Jim Boeheim Quotes - Notre Dame
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Syracuse vs. Notre Dame
February 3, 2014
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement:
“I think earlier in the year we had a game like this, I think it was Cornell, where C.J. (Fair) went 2-for-11 or 13 and Tyler (Ennis) had a bad game, and Trevor (Cooney) made six or seven threes . Fortunately, Trevor must have gotten the message early that they were not going to play well so he had to make shots. I thought the players did a good job of getting him open. I thought he made some good moves off with the dribble. In the first half, neither team could score except for Trevor. It was his half and he kept us to where we had the lead.
“There was no way Notre Dame was going to come out and play poorly in the second half offensively. Our problem was we had to get playing and we couldn’t get going. The only thing we had the second half was Trevor for almost the whole half. They made a good move to the box in one and Tyler made a really good play and got Jerami (Grant) down low, behind the zone, and he made a big play there. I thought Notre Dame did what they do against us every year. They take time off the clock and they move the ball. We’re coming off a fast-paced game and we just did not adjust well. Again, I thought our defense was good but we had trouble with the five-spot. (Garrick) Sherman got too much in there against us and we left our feet on him.
"Our offense was just not good. They’re not a great defensive team. They struggle defensively and we missed 26 shots and we didn’t rebound well. It was one of those games where we were not sharp at all. It was a completely different game. There were driving opportunities. You can drive against Duke but you can’t drive against this team. We were still trying to drive in there and it just wasn’t there. You’ve got to make some shots against them and we were not shooting the ball well, with one exception.
“Fortunately, that was enough tonight, but there is always going to be some let up after you play a game like Saturday. Again, at the end of the game when they cut it to three we made a good play and a good defensive play on the other end and Tyler made his first couple free throws before we missed. You’ve got to find a way to win these games, and we were able to do that. It’s been a tough four games in 10 days, which is a lot, but we got through it and we’ll be able to get a couple days of rest in and I think that will be good for us.”
Did you think Notre Dame was going to use zone right away?
“We were ready either way, it could have been either one. We are pretty good in zones for the most part, we weren’t great, but we were going to get some man-to-man. That’s the bottom line. The man-to-man was a soft man-to-man, but we are going to see that kind of defense. I thought this was good preparation for us. This will help us. I think we will see that same defense this year the rest of the way on more than one occasion. Trevor (Cooney)got them out of the zone, that wasn’t such a great thing really.”
What does it mean that Trevor Cooney made so many threes?
“It means that every team now will not let him get a shot. That is what it means. They had a freshman on him and he couldn’t keep up with him. That is the one advantage we had. They played off Jerami (Grant) and C.J (Fair) and made them shoot from the outside, which is what people will do. They had a freshman try to keep up with Trevor (Cooney) and he just wasn’t that quick in moving. That said this team beat Duke and they were good in spots. But people will look at this tape and Trevor will not have breathing room for the next few games, which helps other guys.”
Did Saturday help Trevor (Cooney); he had a couple of threes?
“He had a great game Saturday. He is playing good. He hasn’t been making all of them, but he has been getting there. He is a first-year player. I thought Tyler (Ennis) struggled. (Eric) Atkins is a really good defensive player. I didn’t think we screened very well. I think we got Tyler good opportunities tonight, but he got the ball to people and did what he does. He is certainly capable of scoring more, but he is good at what he does. I thought our inside guys were just not so good tonight on defense like they usually are and C.J. (Fair) had a bad game and he is allowed one of those.”
Syracuse vs. Notre Dame
February 3, 2014
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement:
“I think earlier in the year we had a game like this, I think it was Cornell, where C.J. (Fair) went 2-for-11 or 13 and Tyler (Ennis) had a bad game, and Trevor (Cooney) made six or seven threes . Fortunately, Trevor must have gotten the message early that they were not going to play well so he had to make shots. I thought the players did a good job of getting him open. I thought he made some good moves off with the dribble. In the first half, neither team could score except for Trevor. It was his half and he kept us to where we had the lead.
“There was no way Notre Dame was going to come out and play poorly in the second half offensively. Our problem was we had to get playing and we couldn’t get going. The only thing we had the second half was Trevor for almost the whole half. They made a good move to the box in one and Tyler made a really good play and got Jerami (Grant) down low, behind the zone, and he made a big play there. I thought Notre Dame did what they do against us every year. They take time off the clock and they move the ball. We’re coming off a fast-paced game and we just did not adjust well. Again, I thought our defense was good but we had trouble with the five-spot. (Garrick) Sherman got too much in there against us and we left our feet on him.
"Our offense was just not good. They’re not a great defensive team. They struggle defensively and we missed 26 shots and we didn’t rebound well. It was one of those games where we were not sharp at all. It was a completely different game. There were driving opportunities. You can drive against Duke but you can’t drive against this team. We were still trying to drive in there and it just wasn’t there. You’ve got to make some shots against them and we were not shooting the ball well, with one exception.
“Fortunately, that was enough tonight, but there is always going to be some let up after you play a game like Saturday. Again, at the end of the game when they cut it to three we made a good play and a good defensive play on the other end and Tyler made his first couple free throws before we missed. You’ve got to find a way to win these games, and we were able to do that. It’s been a tough four games in 10 days, which is a lot, but we got through it and we’ll be able to get a couple days of rest in and I think that will be good for us.”
Did you think Notre Dame was going to use zone right away?
“We were ready either way, it could have been either one. We are pretty good in zones for the most part, we weren’t great, but we were going to get some man-to-man. That’s the bottom line. The man-to-man was a soft man-to-man, but we are going to see that kind of defense. I thought this was good preparation for us. This will help us. I think we will see that same defense this year the rest of the way on more than one occasion. Trevor (Cooney)got them out of the zone, that wasn’t such a great thing really.”
What does it mean that Trevor Cooney made so many threes?
“It means that every team now will not let him get a shot. That is what it means. They had a freshman on him and he couldn’t keep up with him. That is the one advantage we had. They played off Jerami (Grant) and C.J (Fair) and made them shoot from the outside, which is what people will do. They had a freshman try to keep up with Trevor (Cooney) and he just wasn’t that quick in moving. That said this team beat Duke and they were good in spots. But people will look at this tape and Trevor will not have breathing room for the next few games, which helps other guys.”
Did Saturday help Trevor (Cooney); he had a couple of threes?
“He had a great game Saturday. He is playing good. He hasn’t been making all of them, but he has been getting there. He is a first-year player. I thought Tyler (Ennis) struggled. (Eric) Atkins is a really good defensive player. I didn’t think we screened very well. I think we got Tyler good opportunities tonight, but he got the ball to people and did what he does. He is certainly capable of scoring more, but he is good at what he does. I thought our inside guys were just not so good tonight on defense like they usually are and C.J. (Fair) had a bad game and he is allowed one of those.”
