SU bench no match for Huskies
Hartford, Conn. – Over the course of a 16-game Big East season, the grind of playing 35 to 40 minutes a game was bound to take its toll. So Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim decided vs. Connecticut – ranked No. 5 nationally and a preseason favorite to win the NCAA Tournament – he’d milk his bench for all it could offer, trying to integrate Syracuse’s players into big-time college basketball and simultaneously rest his starters.
It was no surprise that, considering SU hardly went further than seven deep all season, the bench players failed to produce as Boeheim hoped in Syracuse’s 84-56 loss last night. The performance reinforced what Syracuse knew all season – that the Orangemen have little depth.
Syracuse used five players off the bench in the first half. Aside from the typical reserves – center Jeremy McNeil and guard Louie McCroskey – SU used freshmen Terrence Roberts and Darryl Watkins and sophomore Matt Gorman, who hadn’t seen court time since SU’s 81-63 win over North Carolina-Ashville on Dec. 28. Together, the three combined for one point on 0-for-8 shooting, nine rebounds and eight fouls in 27 minutes.
‘Our freshmen have to get better,’ Boeheim said. ‘Our centers have to get better. That’s how we’ll get better as a team as we move forward.’
The problem went beyond the reserves. Nobody picked up for the struggling Gerry McNamara, who hit just 1 of 16 shots after hitting a 3 to open the game.
Louie McCroskey, who has emerged as the sixth man over the last few games, missed all four of his 3-point attempts. No player beside forward Hakim Warrick reached double-figures.
Though Roberts, McNeil and Watkins were overmatched down low against UConn All-American Emeka Okafor, the three gained experience for what Big East play is like.
Watkins, for one, didn’t back down from Okafor, tussling with the junior for loose balls, blocking four shots and even poking Okafor’s eye during one scrap, causing Okafor to wither in pain along the baseline until a break in action.
‘No blood,’ Okafor said. ‘Thank goodness. I just had to pop my eye back in.’
Roberts, though, looked lost on defense, committing four fouls in 10 minutes and screaming in frustration after the calls.
‘The freshmen are good players,’ Boeheim said. ‘They’re typical, normal freshmen. They’re not able to play against UConn.’
Guard Billy Edelin’s absence perhaps was one reason Boeheim used such a deep bench, playing every scholarship player aside from the sophomore.
McNeil was the only serviceable bench player offensively, scoring four points on 2-for-2 shooting. Still, he committed three fouls in 14 minutes, something he’s struggled with all year.
Aside from McNeil, SU was helpless, allowing UConn to crash the glass and penetrate through the 2-3 zone.
‘They beat us down court,’ center Craig Forth said. ‘They beat us on the boards. They beat us everywhere that it mattered. Missouri and Notre Dame didn’t get back like (UConn). Pitt and UConn have just outhustled us.’
‘In the first 13 games we won, we didn’t play a freshman in any of them,’ Boeheim said, exaggerating the extent with which he used his younger players. ‘There was a reason for that. They are just not ready to compete at this level. They show signs here and there. They work hard in practice. They will all be good players, but they are not ready to play at this level in this league.’
Published on February 2, 2004 at 12:00 pm