Scoop Jardine is certain Syracuse won’t lose to any team if Brandon Triche plays as he did in the second half Sunday.

‘When Brandon is as aggressive as he was today,’ Jardine said, ‘I don’t think anybody can beat us in the country.’

But after No. 10 Syracuse’s 86-67 win over Canisius Sunday, SU head coach Jim Boeheim isn’t getting caught up in the ‘ifs.’ He is in the now. And right now, his team is one he believes has been overrated. His team is the biggest question mark he has ever seen at this point in the season, compared with the expectations and press his team has gotten through two games.

Boeheim feels this team has earned none of the hype. And he went as far as saying that this Syracuse (2-0) team is his most overrated — at this point in the season — in 35 years at the helm.

‘We need to get it realistic,’ Boeheim said. ‘Right now, we are the most overrated team I have ever had.’

The most overrated team Boeheim has ever had, compared with a team Jardine feels can’t be beaten. Those were the shells of the two versions of Syracuse that played in the first and second half in front of 20,454 in the Carrier Dome Sunday. It was a performance from Boeheim’s Top 10 team that evoked the strong words and a five-minute diatribe of early-season emotions.

After watching his team struggle in the first half against a Canisius team that won just 15 games last year, Boeheim wanted to clear the air with regards to his thoughts on the perceived depth and skill of his team at this point.

Off of the horrid first half during which Syracuse shot just 31 percent, Boeheim vented about how he feels he only has four proven players on the team. Any other so-called depth is nonsense to him.

‘Give me a guy that has done something on our team,’ Boeheim said. ‘One thing, we don’t have one player that has done one thing, coming off of the bench. The only guys that we have on our team that have done anything are Brandon (Triche), Scoop (Jardine), Ricky (Jackson) and Kris Joseph. They have done something. And when they struggled in the first half tonight, we struggled.

‘Anybody that wants to talk about depth, go watch the tape of the first half tonight. You tell me how many games you think we will win with how much depth was out there.’

In that first half, every Syracuse player struggled to score except for one of Boeheim’s four veterans in Jardine. After failing to score in SU’s season-opening win over Northern Iowa, Jardine was the lone offensive weapon SU had against Canisius’s mirror image 2-3 zone, slashing for 10 points in the first half. He was a part of a complete bounce back game from SU’s veteran starting guards. Against Northern Iowa, Jardine and Triche combined for five points. Sunday, they combined for 29 points on 6-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc.

As for the bench’s production, Boeheim felt Baye Moussa Keita was the lone bright spot from the freshmen. But he registered his staggering 15 rebounds against an undersized lineup. C.J. Fair? He was just good in the second half. Fab Melo? He is struggling because of foul trouble. And Dion Waiters?

‘He was a no factor today,’ Boeheim said.

As were three of his core four in the first half. But when the second half hit, with SU clinging to a 32-29 lead, Triche and Jackson took over. The power forward had 11 points in only 15 minutes. And Triche propelled SU’s lead into double digits with three second-half 3-pointers.

‘I think my demeanor just changed,’ Triche said.

By game’s end, the Dome crowd was appeased. SU romped another mid-major. Everyone got their time as Boeheim’s ’10’ all played 10 minutes or more.

But that scene was the end of the early season fairy tale. Even if it is a fairy tale Jardine feels could, and maybe should, come to fruition. It just remains to be seen how long it will take to surface, if it does at all.

‘We have got a long ways to go,’ Boeheim said. ‘We are not a good basketball team.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on November 14, 2010 at 12:00 pm