Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim chastised former Indiana coach Tom Crean for comments Crean made about Boeheim’s former player Tyler Lydon.
Crean criticized Lydon -- selected No. 24 by the Utah Jazz in last week’s NBA draft before being traded to the Denver Nuggets -- noting the 6-foot-10 big man needed some work to be NBA-ready, including a better jump shot. “I don’t think the shot is there,” Crean said on The Vertical’s livestream draft show. “I don’t think he’s that good.”
Boeheim was not a fan of Crean's criticism.
“He's an idiot. He said (Lydon is) not a good shooter,” Boeheim said via Syracuse.com, while speaking with media members during his appearance on Syracuse’s No-Huddle Tour.
“Freshman, sophomore year he shoots 40% 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.”
Lydon, who blossomed on the Orange’s Final Four run in 2016, shot 48% from the floor in his two-year career at Syracuse. He also went 77% from 15-feet among big men at the NBA draft combine.