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.
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:
http://cuse.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4
Or on Twitter at mattpark1.
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, congratulations on finally getting a victory over a ranked team after several near misses. It seems to me that Rakeem Christmas and Michael Gbinije might be the two most improved players in the country. I am concerned about Rakeem’s struggles against Jahlil Okafor. Okafor is quite a player but he has the size and mobility of an NBA center, the sort Rakeem would go up against every night on the next level. Can Rakeem play center in the NBA? Does he have the shooting ability to be an NBA forward?”
Second hour:
“Coach, I tend to assume that it’s a good sign when an outside shooter hits his first shot. You’d think that would give him confidence and he’d be on his way to a good shooting night. Against Virginia Tech, Trevor Cooney hit a three ten seconds into the game, then missed 10 of 11 the rest of the game. Against Pittsburgh Trevor his a three a minute and 7 seconds in, then missed 6 in a row. Against Boston College he made a three pointer seven seconds in and was 2 for 7 after that. Against Duke he hit his first three shots, two of them 3 pointers, then missed 10 shots in a row. Last night he made a three 32 seconds in and was 0 for 9 in the last 39 minutes and 28 seconds. Have you ever seen a pattern like this? Why does hitting the first shot mean so little in Trevor’s case?”
COACH BOEHEIM
(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject)
Matt praised the people who live in Syracuse and drive through snowstorms to get to games. “Sometimes they wonder why they live here. They live for Syracuse basketball.” JB: “I live here for Syracuse basketball. The last few winters have been pretty good. We were due. It’s still early- it’s February.”
Dave in Syracuse said that each time he drives through a storm to get to the game, he asks himself why he does this. “And the game always is the answer.” He praised the team for playing “every game like a tournament game”. JB said that “you get to see everything when you come to the game. You miss stuff on TV. We’ve had some tough, exciting, great games, even when we didn’t win.”
About the Louisville game: “It was a good win. Louisville beat Pitt twice and Ohio State. They are a pretty good team. They’ve shot and played better on the road than at home this seasons. That’s why it was such a good win… We’ve played pretty well vs. ranked teams but our defense hasn’t been good enough in the second half. The teams that beat us shot 60% in the second half.” Matt noted that we turned that around in this game- we shot 58% in the second half to 32%. JB: “We got some easy shots that allowed us a high percentage. “
I called in my question about Rakeem playing in the pros. JB: “He can be a power forward. A lot of power forwards in the NBA don’t shoot a lot. Rak can rebound and play defense and run the court. He won’t score as much in the NBA. It wasn’t just Okafor- he missed some shots against Plumlee, too. He had 11 rebounds, 5 blocked shots and 5 assists. If he makes 3-4 more shots he’s got a great game. (He had 6 rebounds against Duke. The 11 was the number of points.) it was one of those games when the shots went in and out. Duke used a lot of help double teams. It wasn’t just him one on one with Okafor”
Liam, in Pompey called to ask about Trevor Cooney and to say that Kaleb Joseph “should be good in coming years”. Jim said “Kaleb did a good job in second half. His main problems have bene on defense. He got into the lane and made some big plays. He’s better on the pull-up than the outside jumper or going sideways.” Later Jeff in Watertown praised Kaleb Joseph for penetrating early in the shot clock and for singing those baseline shots. JB: “That’s his shot. A good play for him.. He took a 3 with 10-12 seconds left on the shot clock but made up for it with that drive….Kaleb made quite a difference in the second half.”
Regarding Cooney: “There’s a difference between playing well and shooting well.” (Not for a shooting guard.) “He’s a key guy. You don’t always know exactly why things happen. When the lane area is open, it’s usually because they are guarding Trevor….Ronnie Patterson made some good plays and some bad ones. But it’s hard to be out there when you can’t score.
Later I called in my question about Cooney with all the stats on his early good shots and his bad performance after that. JB agreed with me that if a shooter makes his first shot that should be a good sign. “I try not to dwell on it. I’m taking him out and I don’t want him to stop shooting. A few of his shots were off balance. A few were a couple of feet beyond the line. But his first one was three feet back. I want him to keep looking for his shot and pull people to him.” I joked that maybe Trevor will warm up when the weather does. JB: “It will warm up. I’m just not sure when. I mean the weather.”
A later caller felt that the criticism of Cooney was ”ridiculous. When he missed he stinks. When he makes shots he’s the greatest guy ever.” He wanted to know if the players ever read the Syracuse.com forum. JB: “I hope not. I don’t read the blogs but get reports on them. ” if you report on this post, tell JB how much I admire him. And Julie is a nice lady, too.
This caller, (didn’t get the name), suggested Trevor would be better with a few minutes rest, which could be obtained if Gbinije, BI and Kaleb were in the line-up. “I realize you don’t want Kaleb and Patterson on the court at the same time.” JB: “That leaves us with one guy who can shoot the 3. BJ isn’t playing that well. BC was letting him shoot so they could double Rak. We’d play him more but they know he can shoot so they’ll guard him. If Ronnie could shoot, he’d be a good player. ”
“Teams switch to a zone when Trevor leaves the game. TV time outs are 2 ½ minutes now. That’s enough. If you play 35 minutes, playing 40 isn’t going to matter. And if you take him out that might be the minute he has an open 3. If a player gets pulled out it’s probably due to defense. He has to take his responsibility in guarding an area. We can’t afford to give up open looks. We’ve had a lot of 40 minute players in recent weeks. “It’s a lot of minutes but we have time outs. Duke had Jones and Cook playing 40+ minutes against North Carolina. Cooney was not going to be tied in the first half. Mike is playing the whole game. Against Virginia Tech he scored the last 7 points. Rak has been great at the end of games Good players don’t want to come out. “
Michael Gbinije “is being selective in his shots. He’s playing relay solid basketball. If you look at the total picture he rebounds, he plays defense and he’s making plays at a very high level. He’s as good an all-around player as there is in the league, maybe the country… I’d have to really think about it to determine how many guys we’ve asked to play both guard and forward. He’s a complete, all-around player. ” Matt suggested Wes Johnson but “he didn’t handle the ball. Paul Harris did a lot of things but he wasn’t as good with the ball and couldn’t shoot it well.”
Matt noted that his scoring is up by 5 points a game in league play over the pre-conference season, (it’s up 9.7 points from last year: Rak is up 12.4 points). “That’s very rare. They usually drop back”. Matt said we’ve got 3 of the top 7 scorers in the league. (it helps to play 40 minutes). JB: “We’re getting enough scoring. Defense is our problem. We’ve not been able to get key stops against the good teams…I’m happy with how our offense has progressed. Our defense was good when we had Chris McCullough. He was averaging two blocked shots a game as a freshman. Our defense has struggled since then. We’re probably in the middle of the league- maybe the upper middle“ Matt looked it up- we’re 6th in point surrendered, “The definition of the upper middle of a 14 team league.” He suggested that “defense still wins championships.” (if you can make it to the post-season.)
Tom in Mohawk asked about the Noon start time on Saturday. How much of difference will that make? JB: “I like afternoon games, around 2 or 4. It’s kind of good to give it done early and do other things. If we’re on the road, we get home earlier. I’m the only one who doesn’t like Noon. I don’t like getting up early. The players work out in the morning all year long. They practice at 11Am and 2PM on Sundays. It’s not a big difference. It’s all television.”
Pat called, promising “no visual aids- I got harassed for that.” (Could he be referring to my suggestion he wanted to take over the team when JB retires?) He asked why we weren’t going to play in the ACC tourney- we played in the Big East tourney when on probation back in 1993. “There’s a conference rule about that. They don’t want us knocking another team out of the tournament or taking their automatic bid. Most conferences have a rule like that when you are not eligible for the post season.”
Pat also didn’t think the home court advantage meant as much when you are favored. Matt said we’d been an 8 point underdog to Louisville. JB was surprised. “We’re usually favored against everybody. Most good teams are favorites at home.” Matt said that JB “doesn’t put a lot of stock in the psychology of home teams. JB: “Travel is easier with charter planes . Some systems work better on the road.” (?) “The only origin al Big East school to finish with a winning conference road record was Syracuse. Georgetown and Connecticut couldn‘t do it. We won 61%, which is not just squeaking by. Just go play and ignore the noise.” Matt looked it up and two ACC teams have a better record at home than on the road- 1st place Virginia and last place Boston College. Of course Virginia has just one loss- at home to Duke.
Matt suggested that “going to South bend will feel a little different this year.” JB: “It’s always a tough place to play. Notre Dame is really good. They can score form all five positons. Grant does it all. They will win 30 games this year.” Matt went over Jerian Grant’s ranking in virtually all the ACC player statistics. It was high in almost every case. ”And he’s a good defender who makes all kinds of plays to win games.” It will be interesting to see him and Gbinije on the same court. Both are fine all-around players.
DaJuan Coleman “shows signs every day in practice with pull-up jumpers, he dunked and finished 5-6 times. If healthy, he can make a definite contribution. We hope he’s going to be healthy. Very few people can work hard and rehab for 2 years. It’s a lot to ask. Most are tired of it after 1 month. He can shoot, pass and make moves to the basket. He’s a tremendous offensive talent. I hope he can come back and be healthy.” I find this confusing: he’s shooting and dunking in practice but Jim seems unsure that he’ll ever be healthy enough to play. In past shows he said that DC’s problem is his ability to run the court. But if he can dunk….
Louie and Bouie powered the way for 100 wins in Jim’s first four years, which was a record. “We didn’t play that many games back then, 118 in four years. Now it would be around 130. They were classy guys, great kids. I never had to speak with them. They both came ready to practice every day. “ Matt noted that Rosey had a great career overseas and that a lot of SU players had gone the same route since. They mentioned Preston Shumpert, Adrian Autry, Andy Rautins, Kris Joseph and Darryl Watkins but there have bene many others. Arinze Onuaku is averaging 20/10 in the “D” league and Jim doesn’t understand why he hasn’t been called up.
They talked about Arinze’ brother Chinanu Onuaku who played for Louisville. “We were aware of him, although his family didn’t come up here much. We didn’t want to take someone we knew wouldn’t play. We had Christmas, Coleman, McCullough, Roberson and grant. We would love to have had him the way things worked out. We also turned down a couple of guards we wish we had now. Some of it you can kind of see coming. You can’t get good players at the end of a year. We’ve turned down some McDonald’s All-Americas. Sometimes it worked out well. Sometimes it didn’t. “ When I called in my second question I joked that it’s hard to get used to Matt saying that Ennis, Onuaku or Grant did something good, that was bad for SU. JB laughed and said that the brothers we wound up with were pretty good and he’s satisfied with them.
They talked about the back end of the schedule being “as hard as it could possibly be. The schedule doesn’t have to be this dramatic. Spread it out. We needed to play somebody early, although Georgia Tech is beating people and Wake Forest is playing tough. We’d be in great shape if we’d won a couple more games, (I think he meant UNC, Pitt or Duke- not sure which). We’d have guaranteed a winning record in the conference. You just have to keep working and playing hard.” Matt said we might have had a “tournament resume” even if we couldn’t go. “If anything we’re playing at a higher level since the decision was made.”
They will have two more shows - on the next two Thursdays.
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:
http://cuse.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4
Or on Twitter at mattpark1.
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, congratulations on finally getting a victory over a ranked team after several near misses. It seems to me that Rakeem Christmas and Michael Gbinije might be the two most improved players in the country. I am concerned about Rakeem’s struggles against Jahlil Okafor. Okafor is quite a player but he has the size and mobility of an NBA center, the sort Rakeem would go up against every night on the next level. Can Rakeem play center in the NBA? Does he have the shooting ability to be an NBA forward?”
Second hour:
“Coach, I tend to assume that it’s a good sign when an outside shooter hits his first shot. You’d think that would give him confidence and he’d be on his way to a good shooting night. Against Virginia Tech, Trevor Cooney hit a three ten seconds into the game, then missed 10 of 11 the rest of the game. Against Pittsburgh Trevor his a three a minute and 7 seconds in, then missed 6 in a row. Against Boston College he made a three pointer seven seconds in and was 2 for 7 after that. Against Duke he hit his first three shots, two of them 3 pointers, then missed 10 shots in a row. Last night he made a three 32 seconds in and was 0 for 9 in the last 39 minutes and 28 seconds. Have you ever seen a pattern like this? Why does hitting the first shot mean so little in Trevor’s case?”
COACH BOEHEIM
(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject)
Matt praised the people who live in Syracuse and drive through snowstorms to get to games. “Sometimes they wonder why they live here. They live for Syracuse basketball.” JB: “I live here for Syracuse basketball. The last few winters have been pretty good. We were due. It’s still early- it’s February.”
Dave in Syracuse said that each time he drives through a storm to get to the game, he asks himself why he does this. “And the game always is the answer.” He praised the team for playing “every game like a tournament game”. JB said that “you get to see everything when you come to the game. You miss stuff on TV. We’ve had some tough, exciting, great games, even when we didn’t win.”
About the Louisville game: “It was a good win. Louisville beat Pitt twice and Ohio State. They are a pretty good team. They’ve shot and played better on the road than at home this seasons. That’s why it was such a good win… We’ve played pretty well vs. ranked teams but our defense hasn’t been good enough in the second half. The teams that beat us shot 60% in the second half.” Matt noted that we turned that around in this game- we shot 58% in the second half to 32%. JB: “We got some easy shots that allowed us a high percentage. “
I called in my question about Rakeem playing in the pros. JB: “He can be a power forward. A lot of power forwards in the NBA don’t shoot a lot. Rak can rebound and play defense and run the court. He won’t score as much in the NBA. It wasn’t just Okafor- he missed some shots against Plumlee, too. He had 11 rebounds, 5 blocked shots and 5 assists. If he makes 3-4 more shots he’s got a great game. (He had 6 rebounds against Duke. The 11 was the number of points.) it was one of those games when the shots went in and out. Duke used a lot of help double teams. It wasn’t just him one on one with Okafor”
Liam, in Pompey called to ask about Trevor Cooney and to say that Kaleb Joseph “should be good in coming years”. Jim said “Kaleb did a good job in second half. His main problems have bene on defense. He got into the lane and made some big plays. He’s better on the pull-up than the outside jumper or going sideways.” Later Jeff in Watertown praised Kaleb Joseph for penetrating early in the shot clock and for singing those baseline shots. JB: “That’s his shot. A good play for him.. He took a 3 with 10-12 seconds left on the shot clock but made up for it with that drive….Kaleb made quite a difference in the second half.”
Regarding Cooney: “There’s a difference between playing well and shooting well.” (Not for a shooting guard.) “He’s a key guy. You don’t always know exactly why things happen. When the lane area is open, it’s usually because they are guarding Trevor….Ronnie Patterson made some good plays and some bad ones. But it’s hard to be out there when you can’t score.
Later I called in my question about Cooney with all the stats on his early good shots and his bad performance after that. JB agreed with me that if a shooter makes his first shot that should be a good sign. “I try not to dwell on it. I’m taking him out and I don’t want him to stop shooting. A few of his shots were off balance. A few were a couple of feet beyond the line. But his first one was three feet back. I want him to keep looking for his shot and pull people to him.” I joked that maybe Trevor will warm up when the weather does. JB: “It will warm up. I’m just not sure when. I mean the weather.”
A later caller felt that the criticism of Cooney was ”ridiculous. When he missed he stinks. When he makes shots he’s the greatest guy ever.” He wanted to know if the players ever read the Syracuse.com forum. JB: “I hope not. I don’t read the blogs but get reports on them. ” if you report on this post, tell JB how much I admire him. And Julie is a nice lady, too.
This caller, (didn’t get the name), suggested Trevor would be better with a few minutes rest, which could be obtained if Gbinije, BI and Kaleb were in the line-up. “I realize you don’t want Kaleb and Patterson on the court at the same time.” JB: “That leaves us with one guy who can shoot the 3. BJ isn’t playing that well. BC was letting him shoot so they could double Rak. We’d play him more but they know he can shoot so they’ll guard him. If Ronnie could shoot, he’d be a good player. ”
“Teams switch to a zone when Trevor leaves the game. TV time outs are 2 ½ minutes now. That’s enough. If you play 35 minutes, playing 40 isn’t going to matter. And if you take him out that might be the minute he has an open 3. If a player gets pulled out it’s probably due to defense. He has to take his responsibility in guarding an area. We can’t afford to give up open looks. We’ve had a lot of 40 minute players in recent weeks. “It’s a lot of minutes but we have time outs. Duke had Jones and Cook playing 40+ minutes against North Carolina. Cooney was not going to be tied in the first half. Mike is playing the whole game. Against Virginia Tech he scored the last 7 points. Rak has been great at the end of games Good players don’t want to come out. “
Michael Gbinije “is being selective in his shots. He’s playing relay solid basketball. If you look at the total picture he rebounds, he plays defense and he’s making plays at a very high level. He’s as good an all-around player as there is in the league, maybe the country… I’d have to really think about it to determine how many guys we’ve asked to play both guard and forward. He’s a complete, all-around player. ” Matt suggested Wes Johnson but “he didn’t handle the ball. Paul Harris did a lot of things but he wasn’t as good with the ball and couldn’t shoot it well.”
Matt noted that his scoring is up by 5 points a game in league play over the pre-conference season, (it’s up 9.7 points from last year: Rak is up 12.4 points). “That’s very rare. They usually drop back”. Matt said we’ve got 3 of the top 7 scorers in the league. (it helps to play 40 minutes). JB: “We’re getting enough scoring. Defense is our problem. We’ve not been able to get key stops against the good teams…I’m happy with how our offense has progressed. Our defense was good when we had Chris McCullough. He was averaging two blocked shots a game as a freshman. Our defense has struggled since then. We’re probably in the middle of the league- maybe the upper middle“ Matt looked it up- we’re 6th in point surrendered, “The definition of the upper middle of a 14 team league.” He suggested that “defense still wins championships.” (if you can make it to the post-season.)
Tom in Mohawk asked about the Noon start time on Saturday. How much of difference will that make? JB: “I like afternoon games, around 2 or 4. It’s kind of good to give it done early and do other things. If we’re on the road, we get home earlier. I’m the only one who doesn’t like Noon. I don’t like getting up early. The players work out in the morning all year long. They practice at 11Am and 2PM on Sundays. It’s not a big difference. It’s all television.”
Pat called, promising “no visual aids- I got harassed for that.” (Could he be referring to my suggestion he wanted to take over the team when JB retires?) He asked why we weren’t going to play in the ACC tourney- we played in the Big East tourney when on probation back in 1993. “There’s a conference rule about that. They don’t want us knocking another team out of the tournament or taking their automatic bid. Most conferences have a rule like that when you are not eligible for the post season.”
Pat also didn’t think the home court advantage meant as much when you are favored. Matt said we’d been an 8 point underdog to Louisville. JB was surprised. “We’re usually favored against everybody. Most good teams are favorites at home.” Matt said that JB “doesn’t put a lot of stock in the psychology of home teams. JB: “Travel is easier with charter planes . Some systems work better on the road.” (?) “The only origin al Big East school to finish with a winning conference road record was Syracuse. Georgetown and Connecticut couldn‘t do it. We won 61%, which is not just squeaking by. Just go play and ignore the noise.” Matt looked it up and two ACC teams have a better record at home than on the road- 1st place Virginia and last place Boston College. Of course Virginia has just one loss- at home to Duke.
Matt suggested that “going to South bend will feel a little different this year.” JB: “It’s always a tough place to play. Notre Dame is really good. They can score form all five positons. Grant does it all. They will win 30 games this year.” Matt went over Jerian Grant’s ranking in virtually all the ACC player statistics. It was high in almost every case. ”And he’s a good defender who makes all kinds of plays to win games.” It will be interesting to see him and Gbinije on the same court. Both are fine all-around players.
DaJuan Coleman “shows signs every day in practice with pull-up jumpers, he dunked and finished 5-6 times. If healthy, he can make a definite contribution. We hope he’s going to be healthy. Very few people can work hard and rehab for 2 years. It’s a lot to ask. Most are tired of it after 1 month. He can shoot, pass and make moves to the basket. He’s a tremendous offensive talent. I hope he can come back and be healthy.” I find this confusing: he’s shooting and dunking in practice but Jim seems unsure that he’ll ever be healthy enough to play. In past shows he said that DC’s problem is his ability to run the court. But if he can dunk….
Louie and Bouie powered the way for 100 wins in Jim’s first four years, which was a record. “We didn’t play that many games back then, 118 in four years. Now it would be around 130. They were classy guys, great kids. I never had to speak with them. They both came ready to practice every day. “ Matt noted that Rosey had a great career overseas and that a lot of SU players had gone the same route since. They mentioned Preston Shumpert, Adrian Autry, Andy Rautins, Kris Joseph and Darryl Watkins but there have bene many others. Arinze Onuaku is averaging 20/10 in the “D” league and Jim doesn’t understand why he hasn’t been called up.
They talked about Arinze’ brother Chinanu Onuaku who played for Louisville. “We were aware of him, although his family didn’t come up here much. We didn’t want to take someone we knew wouldn’t play. We had Christmas, Coleman, McCullough, Roberson and grant. We would love to have had him the way things worked out. We also turned down a couple of guards we wish we had now. Some of it you can kind of see coming. You can’t get good players at the end of a year. We’ve turned down some McDonald’s All-Americas. Sometimes it worked out well. Sometimes it didn’t. “ When I called in my second question I joked that it’s hard to get used to Matt saying that Ennis, Onuaku or Grant did something good, that was bad for SU. JB laughed and said that the brothers we wound up with were pretty good and he’s satisfied with them.
They talked about the back end of the schedule being “as hard as it could possibly be. The schedule doesn’t have to be this dramatic. Spread it out. We needed to play somebody early, although Georgia Tech is beating people and Wake Forest is playing tough. We’d be in great shape if we’d won a couple more games, (I think he meant UNC, Pitt or Duke- not sure which). We’d have guaranteed a winning record in the conference. You just have to keep working and playing hard.” Matt said we might have had a “tournament resume” even if we couldn’t go. “If anything we’re playing at a higher level since the decision was made.”
They will have two more shows - on the next two Thursdays.
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