What Jim Boeheim Said After Georgia Tech's 97-63 Loss To Syracuse
Opening Statement:
“Elijah [Hughes] got us off to a great start. We had good movement. We passed the ball well. When we shoot it well we’re tough to stop. Our defense really was key. We battled inside and we rebounded. Overall though it was good effort.”
On Syracuse’s shooting performance:
“We haven’t been good in our losses. We’ve played teams that are really good, physical, tough man-to-man teams starting with Virginia, Penn State, Oklahoma State… Iowa played good defense against us. That was the game that surprised me a little bit. We didn’t get enough movement and enough good shots in that game. We really overloaded and got some good shots against their zone early. Their defense gave us a lot of trouble early but we do have better shooting [this year]. I thought we had some opportunities in the first half… Joe [Girard III] and Buddy [Boeheim] were wide open – two or three each. In the second half Joe made those and that gives us that edge when all three of those guys make shots. It’s tough when you lose two or three games in a row at any time, but you just have to keep playing and get ready for the next game.”
On winning the rebounding battle:
“They’ve got two guys, but their other guys are small. They don’t have another guy. I thought we battled them pretty good down in there. We did a pretty good job of getting on the boards. We gave up a couple early, but overall that’s pretty good for us.”
On Elijah Hughes’ first-half performance:
“That was pretty good. He just got in the zone. He’s had days like that in practice. He hasn’t really had a game like that this year. I thought he was going to keep making them all.”
On Syracuse’s offensive movement:
“We moved a little better but we’ve been moving… The defenses that we’ve been playing against have been to much for us. Period. You don’t get those shots against those teams. They just are too physical, too good. We’re young and we’re still trying to figure out what we’re doing, where we’re going. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. This is just one game. We’ve got so much to do to get better. I think we will improve but we’ve got a lot of work to do. I thought we had a couple good practices, but you never know coming in here. I’ve seen Georgia Tech a couple times… they’re capable. We did a good job with [Michael] Devoe. We just didn’t let him get comfortable. He’s one of the leading scorers in the league so you do a good job on him that’s a big part of your defense.”
On defending Michael Devoe:
“We just wanted to be there every time he caught it. [We] didn’t want to give him any space or driving lanes. We did a good job with him.”
On strong three-point shooting helping the offense:
“When you make threes it just changes the game. Marek [Dolezaj] gets the ball in the middle and is able to get in the lane and make plays out of the lane. I thought he was good today. His numbers weren’t great but they were pretty good. He was pretty good today. Bourama [Sidibe] was good. He played defense and made some steals. He got some rebounds. He’s getting back to healthy. He was a big factor today. It was good for Jesse [Edwards] to get in there to show he can do some things. Howard [Washington] was really good. Joe [Girard III] played really good [but] he made a two-step walk that we can’t make. He’s got to get that out of his system. He made his first two real big threes in a game and they were comebacks. He just pulled up and He can make that shot [but] he just hasn’t. He was 2-for-18 from the three. He’s not going to do that very long.”
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook &follow us on Twitter at @GeorgiaTechSI and Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp.
