Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is not having the criticism of Virginia’s Tony Bennett.
Bennett continued what has become a disappointing tournament record by losing to 16th-seeded UMBC in the first round on Friday night, leading to a heavy barrage of criticism directed at Bennett’s record and style of basketball. Boeheim wasn’t having that, offering an extended monologue about how Bennett is one of the best coaches in America with an incredible record of regular season success in one of the nation’s most difficult conferences despite a lack of top recruiting classes.
Here is a lengthy Jim Boeheim quote on UVA and Tony Bennett, in which he casts some shade at Pittsburgh's handling of Jamie Dixon and Kevin Stallings. He's also right. If anyone things like the people mentioned in the question, they are total idiots. pic.twitter.com/hqHgAAulNN
— chris carlson (@ccarlsononSU) March 17, 2018
It’s hard to assess Bennett. His teams have been outstanding in the regular season, lost just two games in a tough ACC this season, and Bennett handles himself with great poise. That said, they’ve still never made a Final Four despite being a top seed three times in the last six seasons. Teams who pass and shoot well can beat Virginia, but that doesn’t make Bennett a bad coach. He just has a lot of questions to answer in the postseason.
