Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has never been one to bite his tongue. When he feels a certain way, he’ll be the first to let you know his thoughts.

One reporter found that out first-hand in a rather awkward exchange after Syracuse’s 71-65 loss at Georgia Tech on Sunday night, when he shared with the Hall of Fame coach his observation that the Orange looked impatient.

“Do you think?” Boeheim said. “Is that a question or an observation? When you coach some place, you can have observations. If you want to ask me a question, you can. But you can get your own team and you can make those decisions. When you’re in here, just ask me questions.”

Awkward!

Understandably, Boeheim was on edge. His team suffered a demoralizing defeat -- the team’s third consecutive loss -- which severely damaged the Orange’s hopes of an NCAA Tournament berth.

In addition, Boeheim had to have been worked up about a controversial illegal screen called on his team with 16 seconds remaining, effectively shutting down any chance at sending the game to overtime. He played that off well, but let the reporter who diagnosed his team as impatient have it.

Syracuse (16-12, 8-7 ACC) has only three regular-season games remaining. There are top-10 showdowns against Duke and Louisville on the schedule this week before a rematch with Josh Pastner’s Yellow Jackets. CBS Sports Bracketologist Jerry Palm has the Orange in the “First Four Out,” so this three-game stretch and the ACC tournament will be critical to keeping Syracuse’s diminishing NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

Boeheim knows that as well as anyone, so maybe his being irked has as much to do with that as the reporter’s question -- or non-question.