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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2009Jim BoeheimJonny FlynnNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Louisville 76 COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I thought, you know, the first half we played as well as we played down here on both ends, defensively especially. I just thought we did a great job defensively in the first half and we made a couple bad turnovers and they converted them. That's what they do. Second half we made a couple bad turnovers and they converted them and I think there was just a point there where we got the three, four open looks and, you know, couldn't -- you have to make shots against them. They're going to gamble and you're going to get some open shots and you have to make them, and when you don't, you know, they're going to score on the other end. But I told our players that the way we played the last two weeks has been a tremendous -- I think tremendous for what we can do next week. We really had to start playing at the St. John's game. We were on the edge of not being anywhere. We started to play better defense. We got our offense going. I think we really played as well as we could play for three, four games and coming in here, we played very well the first game. Obviously, even better in the Connecticut game and better yesterday and the first half tonight was really as good as we played down here. But you have to give Louisville tremendous credit. They've been the best team in the league. They've won 20 I think out of their last 22 games and they're very, very talented basketball team. We just made a few too many mistakes and we think we went 0-for-8 from the 3-point line in the second half. You have to make those shots. But I told our players that we won this thing the last two times we were in the finals and I'm just as proud or maybe a little bit more proud of what they've done this week in New York even though we didn't win, some people would not think that was good, but I do. I really believe that. Jonny was unbelievable here for these five games that we played. JOHN PAQUETTE: Questions, please. Q. Jim, did fatigue set in on this one? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I'm not going to talk about that. Louisville played better than we did the second half. That's it. Q. Coach, would you prefer to play Friday next week and get the day off? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I'd like to play about two weeks from today. We'll be fine. We were fine tonight in the first half. Going into like five games, we were fine if we got a little. If we got a little tired, we might have gotten a little tired. We'll be fine whether we play Thursday or Friday. It doesn't matter. Q. Coach, you brought up a couple years ago when you guys played four games in four days, the first team ever to win the championship like that. You mentioned about five games you played up to here. Coming up just a bit short in this one, did it have shades of a couple years ago? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I really think what this team accomplished is as good as what Gerry (McNamara) and his team accomplished, and the thing -- the one last thing I said that I would share with you is that when this is all over, you know, five years from now there's going to be two things people remember about this Syracuse basketball season. Two and only two. They're going to remember the Connecticut Syracuse here and going to remember what we do in the tournament. That's all that they'll remember. Q. Jim, just talk a little about it, about where you will be -- COACH JIM BOEHEIM: I don't know where we are. The committee has got an impossible job. They've got an impossible job to pick the last whatever teams they're going to pick. You could argue -- I saw something with like 12 teams that -- you couldn't hardly tell the difference. You really can't tell the difference. You make a decision and it's like -- it's getting so close now that it really, you can't even tell the difference. Then with the seeds, honestly, I don't know how you can tell. I mean it's -- I'm not going to get into the whole bracket thing but it's obvious to me that Louisville is a 1 and Pittsburgh and Connecticut are going to be 1s based on what everybody has done in the country and North Carolina for me. We'll see what happens. See if my -- that would be my prediction, anyway. Q. Jonny, right at the end there you had your hands on your knees. Were you disappointed, exhausted or little bit of both? JONNY FLYNN: Just very disappointed. I was so proud of my team for just battling this whole week. I really think we came together as a team. Lot of people didn't even see us making it out of second day in this tournament and we came together and really put in a lot of work and made it. Just a lot of disappointment. I wasn't even fatigued. I was feeling actually pretty good out on the court today but just made too many mistakes and we missed a lot of shots that we made in the first half, so Louisville is a great team and they just really put it to us tonight. Q. Can you describe what it's like to play against their defensive pressure? JONNY FLYNN: It's non-stop. To put it so you can understand it, it's like being chased by eight pit bulls and just got to keep running for your life. Rick Pitino does a great job of rotating fresh bodies in and you just don't have a chance to stop. I think Louisville -- the guys call themselves the Louisville Pitt Bulls. That's a good name for them. Q. Jim, your thoughts on Jonny receiving the Dave Gavitt Trophy? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: He was phenomenal down here. You can't even describe how he played down here. He played as good as you can play the game. Q. I was going to ask for Jonny, what happens in the second half? It seems like Louisville has consistently been able to wear down its opponents. Do you sort of feel the pressure taking a toll as the game goes on? JONNY FLYNN: I think we got a little too lackadaisical. When you get a big lead like that you tend to do things you wouldn't do when you are down. They really know how to capitalize on other people's mistakes. Proud of my teammates. A great team to play against. We battled. Q. Jonny, what was it like to have to come out after the loss or accepting the trophy, bittersweet? JONNY FLYNN: I would trade the trophy in to win the Big East Tournament any day. The team awards are way better. Lot of people are going to remember who won this tournament. They're not going to remember who won the outstanding trophy award. Like the coach said, they're going to remember who won the tournament. I would like to be able to accept the award for my team. Q. Jim, is there any article or science or something putting everything you've had in the tournament and now switching gears and is there a different mindset? COACH JIM BOEHEIM: You know, I think the two times we won, we were -- we really were riding a couple guys especially the last time. Gerry had nothing left the next week. That's not the case this time. We'll be fine and ready to go in a couple days; Jonny and all these guys will be full strength by Tuesday. We could play Tuesday right now if we had to without any -- no doubt in my mind. You know, the thing that we try to do is come down here and just play like you're in the NCAA tournament and try to -- don't want to lose, don't want to go home. That's the way you got to play and now next week that's the way it is. Q. Is this more emotional than what you're getting ready to -- COACH JIM BOEHEIM: The next thing is what you're playing for. This is great, it's as good -- it's a dress rehearsal in front of 19,000 people every day. So, you know, you don't want to -- it's not empty out there. It's a dress rehearsal with a lot of people watching and lots of things people are going to remember. Lot of good memories for the players and fans, everybody. I'm a big fan of conference tournaments unlike a lot of people I think because I think it gets you ready and gives you great experiences, great memories for the players and we've now been through a -- as tough a three games as we're going to get the next three games we play, these last three games. Nothing tougher. So it should help us. That's the way I look at it. Q. Jonny, despite the loss tonight, how much of a confidence boost has this tournament been for the team moving forward? JONNY FLYNN: It definitely does wonders for our team. You've seen a player like Kristof Ongenaet an unheard-of to anybody in the country, come here and play as hard for us and you see Ricky Jackson come up and step up. Players that virtually get no media time or things like that come out here and really help us win those long overtime games giving us a chance to go out and win the Louisville game. It really gives us confidence boost as a team. I think despite the loss, you know, I hate losing more than anybody in this world, but I think you can take a lot of good out of this. We came together as a team and a lot of players are on the confidence boost that is really going to help us in the next tournament. COACH JIM BOEHEIM: This last two weeks has been tremendous; and the last two weeks. We'll look back on this as being a great, great thing for us these last -- not just this tournament but the last two weeks. Okay. JOHN PAQUETTE: Thank you, Syracuse. End of FastScripts |
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