Boeheim Proud of Syracuse's 'Grit and Determination'

Many gave up on Syracuse, but the Orange fought its way to an NCAA Tournament berth.

Syracuse basketball made the NCAA Tournament thanks to a late season surge that saw the Orange pick up wins over North Carolina, Clemson and NC State while playing ACC regular season champ Virginia to the wire. A postseason berth did not always seem plausible, however. When the Orange lost back to back games against North Carolina and Pittsburgh in mid-January, many thought the season was slipping away. 

Similarly, Syracuse was blown out by Clemson and that seemed to put realistic hopes of the big dance on the brink of disappearing. Follow that up with two straight road losses in quad one opportunities to Duke and Georgia Tech, and hope was lost. Yet the team continued to fight, scrap and claw to give itself a chance. Head coach Jim Boeheim took notice of that mental strength. 

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"I'm very thankful for what this team went through," Boeheim said. "I've said that a couple different times. I really appreciate what this team has done because there were several stages of this season where it didn't look like we had a really good opportunity to get here. Whether it was the Clemson loss down there or the Pittsburgh loss down there where we got handled, Duke where we got - there was a lot of stages. 

"I think the grit and determination of this team best shows because they were able to win the Bryant game and then the Buffalo game. We were out of those two games. If we lost those two games we wouldn't be talking here today. I give this team a lot of credit for everything that's happened to them. Losing Bourama was a big loss. Just the learning experience for everybody during the course of the year, I'm really proud that this team has an opportunity to play here." 

Now Syracuse is set to face San Diego State Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aztecs are really good, but Syracuse is playing its best basketball of the season. Syracuse is ready, coach Boeheim believes. 

"I think we're playing well," Boeheim said. "We've got a number of offensive weapons. We've got different guys who can hurt you. We don't depend on one guy. San Diego State is like that as well, that's why they're a difficult team to play. Our defense has gotten better. We're certainly not going to fool anybody into thinking we're a great defensive team, but we've gotten better. That's what it takes to win in a tournament. 

"So to answer your question, I think we're ready to play in this tournament and we're capable of playing well."