Someone asked in the comments the other day what Kris Joseph was up to this summer. Donna Ditota has your answers.
Instead of traveling the country to participate in camps or trying out for the Canadian National Team, Kris has spent his summer either working on his academics or working on his athletic ability in the gym.
If the Syracuse basketball team summer were to be summed up via Rocky IV, Scoop Jardine is training like Ivan Drago, Kris Joseph is training like Rocky Balboa.
The big issue is Joseph's left knee, which has been a nagging concern since the day he arrived at SU. That knee has been injured a few times during the past two seasons and he finally decided to shut it down this summer and rebuild the knee and himself after what can be described as a disappointing junior year.
I definitely wasn’t satisfied. I wasn’t as consistent as I could have been. I had too many games with single-digit points. I had games where I had one or two rebounds. For me playing the forward position here, that’s not acceptable in my eyes. I was inconsistent. Although I was the leading scorer, it could have been much better for me, personally.
It sounds like Kris is ready to be a leader for this team. And not just a media-appointed one but an actual one.
Last year I was considered one of the leaders but really, it was Rick who was our true leader. Your senior leader is always going to be your true leader. This year, I’m a guy who could lead by example and I definitely can do that. I can inspire guys, or get guys motivated. I have that personality. And I think I have to take that approach seriously.
Check out the whole interview here and watch Kris workout below, if that's your thing.