Head Coach Jim Boeheim Quotes - Boston College
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Syracuse vs. Boston College
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement:
“I thought, defensively, Marek (Dolezaj) did a great job in the middle, knocking balls away getting outside. They were trying to get inside the whole game. We did a really good job on (Jordan) Chatman – he's always hurt us. We did a good job on (Ky) Bowman until the end he made a couple tough shots. But offensively, we were really good for a stretch. We got out and got some loose balls because of
Marek and we got out on the break.
“Tyus (Battle) in the open court is really good. We had the lead and we just made bad plays. We made four bad plays – Oshae’s (Brissett) charge, lost the ball out of bounds and threw the ball away. Marek threw one away. We made four or five of those plays and a 20-point lead is nothing. The make two three’s and two two’s and now it's a 10-point lead. You just can’t play poorly like that. But, we had guys in there that we shouldn’t have had that problem at all.
“I think Elijah (Hughes) has be more aggressive in those late-game situations and come up and look for the ball. We are letting Tyus do everything, Frank (Howard) is not making shots, he’s not getting by people and he has to settle for a jump shot. We need him to get by. Earlier he got by a few times, but he just hasn't been making anything. But, again our defense was good and we played well enough to win.”
You said after your last win against Boston College that you were happy with the win but you felt the team played mediocre. How do you feel after this win?
“We had a good stretch. We started out we were slow early then we had a good stretch there to get the 10-point lead. Then the second half we had a really good stretch, played really well. They missed some shots that I think they might normally make. But, we did a good job on the two shooters and the other guys we wanted to shoot. The difference is Paschal (Chukwu) couldn’t handle the inside play. He just wasn’t there today and Marek (Dolezaj) did a fantastic job knocking balls away. I don’t think we are getting to loose balls. We got to a few there and that's when we got on the run, but we aren’t getting to some of those. We had three guys around the ball one time and they got it so we have be better there. Paschal’s has to be better, Frank, those two guys have to play better going down the stretch.”
How do you balance playing time for Frank Howard when he isn’t making shots when Buddy Boeheim is playing so well?
“Ty (Battle) can’t play the whole game at point. It’s not a good position for him in the long run against the teams that we have to beat. We have to have another guard and you're not going away from a senior guard. Well he’s (Frank) shooting 36 percent and didn’t make any tonight and Buddy (Boeheim) missed six straight in the last game.”
Oshae Brissett has had three straight double-doubles. Has something changed in his approach where he seems a lot more comfortable out there?
“He’s rebounding and going inside better. He’s not taking three or four three’s, and he is getting to the basket and that is what he does best. He still works on his shooting every day, he makes shots in practice, and I think he can make them and I think he will make them. Some games he has an advantage inside, and we need him to get in there. He missed two, three layups today and he really could’ve had 18- or 20-point and 12-rebound game very easily today.”
Marek Dolezaj was actually the third center off of the bench today. You tried to get Bourama Sidibe in there, what were you looking for?
“We haven’t been able to get Bourama (Sidibe) in there and I wanted to just see what he could do. He gave two baskets up in two plays. He doesn’t have to do anything on offense, but he has to play defense. Our whole scouting report was when (Ky) Bowman is in the middle is you come up, and he (Bourama) said he played him, but he didn’t. He brings his arms down and fouls him instead of keeping his hands up. You can’t make those plays. That’s four points in 30-seconds.
“It’s tough for Marek (Dolezaj) to play center. He does a great job and fights in there, but it’s not going to work – not in this league. We have to have the bigger guys do something, bottom line.”
Are you encouraged with Buddy Boeheim’s defense?
“He works hard on defense and he was pretty good tonight. I thought he did a pretty good job. He’s helping us and making shots; we need someone to make shots out there.”
With Marek Dolezaj in the middle against other teams, is there a certain number of minutes you think he can give you against bigger guys, or is it just based on matchups?
“He’ll give us minutes when he is productive and doesn’t get blown away in there. This was a hard game. They put two guys in there, and they were just focused on going in there high-low.
“It’s hard for Paschal (Chukwu) to adjust to that, coming up and back; he comes up and he can’t get back, or he’s back and doesn’t come up. It’s hard for him. The good news is that most teams don’t play like that. The other part of the equation is those guys in there are trying to make two’s, and they are shooting under 50 percent. I’d much rather have them doing that than having (Jordan) Chatman and (Ky) Bowman shooting three’s. We’re gambling outside. We are doing better than at Virginia Tech where we let it go inside but didn’t match up, so they could throw it back out. When they (BC) tried to throw it back out, we were matched up and they didn’t get those looks. Inside, they shot under 30 percent, so we will take that versus letting Bowman and Chatman get good looks.
“Chatman had a couple of good looks tonight early. He missed and I don’t think he got his rhythm back after that.Sometimes those guys miss a couple and they lose their rhythm. But Bowman always makes shots against us. I see him against other people and go 1-for-8, but he always makes them against us. He’s a good player – he is a really good player.”
Syracuse vs. Boston College
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Jim Boeheim
Opening Statement:
“I thought, defensively, Marek (Dolezaj) did a great job in the middle, knocking balls away getting outside. They were trying to get inside the whole game. We did a really good job on (Jordan) Chatman – he's always hurt us. We did a good job on (Ky) Bowman until the end he made a couple tough shots. But offensively, we were really good for a stretch. We got out and got some loose balls because of
Marek and we got out on the break.
“Tyus (Battle) in the open court is really good. We had the lead and we just made bad plays. We made four bad plays – Oshae’s (Brissett) charge, lost the ball out of bounds and threw the ball away. Marek threw one away. We made four or five of those plays and a 20-point lead is nothing. The make two three’s and two two’s and now it's a 10-point lead. You just can’t play poorly like that. But, we had guys in there that we shouldn’t have had that problem at all.
“I think Elijah (Hughes) has be more aggressive in those late-game situations and come up and look for the ball. We are letting Tyus do everything, Frank (Howard) is not making shots, he’s not getting by people and he has to settle for a jump shot. We need him to get by. Earlier he got by a few times, but he just hasn't been making anything. But, again our defense was good and we played well enough to win.”
You said after your last win against Boston College that you were happy with the win but you felt the team played mediocre. How do you feel after this win?
“We had a good stretch. We started out we were slow early then we had a good stretch there to get the 10-point lead. Then the second half we had a really good stretch, played really well. They missed some shots that I think they might normally make. But, we did a good job on the two shooters and the other guys we wanted to shoot. The difference is Paschal (Chukwu) couldn’t handle the inside play. He just wasn’t there today and Marek (Dolezaj) did a fantastic job knocking balls away. I don’t think we are getting to loose balls. We got to a few there and that's when we got on the run, but we aren’t getting to some of those. We had three guys around the ball one time and they got it so we have be better there. Paschal’s has to be better, Frank, those two guys have to play better going down the stretch.”
How do you balance playing time for Frank Howard when he isn’t making shots when Buddy Boeheim is playing so well?
“Ty (Battle) can’t play the whole game at point. It’s not a good position for him in the long run against the teams that we have to beat. We have to have another guard and you're not going away from a senior guard. Well he’s (Frank) shooting 36 percent and didn’t make any tonight and Buddy (Boeheim) missed six straight in the last game.”
Oshae Brissett has had three straight double-doubles. Has something changed in his approach where he seems a lot more comfortable out there?
“He’s rebounding and going inside better. He’s not taking three or four three’s, and he is getting to the basket and that is what he does best. He still works on his shooting every day, he makes shots in practice, and I think he can make them and I think he will make them. Some games he has an advantage inside, and we need him to get in there. He missed two, three layups today and he really could’ve had 18- or 20-point and 12-rebound game very easily today.”
Marek Dolezaj was actually the third center off of the bench today. You tried to get Bourama Sidibe in there, what were you looking for?
“We haven’t been able to get Bourama (Sidibe) in there and I wanted to just see what he could do. He gave two baskets up in two plays. He doesn’t have to do anything on offense, but he has to play defense. Our whole scouting report was when (Ky) Bowman is in the middle is you come up, and he (Bourama) said he played him, but he didn’t. He brings his arms down and fouls him instead of keeping his hands up. You can’t make those plays. That’s four points in 30-seconds.
“It’s tough for Marek (Dolezaj) to play center. He does a great job and fights in there, but it’s not going to work – not in this league. We have to have the bigger guys do something, bottom line.”
Are you encouraged with Buddy Boeheim’s defense?
“He works hard on defense and he was pretty good tonight. I thought he did a pretty good job. He’s helping us and making shots; we need someone to make shots out there.”
With Marek Dolezaj in the middle against other teams, is there a certain number of minutes you think he can give you against bigger guys, or is it just based on matchups?
“He’ll give us minutes when he is productive and doesn’t get blown away in there. This was a hard game. They put two guys in there, and they were just focused on going in there high-low.
“It’s hard for Paschal (Chukwu) to adjust to that, coming up and back; he comes up and he can’t get back, or he’s back and doesn’t come up. It’s hard for him. The good news is that most teams don’t play like that. The other part of the equation is those guys in there are trying to make two’s, and they are shooting under 50 percent. I’d much rather have them doing that than having (Jordan) Chatman and (Ky) Bowman shooting three’s. We’re gambling outside. We are doing better than at Virginia Tech where we let it go inside but didn’t match up, so they could throw it back out. When they (BC) tried to throw it back out, we were matched up and they didn’t get those looks. Inside, they shot under 30 percent, so we will take that versus letting Bowman and Chatman get good looks.
“Chatman had a couple of good looks tonight early. He missed and I don’t think he got his rhythm back after that.Sometimes those guys miss a couple and they lose their rhythm. But Bowman always makes shots against us. I see him against other people and go 1-for-8, but he always makes them against us. He’s a good player – he is a really good player.”
