Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes - Louisville
Postgame Quotes
Syracuse vs. Louisville
Feb. 13, 2017 | Carrier Dome
Andrew White III, Gr., G
How was it that you were able to find the energy to come back in the second half?
“Our energy was there, but we have to do a better job of executing. We put ourselves in holes a lot of the time throughout the last few games, but you can’t do that every time and expect to come out with the win. We’re going to make sure we don’t get ourselves in those holes moving forward and that will give us a better chance to win throughout the course of the season.”
Was there fatigue for you guys late in the game?
“No sir, this is a huge game and our guys are accustomed to playing big minutes. The crowd, our bench, really everybody was giving us energy. Fatigue was not a factor, it’s just a matter of us executing and making plays.”
Was it something Louisville was doing to you on the 3-point line?
“They have long guys out on the wing and they kept bringing in fresh bodies. They were running us off the 3-point line and contesting all of our open looks. They did a great job of executing. They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country so we have to give them credit for what they did.”
Tyus Battle, Fr., G
What would you say to Tyler Roberson after those two missed free throws?
“It’s tough in a game like that. He came up with a big rebound and had a chance to put it back in which was big.”
What can you take away from a loss like this?
“We know we’re going to see Louisville again. We have many opportunities left -- we have Duke coming in -- and a lot more chances to get wins.”
What can you say about Andrew White’s consistency when he’s on the floor?
“Andrew’s consistent all around. He’s a real mature player and I love having him on this team.”
Taurean Thompson, Fr., F
You have a little bit of time off before Sunday at Georgia Tech. Do you think the time off will be beneficial?
“Yeah, we’ll get in the gym and work on our defense. (Ryan) McMahon came in at the end of the game and hit a lot of threes, so we need to work on our perimeter defense. I have to work on defending the post better, and staying out of foul trouble.”
Coach Boeheim says Louisville is a Final Four team, and you guys took them to overtime. Are you guys a tournament team?
“Yeah, definitely. I think last year they were having the same problem as us, a little bit of up and down, and they went to the Final Four. So why can’t we?”
John Gillon, Sr., G
You guys came backfrom two huge deficits, one in regulation and one in overtime. What does it say about the team coming back like that?
“We’re definitely resilient. I know no matter what that we’re still in the game. We can’t keep having close games like this because we’ve seen from the last two that it doesn’t always fall our way. We got used to winning the close ones and we got too comfortable getting down. This time we couldn’t come back.”
When you came down on the dribble hand off with Andrew (White III), was it just a little farther outside than normal?
“Yeah. I don’t really like how I handed it to him. I probably should’ve done something else. It’s hard to think too much with nine seconds left on the clock in a good defense so I didn’t have as much wiggle room to do certain things and try certain things. You could risk a turnover right there. I thought about trying to drive to the basket on my own. A lot of things ran through my mind. I thought the best play of the moment was to hit Drew (Andrew White III) because he hit a few in a row.”
You mentioned coming back. Coach called it a Herculean effort. The NCAA is probably not going give you any points for Herculean efforts, right? Does that make tonight harder to take?
“This is probably the hardest that I’ve taken a loss. I don’t know what it is but I felt like we should have won this one. I think we’ll be better once Ty (Tyus Battle) starts feeling better. Maybe they’ll take that into consideration – having a starter sick. Regardless, we have to make plays without him. I have to step up and the rest of us have to step up.”
Frank Howard, So., G
Did you say anything to Tyler (Roberson) when his free throws went out? Is there any sort of pick me up?
“Yeah, of course. We’re brothers. He missed. This is basketball, you can’t blame the whole game on him. He rebounded and fought hard on defense. The game was on us—on all of us.”
How would you describe this team playing? Five straight wins and a couple of really close loses?
“You know we’re fighting. We still miss a few assignments. Offense is getting a little stagnant. We have to continue to clean that up. As long as we’re fighting we’re going to end up in the game. We’re playing a lot harder now. It will work out for us.”
Syracuse vs. Louisville
Feb. 13, 2017 | Carrier Dome
Andrew White III, Gr., G
How was it that you were able to find the energy to come back in the second half?
“Our energy was there, but we have to do a better job of executing. We put ourselves in holes a lot of the time throughout the last few games, but you can’t do that every time and expect to come out with the win. We’re going to make sure we don’t get ourselves in those holes moving forward and that will give us a better chance to win throughout the course of the season.”
Was there fatigue for you guys late in the game?
“No sir, this is a huge game and our guys are accustomed to playing big minutes. The crowd, our bench, really everybody was giving us energy. Fatigue was not a factor, it’s just a matter of us executing and making plays.”
Was it something Louisville was doing to you on the 3-point line?
“They have long guys out on the wing and they kept bringing in fresh bodies. They were running us off the 3-point line and contesting all of our open looks. They did a great job of executing. They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country so we have to give them credit for what they did.”
Tyus Battle, Fr., G
What would you say to Tyler Roberson after those two missed free throws?
“It’s tough in a game like that. He came up with a big rebound and had a chance to put it back in which was big.”
What can you take away from a loss like this?
“We know we’re going to see Louisville again. We have many opportunities left -- we have Duke coming in -- and a lot more chances to get wins.”
What can you say about Andrew White’s consistency when he’s on the floor?
“Andrew’s consistent all around. He’s a real mature player and I love having him on this team.”
Taurean Thompson, Fr., F
You have a little bit of time off before Sunday at Georgia Tech. Do you think the time off will be beneficial?
“Yeah, we’ll get in the gym and work on our defense. (Ryan) McMahon came in at the end of the game and hit a lot of threes, so we need to work on our perimeter defense. I have to work on defending the post better, and staying out of foul trouble.”
Coach Boeheim says Louisville is a Final Four team, and you guys took them to overtime. Are you guys a tournament team?
“Yeah, definitely. I think last year they were having the same problem as us, a little bit of up and down, and they went to the Final Four. So why can’t we?”
John Gillon, Sr., G
You guys came backfrom two huge deficits, one in regulation and one in overtime. What does it say about the team coming back like that?
“We’re definitely resilient. I know no matter what that we’re still in the game. We can’t keep having close games like this because we’ve seen from the last two that it doesn’t always fall our way. We got used to winning the close ones and we got too comfortable getting down. This time we couldn’t come back.”
When you came down on the dribble hand off with Andrew (White III), was it just a little farther outside than normal?
“Yeah. I don’t really like how I handed it to him. I probably should’ve done something else. It’s hard to think too much with nine seconds left on the clock in a good defense so I didn’t have as much wiggle room to do certain things and try certain things. You could risk a turnover right there. I thought about trying to drive to the basket on my own. A lot of things ran through my mind. I thought the best play of the moment was to hit Drew (Andrew White III) because he hit a few in a row.”
You mentioned coming back. Coach called it a Herculean effort. The NCAA is probably not going give you any points for Herculean efforts, right? Does that make tonight harder to take?
“This is probably the hardest that I’ve taken a loss. I don’t know what it is but I felt like we should have won this one. I think we’ll be better once Ty (Tyus Battle) starts feeling better. Maybe they’ll take that into consideration – having a starter sick. Regardless, we have to make plays without him. I have to step up and the rest of us have to step up.”
Frank Howard, So., G
Did you say anything to Tyler (Roberson) when his free throws went out? Is there any sort of pick me up?
“Yeah, of course. We’re brothers. He missed. This is basketball, you can’t blame the whole game on him. He rebounded and fought hard on defense. The game was on us—on all of us.”
How would you describe this team playing? Five straight wins and a couple of really close loses?
“You know we’re fighting. We still miss a few assignments. Offense is getting a little stagnant. We have to continue to clean that up. As long as we’re fighting we’re going to end up in the game. We’re playing a lot harder now. It will work out for us.”
