Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Syracuse vs. Holy Cross
November 28, 2014
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Kaleb Joseph, Freshman, Guard
A few turnovers here and there today -- why did you feel like those were happening? Anything particular they were doing?
“No. I think when teams apply pressure, guys have to move without the ball. I have to do a better job of being stronger with the ball at times, but I think it’s lack of communication at times. But, moving forward, that is just something we will work on at practice tomorrow.
Coach has said he wants you to be more aggressive and you’ve said that. Did you feel like tonight was the right level of aggressiveness or it was more than what he wants?
“I think when coach wants me to be more aggressive he will tell me to, but it’s not about looking to score. It’s about trying to make plays for the team. It’s about trying to take shots when they come and just make the right play consistently. I think that’s what he wants.”
Were they doing anything to throw off the shooting?
“No, I don’t think they were doing anything. I feel like that just happens in the game of basketball. People hit shots, people make and miss shots. That’s just how it goes sometimes.”
When your team is struggling on offense, how important is it to be good on defense?
“That’s exactly why we struggled on offense, because we weren’t getting stops. That’s how we get each other going. In the first half, our defense was as good as it was in any game. We stopped penetrations in the weak spots. In the second half we kind of got a little lackadaisical, so that’s why we struggled a little bit to get out running. When our defense is good, our offense will be better."
What steps can you take to improve your ball handling as the season goes on, or controlling the game?
“Just continue to get comfortable, continue to play and get more experience. I think as the season goes on, everybody will get more comfortable out there. I’ll know where to find guys in pressure situations, I’ll find my safeties, and I think that will just come naturally.”
Chris McCullough, Freshman, Forward
You have a lot of tough games coming up. Just talk a little but about how much this is going to help you all for the challenges that are presented.
“There’s going to be a lot of good games and a lot of hard games coming up. We just have a lot of games to be ready for.”
What do you think that this team really needs to work on before ACC?
“Rebounding, make free throws and play good defense.”
Is there any part of your game that you think might be better at the college level than you may have anticipated?
“My mid-range game definitely got better over summer and I’ve been working.”
What did you do? How did you hone in on your mid-range game?
“I always had a mid-range game I just worked harder and that’s the strong part of my game I had.”
Trevor Cooney, Redshirt Junior, Guard
In the first half you held them to 17 points, then in the opening minutes of the second half they scored 16. What happened on defense then?
“It was not coming out with that spark like we did in the first half. Sometimes you come out with that spark in the first half and sometimes you came out with that spark in the second half. To be a good team you need to come out with both and I mean it’s something we’re still learning and good teams pull it together so someday we will figure it out.”
You spend so much focus on offense so far this season but where do you think this team is so far defensively?
“I think we’re pretty good defensively. In the two games at Madison Square Garden -- it could have been a lot better against Cal. But against Iowa at times it was really good and our defense has carried us the last couple years or as long as I have been here. We won plenty of games and some where we took terrible shots or made no shots but we still won because of our defense.”
You have a long stretch of really tough non-conference games. There are a lot of challenges there but how does that help you with ACC?
“We have some really tough games coming up and, yeah, it’s going to be different opponents doing different things but we have to come ready to play every single night and then get ready for the ACC, which we also have to come ready to play every night.
Syracuse vs. Holy Cross
November 28, 2014
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Kaleb Joseph, Freshman, Guard
A few turnovers here and there today -- why did you feel like those were happening? Anything particular they were doing?
“No. I think when teams apply pressure, guys have to move without the ball. I have to do a better job of being stronger with the ball at times, but I think it’s lack of communication at times. But, moving forward, that is just something we will work on at practice tomorrow.
Coach has said he wants you to be more aggressive and you’ve said that. Did you feel like tonight was the right level of aggressiveness or it was more than what he wants?
“I think when coach wants me to be more aggressive he will tell me to, but it’s not about looking to score. It’s about trying to make plays for the team. It’s about trying to take shots when they come and just make the right play consistently. I think that’s what he wants.”
Were they doing anything to throw off the shooting?
“No, I don’t think they were doing anything. I feel like that just happens in the game of basketball. People hit shots, people make and miss shots. That’s just how it goes sometimes.”
When your team is struggling on offense, how important is it to be good on defense?
“That’s exactly why we struggled on offense, because we weren’t getting stops. That’s how we get each other going. In the first half, our defense was as good as it was in any game. We stopped penetrations in the weak spots. In the second half we kind of got a little lackadaisical, so that’s why we struggled a little bit to get out running. When our defense is good, our offense will be better."
What steps can you take to improve your ball handling as the season goes on, or controlling the game?
“Just continue to get comfortable, continue to play and get more experience. I think as the season goes on, everybody will get more comfortable out there. I’ll know where to find guys in pressure situations, I’ll find my safeties, and I think that will just come naturally.”
Chris McCullough, Freshman, Forward
You have a lot of tough games coming up. Just talk a little but about how much this is going to help you all for the challenges that are presented.
“There’s going to be a lot of good games and a lot of hard games coming up. We just have a lot of games to be ready for.”
What do you think that this team really needs to work on before ACC?
“Rebounding, make free throws and play good defense.”
Is there any part of your game that you think might be better at the college level than you may have anticipated?
“My mid-range game definitely got better over summer and I’ve been working.”
What did you do? How did you hone in on your mid-range game?
“I always had a mid-range game I just worked harder and that’s the strong part of my game I had.”
Trevor Cooney, Redshirt Junior, Guard
In the first half you held them to 17 points, then in the opening minutes of the second half they scored 16. What happened on defense then?
“It was not coming out with that spark like we did in the first half. Sometimes you come out with that spark in the first half and sometimes you came out with that spark in the second half. To be a good team you need to come out with both and I mean it’s something we’re still learning and good teams pull it together so someday we will figure it out.”
You spend so much focus on offense so far this season but where do you think this team is so far defensively?
“I think we’re pretty good defensively. In the two games at Madison Square Garden -- it could have been a lot better against Cal. But against Iowa at times it was really good and our defense has carried us the last couple years or as long as I have been here. We won plenty of games and some where we took terrible shots or made no shots but we still won because of our defense.”
You have a long stretch of really tough non-conference games. There are a lot of challenges there but how does that help you with ACC?
“We have some really tough games coming up and, yeah, it’s going to be different opponents doing different things but we have to come ready to play every single night and then get ready for the ACC, which we also have to come ready to play every night.
