Head Coach Jim Boeheim Media Day Quotes
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Annual Media Day
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Have you seen Tyus Battle step into that leadership role?
“We’ve had a couple weeks of practice and I think Tyus has worked extremely hard. He’s a much improved player – much stronger, more physical, and much more confident in what he needs to do. At the end of last year he got better and showed that confidence against some of the best teams in our league. I think he’s much better this year. We always look for improvement in our players, and I would say his improvement is large and he’s ready to go.”
How has Marek Dolezaj adapted from the European game to the American game?
“He’s an American kind of player, as he doesn’t play as much like those European big guys do. He can put the ball on the floor and drive. He’s a very active player as he rebounds and jumps well. He’s also a pretty good shooter, but not as good as most European big men. However, he works hard at the game and understands the game. He doesn’t understand me much (laughing), but he understands the game.”
You shot and made a lot of threes last year. Is this year going to be different?
“We’ll have to see. We were a very good 3- point shooting team last year. This year’s team may not be as effective from the 3-point line, so we’ll have to adjust. We’ve had some really good teams over the years that weren’t great three-point shooting teams, so we’ll have to see.”
How do you plan on using Geno Thorpe this year?
“Geno’s a good player. He’s not going to play tonight. He rolled his ankle in practice. He’ll miss a day or two, but he’s a good player that can play the one or the two. He’s can shoot the ball, he’s a driver and he plays good defensive basketball. He makes a lot of plays on defense as he’s aggressive and physical.
“I think we can be a much better defensive team this year. Our big guys have to healthy, but we’re bigger and have more potential to be better on defense. We’re bigger at the guard spots and will definitely play with three guards at some points throughout the year. We have to wait and see exactly how the works, but that should be what we do.”
In a day and age where coaches bounce around, you’ve been here for 42 years now. What continues to drive you?
“It’s the same every year – you want to have a great team. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first year, 10th year or whatever, you want to get this team to be as good as it can be. There’s no carry overs, so it doesn’t matter what you did two years ago. So, as long as I feel that way, I’ll continue to coach. You should never make anything about age in this country. Look at Warren Buffett, there is no limit to what you can do and at what age you can do it. He’s still doing pretty well, so I think you should be able to do what you want to do for as long as you want to do it. I’m more motivated now than I was in the beginning. I want to do the best I can do with this team.”
Does this year feel different without Mike Hopkins?
“Mike was so great for us for so many years. I’m glad he got this opportunity, and I know he will do a great job. I’ve been very fortunate as I’ve had many great assistant coaches over the years that have helped us get this program to where it is. You can’t do that unless you have great assistant coaches, and Hopkins did a great job for us for a lot of years. All of our assistants now know about the system so that makes it easier to move on. As a head coach, you know you’re going to lose players and assistant coaches, and I’ve had so many great assistants going back to Rick Pitino and all the way up to today.”
Annual Media Day
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Have you seen Tyus Battle step into that leadership role?
“We’ve had a couple weeks of practice and I think Tyus has worked extremely hard. He’s a much improved player – much stronger, more physical, and much more confident in what he needs to do. At the end of last year he got better and showed that confidence against some of the best teams in our league. I think he’s much better this year. We always look for improvement in our players, and I would say his improvement is large and he’s ready to go.”
How has Marek Dolezaj adapted from the European game to the American game?
“He’s an American kind of player, as he doesn’t play as much like those European big guys do. He can put the ball on the floor and drive. He’s a very active player as he rebounds and jumps well. He’s also a pretty good shooter, but not as good as most European big men. However, he works hard at the game and understands the game. He doesn’t understand me much (laughing), but he understands the game.”
You shot and made a lot of threes last year. Is this year going to be different?
“We’ll have to see. We were a very good 3- point shooting team last year. This year’s team may not be as effective from the 3-point line, so we’ll have to adjust. We’ve had some really good teams over the years that weren’t great three-point shooting teams, so we’ll have to see.”
How do you plan on using Geno Thorpe this year?
“Geno’s a good player. He’s not going to play tonight. He rolled his ankle in practice. He’ll miss a day or two, but he’s a good player that can play the one or the two. He’s can shoot the ball, he’s a driver and he plays good defensive basketball. He makes a lot of plays on defense as he’s aggressive and physical.
“I think we can be a much better defensive team this year. Our big guys have to healthy, but we’re bigger and have more potential to be better on defense. We’re bigger at the guard spots and will definitely play with three guards at some points throughout the year. We have to wait and see exactly how the works, but that should be what we do.”
In a day and age where coaches bounce around, you’ve been here for 42 years now. What continues to drive you?
“It’s the same every year – you want to have a great team. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first year, 10th year or whatever, you want to get this team to be as good as it can be. There’s no carry overs, so it doesn’t matter what you did two years ago. So, as long as I feel that way, I’ll continue to coach. You should never make anything about age in this country. Look at Warren Buffett, there is no limit to what you can do and at what age you can do it. He’s still doing pretty well, so I think you should be able to do what you want to do for as long as you want to do it. I’m more motivated now than I was in the beginning. I want to do the best I can do with this team.”
Does this year feel different without Mike Hopkins?
“Mike was so great for us for so many years. I’m glad he got this opportunity, and I know he will do a great job. I’ve been very fortunate as I’ve had many great assistant coaches over the years that have helped us get this program to where it is. You can’t do that unless you have great assistant coaches, and Hopkins did a great job for us for a lot of years. All of our assistants now know about the system so that makes it easier to move on. As a head coach, you know you’re going to lose players and assistant coaches, and I’ve had so many great assistants going back to Rick Pitino and all the way up to today.”
