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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2012Jim BoeheimKris JosephJames SoutherlandNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK SYRACUSE – 58 COACH BOEHEIM: Both teams struggled shooting the ball, and both teams are very good defensively. We couldn't really get anything going offensively, and then we changed something just a little bit. Got a little bit more space. Kris got a couple penetrations and got to the foul line, and then we made a couple good‑‑ we got James open a couple times. He's a tremendous shooter. That's James Southerland over there. He can make those shots, and he made them early in the year. He struggled a little bit during the week, but he's been making them in practice. He looked good the last game, made a big one, and we think he can make those shots and be a factor for us, a big factor for us the rest of the way. So it was good for him to get those looks. Our guys are very unselfish. They found him in there and got him the ball. We were really good with the ball today. Didn't turn it over. That's been the strength of our team all year. We make up for not doing a great job rebounding with doing a great job taking care of the basketball. But Connecticut is very, very good. When they had the lead, eight or nine points, they were in great position, and I thought our guys just dug down on defense, played a little bit harder and got going on offense. It was a great comeback. It's very difficult to play a team like Connecticut. They've had a couple games. They're loose. I hate sitting around all week, and it's very difficult. I'm glad that we were able to get a win. We haven't played that many games and we need to play again. Tomorrow's game will help us, but this was a tremendous comeback. This team has been very good down the stretch all year, and that was the case today. Q. After you hit that second three, can you talk about what were the emotions, the Garden was going wild? JAMES SOUTHERLAND: It felt really great out there, especially being at home and all. I missed my first two shots. The first one I felt was good, the second one was kind of rushed. It's good my teammates are here for me, they're not giving up on me just because I missed two shots, and it feels good. It was a great atmosphere. Q. What does it say about this team's depth that he takes that wild three‑pointer? COACH BOEHEIM: I didn't think he took a wild three‑pointer. He took a good job, but he wasn't having a great day. Dion was having a great day and Brandon was having a great day. So it was just a matter of going with the two guys that were playing better, and some games it's been those two, some games it's been Scoop and one of them. But today Scoop wasn't making shots, and I thought that the two best offensive guards we had were those two guys. I thought Michael Carter had a great first half. He made three great passes, and I thought Rakeem, we're using him coming in at center. He was huge in the first half. He made a couple blocks and I think had four or five rebounds in about eight minutes. I thought he was really good, and I think this was a good game for him and gave us another guy in that center position. I thought he was very good today. Q. For James and Jim, can you take us through James' journey as a freshman to now being an impact player for the Orange? COACH BOEHEIM: Well, I think James is a very, very good offensive player, and I think he hasn't scratched his potential. He's getting better every day. He's got to help us more on the boards, but he's a tremendous shooter. Q. You've played this team so many times, particularly during this time of year. What were you most concerned with? COACH BOEHEIM: With Connecticut? Q. Yeah. COACH BOEHEIM: Well, they have three guys that can shoot it and their guards are very good off the dribble. Drummond is a big presence on the boards. We left the middle open a little bit and gambled on those guys in there, and they didn't‑‑ they weren't very productive in that area. I think Connecticut is a really good team. I would be shocked if they don't win two games in the NCAA Tournament at the minimum. At the minimum. Q. Can you talk about the third time going up against this team? KRIS JOSEPH: Yeah, offensively I wasn't really making any shots in the second half after making an adjustment and just driving to the basket, him being a smaller player, and just trying to create other opportunities for my teammates and for myself. I got fouled a couple times. A couple times I drove, and the defense conversion, I found Dion, I found Brandon, and those are the types of plays I need to make down the stretch. Q. With the NCAA situation, were you aware or have you been aware what's been going on with the drug testing? COACH BOEHEIM: This was reported five years ago, and we're waiting for them to make‑‑ finish the process. Q. You got a report of it five years ago? COACH BOEHEIM: Uh‑huh. Q. You say you hate sitting around all week waiting for a game to start, and particularly a week like this with the news‑‑ COACH BOEHEIM: Well, first of all, news doesn't matter. This is a media‑‑ this is you people's thing. This doesn't bother our players or our team or me. None of this. This is a media thing, period. If things were bothering us we wouldn't be 31 and 1. Nothing bothers us. We come ready to play. That's what you should do in life. Everybody gets bothered. Everybody has problems. I'm much more concerned about my wife being mad at me than I am anything else, to tell you the truth. I think that Manning should really come to the Jets, too (laughter). Q. (No microphone). KRIS JOSEPH: No, it was my other hand. It wasn't my shooting hand, so that had no effect on me. COACH BOEHEIM: You can't shoot that bad unless you're hurt, can you? (Laughter). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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