Head Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes - Boston College
Syracuse Men's Basketball
Syracuse vs. Boston College
January 24, 2018
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement:
"The difference in this game was our offense. We moved the ball - obviously made shots in the first half, but had good movement in the second half. We didn’t make some outside shots, but we got to the basket. I thought we got the ball to the basket. We got the ball inside. Marek (Dolezaj) made a couple of nice drives. We got the ball to Paschal (Chukwu) a couple times inside.
"We started the game and we worked all week on making sure we guard the three and we gave them four straight threes to start the game. That’s just not good basketball, its not the way to win games. When you focus on one thing for two or three days you should do better. After that start they shot 7-for-19 from three, which we can live with. They are a very, very good 3-point shooting team. Two of the three’s they got are offensive rebounds. It’s tough to guard those. They get it and throw it back out, that’s a tough play. You really can’t get back into your defense. The best thing is not to give up that rebound and we gave up some the first half. We were a little bit better on the boards but not good enough.
"Again, Marek was really good coming in and we shot well early. Oshae (Brissett) hit two jumpers early and hit a bank, Frank (Howard) hit two or three tough shots early, that’s how we got separation. They’re a very good offensive team. If we hadn’t shot very well it would’ve been a tie game at half. But, we did shoot it well. In the second half we did defend it better and then we got down and got some good offensive possessions. We had good balance with everybody pitching in - (it) was a really good win."
Can you talk about Marek Dolezaj’s play tonight?
“Some teams that are physical with him he has trouble. This team played off him so he had space to get to the basket and he made some moves to the basket. He was very good and he can do that. He’s worked hard on his shooting and really has changed. It’s hard to improve your shooting in one year. His free throw shot, he has perfect form. He had really good form on the 15-footer that he took and he couldn’t do that earlier in the year. They gave him some space and he’s good when he has some space.”
Do you get a sense of why the movement was so much better tonight than it was other nights?
“I don’t think it was that much better. I think they just had trouble guarding our guards. We either got by or we were able to make plays. They came off of Marek (Dolezaj) to help and he got some open looks. Then Paschal (Chukwu) got some open looks around the basket because they were trying to come off and help. The thing is, he finished those plays. Earlier in the year he was bobbling it and missing those. In this game he finished those and that’s a big difference. You got baskets instead of bobbling and losing the ball. When you play Boston College you need to keep scoring because they’re a very good offensive team.”
Paschal Chukwu had more points today. Do you think he was tougher tonight?
“I think he finished better, but there are more physical teams that he’ll have to be ready for. He has to keep making adjustments, but he’s making those adjustments.”
There were zero turnovers for Frank Howard tonight. Did he make any adjustments coming into the game?
“I think the last game he had one and this game he had none. I think he’s aware of that. Frank realizes that that’s part of the thing that he has to fix and I thought he did a great job with it.”
Will Marek (Dolezaj) see more of a role if Matt (Moyer) can’t play for a game or two?
“He’s the only other guy we’ve got so he has to be ready. We’ll play three guards if we need to. We would’ve played three guards tonight, but we just didn’t need to. Howard (Washington) is getting better in practice. I think Bourama (Sidibe) is starting to feel better, but Paschal (Chukwu) was so solid tonight. He’s such a deterrent on defense under the basket that we didn’t want to take him out. I think he’s moving better in practice and we will play some of the three guard until Matt is healthy, which could be any day.”
You mentioned after the last game that this team needed more practice dates. Do you think that helped you win this one?
“I hope so. You never know with that. I think some of it was definitely beneficial. I think we had better movement and our turnovers were better. We had time to work on our shooting. You never know when you get that time, if it’s really going to help or not, but I think overall it was a positive. We played much better tonight than our last game. Offensively, this is probably the best game we’ve played all year – by all measures.”
Syracuse vs. Boston College
January 24, 2018
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement:
"The difference in this game was our offense. We moved the ball - obviously made shots in the first half, but had good movement in the second half. We didn’t make some outside shots, but we got to the basket. I thought we got the ball to the basket. We got the ball inside. Marek (Dolezaj) made a couple of nice drives. We got the ball to Paschal (Chukwu) a couple times inside.
"We started the game and we worked all week on making sure we guard the three and we gave them four straight threes to start the game. That’s just not good basketball, its not the way to win games. When you focus on one thing for two or three days you should do better. After that start they shot 7-for-19 from three, which we can live with. They are a very, very good 3-point shooting team. Two of the three’s they got are offensive rebounds. It’s tough to guard those. They get it and throw it back out, that’s a tough play. You really can’t get back into your defense. The best thing is not to give up that rebound and we gave up some the first half. We were a little bit better on the boards but not good enough.
"Again, Marek was really good coming in and we shot well early. Oshae (Brissett) hit two jumpers early and hit a bank, Frank (Howard) hit two or three tough shots early, that’s how we got separation. They’re a very good offensive team. If we hadn’t shot very well it would’ve been a tie game at half. But, we did shoot it well. In the second half we did defend it better and then we got down and got some good offensive possessions. We had good balance with everybody pitching in - (it) was a really good win."
Can you talk about Marek Dolezaj’s play tonight?
“Some teams that are physical with him he has trouble. This team played off him so he had space to get to the basket and he made some moves to the basket. He was very good and he can do that. He’s worked hard on his shooting and really has changed. It’s hard to improve your shooting in one year. His free throw shot, he has perfect form. He had really good form on the 15-footer that he took and he couldn’t do that earlier in the year. They gave him some space and he’s good when he has some space.”
Do you get a sense of why the movement was so much better tonight than it was other nights?
“I don’t think it was that much better. I think they just had trouble guarding our guards. We either got by or we were able to make plays. They came off of Marek (Dolezaj) to help and he got some open looks. Then Paschal (Chukwu) got some open looks around the basket because they were trying to come off and help. The thing is, he finished those plays. Earlier in the year he was bobbling it and missing those. In this game he finished those and that’s a big difference. You got baskets instead of bobbling and losing the ball. When you play Boston College you need to keep scoring because they’re a very good offensive team.”
Paschal Chukwu had more points today. Do you think he was tougher tonight?
“I think he finished better, but there are more physical teams that he’ll have to be ready for. He has to keep making adjustments, but he’s making those adjustments.”
There were zero turnovers for Frank Howard tonight. Did he make any adjustments coming into the game?
“I think the last game he had one and this game he had none. I think he’s aware of that. Frank realizes that that’s part of the thing that he has to fix and I thought he did a great job with it.”
Will Marek (Dolezaj) see more of a role if Matt (Moyer) can’t play for a game or two?
“He’s the only other guy we’ve got so he has to be ready. We’ll play three guards if we need to. We would’ve played three guards tonight, but we just didn’t need to. Howard (Washington) is getting better in practice. I think Bourama (Sidibe) is starting to feel better, but Paschal (Chukwu) was so solid tonight. He’s such a deterrent on defense under the basket that we didn’t want to take him out. I think he’s moving better in practice and we will play some of the three guard until Matt is healthy, which could be any day.”
You mentioned after the last game that this team needed more practice dates. Do you think that helped you win this one?
“I hope so. You never know with that. I think some of it was definitely beneficial. I think we had better movement and our turnovers were better. We had time to work on our shooting. You never know when you get that time, if it’s really going to help or not, but I think overall it was a positive. We played much better tonight than our last game. Offensively, this is probably the best game we’ve played all year – by all measures.”
