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Jim Boeheim’s radio show is on Thursdays from 7-8 or 9PM on ESPN Radio in Syracuse, which is AM1200 or FM 97.7 on the dial. The show originates from the Cavalier Room at the Marriott in Downtown 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.
You can call into the show locally at 315-424-8599 or nationally at 1-888-746-2873. For Gomez’s portion, use 315-424-8599. Or you can submit questions from this page:
Submit a Question!
Or on Twitter at mattpark1 or “askBoeheim”.
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: WGVA
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
1st Hour: “Coach, John Gillon seems to have a lot of trouble scoring on his drives to the basket. About once a game he’ll dish to another player and that player will usually score easily. If he looks to dish more, won’t he not only get more assists but also more baskets because the defense will have to pay more attention to the other players?
2nd Hour: “Coach, is DaIuan Coleman’s career essentially over? How good a player could he have been on healthy knees? “
COACH BOEHEIM
(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject. In recent years they have started out doing one hour shows and then shifted to two hour shows in January. When they do two hour shows. I will do two posts: one on the night of the broadcast on the issues directly relating to the team on the other the next days on other things that were talked about.)
PART ONE
Matt noted the 2-12 start against UNC. “How do you stop the room from spinning?” JB: You make a play at one end and get a basket at the other. It was the same in the second half. We fell behind and had a 10-0 run, (actually it was 12-0, from 30-45 to 42-45). Then we had a couple of bad turnovers and a couple of fouls didn’t get called. We got beat on the boards. We did some good things offensively. Our defense should be more consistent. Our disparity in home and road games has been crazy. Inexperience and newness to the system is a factor. We’ve always bene a good road team. . Since we came into the ACC we are one of 2-3 teams with a winning road record and we won more road games than any team in Big East history.
Liam in Pompey thought Battle and Lydon played well but the rest of the team was ”wishy washy”. Can Coach get the team playing better for Notre Dame? JB: Tyler Lydon played out of his mind. Tyus played very well. The rest struggled in spots. Notre Dame will be as tough or tougher. We need to win tough games.
Jim marveled at Notre Dame making 15 of 21 threes and still losing. (Later Gomez suggested Steve from North Syracuse might want to look up whether that’s ever happened before – in the short time available I could find nothing.) It was especially amazing again “that kind of defense”. Notre Dame’s first five league wins were all come from behind wins by small margins (1-7 points, including an overtime game).”There are really good teams at the top of our league.”
I called in and first congratulated Coach on two things: We complain about the free throw shooting when we miss a few but this team is #1 in free throw shooting in ACC games. We’ve hit at least 75% in every ACC game and are 82% overall. Jim said that we’ve been getting the right people on the line and they’ve been shooting better than normal. I also noted that after I had asked why we couldn’t play more like West Virginia last week that we forced 20 turnovers against Holy Cross out of the Boeheim 2-3 zone: where you play defense is not as important as how you play it.
I also told him I wasn’t going to make the mistake of asking if Tyus Battle could be our point guard, as Brent Axe did in an interview a couple of hours before the coach’s own show. Jim told Brent: “No…..I’m surprised you would ask such a stupid question. He’s never played point guard before in his life.” Brent floored it backing out of that one, thanking Jim for his clear and decisive answer. When I said I wasn’t going there, the coach laughed.
Then I asked my question about John Gillon. “That’s a great observation. We looked at the film and three times John had teammates open for threes and went all the way to the basket and didn’t score. Two were blocked and the other was a missed lay-up. He’s done it, (dished off), against Pitt and Miami, when he had 11 assists. It’s upsetting when he doesn’t do it in the next game. He’s not that big and when the defense gets near him, he has trouble getting the ball over them. Frank has done something similar. Ideally you want your point guard to get the ball to your shooters. If their own shot is open, they need to make them. John has got to make plays to three point shooters on drives. Earlier he had a 2 point 10 assist game, (actually 2 and 7 vs. Cornell). That’s what you want as a point guard. We’ll stress that for the next game.“ (Actually I was thinking more in terms of dishing to the big guys on the way to the basket – draw the defense to him to stop the drive and then hit the Lydon, Roberson or Thompson as they moved away from them. But treys are good, too.)
“It’s been similar on defense. We were forcing turnovers and bad shots at home and then we don’t do it on the road. Georgia Tech’s zone was very effective against Virginia Tech. it’s the same movements and the same attacks. North Carolina was just a bigger and stronger team. They are winning the boards by 14 a game.“
Stefan called up to ask “If something doesn’t work in a game – like passing or three point shooting – Do you go over it in practice and sort of press the ‘reset’ button? “ JB: “That’s what you do in practice. That’s what practice is for. You work on things and hope new things don’t crop up.”
Pat called in for the first time since Boeheim jumped on him for calling the team “talented” a few weeks ago. “Did Mike Gbinije and Frank Howard ever play point guard in high school?” Jim said that mike never did. Frank played “some”. Pat wanted to know how the staff targets players and who goes to see them. JB: “I see every player. My assistants see them and then I see them, some of them in the summer. Except for the 5th year guys and we had tape on them. If it’s a top player, the evaluation is easy. We don’t’ usually get the Top 10-20 players. Nobody recruited hakim Warrick or Josh pace or Andy Rautins before we did. We saw them and liked them. They came here and got better and became really good players. I think Kaleb Joseph and BJ Johnson will become good players in their 4th years. With some guys it takes longer. Everybody makes mistakes. Duke has had three top 20 players transfer. It’s not a sure thing. Young and Artis at Pittsburgh were not highly recruited. Buzz Williams didn’t have any Top 30 recruits at Virginia Tech. Nobody wanted Bowman at BC…..I don’t really understand your question. What are you looking for? “
Pat said that some players didn’t work out “and then there’s the NBA factor for the ones who do. And what about the transition next year? “ Coach: “That’s how it happens here and every place in the country. We’re going to get a couple more players: a wing player and a guard. Hopefully we can get these guys to come back. We think the two big guys will be able to help us as freshman. I’m disappointed in the fifth year players, adjusting not just to the zone but to the whole system. Losing Paschal hurt. Frank has bene a disappointment. Mike Hopkins is already working on the 2018 class.”
Dave in Syracuse wondered how Coach plans for the players who leave early, like Ennis, McCullough and Richardson. JB: “You can plan ahead but you won’t get somebody as good. We get a Top 25 play every couple of years. You can’t just go out and get another. We‘ve suffered. If Tyler Ennis had stayed another year we’d have won 5-6more games, (from the 18 we won in 2014-15). We was Top 50 but Top 25 in our minds. Sometimes the 50th player is the 50th player. Kaleb was top 50 but needed 2-3 years to get to be good. We really thought we’d be OK this year with DaJuan, Paschal and the fifth year players. We never thought Tyler Ennis would do what he did and he just took over the program. Sherman Douglas was not recruited in high school by anybody and he took us to the Final Four. I love the two guys we’ve got. They are long, athletic under the radar guys. With the guys we get back and one more backcourt player and we’ll be OK.” (The Sherman Douglas situation has bene discussed at length on this board in the past: yes, he was a McDonald’s All-American but not at the time SU recruited him. He blew up in his senior year and then became a big time prospect.)
Tom called in and said he could not recall the last time we’d had a center block a shot and dribble the length of the floor to score, as Taurean Thompson did. Maybe he could see some more action so Tyler Lydon won’t get tired. JB: “We don’t need 6-10 guys dribbling the length of the floor. That’s probably the one and only time that will work. We need to get him closer to the basket and playing better defense. He’s very good on offense but not yet on defense. Getting tired is a myth. Notre Dame plays 5 guys.” (Matt noted that they have four guys averaging 31 or more minutes per game: we have two). “We went to the final four playing 5-6 guys. Tyler Lydon pulls the center away from the basket. He’s active on defense and can block shots and rebound. He’s the best center on the team. Guard play and defense are the key.”
Gomez said of UNC: “You can’t coach big.” JB: “They had Wisconsin down 25-30 points and they will probably win the Big Ten. Once in a while they have an off game. They were on vs. us. We did some good things on both ends but not enough to win on the road against a team like that. It’s not a year to have an iffy team in this league.”
Gomez noted that Jay Bilas had said that Syracuse had the same record before the game as they had last year at this time: 11-7 and wound up in the Final Four. JB: “But we had two wins against ranked teams, Texas A&M and Gonzaga. This year South Carolina and Wisconsin were Top 25 teams but we lost to them. St. John’s and Boston College aren’t bad teams but when you lose by that much they are bad losses. We tell the players to worry about the next game, not what they’ve got to do to get someplace.”
Gomez noted that Tyler Lydon and Tyus Battle had played well. JB: “If you play well, you gain confidence. Andrew White had great games against Miami and Pittsburgh. Taurean Thompson has had flashes. John Gillon and Frank Howard have had some good games. We are playing against Top 20 teams on the road and we aren’t a Top 20 team. We are massive underdogs. “
How did Florida State get so good? “It was a slow building process. They have a lot of good, veteran players. They play the most players of any team in the country: 10-11…. Notre Dame isn’t big but plays big. They’ve got veteran guys who are mentally tough.”
I called in my second question about DaJuan Coleman. “It’s too bad we didn’t see DaJuan on good knees. He would have been a tremendous player if he could move and jump as he did in high school. He’s lost 40 pounds. He’s going to play but I don’t know how much. He’s had some good games. We’ve gotten three good wins playing Tyler Lydon and Tyler Roberson. Tyler Lydon gives us better shot blocking. Tyler Roberson is our best defensive forward. Andrew White is playing the 3. Lydon didn’t do so well at the 3.”
Against Notre Dame “We’ll have to play even better than we’ve played. We need some big wins and we now have some opportunities to get them. We’ve got to cash in.”
You can call into the show locally at 315-424-8599 or nationally at 1-888-746-2873. For Gomez’s portion, use 315-424-8599. Or you can submit questions from this page:
Submit a Question!
Or on Twitter at mattpark1 or “askBoeheim”.
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: WGVA
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
1st Hour: “Coach, John Gillon seems to have a lot of trouble scoring on his drives to the basket. About once a game he’ll dish to another player and that player will usually score easily. If he looks to dish more, won’t he not only get more assists but also more baskets because the defense will have to pay more attention to the other players?
2nd Hour: “Coach, is DaIuan Coleman’s career essentially over? How good a player could he have been on healthy knees? “
COACH BOEHEIM
(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject. In recent years they have started out doing one hour shows and then shifted to two hour shows in January. When they do two hour shows. I will do two posts: one on the night of the broadcast on the issues directly relating to the team on the other the next days on other things that were talked about.)
PART ONE
Matt noted the 2-12 start against UNC. “How do you stop the room from spinning?” JB: You make a play at one end and get a basket at the other. It was the same in the second half. We fell behind and had a 10-0 run, (actually it was 12-0, from 30-45 to 42-45). Then we had a couple of bad turnovers and a couple of fouls didn’t get called. We got beat on the boards. We did some good things offensively. Our defense should be more consistent. Our disparity in home and road games has been crazy. Inexperience and newness to the system is a factor. We’ve always bene a good road team. . Since we came into the ACC we are one of 2-3 teams with a winning road record and we won more road games than any team in Big East history.
Liam in Pompey thought Battle and Lydon played well but the rest of the team was ”wishy washy”. Can Coach get the team playing better for Notre Dame? JB: Tyler Lydon played out of his mind. Tyus played very well. The rest struggled in spots. Notre Dame will be as tough or tougher. We need to win tough games.
Jim marveled at Notre Dame making 15 of 21 threes and still losing. (Later Gomez suggested Steve from North Syracuse might want to look up whether that’s ever happened before – in the short time available I could find nothing.) It was especially amazing again “that kind of defense”. Notre Dame’s first five league wins were all come from behind wins by small margins (1-7 points, including an overtime game).”There are really good teams at the top of our league.”
I called in and first congratulated Coach on two things: We complain about the free throw shooting when we miss a few but this team is #1 in free throw shooting in ACC games. We’ve hit at least 75% in every ACC game and are 82% overall. Jim said that we’ve been getting the right people on the line and they’ve been shooting better than normal. I also noted that after I had asked why we couldn’t play more like West Virginia last week that we forced 20 turnovers against Holy Cross out of the Boeheim 2-3 zone: where you play defense is not as important as how you play it.
I also told him I wasn’t going to make the mistake of asking if Tyus Battle could be our point guard, as Brent Axe did in an interview a couple of hours before the coach’s own show. Jim told Brent: “No…..I’m surprised you would ask such a stupid question. He’s never played point guard before in his life.” Brent floored it backing out of that one, thanking Jim for his clear and decisive answer. When I said I wasn’t going there, the coach laughed.
Then I asked my question about John Gillon. “That’s a great observation. We looked at the film and three times John had teammates open for threes and went all the way to the basket and didn’t score. Two were blocked and the other was a missed lay-up. He’s done it, (dished off), against Pitt and Miami, when he had 11 assists. It’s upsetting when he doesn’t do it in the next game. He’s not that big and when the defense gets near him, he has trouble getting the ball over them. Frank has done something similar. Ideally you want your point guard to get the ball to your shooters. If their own shot is open, they need to make them. John has got to make plays to three point shooters on drives. Earlier he had a 2 point 10 assist game, (actually 2 and 7 vs. Cornell). That’s what you want as a point guard. We’ll stress that for the next game.“ (Actually I was thinking more in terms of dishing to the big guys on the way to the basket – draw the defense to him to stop the drive and then hit the Lydon, Roberson or Thompson as they moved away from them. But treys are good, too.)
“It’s been similar on defense. We were forcing turnovers and bad shots at home and then we don’t do it on the road. Georgia Tech’s zone was very effective against Virginia Tech. it’s the same movements and the same attacks. North Carolina was just a bigger and stronger team. They are winning the boards by 14 a game.“
Stefan called up to ask “If something doesn’t work in a game – like passing or three point shooting – Do you go over it in practice and sort of press the ‘reset’ button? “ JB: “That’s what you do in practice. That’s what practice is for. You work on things and hope new things don’t crop up.”
Pat called in for the first time since Boeheim jumped on him for calling the team “talented” a few weeks ago. “Did Mike Gbinije and Frank Howard ever play point guard in high school?” Jim said that mike never did. Frank played “some”. Pat wanted to know how the staff targets players and who goes to see them. JB: “I see every player. My assistants see them and then I see them, some of them in the summer. Except for the 5th year guys and we had tape on them. If it’s a top player, the evaluation is easy. We don’t’ usually get the Top 10-20 players. Nobody recruited hakim Warrick or Josh pace or Andy Rautins before we did. We saw them and liked them. They came here and got better and became really good players. I think Kaleb Joseph and BJ Johnson will become good players in their 4th years. With some guys it takes longer. Everybody makes mistakes. Duke has had three top 20 players transfer. It’s not a sure thing. Young and Artis at Pittsburgh were not highly recruited. Buzz Williams didn’t have any Top 30 recruits at Virginia Tech. Nobody wanted Bowman at BC…..I don’t really understand your question. What are you looking for? “
Pat said that some players didn’t work out “and then there’s the NBA factor for the ones who do. And what about the transition next year? “ Coach: “That’s how it happens here and every place in the country. We’re going to get a couple more players: a wing player and a guard. Hopefully we can get these guys to come back. We think the two big guys will be able to help us as freshman. I’m disappointed in the fifth year players, adjusting not just to the zone but to the whole system. Losing Paschal hurt. Frank has bene a disappointment. Mike Hopkins is already working on the 2018 class.”
Dave in Syracuse wondered how Coach plans for the players who leave early, like Ennis, McCullough and Richardson. JB: “You can plan ahead but you won’t get somebody as good. We get a Top 25 play every couple of years. You can’t just go out and get another. We‘ve suffered. If Tyler Ennis had stayed another year we’d have won 5-6more games, (from the 18 we won in 2014-15). We was Top 50 but Top 25 in our minds. Sometimes the 50th player is the 50th player. Kaleb was top 50 but needed 2-3 years to get to be good. We really thought we’d be OK this year with DaJuan, Paschal and the fifth year players. We never thought Tyler Ennis would do what he did and he just took over the program. Sherman Douglas was not recruited in high school by anybody and he took us to the Final Four. I love the two guys we’ve got. They are long, athletic under the radar guys. With the guys we get back and one more backcourt player and we’ll be OK.” (The Sherman Douglas situation has bene discussed at length on this board in the past: yes, he was a McDonald’s All-American but not at the time SU recruited him. He blew up in his senior year and then became a big time prospect.)
Tom called in and said he could not recall the last time we’d had a center block a shot and dribble the length of the floor to score, as Taurean Thompson did. Maybe he could see some more action so Tyler Lydon won’t get tired. JB: “We don’t need 6-10 guys dribbling the length of the floor. That’s probably the one and only time that will work. We need to get him closer to the basket and playing better defense. He’s very good on offense but not yet on defense. Getting tired is a myth. Notre Dame plays 5 guys.” (Matt noted that they have four guys averaging 31 or more minutes per game: we have two). “We went to the final four playing 5-6 guys. Tyler Lydon pulls the center away from the basket. He’s active on defense and can block shots and rebound. He’s the best center on the team. Guard play and defense are the key.”
Gomez said of UNC: “You can’t coach big.” JB: “They had Wisconsin down 25-30 points and they will probably win the Big Ten. Once in a while they have an off game. They were on vs. us. We did some good things on both ends but not enough to win on the road against a team like that. It’s not a year to have an iffy team in this league.”
Gomez noted that Jay Bilas had said that Syracuse had the same record before the game as they had last year at this time: 11-7 and wound up in the Final Four. JB: “But we had two wins against ranked teams, Texas A&M and Gonzaga. This year South Carolina and Wisconsin were Top 25 teams but we lost to them. St. John’s and Boston College aren’t bad teams but when you lose by that much they are bad losses. We tell the players to worry about the next game, not what they’ve got to do to get someplace.”
Gomez noted that Tyler Lydon and Tyus Battle had played well. JB: “If you play well, you gain confidence. Andrew White had great games against Miami and Pittsburgh. Taurean Thompson has had flashes. John Gillon and Frank Howard have had some good games. We are playing against Top 20 teams on the road and we aren’t a Top 20 team. We are massive underdogs. “
How did Florida State get so good? “It was a slow building process. They have a lot of good, veteran players. They play the most players of any team in the country: 10-11…. Notre Dame isn’t big but plays big. They’ve got veteran guys who are mentally tough.”
I called in my second question about DaJuan Coleman. “It’s too bad we didn’t see DaJuan on good knees. He would have been a tremendous player if he could move and jump as he did in high school. He’s lost 40 pounds. He’s going to play but I don’t know how much. He’s had some good games. We’ve gotten three good wins playing Tyler Lydon and Tyler Roberson. Tyler Lydon gives us better shot blocking. Tyler Roberson is our best defensive forward. Andrew White is playing the 3. Lydon didn’t do so well at the 3.”
Against Notre Dame “We’ll have to play even better than we’ve played. We need some big wins and we now have some opportunities to get them. We’ve got to cash in.”
