NEW YORK – As Jamar Butler sat at a podium and fielded the media’s questions with a business-as-usual air that belied his senior point guard status, Jonny Flynn sat stoically in the Syracuse locker room last Wednesday night.

No throng of media surrounding Flynn tonight. No TV cameras jostling to get a good shot. That trademark smile Flynn flaunts so often – the one that seems to magnetically attract those TV cameras – was nowhere to be found either.

Flynn’s first collegiate defeat, 79-65 to Ohio State, had left nothing to smile about. Besides the loss, Flynn had just endured a nightmarish outing – 0-for-6 from the field, zero points, four assists and four turnovers.

It was a performance in which he had been badly outplayed by Ohio State’s Butler, who controlled the flow of the game and then put it away with three clutch 3-pointers in the second half.

So instead of the gregarious, confident Flynn, it was a subdued version of the freshman point guard that left the impression that no one was taking his meager showing harder than him.

‘You get the wide-open shots. You get the silly, cheap turnovers,’ Flynn said. ‘I let my team down today.’

Donte Greene’s game breakdown was simple.

‘Ohio State had a senior point guard,’ Greene said. ‘No knock on Jonny. Jonny’s a great point guard. But he’s not a senior point guard. Just the leadership aspect comes through.’

It was Flynn’s first real lesson in the artistry of being a college point guard. Make no mistake, it’s a craft he will have to master for Syracuse to find that oh-so-elusive March success this year.

No doubt Syracuse will need points from Greene and Eric Devendorf, energy from Paul Harris, and, even more importantly in the Big East, a consistent inside presence from Arinze Onuaku.

But those players will be relying on Flynn, the 5-foot-11 dynamo with slick dribbling and all around explosiveness, to dictate the Orange’s running style. Put simply, this team needs to run to win, and Flynn is the player who makes the transition game go.

In fairness, Flynn’s clunker was one blemish in a five-game span which Flynn has looked every bit worth the hype that’s preceded him.

Heck, he’s already in the record books for his 28-point debut – a mark previously held by none other than Saint Carmelo. The next night, he displayed icewater-in-the-veins cool to hit an NBA-range 3-pointer to win a game at the death against St. Joseph’s

What can you say? The kid’s got moxie.

You’d have to come in as a freshman and be counted on like Flynn has. Adjusting to the college game is tough for any frosh, but for a point guard, there’s even more to take in.

With Josh Wright’s status uncertain, that learning curve is all of a sudden Grand Canyon steep. Until further notice, Flynn is the lone true point guard on Syracuse’s roster.

Freshman point guards have won before. In Syracuse, the land of Gerry, that much is known. Still, Flynn is left with little room for error, a fact compounded by his obvious importance to the SU offense.

Everyone in the Syracuse camp – from Boeheim all the way down his increasingly short list of available players – will tell you the Orange needs to push the ball to be successful.

Flynn is the team’s pace car. Without him, Syracuse lacks that tempo and cohesion amid the bedlam of a fast break. Against Ohio State, Flynn struggled, and Syracuse’s transition offense was, well, transient.

For a team that relies on running, Flynn’s efforts are downright indispensable.

Take Friday’s game at Washington. Flynn re-entered the game midway through the first half with Syracuse down, 25-18. Jailbreak minutes later, Syracuse was ahead 31-25. Flynn contributed two steals to spring SU the other way, and the ball moved down the court quicker with Flynn in the game.

Against Washington’s full-court pressure, Flynn turned the ball over just twice and contributed 16 points. His two assists would have been greater if the recipients of his dishes hadn’t been fouled all night.

When Flynn is on, he is perfect for this offense.

After the Washington game, that swagger – and that smile – was back again.

‘I feel good,’ Flynn said referring to both the win and his personal rebuttal. ‘There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs in basketball.’

It’s certainly still a process, but ask Boeheim and the always-critical coach will tell you Flynn’s ups have outnumbered the downs early.

‘I think overall, his first five games for a freshman point guard, I don’t think you could ask for much better than what Jonny’s given us,’ Boeheim said.

As the catalyst for that fast-break offense, Flynn will have to consistently play beyond his years if all that hype will come anything close to reality.

John Clayton is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. He can be reached at jsclayto@gmail.com.

Published on November 26, 2007 at 12:00 pm