By JAMES SZUBA
Following Syracuse’s loss to Duke on Monday night, Jim Boeheim responded to Jay Bilas‘ comments regarding Jalen Johnson.
The initial response came last Monday after the Duke freshman decided to forego the remainder of the season to prepare for the NBA Draft. Boeheim suggested on his weekly radio show that Duke would be better off without him.
Those comments were initially greeted with backlash from media members, including Bilas, who stated, “The idea that somehow [Duke is] better without Jalen Johnson, I think, is patently false.”
Duke has won four straight games and is now 6-0 without Johnson. The Blue Devils beat Syracuse without him, which does not necessarily prove Boeheim’s opinion, but ironically adds further credibility to it. Even still, Boeheim walked back those comments on Saturday after his team beat Notre Dame when he made it know he hadn’t even seen Johnson play.
During the Duke-Syracuse game, Bilas said on air that he and Boeheim can be adults and disagree but that he thought the comments were made in order to be discouraging. Boeheim followed up in the post-game press conference.
“They’re way better than they were. I mean Jay Bilas knows something about basketball. I know more than he knows. I said they were better. They are better. Period,” Boeheim said.
Boeheim also stated there’s 100 teams that can still make the tournament. He thinks Duke will be one of them.
“A week ago Duke was out of the tournament. Completely out. Now they’re in,” Boeheim said. “And they will be because they’ll win more games because they’re good. I just hate to be right.”
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