Head Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes - Media Day
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Media Day
Head Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes
October 12, 2018
How is Frank Howard recovering?
“He is doing what he is supposed to be doing. We expect that if all goes well he will be able to practice about a week before our first regular-season game, if everything goes according to plan.”
Along the same lines, how is Bourama Sidibe doing so far?
“He has been good. He has practiced every day. He has got some soreness. But overall, much better than last year.”
Is Sidibe’s soreness related to the tendinitis or just recovery?
“I think just recovery.”
You have three freshmen. Could you give an assessment of each of those guys?
“I think the freshmen have really been good. Jalen Carey has had to, obviously, carry more of the load early with Frank being out. But he is progressing well and doing everything we expected him to do. Buddy (Boeheim) is shooting the ball well, playing well. I think Robert (Braswell) is a surprisingly good shooter for an incoming forward. He shoots the ball incredibly well and I’d say all three are doing as well as we could hope.”
Elijah Hughes obviously sat out last year after transferring. How have you seen him progressing into this year?
“I think Elijah worked really hard last year. I think it was beneficial for him. He used the year to get better. He really played just about every possession of practice with one group or another. He very seldom came out. He worked extremely hard. I think he is in great shape. I think he is ready to go. He has played well in practice.”
A lot of coaches in the past have said that coaching their son can be a really fulfilling kind of experience. Are there any positive aspects that you have noticed so far to start the season?
“You know once he got here, he has been treated just like any of the other players on the team. He has to do what everybody does, he has to perform like everybody does, and if he can help us, he is going to play.”
Could you expand a little bit upon the areas of the game that Elijah Hughes has improved upon while he was away for the year? And what do you expect from him?
“I think, in general, he got in better condition. I think that he is a good shooter. I think he has improved his shooting. I think he is a good ball handler. I think he makes good plays. I think he is a physical player. I think that he has really improved a lot since he has come in. He is going to be a really good player.”
What do you think the most important areas for Oshae Brissett to improve on this year?
“Finishing, I think, is important. Finishing around the basket. He did not finish at a high percentage. I think he can do that. I think his shooting from the 3-point line is definitely better at this stage and I think those are the two areas that he can improve on. And I think he is stronger. He was a very good rebounder last year. He has improved from last year.”
Your team was a bit offensively challenged last year at times. Do you see that being a recurring issue this year?
“We were one of the worst shooting teams in the league last year. I think that changed a little bit at the end of the year. Marek (Dolezaj) went from averaging four points per game to averaging about 12 the last part of the year and we won once he started putting the ball in the basket. We won at Miami, we won at Louisville, we won a game against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament and then we won three games in the NCAA. There was not a lot of difference with how we played on offense in those six wins except for Marek. That was really the difference. I think he got comfortable and Coach Autry worked with him all year and he got his shot going. And he was really the offensive difference in the way we played at the end of the year.”
With your returning starters and veteran leaders of this team, how do you expect them to lead this team?
“Whenever you have veterans, they just have to go out and do what they are capable of doing and play the way they are capable of playing. They have set a very good example in practice. Practices have been very good. Everybody has really worked hard and at a high level and that tone is set by Tyus (Battle) and the guys that were very important last year.”
Can this team be even better on defense than last year?
“They are the same guys, so they should improve, hopefully. We will have more depth, so we should be able to give guys more rest. And we should be, at least, as good or better defensively.”
Does your team’s experience allow you to be a little ahead of the game at this time of year?
“I think we are way ahead of where we were last year. You have to remember that last year we were getting started with two freshmen forwards and our point guard was coming off a mediocre year. Our big guys were hurting a little bit so there is a world of difference at this point compared to last year. And just with those five guys and then you add the freshmen in and add Elijah in, that makes a big difference on where we are right now than where we were last year.”
Does it set you behind with Frank Howard not being able to practice or does it give Jalen Carey an opportunity?
“A little bit of both. It gives Jalen a little more of an opportunity. But it would not be that much different for him. It hurts a little bit. I would much rather have Frank in there, but at least if he was playing and Jalen was not playing, it would hurt Jalen a lot more because Jalen is learning the system. Frank knows what we do. He has watched and seen what is going on. I thought coming in off the summer and fall that Frank was playing the best I have seen him play here. I think he will get right back to that pretty quickly.”
Are there one or two guys that you think have made the biggest physical improvements?
“I think that Paschal (Chukwu) is stronger. I think that Marek (Dolezaj) has gained at least a pound or a pound and a half. I think that everybody worked hard and had a good summer. I have seen more improvement than normal from this group and it is quite extraordinary, I think.”
Do you play with a faster pace with Jalen Carey playing as opposed to Frank Howard?
“No, it will not make that much difference. We did not play at a fast pace last year, we played five or six guys. You are barely able to play fast when you play a guy 40 minutes. You can play a guy 40 minutes, but you cannot play a guy at a fast pace for 40 minutes. It really eliminates pressing and doing much running when you are playing five or six guys. If you have more guys and you can play more guys, you can do that. If you are playing at a slower pace, you can play five or six guys.”
How do you evaluate the depth of this year’s team compared to a team that was a little thin last year?
“We had no depth last year. This year we have 10 guys, right now, who are playing at a pretty high level and are capable of playing at a pretty high level. I would not hesitate to play any of the guys on our team right now.”
A lot is expected of Tyus Battle coming into the year. How did the taste of the NBA go into that process and motivate him for this year?
“We think he had a tremendous offseason. He works really hard anyway, but he worked extremely hard. He is shooting the ball better. I think he is an overall better player. I think sometimes we forget that he had a really good year last year. In spite of a lot of defensive concentration, he had a really good year. He made a lot of really big shots in really big games. I think his shooting percentages will get better because we will have other guys to take some of the burden off where we will get a shot, where it does not come back to him at the end where he has to take a shot. So, I think his percentages will get better from two and three and we are working with him to try and get on the boards a bit more and to improve his assists and turnover ratio a bit too.”
Coach, are you sometimes uncomfortable with high rankings?
“I never am. People say that but I’ve never felt uncomfortable with it. People say that we do better when we’re not picked high – that’s a myth. It’s not true.”
So coming in at No. 15 to No. 25 is fair?
“I don’t know. I don’t pay attention to that. Rankings don’t matter. If we went by that we wouldn’t go anywhere. We weren’t ranked last year and ended up pretty well, so we just have to get our team ready. The rankings are good, its good publicity, publicizes the game or whatever, but it really doesn’t matter. It’s what you do once you start playing and this team has enough pieces to accomplish a lot. But a lot of people say that right now -- there’s not many teams that don’t think they’re going to accomplish a lot right now. We’re excited about the season and ready to go. We were on a very thin edge last year. If one our top three guys had ever gotten hurt, we wouldn’t have been able to win a game from that point on. This year, if we have a guy go out, get hurt, or get in foul trouble, we can manage that. We were very fortunate last year. The guys we lost – the guys who got hurt, we were able to survive that.”
Whether it’s big guards or athletic forwards, what are the key traits to having a team that can play the zone?
“We’ve played it with 6-6 centers and 7-2 centers and with 6-4 forwards and 6-9 forwards, with 6-0 guards and 6-6 guards – it doesn’t matter as long as you can play defense. If you can’t play defense, it matters. We’ve had some of that but size is ok, it’s nice, it’s not the end of the world. Some of our best defensive players haven’t been that long but it doesn’t hurt. Length doesn’t hurt no matter what defense you play.”
Coach, you talked about player improvement. How do you think the coaching staff has improved?
“I think as a coach, if you’re in this business, you need to get better every year. You need to learn some things that will help you get better. I think we all try to do that. I think I have three coaches who are familiar with our system but they really are two-way coaches: they’re good recruiters and they’re good coaches. We’ve never hired anybody to be a recruiter. We hire people that can do both and our staff is very good at both. We are very fortunate to have the coaching staff we have but as far as learning, you’re always trying to learn things, make changes, little changes every year, try some different things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, but you’re always trying to find something that will help your team be better.”
Marek Dolezaj really started to turn a corner offensively last year. How do you see his offensive game developing?
“I think his shooting got better. Once he started to be able to make that 15-footer, he became more of a threat. He’s a good defender, good rebounder, but once he started to make that 15-footer – that was the difference. His task this year is that if he can move that out. He is a smart player. When people were booing him to shoot the ball, he knew he shouldn’t shoot the ball because he couldn’t make it. Once he started to make it then he started to shoot the ball.”
Coach, talk about being able to play more guys and having depth.
“You’re able to pressure. You can run more when you have more players, try to be more aggressive, try to push the ball. When you’re playing 40 minutes you can do it but it has to be in a controlled environment. You can’t run a lot, you can’t press a lot, especially when you get into two or three games a week. We were fortunate in the tournament. We played three games in a very short period of time, within less than eight days, but those were all controlled games and we were able to do that. But if you want to play an up-tempo game, which we would like to do, which we always have done here in the past, we need to play more people and get more guys in there. We will do that this year.”
How has Howard Washington’s recovery gone and how do you see him fitting in?
“He’s still working on his knee, he’s out for a little while, so we really haven’t seen much of him this Fall. We’re going to evaluate him when he comes back in about another three weeks and see where he is.”
Media Day
Head Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes
October 12, 2018
How is Frank Howard recovering?
“He is doing what he is supposed to be doing. We expect that if all goes well he will be able to practice about a week before our first regular-season game, if everything goes according to plan.”
Along the same lines, how is Bourama Sidibe doing so far?
“He has been good. He has practiced every day. He has got some soreness. But overall, much better than last year.”
Is Sidibe’s soreness related to the tendinitis or just recovery?
“I think just recovery.”
You have three freshmen. Could you give an assessment of each of those guys?
“I think the freshmen have really been good. Jalen Carey has had to, obviously, carry more of the load early with Frank being out. But he is progressing well and doing everything we expected him to do. Buddy (Boeheim) is shooting the ball well, playing well. I think Robert (Braswell) is a surprisingly good shooter for an incoming forward. He shoots the ball incredibly well and I’d say all three are doing as well as we could hope.”
Elijah Hughes obviously sat out last year after transferring. How have you seen him progressing into this year?
“I think Elijah worked really hard last year. I think it was beneficial for him. He used the year to get better. He really played just about every possession of practice with one group or another. He very seldom came out. He worked extremely hard. I think he is in great shape. I think he is ready to go. He has played well in practice.”
A lot of coaches in the past have said that coaching their son can be a really fulfilling kind of experience. Are there any positive aspects that you have noticed so far to start the season?
“You know once he got here, he has been treated just like any of the other players on the team. He has to do what everybody does, he has to perform like everybody does, and if he can help us, he is going to play.”
Could you expand a little bit upon the areas of the game that Elijah Hughes has improved upon while he was away for the year? And what do you expect from him?
“I think, in general, he got in better condition. I think that he is a good shooter. I think he has improved his shooting. I think he is a good ball handler. I think he makes good plays. I think he is a physical player. I think that he has really improved a lot since he has come in. He is going to be a really good player.”
What do you think the most important areas for Oshae Brissett to improve on this year?
“Finishing, I think, is important. Finishing around the basket. He did not finish at a high percentage. I think he can do that. I think his shooting from the 3-point line is definitely better at this stage and I think those are the two areas that he can improve on. And I think he is stronger. He was a very good rebounder last year. He has improved from last year.”
Your team was a bit offensively challenged last year at times. Do you see that being a recurring issue this year?
“We were one of the worst shooting teams in the league last year. I think that changed a little bit at the end of the year. Marek (Dolezaj) went from averaging four points per game to averaging about 12 the last part of the year and we won once he started putting the ball in the basket. We won at Miami, we won at Louisville, we won a game against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament and then we won three games in the NCAA. There was not a lot of difference with how we played on offense in those six wins except for Marek. That was really the difference. I think he got comfortable and Coach Autry worked with him all year and he got his shot going. And he was really the offensive difference in the way we played at the end of the year.”
With your returning starters and veteran leaders of this team, how do you expect them to lead this team?
“Whenever you have veterans, they just have to go out and do what they are capable of doing and play the way they are capable of playing. They have set a very good example in practice. Practices have been very good. Everybody has really worked hard and at a high level and that tone is set by Tyus (Battle) and the guys that were very important last year.”
Can this team be even better on defense than last year?
“They are the same guys, so they should improve, hopefully. We will have more depth, so we should be able to give guys more rest. And we should be, at least, as good or better defensively.”
Does your team’s experience allow you to be a little ahead of the game at this time of year?
“I think we are way ahead of where we were last year. You have to remember that last year we were getting started with two freshmen forwards and our point guard was coming off a mediocre year. Our big guys were hurting a little bit so there is a world of difference at this point compared to last year. And just with those five guys and then you add the freshmen in and add Elijah in, that makes a big difference on where we are right now than where we were last year.”
Does it set you behind with Frank Howard not being able to practice or does it give Jalen Carey an opportunity?
“A little bit of both. It gives Jalen a little more of an opportunity. But it would not be that much different for him. It hurts a little bit. I would much rather have Frank in there, but at least if he was playing and Jalen was not playing, it would hurt Jalen a lot more because Jalen is learning the system. Frank knows what we do. He has watched and seen what is going on. I thought coming in off the summer and fall that Frank was playing the best I have seen him play here. I think he will get right back to that pretty quickly.”
Are there one or two guys that you think have made the biggest physical improvements?
“I think that Paschal (Chukwu) is stronger. I think that Marek (Dolezaj) has gained at least a pound or a pound and a half. I think that everybody worked hard and had a good summer. I have seen more improvement than normal from this group and it is quite extraordinary, I think.”
Do you play with a faster pace with Jalen Carey playing as opposed to Frank Howard?
“No, it will not make that much difference. We did not play at a fast pace last year, we played five or six guys. You are barely able to play fast when you play a guy 40 minutes. You can play a guy 40 minutes, but you cannot play a guy at a fast pace for 40 minutes. It really eliminates pressing and doing much running when you are playing five or six guys. If you have more guys and you can play more guys, you can do that. If you are playing at a slower pace, you can play five or six guys.”
How do you evaluate the depth of this year’s team compared to a team that was a little thin last year?
“We had no depth last year. This year we have 10 guys, right now, who are playing at a pretty high level and are capable of playing at a pretty high level. I would not hesitate to play any of the guys on our team right now.”
A lot is expected of Tyus Battle coming into the year. How did the taste of the NBA go into that process and motivate him for this year?
“We think he had a tremendous offseason. He works really hard anyway, but he worked extremely hard. He is shooting the ball better. I think he is an overall better player. I think sometimes we forget that he had a really good year last year. In spite of a lot of defensive concentration, he had a really good year. He made a lot of really big shots in really big games. I think his shooting percentages will get better because we will have other guys to take some of the burden off where we will get a shot, where it does not come back to him at the end where he has to take a shot. So, I think his percentages will get better from two and three and we are working with him to try and get on the boards a bit more and to improve his assists and turnover ratio a bit too.”
Coach, are you sometimes uncomfortable with high rankings?
“I never am. People say that but I’ve never felt uncomfortable with it. People say that we do better when we’re not picked high – that’s a myth. It’s not true.”
So coming in at No. 15 to No. 25 is fair?
“I don’t know. I don’t pay attention to that. Rankings don’t matter. If we went by that we wouldn’t go anywhere. We weren’t ranked last year and ended up pretty well, so we just have to get our team ready. The rankings are good, its good publicity, publicizes the game or whatever, but it really doesn’t matter. It’s what you do once you start playing and this team has enough pieces to accomplish a lot. But a lot of people say that right now -- there’s not many teams that don’t think they’re going to accomplish a lot right now. We’re excited about the season and ready to go. We were on a very thin edge last year. If one our top three guys had ever gotten hurt, we wouldn’t have been able to win a game from that point on. This year, if we have a guy go out, get hurt, or get in foul trouble, we can manage that. We were very fortunate last year. The guys we lost – the guys who got hurt, we were able to survive that.”
Whether it’s big guards or athletic forwards, what are the key traits to having a team that can play the zone?
“We’ve played it with 6-6 centers and 7-2 centers and with 6-4 forwards and 6-9 forwards, with 6-0 guards and 6-6 guards – it doesn’t matter as long as you can play defense. If you can’t play defense, it matters. We’ve had some of that but size is ok, it’s nice, it’s not the end of the world. Some of our best defensive players haven’t been that long but it doesn’t hurt. Length doesn’t hurt no matter what defense you play.”
Coach, you talked about player improvement. How do you think the coaching staff has improved?
“I think as a coach, if you’re in this business, you need to get better every year. You need to learn some things that will help you get better. I think we all try to do that. I think I have three coaches who are familiar with our system but they really are two-way coaches: they’re good recruiters and they’re good coaches. We’ve never hired anybody to be a recruiter. We hire people that can do both and our staff is very good at both. We are very fortunate to have the coaching staff we have but as far as learning, you’re always trying to learn things, make changes, little changes every year, try some different things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, but you’re always trying to find something that will help your team be better.”
Marek Dolezaj really started to turn a corner offensively last year. How do you see his offensive game developing?
“I think his shooting got better. Once he started to be able to make that 15-footer, he became more of a threat. He’s a good defender, good rebounder, but once he started to make that 15-footer – that was the difference. His task this year is that if he can move that out. He is a smart player. When people were booing him to shoot the ball, he knew he shouldn’t shoot the ball because he couldn’t make it. Once he started to make it then he started to shoot the ball.”
Coach, talk about being able to play more guys and having depth.
“You’re able to pressure. You can run more when you have more players, try to be more aggressive, try to push the ball. When you’re playing 40 minutes you can do it but it has to be in a controlled environment. You can’t run a lot, you can’t press a lot, especially when you get into two or three games a week. We were fortunate in the tournament. We played three games in a very short period of time, within less than eight days, but those were all controlled games and we were able to do that. But if you want to play an up-tempo game, which we would like to do, which we always have done here in the past, we need to play more people and get more guys in there. We will do that this year.”
How has Howard Washington’s recovery gone and how do you see him fitting in?
“He’s still working on his knee, he’s out for a little while, so we really haven’t seen much of him this Fall. We’re going to evaluate him when he comes back in about another three weeks and see where he is.”
