After suffering its first two-game losing streak in 663 days, the Syracuse men’s basketball team outlined its most glaring problem: offense.

SU coach Jim Boeheim spent most of his 30-minute press conference yesterday challenging his team to demonstrate tomorrow against Virginia Tech the explosive offense that SU flaunted earlier this year. Syracuse hosts the Hokies at 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.

‘People are talking about how we got outrebounded against Pittsburgh,’ Boeheim said of SU’s 66-45 loss to the Panthers, who won the rebounding battle, 50-36. ‘Everyone tends to look at other things when it’s really just offense. Poor offensive production is the big issue. That’s it.’

Usually Syracuse could look past a matchup with Virginia Tech – even if the Orangemen would never admit it – and look to the game Monday night against No. 6 Connecticut. But coming off two straight loses, Syracuse must straighten out its offense first.

Boeheim called on every Orangeman, it seemed, besides guard Gerry McNamara, to improve their scoring. Boeheim even included forward Hakim Warrick, a midseason All-America selection by the Sporting News, to produce more offensively.

‘When you give the guy the ball for 20 attempts, he’s got to get some points,’ Boeheim said. ‘He’s got to be more productive and finish his shots. He’s got to hit 10, 11, 12 of those shots.’

Said forward Josh Pace: ‘I think Hakim’s been doing his part on the offensive end. As a whole, the starters just need to contribute more.’

Against Pitt, Warrick shot 5-of-16 for 16 points and 10 rebounds, but Pitt banged the 185-pounder around down low.

Boeheim focused on both the play of his veteran starters – Pace, point guard Billy Edelin and center Craig Forth – and his bench. If Warrick hit shots early, the defense would adjust by double-teaming the junior, opening holes for the others, Boeheim said.

‘If your top two guys aren’t being productive, you’re gonna struggle,’ Boeheim said. ‘You hope somebody else can be there to pick it up. Our starters need to be productive. They need to play better. They have to perform. That’s the way it has to be.

‘Josh Pace is strong. Billy’s strong. We’ve gotta get more offense out of these guys. We should be scoring more than we have offensively.’

With McNamara coming off a week of rest for an injured left groin, that could happen. When asked if he was at 100 percent yet, McNamara said he’s ‘getting there.’ Boeheim said McNamara looked healthy during practice all week.

As for SU’s other players, Boeheim has talked repeatedly to Forth about his offensive game. After a breakout 18-point performance in SU’s 82-68 win over Missouri on Jan. 12, the junior has been silenced, scoring a combined 13 in three games.

Boeheim has stressed more movement on the offensive end, and players have said they’ve grown accustomed to depending on Warrick and McNamara rather than moving without the ball.

The bulk of Boeheim’s comments are directed toward Pace and, most especially, Edelin – who was as viable an offensive threat as either McNamara or Warrick earlier this year but has, in recent games against Missouri and Pitt, scored eight and four points, respectively.

‘They were looking to score more,’ McNamara said of Pace and Edelin. ‘But I’m not worried. A lot of guys have the ability to put numbers on the board. They just have to take it upon themselves to do it. Obviously you lose some offense when I’m out. But they’re capable.’

Virginia Tech seems like the opponent for a new offensive option to emerge. Connecticut forward Rashad Anderson, who averaged 8.8 minutes coming in, scored 26 points in 20 minutes, as Connecticut ran away with a 96-60 win on Wednesday.

‘If you can get that kind of production from somebody,’ Boeheim said, ‘then we won’t have a problem.’

Published on January 29, 2004 at 12:00 pm