Coach felt that Georgetown was underrated, even at #11 in the country. “They beat South Florida by 30 and then South Florida beat Pittsburgh. We shot badly but they did, too. We didn’t attack the zone well early. They made some timely shots but we made the big one at the end. Dion made two huge free throws. Scoop had a big assists.”
The subject of rebounding came up- again and again. “We don’t need to be great at rebounding- we have to be a little better. They got 5 rebounds in one possession, four in another. They had seven offensive rebounds where they didn’t score. They only had an advantage of 13-10 in second chance points. But we still need to close the gap a little bit.”
I called in and noted that Jim’s smiling face could be seen at SU Athletics with the caption “880 wins”. He wondered when they too that picture. I asked “When were you last smiling?” I noted that Matt Park had pointed out that Jim “has more wins than any coach who was never at Army”. He liked that one. I also noted that Casey Stengel had once received a Manager of the Year award and said “I couldn’t have done it without my players.”
I segued into my question about rebounding by saying that he couldn’t have done it without rebounds, either. He said that he’s heard a stat that 70% of missed shots to the side rebound to the other side but he couldn’t confirm that because he hasn’t counted it. Still, he’s afraid of having someone get inside the opposite forwards and get a lay-up so he wants him in there to guard the basket. Also, “If a guard has to go to the high post on the other side, he’s going to have a hard time getting back to help out.” I asked him about tipping the ball and noted that James Southerland had tipped the ball right back to a Georgetown player under the basket. “We tend not to go with two hands and not be as strong as we need to. We don’t have a hard-nosed rebounding mentality. You can’t make people into good shooters or into good rebounders. We just have to do better than we’ve been doing. If you play defense like we do and challenge shots you’re going to get fewer rebounds. If we didn’t challenge shots we could get more rebounds.” (But there might be fewer of them to get.)
They talked about Kris Joseph’s big game. “We didn’t have enough other guys doing well.” Matt Park noted that Kris didn’t get his 29 points in a game we won by 15: he got in a game where we needed every one of them. “Ray” called in asking “Did you ‘tweak’ Kris?” JB: “We talked about some things: his release, his grip. He made some in practice so I was cautiously optimistic he make some in the game.” He did. Matt said Kris made twice as many threes in that one game as he’d made in the last seven games combined. He added: It takes guts to make those shots. It also took Fab guts to draw those charges.” JB: “You have to make plays to win the game. I have no doubts- none- that ever player on this team will try to make play to win the game.”
Matt lauded JB’s record of being 19-2 in overtime games in the Dome. JB: “I can’t even fathom that. 50-50 would be a good percentage. Some great coaches have losing records in overtime.”
Matt noted that John Thompson III had been non-committal about playing Syracuse after we move to the ACC, saying that we were simply “back in the pool of non-conference teams”. JB was surprised he said that because the Georgetown AD called the same day it was announced SU would be leaving the conference to say that he wanted to still play Syracuse. “I don’t see us being in a different conference next season. I’m sure we’ll be playing Georgetown twice.”
Chad in Oneida is a member of the Naval reserve and spent time in Iraq and thanked JB “for all those great 3AM games we watched.” JB thanked him and hit mates for their services to the country and talked about the University’s connections with Fort Drum. Chad then asked why Brandon Triche wasn’t in the game down the stretch because “he played pretty well”. JB: “Scoop is the best passer on the team and gets us into our offense. Dion and Brandon are similar. Dion never did get it going. But you think he’s going to break out….Dion is really good in late-game situations. You could argue about it and I wouldn’t be upset. Coach’s don’t have hindsight.”
A caller asked how good Georgetown is and what our prospects for post season success were. “I like Georgetown a lot. They surprised me. Porter is really good. Sims had been playing well. They play good defense and are a difficult match-up. I think we can be a good tournament team but I’d like us to improve in the next couple of weeks.” Matt Park said that if a 24-1 #2 ranked team improves they are liable to be really scary. He noted a key factor late in the game: JTIII wanted to get Hollis Thompson back in the game because he’s hit some big shots for them but sent him to the scorer’s table too late and he could never get into the game. JB agreed that was a big factor at that juncture and that the timing of sending players to the scorer is important.
A caller said that a man named Tom Clinton had been his Phys Ed teacher in high school and that was someone JB knew well. But he wanted to talk about another man, Bob Gilbert, who ahs been to every SU game JB ever coached, except in Alaska and Hawaii, (he doesn’t fly). He’s gone by car every other place in all weather. One year he drove to California and back twice to see games. Another he made it to games in Florida, West Virginia and South Carolina in a five day period despite breakdowns in his car. During the gas crisis, he drove with two 20-30 gallon tanks of gas in his back seat to make sure he got to games. JB: “That’s not something they advise you to do.” But he survived and got to each game for 34 years. (I got the impression Bob was unable to do that this year. He‘s from Connecticut. Perhaps CTO knows him.)
A caller suggested that JB was “getting away from playing a lot of guys”. He expected to see more of Michael Cater Williams after the St. John’s game. Brandon Triche is “ tough, physical and can hit big shots”. Then the pressed the wrong button. He started complaining about our point guard, “I can’t even say his name”. JB went immediately to the stats. “Scoop has a 3 to 1 assist ratio, which leads the conference. We made ten baskets in the4 second half. He had 6 assists, two turnovers and a three point play. Critics look at 1-2 things. He’s hitting 50% inside the arc and 34% outside of it. These are facts. You can’t just look at a snapshot. Magic Johnson made 5-6 turnovers a game. That’s because he created things. Scoop is a creative passer. Dion and Brandon are scoring guards. Michael Carter-Williams will be very, very good but he’s a freshman. If you want to give me facts, I’ll listen. Otherwise move on.”
Milt wanted to know why Jim huddle the team non the court, rather than on the sideline as he usually does. JB: “They made me do it.” (I don’t recall seeing that and wonder how you would ‘make’ JB do that.) Milt wanted to know about the two upcoming dinners. One will be the Hardwood Club diner at the Oncenter on “the 4th”, (March?) where there will be an auction and you can buy posters the players will autograph. Then there’s the gala at Turning Stone, (the Basket Ball, I believe), which will be the last Saturday in April and will benefit the coach’s foundation. They will be honoring Sean Kerins, who Matt Park said “had one of the greatest assists in SU history.” JB said “A great rebound, too.” (I’ll let you guess.)
A caller said that he’d been amazed by the improvement of Rich Jackson from his junior to his senior years but was “blown away” by the improvement of Fab Melo from his freshman to his sophomore years. JB said that it’s mostly his conditioning and getting used to college basketball but that “he’s getting better every day. He’s easily the most improved player in the conference and probably the country.” Matt suggested that he’s a cinch for the most improved player award but a lot of players who win that award are simply guys that have been playing behind someone who leaves and now they get to play, (MCW next year?). They really didn’t get that much better, as Fab as done.
Justin in Syracuse praised Matt for “bringing an energy to the game”. JB: “He gets excited, doesn’t he?” Justin wanted to discuss rebounding some more: how to fix it? JB: “We stretch out the zone to guard the ball farther out and can’t block out.” A later caller asked why we don’t box out and JB again pointed out that in a zone you may have two guys in your area so boxing out does no good. “You have to look for the angles.” Jim said that “I’d rather make the point about the rebounding after a win because if I do it after a loss they will want to know why I never mentioned it before. Now everyone knows we need to close the gap more.”
A caller noted that Scoop was a finalist for the Cousy award and praised a pass he made to Kris for his corner jumper. JB: “There’s a lot that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. But a great deal actually does. It can tell you a lot.”
JB had to leave the table for a while and Matt took the time to respond to some “tweets”. Many of them were about rebounding. He called it “the cost of doing business” but said that Adrian Autry “infuses some energy” into the practice sessions. Others were about having a “go to” player. “Kris answered that.” JB then returned and added “We have four guys who can make plays at the end of games”.
Brent Musburger had said something about how “Boeheim was a lock for the Ohio State job at one time”. Jim said that he didn’t even want to interview with Ohio State- he wasn’t going to Columbus to do it. Instead they came to Syracuse. But “they seemed to think that the Ohio State job was one any coach in America would want to have. And it is but I like in it Syracuse and we had a great recruiting class coming with Derek and the others. I knew 5 minutes in I wasn’t going anywhere.” Instead he recommended Gary Williams , who got the job.
Alan called and asked about Frank Reddout, who had been introduced at the game as SU’s all time single game rebounded with 34. Jim played vs. a high school team Frank coached. “He was maybe 6-5. A good man.” Matt said 34 rebounds was a lot against air, that the level of play or the era doesn‘t matter. He noted that Otto Porter in high school had a state championship final where he scored 29 points and grabbed 35 rebounds.
A caller asked about Jim Calhoun. “He has a good prognosis. He just has to calm it down and may have to have something done after the season.” Jim said that Connecticut was “very good- they haven’t played as well together and they would like. Drummond and Lamb are tremendous and the guards are good.” Later he was asked if the lack of height in C Connecticut’s guards would make it hard to defend our bigger guards They have undersized, quick guards. Size is not that important in guards if you have a big guy blocking shots. Nassir and Boatwright are good defensive players.” (I once thought that, too. Then, in JB’s first year we got killed by UNC Charlotte who had a 6-4/6-5 backcourt to our 5/9/5-11- our guys couldn’t shoot or pass over them.)
Gomez took over for the second hour. He noted that Jake Clemons, Clarence’s nephew, would be taking over him at saxophone for Bruce Springteen’s E Street band. “I’m sure he’s pretty good if he’s sitting win the E Street band.”
Joe called in and kiddingly referred to “Just another pedestrian Georgetown game….We got our money’s worth, as usual” He also made reference to Jim’s overtime record. JB: “We were not quite so good at the end of regulation. Then they got the first bucket in overtime. If Kris doesn’t make the three they get the ball and can hold for the last shot and we’re struggling. We were fortunate to get a win.”
Naz wanted to know about the half-court offense: did JB call the play where KJ got the ball on the baseline in the first half? JB: “Playing against the zone you have to penetrate and kick it out. We did better in the second half going to ball screens and in to Fab kicking it out to Kris- the things people do to us. Their zone is different than ours so playing against ours in practice wasn’t much of a help as you’d think. They like to work it to the baseline and into the post. They have good passing big men.”
Jim in Cleveland harkened back to the days of “Kid Kohls, Bug Williams and Rock Touch Dooms”. JB laughed. “I hated it when Roy Danforth left. Who’s this Jim Boeheim? But when I found out you played with Dave Bing, I figured you were OK.” JB: “I turned out OK.” Jim, (the caller), wanted Jim’s, (the coach) assessment of the crowd in the Georgetown game. “They were great. I block it out- I don’t hear much in a close game. But the crowd was great.”
Tom said that “listening to the guys on TV drives me insane.” JB advised against it. “Those guys are always looking for negatives. Winning is still the bottom line.”
The Wisconsin-Minnesota game was on TV. They have a raised court at Minnesota and Gomez had heard that the Wisconsin players have practiced diving after loose balls and falling three feet without hurting themselves. JB: That doesn’t happen much. We had a raised court at Manley when I played. I went off it a couple of times.”
Tom in Pulaski “hated to harp on rebounding.” JB: “Then don’t do it. I’ll help you. We are down -3 rebounds on the year and are +7 in turnovers so we are +4 for the year.” (Actually, we are down a total of 12 rebounds for the year and up and up 7 turnovers a game, so it’s more like +6 ½.) “I look at numbers. I don’t listen to people talking crazy stuff at the water cooler.”
I called in for my second question but first made some observations. I said that this show was an example of the importance of depth- Matt was able to answer questions while JB had to be away. “How’d he do?” “We didn’t notice you were gone, coach.” I also bemoaned the fact that “Otto” was the leading rebounded in the game- and for the other team. We can’t outrebound Otto.
I got serious and compared Scoop Jardine to Ryan Nassib. Both are constantly criticized. Specific plays are analyzed to death. But when you add up their numbers, they are among the best we have ever had at their positions. JB agreed with this “100%. There are too many critics. I’d be the first to say it if the criticisms were true.”
I finally asked my question about how many basketball players he’s had who could play football and what are Paul’s prospects in that sport. “I think you have to be invited to that combine. You can’t just show up. He’d be a viable candidate. He has the strength, speed and hands. Paul is not one of those guys who likes contact. Rick Jackson loved physical contact. Antonio Gates is a friend of Rob Murphy’s. he said that when you are going over the middle, Ray Lewis is not fooling around.” JB agreed that basketball players have the physical capacity to be good football players and Stevie Thompson was one. “But it’s hard to do it if you didn’t play in high school. You have to be an extraordinary athlete.” He said that he’d tried to recruit Tony Gonzalez to play basketball here. He said that Donovan McNabb could have been a good basketball player- at forward. “But in one year he went from 195 pounds to 220 and got slower.”
Niles called and reminisced about and early 90’s game where Conrad McRae was hurt on a foul and the coach got to choose who could replace him at the foul line. Mike Hopkins got the nod and make the foul shots that won the game. He wanted to know about calling time out for a last possession. “It depends on who has the ball and the amount of time left. Duke didn’t have time outs. Zeller should have gotten up on him. I figure the worst that can happen is overtime and were at home.” (of course down two you don’t want to foul on a three point shot, either.)
Brad in Pulaski said that CJ Fair is usually good in the middle of a zone. “He had an off night and is still a sophomore. He did get some rebounds and played well on defense.”
Pat said that, “we missed opportunities to push the ball down court.” JB: “If the other team holds the ball 30-35 seconds you get very stationary. It’s hard to get the ball and go. We do it about as well as anybody in the country. Georgetown holds the ball against everybody- zone or man to man. Most teams are not patient enough to do it or to do it patiently. We also have to be patient and make sure we get a good shot. We don’t want to get the ball, shoot, miss and have to play defense for another 35 seconds.”
A caller said that we “win some and lose some”. JB: “No we don’t. We win 74% of them.” The caller wanted to know when we became a zone team. “We used to play mostly man to man when I started, with some zone. Over the years we’ve gradually shifted more and more to the zone. We used to use motion on offense but we’ve gone more to sets now.”
A caller told Jim “I don’t want you to get mad- I’ve seen you at press conferences”. JB: “Some of it’s just an act.” The caller felt he’d been very negative toward Dion Waiters. “Sometimes I do. You are very observant. I don’t smile and congratulate someone after bad plays. I want to be positive. But the only way to change bad performance is to point it out. I am a teacher. It’s my job to change players. If you work unsupervised, your work is not going to be your best. I am tough on different players at different time. That’s what we, (coaches) do. Last year Dion wouldn’t play defense so he didn’t play and he didn’t like that so he didn’t play.”
Jason in Syracuse asked him if looked at the stat sheet after games. “I look at it before press conferences. If I said our guards didn’t get any rebounds and Dion had five of them he would be upset. The stat sheet is a good tool that tells you lots of things.”
(Note: because some subject came up multiple times I have condensed the discussion on them by combining what JB said to different callers.)
