SU dressed only seven scholarship players, including Braedon Bayer, for Sunday’s victory over Wake Forest. Moyer was unavailable.
Syracuse Orange forward Matthew Moyer didn’t dress for Sunday’s 78-70 victory over Wake Forest on Sunday due to a sore ankle.
Moyer injured his ankle earlier this season in a game against Boston College.
According to Jim Boeheim, Moyer practiced the last two days and seemed fine. He came into his office today saying he couldn’t play, citing soreness in his ankle. Boeheim went into detail after SU’s 17th victory of the season.
“He practiced the last two days and came in today and said he was too sore. So, I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what happened. He practiced and said his ankle hurts. He looked good in practice the last two days. He helped us against Louisville. He can’t jump really off one leg. But I have bad ankles and you can go jump off two. His father came in and told him not to play. I don’t play somebody if they don’t want to play. He said he was about 60 percent, which I’ll take that. That would help us. It helped us at Louisville. We’ll see. We’ll see what he says.”
Boeheim has been doing this long enough where something doesn’t slip out during a press conference. Whatever comes out of his mouth is planned. He wanted people to know Matt had been practicing well the last few days and could’ve contributed today. He also wanted people to know that Matt’s father, Fred, kept him out.
Now, whether that was a private conversation or something that the Moyers were okay with going public is another issue. If it was a private conversation, well — Boeheim didn’t care.
It clearly didn’t sit well with the Hall of Famer, and without knowing the full details of what happened beyond Boeheim’s statement, I’d find it hard to believe it sat well with his teammates.
Bourama Sidibe has been injured virtually all season, and may need knee surgery. But he was also out there giving it his all. Syracuse dressed seven scholarship players (including Braedon Bayer) in an ACC game they needed to win. Every game matters from here on out and Syracuse needs everyone to contribute one way or another.
Boeheim comments on the situation at the 3:35 mark.
From an outsider looking in, you have to feel like Matt probably should’ve played. It’s the final stretch of the season with the Orange squarely on the bubble. Now isn’t necessarily the time to nurse an ankle if you’re 60 percent — especially when Sidibe’s out and who knows where he’d be if you had to put a number on it.
Moyer’s status going forward is unknown, but we’ll find out soon enough about whether he’ll play in the next game. Syracuse will host NC State on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.
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What do you think? Is this Boeheim strategically stoking the fire? Or expressing frustration? Comment below.
