Syracuse's Point Guard Of The Future Is Leaving The Program And Jim Boeheim Is The Only One To Blame As The Program Crumbles

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If you go to Syracuse you are brainwashed to love the snow, the 2-3 zone, and Jim Boeheim. As you get further and further away from your years at the university you realize snow fucking blows, the 2-3 zone is beatable, and Jim Boeheim needs to go. The last part has never rung more true than today. Kadary Richmond is transferring because of a lack of playing time. Today three guys announced they'll be playing elsewhere next season, and that number will likely continue to grow. It should. The captain of the ship is outdated and delusional. Seeing what Kadary Richmond can do on a basketball court and choosing to play Girard over him is nothing short of delusional. 

Today John Bol Ajak, Robert Braswell, and Kadary Richmond entered the transfer portal. Who could have seen this coming? Well, just about anyone with eyes who watched this team play all season long. All year long we heard these guys, along with center Jesse Edwards, weren't ready. It continued to make no sense. As a result the team barely snuck into the NCAA tournament. Sure they managed to confuse a few teams with the 2-3 zone, but at the end of the day the better players didn't play enough and it sunk the ship. Seems to be a coaching issue huh?

Robert Braswell really started to come into his own down the stretch, he'll hurt to lose…but getting to the point where Kadary Richmond is leaving because of a lack of playing time is deplorable. Kadary is flat-out an awesome basketball player. It's so painfully obvious just watching him play as opposed to Joe Girard III. The team's level was night and day when he was on the court. What you have in Kadary is a player built for the top of the zone, who plays elite defense, has fantastic handles, and is an improving offensive player with every minute of experience he receives. Everything calms down. The defense gets way better. The offense flows more smooth. When he rode the bench, things fell apart. 

So based on all that you would think Boeheim should play Richmond more no? Make him the starter next year probably? Nope, instead Richmond rarely saw the court until the end of the season. Now he's being told to take another back seat to Girard next season. That's the rumor and if it's true that's honestly one of the dumbest fucking things I've ever heard. What Boeheim sees in JG3 after that season is legit mind blowing. To play him over Kadary is CRAZY. I mean what the fuck are we doing here letting that kid go? Boeheim picks favorites and Richmond wasn't one of them. Instead it was more turnovers, stagnant offense, and chucked 3s from Girard. Why wouldn't he leave? He has the skill and ability to be a top 5-10 guard in division 1 college basketball. Could have gone down as one of the best guards the program has had in recent memory and I don't think I'm exaggerating. That's how good this kid is. I expect a TON of schools to call and ask for his services. Probably has a good shot at the NBA too when you play defense like that. Yeah no, Boeheim didn't think he was ready to go until the home stretch and then that wasn't even enough to play him legit minutes. Same with center Jesse Edwards. It all falls on Boeheim. 

I know the Orange faithful are programmed to follow Boeheim into war no matter what, but I've wanted to move on for a while now. Sure the 2-3 zone gives teams fits in the tournament, but eventually it gives way. At some point you have to develop players and trust them right? Not playing Kadary Richmond to the point where he leaves the program is so, so, so, soooooooo bad. He plays the full season he probably makes All ACC defense. Runs the point as it should be, not the way Girard does. Wish all the best to Kadary, hope he ends up at a place he can really shine. My favorite play comes at the 7:22 mark of this video. Imagine not playing this kid?

God fucking dammit.  I wouldn't be shocked if Alan Griffin left town as well. Maybe Jesse Edwards too. Maybe incoming star Benny Williams as the true icing on the cake. Awesome. Boeheim continues to kill this team's future and this was his greatest work yet. It's so fitting that this team struggles so mightily to land a top recruit these days and get him to stay. The one time they land a guy like Richmond of course Boeheim doesn't play him. OF COURSE. Make a change. 

P.S. These were the good times during my freshman year. This team was so much fun to watch.