It took two St. Rose possessions for Syracuse center Fab Melo to pick up his first foul.

The problem that haunted him last year looked ready to rear its head again in the Orange’s second exhibition game Tuesday night. Melo slid over late on a drive by St. Rose point guard Andre Pope and hacked him as Pope went up for a layup.

Last year, it likely would have been just a matter of minutes before Melo picked up a quick second foul and would be relegated to the bench.

But that was the old Melo.

‘He’s a lot smarter as a player,’ senior forward Kris Joseph said. ‘For one, he wants to stay in the game. He knows that committing other fouls is going to have him right next to coach on the bench. But at the same time, it doesn’t take away from his defensive aggressiveness.’

Melo played a team-high 13 minutes in the first half, and though he did pick up the second foul with just more than 10 minutes until halftime, head coach Jim Boeheim let him play through it. The sophomore flashed quickness and athleticism that was nonexistent for most of last season in Syracuse’s 87-69 exhibition win over St. Rose. He finished with eight points, five rebounds and four blocks. And most of that production came in the first half when Melo was in danger of getting into foul trouble.

‘I didn’t even think about it,’ Melo said of picking up a second foul. ‘The problem that I had last year was because I didn’t know what to expect from the referees. Now, I know what to expect, so I won’t do the fouls that I did last year.’

Melo said he ran about two miles every day in the offseason, ate better and focused on his footwork to prepare for his sophomore year. That led to him losing 30 pounds, giving him the quickness and agility he has shown in SU’s exhibition games.

And despite playing with fouls, the sophomore made his presence felt early on the defensive end.

A little more than three minutes in, SU switched to its 2-3 zone defense for the first time. St. Rose forward Brian Hanuschak caught a pass on the baseline and appeared to have an open shot. But Melo came flying over from the middle of the zone and sent Hanuschak’s shot back.

‘I lost a lot of weight, and I think that helps me move,’ Melo said. ‘I was a little bit heavier, and I had a lot of weight to move before. Now, I don’t have that much weight, so I’m quicker.’

Boeheim did say that Melo’s second foul was silly after the center was called for an offensive foul trying to set a pick.

But even with the two fouls, Melo didn’t hesitate to make aggressive plays on both ends of the ball.

On one defensive possession, Melo blocked a putback and then drew a charge on St. Rose big man Dominykas Milka in the post. He scored later in the half, crashing the boards and tipping in a Scoop Jardine miss. And just before halftime, Golden Eagles’ guard Travis Gill went at Melo on a fast break, but the center held his ground and picked up his fourth block of the game.

He finished the first half with four points, five rebounds and four blocks despite playing with fouls.

The heavier, slower Melo of last season may never have had the chance to make those plays.

‘Last year, his feet were kind of slow,’ junior guard Brandon Triche said. ‘I think with him losing 30 pounds, he’s able to move now instead of reaching. Now, he’s patient down there. He’s not going for too many pump fakes. And once the ball’s in the air, he’s either getting a blocked shot or a rebound.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on November 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm