Head Coach Jim Boeheim - Selection Sunday
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
March 12, 2017
Carmelo K. Anthony Center, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement:
“Obviously, it’s disappointing, especially for our seniors and fifth-year seniors who wanted to make the tournament. I thought we had a terrible start of our season and we put ourselves in a tremendous hole. After that, I thought we played as well as we could. I think it comes down to we won just two road games, we lost three games to teams outside the top 100. I think that overbalanced the fact that we beat three teams in the top 15, six teams in the top 50 and finished 10-8 in a great conference. It is what it is and we’ll just have to get ready to play the best that we can in the NIT.”
Coming into today, were you thinking you would be in?
“I didn’t think anything. I was just waiting to see what they would say.”
What have the last few days been like?
“We watched games – TV games and my kids’ games. We had two good practices yesterday and today. That’s been it.”
It took this team a while to come together. You had two fifth-year players. Do you change your approach to bringing in fifth-year guys?
“If we didn’t bring them in, we wouldn’t even be in the NIT. I think that would have been a problem. When you lose guys late, like we lost Malachi (Richardson) late, there aren’t any freshman you can get. We got a guy who is our leading scorer and third team all-conference, that was a pretty good get for us. John Gillon has been a good point guard. He was, I think, second in the league in assists, double-figure scorer and a good shooter. I think those two guys helped us get 18 wins. It’s a different world today when you lose guys late. You look to see if you need somebody and if you can fill a hole, I think you’re going to try and do that in those circumstances.”
How do you refocus for the NIT?
“All of that is irrelevant. When you get ready to play a game as a competitor, you want to go out and win the game. Our players are going to want to win. They’re disappointed, but everybody’s disappointed. We have a game against whoever it may be and you want to get ready and play well.”
