Syracuse University Athletics

 

“It is obvious that when you shoot the ball well from the outside and the other team does not shoot the ball well, it is really not an indication of the teams. We made shots. It was a very close game, and then we just made four or five in a row, and that is going to break anybody’s back. It was just a question of that. We still made some bad turnovers. We didn’t finish inside, but when you shoot that well it just changes the game. There is nothing that anybody can do, when they are not making shots and we are making shots. That is the only way you are going to get a big lead in this league. Seton Hall is a good team. They have played everybody tough. It is always tough when their coach can’t be here. That is always difficult. That is just one of those things. We got started off on the right foot. We just have to have a couple of good practices and go down to South Florida. We went down there last year and did not play well and did not win. We just have to get ready to move on to the next game.”

 

“He got it ripped pretty bad, but the early thing is that right now he should be OK and be able to practice. He got it ripped pretty wide open. He caught it right on the rim and cut it. As far as I know now, there was no major damage. No nerves, nothing like that. So hopefully, he will be able to practice tomorrow.”

 

“I think they all got an opportunity to come in and play and that is good. Kristof [Ongenaet] has not played much the last couple games so I thought it was good to get him out there, and get him involved. He does what he does. He got some rebounds and plays defense.”

 

“They start out slow. He had an air ball and a couple bad plays, and that is to be expected. He hit that first one, and then he was back. He has practiced four days now. He has been able to get his practice in and that is what is important.

 

"I think the thing with Eric [Defendorf], there are a couple points I would like to make. I am not going to go back into that thing, but the fact that Mike (Waters, Post Standard) wrote that story about him I think was a good thing. It let people know what he did. I was shocked when people were criticizing that and I think they were trying to criticize Eric [Defendorf]. I could not quite understand that. He should not be given any accolades as far as he went to the Rescue Mission. He did his work. He had to go. He did not volunteer. The good thing about it is he went down there and all the reports that I have gotten back, he did a good job. He was conscientious.  He could have gone down there with an attitude, like ‘Well I have got to be here.’ He did not. He went down there and did his job. I think it is a good experience. I have been to the Rescue Mission. I have served. It is a good experience. It has been a good experience for me. I think it has been good for him, but he should not get any excess credit for it because he had to go. The fact that he did a good job is a good thing.”

 

"I keep hearing about ‘What is Boeheim going to do now?’ I would like to approach this logically. I think that is kind of hard, but I will try.  I am not sure if I am that good at presenting logical arguments or whether people are not good at hearing them. But when the University made this ruling, we waited through the appeals. They made another ruling. If it had come out that Eric had been suspended for 10, 12, 15, whatever, games, and I said ‘Well, I am not going to do that. That is too much. I am going to adjust that.’ What would happen to me? I would get fired, right? Because I am going against what the University said.  So now I hear people want me to go against what has just happened. The University has come out and made a determination. Whether I agree with it or not, I am not even at issue with. They have determined what should happen. Now people are saying ‘So what is Boeheim going to do? What is he going to do?’ In other words, I should not accept what they have decided? I should now go against their decision? Then I should be fired for that. They have made a determination that we have to go forth with. I hear  ‘Well, he missed two games.’ First of all, games are important to every player. If you have not played, you may not understand that. To miss the Memphis game, it bothers him. To miss any game bothers players. The consequences of his actions are he missed those two games. He had to do his community service. He has to do more. He has several more things that he has to do to fulfill his responsibilities for what happened.

 

"The other consequence of this thing is that he wants to be a starter just like every player on my team. He is not a starter because he missed games. He missed practice. We are not all of a sudden going to change that. He could be a starter again. It is possible he would not be a starter. Those are consequences that he has had to face because he got involved in something he should not have. They may not seem as much to some people. I think they are. That is their opinion. Everybody is going to have their opinion about what happened, what should happen. That is the way of the world. We just have to at this point and time realize that the University has made a decision, and we are moving forward. I certainly do not feel that it is up to me to go against what the University has said, and say, 'Well, wait a minute you did not do enough’ and suspend him for two more games. Is that what you want? Is that what people mean when they say, 'Well what is Boeheim going to do?’ There have been consequences and he has had to deal with that. You can judge it any way you want to. There is going to be a percentage of people that will think it is not enough. There will be a percentage who thinks it is too much. There will be a large group that thinks, well let’s just move on here.

 

"I was happy to see him back. I was happy to see that he could come out and play as well as he did. It is always difficult when you go through something like this, and I am happy for him. I am happy that he is back with us. The other consequences of his actions -- we could have lost to Memphis very easily. That would have had consequences for our team, and Eric, who is a part of our team. Fortunately, we went out and played well and got a win down there. We just have to, as you do in life, move on and put that behind us. Hopefully, we have done that now. That is where it stands. That is where it is.”

 

“Fans are going to support our players, and that is great. They should. If he had missed four or five shots he probably would have got a couple boos. That is the way it is. Fans are going to support our players.  I am obviously going to support our players. I bring them here. I am responsible for them. If they have done something wrong, I am responsible as well for that. We are not happy about any time a player gets into a situation he should not have. We do realize that young men do that. They make mistakes. We are not the only school in the country that has had that happen to them.”

 

“Well, if he gets those shots he is going to have a good percentage. We have said that all along. Nothing has changed my mind. Seton Hall is short-handed. They are smaller. They have to help inside a little bit. Our guys are doing a really good job of executing and getting Andy [Rautins] good shots and finding him. He is doing a much better job of putting the ball on the floor when they pressure him, and making plays. He is fully capable of doing that. He is going to do nothing but get better. I think we said at the beginning of the year, Eric [Devendorf] and Andy [Rautins] missed the last year, the whole year for Andy [Rautins] and most of it for Eric [Defendorf]. It would take them into a certain point in the season to get their legs back and get comfortable out there. I think that we can say that they are in that position now. This is just one step. We have so far to go. Watching the teams play in this league, I am absolutely amazed at how good the teams are in this league. We will see what happens.”

 

“If we can get Jonny some rest, he was playing 40 [minutes], we have got to save him some minutes. If we can get him out of there and save him and get him some rest, that is a tremendous thing for him and for our team.”