An Optimistic Translation Of Jim Boeheim's Most Recent Comments re: His Team

[Ceerqqq]

A Matt Gutierriez tweet published this A.M. shared not only confirmation that Jim Boeheim is in good health, but also this JB quote:
"We have 8-9 guys who can play. Guys got a lot stronger and better. I've seen big improvement from almost every guy."

My impression: for Jim Boeheim to say that he has 8-9 guys who can play--at this late hour--it means that we are in for a very good season, indeed.

I mean, I'm already expecting a 8-man rotation this year (with a capable backup coming in off the bench at C/F/G regularly) in contrast to the standard 7-man rotation that every coach depends on.

But now JB's telling us that he's seeing his 8th & 9th (currently projected) guys as performing so well in practice that he can't count them out of the top 7 rotation yet, that's how impressive they've been. He's gonna have to see how they play in actual games to know if they're ready for Prime Time.

At the very least, we're talking about very competitive practices, the kind that help players to become better and better through the course of a season, a variable that seems to be very much in this team's favor, this year.

It also means that IF the 8th & 9th players are getting it done when they come into games, Jim is going to keep playing them, which means that all our Deep Bench fans will finally be happy for a change, although I'm sure they'll be bothered by the 10th player who get's left out mid-season...

All in all, you can tell Jim is very pleased with what he's seeing. He didn't say he saw improvement in almost every guy, he said he saw big improvement in almost every guy, and I think that's significant in the way it communicates what he's seeing in practice.

I'll add that I don't think Boeheim would be offering such a positive appraisal of his team if he wasn't projecting a big improvement in this team's defense over last year's performance. It's because I factor that in as a given that I'm feeling really optimistic about what we're gonna see this year...

 

[Newhouser]

Hope you are right but I tend to treat anything JB says pre-season with a grain of salt.

 

[GooseMutt]

It’s deja vu all over again. Fingers crossed!

 

[syrBossHogg]

Hope you are right but I tend to treat anything JB says pre-season with a grain of salt.

I think he's always been fairly accurate when predicting the teams but yeah in recent years it's been a bit off.

 

[SBU72]

Hope you are right but I tend to treat anything JB says pre-season with a grain of salt.

Maybe more like a spoonful

 

[Zelda Zonk]

That is a very optimistic translation.
I'm going to suggest that 'how much we've improved' and 'how much stronger each dude is' also need to be factored against who we will be playing against. What's the league like this year?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[rocklloyd]

Did any of the coaching rave about the 3 point shooting ability of any player? If so, be careful.

 

[GooseMutt]

Jim knows more than me. I’ll buy his assessment

 

[pearl31]

Did any of the coaching rave about the 3 point shooting ability of any player? If so, be careful.

wha?

 

[Briancuse]

A Matt Gutierriez tweet published this A.M. shared not only confirmation that Jim Boeheim is in good health, but also this JB quote:
"We have 8-9 guys who can play. Guys got a lot stronger and better. I've seen big improvement from almost every guy."

My impression: for Jim Boeheim to say that he has 8-9 guys who can play--at this late hour--it means that we are in for a very good season, indeed.

I mean, I'm already expecting a 8-man rotation this year (with a capable backup coming in off the bench at C/F/G regularly) in contrast to the standard 7-man rotation that every coach depends on.

But now JB's telling us that he's seeing his 8th & 9th (currently projected) guys as performing so well in practice that he can't count them out of the top 7 rotation yet, that's how impressive they've been. He's gonna have to see how they play in actual games to know if they're ready for Prime Time.

At the very least, we're talking about very competitive practices, the kind that help players to become better and better through the course of a season, a variable that seems to be very much in this team's favor, this year.

It also means that IF the 8th & 9th players are getting it done when they come into games, Jim is going to keep playing them, which means that all our Deep Bench fans will finally be happy for a change, although I'm sure they'll be bothered by the 10th player who get's left out mid-season...

All in all, you can tell Jim is very pleased with what he's seeing. He didn't say he saw improvement in almost every guy, he said he saw big improvement in almost every guy, and I think that's significant in the way it communicates what he's seeing in practice.

I'll add that I don't think Boeheim would be offering such a positive appraisal of his team if he wasn't projecting a big improvement in this team's defense over last year's performance. It's because I factor that in as a given that I'm feeling really optimistic about what we're gonna see this year...

I can't see how we don't play at least 8. Quincy is going to play we need a backup center and Richmond is the most hyped freshman we have had in some time.

 

[jdubs30]

Really surprised this hadn’t been brought up yet ..

8-9?

JG3
Buddy
Griff
Marek
Sidibe

Q
Kadary

That’s 7...

who are the other 2?

Frank? Jesse? Bras? Woody?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Really surprised this hadn’t been brought up yet ..

8-9?

JG3
Buddy
Griff
Marek
Sidibe

Q
Kadary

That’s 7...

who are the other 2?

Frank? Jesse? Bras? Woody?

Jesse is 8, Big Bad Bobby "Earl" Braswell is 9.

 

[SU in Hershey]

Really surprised this hadn’t been brought up yet ..

8-9?

JG3
Buddy
Griff
Marek
Sidibe

Q
Kadary

That’s 7...

who are the other 2?

Frank? Jesse? Bras? Woody?

Jesse and Bras? Because of the noted improvement? Just trying to read the tea leaves...

 

[moqui]

Jesse is 8, Big Bad Bobby "Earl" Braswell is 9.

that sounds like what we've heard from various sources

although i'm still partial to bouncing bobby braswell for the former state high jump champeen

 

[Zelda Zonk]

So, Braswell is healthy? 100%?

 

[cuseincincy]

that sounds like what we've heard from various sources

although i'm still partial to bouncing bobby braswell for the former state high jump champeen

I had not seen anything about Braswell impressing. If SU can get Braswell's skillset on the court good things will happen. With his long arms and jumping ability he plays much bigger than he is plus he is another shooter. Not many minutes seem available for him but if he can give a positive, energetic 6-9 minutes per game that could be valuable rest for one of the starters. Love the nicknames but I'm hoping for a Dirty Jr. as a player.

 

[Ceerqqq]

Hope you are right but I tend to treat anything JB says pre-season with a grain of salt.

You say that as if JB has a long history of sugar coating expectations for his teams, from one year to the next, which is hilarious on its face.

As sensitive as Jim Boeheim's been to criticism since day one, it is beyond ridiculous to suggest that he has a tendency to set himself up for some of the criticism he hates by over-selling his teams early on, just so he can give those critics an excuse to criticize him later.

Far more often than not, he's done the opposite, for the obvious reason. An ingrained CNY pessimist, himself, he's by nature going to want to play down expectations, and yet here, we have some fans suggesting the opposite.

Jim Boeheim's one of those major 'Truth-Tellers' in college coaching. It's his first instinct. Sure, I've heard him boost one or two of his players whom he thinks are not getting enough national credit for their performances. About the only times I've heard him start to praise the accomplishments of his teams is when the committees are meeting to determine if his team will be invited to the NCAA Tournament.

But pre-season? Hopeful exaggerations are the last thing you're likely to hear from him. How would he benefit from doing so? That's why, when I hear him say anything positive about his team pre-season, I expect it to be measured and calculated to not boost expectations beyond what he thinks is conservatively reasonable to expect.

For this reason, when I attempt to cull the 'real meaning' of JB's pre-season statements, I'm gonna discount his words against his actual tendencies, and that means I think he is actually more hopeful than he is going to let any reporter know, early on.

When a reporter asks him how good he thinks his team is, he has nothing to fear from simply relaxing into his "honest appraisal" mode, where he dispassionately pontificates on basketball matters, like the expert that he is, and when he says he thinks his team is going to be good, that means he thinks they could end up being really good.

So my opinion is basically the opposite of yours. You imagine that Boeheim can be depended upon to exaggerate the positive possibilities of his team, no matter what deficiencies he might see in practice, and I think he can be expected to do the opposite.

Opinions are great, aren't they?

 

[CousCuse]

If this is true, what's Alsacs going to whine and complain about then.

 

[syrBossHogg]

I had not seen anything about Braswell impressing. If SU can get Braswell's skillset on the court good things will happen. With his long arms and jumping ability he plays much bigger than he is plus he is another shooter. Not many minutes seem available for him but if he can give a positive, energetic 6-9 minutes per game that could be valuable rest for one of the starters. Love the nicknames but I'm hoping for a Dirty Jr. as a player.

I think there was an article in the Athletic that mentioned that Braswell was doing well in practice, but nothing really over the top hype. And Eli did hype up Braswell during the offseason but they're good friends so I don't take too much from that

 

[CardiacCuse]

Disclaimer: I generally think the team is going to be amazing every season.

But I think, given recent history, that this is going to be one of those seasons where my eternal optimism aligns with reality.

The big question for me was if any players would make improvements. They were already good by the end of last year...absolutely trouncing UNC.

To think that all have made solid improvements from there? IDK if that is true...if so, this could be a special year (if the games actually get played)

 

[Alsacs]

If this is true, what's Alsacs going to whine and complain about then.

Thank you.
All I will say is I want JB to get healthy won’t say anything else

 

[IthacaMatt]

You say that as if JB has a long history of sugar coating expectations for his teams, from one year to the next, which is hilarious on its face.

As sensitive as Jim Boeheim's been to criticism since day one, it is beyond ridiculous to suggest that he has a tendency to set himself up for some of the criticism he hates by over-selling his teams early on, just so he can give those critics an excuse to criticize him later.

Far more often than not, he's done the opposite, for the obvious reason. An ingrained CNY pessimist, himself, he's by nature going to want to play down expectations, and yet here, we have some fans suggesting the opposite.

Jim Boeheim's one of those major 'Truth-Tellers' in college coaching. It's his first instinct. Sure, I've heard him boost one or two of his players whom he thinks are not getting enough national credit for their performances. About the only times I've heard him start to praise the accomplishments of his teams is when the committees are meeting to determine if his team will be invited to the NCAA Tournament.

But pre-season? Hopeful exaggerations are the last thing you're likely to hear from him. How would he benefit from doing so? That's why, when I hear him say anything positive about his team pre-season, I expect it to be measured and calculated to not boost expectations beyond what he thinks is conservatively reasonable to expect.

For this reason, when I attempt to cull the 'real meaning' of JB's pre-season statements, I'm gonna discount his words against his actual tendencies, and that means I think he is actually more hopeful than he is going to let any reporter know, early on.

When a reporter asks him how good he thinks his team is, he has nothing to fear from simply relaxing into his "honest appraisal" mode, where he dispassionately pontificates on basketball matters, like the expert that he is, and when he says he thinks his team is going to be good, that means he thinks they could end up being really good.

So my opinion is basically the opposite of yours. You imagine that Boeheim can be depended upon to exaggerate the positive possibilities of his team, no matter what deficiencies he might see in practice, and I think he can be expected to do the opposite.

Opinions are great, aren't they?

I agree with most of this. The one year I think he really missed with his pre-season predictions recently was the 2017 team with Andrew White, Tyler Lydon, John Gillon, Tyus Battle, Frank Howard, Pascal Chukwu, Tyler Roberson and Taurean Thompson. He thought it was going to be one of our better teams.

If those guys had played better defense, that would have been a hell of a team. But they never really got it together, or at least not until late in the season.

That pre-conference schedule was a disaster that year. They went 8-5 before the ACC.
They got to 8-4 in the ACC, raising hope that the team was coming together, but then lost 5 of 7 down the stretch against a tough schedule.

Is it just me, or does the ACC schedule always seem to close really hard for us?

 

[miamicuse]

That was the year he teased that they may play man, I think he knew defense was an issue, just didn't know if would be that bad.

 

[NineOneSeven]

What happens when players test positive? We might end up with a 5 man rotation.