Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim is not happy with the analysis regarding one of his former standouts during the 2017 NBA Draft.
This week, Boeheim sounded off on ex-Indiana coach Tom Crean, who had some harsh criticism of former Syracuse star Tyler Lydon after he was selected No. 24 overall by the Utah Jazz before being traded to the Denver Nuggets.
Boeheim called Crean an “idiot” for his evaluation of the Orange product and tried to support his former player with stats.
“He’s an idiot,” Boeheim said of Crean, via Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com. “He said [Lydon’s] not a good shooter. Freshman, sophomore year he shoots 40 percent from three. That’s pretty good for a young player. I think he had the best shooting statistics at the combine, I think, of all the big guys. He shoots it. That’s what he does. It just shows the ignorance and not doing the work, the research, the background check. He’s athletic and can do a lot of other things but he can really shoot.”
Here are the comments Boeheim was responding to:
“The whole strength is supposed to be the shooting,” Crean said. ” … I think he plays hard, I think he tries hard, I don’t think he’s soft, but I don’t think the shot is there. I don’t think the mobility. Guys like him, who are they going to guard? And who are they going to separate from?”
Were Crean’s comments out of line? Not really, he was just doing his job and attempting to share his opinion on a future NBA player. But is Boeheim’s reaction expected? Absolutely, you’d expect a coach to stand up for his former player.
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