Jan. 17, 2004
Notre Dame Quotes
Head Coach Mike Brey
On Syracuse:
“They played very well. Theyare a heck of a basketball team. They were much more physical than we were and we did not match them in the paint.”
On Today’s Game:
“We had numerous chances throughout the game and we did not capitalize on them and they did. There were many loose balls during the game and they were the first ones to them almost all the time.”
On the Game vs. Virginia Tech Next Week:
“We have to make our stand as a team. We need to work on our physicality and our presence in the paint. We have to step forward and become the team we know we can be.”
On Senior Center Tom Timmermans:
“Tom was absolutely fabulous tonight. We are glad that he is healthy and strong. He has been shooting very well lately and is getting a great rhythm. I felt bad taking him out of the game tonight. He established his position in the paint and was making plays the whole game. He is going to get a lot of minutes next week.”
On Senior Leadership:
“We have a lot of leadership on the team. It is great to have our Seniors Tom Timmermans and Torrian Jones along with Junior Chris Thomas and Sophomores Torin Francis and Chris Quinn on the floor at the same time. We need to aspire to be a good basketball team and we will work on that as much as we have to.” Tom Timmermans
On the difference in today’s game between the teams…
“We struggled on the backboards and they were all over the floor and did the things that needed to get done to win the game. We didn’t really do those things as a team. We had some guys play really tough, but today Syracuse just outplayed us.”
On his own successes today…
“My own performance was not important, to win is what is important. I would have rather have had zero points and won today than what happened. I had a lot of opportunities today and I was grateful for that.”
Torin Francis
On Tom Timmermans play…
“Tom had a great game today, we need him to do that every game. He stepped up and he was scoring and getting rebounds. He just showed how well he can play and hopefully he can do that every game.”
On defending Syracuse player, Hakim Warrick…
“He is so athletic and so quick. He is a huge presence down low and explodes to the basket. You try to keep the ball out of his hands and not to give him any room. As soon as he gets any room he will score right away.”
On the team as they are right now and as they work for the tournament…
“Right now we are 2-2 in the Big East, but there are a lot of games left. We need to learn from this game but also get ready to move on with the season with Virginia Tech on Tuesday and Kentucky coming up as well. I think the first few minutes of today’s game showed what we can do as a team, we just need to keep that up throughout the entire game.”
Chris Quinn
On today’s game…
“We had the lead cut down to one there and then they went on that run. Once you get down twelve or thirteen on a team like Syracuse it is hard to come back. “
On the rest of the season…
“I think we just need to play harder and we need every guy on our roster to step up. We all need to get ready for Tuesday and get a road win and then come back home and get a win next Sunday against Kentucky.”
On the atmosphere tonight in the Joyce Center…
“It was great to have the students back. Early on when we were knocking down some shots they got behind us and helped us create momentum. They showed a lot of support and we are very grateful for them tonight.”
Syracuse Quotes
Coach Jim Boeheim
On the Syracuse players…
“Louie McCroskey was tremendous. He stepped up in the first half while it was still a back and forth game and hit a couple of good shots. McNamara is always there and was very sharp tonight. Gerry did a tremendous job of penetrating and finding guys open. He pulled up and made some important long shots when Notre Dame started to come back. When we need him, he steps up to the big plays.”
On the Notre Dame players…
“Timmermans had a good game. He surprised us a little. Francis hurt us especially by throwing the ball outside when we were in the zone defense. We only gave Thomas a couple of good looks, though. We did a good job him guarding him in the man to man defense.”
On the difference in the game…
“This game was a matter of which team could stop the other, because both teams can score. We played man on man and that was the difference in the game because we played it well. We missed some easy shots tonight, but we moved the ball, looked around for each other, and were unselfish.”
On the season…
“Every game is tough. The league is hard. There are so many good teams out there. College basketball is hard. If you don’t play well, anyone can beat you. You just have to keep playing and we’ll see how we do at the end of the season.”
Junior Forward Hakim Warrick:
On the game…
“With all of there big men Notre Dame has I’m surprised they didn’t have more buckets in the paint. Going in we were expecting them to have 40-50 of their points through their big men.”
On the defense in the second half…
“We really did a good job of making them work for every shot and we made them take tough shots the entire game. That’s what you have do with teams who take a lot of three’s, you can’t give them any open looks.”
Sophomore Guard Gerry McNamara:
On Edelin’s run in the second half…
“Billy is a great player, this is his first full season. I think people are beginning to see what we saw last year. He’s just so big and strong, he’s just going to back people down and when people leave their guy, he will find them. He’s one of the best people I have ever seen at finding people for open shots. We need every one that he gets for us.
On Freshman Louie McCroskey…
“Louie stepped up and hit some big time shots. We need other people who can step up and hit shots especially behind the three point line. When he gets in the game he is looking to prove something, he is a spark and he is doing a lot for us right now.”