Syracuse basketball: Jim Boeheim snaps at reporters, blames loss to Virginia on shooting woes

ByRobbie Weinstein Jan 31, 10:05 AM

Syracuse continues to struggle in the ACC, as the Orange has not played its best basketball lately amid a three-game losing streak. Things continued to get ugly Monday after a 67-62 loss to Virginia at home as coach Jim Boeheim snapped at reporters multiple times, which has become a theme at press conferences in recent days.

The Orange took a four-point lead into the final 10 minutes of the game but scored just 10 points the rest of the way. Boeheim blamed the loss on missed free throws and open 3-pointers; Syracuse shot 3-for-15 from 3-point range and 11-for-18 from the free-throw line.

At 13-10 overall and 6-6 in the ACC, 'Cuse has a lot of work to do in order to make the NCAA Tournament. That starts this weekend with a tricky road game at Boston College.

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Below is a transcript of Boeheim's fiery postgame press conference, during which he mocked reporters and even told one that he had a bad attitude.

Opening statement:

Boeheim: "We played easily the best game we have played all year. The first half, we couldn't get to them defensively. They made six out of 10 3s, but we were in a one-point game with that. We did a much better job defensively; we started the second half off and Joe (Girard) and Justin (Taylor) had two wide-open shots. We had a couple right there, just wide open. When they doubled Jesse (Edwards), he did a great job of getting the ball to people — getting Maliq (Brown) early, and then getting it to shooters.

"We had open shots. There were a lot of open shots, and you aren't going to beat Virginia if you shoot 3-for-15 from the 3. Just not gonna happen. Wide-open, really good shots. The last two we rushed, but we had wide open (shots). We were either one point up or tied, and we missed six free throws. We can't. They're a really good team. They really played well, and if we make our free throws, we win the game. But we didn't. We get a day off and get ready to play Boston College on Saturday."

On the status of Benny Williams, who did not play:

Boeheim: "Is that your question? That's the most important question you have?"

On Williams not being on the floor:

Boeheim: "Is that your most important question here?"

Again on Williams not being the floor:

Boeheim: "I will answer it. Your attitude isn't really good, either. Benny took a personal day. He will be back at practice on Wednesday.

"... That's it? We have that question, and that's all we have? Typical in Syracuse. It is. It is."

On Syracuse's shortcomings beyond free throws:

Boeheim: "Well, the free throws certainly hurt. Three-for-15. I think I mentioned that?"

On the 3-for-15 number actually being from 3-point range rather than on free throws:

Boeheim: "The free throws, six (missed). Three-for-15 (from 3). Those are two. Two good enough ones [reasons Syracuse lost]. They are No. 17 in the country. They are pretty good. You had better make those to beat them."

On Kihei Clark:

Boeheim: "He's a good player. Really good player. Listen, Virginia is really good. OK? Since I have been in the league, they have the most wins in the league by far. Alright? We are about sixth or seventh in wins in the league. So yeah. They beat us just like they beat everybody else. In fact, we beat them two times we shouldn't have beat them."

On what Clark does that is difficult to defend:

Boeheim: "Yeah, he is a good passer. He is a good shooter. He is a good defender. They have a good team. It's not him. They're all good. They have a really good team."

On pulling Chris Bell early:

Boeheim: "Yeah, he gave them the ball — catching the ball, he gave them the ball. You can't play and do that. You can't. There's some things you can't do. Like, if you catch the ball and you hold it, and the guy comes up and takes it out of your hands, you can't play."

On how he thought Bell responded when he came back in the game later:

Boeheim: "Good. He hit a shot, his first shot. He got fouled, made those. Rushed a couple of 3s after that, but he responded."

On if that positive reaction to getting benched is something that Bell can build off of:

Boeheim: "I hope so."

On if there were any similarities to how Virginia Tech defended Girard, who struggled for the second straight game:

Boeheim: "He struggled. So, yeah. You're right. There's no question there. He struggled."

On the restated question:

Boeheim: "People have been guarding him all year. All year. Good defenders have been guarding him all year. The kid at Georgia Tech is a really good defender. He had shots. He got looks. He got some pretty good looks."

On Brown playing all 40 minutes with Williams out:

Boeheim: "He's solid. He plays defense, he rebounds, he finishes around the basket. He is a really solid player. He has gotta develop a lot of other areas, but he is a very good rebounder, defender and he finishes around the basket."

On the play of Judah Mintz:

Boeheim: "Yeah, Judah was great. He picked his spots. He didn't force it. He had a great first half. He was just picking his spots and getting in the lane. He played great."

On Virginia's decision to double Edwards:

Boeheim: "They doubled him almost every time. We just went to him and had him pass out of it. Chris got one, Justin got one. We had four other ones maybe, four other open 3s. It helps our offense against Virginia, because if we play straight up against them we have trouble scoring against their defense. He got all of the first baskets we got with them doubling him. I think Maliq got a couple. Justin got one, and then we had wide-open looks. I like that. The double helps us against them. Their defense is so solid that when they play us straight up like they did (previously), we didn't get Jesse the ball and we didn't score."

On what he saw on the late block-charge call:

Boeheim: "I don't know. The guy fell down. I don't think you're allowed to do that, but that's alright."

On what positives he can take from the game:

Boeheim: "I mean, there's positives out of every game. We did a lot of good things. The looks we got were good from the 3. We got a lot of opportunities. A lot of opportunities. We got to the foul line. That's not that easy to do against Virginia.

"We were in the bonus pretty early. They don't foul a lot. I think we got 17 free throws in the second half, something like that. But we missed seven of them. That's pretty much the game right there. You can't. You're playing a really good team. I still think they're a tremendous team. I think they're seventh in the country. You can't miss seven free throws. End of story."

On a late sequence when officials did not call a possible travel:

Boeheim: "I don't even know what you are talking about."

On what Syracuse changed from the first game against Virginia:

Boeheim: "We were better at defending the post entry, a little bit better. That was better. But we always change something, try to change something. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't work. We were better tonight."

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