Fresh off winning a gold medal at the World Cup of Basketball in Madrid, Syracuse's head coach took to the podium Wednesday to talk about a few things.
When Jim Boeheim speaks, everyone in Syracuse listens. Or we are all interested to hear what he has to say. So, when Boeheim took to the podium Wednesday at the Carmelo K. Anthony Center to address the local media about FIBA's World Cup of Basketball everyone was curious about what he was going to say.
Was he going to take aim at the latest Adrian Wojnarowski column, which basically called the World Cup of Basketball a joke for USA Basketball and nothing but a recruiting tool for the Syracuse Orange and the Duke Blue Devils?
Was he going to make fun of all of Madrid's local eateries, and claim "You're not going to get any better than Dinosaur BBQ!"
Was he going to announce a suspension of assistant coach Mike Hopkins for his social media activities?
WAS HE GOING TO RETIRE!?!?!?!
Come to find out, it was a mixed bag of all of these things (except the retirement thing), including Syracuse basketball:
Boeheim on Dajuan - "His injury is one of the toughest we've dealt with. Hopefully he can't start doing some drills by October."
— Z89 Sports (@Z89sports) September 17, 2014
As for DaJuan Coleman, Boeheim said they won't know until November at earliest if he'll be ready to go for season.
— Brent Axe (@BrentAxeMedia) September 17, 2014
Boeheim says they'll have to wait and see on DaJuan Coleman's progress. Won't have a "definitive positive" answer until December.
— Phil D'Abbraccio (@PhilDAbb) September 17, 2014
Boeheim said Baye Keita is one of the best backup centers he's ever had. Added it's nice to have an experienced center like Christmas back.
— Phil D'Abbraccio (@PhilDAbb) September 17, 2014
Boeheim on SU basketball - "I'm excited to have Rakeem Christmas back with even more experience."
— Z89 Sports (@Z89sports) September 17, 2014
Not really. Just said his sophomores will have a bigger role than they did last year. RT @JLong591: Any hint at a starting 5?
— Phil D'Abbraccio (@PhilDAbb) September 17, 2014
Boeheim - "It's tough to lose your three best players twice heading into the last two seasons."
— Z89 Sports (@Z89sports) September 17, 2014
As for that Wojo article? Well, there wasn't much but there was a little.
Boeheim says there are inaccuracies in Adrian Wojnarowski's article that calls for a shake-up of USA basketball.
— Phil D'Abbraccio (@PhilDAbb) September 17, 2014
Boeheim on recruiting - "With Coach K and I at FIBA World Cup, it helps the process but talent isn't different from when we didn't coach."
— Z89 Sports (@Z89sports) September 17, 2014
Boeheim: "And the other thing is that Duke and Syracuse basketball benefit recruiting-wise from this experience. We haven’t gotten..."
— Phil D'Abbraccio (@PhilDAbb) September 17, 2014
"... any better players in the last 6, 7, 8 years than we’ve got before. Duke is not getting better players now than they got before."
— Phil D'Abbraccio (@PhilDAbb) September 17, 2014
"FIBA World Cup was a great experience. Our players were so good and made it look easy." pic.twitter.com/FLbTKPOSb5
— Z89 Sports (@Z89sports) September 17, 2014
Boeheim - "Our team worked hard and it was a long but fun 37 days."
— Z89 Sports (@Z89sports) September 17, 2014
Boeheim on Wojnarowski's USA basketball article: "The only negative article, really, that I think I’ve seen. Disappointing."
— Phil D'Abbraccio (@PhilDAbb) September 17, 2014
A few takeaways from the quick presser:
1) It looks like the playing status of Dajuan Coleman for the 2014-15 season is still very up-in-the-air. This stinks not only for Coleman, who hasn't really had an opportunity to play for the Orange at 100 percent, but also for SU, which will now need a huge year from Rakeem Christmas and redshirt freshman Chinonso Obokoh.
2) Syracuse isn't going to miss his hands, but we are all going to miss Baye Moussa Keita.
3) Those sophomores who Boehiem is talking about are: Obokoh, Tyler Roberson, Ron Patterson, Tyler Ennis and B.J. Johnson.
4) Jimmy. Buddy. You haven't gotten better recruits in the last 6-8 years? Come on.
