Buddy Boeheim media machine takes over March Madness (Links)

Buddy Buckets has made headlines this week. Perhaps you’ve heard?

By James Szuba@JamesSzuba Mar 27, 2021, 11:00am EDT

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Hello. We’re not sure if you’ve been made aware, but Buddy Boeheim has played well in the NCAA Tournament. His shooting throughout March Madness has been hard to ignore, which has led to a great deal of national media attention.

Buddy and Jim Boeheim have made the rounds this past week on several media networks. You’ve also surely read a few Syracuse stories in various publications...

In case you haven’t absorbed all of that coverage, we’ve highlighted some of that homogenous storytelling below.

With the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team set to make its third Sweet 16 appearance in the last five tournaments as a double-digit seed, the Orange and its 2-3 zone have influenced storylines coming into this weekend’s game with Houston.

Syracuse and the Cougars are set to tip off tonight on TBS at 9:55 p.m. ET. We’ll have our usual coverage throughout, so keep it locked here.

Here’s to hoping the media machine combined with the Coug’s defense doesn’t break the Boeheim jumpshot. In the interim, here’s a recap of coverage from this last week.

The son shoots, the father shouts and Syracuse keeps winning | (The New York Times)

But she knows a softer side of her husband, especially when it comes to his youngest son, Jackson, who is known as Buddy. Juli recalls Jim and Buddy sitting on the couch watching cartoons or basketball games, Buddy with his blanket and stuffed animals and his hand gently resting somewhere on Jim, often on the top of his head. She fondly remembers the times she and her husband would set up a small basketball hoop for the three children — Buddy, his twin sister, Jamie, and their older brother, Jimmy — and watch as they ran, one by one, into the playroom to dunk the ball.

Buddy Boeheim thought he would just be a role player. His role is now Syracuse’s leading man. | (Washington Post)

Life, that rascal, has shepherded her into one of its most ticklish possibilities. Somehow she has become both the wife of a coach and the mother of a player who happens to be playing for that coach. It’s harrowing to ponder even if this arrangement dates back probably through all 200,000-odd years humans have played games on Earth. Seldom has it been as visible as at, for example, Syracuse.

Devo, G Mac and the evolution of Syracuse shooting star Buddy Boeheim into Buddy Buckets | (The Athletic)

Even now, stuck in a bubble and his time limited, Buddy makes sure to get 15 to 20 minutes of hard, intense work in with McNamara, aggressively focusing on shooting scenarios. It all has made Syracuse not just a surprise Sweet 16 entrant, but also Buddy an even more surprising tournament breakout star, even catching the eye of NBA folks. His size (6-6) and shot were always going to make him intriguing, but the combination of skills Devendorf and McNamara have helped him craft and the emergence of the swaggering Buddy Buckets make him even more interesting, if a little unrecognizable to those who know him best. “That’s not something Buddy would think of. Or Gerry,’’ Jim Boeheim says. “That’s gotta be Eric.’’

Mediocre until March: Why Syracuse’s zone baffles NCAA foes | (Yahoo! Sports)

Everything pivoted in 1996. Consider then-Kansas coach Roy Williams losing to John Wallace, Otis Hill and Lazarus Sims with a No. 2 seed featuring Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz and Jacque Vaughn. The 2003 run added to the mythical qualities.

The signature game in the past decade played out when No. 4 Syracuse swallowed No. 1 seed in Indiana in the 2013 NCAA tournament, eliminating the best IU team of this generation and altering the trajectory of Tom Crean’s tenure there. In 2018, No. 3 seed Michigan State shot 8-for-37 from 3-point range in a loss to the No. 11 Orange. There are countless other seasons with the zone on their epitaph.

2021 NCAA Tournament: NBA Draft prospects who helped or hurt their stock in the first weekend of March Madness | (CBS Sports)

The Buddy Boeheim breakout has been in motion for over a month now after scoring 29, 21, 26, 27 and 31 in late ACC action. But on the big stage he’s sustained that breakthrough and blossomed all the while as a legitimate prospect. Against No. 6 seed San Diego State he put on an offensive clinic, scoring 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting then backed it up with 25 points against third-seeded West Virginia on 17 shots. In that span, he’s made 13 of his 23 outside shots.

Little Buddy Boeheim: For Syracuse guard, it’s been a lifetime in Orange (archive photos) | Syracuse.com

Is coaching his son making Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim a softy? Maybe a little | (USA Today)

Film review: How a healthy DeJon Jarreau facilitates Houston’s offense | (Daily Orange)

The 6 keys for Syracuse in its Sweet 16 matchup with Houston: Film room | (The Athletic)

Syracuse’s glue — forward-turned-center Marek Dolezaj | (AP)