Three notable ESPN analysts sounded off on Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim on Saturday morning for recent comments that he made on Duke freshman forward Jalen Johnson.
Speaking on ESPN’s College GameDay, Jay Bilas, LaPhonso Ellis and Seth Greenberg said in essence that Boeheim should focus on his own team, rather than making comments on Johnson, a star player for the Blue Devils who earlier this week decided to opt-out of the remainder of the 2020-21 season to prepare for the upcoming NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-9 Johnson, a five-star recruit coming out of high school, averaged 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds in 13 games for the Blue Devils in 2020-21, according to a press release from the Duke athletics department. He is a potential lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and has dealt with injury in this stanza.
On his weekly radio show this past Thursday evening, which occurs on TK99 with ‘Cuse play-by-play broadcaster Matt Park, Boeheim discussed Johnson’s decision to forgo the rest of the current term.
"Per a report by Mike Curtis of Syracuse.com, Boeheim had this to say about Johnson on his weekly radio show. “That guy was hurting them so they actually are much better now without him. He was just doing some things and keeping other people from playing that are good. They’ve had two monster wins since he’s opted out and they’re playing good basketball. They’ve got very good talent. You knew they were going to play out of this thing and now they’re playing well. Every game we play is a very difficult game, a great challenge and we look forward to it.”"
As context, the Orange is slated to make a trip to Duke, a team that is somewhat struggling in 2020-21, to face the Blue Devils in an Atlantic Coast Conference clash on Monday evening.
ESPN analysts lay into Syracuse basketball boss Jim Boeheim on comments about Duke’s Jalen Johnson.
Bilas, a four-year starter at Duke who also played professionally, said that he doesn’t consider the Blue Devils’ triumphs over Wake Forest and N.C. State monster wins, as Boeheim characterized them.
Bilas added that it’s a “small sample size” to say that Duke is better without Johnson in the team’s line-up, and Bilas also noted that nobody, including Boeheim, said anything about the Blue Devils being better without Johnson before the freshman star elected to opt-out.
Overall, Bilas said that he doesn’t agree with Boeheim’s take “at all.”
Greenberg, a former head coach at Virginia Tech, said that Boeheim should focus on his own squad, rather than talking about another team’s player.
Greenberg did acknowledge that the firestorm over Boeheim’s comments may have included some critics taking Boeheim’s comments out of context some, since Boeheim’s thoughts were on his weekly radio show, and Syracuse basketball will suit up against Duke in the near future.
Ellis, a former star at Notre Dame who also played in the NBA, said his main issue with Boeheim’s comments is that, in essence, it’s difficult to make the right judgment on a player when you don’t necessarily have all the facts at hand.