Call it the tale of two point guards.

The shooter, not surprisingly, sported his Syracuse men’s basketball warmup suit and participated in the pregame shoot-around. He found his favorite spot outside the three-point arc, smoothly spotted up and swished a couple shots.

The slasher and passer, surprisingly, sat on the bench during that time. He almost receded into the first row of the stands because of his gray T-shirt and matching sweat pants.

The shooter, Gerry McNamara, poured in 13 points, including three threes, as Syracuse defeated Upstate New York AAU, 110-88, in an exhibition game at the Carrier Dome last night.

The quick cutter and skilled passer, Billy Edelin, never left the bench. Because last night’s game was an exhibition, Edelin’s NCAA-imposed 12-game suspension for playing in recreational-league games last winter did not apply. But the freshman decided not to play, anyway.

‘Billy didn’t want to play,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘His comment was, ‘Coach, these guys need to play.’ I thought about playing him. I talked to Billy last night. He just thought it’d be better for the team. If it was a two-game suspension, like it should’ve been, he’d be playing.’

So while Edelin sat, McNamara played 26 minutes at point guard, sharing time with Josh Pace, a shooting guard by trade.

McNamara complained of stiff legs early in the first half, and it showed in the first five minutes, when he committed a turnover and missed two three-pointers.

In fact, as a whole, Syracuse bumbled through much of the first half, looking uncoordinated and confused. At one point, Upstate NY AAU led, 28-26, and with 1:42 remaining, it trailed, 37-36.

In the second half, though, SU settled down, allowing McNamara more settled, open looks. He delivered, hitting 3 of his next 4 three-pointers.

‘He’s better when we can get him to spot-ups,’ Boeheim said, ‘and he doesn’t have to make them off the dribble.’

McNamara finished with eight assists, including an alley-oop feed to Hakim Warrick to cap the first half.

Plays like that, McNamara hopes, will help quash his reputation as simply a shooter. Some even suggest he’d make a better shooting guard.

‘He’s learning,’ said senior Kueth Duany, who rebounded from a poor performance against Memphis in the season opener with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting. ‘Every day, he’s improving. Every practice, he’s just getting more comfortable at the point guard position. (He’s) finding guys and getting his teammates the ball.’

But what does he need to work on?

‘Finding guys and getting his teammates the ball,’ Duany repeated.

Indeed, McNamara’s eight assists trailed Pace’s nine. Pace, who will join the point guard mix because of Edelin’s suspension, took over the point when McNamara sat.

‘It’s a new position for me still,’ Pace said. ‘I’ve just got to get used to it. I’m going to be in the rotation. I’m just holding it down till Billy’s back here.’

Pace even made a few passes reminiscent of Edelin, winging the ball to a cutting Matt Gorman for a second-half layup that pushed the Syracuse lead to 75-62. Later, he dished to Gorman again, setting him up for a jumper that put the Orangemen ahead, 91-71.

‘I think I played all right,’ Pace said. ‘I was just trying to get the team involved, get myself involved.’

He did a better job getting the team involved. Pace struggled with his shot, hitting just 2 of 8, including a botched two-handed dunk late in the second half.

Although Pace played most of the 14 minutes McNamara spent on the bench at point guard, Boeheim said the two will probably not split time that evenly during the regular season.

For now, it’s McNamara’s team, with Pace as the first option off the bench.

‘I came here to play basketball,’ McNamara said. ‘I wasn’t thrown into anything. I didn’t come here to sit on the bench. I came here to play, and right now, I’m playing.’

Published on November 19, 2002 at 12:00 pm