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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 11, 2009Jim BoeheimJonny FlynnArinze OnuakuNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Syracuse 89 COACH JIM BOEHEIM: Yeah. You know, Seton Hall is a difficult team to play against. They come at you hard. They were very patient. They got back in the zone. We didn't hit some shots early. The second half we were better, moving the ball. We moved the ball better. Jonny did a great job of finding people. Kristof did a tremendous job in the middle of the zone. We don't see that much zone. We do see it in practice every day so we should be playing against it but we got it out to Eric and Andy and did a good job there. It's always a difficult game to play this first one down here and we're glad we played well the last 10, 15 minutes of the game. JOHN PAQUETTE: Questions, please. Q. After the two altercations that happened, what was in the huddle, what was being discussed? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: We just wanted to play basketball. It wasn't that big of a deal. Just put that behind you and just concentrate on playing basketball and, you know, offensively we need to get some good shots. We weren't getting them, some of the shots that we needed to get and Jonny hit Eric open right way and Eric again and Andy and got a little breathing space and we did a better job defensively on the boards the second half. The first half we didn't do a good job on the board. Q. Coach, you had 30 assists in the game, tied a Big East record. Can you talk about your team's unselfishness? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I told Kristof he got his career high. He might have got more assists than he got all year. He was open in the middle of the zone. He found the big guys down low and found the shooters on the wings. Jonny is every game there looking to pass and find people and he's done that all year long, you know, second in the league in assists and he's been looking for people trying to get people involved all year long. Q. Coach, you made a little adjustment playing a little small ball, taking some of the big guys out. COACH JIM BOEHEIM: It helps a defense a little more. We cover better on the wings. We didn't cover the first two shots of the second half. We covered those areas better with a smaller lineup and we have Andy and Eric in there when they play zone, guys to shoot from the wings. Jonny can get in the lane and find those guys. If they spread out, then we got the guy down low. The small lineup is our best offensive team but we also cover better out of it. Q. Coach, can you just comment on Paul's play tonight? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: He struggled and got back and did some good things. He got a couple great rebounds and put the Paul on the floor. He's got to get it back out, but, no, he's fine. He'll be fine. He's playing good at the end of the year. We'll need him against the physical team that we play tomorrow night. Q. You had Andy and Kristof come in less than two minutes after the opening tip. What was your mindset there? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I didn't like the way we started the game. Just thought we need some change and again they're going to play zone, we're going to get Andy in the game, to get smaller, to get the extra shooter in the game. It really has no reflection about how anybody is playing out there, it's just a matter of not feeling the game is going right and sometimes those things work, sometimes they don't. Q. Jonny and Arinze, playing UCONN tomorrow with the rivalry and the Garden crowd going for either team; what do you guys anticipate? JONNY FLYNN: We just wanted to get past this first game. We came out a little flat and struggled shooting a little bit but picked it up in the second half. It's always good to go against a rivalry like UCONN. They put it to us in Connecticut this year. It's great to get a chance to get back at them and beat them. Q. Jon, after the intentional foul and the double technicals, you guys shot right off. Did that motivate you in any way? JONNY FLYNN: I think so. Altercations like that always brings a team together. When you can get a team together and get a team fired up on one goal and with one strong mindset that can always help us out. I think the two altercations we got in really pushed the button for our team to go out there and be aggressive and really stay focused in the game and put it to Seton Hall. Q. Jonny, you guys had your lowest point total of the year against UCONN; what are you going to do different? JONNY FLYNN: We can't let them dominate us, the big guy. He really basically dominated the game and controlled the game from a defensive standpoint. I think we just have to go in there stronger, look to get it down low to Arinze, looking for kick outs. Really go at the mindset we're not going to let this guy control the game from a defensive standpoint. Q. Jonny, after the double technicals, Eric had 16 of his 19 points. Did you guys feel him feeding off the positive or negative energy in the building? JONNY FLYNN: That's the kind of player Eric is. He's an emotional player and we knew we can ride on his back for the last such and such minutes of the game and, you know, he really carried us. Eric is a great player, great shooter and he feeds off emotion and he really took us. JOHN PAQUETTE: Last question right here. Q. Arinze, in the second half there's about three, four straight possessions where you got fed the ball and put it down and scored. Was there anything different going on that really caused that to happen all of a sudden? ARINZE ONUAKU: We were going to flat screen. I just tried to get in open spots and finish them. Jonny is going to penetrate. I shot it in the right spot with the defense around the basket. JOHN PAQUETTE: Syracuse, thank you. End of FastScripts |
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