Enter the facemask. Enter another lesson.

In came Richard Hamilton. With the substitution came perhaps the NBA’s most notorious style of play to defend. And there was Wes Johnson, chasing Hamilton through staggered screen after staggered screen. For Johnson, it was the furthest thing from the safety and comfort of Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. Even if he was in the Carrier Dome, with Boeheim looking on next to Detroit mayor Dave Bing.

It was the 3:31 mark of the third quarter. Former Connecticut Husky Ben Gordon came out for Hamilton, another former Connecticut Husky. And after fewer than 20 minutes of another preseason NBA game in which the former SU star was forced to adapt, the toughest task was ahead.

And it came in a game on that Carrier Dome court where Johnson was meant to have his coronation. It was supposed to be — and was — a celebration of one shining year on the court.

It was somewhat of a celebratory goodbye. But it became a casual goodbye. Two-of-six from the field, four points, one rebound. Struggling-rookie-in-the-NBA casual.

It was supposed to be a return to last year. But more than anything else, it was a forecast of what is to come for Johnson. The most explicit example of that came with the head coach. The past sat on the sideline in the crowd. Reality — Timberwolves head coach Kurt Rambis — sat in Jim Boeheim’s usual seat. And after Johnson finished his duties guarding Hamilton, reality stopped Johnson in his tracks and had the rookie lean over as reality lectured to him.

Even for Johnson on his Homecoming, there were bigger things than SU. Johnson needed to take in another lesson learned. And then, he was to sit. He wouldn’t re-enter, despite the chants of ‘We Want Wes!’ from the Dome crowd halfway through the fourth quarter. This is the NBA. Even if it was the NBA in Syracuse.

‘The message that we are trying to send to everybody,’ Rambis said, ‘is that there is somebody behind you of high quality that is frothing at the mouth, ready to play.’

Added Rambis: ‘In a lot of cases, (Johnson) kind of forgot what he was supposed to do out there. … He is still making rookie mistakes out there, and he is still learning how to defend different talented players in this league.’

For Johnson, it was a struggle all game. And ironically, it came in the form of a decade’s worth of Connecticut players. There was Hamilton from that 1999 UConn championship team — the team he gladly remembers as the one that ‘ran the (Dome) so many years ago.’ There was the newly NBA-minted shooting guard Johnson guarding Gordon to start the game. And there was Johnson left to guard Charlie Villaneuva after a box-to-box screen. All challenges presenting lessons to be learned.

In the middle of all the hoopla surrounding the return of Johnson, Jonny Flynn and Jason Hart, there was the only player who mattered to the Dome crowd: Johnson. Part of that crowd was a who’s who of SU basketball: John Wallace, Pearl Washington, Derrick Coleman. It was an SU basketball celebration fit for a prince.

But the celebration became reality. At the end of the third quarter, Boeheim left a men’s basketball game in the Dome. He wouldn’t stay until the end. Rambis stayed until the end.

Less than a half-hour later, Johnson was fully back to reality. He trotted onto the Timberwolves bus behind guard Sebastian Telfair with his two children, unwilling to answer another Syracuse fan’s request for an autograph.

But this is what Johnson’s career truly became Friday. It was clear to the entire Dome. He returned for that goodbye. But it was casual.

Now that casual player just needs to take the next steps. Hamilton knows Johnson is young. He knows the season is young. And from here on out, he is expecting the former SU star to blossom enough for more celebrations.

‘He is still young. The season is still young,’ Hamilton said. ‘He is a long guard, man, a long guard. He can play the two, three and four. With his athletic ability, he is going to be doing a lot.’

Rambis expects a lot as well. Johnson struggled Friday, but you expect that when confronting foreign situations.

But throughout, at least it was a casual celebration.

‘That’s youth, and you expect that,’ Rambis said. ‘He was very excited about being here.’

Tony Olivero is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at aolivero@syr.edu.

Published on October 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm