Jim Boeheim Quotes (136 Quotes)

There's a level of familiarity that can be helpful if you've been here before. It's not a magic bullet, but it helps.

What Mike has done is certainly in the same category as what John Wooden did. It's an awfully, awfully impressive thing in today's world.

We don't make excuses. They played well defensively and they deserved to win the game.

Our biggest problem has been defending people. Offensively we played pretty well but it's pretty disappointing at this time of the year that we can't stop people on defense. We're fortunate we've won as many games in our conference as we have playing the defense we have all year.

I have a number in mind, I think it should probably be about four to six, somewhere in there. The problem really is that it shouldn't come down to logistics.

We've got some really good teams. It's going to take a major upset for somebody to beat Connecticut. And three or four of our other teams are good enough to make a Final Four, maybe five.

These (conference) tournaments are so underdog-oriented. Teams that have to win, they're playing their hearts out. . . . You're going to beat teams that maybe are better. The real truth is, the teams that are better maybe aren't that much better.

I'm never concerned about how many players a team has. Some of the best teams we've ever play only had five guys. In basketball, it's not about numbers, you don't need 10 guys, you only need five.

Those guys have to be ready to step up and play. This is the opportunity for them. We'll see how they handle that.

I think they're a very good defensive team. If you watched the game, you know why he wasn't in the game. Gerry could not make plays.

I think if you can beat the No. 1 team in the country, you should be in.

John Chaney and John Thompson made it possible for the black coach to get in the college game. Administrators need to win to keep their jobs. So when Chaney and Thompson won games, that's how black coaches got hired.

We didn't have quite enough patience on offense. When we got shots and really we got some good ones, and in the second half we got a lot of good ones. We just didn't make anything.

Guard play has always been key. When you have good guard play, you'll always be alright in basketball. Good guard play is so crucial to everything you do on both ends of the court.

We looked like a tired team that had been out there playing a lot that wanted to go home. We need a few days off. It's sad that you have to play such great games back to back. It's just stupid. To have to play Saturday and Monday the past two weeks .... No one else will do that. It's too much to ask of anybody.

He got guys like Dave Bing to come to Syracuse at a time when the program was really down, ... He made me realize that the foundation for any good team is good players. There isn't a coach in the Hall of Fame who didn't have good players on his teams.

There is no greater honor a basketball coach can have than to coach for your country. I believe the whole country will unite behind this effort to win back the gold medal.

When they caught us, and they caught us three or four times, we kept going. Usually, when that happens, you let it go away a little bit. But these guys (Syracuse player) wouldn't let it go away.

I had to laugh when our student newspaper called him overrated. Without Gerry McNamara, we wouldn't have won 10 games this year. The other guys just aren't ready. They needed him. We wouldn't even have a chance to play this game without him.

We've been way behind against quality teams, but we keep fighting back. This team fights hard. They make some mistakes, but they keep fighting. When you lose four in a row and do what we had to do to win tonight, I'm very proud of them. This is a great lesson for all the guys. They can win without Gerry.

It will be a great tournament to watch. It's always been good, but never this good ... There will be some unbelievable games in the next few weeks.

He'll be remembered for his heart. He's a unique player. We've been fortunate to have him here for four years.

I believe, if Im not mistaken, Bill Gates went to college for one year. I dont think it hurt him, did it I believe that every kid that goes to college for one or two or three or four years gains tremendously from it.

The good thing about New York was that we had good balance. That's something that we didn't have last year. With Hakim and Gerry, we just didn't have the balance that we do this year.

You can't describe what it means. When you start out at five-years-old and all you want to do is play basketball, and when you can't play anymore, you want to coach the game, how do you describe it It's almost impossible.

He shoots that shot in practice. He can make it. Obviously it's not part of our offensive game plan. ... It was a tough shot and one we needed to make and he made it.

When Gerry got the ball coming down, I set something up. I told him (to) drive and give it to one of three guys at the end of regulation. He looked at me and said, 'Can I shoot it' I said, 'They're not going to let you shoot it. But if they do, shoot it.

This was a heart-and-soul type of game. I've questioned the toughness of our players a couple times. When you lose four in a row and you do what we had to do to win, that's a tremendous tribute to the toughness of these kids.

Before the start of the conference, Eastern basketball was quite fragmented, ... The Big East gave Eastern basketball a national identity, and the Dome was the perfect stage for those nationally televised games.

We just weren't active enough in it. We're capable of getting out and playing. We just didn't. We were just absolutely terrible defensively.

We're pretty good, and we're getting better. I can't say we're one of the top three or four teams in the country, but we're definitely better than we were last year. Our problem is overly physical teams give us trouble.

Some guys win one game once in a while, in a year or two. I don't think anybody's ever won four games in a row by making 'the' play of the game. That's pretty special.

We're not a high turnover team. We take care of the ball well in games. I think we're a little bit unsure offensively and everyone's trying too hard to make something happen. But we have to get better movement. In the second half, we got a little better movement and a little better spacing and we got some real good possessions.

We had to give it a lot tonight. We've played a lot of basketball. We're just going to have to get ready and be ready to play Monday night. West Virginia's playing as good as anybody. It's a tremendous test, a tremendous game for us.

Jim and I talked before the game (Monday) about this. It just doesn't make sense. Too many good teams. It's too difficult to stack the deck against people.

Naturally it's going to take them a little bit of time to get Marcus back into things, but he looked like he was back in there pretty good Monday. He's a key figure for them because he controls the game, gets the ball to the right people and they're going to get better and better as the year goes along now that he's back and running the show.

Gerry wouldn't let it get away. He was playing on about half-a-leg today. He amazes me every time I see him play. He's got more guts than anybody I've ever coached.

They could be in third place with a little luck. That's how close the league is. The difference is so minute between teams. Look at West Virginia, (they've had) one after the other of close, tough games, and as good as Connecticut is, against Pitt, it's a one-point game late at home. It makes for great games, I guess.

We were pushing up on him, zoning him, double-teaming him, trying to do anything we could to get him to just miss a little bit. He was terrific.

At times maybe he could play harder. It comes and goes. We need more consistency from him. He's our inside presence.

For Josh Wright, who hadn't played, to make all four, and we needed all four, that's a lot of guts. I'm not sure Gerry would have, as tired as he was.

None of these games are really upsets, like Wichita State or George Mason winning, because if you watch them they are really good teams. There's so much equity it's scary. Remember back in November when we said how good Drexel was and couldn't believe that was the sixth or seventh place team in the Colonial Well, that's where they finished.

It seemed for a long time there that we made the finals every year and took it for granted. It has been a while.

The two were in agreement, though that the new Big East is something to be proud of. This will be a tremendous year, ... It'll be tremendous for the fans.

They're just too strong for us right now, ... Pittsburgh is a veteran team. I thought they were underrated all along.

We just had a lack of patience in the first half. It caused us all kinds of problems.

Everybody wants the opportunity, no matter what you do in the regular season, to get to your league tournament, but we knew the rules.

We have struggled a little bit but we have lost five games to teams that were ranked in the Top Ten. This is a tough league. We still have tough games ahead. Every game in this league is a must win.

I think the league is so deep, it makes everybody better.

This is a great lesson for all these guys. They can win without Gerry. It will help make them stronger. It gives us a chance to rest Gerry.