Reality check: After two wins, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim calls Orange his most overrated team ever
The Syracuse Orange is currently the 10th-ranked college basketball team in the country.
Don’t try telling that to SU coach Jim Boeheim.
Following his team’s 86-67 victory over Canisius at the Carrier Dome, Boeheim called this year’s version of the Orange the “most overrated team that I’ve ever had.’’
Given that Boeheim’s tenure started in 1976 that statement carries a good amount of weight.
“We need to get realistic,’’
Boeheim said. “Right now, we’re the most overrated team that I’ve ever had. Right now. And I’m a little shocked that everybody’s bought into this whole thing. We’ve got a long ways to go. We are not a good basketball team.’’
Since Syracuse has won its first two games of the 2010-11 season by an average of 20.5 points, everything would seem to be hunky-dorey in Orange nation. But Boeheim voiced his displeasure at halftime leads of just three points in both Sunday’s win and Friday’s victory over Northern Iowa.
“You’re playing at home and you’re playing a team (in) Northern Iowa that lost the three major players on their team,’’
Boeheim said. “I mean major players. Leading scorer, best shooter, best inside player. And you’re up three at halftime?“
“We’re playing a team today that’s a good, solid team,’’
Boeheim said, referring to Canisius. “They lost 17 games last year. They don’t have anybody over 6-6. We’ve got a long ways to go. We’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m telling you because I just told those guys that. Everybody needs to get realistic here and understand where we’re going. We’ve got a long ways to go.’’
If Boeheim wanted to deliver a message, the ploy worked masterfully. After Boeheim’s post-game rant, the media swarmed into the SU locker room and each player had to answer the “overrated’’
question.
“How many years has he been coaching? Thirty-five? He knows,’’
SU junior guard Scoop Jardine said. “I don’t think we’re as good as we can be right now, but our talent level is out the window. Coach knows where we need to be at and he’s going to push us to get us there. Whatever Coach says goes.’’
If Boeheim wanted to poke his players’ pride; maybe get a little push-back, too, then mission accomplished.
“I think that’s something that we definitely can prove him wrong,’’
Brandon Triche, the Orange’s sophomore guard, said. “Right now, that may be true. We think we’re pretty good, but our actions and the way we’re playing haven’t showed it yet.’’
Boeheim directed more harsh analysis toward his talented, but very inexperienced, bench.
Unlike last year when Jardine earned The Sporting News’ Sixth Man of the Year award and Kris Joseph received the Big East’s Sixth Man honor, Syracuse’s reserves have little to no big-game experience. Jardine was a third-year sophomore who had started 10 games as a freshman. Joseph had started two as a freshman.
This year’s bench consists of three freshmen plus sophomores Mookie Jones and James Southerland. Those five players have no career starts.
“We have no depth. We have no proven depth,’’
Boeheim said. “If anybody talks about this guy’s a great player or this guy’s, we don’t anybody that’s proved themself coming off our bench. We don’t have one guy that’s made a significant play in a college basketball game.’’
On Sunday; however, two of Syracuse’s young reserves might have taken steps in the right direction.
Baye Moussa Keita, the 6-foot-10 freshman center, had six points and an astonishing 15 rebounds in just 17 minutes. Meanwhile, 6-7 freshman C.J. Fair finished with 11 points and four rebounds.
“You look at a guy like Mookie Jones, who’s a junior really, and a guy that James Southerland, who’s been through everything last year,’’
said Jardine, “we need those two guys to step up.’’
When Syracuse’s starters struggled in the first half on Sunday, the Orange struggled with the Golden Griffins.
Triche was 1-for-5 in the first half. Rick Jackson had 10 points, but the normally efficient forward had missed seven of his 10 attempts. Kris Joseph had seven points on 2-for-5 shooting.
And so, Syracuse led 32-29 at the half.
“The only guys we have on our team who have done anything are Brandon, Scoop, Ricky and Kris Joseph,’’
Boeheim said. “They’ve done something. And when they weren’t strong in the first half tonight, we struggled. And those guys on the bench, they were in the game, going from ahead to behind.’’
In the locker room at the break, Boeheim gave a blunt appraisal of the Orange’s first-half performance.
“He got on some guys,’’
Jardine said in a major understatement.
Syracuse dominated the second half. The Orange out-rebounded Canisius 28 to 14 in the final period. Syracuse made 52 percent of its field goal attempts.
In the second half, Jackson went 5-for-6 from the field to finish with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Triche scored 13 of his 16 points. Fair notched 10 of his 11 points.
Canisius senior Elton Frazier, a graduate of Corcoran High School, posted 16 points and 12 boards for Canisius. Alshwan Hymes, a sophomore from Jamesville-DeWitt, added six points, four rebounds and three assists.
But Syracuse had too much for Canisius, out-scoring the Golden Griffins 54-38 in the last 20 minutes.
Jackson searched, but couldn’t find a reason for the Orange’s slow starts.
“Teams are coming out and jumping on us,’’
Jackson said. “I think we’re coming out kind of sluggish and we’re missing shots around the basket. It’s going to have to change.’’
The Orange will get a chance to make a change soon. Syracuse hosts Detroit on Tuesday for the Orange’s third game in five days to open the season.
Will Boeheim’s remarks have an effect?
“I think he just wants to motivate us and set a fire under us to get us going,’’
Joseph said. “I personally don’t think we’re overrated. I don’t even know what talks are going on about us, to be honest with you. We have a good team and I think we’ve been doing a good job these past two games and now we’re just looking to move on to Tuesday night.’’
