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Jimmy Boeheim dished a pass to Buddy Boeheim outside the arc, and the latter spotted Cole Swider cutting to the basket. Buddy fired and Swider caught it, but instead of shooting, he made the extra pass to Joe Girard III, who darted along the endline and finished an underhand layup.

That play stood out, but the Orange frequently moved the ball with that kind of rhythm — and success — against Le Moyne on Monday in the Carrier Dome.

“They’re looking for each other. They’re doing a really good job. There’s really been no situation where I thought somebody should’ve passed and didn’t,” head coach Jim Boeheim said.

Syracuse turned to the same starting lineup from last week’s exhibition, which featured Buddy and Jimmy, Girard, Swider and Jesse Edwards.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s 90-50 win over Division II Le Moyne College in the Orange’s final exhibition game of the season:

Joe Girard III facilitates… and scores

Girard led the Orange in points (20) and assists (nine). He was the only Syracuse player with more than one assist in the first half. He hit two 3-pointers to open the game, part of SU’s 5-of-5 start from beyond the arc (though the Orange cooled off after that, finishing 11-of-26 as a whole). Girard drew two charges in the opening minutes as he began to facilitate the Syracuse offense.

First he dished a pass to Buddy on his right, who converted the 3-point shot. Then Girard drove into the paint and fired a pass to Swider on his left, who converted the trifecta. He drove once more and kicked a pass to Jimmy, who hit the 3 and cut inside himself for a jump shot that just barely rimmed out because he was fouled.

Girard’s abilities as a playmaker corresponded with SU’s flurry of assists for the second straight game. On the 33 made field goals, SU notched 21 assists. After the Pace game last week, Boeheim complimented the Orange’s ball movement after they finished with 26 assists on 30 field goals.

“Just being a little bit more creative, honestly if you have the mindset that you’re going in there trying to score, looking to score, it’s going to open up other things,” Girard said after the game.

And Cole Swider scores… and facilitates

Building off Girard to open the second half, Swider swished a 3-pointer when his point guard found him wide-open in the corner. Swider cut to the bucket a possession later but made the extra pass to Girard for an underhand layup.

Then the Villanova transfer drove in the lane and scored a layup, and knocked down a 3-pointer when Girard switched the floor to him. He completed the sequence with a 3-point attempt from the corner that just rimmed out, but Jimmy was there for the dunk.

That marked eight points in 2:30 for Swider, who finished with the second-most points (18), 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Moments later, he came off the court and rode an exercise bike on the sideline as he cheered on his teammates. Swider and Girard reversed roles late in the second half, when Swider made the extra pass to find Girard open in the corner for a 3-pointer. The transfer put three fingers in the air in celebration of his teammate’s make.

And finally, with the Orange up 42 points and four minutes remaining, the two switched back. Girard stood near the logo and pointed straight at Swider. The forward shifted slightly to uncover a passing lane then swished a 3-pointer from the corner.

“Joe does a great job of, when he gets going, he’s not selfish. And I try to do the same thing,” Swider said postgame. “We’re so dangerous (as a team) on the offensive end when it comes to shooting the basketball.”

Boeheim’s suits — and presumably his jacket toss — are a thing of the past

Boeheim, wearing a tracksuit, said the conference’s coaches voted unanimously to get rid of a years-long tradition that involved head coaches wearing suits. He said the Big Ten did the same, and laughed that in the event that the ACC somehow reversed its decision, he’d just write a check for the whole season to pay the fine.

“This is the way I coach at practice everyday,” Boeheim said. “They’re comfortable. There’s no comparison. No comparison.”

Syracuse wins the boards, though not by much

SU was outrebounded in the first half, but more than doubled the Dolphins during the second, an improvement that Boeheim noted during his postgame press conference.

In the second half, Frank Anselem went up for a rebound after Jimmy missed a layup, and he shouted as the Le Moyne defender made contact with him. But still pulled down the board, and he finished the second-chance. Anselem had another battle for the ball during the first half when he extended fully for a highly contested defensive board.

Benny Williams looked strong on the boards too, wrestling the ball away and then securing it firmly after Le Moyne missed a jumper late in the second half.

The Orange tied Le Moyne 10-10 in offensive boards, but they won the battle on the defensive glass and limited the Dolphins to one second-chance point.

Jimmy Boeheim at… center?

For a brief stint against Le Moyne, Jimmy was playing in the middle of the 2-3 zone alongside Swider and Williams and behind Buddy and Girard. That lineup was something Boeheim said they wouldn’t use often, but one they have practiced for the sake of flexibility.

“Let’s say this: I’m hoping we don’t have to play that lineup,” Boeheim said.

He said Marek Dolezaj’s shift to center last year as the best option for SU that if he still had Dolezaj, he’d probably still start him at center once again.

“If he was here right now, he’d probably be the best option still. But I didn’t want to put him through another year of playing center,” Boeheim said with a laugh. A reporter told him that Dolezaj was playing center professionally for a team in Ukraine, and Boeheim said, “Maybe I had him in the right position all along. Who would know? Who could say? Who knew?”

Published on November 1, 2021 at 10:31 pm

Contact Roshan: rferna04@syr.edu | @Roshan_f16