Take a seat on the Syracuse basketball bench, Buddy Boeheim.
All Syracuse basketball junior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim did on Saturday afternoon in his team’s blow-out victory at Boston College was connect on his first two 3-pointers, stabilize the Orange’s offense and defense, and play a critical role in the ‘Cuse rebounding nicely from a 10-point loss at No. 21 Rutgers last Tuesday evening.
Oh, wait. Boeheim also passed his father, Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim, in career scoring on the Hill.
The elder Boeheim, a legendary head coach with more than 40-consecutive winning seasons, was a pretty darn good player during his time in an Orange uniform.
But his son, who had missed the past few games because of Covid-19 protocols, just had to show up his dad versus the Eagles. Shame on, Buddy.
All joking aside, this is an awesome accomplishment for Buddy Boeheim, and he will continue to climb up the all-time scoring list in Central New York.
As a sophomore in 2019-20, Boeheim proved one of the best 3-point shooters in the Atlantic Coast Conference and averaged more than 15 points a game.
Some Syracuse basketball fans have lamented that Boeheim doesn’t have a complete offensive repertoire, and that he’s a liability on defense in the 2-3 zone.
Boeheim has only competed in a pair of contests to date in the 2020-21 term, however, I would adamantly disagree with both of those statements.
Syracuse basketball guard Buddy Boeheim is vital to the squad’s success this season.
Boeheim is way more than a spot-up 3-point shooter. He can drive to the hoop effectively, and his mid-range game is more than credible. Even though Boston College isn’t nearly as formidable as Rutgers, having Boeheim back at the top of the zone clearly makes the Orange defense markedly better.
The Eagles, per ESPN statistics, shot 35.4 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from beyond the arc. Jim Boeheim said in part, via cuse.com, “I think the defense was better from the beginning. We did a good job finding shooters. Part of it was that Buddy stabilized the defense as well as the offense.”
Additionally, it doesn’t take a genius to determine that with Buddy Boeheim in the rotation, opposing defenders devote a lot of attention to him as an offensive threat, and that opens up a lot of space for other ‘Cuse players, such as sophomore point guard Joe Girard III.
Girard totally struggled in the Scarlet Knights setback, but he had a monster performance versus Boston College, and Boeheim’s presence certainly factored into this outcome for Girard.
Following the conquest of the Eagles, Girard said it’s “big” that Boeheim is back in action, as good things happen on both ends of the court.
Boeheim, when asked about passing his dad in scoring, flashed a smile and said it was great to return after having to stay at home for two weeks.
Of course, now that Boeheim the son has eclipsed his famous father in points scored for the Orange, I would imagine that it’s time for Buddy to get relegated to the bench.
Come on, my friends. We all know how competitive Jim Boeheim is (wink, wink).