Jim Boeheim on Thursday ripped former Indiana coach Tom Crean for his draft-night criticism of one of Boeheim’s former Syracuse players.
Orange forward Tyler Lydon was taken in the first round by the Denver Nuggets, No. 24 overall. Crean, who was fired by Indiana, served as a draft analyst on The Vertical’s draft night show. He didn’t think much of the Lydon pick.
“I don’t think he’s that good,” Crean said on the show, via Syracuse.com. “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?”
Despite his criticism of Lydon, Crean did praise Boeheim and the job he does with grooming players in his program. That didn’t matter much to Boeheim, who called Crean an “idiot” in response Thursday.
“He’s an idiot,” Boeheim said from the SU Athletics’ No-Huddle Tour, via Syracuse.com. “He said he’s not a good shooter. Freshman, sophomore year he shoots 40 percent from 3. 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.”
This is the exact reason why draft analysts don’t go out on a limb very often. You’re critical of a player and you get this kind of backlash. And then of course Crean is an easy target since he was fired by Indiana.
Time will tell who was right about Lydon.
