Jim Boeheim Louisville Postgame Transcript

Syracuse basketball head coach discusses the Orange's win over the Cardinals.

Following Syracuse's 92-69 win over Louisville, head coach Jim Boeheim spoke to the media about the game. 

OPENING STATEMENT

JB: You know, we were really good defensively today in the first half. Louisville’s coming off an overtime game with [North] Carolina and a really close game with Duke. You could see at the end, when we didn’t play defense there at the end, they can shoot. Our defense was just good. It just makes it easier for us when our defense is good, it doesn’t put as much pressure on our offense, offensively we move well. Joe did a great job of running the offense, getting Jesse when he was rolling, and when he wasn’t, hitting the shooters. It was just a really, really good offensive game again, but I just thought the improvement that we have made on offense and continue to make is really the key for the rest of the year. We just gotta keep getting better there. I think our offense is in a good place, and we just gotta keep playing well on the defensive end.

Q: Was that a concerted effort to go into them inside with Jesse for a mismatch defensively? The foul shooting has improved as well.

JB: Yeah, he’s worked on his foul shooting. It’s better, getting better. Jimmy’s been working on it better. They switched, so he’s got a six-foot guy on him. Jimmy came up and, if Joe couldn’t hit him [Jesse] directly, Jimmy can. They [Louisville] can’t come off Cole, can’t come off Buddy. The first half, they came off Buddy, and Jesse made a great pass, got him wide open. When he does that, the next time they’re gonna stay with Buddy and Jesse gets a layup. Joe did a great job with that, Jimmy did a good job finding him. Everything we tried to do tonight worked really well. Again, Louisville is not that-they played two good games in a row. They’re not that bad a team. It was a really good effort.

Q: It seems like Jesse is fouling less. Is that the case, or are they [opposing offenses] going inside less?

JB: I think two of his fouls were over the back or reaching fouls, and he’s eliminated those. So, if you eliminate all the bad fouls, five fouls, he should be able to make it.

Q: A couple of games ago in Pittsburgh Joe really struggled. He’s been pretty good the last three games-

JB: Pretty good? No he hasn’t been pretty good Donna. He’s been really good. That’s typical of what everybody says about Joe Girard. When he plays great, they say he’s pretty good. Ok. [chuckles]

Q: Descriptions aside, how have those last three games helped you put up the kind of points that you’re putting up? How critical is he for your offense?

JB: Your point guard is critical for your offense. Period. Always is, always will be, always has been. When he [Girard III] plays at a high level, not just pretty good, then we’re really difficult to guard, because they’re worried about his jump shot going off. That gets Jesse open down low. They’re worried about our shooters, so Joe’s done a great job of finding them, getting them the ball. Joe Girard has been really good all year, and he’s been outstanding the last three games. All anybody wants to remember about Joe Girard is a bad game he played in Pittsburgh, or a bad game he played somewhere else. It’s a long season. His numbers are great. He’s been tremendous. He’s being pressured the whole game and he’s handling it. He’s getting way too much criticism. Way too much.

Q: Coach, another win. Three straight now. With a slate of games coming up against teams at the bottom of the ACC, should we see more of the guys coming off the bench, assuming they play well?

JB: Yeah that’d be good. They went in up thirty and it got down to eighteen. I notice those things. They have to play better. We need those guys to play better when they get in. They’re getting opportunities, and if they can capitalize on them, then they’re gonna play. I watched Villanova play today, I think they’re 10th in the country, they played six guys. One of them, the sixth guy, played. That was it. You play the guys who are getting it done. These guys are strong, they’re healthy. We’re gonna play guys who are playing well in practice. I thought Jon Bol made a couple good plays today. He’s been pretty good in practice since he’s been back. The Covid thing hurt him being out. Again, Frank’s done some good things, but you need to play well, first of all in practice, and when you do get six, seven, eight, nine minutes in a game, you’ve got to try to accomplish something. Something.

Q: Coach, I know the offense has been good all year. These last three games, it feels like you guys are at another level. Just wonder what you attribute that to and what you guys have found over these last couple of games?

JB: I think the biggest thing is that Jimmy and Cole are guys coming in first year, Jesse’s getting his first long minutes, and I think it’s taken them time to get to this level. I think offensively they’ve played well enough a lot to win more games, our defense just wasn’t good enough. If you look at portal guys across the country, especially more of the guys you know, most of them aren’t doing as well. It takes time to adjust to a new program. It’s not that easy to come out of the portal and play right away. One thing about the old way, when you sat out a year you kind of got used to what the system was, and it was maybe a little easier. Elijah Hughes, Mike Gbinije, going back to Wesley Johnson, they were with us a year. They knew what they were doing. They came right out of the box playing really well, but seems to me, and I’m not making a study of it, but the guys I know are not putting numbers up that they put up at schools they were at, and it just takes time sometimes. Cole’s numbers are better here because he’s obviously playing three times as many minutes, but it’s still taken him time to get used to it. I think Jimmy’s made a good adjustment, but it's still taken a while for him to get to this level of play, and we’ll just see what we can do with it from here on.

Q: Jim, this year’s crew really seems like a group of guys that feed off the crowd. What have you thought of the energy these last two games?

JB: I think the fans are great. Our fans have always been great. I can’t wait until we get ‘em back and they don’t have to wear masks and they can just do whatever. Every place we go, there’s no masks. This is the only place I see it. I know a lot of fans that are just not coming. They don’t wanna do it, they don’t wanna do that, they don’t want to do all that stuff. Hopefully we can get to a point where we can get there, but our fans have been great early in the year, and now they’ve been great. It’s tougher on the fans than it is on anybody, and I couldn’t be happier, prouder of the fans that we have. The students have been great, and all that is helpful. You still have to play good. You play good, you can win.

Q: Coach, you guys shot just about 52% from three today. How important is that in the three-game win streak?

JB: You know, shooting is important. We said that in the beginning of the year. We have shooters, it’s important that they shoot well. I think our ball movement’s a little better. I think we’re getting a little bit better looks. I’d like to try to get Cole some more looks. It’s difficult, they’re sticking with him. Buddy and Joe are getting pretty good at putting it on the floor and making something happen. Cole’s getting a little better at that, it’s new for him. We need to shoot well. You’re not always gonna shoot 50% but hopefully we can do it as long as we can. Our defense has to get better so that when we don’t shoot 50%, we can still find a way to win games.

Q: Coach Boeheim, you guys have done great the last three games. I wanted to know what you think has to be done to keep the momentum up with Boston College coming up on Tuesday?

JB: We just have to keep playing. We keep working, keep playing. Boston College has beaten Notre Dame up there, they’ve beaten Virginia Tech. They’ve played really well, and there’s no one in this league who can’t beat you if you don’t play, go out there and play, and play well. Can’t just play, you have to play well. We made Louisville look bad; they’re not that bad. We just played really, really well on both ends of the court. That’s key.

Q: Coach, going into the second half Buddy came out real strong. How vital was that, that you didn’t take your foot off the gas even though you had a huge lead going into the half?

JB: This felt to me like a game where they could get back in it. They were 2-16 [from three] in the first half, they’re not gonna do that again. So, you figure they’re gonna make shots. Buddy just got in a good place, a good rhythm. He made a couple of really hard shots and then he tried to take a couple of really hard shots. But, he’s played well all year, he’s been there for us. Offensively right now, we’re playing at a high level.