Unbelievable. Absurd. Like entering the lottery and legitimately expecting to win.

That’s how Jim Boeheim reacted to the notion that his team could win 29 regular-season games. Minutes earlier, Syracuse (1-0) earned a season-opening 82-60 win over Cornell (1-0) at the Carrier Dome in front of 24,788. But afterward, Boeheim made sure to address the lofty expectations.

He said it’s ridiculous for media members to predict that Syracuse will finish with a better regular-season record than it did last year.

“I think the height of foolishness is to think that we’re going to win like 29 games and lose two or something like that,” Boeheim said.

He called Michael Carter-Williams “probably the best defensive guard we’ve ever had.” He’s averaging 20 points in the NBA and is impossible to replace. Brandon Triche and James Southerland are also gone.

“And we’re going to do better?” Boeheim said.

Syracuse has a freshman point guard in Tyler Ennis and a backup in Michael Gbinije, who was “thrown in the fire” at point guard and is still learning the ropes of a new position. Both are talented, but neither is proven.

Boeheim said getting a backcourt right is the most difficult thing to do in college basketball. He said it’s the “most absurd thing in the world” to think the backcourt will be good right now. His players have worked hard, but they still have a lot of work to do.

“Michael Carter-Williams would’ve gone by here and dunked on these guys, like six times,” Boeheim said. “The game never would’ve gotten close. He’s not here.”

Southerland would have come off the bench and drained 3s, Boeheim said. Now he’s on an NBA team, too.

Boeheim said this year’s team has potential, but he didn’t expect it to be at the level of last year’s team right away.

“I don’t know what people see,” Boeheim said. “Maybe I don’t know basketball, I guess.”

Published on November 9, 2013 at 4:02 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass