Jim Boeheim doesn’t think Syracuse fans will ever fully appreciate what Scoop Jardine means to the Orange. Through five years at SU, the point guard has been nitpicked and critiqued more than any of his Syracuse teammates.

But while Orange followers might not give Jardine much credit, his teammates and coaches don’t hesitate to pile on the praise.

‘He’s the key guy,’ Boeheim said after SU’s win over Pittsburgh on Monday. ‘Most people in this town can’t quite figure that out. Maybe they will, but I seriously doubt it. There’s nothing I can do about that.

‘He’s the only real point guard we have. It’s hard to play without a point guard.’

Syracuse’s only true point guard has shined through the start of the Big East schedule. In the first seven games of conference play, Jardine has dished out 6.4 assists to just 2.3 turnovers per contest. And while he has raised his game at a key point in the season, his leadership throughout the year has helped key No. 1 Syracuse to its best start in program history.

Jardine will look to continue his inspired start to Big East play when SU (20-0, 7-0 Big East) travels to Notre Dame on Saturday to take on the Fighting Irish (11-8, 3-3) at 6 p.m. in the Purcell Pavilion.

‘He’s a guy that you really want on your team,’ junior guard Brandon Triche said. ‘He’s a leader out there. He’s helped me out. He’s helped a lot of guys out. He’s finding everybody. … And he’s taking care of the ball as well. This is something that we see in practice, and you guys are finally getting to see it.’

In SU’s last five games, Jardine has two double-doubles and would have had three with one more assist against Providence last Saturday. After dealing out 51 assists through 13 nonconference games, the point guard has racked up 45 dimes through seven Big East bouts.

And much of his success has come from running fast breaks and on Syracuse’s various pick-and-roll plays.

Against Pittsburgh on Monday, the senior picked up three of his 10 assists in the game’s first three minutes. On the first, he launched a long pass quickly upcourt after a Panthers turnover, hitting Kris Joseph in stride for an early dunk. Syracuse’s next two buckets came when Jardine connected with center Fab Melo for alley-oops on pick-and-rolls.

And for the exclamation point, the point guard knocked down an open 3-pointer. That gave SU an 11-0 lead, and Jardine had a role in nine of those points.

‘He’s just on top of his game right now,’ sophomore Dion Waiters said. ‘He’s finding everybody. That makes us a better team when we get into our offense, moving the ball, everybody moving without the ball. Just things like that make us a better team, and he’s leading us. We expect that from him as our leader.’

And his role as the elder statesman of the team melds into his role as the team’s point guard. SU’s offense runs through him when he’s on the floor. He ultimately decides which of the Orange’s multiple scoring options will get the key touch on each possession, a task similar to Boeheim mixing and matching his 10-man rotation.

‘I’m just going out there and letting the game come to me, taking what the defense gives me,’ Jardine said after Monday’s win. ‘And if we continue to run our offense that way, run it at that speed, I’m going to continue to have games like this because we’re all clicking right now.’

But it’s more than just finding the right man and running the offense.

Boeheim said he was the only vocal leader on the team, and the point guard doesn’t hesitate to let his emotions show on the court. After a big dunk or key shot, he’s one of the first to join his teammates in celebration. Whether it’s a chest bump or high five, Jardine always does it with an encouraging smile on his face.

Syracuse fans see his reactions constantly as he eggs on their cheers in the Carrier Dome. And if he continues playing the way he has at the start of the Big East schedule, those fans may finally start to appreciate Jardine as much as Boeheim and the rest of the Orange do.

‘When he shoots the ball well, he’s one of the best point guards in the league, if not the best point guard,’ Boeheim said. ‘… He would lead the league in assists if he played the minutes the other point guards play. He’s only playing (22) minutes a game. But he’s as good as anybody, and he’s shooting the ball well.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on January 18, 2012 at 12:00 pm