Head Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Syracuse vs. Long Beach State
December 28, 2014
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement
“I thought offensively that we were as good tonight as we’ve been all year. We moved the basketball. When Rakeem Christmas got it and got doubled, he got it out of there. We didn’t play defense the first half, which is something that is a big concern. We have to play better defensively. We picked it up a little bit better in the second half.
They were leaving Michael Gbinije. They did a little bit of what St. John’s did – coming back in and helping inside – and he made them pay. He can make that shot and it makes us a different team. He scores in those situations when he is getting open shots, and I thought he was great today.
“I thought that Tyler Roberson finally got going in the second half. He made some things happen. Kaleb Joseph made a couple of really good plays after struggling. For the most part, Trevor Cooney and Christmas were very strong, very good, but our defense picked up just a little bit in the second half. They shot 50 percent in the first half from the field, 36 percent in the second half. We just have to play better defense than we did tonight. It was kind of an eye-opener, and our defense was really, really not good. We have got to be better. We have to go to work tomorrow, right away, get better on defense. Cornell is playing well and it will be a good game for us. We are trying to get better as we head into the conference season.
“Again, this was a very, very good offensive game, and we played a stretch of defense where we became active. Chris McCullough and Roberson have to be more active on defense. When they’re active -- we’ve had a different defense. We made some really good plays defensively in the second half, and hopefully that will help us.”
What are you most pleased about with the offense today?
“We moved the ball really well and found the open guys. We didn’t force it. Obviously it makes a difference when you make shots. We had those shots against St. John’s, but they just didn’t go in. If (Michael) Gbinije can make those two or three shots (we were up six or eight) we would have been tied. We have to make some of those, and tonight it was the difference in the game. Because our defense wasn’t good, we had to make some of those shots. There are going to be some games when you can’t stop somebody and you are going to have to make shots. Our offense was really good. We’re looking for Christmas and when he’s double teamed, he’s moving it and passing the ball out. He is playing extremely well. On defense we weren’t so good tonight, anywhere.”
What was wrong with the defense?
“We didn’t do a good job of keeping the ball out of the middle. It is something that we can do a better job of that we didn’t, and they got it by us a couple times. We are more concerned about their three point shooters. I thought for the most part whenever we left them open they made it. We can’t leave them open on the three-point line.”
Is Michael Gbinije getting better?
“Yes. He’s making shots. He’s playing good basketball, making more shots and getting more aggressive. He’s also looking to score.”
The last three or four games Kaleb Joseph and Chris McCullough have been in tough situations. How do you think they are doing thus far?
“Well, they are freshmen and they have to play their way through it. I thought Kaleb made some good plays during the second half. He’s been playing against a lot of senior guards this year and they are really good players. It’s a learning experience and he made some good decisions. He made some good plays at the end and that’s helpful.”
Do you think Chris McCullough and Tyler Roberson need to do a better job getting out in the zone?
“They need to come out and need to get back in. A couple of times they got caught out and they need to get back. Rakeem (Christmas) didn’t do as good a job as he usually does. You have to give up something. We just don’t want to give up threes and we did a really good job in the second half. The one they made was really hard so they both need more energy on the defensive end. You can’t worry about the offensive end. You have to worry about the defensive end and play better there. We did a great job rebounding in the first half and a bad defensive game in the first. It was probably one of the worst defensive games.”
Did the fullcourt press help?
“The press helped us. We had it on a couple of times but they figured it out. It was very helpful. We got a couple of steals and got back in (the game) quickly.”
How does Cornell look?
“They are really good this year. I watched a little tape of them, I will get more of it tomorrow, but they are a much better team this year. They are playing well and that’s all right. We don’t need easy games.
This was a good game for us today. It showed that we could do some things that would be very helpful for us. We had a little lack on defense, but we kept it going. We were a lot better on offense and it was probably the best we played.”
Was the press something you thought would work?
“You never know until you try it. It sometimes works and sometimes it doesn’t. They made a couple of mistakes.”
Syracuse vs. Long Beach State
December 28, 2014
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement
“I thought offensively that we were as good tonight as we’ve been all year. We moved the basketball. When Rakeem Christmas got it and got doubled, he got it out of there. We didn’t play defense the first half, which is something that is a big concern. We have to play better defensively. We picked it up a little bit better in the second half.
They were leaving Michael Gbinije. They did a little bit of what St. John’s did – coming back in and helping inside – and he made them pay. He can make that shot and it makes us a different team. He scores in those situations when he is getting open shots, and I thought he was great today.
“I thought that Tyler Roberson finally got going in the second half. He made some things happen. Kaleb Joseph made a couple of really good plays after struggling. For the most part, Trevor Cooney and Christmas were very strong, very good, but our defense picked up just a little bit in the second half. They shot 50 percent in the first half from the field, 36 percent in the second half. We just have to play better defense than we did tonight. It was kind of an eye-opener, and our defense was really, really not good. We have got to be better. We have to go to work tomorrow, right away, get better on defense. Cornell is playing well and it will be a good game for us. We are trying to get better as we head into the conference season.
“Again, this was a very, very good offensive game, and we played a stretch of defense where we became active. Chris McCullough and Roberson have to be more active on defense. When they’re active -- we’ve had a different defense. We made some really good plays defensively in the second half, and hopefully that will help us.”
What are you most pleased about with the offense today?
“We moved the ball really well and found the open guys. We didn’t force it. Obviously it makes a difference when you make shots. We had those shots against St. John’s, but they just didn’t go in. If (Michael) Gbinije can make those two or three shots (we were up six or eight) we would have been tied. We have to make some of those, and tonight it was the difference in the game. Because our defense wasn’t good, we had to make some of those shots. There are going to be some games when you can’t stop somebody and you are going to have to make shots. Our offense was really good. We’re looking for Christmas and when he’s double teamed, he’s moving it and passing the ball out. He is playing extremely well. On defense we weren’t so good tonight, anywhere.”
What was wrong with the defense?
“We didn’t do a good job of keeping the ball out of the middle. It is something that we can do a better job of that we didn’t, and they got it by us a couple times. We are more concerned about their three point shooters. I thought for the most part whenever we left them open they made it. We can’t leave them open on the three-point line.”
Is Michael Gbinije getting better?
“Yes. He’s making shots. He’s playing good basketball, making more shots and getting more aggressive. He’s also looking to score.”
The last three or four games Kaleb Joseph and Chris McCullough have been in tough situations. How do you think they are doing thus far?
“Well, they are freshmen and they have to play their way through it. I thought Kaleb made some good plays during the second half. He’s been playing against a lot of senior guards this year and they are really good players. It’s a learning experience and he made some good decisions. He made some good plays at the end and that’s helpful.”
Do you think Chris McCullough and Tyler Roberson need to do a better job getting out in the zone?
“They need to come out and need to get back in. A couple of times they got caught out and they need to get back. Rakeem (Christmas) didn’t do as good a job as he usually does. You have to give up something. We just don’t want to give up threes and we did a really good job in the second half. The one they made was really hard so they both need more energy on the defensive end. You can’t worry about the offensive end. You have to worry about the defensive end and play better there. We did a great job rebounding in the first half and a bad defensive game in the first. It was probably one of the worst defensive games.”
Did the fullcourt press help?
“The press helped us. We had it on a couple of times but they figured it out. It was very helpful. We got a couple of steals and got back in (the game) quickly.”
How does Cornell look?
“They are really good this year. I watched a little tape of them, I will get more of it tomorrow, but they are a much better team this year. They are playing well and that’s all right. We don’t need easy games.
This was a good game for us today. It showed that we could do some things that would be very helpful for us. We had a little lack on defense, but we kept it going. We were a lot better on offense and it was probably the best we played.”
Was the press something you thought would work?
“You never know until you try it. It sometimes works and sometimes it doesn’t. They made a couple of mistakes.”
