The Jim Boeheim Show - before Boston College | Syracusefan.com

The Jim Boeheim Show - before Boston College

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(There has been no articles giving details of this year’s Jim Boeheim show. I had to call into the radio station to find out that the first show will be tonight. I’ll assume there has been no changes since last year. No schedule had been posted but the show is usually on a Thursday unless there is a game or a holiday that night.)

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 will likely start out on Zoom and not be at a local restaurant. The first hour, hosted by Matt Park, the Voice of the Orange, is on their general network. The second hour, which usually 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! - Syracuse University Athletics
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: TuneIn | Free Internet Radio | Live News, Sports, Music, and Podcasts

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

“Coach, when we were so rudely interrupted by the pandemic, we had just kicked the tar out of the Tar Heels. I looked at the box scores for that game and the in the Dome two weeks earlier and there was little difference in our offensive statistics but a huge difference in defensive numbers. North Carolina’s shooting percentages collapsed like the economy did in the shut-down. They had more than twice as many turnovers and we had more defensive rebounds than we’d had in the Dome.

It brought to mind how our great post-seasons were keyed by our defense. That brought up two questions:
- Was it your feeling at the time that we had become a good defensive team and were about to go on another one of those runs?
- What kind of defensive team can this year’s team be and what’s going to make them that kind of defensive team?“



COACH BOEHEIM
(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject. The quotes may not be verbatim –they are from my scribbled notes. I have not knowingly changed the meaning. 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 might 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.)

They started talking about the pandemic and what has to be done to function despite it. JB: “I wear a mask to set a good example but sometimes I have to pull it down. I have trouble breathing through a mask due to my nose structure I use a face shield. I’ve had it and everybody tells me that I can’t give it or get it within 150 days. I’m 76 and got a little bit tired and that’s it.

When I’m coaching I’m 20 feet from the players. Our seats are 6 feet apart. Sometimes I want to talk to a player or a coach and I wonder where they are. They can’t hear me yelling at them through a mask. I call plays and do a lot of other things most coaches don’t do. I’m not near another player for more than 6 minutes in a game. The players are spread out except when they are in a huddle.” Matt described the SU ‘bench’ as a ‘bullpen’ and said that SU had bene the last hold-out of putting the chairs on the court during a time out. (That’s one thing I’ve never understood but I get it helps now.)

JB: “We’ve had 2 people test positive. Nobody around them tested positive. Someday we’ll look back and see that the safest place was on the basketball court. One player got it off campus and other during Thanksgiving. I went out to eat 35 times until I caught it. It hasn’t happened on a court yet.” Matt noted: Nobody’s got it from football.

On the statement by Coach K and the response by Alabama’s Nate Oates:
and
Alabama basketball's Nate Oats ignites social media firestorm with Mike Krzyzewski comments

“Coach K has been very consistent on this from the beginning. It’s very poor for any coach to say that eh cancelled games because he lost two games is very bad. There’s no reason to stop because this isn’t going to be better until June. We aren’t getting the disease from health care workers or nursing homes. We are getting it from people who aren’t going to the vaccine yet. Players are safer on campus. The vaccine won’t solve everything in a month. It's still better to play. Players want to play. We don’t know what it will be like in 2 months. Players may not get the vaccine until May or June. We aren’t going to know where we stand until towards September. I’ll get vaccinated on TV to set an example, like the presidents are doing. The only way out is to get at least 50% of America vaccinated. We just don’t know. Flu shots are 40-50% effective and they say this vaccine will be 90% effective. Who knows if the vaccine will work or have issues. There are a lot of questions. It’s a strange season. We aren’t going to get the fans back in. I don’t see a way to pause it. “

“You’ve got to get a rhythm. That’s why you play these games. Teams that don’t, don’t look cohesive. Young teams are at a disadvantage against veteran teams. Richmond didn’t play well against Kentucky. Rutgers practiced every day and were a veteran team. There were a lot of positives. We turned them over. Joe had a bad game. We had no Buddy or Bourama. They had a good guard, Geo Baker out but he’s only 29% from three point range and his replacement scored 16 points. But we were up three. We had a good stretch. It was a good learning experience. There some positives that come out of every situation.

I called in my questions. Coach said “We could have a better defense this year because we’ve got four starters back. Bourama is out. We’re better with him inside and Marek is a better defender on the wing. We couldn’t stop a 6-2 guy from getting lay-ups. We had a lot of good games last year, some big wins on the road. We blew two home games we could have won or we might have been an NCAA tournament team. We could have beaten Louisville, (who would have been our next opponent in the ACC Tournament). In the NCAAs, once you get away from the league you play teams that don’t know you. It was our bad luck to get bracketed with North Carolina, (in 2016), and Duke (in 2018). And in 2019 we lost to a highly under-rated Baylor team when we didn’t have our starting point guard.

Not having Buddy and Bourama hurt. Joe has had one good game and in another he made the shots that won us the game. He had 30 against NC State last year and 25 against Notre Dame, when he made 8 straight free throws at the end to win it. He had 9 assists to no turnovers against UNC. Some people are giving up on him. It’s a good thing they aren’t coaching Syracuse! Kadary is playing well and will get 15-20 minutes off the bench. Quincy is playing very well, maybe the best player in the league so far. Woody is playing well. Marek has been solid. We had a 3 point lead on the road against a top 20 team. We didn’t defend well. We’ve got to rebound and get back on the fast break better. Rutgers is a really good team. They’ve won at least 20 straight games there.

Buddy was back to practice today. Buddy’s been out 28 days now over two quarantines. When you come back from an illness or an injury and you can play you still have your job. Playing two point guards is OK until one of them gets in foul trouble. It’s better to have the extra guard be a point guard. Alan Griffin is a good scorer. He was a catch and shoot guy at Illinois. He’s still trying to figure things out. It will take him a while to learn to use the dribble. Woody Newton doesn’t worry. He just shoots it. He doesn’t shoot it that well in practice. He’s on and off. We changed his shot. He’s a good solid role player. He understands the game. I’m surprised he didn’t practice at the level he’s played in the game. Robert Braswell made shots last year. We won’t give up on him yet. We’ve got to get him comfortable out there. Quincy ahs bene very streaky in practice. He didn’t get any offensive rebounds in the last game. He's got to mix it up more: perimeter, drives, rebounding and inside scoring.” Matt started to talk about John Bol Ajak’s passes. Jim didn’t discuss him specifically but said “We got a lot of assists. We moved the ball well and it will get better. We have guys who are wiling passers and guys who can shoot. When you make threes somebody passed it to him. A basket is a basket.”

They talked briefly about Boston College, who has played quite a schedule so far: They beat Rhode Island and lost to Villanova, St. John’s, Florida and Minnesota by a total of 38 points: 2020-21 Boston College Eagles Schedule | ESPN
“They had Villanova down the whole game, almost beat St. Johns and lost to Minnesota in overtime.”

Matt asked about the Big 10 and ACC “jiggling the rules” to get Ohio State, Clemson and Notre Dame into their title games. JB: “It was a perfectly right move, not an issue because Ohio State beat Indiana, although they barely did it at home. It was going to be Clemson and Notre Dame in the ACC anyway. Those teams plus Alabama would make a good final four. It’s different in basketball. Teams get their chance. You can get into the tournament and win your way into the Final Four. Will bowls even happen? They are really just big social events. They don’t’ make much from TV. They need fans. Schools have to buy tickets. I admire what the Boston College coach said.”
College Football: Boston College football team opts out of bowl game opportunity following pandemic-impacted season
“After this season and what everybody’s gone through, who wants to go to a bowl game? Any good players will opt out.”

Jim talked about the just completed SU football season. Tommy DeVito is pretty good. He needs an offensive line. The team had bad nights but hung in there.”

Matt said that we are going to have to get used to having 6-year plyers and that the lacrosse team will have a bunch of them. Jim said he was looking forward to their season.

“it’s crazy out there. You just have to do the best you can.”
 
JG will start Saturday but if his poor defense or slump shooting continues his minutes will continue to go down.
 
JB's comments about Geo Baker being out, but that he's only a 29% shooter from three is somewhat amusing. Without checking, I have no idea what Harper Jr. shoots from the three percentage wise (prior to our game) but I think I read here how he was more of a slasher/scorer than a 3 point shooting assassin. When guys are left WIDE open shot after shot, dudes at this level can knock them down far more easily, especially vs. contested. No one knows what Baker's 3 point shooting numbers would've been Tuesday night had he played, but if he was left WIDE open shot after shot as was the case with Harper Jr., I'd bet his 29% stat goes up based upon how lousy we defended the three.
 
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