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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPERATION BASKETBALLOctober 24, 2018Jim BoeheimTyus BattleFrank HowardCharlotte, North Carolina THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Syracuse. Q. Coach, can you speak to what these two men have meant to you and their expected contributions this season? COACH BOEHEIM: Well, last year we ended up with two guards. And that's never happened to me. And I don't know if it's ever happened in college basketball where you have just two guards the whole last part of the year where they had to play 40 minutes a game and really saved the season. There would have been zero chance if either one of them had gotten hurt in any way shape or form. But I thought the way they played under the conditions that they had to deal with and playing three games a week and playing 40 minutes a night, and then getting -- playing well at the end of the year, getting in the tournament, then having to play three games in six, seven days, really, was incredible what they did on both ends of the court. They were really good defensively. I think Frank led the league in steals. And they just were tremendous defensively and offensively. I can't say enough about all that they've done for us last year and what I believe they'll do this year. Frank's been out a little while. We think he'll be back around the first of November. And we hope that he'll be able to go pretty quickly after that. But it's great to have two veteran guys back that have been as consistent and been as good as these two guys have. It's very unusual in college basketball. I'm really thrilled to have them both back. Q. You went through a year, two, three seasons ago, where you weren't as long in the front line as you like to be. Looking at the back end of your zone last year looked like the arms again got longer. How much more comfortable are you as a coach to have 7'2" Chukwu, Dolezaj, 6'10", and Oshae Brissett at 6'8". COACH BOEHEIM: Length is good no matter what defense you play. Whether you play man-to-man or zone it's good to be long, big. But our defense got better and better last year. Have every reason to believe it will be as good this year. I think we'll play faster this year. Whenever you play faster it creates more possessions and obviously you're going to give up more points if you're giving them more possessions. But that's the way we like to play. But to have that kind of size is good for any defense. It's good for ours. I think just as important or more important is Frank and Tyus, their size at the guard spot, is really helpful in our defense. We can get away with a little bit smaller guys in the front line in some cases but it really helps our defense to have length at the guard spot. And Frank and Tyus are two of the better defensive players that we've had. Q. Tyus, your freshman year you averaged 11 points per game. Last year 19 points per game. In a system like Syracuse, is it reasonable to think that your scoring average would jump another eight points like it did between your freshman and sophomore year? Where do you think your point totals might top out? TYUS BATTLE: I mean, I haven't really thought about much of my point totals at all. To go up eight extra points that would be pretty impressive, but unlikely. I'm just going out this year just trying to play my game, get me teammates involved. But also stay aggressive and I think good things will happen if I do those things. Q. Following up Coach's point about length in the back court, Frank led the league in steals; Tyus, you weren't too far behind, you had 54. With the defense that you play, what are the opportunities to get steals? TYUS BATTLE: I mean, like Coach said, we're both 6'6" up top. And that's rare to see both your point guard and your 2 guard being that tall, that long, that athletic. And that just makes it tough to score on us. We can jump passing lanes. It's really tough to get 3-point looks up. And our goal is just to make things difficult. If we do those things where we're going to be successful. FRANK HOWARD: Playing for Coach Boeheim, scoring the ball, getting up and down is a point of emphasis. To do that you've got to get the ball. And I've been screamed at a little bit for some gambles but that's what we want to do. We want to play passing lane, make it tough on offenses and kind of have guys overthink. Q. Frank, you're a senior now. How did that happen? FRANK HOWARD: That's a good question nowadays. But I just have been working hard every year trying to get better. And with the help of my teammates and coaching staff, they made it a lot easier for me, especially over the last two, three years. And I just used the grow up I had, especially the first two years, to incorporate it in my game now. Q. Frank, I talked to you earlier about you graduating, what you wanted to do after life with Syracuse. Could you elaborate a little bit on that, on what you're going to graduate with and what you want to do moving forward? FRANK HOWARD: I have a child and family -- I will have a child and families degree. I just wanted to use that to incorporate with helping back with my community and also later down the line with Coach. And I love the game of basketball. I want to stay in it. And some day be like Coach one day. COACH BOEHEIM: You don't want to be like that. (Laughter). Q. Coach, interesting question came up in an earlier session as we think about the floor behind you. What type of team do you think you'll have as you come back here in March? COACH BOEHEIM: I think we've got, with so many veterans back, hopefully it will be a pretty good reflection of what we finished with last year, with a little more depth, and some guys that can help us, I think, shoot the ball, especially from the perimeter has gotten better. I just think the extra depth gives you an opportunity to run more, play at a little faster pace. But the experience you get -- and when you're successful, sometimes if you have four or five guys back and you didn't win, it's maybe not that good a thing. But these guys were very successful at the end of the year. They know what it takes to be successful in the league and in the tournament. And all that experience is going to be positive for us. Q. Coach, can you speak to the development of 20 games next year and maybe talk about scheduling? I remember when you first joined the league you had some very interesting comments, which I think most of us chuckled at. You're like, how did I end up having to play road games back to back to back against Carolina, Duke and Virginia. There was a lot of giggling. Has scheduling settled down for you in Syracuse where you're more comfortable with the tour of duty, if you will? COACH BOEHEIM: I think for us it's been difficult in the Big East when you had to go Connecticut, Georgetown, St. John's. And it's just as difficult in the ACC with some of the games you can get. They're all really tough now. It doesn't matter too much about the three. Any road games are going to be difficult. But the 20 games -- I've never been a big fan of going to 20. But it is what the league decided to do and that's what we're going to do. It probably eliminates a non-conference game or two that you would challenge yourself at in terms of playing somebody that would be at a comparable level. But it's the same for everybody. The early games. I've never been a big fan of playing early conference games. I like to get built up to it. But it's what we're all going to do. And we played really good, tough games early before. And that's what we'll have with this. But when you're in a great league, you're going to have tough trips, tough games. That's what it's about. And if you have a good team or you have the potential to be a good team, that's going to help you get there. Q. On page 18 of this year's media guide there's a young man by the name of Buddy Boeheim on the roster. What's the experience been like for you coaching him in a different arena, if you will? COACH BOEHEIM: He's a good player. He's worked hard. He's fun to coach because he works at the game. He loves to play. He always has. There's obviously some challenges. You want to see your son do well. But my job's to win games. And we're going to play the guys that are going to help us win the games. If he can do that, that would be great. I'd be happy. And I think his mother would be a lot happier. Q. Tyus, obviously it's one game at a time. That's always been the case. But as you look at opening up the season, are there things that you feel like you want to accomplish early to set the tone for the season? TYUS BATTLE: I mean, different from last year, Frank and I we were the only two players that had that basketball experience going into last year. But this season we have all five starters back. We all have the taste of the tournament. We should all have that college experience under our belt. So I'm looking to start off right just from the door and we should all be ready to play, ready to compete. And I'm really excited about the season. Q. Preseason voting is always a challenge. They want us to do it. And I haven't voted yet. I'm looking for advice. You guys on the podium, any of you, who do you see as the top teams in the league, besides Syracuse, of course? COACH BOEHEIM: Well, obviously you've got Virginia. They won the league. They're really good. Got a lot of guys back. Duke has got the best freshman class in the country and two or three top picks probably in this year's draft. Carolina is very good. A lot of guys. Virginia Tech's got a lot of guys back. There's a lot of really good teams and you can name those and you are still going to leave somebody else that's pretty good too. So the league's tough. It's always been tough. And we're going to get seven, eight, nine teams in the tournament most years. And so you have to navigate through that league. And last year we did get better at the end. But it was a struggle all year for us in the league. I think we finished ninth or tenth and still good enough to get to the Sweet 16 out of this league. So it's very competitive and it's going to make you better. TYUS BATTLE: Like Coach said, I believe the ACC is one of the best leagues in the country. Have to be ready to play every single night. I think it just makes us a better team in the long run. Virginia is always good. Duke is always good. North Carolina is always good. Great players, great coaches. So it just makes us a better team at the end of the day. Q. Frank, going back to the idea that you're a senior and you got to be a senior fairly quickly because time does go by. When you look back at your Syracuse career, what do you think your biggest takeaway from your experience with Coach Boeheim will be? What's the lesson? What do you think will carry with you, do you think? FRANK HOWARD: That's a good question. But just the whole experience. This is something else down there -- when you think about it, it's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get here to this stage on this team and to be coached by this guy right here. So, you know, I appreciate every moment. And in the beginning it was a little tough to understand those bumpy roads and those times to grow it was a little hard being young. You want to play. You want to help your team. You want to do well. But I think those times have prepared me not only just for a good basketball career after this but a good life. COACH BOEHEIM: I think with Frank's case it's very important to see how you work through things, how you have to struggle sometimes to overcome what's in front of you. And to be able to go through that, and I think last year Frank was one of the very best point guards in the league and played well in the tournament, is poised as soon, as we get him back on the court, to have a great year. And it's great to see that kind of development from your players. It's really one of the best parts of coaching. Q. Coach, this will be your 43rd year. And I ask it with a smile, but you've seen a lot. Have you seen it all yet? COACH BOEHEIM: You've never seen it all. There's something around the corner all the time. In terms of coaching, it's the same every year, you get a group of kids and you try to get them to be the best they can be and get them to play together and have success. You want each team to have success, to be able to do something special. And every year you start out with that opportunity. And last year, as much of a struggle as it was, it was probably as rewarding as any year for what these two guys helped this team accomplish last year. And that's what coaching's all about, really. Q. We asked this question earlier of another coach, when you look at your preconference schedule, those out-of-conference games as the season starts, how do you schedule -- what are you looking for as you are trying to build the schedule getting ready for league play? COACH BOEHEIM: Well, what we try to do is we try to play in a good tournament. We're in New York with Connecticut, Oregon, Iowa. So we try to get that kind of a tournament every year. We're playing, trying to play couple games like we've played Georgetown for a few years now. And then we try to find the best games we can find. We know we have the Big Ten game with Ohio State. But we try to find teams that are really good. Buffalo, Northeastern, Old Dominion, are all favored to do well, win their conference or do well in their conference. I think last year the Buffalo game probably was one of the things that got us in the tournament, the win against Buffalo, they ended up being a Top 25 team, stage -- Tier 1, whatever it's called, win. But it also challenges our players. We're playing St. Bonaventure again. They beat us last year. So we're trying to play as many challenging games as we can to help our strength of schedule but also to help our team get better. You can't go out there against those teams and just show up. You've got to play. You've got to play really good basketball. It's just as tough as playing a league game. Those schools come in with the opportunity to make their season if they can beat us. So those are the games we try to look for in the non-conference part of our schedule and I think it's what helped us get in the tournament last year. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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