The last Jim Boeheim Show of the season

[SWC75]

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.

The first hour is eventually, (it can take weeks) podcasted on the SU Athletics website on this page:

http://suathletics.com/podcasts.aspx


You can call into the show locally at 315-424-8599 or nationally at 1-888-746-2873. For Gomez’s portion, use 315-437-7644. Or you can submit questions from this page:

http://www.suathletics.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4


I will be posting my rough transcript of the first hour the night of the broadcast and will probably do the second hour the following day.


MY QUESTIONS/COMMENTS


First hour:


“Coach, when we are losing the experts come out of woodwork with their diagnoses. The most popular current one is “Boeheim didn’t give the reserves enough playing time earlier in the season and now that we need them they aren’t ready to play.” How much of a player’s development is the product of off the court physical training and practice and how much is the product of on the court experience? If a player isn’t progressing off the court, can you make up for that by playing him extensively in games?“


Second hour:


“Coach, we need more scoring and the most obvious possible source is getting Trevor Cooney back on track. Through the Notre Dame game he was a 44% three point shooter. He’s 26% since. When he comes flying off that screen, he’s moving parallel to the basket, has to turn to catch the ball and then turn again to shoot. Other teams have been having success by penetrating, drawing the defense in and passing back out where the three point shooter is not only open but already squared to the basket. He just has to catch it and go up with the shot. Could it help Trevor to penetrate not just to go to the hoop but also to set up passes like that?”


COACH BOEHEIM

(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject)


Matt Park: “I can’t believe that it’s the last show.”

JB: “The only guy who’s disappointed is Gomez. No more free food.”


About the slump: “Everybody thinks the world’s collapsing. We knew the back of our schedule was murder. Boston College played their best game times two against us and we could have won it with a lay-up at the end. If you lose at Duke on a call at the buzzer, you’ll take that. (You will, coach?) We were in the Virginia game most of the way and didn’t have one of our best players. Georgia Tech got their best player back and played very well. You can’t focus on 4 out of 5 games. 26-4 is what we are. We lost three great players from last year’s team, a guy who’s averaging 17 a game in the NBA, a four year starter and one of the best shooters in the country from last year’s team. We were picked to win 22-23 games at best. Expectations were raised when we went 25-0 but we weren’t blowing people out.“


“Georgia Tech and Boston College are good teams that have lost a lot of games in our league. Duke lost at Wake Forest. We only beta them by 10 Winning 26 of 30 is remarkable when you lost three top players. Florida State might be our toughest game. They are better than some of the teams that have beaten us. And they need this game to get in the NCAAs.” Matt mentioned that FSU is the biggest team in the ACC and that they’ve won the third most ACC games in the last 7-8 years. JB: “They are a good defensive team. They have three point shooters. They are third in the ACC, which is not typical for them. They go 7-3, 6-11 inside. They have won 3 in a row and 4 of 5. They beat VCU They are a bubble team desperate to win. This is one of the best teams they’ve had. They are extremely tough at home. I remember a couple of times when UNC or Duke were ranked #1-2 and lost down there. They lost some games early because they didn’t play well. Now they are back on track.


“Jerami Grant might play a little to get some rhythm.” 26-5, here we come! “ Our goal is to play as well as we can in the regular season and use the tournament to prepare for the NCAAs. There’s too much emphasis on seeding.”


Dave in Minnesota asked what the source of our consistent success has been, suggesting that having so many former players on the staff is part of it. JB: “We are fortunate to have three guys who know our system, who are excellent recruiters and also excellent coaches on the court. Mike runs the whole thing. We’ve got the top 2-3 assistant coaches in the country. It’s also important that we have guys who can learn the program. We always want to have at least 1-2 veteran players. You are always going to be a little up and down. The last 5-6 years has been our best run. We have a good practice facility, the Dome and a good conference. All those things are part of it.” Interesting that “Mike runs the show”.


Jim talked about one very favorable aspect of that consistency: the growing Syracuse fanbase. “Twenty years ago we’d play in New York, Philadelphia or DC and there’d be 150 Syracuse fans in the stands. Ten years ago it was 1,200-1,500. Now it’s 3-4,000. Players go to these games and look around and see 3-4,000 Syracuse players, it’s got to impress them. We have a lot of fans and a lot of graduates in those cities. It’s a recent phenomenon.” You wonder what we’ve lost in this regard with the move to the ACC.


I called in my first question. I joked that if I heard anything good from the experts, I’d pass it on and he laughed at that. But my question certainly lit a flame within the old coach, (although he kept his jacket on).


Regarding the idea of playing the younger players more early in the season: “Yeah, we could have done that. We might have lost 14-15 games but we could have done it. What would those people be saying if we did that?” Would it do any good to play a guy who wasn’t ready? “Absolutely no good at all to put a guy in if he’s not ready to play. If he’s not ready it hurts him. Now they are “Holy Cow!” Players should think that they want to go in and play. But if they commit 4-5 turnovers in 10 minutes of practice, what are they going to do in games? Practice isn’t close to games. It would be the difference between winning by 4-5 or losing by 8-10.”


“You do not get better going into games if you are not a good player. I’ve seen teams play freshmen and lose 15 games and the next year as sophomores they lose 15 games again because they don’t know how to win. They are better off just filing a role so the other guys can carry you. Tyler Roberson was not terrible against Georgia Tech but Trevor Cooney had a bad shooting night so we couldn’t carry him. You only play guys if you think they are ready. You know a guy isn’t ready if he does certain things in practice. If I have to put a guy into a game to see if he’s ready, I can’t do my job. There might be progress but it will be very slow. You need to know if you are a coach.”


When I was an assistant we had a 6th-7th man who insisted that everyone should get a chance to play. He became a successful high school coach and played 5-6 guys every game. I asked him why he doesn’t play more guys. “Because they aren’t good enough, coach.” I told him “See…..!” We don’t have bad players. It’s just that some aren’t ready yet. We had two guys turn the ball over 6 times in a ten minute practice today. You think they won’t do that in a game? “


“Nobody complains when you are winning. When you lose a few, everybody wants changes. These people don’t go to the games or contribute to the program. They just stay home and watch on TV.”


Matt said that “there aren’t a lot of freshmen contributors on good teams”. JB: “Its’ very difficult for a freshman to play on a Top 20 team, aside from very top ones. Florida has 4 seniors. A couple are fifth year seniors. Wichita State has 3 seniors and went to the Final Four last year. Duke has seniors like Sulaiman and Cook. Their one freshman player is special. Kentucky’s freshmen are fabulous but they’ve lost 8 games.


A later caller asked about “the development and progress of the freshmen”. JB: “Ron Patterson is a 2 guard but he can’t shoot as well as Cooney. BJ Johnson is a talent but he’s not physically ready yet. We hoped that Tyler Roberson would have picked things up quicker. I remember players like Scoop Jardine and James Southerland weren’t ready as freshmen but they persevered and kept working.”


George in Syracuse noted that “some of these kids were in high school last year”. JB chuckled. George asked what Jim does with a player who is struggling, like Trevor Cooney. “It’s easier when a player has shown he can make shots. Trevor is not fundamentally doing anything wrong. He’s pressured a bit more and is rushing it. We need him to shoot threes. You wouldn’t believe this kid. He shoots for an hour and a half- with focus. That’s hard to do. Some players claim they shot for an hour and half when they really did it for 20-30 minutes or so. He’ll be OK. We think next year he’ll be able to put it down, (get shots off the dribble) and score better. CJ Fair couldn’t put it down until this year.”


Matt changed the subject to the women’s team, who beat Clemson in the ACC tournament today. JB: “They have really good depth and a lot of freshmen and sophomores. Fortunately, the women don’t jump to the pros so they should be good for some time to come.”


Lou called in to praise Jim’s joint interview with Coach K when Duke came to the Dome. “You both have a passion for preparing for games. Fans don’t realize what goes into it. Coach Knight, (the first “Coach K”), told the Wichita State coach the one thing he would do differently was to not practice so hard late in the season.” JB: That’s a good point. When you play 2-3 games a week you practice hard for short periods. You don’t want to leave your game- or your legs on the practice court. You also work on individual stuff to keep them sharp. You have an intense team practice but keep it short.”


Pat called in and said “People need to look at other programs. Wisconsin won 16 in a row, then lost 5 out of 6 and people there wanted to change everything. Now they’ve won 7 in a row and they are talking about getting a #1 seed.” JB: WE did this last year and went to the Final Four. It’s a good league. This part of the schedule is difficult. We can lose to a Boston College. Duke can lose to Wake Forest. If we’d played well against BC and they hadn’t played so well and we’d lost I’d be concerned. Teams like Michigan State and Pitt have lost 4-5 games but will be tough in the tournament. So will Kansas and North Carolina, who had bad stretches. It happens to most teams. The toughest part of our schedule was at the end last year and it’s at the end this year. You just can’t be shocked when this team defeats that team.”


Matt had seen a preview of the ESPN 30 for 30 show called “Requiem for the Big East”. JB has not yet seen it, although he was interviewed for more than two hours for it. It’s “heavily based on the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry. There’s a lot about Dave Gavitt.” JB: “It was a crazy idea. Disparate schools with different ideas. What was even crazier was to make it work. Dave forced teams to play in the Boston Garden,. Madison Square Garden, etc., the big arenas. He made it a rule. Nobody wanted to. They wanted to play in their own little gyms. The only team playing in a big arena at the time was Connecticut, in the Hartford Civic Center. When the Providence Civic Center opened with 12,000, it seemed like a huge place.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ESPN 30 for 30 Requiem for the Big East&sm=12

Jake in Liverpool asked a golf question: what does JB think about Tom Watson being named Ryder Cup captain? Jim was instrumental in setting up a celebrity tournament for Tom’s Caddy Bruce Edwards. JB: “The pros love him. He’s a tough-minded guy. He’ll do a great job. The problem is Americans weren’t made for something like the Ryder Cup. The Europeans love it.”


I’ll end with this, which JB said in answer to one fan’s question about what it takes to be a coach.

“The game is with you all the time. You may be playing golf in the middle of the summer. But you are thinking about the players, recruiting, what the alumni is doing. It never stops.”

 

[Halo]

Thanks Steve. Very nice of you to do these write ups.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Thanks SWC...The season goes by so damn fast, doesn't it?

 

[Jack Hall]

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.

The first hour is eventually, (it can take weeks) podcasted on the SU Athletics website on this page:

http://suathletics.com/podcasts.aspx


You can call into the show locally at 315-424-8599 or nationally at 1-888-746-2873. For Gomez’s portion, use 315-437-7644. Or you can submit questions from this page:

http://www.suathletics.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4


I will be posting my rough transcript of the first hour the night of the broadcast and will probably do the second hour the following day.


MY QUESTIONS/COMMENTS


First hour:


“Coach, when we are losing the experts come out of woodwork with their diagnoses. The most popular current one is “Boeheim didn’t give the reserves enough playing time earlier in the season and now that we need them they aren’t ready to play.” How much of a player’s development is the product of off the court physical training and practice and how much is the product of on the court experience? If a player isn’t progressing off the court, can you make up for that by playing him extensively in games?“


Second hour:


“Coach, we need more scoring and the most obvious possible source is getting Trevor Cooney back on track. Through the Notre Dame game he was a 44% three point shooter. He’s 26% since. When he comes flying off that screen, he’s moving parallel to the basket, has to turn to catch the ball and then turn again to shoot. Other teams have been having success by penetrating, drawing the defense in and passing back out where the three point shooter is not only open but already squared to the basket. He just has to catch it and go up with the shot. Could it help Trevor to penetrate not just to go to the hoop but also to set up passes like that?”


COACH BOEHEIM

(I have, in some instances, put together statements from different parts of the broadcast on the same subject)


Matt Park: “I can’t believe that it’s the last show.”

JB: “The only guy who’s disappointed is Gomez. No more free food.”


About the slump: “Everybody thinks the world’s collapsing. We knew the back of our schedule was murder. Boston College played their best game times two against us and we could have won it with a lay-up at the end. If you lose at Duke on a call at the buzzer, you’ll take that. (You will, coach?) We were in the Virginia game most of the way and didn’t have one of our best players. Georgia Tech got their best player back and played very well. You can’t focus on 4 out of 5 games. 26-4 is what we are. We lost three great players from last year’s team, a guy who’s averaging 17 a game in the NBA, a four year starter and one of the best shooters in the country from last year’s team. We were picked to win 22-23 games at best. Expectations were raised when we went 25-0 but we weren’t blowing people out.“


“Georgia Tech and Boston College are good teams that have lost a lot of games in our league. Duke lost at Wake Forest. We only beta them by 10 Winning 26 of 30 is remarkable when you lost three top players. Florida State might be our toughest game. They are better than some of the teams that have beaten us. And they need this game to get in the NCAAs.” Matt mentioned that FSU is the biggest team in the ACC and that they’ve won the third most ACC games in the last 7-8 years. JB: “They are a good defensive team. They have three point shooters. They are third in the ACC, which is not typical for them. They go 7-3, 6-11 inside. They have won 3 in a row and 4 of 5. They beat VCU They are a bubble team desperate to win. This is one of the best teams they’ve had. They are extremely tough at home. I remember a couple of times when UNC or Duke were ranked #1-2 and lost down there. They lost some games early because they didn’t play well. Now they are back on track.


“Jerami Grant might play a little to get some rhythm.” 26-5, here we come! “ Our goal is to play as well as we can in the regular season and use the tournament to prepare for the NCAAs. There’s too much emphasis on seeding.”


Dave in Minnesota asked what the source of our consistent success has been, suggesting that having so many former players on the staff is part of it. JB: “We are fortunate to have three guys who know our system, who are excellent recruiters and also excellent coaches on the court. Mike runs the whole thing. We’ve got the top 2-3 assistant coaches in the country. It’s also important that we have guys who can learn the program. We always want to have at least 1-2 veteran players. You are always going to be a little up and down. The last 5-6 years has been our best run. We have a good practice facility, the Dome and a good conference. All those things are part of it.” Interesting that “Mike runs the show”.


Jim talked about one very favorable aspect of that consistency: the growing Syracuse fanbase. “Twenty years ago we’d play in New York, Philadelphia or DC and there’d be 150 Syracuse fans in the stands. Ten years ago it was 1,200-1,500. Now it’s 3-4,000. Players go to these games and look around and see 3-4,000 Syracuse players, it’s got to impress them. We have a lot of fans and a lot of graduates in those cities. It’s a recent phenomenon.” You wonder what we’ve lost in this regard with the move to the ACC.


I called in my first question. I joked that if I heard anything good from the experts, I’d pass it on and he laughed at that. But my question certainly lit a flame within the old coach, (although he kept his jacket on).


Regarding the idea of playing the younger players more early in the season: “Yeah, we could have done that. We might have lost 14-15 games but we could have done it. What would those people be saying if we did that?” Would it do any good to play a guy who wasn’t ready? “Absolutely no good at all to put a guy in if he’s not ready to play. If he’s not ready it hurts him. Now they are “Holy Cow!” Players should think that they want to go in and play. But if they commit 4-5 turnovers in 10 minutes of practice, what are they going to do in games? Practice isn’t close to games. It would be the difference between winning by 4-5 or losing by 8-10.”


“You do not get better going into games if you are not a good player. I’ve seen teams play freshmen and lose 15 games and the next year as sophomores they lose 15 games again because they don’t know how to win. They are better off just filing a role so the other guys can carry you. Tyler Roberson was not terrible against Georgia Tech but Trevor Cooney had a bad shooting night so we couldn’t carry him. You only play guys if you think they are ready. You know a guy isn’t ready if he does certain things in practice. If I have to put a guy into a game to see if he’s ready, I can’t do my job. There might be progress but it will be very slow. You need to know if you are a coach.”


When I was an assistant we had a 6th-7th man who insisted that everyone should get a chance to play. He became a successful high school coach and played 5-6 guys every game. I asked him why he doesn’t play more guys. “Because they aren’t good enough, coach.” I told him “See…..!” We don’t have bad players. It’s just that some aren’t ready yet. We had two guys turn the ball over 6 times in a ten minute practice today. You think they won’t do that in a game? “


“Nobody complains when you are winning. When you lose a few, everybody wants changes. These people don’t go to the games or contribute to the program. They just stay home and watch on TV.”


Matt said that “there aren’t a lot of freshmen contributors on good teams”. JB: “Its’ very difficult for a freshman to play on a Top 20 team, aside from very top ones. Florida has 4 seniors. A couple are fifth year seniors. Wichita State has 3 seniors and went to the Final Four last year. Duke has seniors like Sulaiman and Cook. Their one freshman player is special. Kentucky’s freshmen are fabulous but they’ve lost 8 games.


A later caller asked about “the development and progress of the freshmen”. JB: “Ron Patterson is a 2 guard but he can’t shoot as well as Cooney. BJ Johnson is a talent but he’s not physically ready yet. We hoped that Tyler Roberson would have picked things up quicker. I remember players like Scoop Jardine and James Southerland weren’t ready as freshmen but they persevered and kept working.”


George in Syracuse noted that “some of these kids were in high school last year”. JB chuckled. George asked what Jim does with a player who is struggling, like Trevor Cooney. “It’s easier when a player has shown he can make shots. Trevor is not fundamentally doing anything wrong. He’s pressured a bit more and is rushing it. We need him to shoot threes. You wouldn’t believe this kid. He shoots for an hour and a half- with focus. That’s hard to do. Some players claim they shot for an hour and half when they really did it for 20-30 minutes or so. He’ll be OK. We think next year he’ll be able to put it down, (get shots off the dribble) and score better. CJ Fair couldn’t put it down until this year.”


Matt changed the subject to the women’s team, who beat Clemson in the ACC tournament today. JB: “They have really good depth and a lot of freshmen and sophomores. Fortunately, the women don’t jump to the pros so they should be good for some time to come.”


Lou called in to praise Jim’s joint interview with Coach K when Duke came to the Dome. “You both have a passion for preparing for games. Fans don’t realize what goes into it. Coach Knight, (the first “Coach K”), told the Wichita State coach the one thing he would do differently was to not practice so hard late in the season.” JB: That’s a good point. When you play 2-3 games a week you practice hard for short periods. You don’t want to leave your game- or your legs on the practice court. You also work on individual stuff to keep them sharp. You have an intense team practice but keep it short.”


Pat called in and said “People need to look at other programs. Wisconsin won 16 in a row, then lost 5 out of 6 and people there wanted to change everything. Now they’ve won 7 in a row and they are talking about getting a #1 seed.” JB: WE did this last year and went to the Final Four. It’s a good league. This part of the schedule is difficult. We can lose to a Boston College. Duke can lose to Wake Forest. If we’d played well against BC and they hadn’t played so well and we’d lost I’d be concerned. Teams like Michigan State and Pitt have lost 4-5 games but will be tough in the tournament. So will Kansas and North Carolina, who had bad stretches. It happens to most teams. The toughest part of our schedule was at the end last year and it’s at the end this year. You just can’t be shocked when this team defeats that team.”


Matt had seen a preview of the ESPN 30 for 30 show called “Requiem for the Big East”. JB has not yet seen it, although he was interviewed for more than two hours for it. It’s “heavily based on the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry. There’s a lot about Dave Gavitt.” JB: “It was a crazy idea. Disparate schools with different ideas. What was even crazier was to make it work. Dave forced teams to play in the Boston Garden,. Madison Square Garden, etc., the big arenas. He made it a rule. Nobody wanted to. They wanted to play in their own little gyms. The only team playing in a big arena at the time was Connecticut, in the Hartford Civic Center. When the Providence Civic Center opened with 12,000, it seemed like a huge place.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ESPN 30 for 30 Requiem for the Big East&sm=12

Jake in Liverpool asked a golf question: what does JB think about Tom Watson being named Ryder Cup captain? Jim was instrumental in setting up a celebrity tournament for Tom’s Caddy Bruce Edwards. JB: “The pros love him. He’s a tough-minded guy. He’ll do a great job. The problem is Americans weren’t made for something like the Ryder Cup. The Europeans love it.”


I’ll end with this, which JB said in answer to one fan’s question about what it takes to be a coach.

“The game is with you all the time. You may be playing golf in the middle of the summer. But you are thinking about the players, recruiting, what the alumni is doing. It never stops.”

To me, the critical question for this team is not the bench. It is a thin bench that doesnt produce much and that likely wont change. I agree w JB , the bench isnt ready for huge contributions and asking him if he should have developed them earlier is a moot question because that time has passed.

To me, the issue w this team was summed up by an announcer of a recent cinci game (i think) i was watching. He was asked whats wrong w SU and said they look physically, mentally and emotionally tired. I happen to agree w him. Four of our starters have played a ton of mins. Cooney not as many as Ennis, CJ and Grant but Trevor runs off screens way more than those three so he effectively has played as much as them. It was an emotional season, 25-0, number one ranking, both duke games, the pitt shot , etc and those four guys playing tons of mins and then the three injuries. Trevor looked gimpy or tired running up and down the court against GT and we have been grabbing our shorts about three times more than our opponents during the last 5-6 games. The bench will not save us imo.

To me the question is, if these guys are mentally and physically fatigued now (altho CJ had a very good game offensively against GT and maybe just maybe Grants injury will be a blessing and give him a needed break) can they bounce back and when?? I personally think they can. We have four days off after this sunday and then should have 4-5 days off before the ncaas. To me the acc tourney is a double edge sword. One one hand it has been pointed out i think that all national champs since 2004 have won their conference tourneys. But on the other hand can we really play 3 games in three days with this thin bench and have anything left for a ncaa title run? Imo we need Grant back and we need to start passing /sharing the ball they way we were in Maui and against Villanova and Duke1. We have devolved into a one on one dribbling offense w poor passing. But no reason we cant get our second wind and get back to our old winning ways! Go CUSE!!

 

[Cusefan0307]

Have to agree with Jim on who should play. He's a professional, he should know who plays from practice. That would be like a shareholder in my company telling me to approve a loan because it will increase revenue, although the party requesting the loan most likely doesn't have the ability to pay it back, and the loan will most likely be written off when the customer can't pay.

 

[Alsacs]

I love JB and all he has done, but his argument about playing the younger kids more means we would lose more earlier games is ludicrous IMO. He doesn't need to play them 10-20 mpg and hurt the team chances to win. I mean C.J. Fair/Jerami Grant averaging high 30 minutes per game is eventually going to wear them down. With how slow tempo a game we are playing if the bench played a little more it wouldn't be that many possessions for them to play and it wouldn't really hurt us that much. I mean TV timeouts are every 4 minutes in college basketball I don't get JB's argument. I would take 1 loss or 2 losses if it would make the team better for the end of the season. I don't expect all 13 scholarship players to get playing time, but we should expect 9 or 10 of them to be able to contribute rather than 7 or 8. I would play more people earlier to keep everyone fresh and then cut the rotation by February. JB is a great coach, but his all or nothing answer isn't correct.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

I am so glad no one asked him if he would be doing this show again next ear.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I love JB and all he has done, but his argument about playing the younger kids more means we would lose more earlier games is ludicrous IMO. He doesn't need to play them 10-20 mpg and hurt the team chances to win. I mean C.J. Fair/Jerami Grant averaging high 30 minutes per game is eventually going to wear them down. With how slow tempo a game we are playing if the bench played a little more it wouldn't be that many possessions for them to play and it wouldn't really hurt us that much. I mean TV timeouts are every 4 minutes in college basketball I don't get JB's argument. I would take 1 loss or 2 losses if it would make the team better for the end of the season. I don't expect all 13 scholarship players to get playing time, but we should expect 9 or 10 of them to be able to contribute rather than 7 or 8. I would play more people earlier to keep everyone fresh and then cut the rotation by February. JB is a great coach, but his all or nothing answer isn't correct.

I agree with Coach on this one. I remember Patterson coming in earlier in the season against Indiana and he took like 10 shots in about 5 minutes because they left him open and he made about 2 or 3. If he got extensive playing time i believe it would just lead to other teams packing the paint more than it already is. The three sons had some chances early in the year to get in games and so far this year they have shot 25-91 collectively, including 6-36 from three. There's nothing in their stats that suggest they can help the team.

 

[Alsacs]

I agree with Coach on this one. I remember Patterson coming in earlier in the season against Indiana and he took like 10 shots in about 5 minutes because they left him open and he made about 2 or 3. If he got extensive playing time i believe it would just lead to other teams packing the paint more than it already is. The three sons had some chances early in the year to get in games and so far this year they have shot 25-91 collectively, including 6-36 from three. There's nothing in their stats that suggest they can help the team.

So you don't think players improve over the course of a season by practicing and getting more familiar with the system? As I said I don't expect all 13 scholarship players to contribute each season, but having 9 or 10 of them being able to help you isn't a lot to ask for so when one of your first eight struggles you aren't stuck playing them so much. I don't get how playing the 8-10 guys on the team for 2-4 minutes in the first half would kill the teams chances to win more games. If Patterson/Johnson/Roberson were getting 5 to 8 minutes consistently the whole season our team would have more options for when Cooney or Gbinije struggled or Fair/Grant were injured.

Our games are played at such a slow tempo these bench guys could play 5 minutes in the first half and give Fair/Grant a rest to be fresher in the 2nd half and would probably only be playing 5-6 possessions on offense and defense each. That wouldn't kill our chances to win, but JB doesn't like the argument so he goes extreme and says if he played them a little it would mean we lose more games when it could happen like that who knows.

 

[Lawrinson14]

I love JB and all he has done, but his argument about playing the younger kids more means we would lose more earlier games is ludicrous IMO. He doesn't need to play them 10-20 mpg and hurt the team chances to win. I mean C.J. Fair/Jerami Grant averaging high 30 minutes per game is eventually going to wear them down. With how slow tempo a game we are playing if the bench played a little more it wouldn't be that many possessions for them to play and it wouldn't really hurt us that much. I mean TV timeouts are every 4 minutes in college basketball I don't get JB's argument. I would take 1 loss or 2 losses if it would make the team better for the end of the season. I don't expect all 13 scholarship players to get playing time, but we should expect 9 or 10 of them to be able to contribute rather than 7 or 8. I would play more people earlier to keep everyone fresh and then cut the rotation by February. JB is a great coach, but his all or nothing answer isn't correct.

This irked me a bit as well. Coaches like Tom Izzo, coach K, and Bill Self put their teams against early season gauntlets to get their teams ready. They seemingly don't care too much about early season losses.

I would gladly trade 1 or two early/OOC losses for a more robust bench.

 

[pfister1]

I love JB and all he has done, but his argument about playing the younger kids more means we would lose more earlier games is ludicrous IMO. He doesn't need to play them 10-20 mpg and hurt the team chances to win. I mean C.J. Fair/Jerami Grant averaging high 30 minutes per game is eventually going to wear them down. With how slow tempo a game we are playing if the bench played a little more it wouldn't be that many possessions for them to play and it wouldn't really hurt us that much. I mean TV timeouts are every 4 minutes in college basketball I don't get JB's argument. I would take 1 loss or 2 losses if it would make the team better for the end of the season. I don't expect all 13 scholarship players to get playing time, but we should expect 9 or 10 of them to be able to contribute rather than 7 or 8. I would play more people earlier to keep everyone fresh and then cut the rotation by February. JB is a great coach, but his all or nothing answer isn't correct.

I have been a big advocate for getting Tyler Roberson more minutes now as injuries have piled up. However, one thing that we lose sight of as the season has progressed is that coming into this season we had a very inexperienced lineup with the very few proven performers. Maybe you could count CJ and Keita (proven in the backup center role) as proven commodities. Everyone else was being asked to new or being asked to step up their contribution very significantly. One reason for not subbing for our main guys (Grant, Cooney, Ennis & Rak) is that they too needed the playing time to get comfortable in the roles they were being asked to assume this season. JB didn't have reason to have a lot of confidence in Rak, MBJ or DCII. So he may have been enough out of his comfort zone forcing minutes their way that it was difficult for him to additionally force feed minutes to Roberson, BJ or Buss, except when the game situation truly dictated it.

 

[br801]

As always, great work on these recaps. Thank you for all your efforts, SWC75.

 

[Cusefan0307]

So you don't think players improve over the course of a season by practicing and getting more familiar with the system? As I said I don't expect all 13 scholarship players to contribute each season, but having 9 or 10 of them being able to help you isn't a lot to ask for so when one of your first eight struggles you aren't stuck playing them so much. I don't get how playing the 8-10 guys on the team for 2-4 minutes in the first half would kill the teams chances to win more games. If Patterson/Johnson/Roberson were getting 5 to 8 minutes consistently the whole season our team would have more options for when Cooney or Gbinije struggled or Fair/Grant were injured.

Our games are played at such a slow tempo these bench guys could play 5 minutes in the first half and give Fair/Grant a rest to be fresher in the 2nd half and would probably only be playing 5-6 possessions on offense and defense each. That wouldn't kill our chances to win, but JB doesn't like the argument so he goes extreme and says if he played them a little it would mean we lose more games when it could happen like that who knows.

Of course they improve, but that 25-91 was also either against cupcakes or garbage time. Doesn't give me much confidence that they can produce in a close game against ACC Competition.

 

[kuethstheman]

So you don't think players improve over the course of a season by practicing and getting more familiar with the system? As I said I don't expect all 13 scholarship players to contribute each season, but having 9 or 10 of them being able to help you isn't a lot to ask for so when one of your first eight struggles you aren't stuck playing them so much. I don't get how playing the 8-10 guys on the team for 2-4 minutes in the first half would kill the teams chances to win more games. If Patterson/Johnson/Roberson were getting 5 to 8 minutes consistently the whole season our team would have more options for when Cooney or Gbinije struggled or Fair/Grant were injured.

Our games are played at such a slow tempo these bench guys could play 5 minutes in the first half and give Fair/Grant a rest to be fresher in the 2nd half and would probably only be playing 5-6 possessions on offense and defense each. That wouldn't kill our chances to win, but JB doesn't like the argument so he goes extreme and says if he played them a little it would mean we lose more games when it could happen like that who knows.

You may be right but I'm not persuaded the 5 to 8 minutes per game would help anyone much who turns it over six times in 10 minutes of practice. On he other hand, I think an extra 2-4 turnovers a game could easily have cost us all of those close wins.

 

[Alsacs]

Of course they improve, but that 25-91 was also either against cupcakes or garbage time. Doesn't give me much confidence that they can produce in a close game against ACC Competition.

http://www.syracuse.com/orangebaske...or_cooney_to_break_out_of_shooting_slump.html

Cooney in Syracuse's last eight games is 15-for-58 (25.8 percent) from 3-point range. Yet you want to hold Patterson/Johnson to the same standard. If JB gave those guys 2-4 minutes a game to see what they had when Cooney was struggling I am sure you could prove me right. However, JB wants to tell everyone who believes he could give the bench guys a couple of chances to see what they have got and possibly pull what Trevor Cooney himself pulled in the Georgetown BET game last year a smart when another player (Triche) was struggling and gave us some needed offense.

Instead, JB has us believing any change would have to be drastic change and we would automatically lose more games. I find it frustrating JB had 8 guys out of 13 in his opinion prepared to help us win a NC this season and then 1 of them goes down for the year Coleman and another has a back problem now we have 6.5 guys including an unhealthy Grant to win a NC. He is forced to make Roberson that 8th guy just because he only has 6.5 guys until Grant is healthy enough to make it 7. Good luck winning a NC title with 7 guys and none of them being superstars a la Melo and getting nothing from your bench because you don't feel they are ready.

 

[Alsacs]

You may be right but I'm not persuaded the 5 to 8 minutes per game would help anyone much who turns it over six times in 10 minutes of practice. On he other hand, I think an extra 2-4 turnovers a game could easily have cost us all of those close wins.

That would be the assumption of risk. I am wilingly to gamble that with those guards on the floor merely as 2 guards rather than PG their chances for turnovers wouldn't be as high as Ennis who is our PG. Also, think if the guys were fresher it would give them more energy to be able to make plays in the 2nd half and jump passing lanes/box out and get a rebound etc. Its a 2 way street and doing nothing doesn't allow to prove the point one way or another.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Thanks yet again, Steve, for providing my lunchtime entertainment. However, I am a bit irritated by follow-up posters who do not realize that subbing in players who are not ready will most likely result in turnovers, ill-advised shots, and (especially) defensive failures. Just ONE such error can cost us a game, and JB plays to win--every game. Players prove their worth in practice; there are few miracles that magically occur in games but never in practice.

 

[Alsacs]

Thanks yet again, Steve, for providing my lunchtime entertainment. However, I am a bit irritated by follow-up posters who do not realize that subbing in players who are not ready will most likely result in turnovers, ill-advised shots, and (especially) defensive failures. Just ONE such error can cost us a game, and JB plays to win--every game. Players prove their worth in practice; there are few miracles that magically occur in games but never in practice.

I guess Tyler Ennis is SO MUCH BETTER than B.J. Johnson, Ron Patterson that they don't even deserve scholarships. I grant Ennis is by far the best of the 3, but your statement is hilarious. Anybody can turn the ball I mean freaking OttoinGrotto has called Cooney "Shaky Potatoes" I guess his errors, ill-advised shots are acceptable for you. This is hilarious to hear this stuff. I don't think Patterson/Johnson are SO FAR behind Cooney that one of them can't be given 2-4 minutes a half to see if they can give the team a spark and keep Cooney's minutes to high 20s or low 30s. I would think that the Freshman after spending the entire year in the system understand how the defense works or then maybe they aren't good enough to play. I mean c'mon I am not asking for Ennis to sit I am asking to see if Patterson/Johnson can play the 2 guard for 5-10 mpg to give this team more offense. Look at Cooney's numbers the last 8 games the kid is gassed and doesn't sit much.

 

[Cusefan0307]

http://www.syracuse.com/orangebaske...or_cooney_to_break_out_of_shooting_slump.html

Cooney in Syracuse's last eight games is 15-for-58 (25.8 percent) from 3-point range. Yet you want to hold Patterson/Johnson to the same standard. If JB gave those guys 2-4 minutes a game to see what they had when Cooney was struggling I am sure you could prove me right. However, JB wants to tell everyone who believes he could give the bench guys a couple of chances to see what they have got and possibly pull what Trevor Cooney himself pulled in the Georgetown BET game last year a smart when another player (Triche) was struggling and gave us some needed offense.

Instead, JB has us believing any change would have to be drastic change and we would automatically lose more games. I find it frustrating JB had 8 guys out of 13 in his opinion prepared to help us win a NC this season and then 1 of them goes down for the year Coleman and another has a back problem now we have 6.5 guys including an unhealthy Grant to win a NC. He is forced to make Roberson that 8th guy just because he only has 6.5 guys until Grant is healthy enough to make it 7. Good luck winning a NC title with 7 guys and none of them being superstars a la Melo and getting nothing from your bench because you don't feel they are ready.

I guess we are hi-jacking SWC's thread and we can agree to disagree, but Cooney was also 44 percent until the Notre Dame game, which tells me theres proof he can make shots. We don't have any proof that johnson and patterson can make shots this year. I don't think you can compare Cooney last year to Johnson and Patterson this year. They are the fourth and fifth guards. Cooney was the third guard last year. Comparing Silent G to Cooney last year would be a good comparison. Cooney's biggest issue right now is he is rushing his shot because he for the most part has been guarded closely. If we want to give G a little more run at the two I would be fine with that because he doesn't usually make any glaring mistakes, and is close to 40 percent from three albeit in 38 attempts. Also Coach mentioned in his Radio Show that two players turned the ball over 6 times in practice in a 10 minute span. If Patterson and Roberson play even for 4 minutes, at the pace we are playing, and we get 6 possessions in those 4 minutes and they each turn it over once we're in trouble. I get what your saying, but were not the only team with these issues. One of my best friends is a huge Duke fan and he wanted K to take Hood out the other night for Matt Jones cause he couldn't make a shot against wake.

 

[stuckinbig11]

I guess Tyler Ennis is SO MUCH BETTER than B.J. Johnson, Ron Patterson that they don't even deserve scholarships. I grant Ennis is by far the best of the 3, but your statement is hilarious. Anybody can turn the ball I mean freaking OttoinGrotto has called Cooney "Shaky Potatoes" I guess his errors, ill-advised shots are acceptable for you. This is hilarious to hear this stuff. I don't think Patterson/Johnson are SO FAR behind Cooney that one of them can't be given 2-4 minutes a half to see if they can give the team a spark and keep Cooney's minutes to high 20s or low 30s. I would think that the Freshman after spending the entire year in the system understand how the defense works or then maybe they aren't good enough to play. I mean c'mon I am not asking for Ennis to sit I am asking to see if Patterson/Johnson can play the 2 guard for 5-10 mpg to give this team more offense. Look at Cooney's numbers the last 8 games the kid is gassed and doesn't sit much.

YOU don't think Patterson/Johnson are far behind Cooney. Must be you go to every practice and watch them. Do they know all the movements necessary in a very complicated machine called the Syracuse 2-3 zone? My guess is that they do not and therefore do not play, but then again, I don't go to practice, so I have to trust the coach. Ennis is special, but few frosh are good enough to play in meaningful games their first year. We have a history of bench-warmers later becoming very good players; give them time to learn.

 

[suttree]

Jesus, you ask good questions. Thank you again, on behalf of my self and all the ingrates who'll just read and move on, for these fantastic recaps.

Hit the showers, SWC--another great season.

Thread unhijacked, hopefully.

 

[Stevenson]

Thanks for the recap

 

[SWC75]

THE GOMEZ SEGMENT

Gomez also commented on this being the last show, saying that the season “Just zipped by”. JB: “No it didn’t. We played in August, practiced in September. We are in our 7th month. The last 5-6 games have been tough but the end is in sight. We were 16-2 at home, which is pretty good and we are 10-2 on the road, which is also pretty good. It’s been one of our better home and road years. ”


Gomez asked if there was such a thing as “senior night pressure”. It was an odd question since CJ Fair scored 28 points vs. Georgia Tech and Keita had a normal game. JB: “Harris had it a little bit for Virginia. There’s no pattern. It can go either way.”


Stan in Baldwinsville noted that “we don’t post up much”. He wondered if we could post up with CJ or get the ball to Rak more? JB: “You need to watch college basketball today. There’s not a lot of posting up. UNC is an exception. There are very few post up scorers coming out of high school. I love CJ but he’s best facing the basket. Rak didn’t have a good basketball background coming from Jamaica. Michael Jordan never had a post-up big man. Teams want guys who can put the ball on the floor and make shots. LeBron James if 6-8 260 and he plays 25 feet from the basket. Post games have evaporated.”


Tom in Syracuse remembered that Jim “took your jacket off years ago vs. Purdue”. JB: Yeah and I sprained my ankle. I didn’t want to do that gain so I put it back on. The team got a bad deal and I had to stand up for them.” Tom predicted we’d have “some more home cooking in Greensboro” and said “I want you to pop off again”.


Gomez asked about the coach’s reading material. He only reads to pass the time on the road. He reads “junk books like detective stories and histories. No great ones lately. Maybe the best was “Killer: An Alex Delaware novel by Jonathan Kellerman.”

http://www.amazon.com/Killer-An-Alex-Delaware-Novel/dp/0345505751

“Daniel Silva is good, too.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Silva_(novelist)


Matt Park spoke up to point out that John Grisham was at the game, sitting next to Governor Terry McAuliffe. Grisham is a big UVA fan and has contributed several million dollars to the University while McAuliffe, returning his Central New York roots, is a still a big SU fan. Jim again related his story of eating in a New York restaurant and seeing what he thought was Texas Coach Rick Barnes walk by and saying “High, Rick!” because Barnes and Gresham look so much alike:

Barnes:

Gresham:

Gresham is a big hoops fan and knew who Jimmy was and they had a good laugh over it.


I called in my second question about Trevor Cooney. JB: “They never come off him. They don’t’ leave him. Occasionally Rak will get an offensive rebound and throw it out to him. I promise we always look for him but he’s always covered. He has to learn to go by that guy. That’s the next stage in his development. We practice that shot, (coming off of screens) 50 times a day. It’s a hard shot but it’s the only way to get him open….You have to run off screens to get there. Trevor is not good at ball screens, the way Tyler is. The defender is always running with him. If he gets caught up, they’ll switch off. Teams have even said they were going to cover him and didn’t care about the other players. He’s struggled shooting but he gets his shots. We set 50-60 screens a game. He’s got memories of the threes he’s made and we are confident he’ll make them going forward. “


Gomez read a question off of Twitter asking for a comparison of last year’s team that lost 5 out of their last 6 regular season games, (which will be this team’s record if we lose to FSU). JB: “Last year’s team was a little better on defense. In the NCAAs for the first four games they held opponents to 28% field goal shooting and 15% from the three. They had an extra shooter…We were a better shooting team last year but we’ve got enough to get things done. Could this team do it? Yes, if we shoot and defend better. But could still lose due to the equity in college basketball.”


A caller now lives in Chapel Hill “the heart of the Old ACC”. JB: “Oh, yeah!” The caller described the “electric atmosphere” there when Syracuse came down to play Duke. JB: “This is what I like about the rivalry. It’s very well contested, with good sportsmanship. It’s the start of a great rivalry for sure.” Gomez asked how Coach K was doing. Jim reported that his friend was back at practice today so it seems he’ll be OK.


They talked about who might make the Big Dance from the ACC this year. “Virginia, Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina and Pittsburgh for sure. Florida State and Clemson have an excellent chance. Even Maryland has an outside chance. The Big 10 and Big 12 will get 6-7 teams and the Pac 12 and ACC will get 5-6 teams. The Atlantic 10 will get 5 teams. But it’s gotta stop someplace. You can’t have upsets. There are not as many conference champions who could lose and not make it.”


A Facebook question asked who the current Big East conference would take if they chose to expand? Maybe VCU? Jim thought that perhaps the Atlantic 10 was now the better conference and maybe nobody would want to leave for the Big East.


Tony in Liverpool asked how come we never seem to get any tip-offs. JB: We haven’t won one since I was born- or at least this year. Rak is not an aggressive guy. He gets a late start and overpowers it. I was going to move Jerami there. I’m glad we don’t have a tip after every basket like lacrosse- we’d never win. It can count- generally there’s a chance you’ll finish a possession short. We haven’t been getting them in a long time.” Naturally I had to look that up. I looked at the play-by-play for each game since Cornell. Since any change of possession is noted, I assume the first team to had an entry got the tip. I also used the basic possession formula: FGA – OREB + TO + (.475 X FTA) to determine possessions. We’ve won 16 tips in 30 games but lost the last five and 9 of the last 12. The possessions have been even in six games. The team that won the tip had the most possessions, (one more), in 13 games and the fewest, (one less), in 11 games. Basically, it doesn’t make much difference: it’s just an anachronism that is more interesting than a coin flip: you’ve got to start somewhere.


About Carmelo Anthony: “Nobody knows about Carmelo Anthony. Chicago could use a guy who can score. He’s probably lose $30 million if he leaves new York. He likes New York. He wants to win. But that’s what he came to New York to do. In a perfect world he’d go to a place where he’d have a chance to win. He’ll probably go. But if he doesn’t see that, he’ll stay.


Tom in Paris, (there is one in Oneida County: I don’t think he said “Parrish”) said he had an Uncle Tony Simpson who used to sit behind the SU bench. He still has the seat he sat in and wondered if he could bring it in to get it autographed. Coach said for sure and referred Tom to his secretary, Kelly to arrange a date.


The annual Basket Ball is coming up at Turning Stone on April 26th

http://www.boeheimfoundation.org/

Jim said that they are raising money for the children’s center and are sponsoring a young scientist “who has some interesting ideas”.


And with that I’ve got my Thursdays nights- and Friday mornings- back for the next six months.

 

[SWC75]

I guess we are hi-jacking SWC's thread and we can agree to disagree, but Cooney was also 44 percent until the Notre Dame game, which tells me theres proof he can make shots. We don't have any proof that johnson and patterson can make shots this year. I don't think you can compare Cooney last year to Johnson and Patterson this year. They are the fourth and fifth guards. Cooney was the third guard last year. Comparing Silent G to Cooney last year would be a good comparison. Cooney's biggest issue right now is he is rushing his shot because he for the most part has been guarded closely. If we want to give G a little more run at the two I would be fine with that because he doesn't usually make any glaring mistakes, and is close to 40 percent from three albeit in 38 attempts. Also Coach mentioned in his Radio Show that two players turned the ball over 6 times in practice in a 10 minute span. If Patterson and Roberson play even for 4 minutes, at the pace we are playing, and we get 6 possessions in those 4 minutes and they each turn it over once we're in trouble. I get what your saying, but were not the only team with these issues. One of my best friends is a huge Duke fan and he wanted K to take Hood out the other night for Matt Jones cause he couldn't make a shot against wake.

I don't think the thread was hijacked because I asked the question about players developing in games vs. in practice and made a crack about the "experts" who think JB should have played the reserves more earlier. I actually prefer these posts producing discussions of what JB said rather than simple "likes". The whole purpose of the board is to discuss Syracuse basketball and everything that goes on with it.

I side with those who think that giving players whose skills have not developed enough to help us yet extra playing time in competitive games will not accelerate their development by such a margin that it would be worth it to risk losing those games. We can be glad we aren't on the bubble right now and the difference between that and where we are is just not that great.

 

[OrangeSky]

Thanks SWC. Always a great job.