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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: CLEVELAND

March 17, 2011

CLEVELAND, OHIO

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Syracuse student-athletes Scoop Jardine, Kris Joseph, and Rick Jackson. Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Scoop, can you give me your own personal scouting report on Indiana State's point guard Jake Odum and what do you expect out of him tomorrow night?
SCOOP JARDINE: He's a flashy guard. He likes to get in the lane. He's very good off the bounce, off the dribble, and he's looking to penetrate our zone and kick out for open 3s, and he's also a good shooter himself.
So I'm just going to have to stay in front of him and do the best we can. I think we had challenges like this all year. They're looking to screen our zone and trying to kick out for open 3s. So that's going to be our main focus.

Q. How tough was that Big East grind this year, and how much do you think that schedule against that kind of competition has prepared you for the NCAA Tournament?
SCOOP JARDINE: It's the best. Big East is the best league in the country. And we had two tough games down there where they was tournament-like games, no big leads, we play every possession, and every possession counted. When you play in a league like the Big East, it's always going to get you ready because every night is a tough night, no matter who you're playing. Even if you're on the road playing a team like DePaul or Rutgers, you could lose.
All that tough play gets us ready for the tournament, and we know that. And I couldn't be no happier playing in the Big East.

Q. Rick, you said that last year you had to sit and watch after you guys lost. Where were you sitting and watching the games after you were done, and can you take us back to what was it like to have to sit and watch after losing last year?
RICK JACKSON: You know, I mean, just sitting in the apartment with the teammates watching the game, the Final Four, Elite Eight, it was just tough. You wish you can be there, you wish more for you to be there, you feel bad for your seniors on your team and those guys that work hard their whole career and it has to end like that.
I mean, we just want to come out and really just play hard. Leave it all on the court and just so people can't second-guess what we did. And as long as me and my team play hard, I can live with that.

Q. Scoop, are you able to appreciate the longevity of your head coach, how long he's been doing what he's doing at such a high level?
SCOOP JARDINE: Yeah, it's an honor to play for a Hall of Fame coach. Every day I go to work for him it's a blessing. I watch him on movies. I watched him growing up. And my freshman year I couldn't believe I was sitting next to him.
It's great because he has seen every situation that ever came in college basketball, so when he sees something, most of the time he's going to be right. To have a leader like that leading the team is great and I couldn't be no happier.

Q. Kris, you hear about the zone that you guys run and how teams attack it. Is part of your preparation trying to figure out what teams are going to do to try to figure out your zone? And how many different ways have you seen teams try to figure out what you guys do defensively?
KRIS JOSEPH: Depending on what kind of team you play, a team that has a lot of shooters are going to try to set screens, outside screens, get your zone moving so they can get open shots and penetrations and kicks. More athletic teams are going to try to go for the backdoor lobs and things like that.
But, like we said, playing in the Big East, we have teams that can shoot, teams that are athletic, and we've seen it all. So coming into the tournament we're ready for basically anything that a team has to throw at us.

Q. Kris, can you sense when teams are really frustrated against the zone? Do you hear them talking about it? Can you just sense it in their eyes that this ain't working?
KRIS JOSEPH: You know, when a team starts arguing with each other on the court you know there's a sense of frustration.
When they're not getting what they want out of their offense and we're just making it really hectic for them to take in 34 seconds off the clock and forcing them into rushed shots, that's when you know that the zone is being effective and it's really bothering the offense.

Q. The experience of having played in the tournament last year, how much can that experience help this time around?
SCOOP JARDINE: It's great. Like Rick said, we had a bad ending last year with playing and we lost and we want to get back to trying to win the tournament. And having us three, and we played a lot of minutes last year, we seen what it was like on and off the court with the media and everything, we can help our young guys and prepare them for what they are about to go through.
And all of us up here, we know we've got some unfinished business now and we're trying to get back to at least past the Sweet 16 and try to win the whole thing, because that's been our main focus. That's been our goal since we started doing conditioning in the beginning of the season, and we couldn't go out no other way.

Q. You guys talked a lot about effort after the four-game losing streak, an effort on defense. How much confidence, the way you've been playing on defense, does that give you going into this next tournament?
RICK JACKSON: I think it gives us a lot of confidence, I think when we was losing those games as far as defense it wasn't active enough, we wasn't talking, we was just giving up, and I think them four games, losing four games helped us because it got us back to playing defense and talking and being more active than we were.
I think in the beginning of the year we were great on defense, but, I mean, after winning so many games, your defense kind of slips, and I think that's what happened with us. And those, losing those four games really helped us get back to wanting it and being more hungry, and now I think just coming into this ready to play and we're just ready to get started.

Q. What are you guys doing all day tomorrow with the late tip time? How are you guys going to stay relaxed and what have you been doing in my hometown here, Cleveland? What have you been up to?
SCOOP JARDINE: Are you from here? Show us around. (Laughter.) No. As you all know, we don't have walk-throughs, and I've been here four years. And we have had late games before. It's nothing -- it's always the same. Once we get to the arena, put on our sneakers, we'll be ready to play.
We'll be watching some film and stretching in the hotel or whatever, but, like I said, we've been doing this -- I've been doing this as long as I can remember with Coach, no walk-throughs and it ain't ever stopped our winning or what we can do.
So I'm just going to follow the big man.

Q. Scoop or Rick, both you guys and Dion grew up in Philadelphia. How close were you growing up and what's it like to be playing here in the senior year and NCAAs?
RICK JACKSON: I think it's great. We all was in one house hanging out. We watched each other mature and grow into our games and just growing into people. And, I mean, we have been around each other a long time we know each other's habits the good habits, the bad habits. It's just been a ride with these guys, and I'm just glad that we're here all together and we're trying to -- trying to accomplish some things right now.

Q. Scoop, do you think people are overlooking you guys this year, that nobody's giving you a chance to win it all?
SCOOP JARDINE: I wouldn't say that. You got a lot of -- in our bracket you've got a lot of tough teams as far as Ohio State, North Carolina, Kentucky, Villanova, West Virginia, the list goes on. But I was surprised to be picked to go to the Final Four by Jay Bilas. At least we got some -- that's what I look at, I look at the positives. The negatives we take as motivation. It doesn't matter at this point. The main focus is the winning and surviving and moving forward. And that's our whole focus.
We had a No. 1 seed last year, and we had an early exit. So we know all that is thrown out the window when the tournament starts. Like I said, our main focus is to win and advance.

Q. Sunday Indiana State was kind of a team you guys knew nothing about. Specifically through film and practice for them this week, specifically on the offensive end, what have you found out about them?
SCOOP JARDINE: Well, like I said, Selection Sunday, all we know about Indiana State was Larry Bird went there. And after watching film on them and reading the scouting report, they're a good team just like us. They made the tournament for a reason. Everybody here -- everybody that's here played good, played good in their season, and that's why they're here. We would never underestimate them.
And I can tell you one thing, they can all shoot. And when a team all can shoot, that's kind of tough for our zone. So we're going to definitely have to be active and throw some traps at them and try to speed the game up to our game and where we can get out in transition.
KRIS JOSEPH: When I saw we were playing Indiana State, I knew they were a team full of athletes. The first thing I thought about was probably a bunch of white boys that could shoot. So we're going to have to extend the zone. We know that much. We're going to have to extend the zone and keep a high hand out on their shooters.
But, once again, not look past anybody in this tournament, because if you're here it's for a reason. We're just going to go out and play hard basketball.
RICK JACKSON: Like they said, the team plays four around one. If a team plays four around one, it means that they've got guys that can shoot out there. You got to just try to get to the shooters, get them off their spots and make them take tough shots. And we should be fine.
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. Coach, an opening statement.
COACH BOEHEIM: Obviously happy to be in the tournament and we know the first game watching tape of Indiana State, they've got a very good team. They won a very difficult conference tournament against Dayton, a tremendous team in the final, and watching them play, they've got a lot of weapons.
They're very, very good defensive team, and they've got guys that can shoot the ball and rebound the ball.

Q. This will be Greg Lansing's first NCAA Tournament game as a coach. And as soon as they drew Syracuse, the first thing he said is it would be an honor to coach against you. What do you remember about coaching your first NCAA Tournament game?
COACH BOEHEIM: You're kidding, right? I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Honestly, I couldn't remember.

Q. Any advice for Coach?
COACH BOEHEIM: You coach your team in this tournament the same as you coach during the year. It's a game. It's another game. That's what it is. Obviously it's a big game. But they had a big game in their conference tournament finals to get there, which I think is probably an even bigger game than this, because if you don't win that one you don't get here.
He's obviously proven that he knows what he's doing. His team knows what they're doing. So I don't see a big difference in the NCAA, all that experience or you've been in there, you've done this. I don't think that matters at all.
I think it just depends on how your team's playing and nothing more. Nothing more than that.

Q. TV time-outs can take up a lot of time --
COACH BOEHEIM: Forever.

Q. In these tournament games, is that a good thing, bad thing, break your momentum? Or is it good to have a rest?
COACH BOEHEIM: The first minute or so I just try to think about where I'm going for dinner later or something. Anything. Because my players, first of all, they don't want to listen to me in the first place. Anything more than about 35 to 45 seconds is not going anywhere. And I'm not sure that I have that much to say, anything that would last anything more than that anyway.
So they're long. They're long time-outs. You just try to get in there and make a couple of points and get out of there. It is what it is. You've got to deal with it.

Q. I'm sure you've seen every conceivable way to attack your zone over the years. What do you expect out of Indiana State tomorrow? And also what's the most unorthodox approach you've seen taken to your zone over the years?
COACH BOEHEIM: Times have changed and people attack our zones in a lot of different ways now. We've seen a lot of different attacks. It's changed radically in the last really two, three years from what it used to be. It used to be more conventional. Now there's a lot of different approaches.
But they attack zones very well. We've seen a lot of zone footage of them. They do a good job of moving the ball. They have good passers, and they have guys that can shoot the ball and penetrate the zone. They're a very good team attacking zones, from watching them.
But they're a good team against man-to-mans, too. But they do a good job against zones. They do a very good job against zones.

Q. What do you want your players doing all day tomorrow? Do you want them watching games, absorbing the experience of being here, going out on the town, those types of things?
COACH BOEHEIM: I would imagine they'll be watching the games and hopefully taking it easy. We played some late games. We played late last year in Buffalo. We played at I think 10:00 the first night in Buffalo last year. So we've had some 9:00 games this year. So it's normal game day.

Q. How good was the Big East this year? And how much just that meat grinder, night after night, will that help your team prepare for this tournament?
COACH BOEHEIM: The league was good. Our teams are well prepared. But, you know, anything can happen in this tournament. Louisville just got beat in the last-second 3. West Virginia was down but came back and beat Clemson. But our teams are ready. When you get into this tournament, the games are going to come down in almost all cases to a real close game, a battle.
And whoever makes a play at the end is going to win. And you can come out of a very difficult league. You can come out of a league that wasn't difficult and still be in a position to make those plays. Princeton was a point or two ahead of Kentucky when I came in here.
College basketball has evened out. It's taken a while, but it's really gotten to the point now where the teams in this tournament can beat you. And it didn't used to be that way unless you were the first two or three seeds. But now it's very difficult. And all these teams are good. There's more good players in college basketball now than ever before.
And I think obviously the top teams lose players and aren't going to be as good as they used to be, because you lose -- we've lost three guys that would be juniors or seniors right now that are playing in the NBA. If they were here, we'd obviously be a stronger team. But we're not. I think it's good for college basketball. It makes it exciting. It makes the tournament exciting.

Q. A few weeks ago you kind of intimated that you could be nearing the end. Does that mean you're relishing these moments any differently?
COACH BOEHEIM: At the end of the year -- at the end of the year every year I think I'm there in the end, trust me. This has been for about 10 years now. I'm still here. After six months of this, most any -- going to my kids' games looks good.

Q. Looking at now going into this -- have you had to remind the team at all about the last year's Sweet 16 exit, or is it just the players have taken it upon themselves to really kind of --
COACH BOEHEIM: Losing to a team that lost in the final game of the championship? Why would I remind them about that?

Q. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying --
COACH BOEHEIM: What are you saying? I don't understand.

Q. I don't know, maybe give them any more effort?
COACH BOEHEIM: You know what your keywords were right there? I don't know. That was a good statement. Our players understand the importance of every game and how important every game is, because if you don't win every game then you're not playing the next game. Do you think I need to remind them of that? No, I don't think I do.

Q. I was wondering have the players taken any -- has Rick stepped up and taken a bigger leadership role?
COACH BOEHEIM: I hope he's been taking a big leadership role all year. That's why we're here.

Q. What did you learn about your team during that four-game slide this year, that little bump, and how good was that for you guys?
COACH BOEHEIM: Well, it wasn't fun, I can tell you that. It was a difficult time. You get through those things. We didn't play -- we played very poorly defensively. We played pretty good offensively in a couple of those games.
Our defense wasn't what it needed to be. A couple of teams played great against us. We came out and we had to go to Connecticut. That's when we were going to learn about our team. We had to go to Connecticut and obviously they were in the top 10. They had beaten some really good people, and that was a huge game for us to win. But then we won another one and we lost a couple and then the last part of the season I thought we beat West Virginia way down the road and Villanova and Georgetown, and the team really -- they reacted well to the adversity we had.
And mostly in this league, unless you're a great team, you're going to have some adverse times in this league. It's happened every year. It's happened to us. It's happened to almost every team in this league. There's some adversity where you lose two, three games in a row or three out of four. And you have to get through that.
And this team, to their credit, got through that. I'm very -- going into this year, I was very concerned with our five young players that didn't play last year. Four freshmen and James didn't really play -- obviously four freshmen didn't play. James didn't play last year. And we needed those guys to play good to get to this point.
And those guys have really stepped up and helped us and our veteran guys have been good. They've been good all year. And I think over the last part of the year they got our defense going, and our defense was much better down the stretch, and that's what allowed us to get here.

Q. Could you trace Fab Melo's progress to where he is at this point and how important is he now in the current situation?
RICK JACKSON: He's kind of an X factor. I'm always helpful. I'm not counting on it. It's one of those -- you're hoping that something can happen here. But he's had a couple of good games. He's been better in practice. He's not quite ready. He's better than he was early in the year when he really struggled. But I think he's definitely gotten to the point where we're very hopeful that he can contribute.
He had a tremendous game in The Garden against St. John's and maybe took a little step back against Connecticut. But his practices have been good. And I think that he's kind of an X factor for us. We're not counting on him, but it sure would be nice if there was a contribution there.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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