The Jim Boeheim Show- after Colgate | Syracusefan.com

The Jim Boeheim Show- after Colgate

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, this year, you’ve reminded me of a guy trying to put up a tent in a windstorm. The idea is to get all the tent poles up at once so they can support each other. The team is starting to show signs of doing that. Does it help for them to see what can happen in a game like Saturday’s, when they almost knocked off a top ten team on the road? Do they start to visualize what they could be as a team?”

Second hour:

“Coach, Chinoso Obokoh has now played 38 minutes, the rough equivalent of a full game, although it’s been against lesser opposition. But he’s done well in the box score: 10 points, 10 rebounds. He’s made all his shots from the field and from the line. He’s got 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists. He’s committed one turnover. The big problem is a common one for young centers: 8 fouls. But it sounds as if he could be the back-up center we need. What are you seeing that’s not in the box score that’s holding him back from fulfilling that role? “

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

A caller named Bill got his call in first and wanted to complain about the officiating in the Villanova game. Cooney was pushed down. Gbinije gets called for warding off when Nova did it several times, the ridiculous play where McCullough fouled out. “There should be some accountability, maybe even some fines.” Bill thought it was ridiculous that JB got tossed form the Duke last year. “Bobby Knight got away with more than you did.” JB: “There were some calls…Villanova was holding in a couple of places and they didn’t call it….The fouls were 10-2, then they called 4-5 in a row on them to straighten it up. Trevor got knocked down and then Rakeem got held on the way up to get the ball. On McCullough- I don’t know how that’s a foul on him. On one travel it was almost a clip.” Matt Park suggested a 15 yard penalty and then apologized- wrong sport. JB: “The refs are independent contractors. There’s no recourse. I didn’t even bother to call it in. People just think you’re a complainer. You just have to overcome it.“ Matt noted that in football coaches letters of apology sometimes get sent to the coaches a week later. JB: “Don’t hold your breath.”

I called in my question. Jim didn’t like my tent pole comparison. (He didn’t like how my mind was working, I guess.) “I don’t know about a tent in a windstorm. A couple guys are firmly anchored. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re not there yet. We’ve all been spoiled by what happened in recent year. Those teams were good immediately. This has not been close to that. It’s not a matter of playing together. We just haven’t played well. We’re getting better. Rak has bene consistent. Mike and Trevor are different players than they were a couple of weeks ago. Tyler is much better and much improved. Kaleb is up and down. Chris has slipped. You get that with freshmen.”

Matt suggested that McCullough was more of a perimeter player when he came here. JB agreed but “He doesn’t have a perimeter game at this level. 6-4 guys can take the ball away from him. In 2-3 years he’ll have a good perimeter game. He needs to get stronger, although he has the strength to finish better than he does. He needs to slow down and take his time. …He’s 210. NBA players at his positon are 250. He can get stronger without a lot of weight game. But he’s struggling with physical play.” Gomez brought up Jerami Grant, who has bulked up to around 225. “He’s still going up against 250 pounders. He’s in an ideal situation. If he was on a good team, he’d be in the D league like Tyler. But he’ll be able to play his way into a starting job. Philly will not be any better for at least 2 years.”

A caller said Jim was ”notorious for taking centers from nothing to everything”. Jim laughed at putting it that way. He acknowledged that he and his staff had had success with the likes of Rony Seikaly, Etan Thomas, Arinze Onuaku, Fab Melo and now Rakeem Christmas. ”Rakeem isn’t coming – he’s there. He could have gotten there last year but the focus was on the guards and forwards. We had more options then.” Regarding losing Rak to foul trouble: “Any normal team that loses their best player is not really going to have a replacement. We’ve got pretty good forwards. But we can’t play a long time without Rak. Even pro teams can’t play well without their best player- look at Oklahoma City and Durant….Big guys take longer. Rakeem has gotten better every year. He didn’t play too much before he came to the states. He was never asked to do a lot. His ‘fire’ has improved and he’d become a key guy for us.”

Regarding DaJuan Coleman: He’s working out. It’s getting late in the season. You don’t want to waste a year. He still has a redshirt year. You don’t want him for 12-14 games unless he’s really ready. I just don’t see it right now. He not only has to heal up but he has to get in game shape.” I would add that he has to learn how to play at this level, which can only come if he plays a lot. A season and a half with him not being really ready doesn’t seem wise.

This was my cue to ask my second question about Obokoh. JB: “he could be in that role. Rak and Chris might both get in foul trouble. Chino’s defense is OK. His offense is not ready. His footwork is not ready yet. He does rebound the ball in practice against Rak and Chris. He’s strong. It’s possible he’ll be in there in ACC game situations.

Gomez asked the question that so many SU fans seem to have become obsessed with: why don’t we go up and challenge the other team when they are rolling the ball-bounds so they have to take more time to get it in the front-court? “We did come up on them and they scored in 4 seconds. We did it a second time and they got a three pointer in 8 seconds. That’s 5 points we gave up in 12 seconds. When we stayed back they took up 10 seconds and traveled. If you contain them well you can challenge but if they go past you it’s not a good strategy.” So there.

Jim in Pennellville asked about charging fouls and if we should be pulling up for jump shots more. JB: “When we’re starting to drive, w e’ve got to recognize if the defense is there or not. Last eyar they were supposed to give a little benefit to the defensive player. It’s now back to normal. I don’t like it, (taking charges), I prefer to go for the block. But you can stop the drive and you get a foul on them.” I remember when Fab Melo was taking all those charges I questioned whether you want your center flopping like that- if you don’t get the call, who is guarding the basket? He loved charges then- when we were getting the calls.

The “players of the games” were Mike Gbinije at Villanova and Trevor Cooney and Rakeem Christmas against Colgate.

Louisiana Tech was looking good again North Carolina State on TV, leading by 15 at halftime, (they lost by 8). “We played an unbelievable game against them if you take away the 24 points we gave them on lay-ups after we turned the ball over. We beat NC State down there a couple of years ago in a truly explosive offensive game. Dion Waiters had a great game”.

Villanova was having trouble with New Jersey tech- the same outfit that embarrassed Michigan, (they were down 3 at halftime but came back to win big, 92-67). “Villanova is good but I’m not sure how good.”

Long Beach State has a UCLA transfer and a top 20 recruit. Another kid played with CJ Fair in high school. They have a record of 5-8 but they’ve played a killer schedule that has included BYU, Xavier twice, (they won the second), Kansas State, (whom they beat), Washington, Stephen F. Austin, (who had the nation’s longest home court winning streak), San Diego State, (they were up by 4 with a minute to play), Texas St. John’s and now Syracuse and Louisville. JB: I don’t think anybody could possibly have a harder schedule.” Actually they are ranked #2 at the moment on KenPom . Texas Southern is #1. But that’s before the Syracuse and Louisville games. “If you play #1 and #2 and then #300 you wind up with an average of over 100. If you play two teams ranked in the 100’s and then #20 you get a higher ranking. But if you want guarantee games, you’re going to play teams ranked in the 300’s. (KenPom has LBS ranked #108: SU is #33) This led to a discussion of “guarantee games where a school will play such an impossible schedule, mostly on the road, to bring in money. “They make $80-100,000 per game. Eight of those and you get $800,000. You can run a program for that. “

A caller asked about the future schedule. JB: “It’s not that hard. The top 12-15 teams (in the country) are good but there’s not that much difference between #15 and #40. If we play as well as we’re capable of we could work our way back there. We’ve given away a couple of games- but we could have lost to Louisiana Tech, too.”

The team will get a couple of days off and practice Christmas night. No Jim hasn’t turned into Scrooge or the Grinch, (even though he looks it on the Media Guide cover). We can’t have just one day of practice before our next game and you run that risk if there’s bad weather. “ Gerry McNamara told Gomez he likes Christmas practices because the players are “peppier”. JB: “We’ll work hard for 2½ days and have a good game. We’ll get as good as we can be to play well in the ACC.”
 
On the reffing at Nova: "You just have to overcome it." Truer words were never spake! And I like that he said it, because "overcoming," "letting it drop" are two issues that he admits are extremely difficult for him. Hey, they're hard for me, and I'm not nearly as intense as Coach!

I like the word "overcome" because of the effort it implies.

I have just gotten to the point in Bleeding Orange where there are pictures with wry captions. He actually includes the Sport Coat, and says "I had a polite disagreement with an official that went viral." Overcome overcome. His wry self-reflections are one of the best reasons to read that book!

Thank you, SWC, and Merry Christmas!
 
I like how you positioned your question about Obokoh. I have to say I don't really understand the answer. Why would he not really get time in our OOC games, but maybe he will in the ACC games? Forget it......I don't really mean to pose the question just to be told he isn't ready.
 
OTHER TOPICS

One topic I should have included in yesterday’s post: “We’re making progress. But it’s not something you’ll jump up and down about. Chris McCullough is a good player. I was just joking about the lottery. There are no thoughts about it this time of year. Carmello Anthony just played basketball and made his decision after the season. That’s the way it’s done here.”

They discussed the recent “health scares” in college basketball. Mick Cronin has an “unruptured brain aneurism” but has tweeted that its’ not life or career threatening. (I would think it could be if it ruptured and I wonder what they can do about it, short of brain surgery?) JB: “He’s a good, competitive guy.” Then there’s Dwayne Polee, the St. John’s transfer now playing for San Diego State who collapsed during a game. Apparently he’ll be OK . “Kids are funny. Sometimes they don’t eat or drink. They pass out or lose their bearings.” I remember Hank Gathers had a similar incident and was thought to be “OK” before he collapsed and died in a later game. But there’s a backstory to that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Gathers
Hopefully Polee’s condition is something different and he won’t have a relapse.

They talked briefly about the Montrel Harrell suspension and also the football brawl between Memphis and BYU. JB didn’t see the brawl and asked Matt about it. He had no comment on it but instead went on to talk about Kentucky’s chances of going undefeated this year. He feels that Louisville is the only regular season opponent that would have a chance against them. “If Kentucky gets by Louisville they likely won’t lose until the tournament and then probably not until the final or maybe the semi-final. This is the first great team since that 1996 Kentucky team we lost to. Most teams like us have 1-2 NBA players at most. We have Rakeem Christmas. They have 3-4 centers like that, a couple of power forwards, a couple of 3 men, a couple of 2 men. They have two deep high school All-Americas at every positon. “

Gomez said that some 80 D-1 players had already decided to transfer this year. JB said that last year 5000 players made that decision. “They’re not happy because they’re not stars. They get bad advice. People are always telling them they should be playing ahead of that other guy. They almost never become stars. One guy, (Katin Reinhardt), was averaging 12-14 points, (actually 10.1) at UNLV and transferred to USC, where he’s averaging 6, (actually 10.8). We had a kid, (Keith Hughes), who wasn’t going to play behind Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens and averaged 16 points for Rutgers.”

Gomez comment how ranked teams have been getting badly beaten- Miami vs. Eastern Kentucky and Kansas vs. Temple. JB: “Ranked teams are good but not that good anymore.” How long does it take to get over a blow-out loss? “Not long. Just get on the plane, go home and forget about it. It was just a bad night.”

A fan asked him about his glorious career in intramural athletics at SU and he was excited to talk about that. He was a noted squash player. “I didn’t know anything about it except to hit the ball hard.” As a resident advisor, he led both his dorm and then his fraternity to football championships. “I invented the spread formation. We had 6 guys and I sent 5 of them out for passes. I figured I could scramble around long enough to get the ball to them. We never lost and won each game by at least two touchdowns. It was only close in the dorm finals. We hadn’t perfected it yet. I think we had more talent in the fraternity, too. The fields were always wet so the runner had the advantage because he knew where he was going. “

He was also the golf coach. “I just sent them out and then I played the back nine. We always won because I was the one who reported the scores. Then, in 1971 they shortened the school year from the last week of May to the first and dropped golf and baseball. They wanted to save money. The golf team cost them about $15,000 so they didn’t save much. Today the travel budget would be high, you’d have 8-10 guys on scholarship and it would cost maybe $4-500,000.

Gary in Syracuse praised SU for “playing a wonderful, incredible game that gave us a lot of hope”. (I assume he meant Villanova.) JB: It was a good effort.” Gary wanted to know what Jim felt about the NBA “robbing talent” from the colleges. JB: “It’s OK if they make it. If Rakeem had come out when he was a freshman or a sophomore he wouldn’t have gotten a chance. But he stayed and now he’ll have a shot. Carmelo and Dion left early and made it. It’s reality. It’s fine. We’ve had 4-5 guys who could have left and stayed until their junior or senior years and had better NBA careers because of it.” They talked about the proposed tow year minimum. “it’s all up to the NBA and the player’s association. The colleges have no say in it. The players association is fighting it. I don’t know why. They just like to fight everything … Kentucky would greatly benefit from the two year rule.” Would they? Wouldn’t their recruiting have to slow down a bit? Wouldn’t some of those truckloads of players they bring in each year have to go elsewhere?

In the NBA, the Rondo trade should help both teams “He was going to leave anyway and the Celtics got something for him. They did OK….Josh Smith is talented but takes a lot of shots and he’s not that good a shooter. …James Harden is a tremendous scoring guard. On the US team we have the four great young guards and they might by now be just the four best guards- Harden, Irving, Curry, Rose, (they also had Klay Thompson) .When we played against Hardin in the NCAA tournament, (Arizona State in 2009), he did nothing against us the whole game. I don’t know why.”

Darko Milicic, who was drafted by the Pistons ahead of Carmelo Anthony, is now a kick-boxer. “They thought he had great potential. Those guys never make it.”

Adam in Buffalo asked Jim who the Bills should draft for next season.. (I’m sure Jims spends a lot of time obsessing over Bills draft picks). JB: “They’ll need a quarterback- again. If you don’t have a top 10 quarterback you don’t have much of a chance. But they’re hard to come by. The Bills had a good, decent year and Coach Marrone is doing a good job.”

Gomez asked Jim who he thought would win the NFL playoffs. “I haven’t been much engaged in it. New England is playing very well and Seattle is coming on. Denver seems to have slipped.“ Regarding the first college playoff: “Ohio State is coming on so big. It will be interesting to see how they’ll fare.“ Gomez noted that Michigan had tweeted Jim Harbaugh a Happy Birthday message. “If he takes a college job, he’ll go there.”

Jim’s book is still on the New York Times’ best seller list for sports books at #5. He’s slowly edging into the world of modern technology. Gomez said he had a “smart phone” but JB said it’s Samsung Galaxy 5 “or something like that”. (That’s not a smart phone- is it a dumb phone?) . His own reading includes Daniel Silva and James Patterson. He reads 50-60 books a year, mostly on road trips. He now uses an IPad because it’s easier. He likes Silva’s series about an Israeli Assassin. He’s read 10-15 books in that series. So when JB isn’t yelling at the refs, he’s reading about an Israeli assassin. Hmmmm...
 
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...One guy, (Katin Reinhardt), was averaging 12-14 points, (actually 10.1) at UNLV and transferred to USC, where he’s averaging 6, (actually 10.8). ...

This made me smile.
 
Couple of things he said resonated:

First, his assessment of the top 6 players was succinct and spot-on. I guess the head coach should know his players better than anybody, but not many HC's are so straight-forward in their public pronouncements on their players.

Second, he made the point that Rak was ready to break through last season, but didn't have the opportunity because he was the 4th (or 5th) option.

And Hardin played for Ariz St, not Cal. I saw that game in Miami in '09, and he was terrible. I think he missed his first 10 shots, and had no other discernible impact on the game. The ASU dance team was fun, though:).
 
The comment about Rak last seasaon is interesting, "he could have gotten there last season but the focus was on the guards and the forwards", (as it always seems to be). It seemed like it was painfully obvious to everyone that the one thing lacking all last season was scoring from the center position (many seem to focus on Ennis's reluctance to risk passes into the post). Maybe a little focus on the center position may have helped stem the late season collapse.
 
James harden...Asu not cal.

Thanks again for a great write up. Really enjoy reading these!
 
Oakland said:
The comment about Rak last seasaon is interesting, "he could have gotten there last season but the focus was on the guards and the forwards", (as it always seems to be). It seemed like it was painfully obvious to everyone that the one thing lacking all last season was scoring from the center position (many seem to focus on Ennis's reluctance to risk passes into the post). Maybe a little focus on the center position may have helped stem the late season collapse.

This is what annoys me a little bit, I mentioned in another post that I think JB is a great coach but if he can recognize that, why the hell didn't we get it to the guy shooting 65%+ last year when we couldn't buy a bucket?

Ennis was a great guard and there is no disputing that, but I think one big reason for his lack of turnovers is exactly what you said, not feeding the post and couple that with pulling back in transition almost 90% of the time and just making easy passes to Fair and Grant for an ISO play or Cooney for three.

If we ran the same offense with the same personnel I think KJ turns those turnover numbers by at least 30%.
 
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, this year, you’ve reminded me of a guy trying to put up a tent in a windstorm. The idea is to get all the tent poles up at once so they can support each other. The team is starting to show signs of doing that. Does it help for them to see what can happen in a game like Saturday’s, when they almost knocked off a top ten team on the road? Do they start to visualize what they could be as a team?”

Second hour:

“Coach, Chinoso Obokoh has now played 38 minutes, the rough equivalent of a full game, although it’s been against lesser opposition. But he’s done well in the box score: 10 points, 10 rebounds. He’s made all his shots from the field and from the line. He’s got 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists. He’s committed one turnover. The big problem is a common one for young centers: 8 fouls. But it sounds as if he could be the back-up center we need. What are you seeing that’s not in the box score that’s holding him back from fulfilling that role? “

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

A caller named Bill got his call in first and wanted to complain about the officiating in the Villanova game. Cooney was pushed down. Gbinije gets called for warding off when Nova did it several times, the ridiculous play where McCullough fouled out. “There should be some accountability, maybe even some fines.” Bill thought it was ridiculous that JB got tossed form the Duke last year. “Bobby Knight got away with more than you did.” JB: “There were some calls…Villanova was holding in a couple of places and they didn’t call it….The fouls were 10-2, then they called 4-5 in a row on them to straighten it up. Trevor got knocked down and then Rakeem got held on the way up to get the ball. On McCullough- I don’t know how that’s a foul on him. On one travel it was almost a clip.” Matt Park suggested a 15 yard penalty and then apologized- wrong sport. JB: “The refs are independent contractors. There’s no recourse. I didn’t even bother to call it in. People just think you’re a complainer. You just have to overcome it.“ Matt noted that in football coaches letters of apology sometimes get sent to the coaches a week later. JB: “Don’t hold your breath.”

I called in my question. Jim didn’t like my tent pole comparison. (He didn’t like how my mind was working, I guess.) “I don’t know about a tent in a windstorm. A couple guys are firmly anchored. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re not there yet. We’ve all been spoiled by what happened in recent year. Those teams were good immediately. This has not been close to that. It’s not a matter of playing together. We just haven’t played well. We’re getting better. Rak has bene consistent. Mike and Trevor are different players than they were a couple of weeks ago. Tyler is much better and much improved. Kaleb is up and down. Chris has slipped. You get that with freshmen.”

Matt suggested that McCullough was more of a perimeter player when he came here. JB agreed but “He doesn’t have a perimeter game at this level. 6-4 guys can take the ball away from him. In 2-3 years he’ll have a good perimeter game. He needs to get stronger, although he has the strength to finish better than he does. He needs to slow down and take his time. …He’s 210. NBA players at his positon are 250. He can get stronger without a lot of weight game. But he’s struggling with physical play.” Gomez brought up Jerami Grant, who has bulked up to around 225. “He’s still going up against 250 pounders. He’s in an ideal situation. If he was on a good team, he’d be in the D league like Tyler. But he’ll be able to play his way into a starting job. Philly will not be any better for at least 2 years.”

A caller said Jim was ”notorious for taking centers from nothing to everything”. Jim laughed at putting it that way. He acknowledged that he and his staff had had success with the likes of Rony Seikaly, Etan Thomas, Arinze Onuaku, Fab Melo and now Rakeem Christmas. ”Rakeem isn’t coming – he’s there. He could have gotten there last year but the focus was on the guards and forwards. We had more options then.” Regarding losing Rak to foul trouble: “Any normal team that loses their best player is not really going to have a replacement. We’ve got pretty good forwards. But we can’t play a long time without Rak. Even pro teams can’t play well without their best player- look at Oklahoma City and Durant….Big guys take longer. Rakeem has gotten better every year. He didn’t play too much before he came to the states. He was never asked to do a lot. His ‘fire’ has improved and he’d become a key guy for us.”

Regarding DaJuan Coleman: He’s working out. It’s getting late in the season. You don’t want to waste a year. He still has a redshirt year. You don’t want him for 12-14 games unless he’s really ready. I just don’t see it right now. He not only has to heal up but he has to get in game shape.” I would add that he has to learn how to play at this level, which can only come if he plays a lot. A season and a half with him not being really ready doesn’t seem wise.

This was my cue to ask my second question about Obokoh. JB: “he could be in that role. Rak and Chris might both get in foul trouble. Chino’s defense is OK. His offense is not ready. His footwork is not ready yet. He does rebound the ball in practice against Rak and Chris. He’s strong. It’s possible he’ll be in there in ACC game situations.

Gomez asked the question that so many SU fans seem to have become obsessed with: why don’t we go up and challenge the other team when they are rolling the ball-bounds so they have to take more time to get it in the front-court? “We did come up on them and they scored in 4 seconds. We did it a second time and they got a three pointer in 8 seconds. That’s 5 points we gave up in 12 seconds. When we stayed back they took up 10 seconds and traveled. If you contain them well you can challenge but if they go past you it’s not a good strategy.” So there.

Jim in Pennellville asked about charging fouls and if we should be pulling up for jump shots more. JB: “When we’re starting to drive, w e’ve got to recognize if the defense is there or not. Last eyar they were supposed to give a little benefit to the defensive player. It’s now back to normal. I don’t like it, (taking charges), I prefer to go for the block. But you can stop the drive and you get a foul on them.” I remember when Fab Melo was taking all those charges I questioned whether you want your center flopping like that- if you don’t get the call, who is guarding the basket? He loved charges then- when we were getting the calls.

The “players of the games” were Mike Gbinije at Villanova and Trevor Cooney and Rakeem Christmas against Colgate.

Louisiana Tech was looking good again North Carolina State on TV, leading by 15 at halftime, (they lost by 8). “We played an unbelievable game against them if you take away the 24 points we gave them on lay-ups after we turned the ball over. We beat NC State down there a couple of years ago in a truly explosive offensive game. Dion Waiters had a great game”.

Villanova was having trouble with New Jersey tech- the same outfit that embarrassed Michigan, (they were down 3 at halftime but came back to win big, 92-67). “Villanova is good but I’m not sure how good.”

Long Beach State has a UCLA transfer and a top 20 recruit. Another kid played with CJ Fair in high school. They have a record of 5-8 but they’ve played a killer schedule that has included BYU, Xavier twice, (they won the second), Kansas State, (whom they beat), Washington, Stephen F. Austin, (who had the nation’s longest home court winning streak), San Diego State, (they were up by 4 with a minute to play), Texas St. John’s and now Syracuse and Louisville. JB: I don’t think anybody could possibly have a harder schedule.” Actually they are ranked #2 at the moment on KenPom . Texas Southern is #1. But that’s before the Syracuse and Louisville games. “If you play #1 and #2 and then #300 you wind up with an average of over 100. If you play two teams ranked in the 100’s and then #20 you get a higher ranking. But if you want guarantee games, you’re going to play teams ranked in the 300’s. (KenPom has LBS ranked #108: SU is #33) This led to a discussion of “guarantee games where a school will play such an impossible schedule, mostly on the road, to bring in money. “They make $80-100,000 per game. Eight of those and you get $800,000. You can run a program for that. “

A caller asked about the future schedule. JB: “It’s not that hard. The top 12-15 teams (in the country) are good but there’s not that much difference between #15 and #40. If we play as well as we’re capable of we could work our way back there. We’ve given away a couple of games- but we could have lost to Louisiana Tech, too.”

The team will get a couple of days off and practice Christmas night. No Jim hasn’t turned into Scrooge or the Grinch, (even though he looks it on the Media Guide cover). We can’t have just one day of practice before our next game and you run that risk if there’s bad weather. “ Gerry McNamara told Gomez he likes Christmas practices because the players are “peppier”. JB: “We’ll work hard for 2½ days and have a good game. We’ll get as good as we can be to play well in the ACC.”
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, this year, you’ve reminded me of a guy trying to put up a tent in a windstorm. The idea is to get all the tent poles up at once so they can support each other. The team is starting to show signs of doing that. Does it help for them to see what can happen in a game like Saturday’s, when they almost knocked off a top ten team on the road? Do they start to visualize what they could be as a team?”

Second hour:

“Coach, Chinoso Obokoh has now played 38 minutes, the rough equivalent of a full game, although it’s been against lesser opposition. But he’s done well in the box score: 10 points, 10 rebounds. He’s made all his shots from the field and from the line. He’s got 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists. He’s committed one turnover. The big problem is a common one for young centers: 8 fouls. But it sounds as if he could be the back-up center we need. What are you seeing that’s not in the box score that’s holding him back from fulfilling that role? “

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

A caller named Bill got his call in first and wanted to complain about the officiating in the Villanova game. Cooney was pushed down. Gbinije gets called for warding off when Nova did it several times, the ridiculous play where McCullough fouled out. “There should be some accountability, maybe even some fines.” Bill thought it was ridiculous that JB got tossed form the Duke last year. “Bobby Knight got away with more than you did.” JB: “There were some calls…Villanova was holding in a couple of places and they didn’t call it….The fouls were 10-2, then they called 4-5 in a row on them to straighten it up. Trevor got knocked down and then Rakeem got held on the way up to get the ball. On McCullough- I don’t know how that’s a foul on him. On one travel it was almost a clip.” Matt Park suggested a 15 yard penalty and then apologized- wrong sport. JB: “The refs are independent contractors. There’s no recourse. I didn’t even bother to call it in. People just think you’re a complainer. You just have to overcome it.“ Matt noted that in football coaches letters of apology sometimes get sent to the coaches a week later. JB: “Don’t hold your breath.”

I called in my question. Jim didn’t like my tent pole comparison. (He didn’t like how my mind was working, I guess.) “I don’t know about a tent in a windstorm. A couple guys are firmly anchored. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re not there yet. We’ve all been spoiled by what happened in recent year. Those teams were good immediately. This has not been close to that. It’s not a matter of playing together. We just haven’t played well. We’re getting better. Rak has bene consistent. Mike and Trevor are different players than they were a couple of weeks ago. Tyler is much better and much improved. Kaleb is up and down. Chris has slipped. You get that with freshmen.”

Matt suggested that McCullough was more of a perimeter player when he came here. JB agreed but “He doesn’t have a perimeter game at this level. 6-4 guys can take the ball away from him. In 2-3 years he’ll have a good perimeter game. He needs to get stronger, although he has the strength to finish better than he does. He needs to slow down and take his time. …He’s 210. NBA players at his positon are 250. He can get stronger without a lot of weight game. But he’s struggling with physical play.” Gomez brought up Jerami Grant, who has bulked up to around 225. “He’s still going up against 250 pounders. He’s in an ideal situation. If he was on a good team, he’d be in the D league like Tyler. But he’ll be able to play his way into a starting job. Philly will not be any better for at least 2 years.”

A caller said Jim was ”notorious for taking centers from nothing to everything”. Jim laughed at putting it that way. He acknowledged that he and his staff had had success with the likes of Rony Seikaly, Etan Thomas, Arinze Onuaku, Fab Melo and now Rakeem Christmas. ”Rakeem isn’t coming – he’s there. He could have gotten there last year but the focus was on the guards and forwards. We had more options then.” Regarding losing Rak to foul trouble: “Any normal team that loses their best player is not really going to have a replacement. We’ve got pretty good forwards. But we can’t play a long time without Rak. Even pro teams can’t play well without their best player- look at Oklahoma City and Durant….Big guys take longer. Rakeem has gotten better every year. He didn’t play too much before he came to the states. He was never asked to do a lot. His ‘fire’ has improved and he’d become a key guy for us.”

Regarding DaJuan Coleman: He’s working out. It’s getting late in the season. You don’t want to waste a year. He still has a redshirt year. You don’t want him for 12-14 games unless he’s really ready. I just don’t see it right now. He not only has to heal up but he has to get in game shape.” I would add that he has to learn how to play at this level, which can only come if he plays a lot. A season and a half with him not being really ready doesn’t seem wise.

This was my cue to ask my second question about Obokoh. JB: “he could be in that role. Rak and Chris might both get in foul trouble. Chino’s defense is OK. His offense is not ready. His footwork is not ready yet. He does rebound the ball in practice against Rak and Chris. He’s strong. It’s possible he’ll be in there in ACC game situations.

Gomez asked the question that so many SU fans seem to have become obsessed with: why don’t we go up and challenge the other team when they are rolling the ball-bounds so they have to take more time to get it in the front-court? “We did come up on them and they scored in 4 seconds. We did it a second time and they got a three pointer in 8 seconds. That’s 5 points we gave up in 12 seconds. When we stayed back they took up 10 seconds and traveled. If you contain them well you can challenge but if they go past you it’s not a good strategy.” So there.

Jim in Pennellville asked about charging fouls and if we should be pulling up for jump shots more. JB: “When we’re starting to drive, w e’ve got to recognize if the defense is there or not. Last eyar they were supposed to give a little benefit to the defensive player. It’s now back to normal. I don’t like it, (taking charges), I prefer to go for the block. But you can stop the drive and you get a foul on them.” I remember when Fab Melo was taking all those charges I questioned whether you want your center flopping like that- if you don’t get the call, who is guarding the basket? He loved charges then- when we were getting the calls.

The “players of the games” were Mike Gbinije at Villanova and Trevor Cooney and Rakeem Christmas against Colgate.

Louisiana Tech was looking good again North Carolina State on TV, leading by 15 at halftime, (they lost by 8). “We played an unbelievable game against them if you take away the 24 points we gave them on lay-ups after we turned the ball over. We beat NC State down there a couple of years ago in a truly explosive offensive game. Dion Waiters had a great game”.

Villanova was having trouble with New Jersey tech- the same outfit that embarrassed Michigan, (they were down 3 at halftime but came back to win big, 92-67). “Villanova is good but I’m not sure how good.”

Long Beach State has a UCLA transfer and a top 20 recruit. Another kid played with CJ Fair in high school. They have a record of 5-8 but they’ve played a killer schedule that has included BYU, Xavier twice, (they won the second), Kansas State, (whom they beat), Washington, Stephen F. Austin, (who had the nation’s longest home court winning streak), San Diego State, (they were up by 4 with a minute to play), Texas St. John’s and now Syracuse and Louisville. JB: I don’t think anybody could possibly have a harder schedule.” Actually they are ranked #2 at the moment on KenPom . Texas Southern is #1. But that’s before the Syracuse and Louisville games. “If you play #1 and #2 and then #300 you wind up with an average of over 100. If you play two teams ranked in the 100’s and then #20 you get a higher ranking. But if you want guarantee games, you’re going to play teams ranked in the 300’s. (KenPom has LBS ranked #108: SU is #33) This led to a discussion of “guarantee games where a school will play such an impossible schedule, mostly on the road, to bring in money. “They make $80-100,000 per game. Eight of those and you get $800,000. You can run a program for that. “

A caller asked about the future schedule. JB: “It’s not that hard. The top 12-15 teams (in the country) are good but there’s not that much difference between #15 and #40. If we play as well as we’re capable of we could work our way back there. We’ve given away a couple of games- but we could have lost to Louisiana Tech, too.”

The team will get a couple of days off and practice Christmas night. No Jim hasn’t turned into Scrooge or the Grinch, (even though he looks it on the Media Guide cover). We can’t have just one day of practice before our next game and you run that risk if there’s bad weather. “ Gerry McNamara told Gomez he likes Christmas practices because the players are “peppier”. JB: “We’ll work hard for 2½ days and have a good game. We’ll get as good as we can be to play well in the ACC.”
is it possible to put the first part of your post that is a repeat every week in its own separate post and have the new material in a separate post? Ty for these weekly recaps they are greatly appreciated
 
Couple of things he said resonated:

First, his assessment of the top 6 players was succinct and spot-on. I guess the head coach should know his players better than anybody, but not many HC's are so straight-forward in their public pronouncements on their players.

Second, he made the point that Rak was ready to break through last season, but didn't have the opportunity because he was the 4th (or 5th) option.

And Hardin played for Ariz St, not Cal. I saw that game in Miami in '09, and he was terrible. I think he missed his first 10 shots, and had no other discernible impact on the game. The ASU dance team was fun, though:).
James harden...Asu not cal.

Thanks again for a great write up. Really enjoy reading these!


We've played Cailifornia so many times in recent seasons I've got it on the brain. Thanks, (I've corrected it.)
 
is it possible to put the first part of your post that is a repeat every week in its own separate post and have the new material in a separate post? Ty for these weekly recaps they are greatly appreciated

What is the advantage of doing that?
 
This is what annoys me a little bit, I mentioned in another post that I think JB is a great coach but if he can recognize that, why the hell didn't we get it to the guy shooting 65%+ last year when we couldn't buy a bucket?

Ennis was a great guard and there is no disputing that, but I think one big reason for his lack of turnovers is exactly what you said, not feeding the post and couple that with pulling back in transition almost 90% of the time and just making easy passes to Fair and Grant for an ISO play or Cooney for three.

If we ran the same offense with the same personnel I think KJ turns those turnover numbers by at least 30%.
Rak was utilized more as last season progressed (maybe not enough). Remember the last play of the two-tone abomination in the Dome vs. BC? They went to Rak to win the game, but his short half-hook in the lane--the same look he got and made vs. LaTech--rolled off the rim. I think early last year there were enough offensive options available such that they didn't have to look in the post. As the season progressed, and the offense deteriorated, it became more important to find scoring elsewhere, but they never really got comfortable with, or very good at, getting the ball to Rak.
 
What is the advantage of doing that?
its just that the post is real long and to be honest don't really see why it needs to be repeated every week. I am not trying to be a jerk just asking.
 
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JB is misremembering how we defended things when the ball was rolled up court.
 
its just that the post is real long and to be honest don't really see why it needs to be repeated every week. I am not trying to be a jerk just asking.


I just re-post it for the newbies or those too lazy to look at the last post if they want that information. I don't see the problem. I've done many, many longer posts than this.
 

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