Jim Boeheim Quotes (136 Quotes)

I just don't think you can have four teams not go to your tournament. It's not healthy. I tried to convince the people in the league and our coaches. We had a halfhearted fight about it. This year, it'll be an all-out fight.

Connecticut is a team that can beat anybody, anytime, anyplace. They're the best team in our league, in the country. They've been there. They know what they're doing. They've got veteran guys who know how to play, know how to win.

It was a great win. I'd say one of the best if not the best we ever had at Syracuse. But I've only been there 44 years.

Is he the best player in the league No, he's not. But he's the most important player on any team in the league. When Allan Ray is hurt, Villanova wins. If one or two guys from Connecticut have bad games, they still win. If Gerry doesn't play for us, we can't be in the game.

I'm not surprised. I think we're about where we should be. We're right where I thought we'd be, maybe a game or two, but not much different.

These guys have grown, stepped it up and grown up. That should help us a lot this next week. Gerry made the big plays, but these other guys stepped it up. I think that's why we're going forward, and it's given us a little better opportunity now.

He cemented his legacy long before this. But people will remember this four-day performance forever.

I think the thing fans admire and I admire is the way Gerry plays hard all the time. He knows no other speed than full speed. When he makes a mistake, it's an effort-mistake. Most guys make mistakes because they don't give enough effort. That's never been the case with Gerry.

We haven't increased the number of teams in a long time and the quality has increased so much, I would have thought it would have been expanded a long time ago. This year more than ever there were teams that barely got in or didn't get in that can win games.

Four guards can work wonderfully well a lot of the time. But sometimes you can take advantage of it. We can't take advantage of it. And when you can't take advantage, they'll take advantage of it.

The days we don't make shots are going to be long nights for us. Anytime you shoot 1-for-19 from the 3-point line, you're usually going to lose. We held our composure pretty well.

I believe his achievements are more than many people realize. He's going to finish his career in some pretty good company.

Defensively, we did a good job, as well as you could expect at this stage of the year. We really helped each other. Our inside guys did a nice job. We really didn't give them too many open looks. We were very good.

If Gerry played at Notre Dame he'd probably average 25 a game for four years because that's what he gets when he comes here.

First of all, I want to start off with a profound abject apology for my language yesterday.

I'm going to be very nervous, ... You give hundreds, probably thousands of speeches in this business, but you only get one chance to make an acceptance speech at the Hall of Fame. That's pressure.

We have to play better defense. Our field-goal percentage defense is the worst it's been since I've been here. We've got to play better the rest of the way. There's still a lot of time. A lot can happen.

If they beat me, I'll just have to raise more than they do next time.

We had the worst defensive effort in the 30 years I've been coaching.

We have three games in one week, which means you'll have one day of practice. Somehow, we need to get a little more proper spacing with the games.

He won't make excuses, I won't make excuses. If you watched the game, you know why he wasn't in the game at the end.

If it wasn't for that injury, I'd be convinced he'd be playing this way every game. That was a tremendous blow to his development this year. It just has really held him back. But this will be a big confidence booster for him.

You're always hoping big guys get there sooner, but in my opinion they always take longer. In the last half of this season, we're going to need more. That's the bottom line.

Today was the best we've run our offense all season.

It was a great, great tournament. I'm really glad for Gerry. He started his career a little bit, probably a little bit too good, and where are you going to go after that But he's come back and had four great years for us. He's got unbelievable heart he really does.

Our inside people can't score against you. Our centers haven't contributed for a couple games now, and that doesn't make it easier.

I'd say it's one of the best, if not the best that we've ever had at Syracuse. That's over 44 years at Syracuse.

He just had a fluke injury in practice, and we're hoping he'll be back soon. We're hopeful he would be able to play fairly soon, but we don't know.

When you lose your best player without any practice time or anything (to prepare), that's a huge mountain to overcome. I think this is a great lesson for the other guys, that they can win without Gerry. That'll help make them stronger, give us a chance to rest Gerry. Other guys know they can step up and make plays.

Every game's tough, and you have to play well every game. We've got to start playing better or we're going to struggle.

You can't let him get loose. He showed what he can do when it gets open by hitting those two threes in the second half. For the most part, we did a good job of not letting him get set.

This team showed more heart and guts than any team I've ever coached. And Gerry had as good a four days as anyone I've ever seen.

They all want to play, so they'll listen, ... That's never been a problem.

The second half in both these games, we came out, we got better looks and our offense got going. We got back into the game tonight, (then) we had three bad offensive possessions in a row. Our offense is killing us. We cannot turn the ball over and have bad possessions.

He amazes me every time I see him play.

No question, he's given us a foothold in Scranton, but Gerry's appeal goes way beyond there. I think he's revived interest among fans in the Syracuse and Rochester areas, too. People can identify with him. I think they appreciate the way he plays.