Men's Basketball

Boeheim sounds off about team’s fundamental struggles in postgame press conference

Larry E. Reid Jr. / Staff Photographer

Jim Boeheim speaks with a referee during the second half of Sunday's narrow win. After the game, he voiced his concerns regarding his team's fundamentals.

By Jacob Klinger

There are some things Jim Boeheim says he can’t coach.

Catching a basketball with two hands is one of them. Cutting to the ball to get it is another.

“If we have to do those things, we can’t possibly win,” Boeheim said. “That’s it.”

After Syracuse’s (6-3) 71-69 win over Louisiana Tech (7-3) on Sunday night, the SU head coach stressed fundamental problems that undercut the Orange against the Bulldogs and threaten to do the same for the entire season.

Boeheim pointed to sophomore forwards B.J. Johnson and Tyler Roberson trying to catch passes with one hand, Johnson for failing to rebound on the weak side and Roberson for committing bad fouls. He also singled out freshman Kaleb Joseph for throwing passes away and freshman forward Chris McCullough for playing small.



“This team is not anywhere near a good basketball team. Anywhere,” Boeheim said. “And I’ve never said that since I’ve been here.”

The head coach criticized the team’s inability to learn to guard shooters, too.

“Defensively, our rule is to play the guy if he’s there. It doesn’t help when that player says ‘He’s out there a long ways.’ That doesn’t help. Because he’s where you’re supposed to be,” said Boeheim, raising his voice. “And they haven’t learned that. Will they learn that by tomorrow? Next week? When do they learn that? I don’t know. If they don’t learn, we won’t win.”

Boeheim said his team won’t beat any good teams unless it improves. That includes all 18 Atlantic Coast Conference games, he said, a fear he didn’t have during last year’s 25-0 start or any of the five years before that.

“This isn’t like the last six years,” he said. “We’re going to struggle to win a game. We’re going to struggle to win a game. Whatever game we play.”

At different points throughout his postgame press conference, he referred to, then pushed aside the fact that his team is young. But at some point, he hopes the youth will stop translating into mistakes.

“We’re learning, I hope,” Boeheim said. “I don’t see it, but I hope we will learn. There’s not that much time left. Nothing’s going to happen magically. But I know that I cannot coach catching a basketball.”





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