Coach Boeheim Quotes - Louisville
Syracuse vs. Louisville
March 2, 2013
Carrier Dome / Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
“Both teams were great defensively today, just battled as hard as they could. I thought we did an unbelievable job being down seven to get back in the lead. We made four turnovers after that. That’s not something we’ve done this year. We’ve been good in that department. We just made four really bad turnovers and you can’t keep giving Louisville possessions. I don’t know what we were doing or what we were thinking.
“We turned it over three times on out-of-bounds plays. We got the one-point lead and we got the ball and Brandon (Triche) dribbled into the guy. You just can’t make those mistakes in these kinds of games — a tournament type game.
“We obviously didn’t shoot well. Neither team did really, but we really didn’t shoot well the whole game and we haven’t shot the ball well. In spite of that, we gave ourselves a chance to win the basketball game with a tremendous effort, but you cannot make those kinds of turnovers in game situations. It’s not something we’ve really done this year, but we did it today.
“Sometimes when you lose a couple games maybe you start thinking about it a little bit and you make some bad plays because you’re trying too hard a little bit. Nevertheless, that’s what happened today. We have two games left and what we really need to do is focus on those two games and work on what we need to and try to get a little bit better.
“We’ve lost three straight games to zone defenses, so I would imagine we’re going to see more of that. It’s always tough to be zoned when you don’t make shots. We had good shots in the first half. They were all good shots and we didn’t make many. In the second half, James (Southerland) knocked a couple down but we’re not making many shots on the perimeter. It’s difficult to win against zone defenses in those situations. In the last two games, we’ve given ourselves a chance to win in spite of that.”
Why do you think Brandon (Triche) struggled today?
“I have no explanation for it, but he’s our guy. We’re going to go with him.”
Is it a sign of a team struggling when you give yourself a chance to win and you have something that hasn’t been a problem like turnovers?
“It could be. Brandon (Triche), if anything, he tries too hard to get something done. He doesn’t play well when he tries hard. We’re not going to win when he’s 2-for-11 and seven turnovers. We need him to be better than that. He’s a four-year player and he’s a good player. He’s a very good player. He can have an occasional bad game. Peyton Siva (Louisville) was 0-for-9 today. So you can have a bad game, but Siva didn’t turn it over. You can’t miss shots and turn it over. That’s not a good combination and he (Triche) made a couple of bad defensive plays as well. He’s trying and we’ve won 22 games with him and we’re going to try to win a couple more.”
You said a second ago that you liked this team, is that something that you’ve reminded them of as well?
“We talk about it. I love Brandon Triche. We can’t have him play this way. It doesn’t mean I don’t love him. I do. I think he’s a great kid, I think he works hard. I think he does everything you want a kid to do. He’s graduating. He works his tail off. He’s a good teammate and he wants to win, but I don’t like the way he’s playing right now. I don’t like the way we’re playing right now.
“I think Mike’s (Carter-Williams) trying. He’s struggled all year shooting. We need him to take some shots. He shouldn’t have taken that last three. He hasn’t made anything. He should have driven it or tried to do something else, but he’s trying to get us back in the game. It wasn’t the right play. We didn’t have a lot of options at that point either.
“C.J. (Fair) is doing everything he can do. James (Southerland) is playing well. The thing that bothers me about the centers is they’re in position to get rebounds that they don’t get. They get a rebound and miss a layup. Layups aren’t that hard. This is college basketball. You’ve got to be able to make a layup. You’ve got to be able to catch the ball and put it in the basket.”
How frustrating is it for you to still not get that consistent production from the centers at this point in the season?
“It’s something you just have to live with because it’s been there. We’ve played 29 games. I don’t think it’s going to get much better. They work hard every day in practice. They do everything you could ask them to do in terms of their work ethic. They’ve just have not been able to be productive. I wish DaJuan (Coleman) had been with us, but you can’t miss that much time and then just start playing. It’s not something he’s going to be able to do.
“I like what we can be. We’ve lost to three ranked teams and we haven’t played very good. We haven’t shot very well and we could have won two of the three. If we were getting beat by 15 or 20 points I would be worried and upset, but we’re right there.”
March 2, 2013
Carrier Dome / Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
“Both teams were great defensively today, just battled as hard as they could. I thought we did an unbelievable job being down seven to get back in the lead. We made four turnovers after that. That’s not something we’ve done this year. We’ve been good in that department. We just made four really bad turnovers and you can’t keep giving Louisville possessions. I don’t know what we were doing or what we were thinking.
“We turned it over three times on out-of-bounds plays. We got the one-point lead and we got the ball and Brandon (Triche) dribbled into the guy. You just can’t make those mistakes in these kinds of games — a tournament type game.
“We obviously didn’t shoot well. Neither team did really, but we really didn’t shoot well the whole game and we haven’t shot the ball well. In spite of that, we gave ourselves a chance to win the basketball game with a tremendous effort, but you cannot make those kinds of turnovers in game situations. It’s not something we’ve really done this year, but we did it today.
“Sometimes when you lose a couple games maybe you start thinking about it a little bit and you make some bad plays because you’re trying too hard a little bit. Nevertheless, that’s what happened today. We have two games left and what we really need to do is focus on those two games and work on what we need to and try to get a little bit better.
“We’ve lost three straight games to zone defenses, so I would imagine we’re going to see more of that. It’s always tough to be zoned when you don’t make shots. We had good shots in the first half. They were all good shots and we didn’t make many. In the second half, James (Southerland) knocked a couple down but we’re not making many shots on the perimeter. It’s difficult to win against zone defenses in those situations. In the last two games, we’ve given ourselves a chance to win in spite of that.”
Why do you think Brandon (Triche) struggled today?
“I have no explanation for it, but he’s our guy. We’re going to go with him.”
Is it a sign of a team struggling when you give yourself a chance to win and you have something that hasn’t been a problem like turnovers?
“It could be. Brandon (Triche), if anything, he tries too hard to get something done. He doesn’t play well when he tries hard. We’re not going to win when he’s 2-for-11 and seven turnovers. We need him to be better than that. He’s a four-year player and he’s a good player. He’s a very good player. He can have an occasional bad game. Peyton Siva (Louisville) was 0-for-9 today. So you can have a bad game, but Siva didn’t turn it over. You can’t miss shots and turn it over. That’s not a good combination and he (Triche) made a couple of bad defensive plays as well. He’s trying and we’ve won 22 games with him and we’re going to try to win a couple more.”
You said a second ago that you liked this team, is that something that you’ve reminded them of as well?
“We talk about it. I love Brandon Triche. We can’t have him play this way. It doesn’t mean I don’t love him. I do. I think he’s a great kid, I think he works hard. I think he does everything you want a kid to do. He’s graduating. He works his tail off. He’s a good teammate and he wants to win, but I don’t like the way he’s playing right now. I don’t like the way we’re playing right now.
“I think Mike’s (Carter-Williams) trying. He’s struggled all year shooting. We need him to take some shots. He shouldn’t have taken that last three. He hasn’t made anything. He should have driven it or tried to do something else, but he’s trying to get us back in the game. It wasn’t the right play. We didn’t have a lot of options at that point either.
“C.J. (Fair) is doing everything he can do. James (Southerland) is playing well. The thing that bothers me about the centers is they’re in position to get rebounds that they don’t get. They get a rebound and miss a layup. Layups aren’t that hard. This is college basketball. You’ve got to be able to make a layup. You’ve got to be able to catch the ball and put it in the basket.”
How frustrating is it for you to still not get that consistent production from the centers at this point in the season?
“It’s something you just have to live with because it’s been there. We’ve played 29 games. I don’t think it’s going to get much better. They work hard every day in practice. They do everything you could ask them to do in terms of their work ethic. They’ve just have not been able to be productive. I wish DaJuan (Coleman) had been with us, but you can’t miss that much time and then just start playing. It’s not something he’s going to be able to do.
“I like what we can be. We’ve lost to three ranked teams and we haven’t played very good. We haven’t shot very well and we could have won two of the three. If we were getting beat by 15 or 20 points I would be worried and upset, but we’re right there.”
