Dion Interview

[Upstate]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7963980&ex_cid=nhffromfb&ref=nf

 

[skurey]

"Coach Boheim"

 

[stuckinbig11]

"Coach Boheim"

yeah, I heard that too

 

[HoustonCuse]

Love Dion. Man I'm just getting more and more bummed that we won't have him in Orange anymore.

 

[suttree]

Dion not only corrected Ford's inexplicable (and inexcusable, for a purported basketball guy) mispronunciation of JB's name--he paid tribute to our great coach and said he still talks to him "every day." Talked about how he went in as a boy and came out as a man. This cannot be bad for young bucks thinking about going to Syracuse.

I had my doubts and grievances against him in the early days, and now I'm rooting for him like mad.

GO DION. Damn.

 

[Upstate]

Dion not only corrected Ford's inexplicable (and inexcusable, for a purported basketball guy) mispronunciation of JB's name--he paid tribute to our great coach and said he still talks to him "every day." Talked about how he went in as a boy and came out as a man. This cannot be bad for young bucks thinking about going to Syracuse.

I had my doubts and grievances against him in the early days, and now I'm rooting for him like mad.

GO DION. Damn.

I think one of the underlying issues in the next few years is to get a few more SU guys to be relevant in the NBA. Dion is going to do that, plus being in one of rap's rising star's songs doesn't hurt either. Dion's got cred out of his wazzoo

 

[RF2044]

I think one of the underlying issues in the next few years is to get a few more SU guys to be relevant in the NBA. Dion is going to do that, plus being in one of rap's rising star's songs doesn't hurt either. Dion's got cred out of his wazzoo

I don't know. We've had a couple of NBA guys over the years--DC was a #1 pick but underachieved, Billy had injuries derail his career and probably didn't live up to being the #3 pick, Sherman was a starter for several seasons, etc. and it never had a negative impact on recruiting.

We're recruiting like gangbusters now. I'm not saying that having Carmelo be a highly recognizable star doesn't have an impact, but I also don't think that Donte / Jonny / Hak / Wes not being stars has hurt us. I think that recruiting is more a function of how the team performs than how many NBA stars you have. Right now we're on a roll.

 

[Knicks411]

We're recruiting like gangbusters now. I'm not saying that having Carmelo be a highly recognizable star doesn't have an impact, but I also don't think that Donte / Jonny / Hak / Wes not being stars has hurt us. I think that recruiting is more a function of how the team performs than how many NBA stars you have. Right now we're on a roll.

I almost think the players being real good in the NBA is a house money thing. You are right that the most important thing for recruiting is going to be how well the team is playing, and we've played well and are recruiting great. If we start to get some guys hitting in the league it will probably only make the recruiting better

 

[Knicks411]

LOLOL @ "boheim". really chad ford?

 

[AlaskaSU]

Recruiting has many facets based on both prestige and practical matters such as coaching and geography JB's is driving our recruiting success. As far as our performance, its a mixed bag: good in season, appearance of under performance when it counts. Our image would indeed improve if we had more stars in the NBA. Look at Cal: image trumps coaching. If players like DJC, Waiters and MCW become name NBA guys, and JB sticks around, we will be in the same top echelon as NC, UK, KU, Puke and OSU. Recruiting will become selection. We are just a notch below but we could be knocking on the door. Nothing helps image more than NBA visibility. Melo is a big help. More Melos = more better.

 

[RF2044]

Recruiting has many facets based on both prestige and practical matters such as coaching and geography JB's is driving our recruiting success. As far as our performance, its a mixed bag: good in season, appearance of under performance when it counts. Our image would indeed improve if we had more stars in the NBA. Look at Cal: image trumps coaching. If players like DJC, Waiters and MCW become name NBA guys, and JB sticks around, we will be in the same top echelon as NC, UK, KU, Puke and OSU. Recruiting will become selection. We are just a notch below but we could be knocking on the door. Nothing helps image more than NBA visibility. Melo is a big help. More Melos = more better.

That perspective is laden with truisms, with little evidence to support that there is a correlation. When we were in the golden era of the late 80s, landing #1 caliber recruits like Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens, who were the guys we had in the NBA? Rafael Addison? Danny Schayes? Louis Orr? And yet, not having a plethora of NBA stars didn't seem to negatively impact recruiting or prevent the program from landing elite blue chip talent.

The NBA visibility factor is consistently overstated on this board, IMO. Of course it doesn't hurt, but the benefits are exaggerated by some. Recruiting HAS already become selection to a large degree in recent years. I also don't get the Cal / UK comparison--they have a completely different recruiting model than us or any other school. No other program emulates that approach.

 

[newmexicuse]

We could put together a very respectable all-NBA alum team:

C - Rony
PF - DC
SF - Melo
SG - Bing
PG - Our weak spot - we never really had a PG translate to big NBA success unless I am missing somebody - probably the best was Jason Hart

Bench - Billy, Etan Thomas, Louis Orr, Hak, etc. I think Dion will at least get to this second team before he is done.

 

[RF2044]

We could put together a very respectable all-NBA alum team:

C - Rony
PF - DC
SF - Melo
SG - Bing
PG - Our weak spot - we never really had a PG translate to big NBA success unless I am missing somebody - probably the best was Jason Hart

Bench - Billy, Etan Thomas, Louis Orr, Hak, etc. I think Dion will at least get to this second team before he is done.

Sherman Douglas.

 

[newmexicuse]

Sherman Douglas.

Sherm is my all-time favorite Cuse player & was thinking he wasn't much of a pro, but I did check his stats & had a few very good seasons as a pro & did average double digits & about 6 assts pergame. Put him ahead of Jason - my bad !!

 

[br801]

We could put together a very respectable all-NBA alum team:

C - Rony
PF - DC
SF - Melo
SG - Bing
PG - Our weak spot - we never really had a PG translate to big NBA success unless I am missing somebody - probably the best was Jason Hart

Bench - Billy, Etan Thomas, Louis Orr, Hak, etc. I think Dion will at least get to this second team before he is done.

Sherm had a pretty solid NBA career.

 

[longislandcuse]

Loved this interview. Whoever Dion goes to will become my second favorite team. Dion is going to be a stud.

 

[orangefan13]

Cuse gets players to the NBA and if not really really really close to it. (AO, DNIC, Gerry, Harris, Devendorf, Jackson to name a few in the last 5 years. On how good they are thats up to them.