The Coach showed up with ‘Buddy’ Boeheim with him. They didn’t specify who that was but I didn’t hear any barking so I assume it was one of his children, (his sons are James III and Jack). At one point Buddy had the earphones on and Jim said nobody should ask any football questions.
Matt Park congratulated the coach on the great stretch of three games the team has had- beating Georgetown, Connecticut and Louisville. JB: “We were on the verge of losing two of them and the Connecticut game was a 2 point game at one point. It came down to veteran players making plays. Against Louisville, it was more defensive plays than offensive plays.”
Mike in Lowville said that Michael Carter Williams was “shining heavily” but hadn’t played in the last couple of games. JB said it was tough to play a fourth guard with three veteran guards. “There’s only 80 minutes to play in the backcourt and you want your veteran guys to play 24-25 minutes each so that doesn’t leave much time for a fourth guy.” A later caller asked about the flair-up with MCW during the UCONN game. Jim said MCW hadn’t gotten back on successive fast breaks- one a lay-up and one a dunk. He said Scoop had failed to do the same thing on one of them but that Mike was in better position. “He’s young, he’s learning and his time will come.”
Dave in Minneapolis asked what’s necessary to get this team to peak at the right time- to “access their potential”? JB: “When we shoot it like we did against Connecticut, we are close to unbeatable. Our young players- the sophomores, CJ, Dion and Baye are getting better. Even our upperclassmen are getting better.” Matt Park noted that after having a bad game vs. Georgetown CJ Fair worked after practice on his shooting and rebounding and it paid off. JB: “He made some big plays at Louisville.”
I called in and told the coach that a caller to a local radio show had said that he read somewhere on the internet that one of JB’s early teams “had 12 players who averaged more than 20 minutes per game“. That would take at least 240 minutes and a team of five playing 40 minutes can only play 200 minutes. I told him that if he found a way to have 12 players player 20 minutes, they would have put him in the Hall of Fame right then and there. That got a laugh from the coach, Matt Park and even Gomez in the background, (but nothing from Buddy). Jim said that there must have been a lot of overtime games. I told him if anyone could find more than 80 minutes for the backcourt, Jim Boeheim could.
I told the coach that I had searched for a similar stretch of games where we’d beaten three highly regarded teams in a week. I found a period when 1/16-21/1991 where we beat Connecticut, Seton hall and Georgetown, all of whom were ranked. I told the coach we wouldn’t get into how that season ended, (vs. Richmond). JB said “This was a great stretch- Connecticut isn’t ranked but they are still a good team.” I told him that any win over a defending national champion is a good win.
I asked my question about the shooting. He said it wasn’t bad luck or the arena or poor fundamentals. “Defense had a lot to do with it. They forced us into tough shots. When you don’t get many open shots it’s harder to make the ones you get. Kuric missed a couple of open shots and Kris Joseph missed one, too.” Matt calculated that we were 3 for 33 on shots outside the restricted area underneath the basket. JB: “If you’re not making them you need to stop at some point. Dieng leads the league in blocked shots and challenges every shot. Dion and Scoop both got blocked. It was more defense than bad shots. “
Jim said that “there are different types of games- different styles in the league: the press, man for man, various zones. You are prepared for almost anything in the tournament.” He derided the notion that who you play in November and December has anything to do with how you play in March. It may have some effect on how you play in January, but not March. “People don’t remember November.“ I recall hearing a caller to a local talk show assert that Doug Gottlieb was correct that you have to schedule tough teams early to prepare yourself for the post season and using Tom Izzo as an example of how that works vs. JB’s record. I suspect JB was listening. Later he said that Izzo was “a great coach. They have a very good basketball team. Tom knows how to get his team prepared for March.”
They talked about needing tough games to prepare you for the post season. “Virginia tech and Stanford both had leads against us. North Carolina State and Providence both made runs. This is nothing new.” He repeated his point about winging close games doesn’t make it any more likely that you’ll win the next one. “You play 31 games- good bad and mediocre. You’re going to have some off games. It’s overstated how much that helps you in March. You can win by one and lose by one.”
Matt had done some computing after a caller last week had asked about coming out flat in games. He determined that, in Big East games, at the point of the first TV time out, (4 minutes+ in), we were ahead in 5 games, down in 7 and even in 2 more. At the second TV time out, we are 7-4-3. JB: “It’s a 40 minute game. I don’t pay much attention to a piece here, a piece there. “
The strategy of not fronting the inbounds man on a last possession with a few seconds left was discussed. If the lead is 3, JB will foul but if it’s less than that he’d rather have an extra man to guard the basket. He wants four guys on the potential shooters and one guy on the basket. He cited the famous Olympic loss of 1972 as an example: one of the four guys back fell down and the Russian won the game on a lay-up. Here is that play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0w0EevaLYA
There is no one fronting the inbounds, allowing the Russian to throw the ball the length of the court, where two guys are under the basket. One falls down and the other backs away from the play. There were three seconds left at the time. Wouldn’t it have been better to force them to pass the ball sideways and be 80 feet away when the clock stops?
They discussed the Rutgers game, which has been sold out for months. “They tried to keep our fans from getting tickets.”
An E-mailers calling himself “Red Sox Fan” asked what ACC venues Jim was looking forward to playing in. “They’re all tough. Duke and UNC are great venues, of course. Virginia Tech will be tough. Maryland has a beautiful new place.” JB said the Yum Center was also a beautiful place with great fans “who are very loud.”
A caller asked the weekly “Who scares you?” question. He wanted to know if Jim was more scared of a team that shoots the ball well like Vanderbilt or a big, strong team that rebounds well like North Carolina.
JB was impressed that Vandy got back into the Kentucky game quickly once they started making shots. “I think people over-rate us. There’s 7-8 teams that can give us a big problem: Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas, Duke, Michigan State, UNC. We’re not showing right now that we are prepared to beat those teams. Georgetown and West Virginia are just OK compared to them and they gave us a big problem. We are presently not able to compete for a national championship. We have to get better.”
John in Horseheads asked about the status of Jim Calhoun and Trevor Cooney. Jim said that Calhoun can’t even get out of bed at this point but he thinks something temporary will be done so he can return this season, probably for the SU game or just before. Trevor “plays against the best guys in practice. He works hard. It’s about how hard you work in a red shirt year and he’s working very hard.
A caller asked for Jim’s “Top ten bench guys”, then clarified that he was asking for an all time roster of Jim’s best players. Jim said he never does all-star teams “because it might make the other guys mad.”
They briefly discussed South Florida, who is now 9-4 in the league. “They have some veterans, good size, good guards play- another good team.”
Larry wanted to know about how Su prepares for various defenses in practice. “The second team plays whatever defense the other team will play. We mix it up. Practices are very competitive.” Matt said that “we have the best third team around” and JB agreed, saying that Brandon Reese “could play for a lot of Division 1 teams.”
Mike asked Coach what he thought of the restricted arc under the basket and how it had impact the game. “It’s a good rule. Too many guys were way under the basket. That’s not defense. They are just trying to get someone in foul trouble after you’re beaten.” Matt noted that the SU locker room has a wall where they keep track of charging calls drawn. He wondered how Melo’s total compared to past years. “It’s way up on the list. Those are huge plays in the game. He blocks shots and changes shots but charges are huge.”
They discussed West Virginia’s leaving for the Big 12. Matt said that they will pay $11 million and the remaining Big 12 teams will pay the Big East $1 million each. JB: “They’d pay a bad school $1 million to come play them or close to it so it’s a good deal for them. They’ll play West Virginia instead.”
A caller described Kris Joseph’s foul trouble as “a lucky break” because it allowed James Southerland to play and he played better than KJ did. Jim agreed that James is a good player but not that losing Kris for much of the second half was “a lucky break”. “He’s pretty good and you don’t want him out too long. James will be making his shots pretty soon. When he makes his threes he’s a very good player.”
They eulogized Gary Carter. “You hate to lose guys like that. That‘s what cancer does and why we need to keep fighting it.”
Ned in Liverpool wondered why we didn’t press Louisville more. “We’re not a real good pressing team. We’re OK and can press if we have to. Not many teams do. Louisville did it a couple of times. If the other team gets by it they get 2 on 1s. I don’t want to get Melo in foul trouble. Many teams play three guards now. They handle the ball well. We pressed for 30 minutes vs. Notre Dame and it didn’t do us any good. We can do it selectively on occasion but it’s not a good way for us to play. It can be a weapon but has more downside than I want it to have.” Matt asked what was the last team in the Big East to press a lot. “Tom Davis when he was at Boston College. It takes a lot out of a team. It extends the defense. It worked for us against Stanford. But if you do it the whole game, they adjust to it. All the best defensive teams play half court defense- Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Duke, Michigan State.”
Matt asked if we would have an “orange-out” at the Dome as Louisville ahs a “white-out”. JB said “No.” Later Gomez asked him if Julie laid a white suit out for him like Rick Pitino’s, would he wear it? “She probably wouldn’t lay it out because she knows I wouldn’t.”
Jim in Cleveland confessed that eh had a good memory for things form 30-40 years ago but not so good about things that happened ten years ago. He wanted to know who the point guard was on our national championship team. (a guy named McNamara). He said that other players seemed happy to play with him. Jim: “He was a great teammate.” it was apparently a reference to the Carmelo Anthony- Jeremy Lin ’issue’.
Jim complained about not being able to see the games on cable. “It’s still blacked out with the package. Someone from Time Warner has got to explain that to me.” He said that it was “idiotic” to think that Carmelo’s return would screw this up. “He’s won a national championship and the Olympics. Denver had it’s best teams in years with Carmelo. He’s an excellent tam player. He had to score in new York. He wants to take the last shot. That’s what you get paid millions for. If he stopped taking the last shot the same writers would be wondering why. Lin won’t have to score 27-28 a game now. The Knicks would be delighted if he got 10 points and 10 assist’s a game. That’s what they needed- a point guard. They’ve been playing the bottom teams in the league. Now they’ll have to see how they can do against the top teams like Miami and Chicago.” He said that Carmelo was “a decent defender”, despite his critics. Melo had said the biggest adjustment was playing Lin with Tyson Chandler. JB was puzzled that Lin could put up those numbers without showing something in practice- why was he such a big surprise to everybody? “Great story, good player.”
Gomez took over for the second hour. Bill in Liverpool wanted to know if, after looking at the tapes of the Louisville game, “whether the glass was half empty or half full“, meaning was it great defense or bad offense. “We have to play a little better. The shots were pretty good but we didn’t finish. They had a great shot blocker and that had something to do with it.”
Phil said that we now have the best record at this stage of the season for any Big East team. He wondered if more teams are using zone than before. “A few more use zones but it’s mostly man to man. Louisville uses a match-up zone which is a little different. Rutgers plays some zone. West Virginia and even Pittsburgh has played some zone. But it’s still mostly man to man.”
Phil also wanted to know why Scoop Jardine’s foul shooting has declined during his career. JB would only say “He gets fouled 1-2 times a game. If he got 5-6 he might make all of them.”
Chris asked the weekly question about rebounding in a zone. JB gave his usual answer but added that the forwards in a zone are often 25 feet from the basket when the shot goes up.
Pat noted that Bobby Knight had prescribed the dribble-drive as the way to beat a zone. Pat felt that “all that passing around wasn’t accomplishing anything.” JB: “That’s why we went to all dribble-drive vs. Louisville. They use a match-up zone. You can pass it around vs. a regular zone and get shots. People are trying to dribble against us more because our zone is more a match-up that it has been.” He pointed out that “We’ve beaten Coach Knight the last four times we played him.” (He’s also beaten Izzo the last three times.)
I called in my question about the use of Rakeem Christmas. “He’s more natural at forward. He moves well but he’s not physical enough at center. He’s a typical big guy who stood around in high school and needs a whole year to figure it out. I have thought about using Rak at center several times but Fab Melo has played so well and is in such great shape that he plays 32 minutes a game now and if you give Baye 8 minutes there’s not much left for Rak at center.” I told him that if anyone can figure out how to get more than 40 minutes out of the center position, he can.
Dave had a recruiting question. JB explained that he might not be able to answer it, under NCAA rules. “I won’t get you in trouble.” JB: “O.K.” Dave wanted to know how he deals with an era in which players leave before their eligibility is done- how does that impact the decisions he makes about recruiting. “You have to be prepared. We knew Carmelo was going to leave halfway through the season. We adjusted pretty well the next year- we made it to the Sweet 16. We had an inkling Donte might leave. We knew Jonny could leave. This year we thought we might lose Scoop and/or Dion so we brought in two guys. They stayed. We could lose 1-2 guys this year. You’ve got to weather the storm.”
Gomez quoted from an article by Gary Williams about how college basketball had changed since he started coaching. He said the big problem is that the people in charge don’t have an accurate view of how people, (the players) think. Jim focused in on the issue of players failing to graduate impacts sanctions against schools, such as what happened with Connecticut, who won’t be able to compete for the national championship next season because of their low academic rating. If a player decides to leave, he often doesn’t complete his college course. Agents pay them to attend try-outs rather than take tests at school. “We could be in the same situation as Connecticut except Wesley Johnson and Andy Rautins completed their courses. They didn’t have to. What if they didn’t want to? What could I threaten them with? It should be based on academic standing when a kid decides to leave. I’ve talked to administrators and college presidents about this They don’t’ want to hear it. These kids want to get to the NBA. But they don’t want us to recruit that type of kid. But we have to win.” he said that one option was for them to complete their courses online but there’s no way to make them do it. Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson graduated early, avoiding the problem.
Gomez complained that the Williams article was on ESPN Insider and that all he could read was the first paragraph. He said he’s read a lot of first paragraphs. JB wanted to know how much it would cost to be an ESPN insider. Gomez said it was $3.00/mth. JB couldn’t believe Gomez wouldn’t spend that amount of money., he could write it off as a business expense. Matt Park said it was actually $4.95. JB: “He’s definitely not going to pay that.”
They talked about other teams. Virginia Tech is a mystery to the Coach. “They played well vs. us not since. They need this one, (vs. Florida State- they didn’t get it) and a few more. NC State also needed a win vs. Duke- and didn’t get it, (both teams blew big leads). Pitt “needs 3-4-5 in a row. Notre Dame, “has had the best in season turn around in along time. They lost Abromaitis and they hadn’t even played well when they had him in the non-conference schedule. Their young players are good. Cooley’s very good.”
A caller asked about Rudy Hackett. Jim had just talked to him. “His son’s the best player in Italy and will probably be playing in the NBA this year. He’s a quick guard.” Jim remembered in 1975, Rudy’s senior year, when we blew consecutive big leads to Rutgers and West Virginia. He went to a local restaurant called “Tale of the Whale”, (he remembered he had clam chowder), and listened as people talked about the team, (he was an assist then and not so recognizable). “They’re done. That’s it for the season.” That team wound up in the Final Four.
There will be shows the next two Thursdays and that will be it for the season.
