CLEVELAND, OH -- The Syracuse Orange have arrived in Cleveland ahead of their NCAA Tournament opener against Indiana State Friday night, and discussed a variety of topics as guard Scoop Jardine, forwards Kris Joseph and Rick Jackson, and coach Jim Boeheim fielded questions from reporters during a mid-afternoon news conference.
Among the topics discussed by the three Orange upperclassmen were:
- Not looking past unheralded Indiana State
- What it’s like to play for a hall of fame coach
- How opposing teams react to their zone defense
- What they plan do while waiting for the late tipoff Friday night
- How the Big East Tournament prepared them for the NCAA’s
Scoop Jardine: We have to guard against the three... The Big East is the best in the country, and it gets us ready for the tournament… We had a bad ending last year, we've played a lot of minutes and can prepare the younger guys this year... "We've got some unfinished business"... Trying to win the whole thing! We don't have walkthroughs, and the late start won't change anything, "We'll put on our sneakers and be ready to play". There are a lot of tough teams in our bracket, but I was surprised we were picked to go to the final four by Jay Bilas, but winning and surviving is what matters now, we had a 1 seed last year and had an early exit... All we knew about Indiana State is that Larry Bird went there, they're a good team after looking over the scouting report and watching tape, we will never underestimate them, they all can shoot and that's tough for our zone, we'll have to throw some traps at them...
Rick Jackson: After losing last year, watching the Final Four, it was tough, wish we could have been there and could have done more... felt bad for the seniors... "We just want to come out and play hard"… The losing streak in the middle of the season helped us, it made us talk more on the court, and our defense slipped after winning so many games to start the season, it made us more hungry to win after going through that losing streak… We've been around each other for a long time and know each other's habits, just trying to accomplish things right now… Indiana State has guys that can shoot, we have to force them to take tough shots…
Kris Joseph: Teams are athletic, we're ready for anything a team throws at us... When we make it really hectic for a team, then we know the zone is being effective and bothering the other team's offense... When we found out we're playing Indiana State, I figured we were playing a bunch of white boys who can shoot, we're going to play hard basketball…
After the players wrapped up, head coach Jim Boeheim took the podium and also answered questions from the media. Boeheim also touched on a variety of topics, including:
- Advice for Indiana State coach Greg Lansing, who will be coaching his first NCAA Tournament game
- The pros and cons of long TV timeouts during tourney games
- What he expects out of Indiana State
- How teams attack the 2-3 zone
- How good the Big East was this year
- Is he nearing the end of his career?
- How did the team’s midseason struggles prepare them for the postseason?
- The progress of Fab Melo
Some notes from Boeheim at the news conference:
Happy to be in the tournament, we know the first game will be tough, Indiana State has a good team, they have a lot of weapons and a good defensive team and can shoot and rebound the ball...
On remembering his first NCAA Tournament game: "You're kidding right? I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning!" It's another game, a big game... they (ISU) had to win a big game to get here...
On long TV timeouts: The first minute or so, I try to think about where I'm going for dinner... don't have much to say after the first 30 seconds... they are long timeouts, make some points, and get out of there...
On Indiana State attacking the zone: People attack our zones in a lot of ways... it's changed radically in the last three years than what it used to be... they (ISU) attack zones really well, watched tape on them, they can shoot the ball and penetrate the zone, a very good zone attack team... good against man vs. man, too...
On what he wants players doing before the game: I imagine they'll be watching the games, they'll be taking it easy... we played late last year, too... had some 9:00 pm games this year, too... normal late game day...
On how good the Big East is, and how it prepared them: League is good, anything can happen... Louisville just got beat, West Virginia came back to beat Clemson... games will come down to the end, a battle, whomever makes a play at the end will win... college basketball is evened out, it's gotten to the point where teams in the tourney can beat you, and it didn't used to be that way in the first two or three seeds... more good players now in the NCAA than ever before...
On retiring: Each year I think I'm nearing the end, but I'm still here... after six months of this, going to my kids games looks good...
On having to reminding team about early exit: "Why would I remind them about that?" They lost to a team that lost in the Final Four last year... our players understand about the importance of each game... do you think I need to remind them of that?
On what he learned during four game losing skid: We get through those times... played poor defense, had some good offensive games... some teams played great against us... learned a lot when we played at UConn... last part of the season is where the team reacted well... most teams have adverse times in the league... might lose two or three in a row, have to get through it... this team got through it... concerned about having young players going into the year, we needed them to play good to get here, they have stepped up... our veterans have been good all year, helped to get the defense going at the end..
On Fab Melo's progress: He's an x-factor... we're hopeful, but not counting on it.... he's had a few good games, not quite ready, better now than at the start of the year... hopeful he can contribute... practices have been good...
The Orange and Sycamores will tip off around 10:00 p.m. Friday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It can be seen locally on truTV, which is located on the following channels:
Time Warner customers can see the game in standard definition on channels 52 and 91 and high definition on channel 884.
truTV can be found on Verzion FiOS TV Channels 683 in high definition and 183 in standard definition.
DirecTV customers can see standard definition games on channel 246. HD games will be available on 246-1, but no other programming will be in HD.
On Dish Network you can watch truTV on channel 204.
The channel is available only on cable and satellite systems, not over the air. However, the games will be available for free online here.
