The Jim Boeheim Show- after Louisiana Tech | Syracusefan.com

The Jim Boeheim Show- after Louisiana Tech

SWC75

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Jim Boeheim’s radio show is on Thursdays from 7-9PM on ESPN Radio in Syracuse, which is AM1200 or FM 97.7 on the dial. The show originates from Delmonico’s Italian Steakhouse on Erie Boulevard in Syracuse. The first hour, hosted by Matt Park, the Voice of the Orange, is on their general network. The second hour, which begins with the conference season, is hosted by Gomez, a local radio personality.

The first hour is eventually, (it can take weeks) podcasted on the SU Athletics website on this page:
http://suathletics.com/podcasts.aspx
(Update: the last podcast is a preview of the first Duke game from last year so maybe they have stopped podcasting the show. )

You can call into the show locally at 315-424-8599 or nationally at 1-888-746-2873. For Gomez’s portion, use 315-4424-8599. Or you can submit questions from this page:
http://cuse.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4

The show can be heard in Syracuse on FM 99.5. It’s sometime simulcast on AM 1200 or FM 97.7. You can also get it on: http://tunein.com/radio/WGVA-1240-s29191/

I will be posting my rough transcript the night of the broadcast focusing on my questions, the team and their last and next games and then a second post the next day on other things that were discussed.


MY QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

First hour:

"Coach, some people got the impression, (no idea where they got it from), that you aren’t fully satisfied with the play of your team thusfar. Some have suggested “He’s trying to send a message to his players”. At the time of a press conference, you’ve just come from the locker room so I suspect you’ve already given the players any messages you might have. They are probably on their way home and will not be tuning into the coach’s press conference. Have you ever said anything in a press conference that is directed at your players?"

Second hour:

"Coach, could you please describe your philosophy on end of the game situations where you are ahead by 1-2 points with a few seconds left on the clock and the other team is inbounding from the other end of the court? It seems to me, (a fan in the third deck), that since you players will have been told not to foul, it might be best to front the inbound guy and force him to pass to the side, so the clock can begin with the ball 80 feet from the basket or throw it high, meaning it’s up for grabs, rather than allowing a pass to go directly to midcourt where a makeable shot can be attempted.


COACH BOEHEIM
(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject)

Jim thought his press conference was ”pretty normal. I was just giving information about where we are and what we need to do better. We did a lot of good things but when you aren’t doing everything well, you’ve got problems. We almost lost a game we should have won. We gave them 12 lay-ups after steals. It wouldn’t have bene a close game without that. We can’t continue to make these mistakes. It’s really costly.”

Matt mentioned that “We handled them on the boards.” JB: We really didn’t rebound that great except for Tyler. We made unbelievable mistakes you can’t make. And it wasn’t one guy. It was 2-3 guys.”

They talked about Trevor Cooney’s pass with SU up 10 and four minutes to go that Tyler Roberson didn’t catch. “Ten points is a good lead but you want to make sure the pass if you’re going to try it. In reality, he was wide open. It’s a tough call.”

I called in to ask my question. At first I made a joke about JB’s picture on the Media Guide and suggested it was probably taken after a turnover like the ones we had too many of on Sunday.
http://www.syracuse.com/axeman/inde...14-15_syracuse_basketball_media_guide_is.html
Jim said he was probably anticipating the Louisiana Tech game. “I don’t know why they did that.”

Regarding my question: “I never say anything to the players in the press conference. I do that in the locker room and in the film session the next day. I’m just telling people what I see. They don’t’ have to agree. Some days there’s more good than bad, others more bad than good. I let the fans know what I see. I don’t always get a question about each area so I try to summarize everything. Problems are a bit more obvious when you lose. But you can do things wrong when you win and if you keep doing them you’re going to lose. It’s nothing more than the way I see it.“

Gomez later asked how far back having post-game press conferences go. JB: I don’t remember. At least 30 years. I don’t remember not doing them.” I think they used to just be interviewed in the locker room. I don’t remember myself when I saw a clip form the first Presidential-style press conference in a separate room. I don’t think it goes back 30 years. I remember the famous chair toss from 1984 was in a separate room but that was at Madison Square Garden in the Big Tournament.

“If you play poorly, I treat it as a loss because if you keep playing like that you’re going to lose. I’m not picking on players. I’m talking to the fans about what we need to fix. I do it even more when we haven’t lost because then the fans don’t see the problems. I don’t tell the public anything I don’t tell the players first. Hopefully they learn.”

“We’ve held bad teams to bad shooting percentages and it’s kept our numbers down but that doesn’t mean anything if they can’t shoot. If you’ve got a freshman point guard you’re going to have some turnovers. Some players understand the game. Some are still trying to figure it out. It’s all about experience: You learn where not to go and what not to do. There are some point guards who avoid turnovers but don’t create anything. Tyler Ennis didn’t try to do anything crazy. Actually our turnover numbers this season aren’t terrible.” Matt quoted 13.5 for us, 15.5 for the opposition. Villanova is making 2 less and forcing one more. “Last year it was about 9. It’s that we make them at critical times.” Matt noted that Ennis’ turnovers last year for the season were “in the low 50’s.” (58 in 34 games) JB: “That’s very unusual.”

Jim described Louisiana Tech as “A good team. They press you. They change their press. They get you in transition. They over-played our forwards. They won 29 games last year and should have been in the tournament but lost in their conference tourney. They should be in this year but it could happen again. That’s the problem with a one-bid league.“

Gomez later asked how it would have affected the team had they lost that game. What would have been the residual impact? JB: “It wouldn’t necessarily have one. You still have to get the team ready for the next game, whether you’ve lost five in a row or you’ve won five in a row. You’ve got to get in the frame of mind that you’re going to win. It is hard to take when you lose a lead like that.” I’m glad that was a hypothetical situation.

“Villanova was really good last year: 29-5 and they have 8 or 9 guys back. A couple of their guys are really good now. This is their best team since they went to the Final Four, (2009). Actually they are better. That team had great guards. This team has more balance inside and outside. Their big men were forwards then. Daniel Ochefu is a big, strong shot-blocking center, (we seem to be facing a run of those). Jayvaughn Pinkston is strong, too, (6-7 235)”

Gomez asked about players going to their home city to play, as Rakeem Christmas will be doing. “Some play well others don’t’. We try to not think about where we are playing. We want a consistent approach.” He said it was going to be a home and home series with Villanova “But I don’t know about next year.”

He reminisced about last year’s game. “We were down 10-25 and came back to make it 30-27: a 20-2 run. And we went on to win by 16, 78-72. Down by 15 and you win by 16. Pretty amazing.“ I remember a game in Philadelphia in the Pearl Washington era where we were down by 16 IN THE SECOND HALF and won by 16. (No I don’t: I just looked it up and the only game we won at Villanova in the Pearl’s years was 80-57 on 1/6/86, so that must be the one I remember, just not with precision.)

I called in my second question during the Gomez section. But first I talked about seeing “The Making of Bleeding Orange” on Time Warner Sports Channel. I remarked how our coach was being interviewed for a book about him in a building named after one of his players. It’s a sign we must be doing pretty good. In the show he said that before the Carrier Dome, “No one in North Syracuse knew about our program.” I told him that one guy in north Syracuse did. (Me.) “But it’s true. I used to eat up there and nobody knew who I was. Manley was so small nobody could get tickets. “ I wonder where he ate up here. They have great chicken marsala at the Basil Leaf….

Regarding my question: “I’m afraid of what happened in the Russian game. You can still get a long pass if you step back. I want the extra defender back in case they try that. They’re not going to make the ¾ shot very often. People have different approaches. “

The “Russian game” he’s talking about is when the Russians beat us for the first time ever in the 1972 Olympics:
(Swingin’ version of ”In the Mood”, although I have no idea what it has to do with a basketball game.)

Besides being over 40 years ago, here is what I see in that play: We front the inbounds guy but the front man retreats to try to cut off a pass to a nearby guy. That’s what allows the long pass. We have two guys guarding the basket but both mistime their jumps and then fall down. Belov times his jump and puts the ball in. (That’s not all that happened: entire books have bene written about the ending of this game and I’m not going over everything here. I will note that Belov died at age 26 of a very rare disease: cancer of the heart. I wonder why it’s so rare for that organ to get cancer? That’s a question for another time.) So that’s not a true instance of fronting the inbounds man going wrong. Perhaps they were afraid of a pass to the guy the inbounds defender backtracked to cover who would then toss it to Belov. There were 3 seconds left. But the basket was defended- badly by two guys. I think being afraid to foul kind of negates their presence anyway. And that shot at the end of the Louisiana Tech game was not a three quarter shot- it was a 40 footer at best. And it was dead on line. It just didn’t quite get there.

Gomez asked about the play where we scored the winning basket. Was it the plan to get it to Christmas all the way? “We wanted him to drive straight down. If he was double teamed, throw it to someone else. We’re fortunate he wasn’t and it worked. We had two plays to get the ball to him in area. “

Gomez asked who the “Player of the Game” was. (It’s a promotion from one of their sponsors). “It’s tough to call. Can we do a co-player of the game? Is it legal?” Their producer, apparently the arbiter of such things, signaled “Yes” and to Trevor Cooney and Tyler Roberson reign as co-player sof the game. What will they do when we have two games in a week?

Doug called him to ask about Trevor Cooney being open and waving his arms. JB: “I haven’t seen that. St. John’s never left him. He showed he can drive in the last game. He hit a couple of pull ups. Matt suggested “he could do some damage from the line.” JB: “He’s quick and avoids contact. Maybe he’s too quick. Chris Mullen was slow and he knew it so he drew contact and got to the line 8-10 times a game.”

Dan in Cicero asked about DaJuan Coleman’s status. “He practices a little bit, about every other day. He can’t go down the full court fast. I’m not sure he’ll make it. We’ll take a hard look at it over the next two weeks.“ That doesn’t sound very promising. Let’s go Chinoso!

Dan also asked what Jim was tapping out in Morse Code during the press conference. “Let’s get outta here!”….”Actually, that wasn’t Morse Code. I didn’t know I was doing it. I must have had a tick or something “ It might be fun to have a sort of “closed caption” contest to guess what message his fingers were tapping out. It wasn’t to his players.


Note: Due to Christmas and New Year's being on the next two Thursdays, the show will be broadcast on Tuesday of the next two weeks instead of Thursday.
 
On the plus side we have him for two more after this one. Was really hoping he was close...

Agreed. At this point, if he isn't close to being able to go, I'd rather see him shut it down to preserve the year of eligibility. No sense in him hobbling around at 75%, and potentially getting injured again.
 
JB gave basically the same answer about Coleman when I asked him about it a couple shows ago. It doesn't sound like there's been much in the way of improvements.
 
Cancer is a disease of cellular over-reproduction. Heart is mostly muscle. Mature muscle cells don't reproduce. Apparently, cancer has 'never learned' how to reactivate the reproduction mechanism in muscle cells. This is also why you never hear of cancer of the bicep, etc.
 
OTHER TOPICS:

Duke was playing Connecticut on TV and they talked several times about that game. That led to the discussion of other college teams.

“It’s hard to beat Duke. Duke is one of two elite teams in the country, with Kentucky. And they don’t lose much in New Jersey….Connecticut is good. They have tough kids going after you full time. They had two tough losses and could be 6-1. It’s difficult to take consecutive losses on buzzer shots from the deep corner. Of course they’re all difficult to take. Connecticut barely got by St. Joe’s in the first game of last year’s NCAA tournament. They probably should have lost….Duke is very good but anyone can give you a game if you don’t play well. Arizona is right there. So are Gonzaga, Wisconsin and Louisville…It’s too early to tell how this Duke team compares to pas Duke teams. Their best three players are freshmen. ….San Diego State can’t shoot- they may be a rose shooting team than we are…..Wichita State was down to Alabama by 11 with five minutes to go and won by one. Alabama lost their best players but they might be a team to watch….Miami is good. They have two good transfer guards. People sometimes don’t factor that in. Kansas had a bad night against Kentucky but they beat Georgetown and a good Utah team. ”

Would Jim rather coach at a place like Wichita State, where the players play for four years or Duke or Syracuse, where you lose them so quickly. “We have to plan for guys to leave so we have to keep recruiting. Duke has better players than Wichita State but for not as long.” Personal observation: We talk about how balanced college basketball is, compared, at least to football because you only need 5 starters rather than 22. But imagine how balanced it might be if players stayed for four years. Yes, Duke and Syracuse might have quite a line-up. But they also wouldn’t be able to bring in busloads of top recruits. Those kids would be more likely to go elsewhere so they could play immediately. I think the mid majors and power conference also-rans would be better for it as well.

Athletic Directors are now being replaced nearly as often as coaches. “People want change. There’s a lot more movement. AD’s used to be in office for 25-30 years. You never know what it’s about. There could be a conflict with the University president. At Pitt two football coaches moved to a better job- Arizona State and Wisconsin. It’s not his fault. “

You’re not going to get Jim Harbaugh unless you go big. Michigan is the only college job he’d want. There’s not that many big name coaches out there.” Jim repeated his amazement that coordinators are now getting 1.2 million a year. “A few years ago they got $3-400,000.” He said he believes that both Bob Stoops and Nick Saban have contracts that go up when another coach signs for a record salary because they are both guaranteed to be the highest paid coach in college football. How would that work? Wouldn’t their salaries go to infinity and each one went up?

Jim hasn’t seen the new football indoor practice facility. “It looks good from the outside. It might turn 3-4 players a year. They can now practice year around.“ Matt mentioned that spring football “has been moved up a couple of weeks. Unofficially, the Spring Game will be on April 4th.)

Some NFL player, asked about the concussion issue, said “I’d take ten years off my life to play NFL football”. JB suggested he might feel differently at 70. Gomez noted that the player was “25, single, with no kids.”

JB wondered how much money Jay Cutler could get on the open market right now. “He’d be an upgrade over some quarterbacks but he hasn’t got it done in Chicago. “

He thinks Rex Ryan will be doing TV next year. “The Jets didn’t spend money. They have no quarterback. And they don’t have much other stuff, either.”

Will football ever come back to Los Angeles? “I don’t know. There’s not a push for it. They need people who have money.” I guess there’s none of those in LA. “I think it’s a bargaining chip for owners who want a new stadium. “If you don’t build it, we’ll move to LA.” It’s pretty crazy. I’m shocked.

He didn’t much care that the Titans and Jaguars were on TV that night. “The only ones who do are fantasy football fans. I’m not into that stuff. It’s crazy. My kids are into it.” Right now, Jim’s fantasy is probably a Syracuse basketball team that doesn’t throw the ball away.

They also discussed the NBA:

On Rondo being traded by the Celtics to the Mavericks: “The Mavericks have a good team and got a good point guard. The Celtics got a couple of good players- Crowder form Marquette and Brandon Wright is a potentially good player- and some picks and will work their way back up. “

On Carmelo Anthony being told to consider shutting it down for the year: “If you have an issue you have to do what the medical people tell you. But he’s not thinking about surgery, I don’t believe. They’ve been playing some close games and without Melo they’re not close. The Triangle offense requires shooters. There are no screens. You have to make the proper reads. The Knicks don’t the personnel for that. They don’t have the personnel for any offense. They are starting two guys who average 5 points a game. You’ve got to score a lot of points to get you up there and their defense isn’t going to stop people….Down deep he must feel that the move to Chicago would have been a good move. He might have lost money but not much. He felt the Knicks could get better but they aren’t.“

JB watched that Grizzliies –Spurs game. The Grizzlies stopped the Warrior’s winning streak and now they’ve beaten the Spurs. It was a heck of a game, really well-played on both ends. Memphis is really good. Oklahoma City has some momentum. Golden State might be the best teams. The Clippers are 17-9 and would probably be the 2nd or 3rd best team in the East.”

The Spurs are going on a long road trip. “It must be the rodeo. But they can play on the road. If Parker rests, that puts more pressure on the others. They are gradually showing signs of getting older.”

“Clay Thompson may be a better shooter than Seth Curry. This summer we had 25 practices They’d have shooting competitions and Clay got the better of him most of the time. Steve Kerr is the best shooting coach in the NBA- and they don’t even need him. “

Cleveland “has too many guys who need the ball- LeBron, Kyrie, Love, Dion. They all want the ball.”

Poor Michael Carter-Williams is getting used to losing games in the NBA. “After you are used to losing 3-4 games a year, losing 3-4 in a week is a difficult transition.”

The Sacramento Kings traded away Isiah Thom as. “That was an owner involved trade. Now he’s talking about getting Chris Mullin as a coach. He was a great player but he’s never coached.“ Gomez said the owner wanted the “Cherry Picker Offense”. I’ve never heard of it but Jims aid “The other team would score on every possession and you’d score on ly 2/3 of the time. You’d lose every game by 25.” Maybe that’s why I’ve never heard of it.

Gomez, seeking to broaden the conversation, asked Jim what he thought about normalizing relations with Cuba. Yes, JB has an opinion on that, too. “It’s bene going on a long time. 50 years. They are our closest neighbors. Sometimes freedom comes after you open it up and people see what it’s like to have stuff. But the Republicans will fight it until Obama leaves office. Then they'll claim it was their idea." Is a trip to Cuba on JB's 'bucket list'? "No, it's not on that list.”

Jim is “second to Santa Claus in putting things under people’s trees in Central New York, (thanks to his book). “I’m just trying to get wins. That’s all we’re doing.” Gomez noted the long line of fans at Delmonico’s asking for Jim’s autograph or to take a picture with him. Jim had no problem with it . “It’s when the fans aren’t there that you’re in trouble.”
 

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