NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

April 2, 2003

Jim Boeheim

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Well, not only that. He's our only senior. When you only have one senior, it's absolutely vital that he be respected by all the players, which he is, and be able to -- they'll listen to him on and off the court. He's just been an invaluable leader for this young group. To have only one senior and our one junior is a center - and we all know centers don't say much - so Kueth is the only guy that -- you know, he's the guy that all the freshmen -- so many freshmen and sophomores, they're all young kids, they all look up to him. He's done a tremendous job. He's played well, but he's also done a tremendous job.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Well, you know, what's been so great about them is that Billy is really like having a starting guard. He really could start for most people. Jeremy probably could start for a lot of people at center. Josh Pace is the ultimate sixth man. I mean, he cannot play for 25, 30 minutes in a game and go and give you eight good minutes. He's been just tremendous for us in this tournament. He won one game, I thought, almost all by himself. And Billy really won one game, almost two games, by himself in the tournament. That's unusual to get that much out of your bench in an NCAA tournament. But all three guys, Jeremy's really -- he's played the majority of minutes at center. These three guys have really played like starters, so it gives us not only eight guys, but it gives us eight guys that really play like starters. That's invaluable in this tournament.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Yeah, he's coming. He'll be there. He'll be there. Derrick is trying to fake an injury, but he's got a game so.... So he won't be there. But Derrick will be there. We just talked to Sherman and Howard Trish and those guys that were all in New Orleans in '87. But they're all thinking about it, but Rony will be there.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: A little bit. You know, it's a little bit. But we played in a regional there after that; I forget when it was, probably '89 I think. I don't know if it was '89. My memory's not that good. I think it might have been '89. But we played in a regional there, so we've kind of gotten through that a little bit. It's been 16 years. But Coach Knight told me that I'd be back, and I just didn't realize -- I thought he meant the NCAA, I didn't know he was that smart to figure out I'd be back in New Orleans for the Final Four again.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Yeah. In '87 I thought we played great. We really had a great game. Keith Smart just kind of got going late, he made a lot of good plays. I think everybody knows he made the last shot, but I'm pretty sure he made like the last five field goals for them. You know, he just took over late in the game and just, you know, made some great shots against us. But it was a great game. We played well, just didn't quite get it done.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Well, he's such a great penetrating guard, he pushes the ball. You have to get back on defense, first of all. If you don't get back on defense, it doesn't matter what your half court defense does because you'll be in trouble. And in half court, you know, he sees the floor, he gets the ball to people, he penetrates. I mean, he just presents all kinds of problems for everybody. I mean, that's why he's already, I guess, gotten one Player of the Year Award and probably get a couple more before it's all done. He's just a tremendous player. They've got other guys, they've got guys that can shoot it and rebound it and all that. They've just got a well-balanced basketball team, which, if you're playing now, that's pretty much going to be the case.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Well, they're both -- I mean, you've got a penetrating guard that also can score. T.J. Ford can score and does score, but he also leads the country in assists. Mouton can shoot it and score. You know, it's a complete back court. They can do whatever has to be done. They're good defenders. That's why they're still playing.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: No, nobody wants to hire me. I'm lucky to still be here in Syracuse, so I don't have to face that stuff. I believe Roy will focus completely on this game and this weekend. I don't think it will distract him at all. He's been through all this stuff many times, and he's not going to let anything change his focus from this weekend. I know Roy well and consider him to be a good friend. He's, obviously, a great basketball coach. He's gonna coach for this weekend, and then he'll take care of whatever is in the future after this weekend is over with.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: (Laughing) You mean the "dumb" theory?

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Well, I mean, I think that would have come up in the regionals. I think that would have come up in the final game. Maybe the first couple games you can win and the next one, but when you get to that regional final and you're young, right then, to me, that's almost the biggest pressure game for young guys because they're just, you know, thinking, "We can go to the Final Four here." That was never much of a thought in anybody's mind when we started playing basketball this year - although I think a couple of our kids had that -- kids always have that in their mind. But I'm sure it was in the back of their mind. But I just think that would have been the time, and we really played our best game in the regional final. I mean, we played 25 minutes of really good offense and defense. We played the whole game good on the defensive end. But I think if something was going to strike us, it would have been then. Although, with young players, you never know. I mean, I never know from play to play, let alone game to game, you never know game to game or day to day and play to play with some of these things we do. We were playing great against Oklahoma and all of a sudden we turned it over about eight times in a row. Fortunately, they couldn't beat our defense, but that's not going to happen in New Orleans. With these young guys, for the first game they played well, we did lose to Memphis but we played well. Then we played pretty consistently all year. At the end of the year, we played our best basketball on the road at Notre Dame and Michigan State. We haven't played our best in the tournament, but, you know, I'm hoping that we're going to be able to do that. And these young guys have faced everything they've had to this year and they've come through it. They're unusual. The freshmen, the three guys, they're unusual freshmen. They're better and more advanced than most any freshmen I've ever seen in terms of handling pressure. They all want to take big shots. They all want to make big plays. I'm surprised they don't fight over the ball back there at the end of the game because all three guys want to make a play. So they've been terrific, and I think they'll play well in New Orleans.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: He can say that. He's got both (laughing).

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: He's just so outgoing and happy and full of life, like all, you know, like young kids I guess. He just comes to play. He doesn't worry that he's not thinking about where he's going to be next year or even next week or tomorrow. He just comes to play, has fun doing it. He's a nice kid, but he's competitive on the court. He comes at you on the court. And he plays, you know, as well as any young kid I have ever seen. I can't imagine a young kid who's ever really done more for his team than he has. I mean, he rebounds and he plays -- his defense has gotten better. You know, he shoots it. He makes plays. He's really done a lot. For a freshman, I just can't envision, I can't remember a freshman doing more for his team than he's done, and especially in big games. I mean, against Oklahoma, he really -- it was his first really good game, but he really got going. He was just really jacked up for that game. He was ready from the first play. But he's a special player; there's no question about that. He's a young guy on a young team. He's the guy everybody looks to to make plays. We're fortunate to have him.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Don't believe anything he says. Whatever he said, he's from North Carolina, just remember that.

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: That's what I said (laughing).

COACH JIM BOEHEIM: He was good in our league, it's when he got down to Clemson that he went nuts. I don't what happened down there. He never was like that. I think Dean got to him a little bit or something down there (laughing). He went off a little. He was great. I mean, he did a great job, you know, coached and recruited and, you know, did just a tremendous job. I think he's the first Providence coach to beat us here in Syracuse. I think, I'm pretty sure, he started fouling when they had that one-one rule, they didn't change, have a two-shot foul rule yet so he was fouling us for about 14 minutes. Poor Stevie Thompson still remembers the game. But Rick, I like Rick, I always have. He's just a good guy, and a guy I consider a good friend of mine. He's done an unbelievable job every place he's been, but especially in Texas. I remember, I did give him some advice two or three years ago. People were talking about him going to NC State. I told him to keep his ass in Texas because he'd get it done there. He must have listened to me, or else he just got smart on his own; I don't know which one. But, you know, he's a good friend of mine. I think coaches, you know, we better look out for each other because not too many people are going to be looking out for us. That's my philosophy, and that's the way I've always been.