively. Our guards have got to play really well and we’re hoping the other guys can contribute. Jerami (Grant) got ten last game and then the other game. Tonight he was not quite as good, but he’ll get something. Our guards have got to play great. That’s the bottom line with this team.”
If Michael [Carter-Williams] shoots the way you cook, are you ok when he comes off that screen and roll and takes that three pointer?
“If we can’t win any other way, yeah I’m ok. If we had a couple other guys that were out there that he could get in the lane and pass the ball for them to shoot, I’d probably rather have that, but I don’t see that.”
So what do you make of this team? Are you pleased with them?
“I think I already said everything. This team has got to get better, that’s the bottom line – like a lot of teams. The problem with being one of eighteen teams, which I think we probably are, I’m not sure which, but we’re in that group, is that you can lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament easily. It's easy because you are going to play another one of those teams and we don’t want to be there and if we don’t get better, that’s what’s going to happen. We have to get better.
This isn’t like last year. We were better. This team can get better and will get better I think because freshmen are playing, they are making mistakes and will start learning. Our big guys are going to get better and Michael (Carter-Williams) will get better. He’s a good player – he’s going to get better. So, I think we can get better. That’s what my absolute belief is and last year you never heard me say that. I don’t think I said that the whole year. If I did, it was a mistake.”
