Head Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes - Media Day
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Media Day
October 11, 2019
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Since you have come back from Italy, what kind of things have you been working on and what kind of things have you seen from your team?
“The same things that we would work on every year. We have a little bit of a head start, but we are still going back and doing the same things that we would do every year. You get a little further ahead in some years than others because of the personnel coming back, but with so many new guys, you have to teach a lot of new things to them.”
What have you thought of John Bol Ajak and Jesse Edwards thus far?
“I think that they’re working hard. They have a good understanding of what we’re are doing. Physically, they’re getting stronger. They’ve already put some weight on and we’re seeing a strength gain already. But there’s still work to be done in that area.”
Do you still not want to play Marek (Dolezaj) at the center?
“We won’t know that until we start playing games. I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays center at times this year. But, I think we’re pretty flexible with where guys are going to play and we’ll see how it goes.”
Can you talk about Marek Dolezaj’s shooting?
“I think it hurt him to be out this summer. I think he would have gained some during that six weeks where he couldn’t shoot. But, he shot 38 percent from three last year, which is good. He’s working hard every day trying to get his shooting better.”
How much will you be relying on Jalen Carey to step into a prominent guard role this year?
“We have five guards and three or four of them can play the point, so, we’ll see how it goes. It’s a work in progress. We have a lot of young guys back there so we’ll try to figure out who’s going to play and how they’re going to play.
“The difference between this year’s team and last year’s with Tyus (Battle), Frank (Howard) and Oshae (Brissett) is basically going from having three guys that were going to play 38 minutes to this year where, at this stage, the only guy that looks like he would be playing that many minutes would be Elijah (Hughes). So, I think there’s more flexibility in terms of the minutes. Nothing is set in stone and it could change from game to game. So, we’ll see how people play.”
How much did the trip to Europe help determine the team’s flexibility?
“The competition level wasn’t high enough to determine that. But everyone on the trip contributed and looked comfortable with what we’re trying to do. So, from that point of view, the Italy games and the practice days were very helpful.”
We haven’t seen Howard Washington on the court for a couple of years. How has he looked?
“I think he’s a much better player. Last year, he was never fully in shape because of everything that he went through, understandably. But, he’s much in a much better condition this year and he’s improved his shooting.”
How much of the recruiting effort is focused on Canadian prospects like Quincy Guerrier?
“We’re always looking for players that can help us and we’ve had success in both Toronto and Montreal in the past with players like Kris Joseph and a number of others. That area is only four or five hours away from us so we’re going to always be mindful of the players in those areas and if they can help us.”
How is Quincy Guerrier integrating into the team thus far?
“Good. He’s been here all summer and worked really hard. He’s been as hard a worker as anyone we’ve had with getting in the gym and shooting. He had a good trip and played really well and continues to make good progress.”
Where do you want to see Quincy’s progress?
“He’s just getting used to playing with everybody. It takes time. With five freshmen, it’s always difficult to figure out how everyone fits in. But, we’re fortunate that we have three juniors that have played a lot. They have a lot of game and practice experience and they’re going to be key for us. Bourama (Sidibe) being healthy is really important and he’s shown that when he’s healthy, he can do some things out there. Obviously, Marek (Dolezaj) and Elijah (Hughes) have been very solid players. So, it’s good to have those guys here.”
What younger players have the ability to fill holes at the guard position?
“Our young guards are going to have to step up. It’s two positions and we have five guys fighting for those spots. Jalen (Carey) and Buddy (Boeheim) had some experience last year, which will help them. But, all five are in the mix and we’ll see how they play. I think that will be a flexible position throughout the year.”
Where have you seen Jalen Carey improve from last season?
“Jalen has worked really hard in the weight room so he’s stronger. His decision-making and how he pushes the ball is important. I think he’s shooting very well from mid-range. He works every day on his shooting and he’s getting better. He also continues to improve his 3-point shooting. But he’s really getting better at pushing the ball. We like to get it up the court and he can do that and make plays on the other end.
“We have guys that can shoot and we think he can make plays. I think Elijah (Hughes) has improved as much as you could ever expect in terms of his play-making and that will help us.”
Do you expect Elijah Hughes to play a lot of lead guard this season?
“I don’t expect him to play any lead guard. I expect him to play mostly at the three. But he will handle the ball a lot in that position.”
What do you make of your team’s rebounding ability this year?
“We have to work on that. That’s an area that we have to make sure we get better in for sure. I think we need to make sure that our guards are engaged in the rebounding process a little bit more and our front-line guys are going to have to do a good job on the boards.”
How does the new 20-game schedule change things this year and how might the committee change how they evaluate your team for the NCAA Tournament as a result?
“I don’t think that the committee will adjust. You have to win games and you have to be good. The schedule makes it more difficult. But, it is what it is. We have a really good schedule. We have an opportunity to win non-conference games and obviously, the ACC is a very tough conference to play in. But that’s how you get better.”
Does opening up against Virginia change things as opposed to opening up against a tough non-conference opponent?
“With the 20-game schedule, you have to play conference games earlier and it’s the same for everybody so you have to be prepared. We’ve opened with tough games before and, obviously, Virginia is a tremendous team. Even though they’ve lost key guys, they have a lot of good players returning and it’ll be a great test to start out the season.”
Does your 44th year at the helm feel more special than the others?
“No. It’s the same every year. You start anew and you look forward to what the team can do. There are new challenges every year and I look forward to those.”
How important is the ability to shoot from outside for your team this year?
“It’s always important. You have to make shots. I think this is one of our better shooting teams in a while and it’ll be important for this team to make shots. But it’s always important to score, get to the foul line and get to the basket. You can’t rely on one aspect of the offense. But, we would like to shoot the ball better as a team from three this year.”
Is there one thing that will be the biggest work-in-progress this year?
“I don’t think so. I think it’s the overall group with so many new guys and guys in completely new roles. It will be important for this team to start out playing as well as we can but then get better as we go along. When you have a lot of veterans, they’re going to start out pretty good, but there might not be as much upside with a team like that. But, with so many new guys, I think there’s a little more upside going forward.”
How much will you change your offense with more shooters and more spacing?
“Every team is a little different. Last year’s team did a little more off the dribble. I think with this year’s team – we can do some different things to try to get into good offensive positions and hopefully, we are going to be able to get it up the court quicker. So, there will be little differences from what we did last year. But, I think we can move the ball and we’ll move the ball better. Last year, we had to ability to drive from a couple guys and we tried to take advantage of that. I think this year’s team is a little better at moving the ball and getting into good offensive situations through ball movement that I don’t necessarily think we had last year. So, we’ll see how it goes.”
How has Marek Dolezaj grown in the years that you have known him?
“He helped us right away during his freshman year, which nobody thought would happen. I know he didn’t think that and I don’t know if I did. But, he stepped into a really crucial situation and really made a difference with our team. I think he’s gotten better. He’s a guy that does a lot of things for us when he’s out there regardless of where he’s playing. He’s a playmaker and there’s not many 6’10” guys that are playmakers, but he certainly is one. With the type of team we had last year, he didn’t get to make as many plays because of Tyus (Battle), Oshae (Brissett), Frank (Howard) and, to some extent, Elijah (Hughes) since they were all playmakers. I think this year, with change in the lineup, Marek is going to have an opportunity to do more with the ball and be more of a playmaker, which I think will be good for us.”
Closing Statement:
“The experience of both Elijah (Hughes) and Bourama (Sidibe) is very important for this team and the experience that Jalen (Carey) and Buddy (Boeheim) got lost year will help. They were in very big situations during the last 20 games and Buddy was in big situations the whole length of those games and that will help him this year. But, how those young guys will fit in is important for the overall success of what we do this year.
“I think it’s important that any of these young guys can step in and do something. You really don’t know until you get closer to game time. But, they’re all very capable players. The freshmen are much than their rankings. We know from past experience with our players that the ranking doesn’t really reflect how good a player can be. We’ve had guys not ranked in the top 100 be very productive players as freshmen. And this group is like that. It’s a very good group.”
Media Day
October 11, 2019
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Since you have come back from Italy, what kind of things have you been working on and what kind of things have you seen from your team?
“The same things that we would work on every year. We have a little bit of a head start, but we are still going back and doing the same things that we would do every year. You get a little further ahead in some years than others because of the personnel coming back, but with so many new guys, you have to teach a lot of new things to them.”
What have you thought of John Bol Ajak and Jesse Edwards thus far?
“I think that they’re working hard. They have a good understanding of what we’re are doing. Physically, they’re getting stronger. They’ve already put some weight on and we’re seeing a strength gain already. But there’s still work to be done in that area.”
Do you still not want to play Marek (Dolezaj) at the center?
“We won’t know that until we start playing games. I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays center at times this year. But, I think we’re pretty flexible with where guys are going to play and we’ll see how it goes.”
Can you talk about Marek Dolezaj’s shooting?
“I think it hurt him to be out this summer. I think he would have gained some during that six weeks where he couldn’t shoot. But, he shot 38 percent from three last year, which is good. He’s working hard every day trying to get his shooting better.”
How much will you be relying on Jalen Carey to step into a prominent guard role this year?
“We have five guards and three or four of them can play the point, so, we’ll see how it goes. It’s a work in progress. We have a lot of young guys back there so we’ll try to figure out who’s going to play and how they’re going to play.
“The difference between this year’s team and last year’s with Tyus (Battle), Frank (Howard) and Oshae (Brissett) is basically going from having three guys that were going to play 38 minutes to this year where, at this stage, the only guy that looks like he would be playing that many minutes would be Elijah (Hughes). So, I think there’s more flexibility in terms of the minutes. Nothing is set in stone and it could change from game to game. So, we’ll see how people play.”
How much did the trip to Europe help determine the team’s flexibility?
“The competition level wasn’t high enough to determine that. But everyone on the trip contributed and looked comfortable with what we’re trying to do. So, from that point of view, the Italy games and the practice days were very helpful.”
We haven’t seen Howard Washington on the court for a couple of years. How has he looked?
“I think he’s a much better player. Last year, he was never fully in shape because of everything that he went through, understandably. But, he’s much in a much better condition this year and he’s improved his shooting.”
How much of the recruiting effort is focused on Canadian prospects like Quincy Guerrier?
“We’re always looking for players that can help us and we’ve had success in both Toronto and Montreal in the past with players like Kris Joseph and a number of others. That area is only four or five hours away from us so we’re going to always be mindful of the players in those areas and if they can help us.”
How is Quincy Guerrier integrating into the team thus far?
“Good. He’s been here all summer and worked really hard. He’s been as hard a worker as anyone we’ve had with getting in the gym and shooting. He had a good trip and played really well and continues to make good progress.”
Where do you want to see Quincy’s progress?
“He’s just getting used to playing with everybody. It takes time. With five freshmen, it’s always difficult to figure out how everyone fits in. But, we’re fortunate that we have three juniors that have played a lot. They have a lot of game and practice experience and they’re going to be key for us. Bourama (Sidibe) being healthy is really important and he’s shown that when he’s healthy, he can do some things out there. Obviously, Marek (Dolezaj) and Elijah (Hughes) have been very solid players. So, it’s good to have those guys here.”
What younger players have the ability to fill holes at the guard position?
“Our young guards are going to have to step up. It’s two positions and we have five guys fighting for those spots. Jalen (Carey) and Buddy (Boeheim) had some experience last year, which will help them. But, all five are in the mix and we’ll see how they play. I think that will be a flexible position throughout the year.”
Where have you seen Jalen Carey improve from last season?
“Jalen has worked really hard in the weight room so he’s stronger. His decision-making and how he pushes the ball is important. I think he’s shooting very well from mid-range. He works every day on his shooting and he’s getting better. He also continues to improve his 3-point shooting. But he’s really getting better at pushing the ball. We like to get it up the court and he can do that and make plays on the other end.
“We have guys that can shoot and we think he can make plays. I think Elijah (Hughes) has improved as much as you could ever expect in terms of his play-making and that will help us.”
Do you expect Elijah Hughes to play a lot of lead guard this season?
“I don’t expect him to play any lead guard. I expect him to play mostly at the three. But he will handle the ball a lot in that position.”
What do you make of your team’s rebounding ability this year?
“We have to work on that. That’s an area that we have to make sure we get better in for sure. I think we need to make sure that our guards are engaged in the rebounding process a little bit more and our front-line guys are going to have to do a good job on the boards.”
How does the new 20-game schedule change things this year and how might the committee change how they evaluate your team for the NCAA Tournament as a result?
“I don’t think that the committee will adjust. You have to win games and you have to be good. The schedule makes it more difficult. But, it is what it is. We have a really good schedule. We have an opportunity to win non-conference games and obviously, the ACC is a very tough conference to play in. But that’s how you get better.”
Does opening up against Virginia change things as opposed to opening up against a tough non-conference opponent?
“With the 20-game schedule, you have to play conference games earlier and it’s the same for everybody so you have to be prepared. We’ve opened with tough games before and, obviously, Virginia is a tremendous team. Even though they’ve lost key guys, they have a lot of good players returning and it’ll be a great test to start out the season.”
Does your 44th year at the helm feel more special than the others?
“No. It’s the same every year. You start anew and you look forward to what the team can do. There are new challenges every year and I look forward to those.”
How important is the ability to shoot from outside for your team this year?
“It’s always important. You have to make shots. I think this is one of our better shooting teams in a while and it’ll be important for this team to make shots. But it’s always important to score, get to the foul line and get to the basket. You can’t rely on one aspect of the offense. But, we would like to shoot the ball better as a team from three this year.”
Is there one thing that will be the biggest work-in-progress this year?
“I don’t think so. I think it’s the overall group with so many new guys and guys in completely new roles. It will be important for this team to start out playing as well as we can but then get better as we go along. When you have a lot of veterans, they’re going to start out pretty good, but there might not be as much upside with a team like that. But, with so many new guys, I think there’s a little more upside going forward.”
How much will you change your offense with more shooters and more spacing?
“Every team is a little different. Last year’s team did a little more off the dribble. I think with this year’s team – we can do some different things to try to get into good offensive positions and hopefully, we are going to be able to get it up the court quicker. So, there will be little differences from what we did last year. But, I think we can move the ball and we’ll move the ball better. Last year, we had to ability to drive from a couple guys and we tried to take advantage of that. I think this year’s team is a little better at moving the ball and getting into good offensive situations through ball movement that I don’t necessarily think we had last year. So, we’ll see how it goes.”
How has Marek Dolezaj grown in the years that you have known him?
“He helped us right away during his freshman year, which nobody thought would happen. I know he didn’t think that and I don’t know if I did. But, he stepped into a really crucial situation and really made a difference with our team. I think he’s gotten better. He’s a guy that does a lot of things for us when he’s out there regardless of where he’s playing. He’s a playmaker and there’s not many 6’10” guys that are playmakers, but he certainly is one. With the type of team we had last year, he didn’t get to make as many plays because of Tyus (Battle), Oshae (Brissett), Frank (Howard) and, to some extent, Elijah (Hughes) since they were all playmakers. I think this year, with change in the lineup, Marek is going to have an opportunity to do more with the ball and be more of a playmaker, which I think will be good for us.”
Closing Statement:
“The experience of both Elijah (Hughes) and Bourama (Sidibe) is very important for this team and the experience that Jalen (Carey) and Buddy (Boeheim) got lost year will help. They were in very big situations during the last 20 games and Buddy was in big situations the whole length of those games and that will help him this year. But, how those young guys will fit in is important for the overall success of what we do this year.
“I think it’s important that any of these young guys can step in and do something. You really don’t know until you get closer to game time. But, they’re all very capable players. The freshmen are much than their rankings. We know from past experience with our players that the ranking doesn’t really reflect how good a player can be. We’ve had guys not ranked in the top 100 be very productive players as freshmen. And this group is like that. It’s a very good group.”
