Gerry McNamara’s magical freshman season – a 13-point average, a team-high 155 assists and 85 3-pointers – won him respect from opposing coaches, adulation from a city and nation-wide fame.

But apparently, it wasn’t enough to satisfy McNamara himself.

Syracuse’s sophomore point guard says he’s disappointed with his own performance last season. And, therefore, he’s decided to approach the 2003-04 campaign with the scowl of the scorned rather than the afterglow of a champion.

‘I have to expand my game,’ McNamara said. ‘There are a lot of things I didn’t do well last year. I mean, I guess it was decent for being a freshman. But I don’t think I really had a good year.’

No matter that McNamara’s 85 3-pointers – including six in the first half of the national championship game – are the second-highest single-season total in Syracuse history. No matter that he hit a game-winning 3-pointer against Notre Dame and scored 10 game-clinching, overtime points against Georgetown.

His freshman season – for which the Big East named him to its all-rookie team – was a disappointment.

‘I’m a scorer, and I didn’t show that last season,’ McNamara said. ‘I look at myself as an all-around basketball player, not just a shooter. I could have scored a lot more points if I took it (to the basket) harder. There are a lot of things I could do better this year.’

Coaches around the Big East, however, seem to disagree. Some of them view McNamara as a shooter and little else. Most of them think that, if McNamara simply repeats last season, he’ll have a fantastic sophomore year.

‘He’s basically hit his ceiling,’ said one Big East assistant who requested anonymity. ‘He’s going to be a good player in this league, a pain in the ass, for three more years. But last year he showed pretty much all he can do.’

Said Rutgers head coach Gary Waters: ‘I’m not sure how much better he can get. He’ll have a tougher time this year, because he’s got a heck of a shot and now people will be defending all over it.’

If McNamara has one thing going for him, though, it’s that he’ll probably be told to shoot even more this season. With Carmelo Anthony gone, Syracuse will run more plays for McNamara. Teammates will work harder to free him up with screens.

Plus, if the 6-foot-1 guard establishes an ability to drive to the basket, opposing defenders will be forced to give him more space for his outside shot.

‘He can take it to the hoop a lot better than I expected,’ said SU freshman forward Terrence Roberts. ‘And his outside game, you just have to laugh because he makes everything.

‘He could be awesome this year. He’s got the all-around game to be one of the best players in this conference.’

Question is, would that be good enough for McNamara?

Moving on

Syracuse players have only had their championship rings for a month, but they’re already itching to take them off.

Why? Once practice officially starts in mid-October, the Orangemen plan to shed their rings – and all thoughts of last year’s title – to better focus on the season at hand.

‘The rings, that’s last year,’ SU guard Josh Pace said. ‘That’s over. We’ll take off the rings so we can end the celebration. We’ve got new goals to get after.’

What may be even more important than the ring-removing movement, however, is who’s leading it. According to a few SU players, Hakim Warrick is behind the idea – and it could be his first major step in taking the reins of this year’s team.

Warrick, a junior power forward, seemed an unlikely leader just two years ago. As a freshman, he stayed so quiet that coaches had to urge him to be more emotional on the court. Now?

‘Hakim’s probably the cockiest guy on the team,’ Roberts said. ‘He’s always shouting and screaming and talking trash on the court.’

Said Warrick: ‘I guess I’ve come out of my shell. But sometimes you’ve got to be loud to be a leader, because that’s the only way to get people’s attention.’

This and that

McNamara and Warrick are two of 50 preseason candidates for the 2003-04 Wooden Award. … Walk-on tryouts won’t be held for at least a few weeks, but one new name has already found its way onto SU’s official roster. Ross DiLiegro, a freshman from Lexington, Mass., played AAU and high school basketball. He contacted head coach Jim Boeheim before the season and talked his way onto the team as a walk-on.

Published on September 30, 2003 at 12:00 pm