SOUTH BEND, Ind. – By the time Donte Greene took a seat for the last time on Sunday afternoon – fouling out with 5:54 remaining – one might not have noticed he had been on the court at all.

The Syracuse freshman was invisible for most the Orange’s 94-87 loss to Notre Dame, finishing with just five points, his lowest total since coming to Syracuse. It was yet another poor outing for Greene, who has struggled mightily of late in Big East play.

‘Donte’s struggled to shoot the ball for seven or eight games,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘Tonight, he rebounded pretty good, but everything else he struggled.’

It was the third contest in five games in which Greene failed to score in double digits – something he only did once in the first 20 contests of the season.

Facing a relentless Notre Dame offense, the Orange could have used better play from Greene. Instead, Greene struggled to integrate himself into the offense, and when he did get the ball, was faced with constant pressure from an Irish squad that seemed determined to prevent him from getting a good look from the outside.

‘He’s struggled since people started defending the 3,’ Boeheim said. ‘He’s 6-foot-10, it’s difficult for him to get by people. He’s gotta learn to get by people when they’re pressuring him. He’s got a lot to learn about the game.’

Greene spent most of the postgame media opportunity in the shower, away from the media and was not available for comment.

The pressure defense seemed to sap Greene of his confidence. Greene, normally liberal in his shot selection, appeared timid at times on Sunday. He finished 2-of-7 from the field, and those seven shots were the lowest number Greene has attempted all season.

On one occasion on Syracuse’s final possession of the first half, Greene passed up a wide-open jumper from the foul line, opting instead to drive to the basket and try to pass the ball. The ball was swatted away out of bounds, and SU was robbed of its best chance to cut the halftime deficit to within single digits.

And just when it looked like Greene would work himself back into the game – hitting a deep trey at the start of the second half – he once again disappeared, attempting just one field goal the rest of the game.

That was mostly due to foul trouble. Greene picked up his fourth foul at the 13:43 mark and sat for five minutes before he was substituted back in. He fouled out three minutes later.

‘There’s always going to be games like this,’ SU point guard Jonny Flynn said. ‘You’re going to have bad games, bad shooting games. The thing you want to do with Donte is make him hit the glass, do something other than focusing in on shots. I think he didn’t do that today.’

It was almost fitting that Syracuse began its mini-comeback when Greene fouled out, scoring two straight baskets to cut the lead to six, the closest SU had come all half.

Yet without Greene’s normal production (he came into the game ranked fourth in the conference in scoring at 17.6 points per game), the Orange didn’t have enough firepower to match Notre Dame, the Big East’s top-scoring team.

Certainly some of Greene’s struggles can be chalked up to Big East teams keying on him. Against Connecticut, Huskies’ head coach Jim Calhoun said he didn’t let his players onto the court without knowing where Greene was. Greene scored just eight points that game.

On Monday against Louisville, Greene scored just nine points against Louisville’s pressure defense.

And on Sunday, yet another Big East team stymied Greene enough to deny SU a victory.

‘Early in the year it was misleading because he got some open looks, which you’re going to get in the non-conference season,’ Boeheim said. ‘He just hasn’t adjusted well.’

jsclayto@syr.edu

Published on February 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm