What did Jim Boeheim, Trevor Cooney, and Michael Gbinije have to say?
Later today, the Syracuse Orange will meet Charlotte in the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis, with the winner advancing to play the winner of the matchup between Connecticut and Michigan. On Tuesday, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and players Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije addressed the media for the first time in the Bahamas. Here are some of the highlights from that press conference:
Boeheim
On the tournament's competition:
"Early in the year, you want to play these kind of games. It kind of lets you know what you have and what you need to work on. ... It's a great field and we're excited and happy to be here."
On staying focused on basketball in the Bahamas:
"The players know (the tournament is) important. They know every game is important. They're trying to develop as a team. I think that's really not difficult to do. If we were going to be for 10 days or something, playing two or three games, it might be difficult."
On the early season turnovers:
"It'll all work out. We'll be fine. It's early. There's going to be turnovers early, for a lot of reasons."
Cooney
On the early season turnovers:
"There's no excuses for it. We just have to be better with it and make better decisions, make better plays. And that'll come as we keep playing together."
On this tournament in comparison to the 2013 Maui Invitational, which Syracuse won:
"It's a little different. We just walked to practice, instead of being in Maui, everything was kind of spread out a little bit. It's pretty cool. The weather's the same, which is nice. But everything else from Maui is pretty the same."
On playing three games in three days, which Syracuse will have to do:
"It's obviously a very tough thing to do. But I mean, you just have to focus on the first game and move on from there. Your legs will be there, you just gotta keep playing hard."
Gbinije
On the early season turnovers:
"We're going to improve on that. We just need to focus on making the simple play and try to be under control with everything."
On this tournament in comparison to the Maui Invitational:
"It's pretty similar. You get a chance to be with your teammates on the road, have fun, hopefully come out and win games."
On Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins taking over for Boeheim in three years:
"It's going to mean a lot to me, personally. Coach Hopkins has been an inspiration to me on and off the court, so I have a good relationship with him and I think the team is going to be in good hands."
***
Cooney and Gbinije also caught up with Syracuse.com's Donna Ditota. You can catch that interview here. Spoiler alert: Neither of them like sharks or dolphins.
