With one hard dribble, Brandon Triche rammed his body into an Albany defender and hoped for the best. An easy offensive foul call for any official.

On cue, Jim Boeheim turned to the bench and looked at Scoop Jardine. No need to say anything. Jardine hopped to his feet and replaced Triche – for the third time in 15 minutes. Boeheim wants Triche to be aggressive. Just not to this extreme.

‘I didn’t want him to run over five guys,’ Boeheim said. ‘But he’ll learn from that.’

This replacing Jonny Flynn thing may take some time and a few headaches. In SU’s 75-43 win over Albany Monday night, the results were mixed at point guard. Triche started slow but showed promise. Jardine maximized his minutes with 12 points, four assists and just one turnover. Triche had four turnovers in his first six minutes.

Nerves weren’t an issue. Triche said he was more confident, than nervous or excited, heading into his first collegiate start. Fortifying the confidence was Boeheim. Before the game, SU’s coach told Triche to be aggressive, to be strong with the ball.

That’s the freshman’s strength. Using his 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame, Triche ventured into the paint often. Unlike Flynn, he doesn’t dance in traffic. He attacks.

‘I knew I needed to attack the basket,’ said Triche, who scored eight points, had three assists and six turnovers in 25 minutes. ‘That’s what I did tonight. I just made a few mistakes.’

Early on, the mistakes marred Boeheim’s road to 800 victories. Triche misfired on a half court alley-oop to Wes Johnson, prompting Boeheim to kick the scorer’s table behind him. After the blur of turnovers, though, Triche settled down.

‘He was very strong with the ball,’ Boeheim said. ‘He just needs some time like all freshmen.’

For Jardine, Monday was a long time coming. He has been waiting to take command of the offense. After missing all of last year with a stress fracture, Jardine was itching to take the reins from Flynn.

He didn’t start, but Jardine was the steadier point guard Monday. While still pushing the ball often off of Albany turnovers, Jardine didn’t fumble the ball back. He made smart decisions, like a pull-up jumper when an offensive possession broke down nine minutes into the second half.

‘I’ve been waiting to do it,’ Jardine said. ‘I’ve seen Jonny do it. It’s just my turn to lead.’

During the year in street clothes, Jardine took plenty of mental notes watching Flynn. The current Minnesota Timberwolves guard was a constant playmaker, sure. But one thing stood out most.

‘Jonny is a warrior,’ Jardine said. ‘Night in and night out he came to play. No matter if he had a bad game. …He came to play every night.’

Several players said this team’s identity must be defense. That may be where Triche and Jardine are needed most. As the front men in SU’s 2-3, both point guards baited the Great Danes into hoisting ill-advised 3-pointers. Albany finished 5-of-28 behind the arc.

Chances are, Syracuse will need both players plenty this season. When Andy Rautins went down with an ankle injury in the second half, Triche slid to shooting guard, and Jardine manned the point. It was ‘awkward offensively,’ Triche said. He admits he isn’t well versed in the position. But defensively, they were active all night.

Albany hemorrhaged turnovers, finishing with 32 on the night. The reason was Triche and Jardine flailing their arms and sliding constantly. They rarely allowed entry passes inside the arc.

Boeheim and Jardine know the offense will come for Triche.

‘(Triche) kind of let the turnovers get to him, but you can tell Brandon is a freak of nature,’ Jardine said. ‘He’s not a freshman, to be honest with you.’

After being yanked at various points for poor decisions, Triche was pulled with three minutes and left to a chorus of cheers. Boeheim reached out to give Triche a reassuring pat on the back, but Triche wasn’t satisfied.

He shook his head and took his seat. He knows this is only the beginning.

‘Being a freshman, I’m going to make mistakes like I did today,’ Triche said. ‘Each game I’m going to get better and better.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on November 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm