Coach Boeheim Quotes - Florida State
Postgame Quotes
Head coach Jim Boeheim
Syracuse vs. Florida State
Jan. 28, 2017 | Carrier Dome
Opening Statement:
“We had an exceptional first half. Everything went right, they didn’t make anything, and you know they’re going to come back and make shots. I thought (Xavier) Rathan-Mayes just got ‘em going. We had a couple of quick, early fouls. Taurean (Thompson) let the ball get inside, and now he’s got a foul, so he has to be better at preventing that, and then he won’t be in that situation. Tyler Lydon does a better job at keeping that ball out of there.
“When Mayes and (Dwayne) Bacon gets going -- Bacon is a tremendous player, really a tremendous player, and those two guys got going. (Jonathan) Isaac is a really, really good young player. I thought down the stretch, we were going to try and space them out and try to get to the basket. John (Gillon) is one of our best free throw shooters. We wanted to try and get him. We had good stops, right at the end. We forced them into an off-balance three.
Our defense was exceptional in the first half, and in the second half we just didn’t have that same defensive effort. I think we’re obviously a little bit tired, but they played the same guys in the second half. First half, they were playing 10, 11 guys. I think they got some guys in there that weren’t ready to play in this game. In the second half, they kept those guys in there and they’re a really good group.
I thought everybody made a big play.Tyus (Battle) got a big loose ball play and got the basket. Andrew (White III) hit a big three off a good pass. Tyler Lydon made a really tough inside move against some big guys. When it was close we made plays, just like the other night. It was a close game, we made good plays down the stretch defensively, and John (Gillon) went to the foul line. He made a great drive on that one play. He’s been missing that drive, but he made that one bucket and that was a big play. He made his free throws. It was a great effort. It was the best first half we’ve had in a long time, and we hung tough at the end.”
What do you think of people storming the court?
“That’s a good thing. It’s fun to do that. You have to get people excited. Why not let people get excited?”
Could you expand a little bit about the way John (Gillon) played today?
“He made a couple bad turnovers early, and Frank (Howard) had a couple bad turnovers early when we had momentum. We gave them 10 points. With better ball handling, we’re up almost 30 at halftime. They were bad turnovers, led right to baskets, unlike the (North) Carolina turnovers when they didn’t lead to baskets. They ended up getting baskets, but in their half court set. He made a couple turnovers, but he was overall good at getting in the lane. We’ve been trying all year to get him in the lane and find people instead of trying to take a shot, and he’s doing better at that; but we know when he gets fouled, that he’s a very, very good foul shooter.
They made a lot of threes in the second half. Is that still better than allowing them penetration?
“No, we don’t want to let them have the threes. We gave them a couple because we didn’t push up enough. We just didn’t push up enough on them. We were there, but we weren’t up. In the first half, we were up. I don’t know why we would change that. We didn’t want to, but we did. (Xavier) Rathan-Mayes and (Dwayne) Bacon made a couple long ones, and that’s what happens sometimes.”
Do you think Andrew White made strides defensively?
“I thought he did a couple really good things. He gave up a couple threes, but he was back in, pushing, hanging with the big guys, battling the big guys down in there. I thought he made a couple good steals, had nine rebounds, eight defensive rebounds, and that’s outstanding. He was really good there, and he still was really good on offense. I think he’s getting better all the time.”
About 10 minutes into the game, we were being outrebounded 14-7. What happened at that point?
“Well we ended up being up overall, which is surprising for us against that size that they have. If we just get anywhere near breaking even, to five down against them, then that’s pretty good. We’re happy with that. It’s a tough league. There are a lot of good teams. It’s a crazy league. A lot of crazy things can happen.”
Florida State is considered one of the biggest, if not the biggest team in college basketball. Does the game plan change at all, attacking a team with that much size?
“I’d like to say, keep all those big guys in the game. It’s when they put the little guys in the game that we had problems. They can’t guard us with those big guys. Their big guys don’t finish around the basket. The guys they played in the second half were really dangerous against us, because they can shoot, they can still rebound, they still have size, and are shot blockers.”
Tyler Roberson put together a pretty solid first half and helped you build up that first half lead?
“He was good in the first half, and then in the second half, I don’t know where he goes. He’s in position, but he can’t get to the basket against these teams. He’s right there, open, eight to 10 feet away. You want to put your players in a position where they can get open 10 feet from the basket, and he just can’t do anything from eight or 10 feet. He had 10 points, four or five rebounds in the first half, and in the second half, he didn’t score. His free throw shooting has been better, but it wasn’t even close tonight. Those things are huge in games. We aren’t good enough. We can’t have that.”
What did you think of Tyler Lydon’s slam tonight?
“That was good. I’m looking at what really is important, and he was just good on defense, he blocked shots. He’s one of the best defensive players we’ve ever had. He’s really probably better than some of the great centers we’ve had, because he covers more people, more ground, and still can block shots. Everybody was concerned about him playing center when he came here, but he’s really one of the best we’ve had in there. He’s been phenomenal, and nobody’s going to give him any shots. That’s pulling that five man away from the basket, that’s why John Gillon can get in there, that’s why Tyus (Battle) can get in there. If you play him out there, there’s going to be space.
“That’s why we play that offense high like that, to get those opportunities. We’re learning how to do it better. Taurean (Thompson) really helps on offense. Where Tyler Roberson was catching the ball, Taurean can score from there. He can score from those spots. So, it hurts us not to have him in there offensively. That’s something we have to work on. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve been playing better. We’ve played better on the road the last couple of times. We’re much better at home, but I think we are playing better.
“I think our point guard play is much better. I thought Frank (Howard) did a good job tonight. I thought he was good. He made a couple of bad turnovers that he’s got to cut out, but I thought he made some good plays, and good defensive plays. We’re getting a little bit better. We’ve still got to get better, quite a bit better.”
What does Tyler Lydon do exceptionally well, at his size, to block shots in the middle of the paint?
“Well, he’s 6’10”, he’s not small. A lot of guys put small guys in there, and drive in there, and he’s got good timing. He plays good position on defense, he knows where the ball is. He’s got a real good feel for how to play the game. He made a great post move when we were up two, and he couldn’t have done that in the beginning of the year. We’re a much better team, those guys are much better when we’re aware of what we’re doing. We still have to get better, but we’re fighting through this.”
Head coach Jim Boeheim
Syracuse vs. Florida State
Jan. 28, 2017 | Carrier Dome
Opening Statement:
“We had an exceptional first half. Everything went right, they didn’t make anything, and you know they’re going to come back and make shots. I thought (Xavier) Rathan-Mayes just got ‘em going. We had a couple of quick, early fouls. Taurean (Thompson) let the ball get inside, and now he’s got a foul, so he has to be better at preventing that, and then he won’t be in that situation. Tyler Lydon does a better job at keeping that ball out of there.
“When Mayes and (Dwayne) Bacon gets going -- Bacon is a tremendous player, really a tremendous player, and those two guys got going. (Jonathan) Isaac is a really, really good young player. I thought down the stretch, we were going to try and space them out and try to get to the basket. John (Gillon) is one of our best free throw shooters. We wanted to try and get him. We had good stops, right at the end. We forced them into an off-balance three.
Our defense was exceptional in the first half, and in the second half we just didn’t have that same defensive effort. I think we’re obviously a little bit tired, but they played the same guys in the second half. First half, they were playing 10, 11 guys. I think they got some guys in there that weren’t ready to play in this game. In the second half, they kept those guys in there and they’re a really good group.
I thought everybody made a big play.Tyus (Battle) got a big loose ball play and got the basket. Andrew (White III) hit a big three off a good pass. Tyler Lydon made a really tough inside move against some big guys. When it was close we made plays, just like the other night. It was a close game, we made good plays down the stretch defensively, and John (Gillon) went to the foul line. He made a great drive on that one play. He’s been missing that drive, but he made that one bucket and that was a big play. He made his free throws. It was a great effort. It was the best first half we’ve had in a long time, and we hung tough at the end.”
What do you think of people storming the court?
“That’s a good thing. It’s fun to do that. You have to get people excited. Why not let people get excited?”
Could you expand a little bit about the way John (Gillon) played today?
“He made a couple bad turnovers early, and Frank (Howard) had a couple bad turnovers early when we had momentum. We gave them 10 points. With better ball handling, we’re up almost 30 at halftime. They were bad turnovers, led right to baskets, unlike the (North) Carolina turnovers when they didn’t lead to baskets. They ended up getting baskets, but in their half court set. He made a couple turnovers, but he was overall good at getting in the lane. We’ve been trying all year to get him in the lane and find people instead of trying to take a shot, and he’s doing better at that; but we know when he gets fouled, that he’s a very, very good foul shooter.
They made a lot of threes in the second half. Is that still better than allowing them penetration?
“No, we don’t want to let them have the threes. We gave them a couple because we didn’t push up enough. We just didn’t push up enough on them. We were there, but we weren’t up. In the first half, we were up. I don’t know why we would change that. We didn’t want to, but we did. (Xavier) Rathan-Mayes and (Dwayne) Bacon made a couple long ones, and that’s what happens sometimes.”
Do you think Andrew White made strides defensively?
“I thought he did a couple really good things. He gave up a couple threes, but he was back in, pushing, hanging with the big guys, battling the big guys down in there. I thought he made a couple good steals, had nine rebounds, eight defensive rebounds, and that’s outstanding. He was really good there, and he still was really good on offense. I think he’s getting better all the time.”
About 10 minutes into the game, we were being outrebounded 14-7. What happened at that point?
“Well we ended up being up overall, which is surprising for us against that size that they have. If we just get anywhere near breaking even, to five down against them, then that’s pretty good. We’re happy with that. It’s a tough league. There are a lot of good teams. It’s a crazy league. A lot of crazy things can happen.”
Florida State is considered one of the biggest, if not the biggest team in college basketball. Does the game plan change at all, attacking a team with that much size?
“I’d like to say, keep all those big guys in the game. It’s when they put the little guys in the game that we had problems. They can’t guard us with those big guys. Their big guys don’t finish around the basket. The guys they played in the second half were really dangerous against us, because they can shoot, they can still rebound, they still have size, and are shot blockers.”
Tyler Roberson put together a pretty solid first half and helped you build up that first half lead?
“He was good in the first half, and then in the second half, I don’t know where he goes. He’s in position, but he can’t get to the basket against these teams. He’s right there, open, eight to 10 feet away. You want to put your players in a position where they can get open 10 feet from the basket, and he just can’t do anything from eight or 10 feet. He had 10 points, four or five rebounds in the first half, and in the second half, he didn’t score. His free throw shooting has been better, but it wasn’t even close tonight. Those things are huge in games. We aren’t good enough. We can’t have that.”
What did you think of Tyler Lydon’s slam tonight?
“That was good. I’m looking at what really is important, and he was just good on defense, he blocked shots. He’s one of the best defensive players we’ve ever had. He’s really probably better than some of the great centers we’ve had, because he covers more people, more ground, and still can block shots. Everybody was concerned about him playing center when he came here, but he’s really one of the best we’ve had in there. He’s been phenomenal, and nobody’s going to give him any shots. That’s pulling that five man away from the basket, that’s why John Gillon can get in there, that’s why Tyus (Battle) can get in there. If you play him out there, there’s going to be space.
“That’s why we play that offense high like that, to get those opportunities. We’re learning how to do it better. Taurean (Thompson) really helps on offense. Where Tyler Roberson was catching the ball, Taurean can score from there. He can score from those spots. So, it hurts us not to have him in there offensively. That’s something we have to work on. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve been playing better. We’ve played better on the road the last couple of times. We’re much better at home, but I think we are playing better.
“I think our point guard play is much better. I thought Frank (Howard) did a good job tonight. I thought he was good. He made a couple of bad turnovers that he’s got to cut out, but I thought he made some good plays, and good defensive plays. We’re getting a little bit better. We’ve still got to get better, quite a bit better.”
What does Tyler Lydon do exceptionally well, at his size, to block shots in the middle of the paint?
“Well, he’s 6’10”, he’s not small. A lot of guys put small guys in there, and drive in there, and he’s got good timing. He plays good position on defense, he knows where the ball is. He’s got a real good feel for how to play the game. He made a great post move when we were up two, and he couldn’t have done that in the beginning of the year. We’re a much better team, those guys are much better when we’re aware of what we’re doing. We still have to get better, but we’re fighting through this.”
