‘Heim Time: Jalen Carey ‘was close, he was right there’ to playing against Le Moyne

Welcome to a new series, ‘Heim Time! We’re putting Jim Boeheim in the spotlight and highlighting the funniest sh*t he says to the media. Hope you enjoy.

After last night’s rout over crosstown opponent Le Moyne, Syracuse Orange basketball head coach Jim Boeheim hit the post-game presser to answer questions from the local media. Of course, Boeheim vs. media has become somewhat synonymous with appointment television — sometimes Boeheim even offers greater entertainment value in the presser than of the game itself. Last night vied for one of those moments.

For those who haven’t been following, Syracuse was still without its three point guards in the final exhibition game as Frank Howard continues to work his way back from a foot injury, Howard Washington works his way back from a torn ACL and partially torn MCL (from late January) while Jalen Carey tries to heal his sprained ankle from the Orange vs. White scrimmage.

Howard is without his walking boot and is cleared for shooting and limited things while Washington and Carey returned to practiced on Monday. So naturally, a reporter asked a reasonable question after the game. How close was Jalen Carey to playing in the exhibition against Le Moyne?

“Well he was close, he was right there,” Boeheim responded facetiously, pointing to the imaginary Jim Boeheim court in the post-game presser. “He was right down there. That’s about how close he was, right there.”

Boeheim came back in a sarcastic and literal tone, but also in a jovial way. He followed that up with an explanation that really, he doesn’t have as much of a say in who plays or who doesn’t play when it comes to injury and that the trainers and player himself are the best judge when dealing with an injury.

“I’m not a doctor. We’ll see, when he’s ready, he’s ready. When that’ll be is up to what he feels like he can do and when he can go. I don’t get involved in those decisions. That’s up to the training staff and the player. At the end of the day it’s the player that has to make the final decision here,” Boeheim said.

Boeheim gonna Boeheim. We’ll be sure to have more of these moments throughout the season. Frankly, the more the merrier.

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