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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: PITTSBURGHMarch 14, 2012Jim BoeheimScoop JardineKris JosephPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA THE MODERATOR: We have our Syracuse student‑athletes here. Gentlemen, welcome to Pittsburgh. Top‑seeded Orangemen. Glad to be here? KRIS JOSEPH: Yes. SCOOP JARDINE: Yes. THE MODERATOR: Questions for our student‑athletes. Q. When did you find out that Fab wasn't going to be able to play? What was your reaction to it? How are you going to overcome yet another off‑the‑court hurdle? KRIS JOSEPH: We found out once we got here pretty much. It was all over ESPN and things like that, so we kind of got the message. We played three games without him before. We went 2‑1. This is kind of a situation if he was able to play, he got hurt the first game, we weren't able to play without him. That's how we kind of see it. We have Rakeem and Baye who filled in for him those three games when he was absent. Everybody will pick it up a notch and we'll be able to overcome this. Q. When was the first practice you had without Fab? SCOOP JARDINE: Yesterday. Well, yeah, this morning. It was this morning. He practiced with us all the way until we left, even to come here. Like Kris said, it's one of those things we have to move forward. We have a lot of guys on this team. One of the things people have been saying about us all year is our depth. This is our opportunity. We got to believe in ourselves and everybody have to step it up a notch and I think we'll be fine. We'll miss Fab, but for the most part it's one game and you out. We have to win to win the event and that's what it's all about right now. Q. Without Fab on the court, does it affect you more on the offensive end or the defensive end? SCOOP JARDINE: He's the defensive Player of the Year. It's definitely on the defensive end. He change shots, he take charges. He's there present, he the middle of our zone, allow us to be aggressive up top. For the most part I think we're a better offensive team, too. I think we can go with a three‑guard lineup. We got guys on the floor like James Southerland, who spreads the floor, and C.J. Fair. Rakeem is getting better every day. He's a guy you can throw the ball into the post to and he can make a post play. We got a lot of talent on this team. We're going to miss Fab, but we have to move on and play basketball. Q. It's a big stage, big game to be in. Have you had a chance to see how he's responded? You had to respond to obstacles all season long. Is this another one you just brushed off? KRIS JOSEPH: You're asking if we spoke to Fab? Q. Yes. KRIS JOSEPH: No, I haven't spoken to him yet. Like you said about obstacles, we overcame a lot of off‑the‑court issues. We played without him before. I don't think we're ill‑prepared. We'll be able to advance without him. It's not something that hit us all of a sudden. We were informed, and we've done it before, so we'll be ready. Q. Back in January there was a lot of pressure on Rak without Fab. What did you see out of him that you liked in that game? SCOOP JARDINE: Just was aggressive. Really had a chance to make mistakes and continue to play all season long. He had a short leash. Now when it's time to make plays, just play basketball, which he's been doing all his life, I think he's going to be fine. I really have a lot of confidence in him. I don't need to give him confidence because I think he work really hard this whole year. He's ready. He's not a freshman anymore. He had a whole year to prepare for a moment like this. I told him it's his opportunity. He's going to step up to the plate. We had a guy who played a lot of basketball for us last year, in Baye Moussa Keita. We done it all year. Everything was put in front of us. We was able to overcome that. I think this is another test for us. It's us against whoever. Q. How much does this feel like 2010 when you lost Arinze Onuaku say just before the NCAA started? SCOOP JARDINE: I'm having mixed feelings. It's a little bit. It was kind of sad. That's something you never can wish for, you know, a guy to get hurt, almost a career injury. But right here, we knew this. He missed games in the beginning of the year. So this is a little different. We got to move forward from it. We can't look back on it. I'll tell you one thing, 2010 season prepare us for now. Me and Kris was a part of that. We know what we have to do, how we have to play to move forward in this tournament. KRIS JOSEPH: It's similar, you know, in the point that they're both our bigs are absent now for the start of the NCAA tournament. It's a little different, like Scoop said, because we went without Fab this year already. We never went without Arinze that here in 2010. It changed the whole dynamic of our team. This year, since we've been a part of it, since we've done it before, it's something that we've seen and we're used to, so we'll be okay. Q. Did you happen to watch the first Four games last night? SCOOP JARDINE: Yes. Q. Almost everyone on that panel said you have gone from a Final Four team to a good team. What is your response to that? SCOOP JARDINE: We don't pay it no mind. It don't matter at this point. Only thing we worried about is winning and advancing. They could say we wasn't a good team even when we had Fab. We was the least No.1 seed. We still believe in ourselves. We believe we capable of winning the national championship with or without Fab. That's it. We believe in it. We don't really care too much what people say about us. We didn't get here by accident. We worked hard all year long by this. I think this is an opportunity for us to step up and prove everybody wrong. KRIS JOSEPH: He said it well enough for both of us, so... He answered that question pretty well. Q. You just mentioned with Arinze, it was different. He got hurt, something you can't control. Fab could have controlled this. Do you feel let down by this at all? SCOOP JARDINE: No. He was our teammate and we gonna stick by him no matter what. It was a situation where we don't know what happened. All we know is that if he's with us or he ain't, we got to continue to play basketball. I know he want to see us win. That's all that matter. We sticking by his side, no matter what. Q. With all the stuff that you have gone through from November until now, is there ever a point in your mind where, Enough is enough already? SCOOP JARDINE: No. You want to talk, Kris (smiling)? KRIS JOSEPH: We can share this one, but just keep your answer a little shorter (laughter). SCOOP JARDINE: We don't pay it no mind. We play basketball, that's it. We go to class and play basketball. Everything off the court, it don't even matter. If we do that, it take care of itself. We did it all year. We 31‑2, right? KRIS JOSEPH: Yeah. SCOOP JARDINE: That's all that matter. Q. As you look on film at that Bulldog team, what do you see? KRIS JOSEPH: We know they're a team that can put the ball in the basket. They run a lot. They play a good defense. They're a scrappy team. That's something we've been scouting now for a while. We played teams like those where it's a smaller team, like Tulane we played. They was tough. They had shooters, athletes. I think it's going to be similar in this game against UNC ‑ Asheville. SCOOP JARDINE: They didn't get here by accident either. Every team in the tournament is a good team. We seen last night watches the game, we have to be prepared, we have to play Syracuse basketball no matter who we playing against. That's what is going to determine the outcome of this game. We respect them, respect them that they made it to the tournament just like us. We gonna have to play basketball tomorrow. That's all that matter. Q. What is the mindset going into these games as seniors? KRIS JOSEPH: First of all, it's just to keep everyone upbeat, positive with the situation that just happened. We can't allow or teammates to get down. We know this is our last go‑around. Our teammates understand it as well. We want to make sure we're all on the same page. That's a situation we can't control. The only thing we can control now is advancing one game at a time. That's what we're focused on. Q. Coming out of New York, neither one of you would feel like you played your best ball in the Garden. Your coach was pretty forthright in saying that this team will go as far as seniors take it. Have you talked about what happened in New York? How do you feel that it's on you guys to get this team as far as it will go? SCOOP JARDINE: It's been on us all year long. I think for myself, it don't just have to be scoring a basketball. My presence has to be on the floor. In New York it wasn't. That's the one thing about basketball, you get another opportunity to prove yourself. For me, my teammates have been there all year long for the both of us. It's no pressure. They know, everybody know what we mean to this team. When you got guys that is willing to let you lead them, willing to work hard for you, that's the same as us, it's easy for us. I don't think there's no pressure. We stepped up. We stepped up all year long. I don't think there's a problem with us stepping up now. KRIS JOSEPH: As leaders of this team, as senior leaders of this team, we have to take on that responsibility.  Our teammates look to us for that. We have to be the guys that's always upbeat. We have to be encouraging everyone. Like Scoop said, our presence has to be felt on the court all the times, not necessarily by scoring. We have to make an impact on the game in different ways, whether it's rebounding, on the defensive end or motivating our guys to get better. At all times for 40 minutes, our presence has to be felt. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. Coach Boeheim, top‑seeded Orange. Welcome back to Pittsburgh. Familiar venue for you. How do you feel going into the tournament? COACH BOEHEIM: Well, we had a good practice yesterday and today and we're ready to go. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Boeheim. Q. When did you have an idea that Fab would not be available to play in this tournament? COACH BOEHEIM: Tuesday. Q. You've probably seen it all in 36 years. Have you had a season where there's been so much on‑court success, winning the Big East, ranked No.1, and so much stuff off the court you've had to deal with? COACH BOEHEIM: I'm just dealing with this team and what we're doing. That's all. I'm not going to comment about anything else. We'll write about it someday, all right (smiling)? Q. When you lost in New York, you were pretty forthright about saying that this team will go as far as the seniors take it, neither Scoop or Kris played close to their best basketball. Have you addressed that with them? Do you expect them to show up tomorrow? COACH BOEHEIM: They showed up in New York. I don't think it's fair to say they didn't show up. They showed up. I don't think they played well. They knew that. They knew that. They said that. I believe they said that to everybody. We talked about it. The reason we've won 31 games is because Scoop and Kris have been very good all year long. If one of 'em was a little down, usually that game the other one had a good game. We've really I don't think had a night, there could have been that I can't quite remember, but I don't think there was a night or many nights anyway, where one of them wasn't good. Most nights they both were good. We have other players that can step up and have stepped up. But I think it's important for them to play well for us in this tournament. Doesn't necessarily mean score points. It just means to play well, although obviously that's part of it. Q. Looking at the Bulldogs on film, what stands out? COACH BOEHEIM: You know, they're a very good basketball team. I played UNC ‑ Asheville a couple times in the past. We had a couple really, really good games with them in the past at Syracuse. I was kind of afraid to schedule them anymore because I was afraid Eddie might come in there and beat us. So I've seen 'em. We played against 'em in the past. This year's team is a really good basketball team. They can shoot the ball. They get it up and down. They're shocking to me to be a 16 seed. But, you know, I'm sure most people would think I'm just saying that. I follow college basketball pretty closely. I had seen them play already this year before we got the tapes in. I just think they're a really good basketball team. Q. On this Fab situation, many of the players in your locker room, they didn't sound angry, but maybe disappointed or saddened a little bit by the situation. Is this a case of one player letting other players down or is there more to this? COACH BOEHEIM: Next question. I can't talk about this. But I will say he didn't let anybody down, in my opinion, all right? I know that's out there. I don't believe that to be true. Q. They obviously present a lot of challenges, averaging 81 points a game. That's a different résumé than you often see in a 16 seed. COACH BOEHEIM: That's one of the reasons I have so much respect for them. Those are the reasons. All those things are true. I'm glad you took over because they can't ask good questions. I'm glad you did that. As I said, I have tremendous respect for what they do, how they play, you know, the abilities that they have. No question about that. Q. You said last week with the situation that players just want to play basketball and none of the stuff that was going on outside was related to basketball. This without Fab, is related to basketball. How did they react to it? COACH BOEHEIM: They had two good practices. You know, let me just clarify what I say. When things happen, I've never said it doesn't have an effect on people. I said you have to overcome that. You have to do everything you can to focus on what you do have or what the situation is, the game you're playing. That's not to say that it doesn't affect players or coaches or anybody. I mean, everything that happens affects you in some way. But life's about trying to overcome whatever has happened to you and getting yourself ready to do the next thing. The players, all that they can do is go to practice and work as hard as they can in practice to get ready for the game tomorrow. They've done that. But as far as, you know, their innermost feelings, I mean, I have no idea exactly. Obviously nobody likes to not have their teammate with them. That's going to have an effect on them mentally. But it's my job to try to get them to play to the highest level they can tomorrow. And I'm absolutely positive that they will do that. You know, we went into New York with the same feelings. We played pretty well against Connecticut. We didn't get off to a very good start against Cincinnati. After that we battled back and did a good job the rest of the game. But, you know, what happens tomorrow, nobody knows the answer to that. That's why they play. But these guys will be ready. They want to prove that they can play. They want to all prove that they're good players, and I believe they are. The advantage we do have is that we have nine guys that have played a lot this year. We're not replacing a position with somebody who has not been a contributor. Both Baye and Rakeem have played a lot. They've been in virtually every game. When we were all alone without Fab, one of the tougher places to play in the league, at Cincinnati, we beat West Virginia, and we lost at Notre Dame because nine guys played bad. You know, it wasn't because we didn't have Fab. Notre Dame, first of all, played very well. Everybody on our team played a bad game, which has not happened any other time this year. But all that said, I mean, this team winning 31 games to me, I don't really like to go back into this, but is one of the best accomplishments, really the best accomplishment, regular‑season accomplishment, that I've ever been a part of in 36 years. I mean, this league is not that easy. It's very difficult to go to Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers, Notre Dame, all those places in our league and to just lose one game. I've never had a team do that before. I think only one team in the league's done that: Connecticut. I think these guys, they didn't do it with one player; they did it with 10 players. Now they've got nine left. I expect them to be fully ready to play tomorrow. Q. Could you compare the situation to two years ago when you lost Arinze just prior to the NCAA tournament? Do you approach this the same way? COACH BOEHEIM: I think the difference then was we didn't have as much depth, I think. We really were playing seven players that year, and it was fine because they had multiple positions. But when Arinze went out, Ricky had to go to center full‑time, so it took away our power forward. Kris Joseph, who was the sixth man of the year in the country had to start, so we lost our sixth man. I thought that team did well to win a couple games. Then obviously we had a four‑point lead against Butler. I thought that team played extremely well under those circumstances. Arinze was a big part of our team. He averaged 10 and 8, blocked shots. It's very similar. I think the one difference is we do have a little bit more depth this year. Q. You said after the Bucknell game in December that Rakeem Christmas needed to get meaner and tougher. How has he progressed? COACH BOEHEIM: I've been beating him up every day, knocking him around, having our guys knock him around. So he's getting tougher (smiling). He's probably not getting meaner, but... Yeah, I think he's made a lot of progress. I think he's a very hard worker in practice. For the last two or three weeks, really since the Notre Dame game, he's played a lot of time at practice at center. It's an easier position for him. He's not as far away from the basket. I think he's more comfortable there. He had a great game against Cincinnati when he had to step it up. So I think he's prepared for this situation. I think Baye has not had a great year, but it's because his minutes have been limited as much as anything. It's hard to play well when you're sitting next to me. It's not fun sitting next to me, for the most part. That's why guys go as far away from me as they can when they're on the bench. But I think both guys are really good players. I really do. They'll get a chance to show it tomorrow. Q. Triche said he spent a bunch of time practicing on the back line of your defense. Is there like a pretty decent chance that what we're going to see is Melo's absence might be made up for the addition of a guard to the lineup instead of a frontline player? COACH BOEHEIM: Not initially, no. Not initially. Q. When you say 'not initially,' you mean not in the starting lineup? COACH BOEHEIM: He's in the starting lineup anyway in another spot. Q. I mean like a third guard. COACH BOEHEIM: I mean, during the course of the game, I wouldn't rule anything out. I wouldn't rule anything out. That's not a primary thought, but I wouldn't rule it out, that happening. Q. Regardless of what the scenario is that he's not here, you know what a privilege it is to play in this tournament. Do you have a sense of disappointment for Fab? COACH BOEHEIM: Well, obviously I've seen a bigger improvement‑‑ I have not seen a bigger improvement from a player that I've ever coached in one year, and a guy I respect a lot who I think works as hard as he can work every day, who I think is a great kid. I feel bad for him. I feel bad for the rest of the players on the team because you don't want to lose a teammate in this situation at this time. Yeah, it's a very difficult thing to go through. He's a kid that's come, in my opinion, just an unbelievable way in a relatively short period of time. He's a guy that didn't play much in Brazil, sat out one year here, played in one limited high school season. Obviously, when he came in, you know, he knew he wasn't prepared, really couldn't get on the court. He went out and he worked extremely hard. He lost a lot of weight. He did everything you could possibly do to improve himself as a basketball player. For him to not have the opportunity to play is very disappointing for me, for him personally, and for the rest of our players. You never want to see your team lose a teammate at this stage. So it's obviously very disappointing for him. I feel bad. Q. Retroactive punishment can happen. Are you concerned if things go backwards going forward, that this will have ramifications for how the season goes down? COACH BOEHEIM: We'll see what happens. I can't comment on anything about this. Q. Do you have either a policy or do you talk with your players at all about social media, Twitter, Facebook, what they say about their teammates, that sort of thing? COACH BOEHEIM: You know, our policy has always been, if you're going to say things, be positive. We don't restrict them from the social media. I think players go to college, and college students can use social media. I think obviously we talk to them about using good judgment every day when they're dealing with either the media or social media. If something were to come up, I would treat it just like I would any quote or anything. If they say something they shouldn't, we talk about it. I think when you go to college, we don't have any rules about the social media things. That's something that college kids have to figure out, work their way through. College athletes, student‑athletes, have to learn responsibility. I don't think you can dictate that kind of policy. That's the way we do it. Q. How will Fab's absence affect you defensively not only tomorrow but through the tournament, assuming you advance? COACH BOEHEIM: As I said earlier, he's one of the best shot blockers in the country. You're going to miss a guy like that. Nobody has anybody quite like him. He's a tremendous physical presence. Everybody else is going to have to play better defense. And the guys that are in there are going to have to do the best that they can do to replace him. They have experience. They played. You know, we expect that they will be able to do that. Q. You saw how well Dion played throughout the season, especially in the Big East tournament. Knowing that Fab isn't going to be here, how much more reliance do you have on Dion coming off the bench to really carry the team? COACH BOEHEIM: First of all Fab's absence has nothing to do with Dion. Dion is an offensive player. He's not going to go play center and block too many shots. So he's not affected. There's no effect on him. As far as him playing well, he played as well as he could play in New York, and we didn't win. So it's never on one guy. Never is. It's never about that. He's a good player. In fact, when we played Cincinnati at Cincinnati, I think he had three points. Mike would know exactly. But it was not a good night, was it? And we won. 28 in New York, we didn't win. So I'm going to try to tell him not to score so many points and see if the other guys will step it up a little bit (smiling). No, that has no effect. Dion, we need him to play well just like we need everybody else to play well. You're in the tournament now. You need as many guys to play as well as you can to be successful. There's always going to be a guy that has a bad night, whenever that is. It happens. The other guys have to pick the team up in those situations, those circumstances. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach Boeheim. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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