His coach could not be serious. Jonny Flynn stared at the reporter blankly, stepped back and then gave a ‘Pssh…’ wave of his wrist.

‘Twenty minutes?! Nah…nah…nah.’

About 30 minutes earlier at his press conference, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim suggested that the Orange’s depth this season could allow him to platoon players similar to how he did with Team USA at the Beijing Olympics this past summer. Twenty minutes apiece. Keep the treads fresh.

Sporting his signature grin, Flynn laughed off the idea of his workload getting sliced in half, laughing, ‘I’ll go for 30, 25. Not 20.’

For a young team last year ravaged by injuries, the mere discussion of minute-distribution is a total change. The vibe was predictably buoyant during Syracuse’s media day Thursday at Manley Field House. For what looks to be a deeper Syracuse squad, though, Thursday was one loud, soothing, sigh of relief.

‘After the injuries last year we didn’t have many decisions to make,’ Boeheim said. ‘We played the guys as long as they could stand up. This year we expect to be able to play nine guys minimum.’

Back from ACL injuries are the team’s two best shooters – Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins, who Paul Harris labeled the ‘best shooter in the country.’ Back are four starters, including Flynn, who The Sporting News dubbed the best point guard in the nation. And new are freshmen Mookie Jones and Kris Joseph, who are ‘going to play … going to be a part of it,’ Boeheim assured.

OK, so maybe less is more for Flynn, who played more than any other player in the Big East at 39.17 minutes a game. After a few moments of denial, he gradually warmed up to Boeheim’s hypothetical. Especially after last season’s crash course on the Big East.

‘Being out there as a freshman, playing a lot of minutes, I had to grow up quick,’ Flynn said. ‘I say I played two seasons last year. I think I’m about to be a junior right now.’

Flynn’s spiked aging process should slow down this season. When Devendorf and Rautins went down, four starters – Flynn, Paul Harris, Arinze Onuaku and Donte Greene – were forced to play at least 30 minutes apiece. Syracuse wore down late in games. The Orange blew a 22-point lead to Massachusetts in the NIT semifinals with 14 minutes left and an 11-point lead to Pittsburgh with four minutes left.

On Thursday, those nightmarish collapses were long gone. During the team picture, it took more than 10 minutes of camera clicks to get collective straight faces. A return to normalcy has the team buzzing. Boeheim said he expects his rotation to inflate from seven players to nine.

‘As we got into last year, there’s no question that we got worn down in some situations,’ Boeheim said. ‘That’s something that should not happen this year.’

With virtually four regulars (Devendorf, Rautins, Jones and Joseph) replenishing the rotation, Syracuse isn’t exactly grieving over Greene’s early entry to the NBA.

‘Donte averaged 18 points a game for us,’ Harris said. ‘But you have to realize, having Eric back healthy, Andy back and some good freshmen, I think we can get 18 points a game out of them.’

Flynn hopes the deeper roster promotes a defensive change, too. Last year, Flynn was the constant campaigner for more man-to-man defense. The nagging, 94-feet, baseline-to-baseline variety. Boeheim couldn’t budge, though. As the manpower faded, subbing became a luxury, and zone defense became an obligation.

Like last year at this time, Boeheim told his team that man-to-man defense will complement SU’s traditional 2-3 zone this season, Flynn said.

SU’s point guard stared into the mob of players on the court, slowly analyzing Boeheim’s message. With more regulars come more possibilities.

‘He kind of said this year we might try to play a lot of man,’ Flynn said. ‘He said that last year, but it’s different the way he said it this year. …Our bench is deep so we can play a lot of man this season.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm