Syracuse freshman Buddy Boeheim can’t stop smiling when talking about the experience of playing for his Hall of Fame father, but it’s been a more strenuous experience for Jim Boeheim.

“It’s hard to coach your son. It’s too hard,” Jim Boeheim told me after watching his son tie his career-high with 13 points on Wednesday night at Boston College. “I would never do it again. You’re worrying about the game all the time, now you’ve got to worry about your son, too.”

Let’s make one thing clear: On one hand, Jim Boeheim loves many aspects about coaching his youngest son. The two are extremely close. In fact, so close that Buddy still refers to his 74-year-old dad as his best friend.

“It’s not easy, but it’s been a lot of fun. I love it,” Buddy said. “I wouldn’t want to play for anyone else.”

Buddy’s minutes have been sporadic. Known primarily as a shooter, he struggled out of the gates, making just 2-of-18 shots from deep in his first five college games. Then came the “DNP-coach’s decision” against Ohio State. He also failed to get into the loss against Buffalo on Dec. 18, and has logged five minutes or less on six other occasions.

But the shot has started to fall, and Boeheim’s defense has also improved (no surprise, since he’s been watching the 2-3 zone since he was a toddler). He’s shooting 45 percent (21-of-47) since the first five games, knocked down 3-of-5 against BC and also came up with a critical steal and layup (he said he didn’t attempt the dunk in fear of missing and being pulled from the game by his dad).

“If I’m playing bad, people are saying I’m playing too much,” Buddy said of the challenges. “People saying I shouldn’t even be here. It’s definitely hard. I try and block that out, but it gets tough when you’re losing.

“I’ve had some tough experiences this year. I try not to go on social media, but when I do I see people saying things like, ‘You suck’ and, ‘You shouldn’t be here.’ It’s something you have to block out. It gets tough and when you’re losing, people are going to blame it on the coach and that’s tough for me to hear that stuff. It’s hard to see him frustrated.”

For Greg McDermott, it became easy because his son, Doug, was undeniably the team’s best player. The same was the case for Georgia State’s Ron Hunter, who coached his son R.J. But Boeheim is basically the eighth or ninth man in the rotation.

“I want him to do good because I’m his father, but I’ve got to make sure he helps us,” the elder Boeheim said. “I just don’t like it. He needs to be the best player. I’ve always said that: If your son is the best player, then you can do it. It’s too difficult. It’s difficult.”

Boeheim said that despite the fact that Frank Howard was on the bench in crunch time on Wednesday night against BC, Tyus Battle will not assume de facto point guards duties moving forward. It was based more on the matchup, and that Buddy Boeheim was playing well at the time.

As for his future and the fact that everyone expects him to coach three more years after this season – which would coincide with the end of his son’s career – Boeheim says he isn’t thinking that far down the road.

“I’m coaching like I’m 40 years old. Just keep going,” he said. “It’s a myth that you can’t coach when you’re 70. Look at Mike. It’s a bullshit myth. Mike Krzyzewski is as good a coach as he’s ever been and he’s 70. I feel better now than I did when I was 60. I’m working out, do pilates. When we lose, they say I’ve lost it. But when we win, they don’t say anything.”

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INDIANA: THE BLAME GAME

I understand that Indiana fans are unhappy. There’s no way that the Hoosiers should be on a seven-game losing streak.

But who deserves the blame?

When Archie Miller took over, he inherited a lackluster roster from a team that went 7-11 in the Big Ten the previous season. OG Anunoby, Thomas Bryant and James Blackmon all left school early and there just wasn’t much talent left over for Miller and the new staff.

But when Miller was able to sign in-state megastar Romeo Langford, it changed everything. Langford was going to save IU basketball, bring it back to the glory days, and make the Hoosiers nationally relevant again. That hasn’t happened.

Sure, Miller deserves some blame – but not the lion’s share. That belongs to Crean – and I’m not alone in my assessment. I went to the Indiana hoops guru, Peegs.com senior writer Jeff Rabjohns, for his take.

“Right now the biggest issue is the roster that was left from a team that didn’t even win an NIT game and lost its best three players,” Rabjohns said. “They aren’t going to turn over the roster in one recruiting class.”

It’s been a combination of Crean’s leftovers, some bad luck/injuries and Miller struggling to find a way to get the most out of a limited group. Jerome Hunter is a top 50 recruit who will miss his entire freshman season due to a serious leg issue, Race Thompson is an old-school forward who has only logged four minutes due to a concussion, De’Ron Davis hasn’t been able to come back from a torn Achilles and Devonte Green was suspended indefinitely for off-court issues. Basically, this team is Langford, Morgan and not much else. Starting point guard Rob Phinisee has struggled since returning from a mid-December concussion that kept him off the court for three games.

It wasn’t long ago that Indiana fans were excited. The Hoosiers were 12-2 and 3-0 in Big Ten play. But the margin for error was slim, and now the fan base — which was loving Miller just a few weeks ago — has started to question whether he’s the right man for the job.

Give him time. The cupboard wasn’t exactly stocked when he took over.

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SHAYOK ROLLED THE DICE, THRIVES IN AMES

When Marial Shayok’s name crossed the transfer wire, I did a double-take. Why would anyone leave Tony Bennett and Virginia, especially someone who was getting more than 20 minutes of playing time as a junior and was second on the team in scoring?

But the 6-foot-6 Canadian decided to make the move despite having just one season of eligibility remaining. Usually, guys who have to sit with just one year left aren’t exactly coveted. Coaches want guys who can play immediately as grad transfers or ones who have at least two years remaining to play.

Iowa State coach Steve Prohm rolled the dice, and it’s been the perfect marriage.

“I loved the staff and my teammates,” Shayok told Stadium. “There were no hard feelings when I left, but I always felt like I could do more, that I was capable of more in a different system. Obviously, the Virginia system is successful, but I felt like it was hard for me to show my full package.”

So Shayok went to the free-flowing offensive system in Ames, and he’s thrived, more than doubling his scoring average from 8.9 points to 19.6 points while also shooting 52 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3 and 87 percent from the line. He’s gone from being a piece at Virginia to being the go-to guy at Iowa State.

“I got used to the new system in the year off,” Shayok said of how he was able to take advantage of the redshirt season in Ames. “I improved my shooting. Now I have been able to really expand my game being able to catch and shoot and also create off the dribble.”

Iowa State is 16-5 overall and 5-3 in league play after Wednesday night’s win against West Virginia in which Shayok finished with 18 points. The Cyclones are one of five teams within a half-game of first place in the Big 12 as it looks like Kansas’ streak of 14 consecutive regular-season titles could be in jeopardy.

“It’s no secret that every team in the conference would like to end the streak,” Shayok said. “It’s one of our goals, but it’s a marathon. We’ve got to take care of our home games, and then win as many as we can on the road. But yeah – we’re definitely hoping to end the streak.”

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MIKE HOPKINS ON U-DUB: “JUST WATCH US”

Mike Hopkins has one piece of advice: Just watch his Washington Huskies.

He knows that his team came up short in all four of its “resume” opportunities: the loss at Auburn in the second game of the season, the last-second setback against Minnesota in Vancouver, Rui Hachimura’s game-winner for Gonzaga in Spokane and the loss 3,000 miles away from home against Virginia Tech.

He also knows that U-Dub has improved – particularly shooting the ball and also defending the 3. And he knows his team did what the NCAA Selection Committee asked, going out and playing a challenging non-conference slate.

But it won’t matter for most people because the Pac-12 has made its bed in November and December, floundering to loss after loss versus power league opponents. No matter what Washington does short of running the table in conference play, there will be skeptics due to the competition.

“I don’t think that’s fair,” Hopkins said. “We’re a much better team now than we were when we played Auburn in the second game of the season. But we have to continue to prove it.”

“The bottom line is that the only people that truly matter are the ones on the committee,” he added.

If Washington does wind up getting into the NCAA tourney in Hopkins’ second season in Seattle, it’ll be a bonus because the future looks bright for the Huskies.

Hopkins will bring back his leading returning scorer in Jaylen Nowell, and a pair of sophomores who are getting quality minutes this year in Naz Carter and Hameir Wright. Hopkins is high on the potential of redshirt Jamal Bey and 7-foot freshman Bryan Penn-Johnson.

He’s already landed a top-10 national recruit in big man Isaiah Stewart (ESPN, No. 4), another top-100 player with in-state wing RaeQuan Battle (ESPN, No. 86) and will also add Kentucky transfer point guard Quade Green next season. Don’t be shocked if the Huskies also add long, talented and skilled 6-foot-10 forward Jalen McDaniels (ESPN, No. 6) out of Federal Way, Wash.

Hopkins feels that the conference, with a strong recruiting year from Washington, Arizona, USC and Oregon should be back closer to what it’s been in the past next season after admittedly a down season this year. Sean Miller has landed a pair of top-10 players and USC’s Andy Enfield will bring in two that are ranked in ESPN’s top-20 and Oregon has three more committed in the top-75.

But Hopkins also feels as though this season – one in which he has Lorenzo Romar holdovers Noah Dickerson, David Crisp and Matisse Thybulle in their final go-around – is one that has changed over the last few months.

“You want people to just watch you play,” Hopkins said. “Because basketball people know good teams, and I think we’re a good team.”

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MID-MAJOR FOCUS: ALEXANDER’S MOVE TO LIPSCOMB PAYING OFF

It doesn’t happen often, leaving a job for another one within the league. But that’s exactly what Casey Alexander did six years ago when he left Stetson after just two seasons for Lipscomb.

It’s all worked out.

Alexander, a former Rick Byrd protege at Belmont, took the Bison to the NCAA tourney for the first time in program history a year ago and brought back a mind-blowing 6,040 points (the most in the country) this season. The A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year Garrison Mathews returned and so did all-league big man Rob Marberry.

“It’s one thing to have experience back,” Alexander said. “It’s another to have successful experience back, guys that are used to winning.”

Lipscomb won 20 games and finished 11-3 in the league two years ago, 23-10 and 10-4 in conference play last season and are off to a 17-4 start this season with the losses coming on the road against Louisville and Clemson — and also being swept by Byrd and Belmont in a home-and-home.

Alexander said his teams have been known, much like Byrd’s at Belmont, for their ability to score. But this group has made significant strides on the defensive end, and also possesses more toughness. That was clear with the road shellacking against previously unbeaten Liberty earlier this week.