Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry met with the media following the Orange's 88-68 loss to NC State Tuesday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Autry’s press conference.
Opening Statement…
First, I give NC State credit. They did a good job of finishing and taking advantage of our breakdowns. I thought the first half, our guys fought. The second half, [we had] too many breakdowns, and they made us pay every time. We had too many defensive breakdowns, not finishing possessions and rebounds, and not even finishing on the offensive end. I just thought they capitalized on every mistake, and in this league, you can't do that. These teams are too good. We dug ourselves a hole, and we couldn't get out of it. We've got to keep fighting, get back to watching film and trying to get better, and get prepared for the next game.
On defending Quadir Copeland…
We were trying to guard him and tried to make it difficult for him. He's probably playing at an all-conference level right now. He's a lot to handle: a six-six guard that can move, wiggle, see over defense, and see over traps. You try to force him some different places. He's used to that. He’s the main guy on the scouting report. Again, we're trying to slow him down a little bit, but this is a talented team. He has pieces and weapons, and the biggest thing that Quadir does is [that] he gets people involved.
On the defensive problems…
Our guards didn't do a good job of keeping people in front. I think it put a lot of pressure on our front court. I thought our rotations, again, we had a lot of breakdowns, and a lot of that was not being able to keep the ball in front. I thought we did a good job of taking their three-point shooters and keeping those guys in check, but, keeping the ball in front, fundamentally, we did a horrific job today.
On keeping Sadiq White, Jr. in the game with four fouls…
He was the only one that was trying. I thought he did a decent enough job. I thought he did a decent enough job to keep some length on [Darrion] Williams and Quadir. Once a guy gets to four fouls, hopefully he can play long enough and see what he can give us.
On emptying the bench in the final minutes…
The game have been settled, and I wanted to look at Bryce [Zephir] and these other guys to see what I have. Obviously, we're struggling right now, so I'm trying to look for some different things. It was a chance for me to put those guys in and see what they would do because we can't continue moving on this way. We've gotta look at everything. Everything is on the table now.
