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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 originates from the Cavalier Room at the Marriott in Downtown 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:
Submit a Question!
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: WGVA
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
1st Hour: “Coach, we are presently 15-3 in the Dome and 2-10 away from it. If we get selected for the NCAA tournament, we won’t be playing any games in the Dome. What’s been the difference and how can we get this team to play the way they’ve played in the Dome away from it?”
2nd Hour: “Coach, early in the season all our games were one-sided. We blew out the lesser teams but came up well short against the better teams. Late in the season we were in every game and made substantial comebacks in every game. I know we had four new guys in the line-up who had to adjust to a new system. But what turned this team around emotionally, such that they had the ability to make these comebacks and play so competitively?”
COACH BOEHEIM
(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject. 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 will 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.)
(This is the last show of the season.)
Coach said “It has been a long season. We needed a few days off. We played 5 games in 15 days. When you play a lot of minutes you need to get some rest. “ Quote and unquote. Matt noted that Andrew White seemed to have “heavy legs”. JB: “We’ve played so many tough games right in a row. Everybody gets a break in the schedule and ours came late. It’s helped us.
Matt also noted that Tyus Battle had “rebounded from his illness. JB: “It’s hurts us when he’s not full strength.”
On all the implications of the Georgia Tech game: “You can’t think about where you finish or who you will play. You’ll be too tight. You can’t win any game that way. Every game counts and nothing’s written ins tone. We have no way of knowing what’s going to happen. WE have 6 wins against top 50 teams. Nobody else has, (among bubble teams). “
I called in my first question. “In this league, it’s tough to win on the road. Four teams have three road wins. We have 2.” Matt pointed out that Notre Dame has the best conference road record at 5-3 and they will underdogs at Louisville, who is undefeated all season at home. North Carolina and Virginia are both 5-4 on the road. They have the only winning records.
“We have not played well defensively this year, especially on the road. WE out-scouted North Carolina State and Clemson. We had a real good chance to win against Connecticut. The early road losses came before the team really got together. Virginia Tech is a top team now. North Carolina and Louisville have bene the only bad road losses since Boston College, which was the worst. We’ve lost to the sort of teams we’d play in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. But those games would be on a neutral court, not the other team’s home court. We’ve bene fortunate to win 9 league games with our defense. We’ve had a few good efforts: Miami, Pittsburgh, the second Boston College games. We got up by 20 in those games….It was our youth. We had a freshman in the middle who wasn’t strong enough or prepared enough to help us, (Thompson?) and a new point guard…. We’ve been better on offense –at times really good. But when we don’t hit the threes we really struggle. That shot is an important part of our offense….We play tough teams in tough environments….I just voted for the All-ACC 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams – you couldn’t tell the difference.” He thinks maybe John Collins of Wake Forest could get player of the year. He’s scored 20+ ten times in a row and “I as a double-double machine.”
Who should be national player coach of the year? Jim likes Frank Mason of Kansas as the player and Bill Self as the coach, although Rick Pitino, Jay Wright, Sean Miller and Mike White of Florida deserve consideration. Josh Pastner should get it in the ACCs. Some people didn’t think his team would win a game and they’ve won 8 of them.
Liam in Pompey wondered what the coach thought about the Louisville and Georgia Tech games. “Louisville played well and we didn’t. Tyus was the only guy that shot well. When you don’t shoot well, We got run off in the second half. Georgia Tech is a really good team. They play solid defense and are pretty good at the other end. Lammers is the best defensive player in the league. “
David in Sterling said that he “loved” the zone but that we allow the other team’s big guys to run free along the baseline. JB agreed: “We’ve gotten beat more times inside this year. We’re primarily guarding the three point line but we’re not even good at that. Sometimes we get caught too high. But we aren’t at the bottom of the ACC standings in defense. We’re in the middle- about 7ths. We’re probably worse than that but there are some terrible man-to-man teams in the league. “ Matt noted that Ken Pom normally has in the top 20 or even top 10 in points per possession and this year we’ll be somewhere around 90th. JB: “We’ve had such a run in the top 10-20. It was about the newness of the players. We had two senior guards last year. We had a shot blocker we thought would make a real difference but we don’t have him. It’s unusual to lose a guy for a whole year. Duke had some injuries but their guys were back after a few games. “
Pat called in and said that he was in Calgary for the Louisville game and only heard a few minutes of it. It seemed like we were playing pretty well. JB: “We only played well for 10-12 minutes out of 40 so it must have been hard to find a good spot.” Pat said it’s been quite a ride with 33 point losses and buzzer beater wins. He asked about Georgia tech: We didn’t get back. We didn’t attack well, (in the first game). But they have a good team. They beat North Carolina, Notre Dame and Florida State. Tyler Lydon had his worst game of the season.
Jim took the time to praise his “full seniors” – the guys who had been here their entire career. He said they were both part of a Final Four team and they were “big contributors”. DaJuan Coleman, “was in serious pain but won’t admit it.. He’s the toughest guy in the world.” Tyler Roberson was ”not as productive as we wanted him to be or as he wanted to be. His shot hasn’t come along- it’s gone the other way. But DC will have his master’s degree and Tyler will have his degree in the spring. DaJuan would have bene a real good player college player but he has the worse knee injuries we’ve seen. You can’t play inside with no knees.”
Will there be any “exit interviews” with the seniors? “No. We talk to them every day. They know what to expect and what they’ve got to do. They want to play professionally somewhere if they can. If not, they can do something else.”
Jimmy Boeheim has decided to go to Cornell. “He found himself a school…He worked hard in prep school. They have a really good young coach. They will be on the schedule next year. We’ll have to make sure he doesn’t get too many. “Did the Cornell coach talk to Jim about why Jimmy should got here? “No I didn’t get involved. It has to be his choice. He’s got to stick it through if things get difficult. I don’t want him saying “I didn’t want to come there.”
What’s our “recruiting approach”? JB: “WE got two really good players and are working on a couple more guys. We’ll be OK.”
Gomez wondered how long they’ve bene doing this show. When I called in my second question they asked me. I recalled sending in questions about the 1999-2000 team that got off to a 19-0 start. Jim said “That sounds about right.” I recall we used to have to type in questions and the host would read them off. I used to get in on-line arguments with the other questioners. One guy said “You could make up quite an All-American team with the players who had transferred out under Boeheim. I typed “It would be quite an All-American team because it would have any All-Americans on it.” I had my NCAA Guide handy and was able to check it. Another complained that our 19-0 team didn’t have any McDonald’s All-Americans on it. I pronounced our starting line up “The Delmonico’s All-Americans” and Jim got a kick out of that. Those are my earliest memories of contacting this show.
His answer to my second question, which started out sounding like an answer to my first question): “In home games, it’s easier to get the crowd behind you. We did beat NC State and Clemson but it’s a little easier at home. We’ve played well when up against it. Hitting 3 three pointers at the buzzer, two to win games and one to tie one is amazing. I think we’ve had one of them in about 10 years before this. Terrance Roberts got one. We also made big plays at the end of the Wake Forest and Virginia games to stay ahead of them. It’s mostly good offensive stuff. We’ve gotten a little bit of leadership from a lot of guys but it’s mostly been different guys making plays. Even Tyler Roberson has made some big plays on defense. Frank Howard has made some big plays. When we were 8-6 nobody thought we could win 9-10 ACC games. We got beat up by St. John’s. We lost to Georgetown. It was not promising. I thought we were in big trouble after losing to Boston College. The season was on the line. We had Miami and Pittsburgh coming in. We made a dramatic comeback. Not a perfect one but a dramatic one.
Gomez asked Jim to compare his, (Gomez’s) level of basketball knowledge when they started doing the show to what it is now. “In the beginning it was below zero, way minus to infinity”. Gomez: and now it’s above the Mendoza line? Jim: “Not quite.
Jim in Baltimore wondered what the most exciting game Jim had ever coached was. (That’s another good question responders might want to discuss.) Jim’s choices: The 6OT game, which was “epic”. Then came the championship game and then the Georgia game. Also: the 1987 win over North Carolina and that 1977 win over New Mexico, 98-93, (actually 96-91) over a Michael Cooper led Lobo team in “the loudest building I’ve ever been in. “Maybe I’ll stop thinking about the losses and just think about the wins from now on.” Matt brought up the 1982 win over Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma team. They didn’t lose again until Lorenzo Charles. JB: Our team wasn’t a good team. But we beat them in a high scoring game.” There was also the 1980 win over Purdue where Rosey Bouie blocked Joe B. Carroll’s jump shot.
The women’s team was opening ACC tournament play against North Carolina. Matt noted that Alexis Peterson was leading the conference in scoring, assists and steals. JB: “There’s not much else a guard can do…Wow! What a career. It’s probably between her and Kelsey Plumb for national player of the year.” She will be formidable competition:
Washington's Kelsey Plum breaks NCAA all-time women's scoring record with 57 points against Utah
“Coach Q’s seniors have played great.”
Another high scoring game complicated the bubble watch. Campbell’s Chris Clemson scored 51 to knock off UNC Ashville in their conference tournament. Ashville now falls into the pool of good lower major teams that need an at large bit. (Not everyone is a mid-major: there have to be lower majors.”
Campbell vs. UNC Asheville - Game Summary - March 2, 2017 - ESPN
Regarding mid-majors. “Middle Tennessee State is probably better than last year. Illinois State is very good. Wichita State, ST. Mary’s and Gonzaga are all very good. “
Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin said that the NCAA places teams where they will draw the most fans. JB agreed. He said the year NC State beat UCLA and won the title, (1974), they never played an NCAA outside their state, even in the Final Four. Jim said the first time SU went to Maui there were 10 SU fans there. The last time there were 1200 and at Atlantis we had 2,000.
On the Northwestern shot: was it a slow clock? Coach didn’t think so but felt there was a push off. “All you can with 2 seconds left is throw it down there. We used to practice that. We wanted to get the ball to the top for three throw line and then maybe make a pass. But with that amount of time left, you have to bounce it off the backboard and hope someone can get it and put it in – and that you don’t throw it out of bounds without it being touched, as the other team could get it under their own basket. Against Villanova, (Conrad McRae) we had about 3 seconds. We had a play like that to Richard Manning and he just had a lay-up but he got so excited he missed it. (I recall it was the first time we ever lost to providence in Big East play after about 22 wins. Some called poor Richard “Mr. Kluttz”, play on Jerry West’s nickname.) Matt noted that Northwestern has several prominent media personalities who are very happy right now: Brent Musburger, Dan Greenberg, Michael Wilpon. JB: “When I meet those guys I tell them that they have the second best sports journalism school to Syracuse’s.”
North Carolina scored only 43 points vs. Virginia. “Virginia is a really good defensive team. They are the best defensive team in our conference, year in and out. We had a 50 point half against them and it was one our best offensive performances ever.”
What does Jim remember about Wilt’s 100 point game? “It was very vaguely talked about. There was no Sports Center. It wasn’t a big deal. Hershey, (where the game was played) is a small place. The crowd was about 4,000.” Wilt did make I’ve Got a Secret:
Matt asked a good question: “What historical sports event would you most like to see? “Jim wanted to see all those Lakers-Celtics finals. ”Now you get to see everything.” Which event would you most like to see? (a favorite choice of mine: Forbes Field 5/25/35: #712, #713 and #714, which went 540 feet.)
The NBA is keeping refs with the same crew for continuity. “NBA officiating is pretty good. They go over each game on a tablet that night, looking at all the call they made with league supervisors. It’s much better than it used to be. It’s such a fast game. They are going to miss plays anyway, especially at the end The NFL has high quality guys but they aren’t professionals. They make good pay but might be a little better with better training.”
The Celtics are all excited about beating Cleveland but “They didn’t have Love. And they helped themselves picking up Bogut. They are much stronger than last year. Golden State won’t be the same without Durant. They gave up Barnes and Bogut. “
Gomez asked if the players were getting tired or losing enthusiasm. JB: “In pro basketball that can happen late in the season but not in college ball. The college kids are excited about playing and finishing well.” Gomez wondered “Am I the only one who still calls Georgia Tech ‘The Rambling Wreck’?” JB: “probably.”
They looked at that Infiniti challenge commercial. Jim said it was filmed at Wagner and he and the other coach weren’t both there at the same time. “The guy who directed it has directed some movies. ”They did it with stand-ins. Jim’s stand in “had a lot of hair”. He’d never seen the part where the pother coach does so well. “I didn’t know they had that one.”
Gomez wondered what Jim could recall about his senior day game as a player. “I can’t remember. That was 50 years ago.“ Then he did remember- it was against Colgate and we needed to score 138 to average 100 points for the regular season. We got 128 or 130: we just couldn’t get anything going.” (They needed 124 points and won 122-78).
Katie wanted to know the coach’s favorite deserter. “That’s my favorite question. II love permada (sp?) rolls- it’s a pastry with ice cream and chocolate syrup. They serve it at the Chop House near the Tecumseh Golf Course. It’s the only place in the area. You can get it in New York City. I also like molten chocolate with vanilla ice cream. I go to Friendly’s and order a chocolate ice crema soda made with vanilla ice cream. “. Does he know any good places to eat in Brooklyn? I don’t know Brooklyn restaurants- well there is one, (he didn’t give its name). I know New York City but not Brooklyn.
Gomez wondered what Jim thought of the new PIzza Hut sneakers that had a GPS connection in it that allowed the wearer to order a pizza thought his sneakers. Not much. “I don’t like Pizza Hut. I get my pizzas from Twin Trees.” Maybe they can come up with a sneaker.
And, with that, Thursday is just another night of the week.
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!
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: WGVA
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
1st Hour: “Coach, we are presently 15-3 in the Dome and 2-10 away from it. If we get selected for the NCAA tournament, we won’t be playing any games in the Dome. What’s been the difference and how can we get this team to play the way they’ve played in the Dome away from it?”
2nd Hour: “Coach, early in the season all our games were one-sided. We blew out the lesser teams but came up well short against the better teams. Late in the season we were in every game and made substantial comebacks in every game. I know we had four new guys in the line-up who had to adjust to a new system. But what turned this team around emotionally, such that they had the ability to make these comebacks and play so competitively?”
COACH BOEHEIM
(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject. 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 will 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.)
(This is the last show of the season.)
Coach said “It has been a long season. We needed a few days off. We played 5 games in 15 days. When you play a lot of minutes you need to get some rest. “ Quote and unquote. Matt noted that Andrew White seemed to have “heavy legs”. JB: “We’ve played so many tough games right in a row. Everybody gets a break in the schedule and ours came late. It’s helped us.
Matt also noted that Tyus Battle had “rebounded from his illness. JB: “It’s hurts us when he’s not full strength.”
On all the implications of the Georgia Tech game: “You can’t think about where you finish or who you will play. You’ll be too tight. You can’t win any game that way. Every game counts and nothing’s written ins tone. We have no way of knowing what’s going to happen. WE have 6 wins against top 50 teams. Nobody else has, (among bubble teams). “
I called in my first question. “In this league, it’s tough to win on the road. Four teams have three road wins. We have 2.” Matt pointed out that Notre Dame has the best conference road record at 5-3 and they will underdogs at Louisville, who is undefeated all season at home. North Carolina and Virginia are both 5-4 on the road. They have the only winning records.
“We have not played well defensively this year, especially on the road. WE out-scouted North Carolina State and Clemson. We had a real good chance to win against Connecticut. The early road losses came before the team really got together. Virginia Tech is a top team now. North Carolina and Louisville have bene the only bad road losses since Boston College, which was the worst. We’ve lost to the sort of teams we’d play in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. But those games would be on a neutral court, not the other team’s home court. We’ve bene fortunate to win 9 league games with our defense. We’ve had a few good efforts: Miami, Pittsburgh, the second Boston College games. We got up by 20 in those games….It was our youth. We had a freshman in the middle who wasn’t strong enough or prepared enough to help us, (Thompson?) and a new point guard…. We’ve been better on offense –at times really good. But when we don’t hit the threes we really struggle. That shot is an important part of our offense….We play tough teams in tough environments….I just voted for the All-ACC 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams – you couldn’t tell the difference.” He thinks maybe John Collins of Wake Forest could get player of the year. He’s scored 20+ ten times in a row and “I as a double-double machine.”
Who should be national player coach of the year? Jim likes Frank Mason of Kansas as the player and Bill Self as the coach, although Rick Pitino, Jay Wright, Sean Miller and Mike White of Florida deserve consideration. Josh Pastner should get it in the ACCs. Some people didn’t think his team would win a game and they’ve won 8 of them.
Liam in Pompey wondered what the coach thought about the Louisville and Georgia Tech games. “Louisville played well and we didn’t. Tyus was the only guy that shot well. When you don’t shoot well, We got run off in the second half. Georgia Tech is a really good team. They play solid defense and are pretty good at the other end. Lammers is the best defensive player in the league. “
David in Sterling said that he “loved” the zone but that we allow the other team’s big guys to run free along the baseline. JB agreed: “We’ve gotten beat more times inside this year. We’re primarily guarding the three point line but we’re not even good at that. Sometimes we get caught too high. But we aren’t at the bottom of the ACC standings in defense. We’re in the middle- about 7ths. We’re probably worse than that but there are some terrible man-to-man teams in the league. “ Matt noted that Ken Pom normally has in the top 20 or even top 10 in points per possession and this year we’ll be somewhere around 90th. JB: “We’ve had such a run in the top 10-20. It was about the newness of the players. We had two senior guards last year. We had a shot blocker we thought would make a real difference but we don’t have him. It’s unusual to lose a guy for a whole year. Duke had some injuries but their guys were back after a few games. “
Pat called in and said that he was in Calgary for the Louisville game and only heard a few minutes of it. It seemed like we were playing pretty well. JB: “We only played well for 10-12 minutes out of 40 so it must have been hard to find a good spot.” Pat said it’s been quite a ride with 33 point losses and buzzer beater wins. He asked about Georgia tech: We didn’t get back. We didn’t attack well, (in the first game). But they have a good team. They beat North Carolina, Notre Dame and Florida State. Tyler Lydon had his worst game of the season.
Jim took the time to praise his “full seniors” – the guys who had been here their entire career. He said they were both part of a Final Four team and they were “big contributors”. DaJuan Coleman, “was in serious pain but won’t admit it.. He’s the toughest guy in the world.” Tyler Roberson was ”not as productive as we wanted him to be or as he wanted to be. His shot hasn’t come along- it’s gone the other way. But DC will have his master’s degree and Tyler will have his degree in the spring. DaJuan would have bene a real good player college player but he has the worse knee injuries we’ve seen. You can’t play inside with no knees.”
Will there be any “exit interviews” with the seniors? “No. We talk to them every day. They know what to expect and what they’ve got to do. They want to play professionally somewhere if they can. If not, they can do something else.”
Jimmy Boeheim has decided to go to Cornell. “He found himself a school…He worked hard in prep school. They have a really good young coach. They will be on the schedule next year. We’ll have to make sure he doesn’t get too many. “Did the Cornell coach talk to Jim about why Jimmy should got here? “No I didn’t get involved. It has to be his choice. He’s got to stick it through if things get difficult. I don’t want him saying “I didn’t want to come there.”
What’s our “recruiting approach”? JB: “WE got two really good players and are working on a couple more guys. We’ll be OK.”
Gomez wondered how long they’ve bene doing this show. When I called in my second question they asked me. I recalled sending in questions about the 1999-2000 team that got off to a 19-0 start. Jim said “That sounds about right.” I recall we used to have to type in questions and the host would read them off. I used to get in on-line arguments with the other questioners. One guy said “You could make up quite an All-American team with the players who had transferred out under Boeheim. I typed “It would be quite an All-American team because it would have any All-Americans on it.” I had my NCAA Guide handy and was able to check it. Another complained that our 19-0 team didn’t have any McDonald’s All-Americans on it. I pronounced our starting line up “The Delmonico’s All-Americans” and Jim got a kick out of that. Those are my earliest memories of contacting this show.
His answer to my second question, which started out sounding like an answer to my first question): “In home games, it’s easier to get the crowd behind you. We did beat NC State and Clemson but it’s a little easier at home. We’ve played well when up against it. Hitting 3 three pointers at the buzzer, two to win games and one to tie one is amazing. I think we’ve had one of them in about 10 years before this. Terrance Roberts got one. We also made big plays at the end of the Wake Forest and Virginia games to stay ahead of them. It’s mostly good offensive stuff. We’ve gotten a little bit of leadership from a lot of guys but it’s mostly been different guys making plays. Even Tyler Roberson has made some big plays on defense. Frank Howard has made some big plays. When we were 8-6 nobody thought we could win 9-10 ACC games. We got beat up by St. John’s. We lost to Georgetown. It was not promising. I thought we were in big trouble after losing to Boston College. The season was on the line. We had Miami and Pittsburgh coming in. We made a dramatic comeback. Not a perfect one but a dramatic one.
Gomez asked Jim to compare his, (Gomez’s) level of basketball knowledge when they started doing the show to what it is now. “In the beginning it was below zero, way minus to infinity”. Gomez: and now it’s above the Mendoza line? Jim: “Not quite.
Jim in Baltimore wondered what the most exciting game Jim had ever coached was. (That’s another good question responders might want to discuss.) Jim’s choices: The 6OT game, which was “epic”. Then came the championship game and then the Georgia game. Also: the 1987 win over North Carolina and that 1977 win over New Mexico, 98-93, (actually 96-91) over a Michael Cooper led Lobo team in “the loudest building I’ve ever been in. “Maybe I’ll stop thinking about the losses and just think about the wins from now on.” Matt brought up the 1982 win over Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma team. They didn’t lose again until Lorenzo Charles. JB: Our team wasn’t a good team. But we beat them in a high scoring game.” There was also the 1980 win over Purdue where Rosey Bouie blocked Joe B. Carroll’s jump shot.
The women’s team was opening ACC tournament play against North Carolina. Matt noted that Alexis Peterson was leading the conference in scoring, assists and steals. JB: “There’s not much else a guard can do…Wow! What a career. It’s probably between her and Kelsey Plumb for national player of the year.” She will be formidable competition:
Washington's Kelsey Plum breaks NCAA all-time women's scoring record with 57 points against Utah
“Coach Q’s seniors have played great.”
Another high scoring game complicated the bubble watch. Campbell’s Chris Clemson scored 51 to knock off UNC Ashville in their conference tournament. Ashville now falls into the pool of good lower major teams that need an at large bit. (Not everyone is a mid-major: there have to be lower majors.”
Campbell vs. UNC Asheville - Game Summary - March 2, 2017 - ESPN
Regarding mid-majors. “Middle Tennessee State is probably better than last year. Illinois State is very good. Wichita State, ST. Mary’s and Gonzaga are all very good. “
Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin said that the NCAA places teams where they will draw the most fans. JB agreed. He said the year NC State beat UCLA and won the title, (1974), they never played an NCAA outside their state, even in the Final Four. Jim said the first time SU went to Maui there were 10 SU fans there. The last time there were 1200 and at Atlantis we had 2,000.
On the Northwestern shot: was it a slow clock? Coach didn’t think so but felt there was a push off. “All you can with 2 seconds left is throw it down there. We used to practice that. We wanted to get the ball to the top for three throw line and then maybe make a pass. But with that amount of time left, you have to bounce it off the backboard and hope someone can get it and put it in – and that you don’t throw it out of bounds without it being touched, as the other team could get it under their own basket. Against Villanova, (Conrad McRae) we had about 3 seconds. We had a play like that to Richard Manning and he just had a lay-up but he got so excited he missed it. (I recall it was the first time we ever lost to providence in Big East play after about 22 wins. Some called poor Richard “Mr. Kluttz”, play on Jerry West’s nickname.) Matt noted that Northwestern has several prominent media personalities who are very happy right now: Brent Musburger, Dan Greenberg, Michael Wilpon. JB: “When I meet those guys I tell them that they have the second best sports journalism school to Syracuse’s.”
North Carolina scored only 43 points vs. Virginia. “Virginia is a really good defensive team. They are the best defensive team in our conference, year in and out. We had a 50 point half against them and it was one our best offensive performances ever.”
What does Jim remember about Wilt’s 100 point game? “It was very vaguely talked about. There was no Sports Center. It wasn’t a big deal. Hershey, (where the game was played) is a small place. The crowd was about 4,000.” Wilt did make I’ve Got a Secret:
Matt asked a good question: “What historical sports event would you most like to see? “Jim wanted to see all those Lakers-Celtics finals. ”Now you get to see everything.” Which event would you most like to see? (a favorite choice of mine: Forbes Field 5/25/35: #712, #713 and #714, which went 540 feet.)
The NBA is keeping refs with the same crew for continuity. “NBA officiating is pretty good. They go over each game on a tablet that night, looking at all the call they made with league supervisors. It’s much better than it used to be. It’s such a fast game. They are going to miss plays anyway, especially at the end The NFL has high quality guys but they aren’t professionals. They make good pay but might be a little better with better training.”
The Celtics are all excited about beating Cleveland but “They didn’t have Love. And they helped themselves picking up Bogut. They are much stronger than last year. Golden State won’t be the same without Durant. They gave up Barnes and Bogut. “
Gomez asked if the players were getting tired or losing enthusiasm. JB: “In pro basketball that can happen late in the season but not in college ball. The college kids are excited about playing and finishing well.” Gomez wondered “Am I the only one who still calls Georgia Tech ‘The Rambling Wreck’?” JB: “probably.”
They looked at that Infiniti challenge commercial. Jim said it was filmed at Wagner and he and the other coach weren’t both there at the same time. “The guy who directed it has directed some movies. ”They did it with stand-ins. Jim’s stand in “had a lot of hair”. He’d never seen the part where the pother coach does so well. “I didn’t know they had that one.”
Gomez wondered what Jim could recall about his senior day game as a player. “I can’t remember. That was 50 years ago.“ Then he did remember- it was against Colgate and we needed to score 138 to average 100 points for the regular season. We got 128 or 130: we just couldn’t get anything going.” (They needed 124 points and won 122-78).
Katie wanted to know the coach’s favorite deserter. “That’s my favorite question. II love permada (sp?) rolls- it’s a pastry with ice cream and chocolate syrup. They serve it at the Chop House near the Tecumseh Golf Course. It’s the only place in the area. You can get it in New York City. I also like molten chocolate with vanilla ice cream. I go to Friendly’s and order a chocolate ice crema soda made with vanilla ice cream. “. Does he know any good places to eat in Brooklyn? I don’t know Brooklyn restaurants- well there is one, (he didn’t give its name). I know New York City but not Brooklyn.
Gomez wondered what Jim thought of the new PIzza Hut sneakers that had a GPS connection in it that allowed the wearer to order a pizza thought his sneakers. Not much. “I don’t like Pizza Hut. I get my pizzas from Twin Trees.” Maybe they can come up with a sneaker.
And, with that, Thursday is just another night of the week.
