Buzz Williams Quotes
Syracuse Men's Basketball
Syracuse vs. Virginia Tech
December 31, 2017
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Virginia Tech Head Coach Buzz Williams
Can you talk about Syracuse's defense in the first half?
"I think they are good, regardless of field goal percentage. I think they are, obviously, the tallest team in the country, the longest team in the country. The thing that hurt us in the first half was our turnover rate. Twenty-eight percent of the time we turned it over and so, when you're not making shots, in addition to having that high of a turnover rate, it somewhat only increases the value of the shots you are missing when in actuality, the problem is not that you're missing them, the problem is you're not getting a shot. I thought that was what ailed us today - the first half for sure."
Coach Boeheim said that you looked out of sorts in the first half. Would you agree with that?
"I think any time you're turning the ball over more than one out of every four times, it just seems choppy. It seems as though the three shots that you do get, you're putting more of a burden to make them, which over time, makes you more unsure, maybe, than you should be. So I would agree with what he said."
When you cut the deficit to three in the second half, did you feel the game was turning and what happened after that?
"I think right after that was when they went on their run. In hindsight, it was a bad coaching decision, I should have used a timeout during their run. But when we closed it to three, I thought potentially it was about to be a game and I wanted to have timeouts down the stretch because the previous times we've played here, it has been an eight-possession game and I kept hoping their run would stop but it didn't. So in hindsight, I should have used a timeout."Â
Did you make any halftime adjustments?
"No sir. We're probably as simple of a team as there is offensively in what we try to accomplish. Specifically against a zone I think we're more simple. I think we did even less in the second half than we did the first half, actually."
Syracuse vs. Virginia Tech
December 31, 2017
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Virginia Tech Head Coach Buzz Williams
Can you talk about Syracuse's defense in the first half?
"I think they are good, regardless of field goal percentage. I think they are, obviously, the tallest team in the country, the longest team in the country. The thing that hurt us in the first half was our turnover rate. Twenty-eight percent of the time we turned it over and so, when you're not making shots, in addition to having that high of a turnover rate, it somewhat only increases the value of the shots you are missing when in actuality, the problem is not that you're missing them, the problem is you're not getting a shot. I thought that was what ailed us today - the first half for sure."
Coach Boeheim said that you looked out of sorts in the first half. Would you agree with that?
"I think any time you're turning the ball over more than one out of every four times, it just seems choppy. It seems as though the three shots that you do get, you're putting more of a burden to make them, which over time, makes you more unsure, maybe, than you should be. So I would agree with what he said."
When you cut the deficit to three in the second half, did you feel the game was turning and what happened after that?
"I think right after that was when they went on their run. In hindsight, it was a bad coaching decision, I should have used a timeout during their run. But when we closed it to three, I thought potentially it was about to be a game and I wanted to have timeouts down the stretch because the previous times we've played here, it has been an eight-possession game and I kept hoping their run would stop but it didn't. So in hindsight, I should have used a timeout."Â
Did you make any halftime adjustments?
"No sir. We're probably as simple of a team as there is offensively in what we try to accomplish. Specifically against a zone I think we're more simple. I think we did even less in the second half than we did the first half, actually."
