SWC75
Bored Historian
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GUARDS
BUDDY BOEHEIM
Then:
Buddy’s forte is outside shooting. With Frank Howard injured, he was our best shot at a three point game and so got some early playing time. But he didn’t take much advantage of it, missing 28 of his 36 treys in the pre-conference games. It was suggested by some at Syracusefan.com that he was only on the team because his father was the coach. But then Buddy relaxed more and actually improved in the conference season, hitting 39 of 97 three pointers for 40%. Some of those were because defenses were backing off of him, daring him to shoot. When he started hitting, that changed and it wasn’t as easy. But he kept hitting the occasional three and sometimes just got hot. What pleased his father the most is that he was now drawing defenders away from his teammates and from the paint.
He also showed a good knowledge of what was happening on the court. He wasn’t really quick but made up for it on defense by positioning himself well and playing the passing lanes. He also had the height to grab an occasional rebound. In Italy he played 57 minutes, and scored 39 points with 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls. He was 10 for 32 from three point range. He’ll be battling five other guards for playing time but he’s played more minutes than any of them and the others will be battling it out for the point guard spot first so he’ll probably be the likely starter at the two guard.
Now:
Buddy’s forte continues to be outside shooting. He led the team with 37% three point shooting. He was capable of hitting several threes in a row and breaking a game open. He was the team’s second leading scorer at 15.3 points per game. Like the rest of the team, his shooting faded as the season progressed. Through the first 14 games he was 53/137 from three, 41.7%. In the last 18 games he was 44/135 = 32.6%. Even in that first 14 games he shot 1/8 in the opening loss to Virginia, 1 for 7 in the loss to Oklahoma State and 1 for 5 in the loss to Iowa. Such is the lonely life of a long distance shooter- and the teams that depend upon them.
But he did have some big games. He scored 22 points on Bucknell, 26 at Georgia Tech, 25 in the next game at Georgetown, (all in the second half, when he hit 7 threes), 23 at Notre Dame, (another 7 threes), 22 vs. Boston College, 27 at Virginia Tech, 22 against Pitt, 22 in a 1 point loss at Clemson, 23 in a 2 point win over Wake Forest, 22 in the loss to UNC at the Dome and 21 in a road win at Boston College.
Even when he wasn’t hitting, the defense had to guard him, which opened things up for his teammates’ drives. Buddy himself developed a technique for driving to the basket, to the surprise even of his father. He also learned to dribble around his man for two point jumpers. He was 23 for 59 inside the arc in those first 14 games (39.0%). In those last 18 games he was 80 for 172, (46.5%). Unfortunately, at the same time, his free throw shooting, which should be excellent, slipped. He doesn’t get to the line much but he hit 15 of 18 through the first 15 games, (83.3%). Focusing more on two point shots, he got to the line 38 times in the last 17 games but only made 25 of them, (65.8%).
The one thing he did well besides his shooting was to play the passing lanes and get steals, 35 of them in 32 games. But when the opposition hit an open three, it often seemed to be Buddy’s responsibly, (his father denied that saying that sometimes it was the fault of the forwards or even the center who in Jim’s scheme is somehow responsible for the corners, (resulting in vain rushes to try to distract a corner shooter). There’s also the issue of far too much penetration into the paint for which Buddy and the relatively short Joe Girard are blamed. Buddy, still listed at 6-6 but said to have grown to 6-7, does very little to get rebounds, averaging just 1.9 a game. Even the 6-1 Girard averaged more than that, (3.0). Much was made about how we got killed on the boards in the Dome loss to North Carolina. We were out-rebounded by 10 in that game. Buddy and Joe got 1 rebound each. The Tar Heel guards, (Roy Williams used three of them), totaled 12 rebounds. We didn’t get killed up front. We got killed in the backcourt.
There’s been plenty of grumbling about the mediocre records we’ve had here in recent years. But the teams who produced these records have been different. The 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 teams were better on defense than offense. The 2015 team was sacrificed to the NCAA in hopes of avoiding a severe penalty, (it didn’t work). The 2016 team made the Final Four and the 2018 team made it from the ‘first four’ to the Sweet 16 and almost upset Duke. The 2019 team lost in the first round to Baylor, who spent much of this season ranked #1. Even with that, those teams won 70% of their NCAA tournament games. The 2017 and 2020 teams were better on offense. The 2017 team wound up in the NIT and the 2020 likely would have, too. There’s a serious question as to whether we can ever be the kind of team that makes the NCAAs and does well there with Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard as our backcourt. Yet the mass exodus of the back-up guard both occurred because those back-ups saw Buddy and Joe as having secured those positons for at least the next two seasons, (after which the 5 star cavalry is supposed arrive), and ensured that will be the case, unless Kadary Richmond, the one current recruit who plays guard, can take over the point guard position and allow -or force- Boeheim to have Joe and Buddy share the shooting guard spot, or at least work in some kind of rotation, (similar to Jardine/Triche/Richmond in 2011-12). But will JB do anything that would reduce his son’s playing time? Stay tuned….
JOE GIRARD III
Then:
The most intriguing of the new players is Joe Girard III, by far the most prolific scorer we’ve ever recruited, maybe that anybody has ever recruited. Two years ago, he became the sixth high school player in US history to average 50 points a game for the season. Last year he only averaged 48 – and led his team to the state championship – in both basketball and football, where he was an all-state quarterback. Joe actually had a five year high school basketball career because he was allowed to play on the varsity as an 8th grader. Here are his yearly averages: 21.7, 33.9, 36.4, 50.0 and 48.6. His career average as a high school player is 39.0 points per game.
He’s not the only prominent basketball player to come out of Glens Falls High: Jimmer Fredette, the national collegiate player of the year for Brigham Young in 2011. Jimmer was slightly bigger than Joe: 6-2 195. His yearly scoring averages at BYU were 7.0, 16.2, 22.1 and 28.9. He went on to play 5 years in the NBA before becoming a big star in China. Jimmer scored a then impressive 2,404 points at Glens Falls, a figure Joe has almost doubled. His highest scoring average there was 29.3. He did top Joe when he played for the City Rocks AAU team and averaged 25.2ppg to Joe’s 11.
The other player to which Joe is compared is his lead recruiter, Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara. Gerry was listed as 6-2 182 in his playing days here, (I think he was closer to 6 feet even). He scored 2,917 points in high school. His scoring totals at Syracuse were not in Jimmer’s class: 13.3, 17.2, 15.8, 16.0 but he was on better and more balanced teams and he had some legendary games, such as hitting 6 three pointers in the national title game against Kansas – all in the first half. Then there was his 43 point game against, of all teams, BYU in the NCAAs the next year, numerous game winning or at least game-changing shots and a dramatic series of performances in the Big East Tournament in Madison Square garden his senior season to get one of Jim Boeheim’s worst teams into the NCAA tournament. Even if Joe isn’t Jimmer, Gerry will do just fine, thank you.
Girard’s high school career ended in fairy tale fashion as he eluded three defenders to score the winning lay-up in overtime.
I watched that game and Girard dominated the ball, handling it 75% with carte blanche to shoot as soon as he crossed the midcourt line if he had a shot he thought he could make, (pretty much all of them). He had stretches of missed shots but it did nothing to stop him from continuing to shoot knowing that he’d hit eventually. He showed strong dribbling skills and a quick step when he wanted to get by someone. He looked like a mediocre passer who wasn’t really looking to set-up his teammates that much. But neither his teammates nor the opposition was anything like Division I collegiate composition: he was his team’s primary weapon and he played like it.
It will be interesting to see him make the adjustment to college ball. In Italy he played 52 minutes and scored 40 points with 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. He was 11 for 25 from three point range. But he also had 5 turnovers and 6 fouls. I think this guy will make it here and he may make it bigger than anyone we have. Or he may just blend in well with the rest. But I think he will be a productive player for us. He’s not going to be one of those high scoring high school players who were a bust in college.
Now:
Joe adjusted very well to the college game. It took less than two games for Jim Boeheim to decide he’d rather than Joe out there than Jalen Carey. Joe, unsurprisingly, proved to be a dangerous shooter. But he also played the point well on offense, achieving the desired 2-1 assist to turnover ratio. As the season progressed he started driving to the basket more, (something GMAC never really mastered and didn’t even try to do much until his senior year. Joe had mixed results, at best but occasionally flipped one in over the taller defenders. He has a quick dribble, close to the floor and occasionally uses a cross-over to get by his man, (sometimes that man was able to slap it away, though).
Joe averaged 12.4 points, 3.5 assists, 1.8 turnovers, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game. Like Buddy, he showed a knack for playing the passing lanes and he also used his shooter’s instinct and football body to get to a lot of long rebounds. He had 24 points against Seattle, 20 against Oakland and Notre Dame, 30 in a failed attempt to make up for the absence of Elijah Hughes against NC State and 22 against Florida State. His was consistently competitive, had a motor running all the time and iron clad confidence. He made some big shots and inspired his teammates, both physically and verbally.
Here is a comparison between his freshman year and McNamara’s, (per 40 minutes):
GMAC: 36.2m 19.0p 2.9r 4.2a 1.9s 0.0b 28.0+ 8.7mfg 0.6mft 2.8to 2.3pf 14.4- = 13.6NP 9.7OE 3.9FG
JGIII : 33.0m 15.1p 3.7r 4.3a 1.8s 0.1b 25.0+ 8.7mfg 0.4mft 2.3to 1.8pf 13.2- = 11.8NP 6.0OE 5.8FG
Gerry scored more while missing the same number of shots. Joe rebounded more. Assists are about the same but Joe had fewer turnovers. Steals and blocks are a wash. Both were great free throw shooters. Gerry got called for more fouls. Gerry comes out ahead due to his better shooting and scoring but Joe had an impressive season for a freshman point guard. Gerry certainly had bigger moments, including those 6 threes in the first half of the championship game. But Joe’s freshmen season didn’t have an ending to it.
Jimmer Fredette was behind a couple of senior guards when he was a freshmen. Here are his numbers:
18.5m 15.1p 2.3r 3.8a 1.7s 0.2b 23.1+ 7.5mfg 0.4mft 2.5to 2.7pf 13.1- = 10.0NP 7.2OE 2.8FG
Joe’s scoring average was the same, although he missed more shots. He rebounded better, (even though he’s slightly smaller). He had fewer assists, (you think of Jimmer more as a shooter). Steals, blocks, free throws and turnovers were about the same Jimmer committed more fouls. Does this mean that JGIII is GMAC and the Jimmer? No. But it doesn’t mean he isn’t. Actually, you make it when the comparisons stop. Great players make their own mark. I think Joe could do that before he’s done.
But he’s just 6-1.he can get lost among the trees if he or his man go inside. He’s a little quicker than Buddy but has the defensive lapses any freshman will have. The ‘wall’ of SU’s zone out front looks like Trump’s.
Joe’s shot selection was often questionable, at best. In high school he was used to jacking it up any time he thought he could make it. But when those 30 footers don’t go in, you can look bad. With 5 star Dior Johnson scheduled to come in in a couple of years, his career may not play out like GMAC’s or Jimmer’s. Joe will need to establish himself as a mainstay in the next two years to keep the train on the tracks.
JALEN CAREY
Then:
Carey was the top recruit in last year’s class and early on, he looked like a coming star. When the team played Connecticut and Oregon back in his home town of New York City, he shined, scoring 26 points with 7 rebounds, (but no assists), against the Huskies and 14 points, 3 rebounds and an assist against the Ducks. Unfortunately both games were losses and the fact that he had only one assist in two games while playing the point was one reason why. He was greased lightning with the ball and very athletic but he wasn’t a distributor. (He’s one of many two guards Boeheim keeps recruiting to try to convert them to point guards. Talented high school players tend to look at the hoop more than at their teammates.)
He never had another game like those, never scoring more than 4 points in any game. He had two big problems beyond the lack of distribution: holding onto the ball and shooting it. He had 25 assists and 41 turnovers on the year and shot 17% from the three point line, (4 for 23). He lost his knack of dribbling past defenders as the defenders got better and defenses were primed to stop him and he had a weak handle so when he got tangled up in the defenses, he often lost the ball. His jump shot was very flat, meaning that the ball had to be right on target to go in and he never got anything on the bounce. He did show an interest in playing defense, although he had trouble adjusting to Boeheim’s zone. He had 16 steals and 4 blocks while averaging 12 minutes a game in 25 games.
Some posters have said that he will be “handed the key to the car” this year as the only point guard with any experience, (except for Howard Washington, below). I see the positon as wide open. In Italy, he looked much as he did in those games in Madison Square Garden, except he looked more for his teammates, scoring 37 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and passing for 15 assists with and 6 steals. He had 5 turnovers but just one foul in 50 minutes. He was just 1 for 5 from three point range. The good thing about college sports is that players can improve. Sometimes they come back the next year as totally different players. But that was against mostly bad teams and he was 1 for 5 from three and had 5 turnovers. So we’ll see how much different Carey really is this year.
Now:
Carey played 23 minutes in two games. He was 1 for 8 from the field, 1 for 4 from the foul line, did manage 6 rebounds but had 1 assist to 3 turnovers. Boeheim had seen enough and put Joe Girard at the point and Joe never faltered. Carey decided to get an operation on an old hand injury, (which could have impacted his performance these two seasons), then decided to enter the transfer portal.
BRYCEN GOODINE
Then:
Bryson is a classic Boeheim tall guard. He loves them for the way they can play the perimeter of a zone with their long arms. He’s still another guy who was at best a combo guard in highs school who Jims wants to be a point guard at Syracuse. Goodine is a good enough player to have competed in both three point shooting and dunk contests at the high school all-star level. He didn’t score 50 points a game like Joe Girard but he was a higher rated recruit and could turn out to be the better college player. In Italy he played 56 minutes, scored 34 points with 12 rebounds, 11 assists and 6 steals, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls. He was 7 for 24 from three point range.
I think he’ll be Jalen Carey’s main competition for the point while Girard will push Boeheim at the ‘2’ guard spot.
Now:
Nope. Goodine stunk up the joint early in the year. I the first 9 games he was 6 for 21 from the field, including 0 for 10 from the arc. He had 8 assists but also 8 turnovers. Then he broke his nose, missed several games and had to wear a mask to protect his nose. He actually seemed to play better after that, his high point hitting a follow shot to beat wake Forest. Most observers considered him, (and Carey and Washington) to be better on defense than Girard or Boeheim. But we just lost too much offense when Joe or Buddy were on the bench. Brycen wound up 15 for 50 from the field, (30%) and 3 for 24 from the arc, (12.5%). He never looked like a point guard, passing for 16 assists with 17 turnovers. He entered the transfer portal, acknowledging that he could not beat out the guys ahead of him.
HOWARD WASHINGTON
Then:
He’s now back and able to play but he hasn’t played in a season and a half and he was not a highly recruited player to begin with. From what I saw, he has solid but unspectacular skills. I see him as a “break glass in emergency” guy who probably won’t be part of the regular rotation but still has three years left and could develop into a rotation player during his career here, especially if some of the guys ahead of him leave early. In Italy, Howard played 34 minutes, scored 14 points with 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals 4 turnovers and 2 fouls. He was 1 for 4 from three point range...
He sounds to me like a leader and a student of the game, maybe a coach someday. I’m sure that he has the full respect of the team. That’s why I think he could become our point guard at some point in the future. But he has a lot of completion this season.
Now:
Howard never made much of a dent in the box score. He hit double figures in minutes played five times. He scored 3 points once in those games and 2 points in the other four for a total of 11 points in 68 minutes. He did prove to be a good distributor with 15 assists vs. 4 turnovers in those games. He developed a reputation for calming things down when he was in the game. But he didn’t have to be guarded and so was not a threat to Joe Girard’s playing time. He could give you a decent 5 minutes without things falling apart. He also has entered the transfer portal and good luck to him. He deserves it.
OVERALL:
Then:
I’m impressed that we have 12 guys. I’m impressed that we have 12 guys who can play. I’m impressed that we have 12 guys who can score. I think the team as a whole will have a high basketball IQ and should be able to make their skills in the various combinations fit together. I think we’ll see the pick and roll which is supposed to be a big part of this offense but was impossible to run with Chukwu. I think we’ll see a lot of outside shooting. It may grow cold at times but when it’s on we are liable to blow somebody out – even somebody good. The team showed a fast pace in Italy and Boeheim indicated that he’d like to get back to running the fast break, which has been absent from this team that used to be famous for it, since the 2012 season. We pressed more in Italy and caused a lot of turnovers. We’ve got the depth to do that. We even played some man for man, (but don’t get your hopes up). My big questions are defense and rebounding. The new big men have to show that they can do those things as well as score and all the newcomers will have to learn the intricacies of Boeheim’s famous zone. But think this will at least be a fun team to watch, which is something we really couldn’t say about the recent teams. I don’t think they will be national title contenders such as we had in the early part of this decade but I also don’t think they will be the sort of bubble team that we’ve had in the latter part of the decade.
I expect to be curious, not nervous on selection Sunday.
Now:
Not all 12 guys could play and play well and that was the problem. Carey bombed out and had his operation. Braswell shut it down due to his shin splints. Goodine was terrible and then broke his nose. Guerrier was terrible early, then productive but awkward. Sidibie got pushed around and was always in foul trouble. Dolezaj played well but not enough due to foul trouble. Edwards “wasn’t ready” and Ajak redshirted. The backcourt of Girard and Boeheim were great on offense but not good on defense. Hughes was great all over but missed a key game and a half due to injuries.
We had a high IQ, (except for the fouls) but had fewer effective combinations than I’d hoped. The pick and roll game never showed up. Our outside shooting was a strength early but not down the stretch. We did blow some teams out but not simply by bombing away from outside. We looked more and more like the previous few teams as the season progressed as we depended more on drives to the basket and getting fouls. We did play faster, mostly because Joe did. We had more fast breaks, (special thanks to Marek there). We didn’t press much and never played man for man. What happened in Italy stayed in Italy. I was prescient to question our defense and rebounding. We didn’t see much of the new big men, unless you count Bourama as ‘new’ since he was starting for the first time. It was a fun team to watch, although losing is never fun.
I wasn’t nervous on selection Sunday, at least not about basketball. I was curious about what next year’s team might look like but we won’t find that until next year. It was a young team, full of players who could get better, some of them a lot better. Some of them stayed and some didn’t. I think we’ll still be Syracuse but we may continue to be ‘Syracuse Lite’ for a while longer.
BUDDY BOEHEIM
Then:
Buddy’s forte is outside shooting. With Frank Howard injured, he was our best shot at a three point game and so got some early playing time. But he didn’t take much advantage of it, missing 28 of his 36 treys in the pre-conference games. It was suggested by some at Syracusefan.com that he was only on the team because his father was the coach. But then Buddy relaxed more and actually improved in the conference season, hitting 39 of 97 three pointers for 40%. Some of those were because defenses were backing off of him, daring him to shoot. When he started hitting, that changed and it wasn’t as easy. But he kept hitting the occasional three and sometimes just got hot. What pleased his father the most is that he was now drawing defenders away from his teammates and from the paint.
He also showed a good knowledge of what was happening on the court. He wasn’t really quick but made up for it on defense by positioning himself well and playing the passing lanes. He also had the height to grab an occasional rebound. In Italy he played 57 minutes, and scored 39 points with 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls. He was 10 for 32 from three point range. He’ll be battling five other guards for playing time but he’s played more minutes than any of them and the others will be battling it out for the point guard spot first so he’ll probably be the likely starter at the two guard.
Now:
Buddy’s forte continues to be outside shooting. He led the team with 37% three point shooting. He was capable of hitting several threes in a row and breaking a game open. He was the team’s second leading scorer at 15.3 points per game. Like the rest of the team, his shooting faded as the season progressed. Through the first 14 games he was 53/137 from three, 41.7%. In the last 18 games he was 44/135 = 32.6%. Even in that first 14 games he shot 1/8 in the opening loss to Virginia, 1 for 7 in the loss to Oklahoma State and 1 for 5 in the loss to Iowa. Such is the lonely life of a long distance shooter- and the teams that depend upon them.
But he did have some big games. He scored 22 points on Bucknell, 26 at Georgia Tech, 25 in the next game at Georgetown, (all in the second half, when he hit 7 threes), 23 at Notre Dame, (another 7 threes), 22 vs. Boston College, 27 at Virginia Tech, 22 against Pitt, 22 in a 1 point loss at Clemson, 23 in a 2 point win over Wake Forest, 22 in the loss to UNC at the Dome and 21 in a road win at Boston College.
Even when he wasn’t hitting, the defense had to guard him, which opened things up for his teammates’ drives. Buddy himself developed a technique for driving to the basket, to the surprise even of his father. He also learned to dribble around his man for two point jumpers. He was 23 for 59 inside the arc in those first 14 games (39.0%). In those last 18 games he was 80 for 172, (46.5%). Unfortunately, at the same time, his free throw shooting, which should be excellent, slipped. He doesn’t get to the line much but he hit 15 of 18 through the first 15 games, (83.3%). Focusing more on two point shots, he got to the line 38 times in the last 17 games but only made 25 of them, (65.8%).
The one thing he did well besides his shooting was to play the passing lanes and get steals, 35 of them in 32 games. But when the opposition hit an open three, it often seemed to be Buddy’s responsibly, (his father denied that saying that sometimes it was the fault of the forwards or even the center who in Jim’s scheme is somehow responsible for the corners, (resulting in vain rushes to try to distract a corner shooter). There’s also the issue of far too much penetration into the paint for which Buddy and the relatively short Joe Girard are blamed. Buddy, still listed at 6-6 but said to have grown to 6-7, does very little to get rebounds, averaging just 1.9 a game. Even the 6-1 Girard averaged more than that, (3.0). Much was made about how we got killed on the boards in the Dome loss to North Carolina. We were out-rebounded by 10 in that game. Buddy and Joe got 1 rebound each. The Tar Heel guards, (Roy Williams used three of them), totaled 12 rebounds. We didn’t get killed up front. We got killed in the backcourt.
There’s been plenty of grumbling about the mediocre records we’ve had here in recent years. But the teams who produced these records have been different. The 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 teams were better on defense than offense. The 2015 team was sacrificed to the NCAA in hopes of avoiding a severe penalty, (it didn’t work). The 2016 team made the Final Four and the 2018 team made it from the ‘first four’ to the Sweet 16 and almost upset Duke. The 2019 team lost in the first round to Baylor, who spent much of this season ranked #1. Even with that, those teams won 70% of their NCAA tournament games. The 2017 and 2020 teams were better on offense. The 2017 team wound up in the NIT and the 2020 likely would have, too. There’s a serious question as to whether we can ever be the kind of team that makes the NCAAs and does well there with Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard as our backcourt. Yet the mass exodus of the back-up guard both occurred because those back-ups saw Buddy and Joe as having secured those positons for at least the next two seasons, (after which the 5 star cavalry is supposed arrive), and ensured that will be the case, unless Kadary Richmond, the one current recruit who plays guard, can take over the point guard position and allow -or force- Boeheim to have Joe and Buddy share the shooting guard spot, or at least work in some kind of rotation, (similar to Jardine/Triche/Richmond in 2011-12). But will JB do anything that would reduce his son’s playing time? Stay tuned….
JOE GIRARD III
Then:
The most intriguing of the new players is Joe Girard III, by far the most prolific scorer we’ve ever recruited, maybe that anybody has ever recruited. Two years ago, he became the sixth high school player in US history to average 50 points a game for the season. Last year he only averaged 48 – and led his team to the state championship – in both basketball and football, where he was an all-state quarterback. Joe actually had a five year high school basketball career because he was allowed to play on the varsity as an 8th grader. Here are his yearly averages: 21.7, 33.9, 36.4, 50.0 and 48.6. His career average as a high school player is 39.0 points per game.
He’s not the only prominent basketball player to come out of Glens Falls High: Jimmer Fredette, the national collegiate player of the year for Brigham Young in 2011. Jimmer was slightly bigger than Joe: 6-2 195. His yearly scoring averages at BYU were 7.0, 16.2, 22.1 and 28.9. He went on to play 5 years in the NBA before becoming a big star in China. Jimmer scored a then impressive 2,404 points at Glens Falls, a figure Joe has almost doubled. His highest scoring average there was 29.3. He did top Joe when he played for the City Rocks AAU team and averaged 25.2ppg to Joe’s 11.
The other player to which Joe is compared is his lead recruiter, Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara. Gerry was listed as 6-2 182 in his playing days here, (I think he was closer to 6 feet even). He scored 2,917 points in high school. His scoring totals at Syracuse were not in Jimmer’s class: 13.3, 17.2, 15.8, 16.0 but he was on better and more balanced teams and he had some legendary games, such as hitting 6 three pointers in the national title game against Kansas – all in the first half. Then there was his 43 point game against, of all teams, BYU in the NCAAs the next year, numerous game winning or at least game-changing shots and a dramatic series of performances in the Big East Tournament in Madison Square garden his senior season to get one of Jim Boeheim’s worst teams into the NCAA tournament. Even if Joe isn’t Jimmer, Gerry will do just fine, thank you.
Girard’s high school career ended in fairy tale fashion as he eluded three defenders to score the winning lay-up in overtime.
I watched that game and Girard dominated the ball, handling it 75% with carte blanche to shoot as soon as he crossed the midcourt line if he had a shot he thought he could make, (pretty much all of them). He had stretches of missed shots but it did nothing to stop him from continuing to shoot knowing that he’d hit eventually. He showed strong dribbling skills and a quick step when he wanted to get by someone. He looked like a mediocre passer who wasn’t really looking to set-up his teammates that much. But neither his teammates nor the opposition was anything like Division I collegiate composition: he was his team’s primary weapon and he played like it.
It will be interesting to see him make the adjustment to college ball. In Italy he played 52 minutes and scored 40 points with 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. He was 11 for 25 from three point range. But he also had 5 turnovers and 6 fouls. I think this guy will make it here and he may make it bigger than anyone we have. Or he may just blend in well with the rest. But I think he will be a productive player for us. He’s not going to be one of those high scoring high school players who were a bust in college.
Now:
Joe adjusted very well to the college game. It took less than two games for Jim Boeheim to decide he’d rather than Joe out there than Jalen Carey. Joe, unsurprisingly, proved to be a dangerous shooter. But he also played the point well on offense, achieving the desired 2-1 assist to turnover ratio. As the season progressed he started driving to the basket more, (something GMAC never really mastered and didn’t even try to do much until his senior year. Joe had mixed results, at best but occasionally flipped one in over the taller defenders. He has a quick dribble, close to the floor and occasionally uses a cross-over to get by his man, (sometimes that man was able to slap it away, though).
Joe averaged 12.4 points, 3.5 assists, 1.8 turnovers, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game. Like Buddy, he showed a knack for playing the passing lanes and he also used his shooter’s instinct and football body to get to a lot of long rebounds. He had 24 points against Seattle, 20 against Oakland and Notre Dame, 30 in a failed attempt to make up for the absence of Elijah Hughes against NC State and 22 against Florida State. His was consistently competitive, had a motor running all the time and iron clad confidence. He made some big shots and inspired his teammates, both physically and verbally.
Here is a comparison between his freshman year and McNamara’s, (per 40 minutes):
GMAC: 36.2m 19.0p 2.9r 4.2a 1.9s 0.0b 28.0+ 8.7mfg 0.6mft 2.8to 2.3pf 14.4- = 13.6NP 9.7OE 3.9FG
JGIII : 33.0m 15.1p 3.7r 4.3a 1.8s 0.1b 25.0+ 8.7mfg 0.4mft 2.3to 1.8pf 13.2- = 11.8NP 6.0OE 5.8FG
Gerry scored more while missing the same number of shots. Joe rebounded more. Assists are about the same but Joe had fewer turnovers. Steals and blocks are a wash. Both were great free throw shooters. Gerry got called for more fouls. Gerry comes out ahead due to his better shooting and scoring but Joe had an impressive season for a freshman point guard. Gerry certainly had bigger moments, including those 6 threes in the first half of the championship game. But Joe’s freshmen season didn’t have an ending to it.
Jimmer Fredette was behind a couple of senior guards when he was a freshmen. Here are his numbers:
18.5m 15.1p 2.3r 3.8a 1.7s 0.2b 23.1+ 7.5mfg 0.4mft 2.5to 2.7pf 13.1- = 10.0NP 7.2OE 2.8FG
Joe’s scoring average was the same, although he missed more shots. He rebounded better, (even though he’s slightly smaller). He had fewer assists, (you think of Jimmer more as a shooter). Steals, blocks, free throws and turnovers were about the same Jimmer committed more fouls. Does this mean that JGIII is GMAC and the Jimmer? No. But it doesn’t mean he isn’t. Actually, you make it when the comparisons stop. Great players make their own mark. I think Joe could do that before he’s done.
But he’s just 6-1.he can get lost among the trees if he or his man go inside. He’s a little quicker than Buddy but has the defensive lapses any freshman will have. The ‘wall’ of SU’s zone out front looks like Trump’s.
Joe’s shot selection was often questionable, at best. In high school he was used to jacking it up any time he thought he could make it. But when those 30 footers don’t go in, you can look bad. With 5 star Dior Johnson scheduled to come in in a couple of years, his career may not play out like GMAC’s or Jimmer’s. Joe will need to establish himself as a mainstay in the next two years to keep the train on the tracks.
JALEN CAREY
Then:
Carey was the top recruit in last year’s class and early on, he looked like a coming star. When the team played Connecticut and Oregon back in his home town of New York City, he shined, scoring 26 points with 7 rebounds, (but no assists), against the Huskies and 14 points, 3 rebounds and an assist against the Ducks. Unfortunately both games were losses and the fact that he had only one assist in two games while playing the point was one reason why. He was greased lightning with the ball and very athletic but he wasn’t a distributor. (He’s one of many two guards Boeheim keeps recruiting to try to convert them to point guards. Talented high school players tend to look at the hoop more than at their teammates.)
He never had another game like those, never scoring more than 4 points in any game. He had two big problems beyond the lack of distribution: holding onto the ball and shooting it. He had 25 assists and 41 turnovers on the year and shot 17% from the three point line, (4 for 23). He lost his knack of dribbling past defenders as the defenders got better and defenses were primed to stop him and he had a weak handle so when he got tangled up in the defenses, he often lost the ball. His jump shot was very flat, meaning that the ball had to be right on target to go in and he never got anything on the bounce. He did show an interest in playing defense, although he had trouble adjusting to Boeheim’s zone. He had 16 steals and 4 blocks while averaging 12 minutes a game in 25 games.
Some posters have said that he will be “handed the key to the car” this year as the only point guard with any experience, (except for Howard Washington, below). I see the positon as wide open. In Italy, he looked much as he did in those games in Madison Square Garden, except he looked more for his teammates, scoring 37 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and passing for 15 assists with and 6 steals. He had 5 turnovers but just one foul in 50 minutes. He was just 1 for 5 from three point range. The good thing about college sports is that players can improve. Sometimes they come back the next year as totally different players. But that was against mostly bad teams and he was 1 for 5 from three and had 5 turnovers. So we’ll see how much different Carey really is this year.
Now:
Carey played 23 minutes in two games. He was 1 for 8 from the field, 1 for 4 from the foul line, did manage 6 rebounds but had 1 assist to 3 turnovers. Boeheim had seen enough and put Joe Girard at the point and Joe never faltered. Carey decided to get an operation on an old hand injury, (which could have impacted his performance these two seasons), then decided to enter the transfer portal.
BRYCEN GOODINE
Then:
Bryson is a classic Boeheim tall guard. He loves them for the way they can play the perimeter of a zone with their long arms. He’s still another guy who was at best a combo guard in highs school who Jims wants to be a point guard at Syracuse. Goodine is a good enough player to have competed in both three point shooting and dunk contests at the high school all-star level. He didn’t score 50 points a game like Joe Girard but he was a higher rated recruit and could turn out to be the better college player. In Italy he played 56 minutes, scored 34 points with 12 rebounds, 11 assists and 6 steals, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls. He was 7 for 24 from three point range.
I think he’ll be Jalen Carey’s main competition for the point while Girard will push Boeheim at the ‘2’ guard spot.
Now:
Nope. Goodine stunk up the joint early in the year. I the first 9 games he was 6 for 21 from the field, including 0 for 10 from the arc. He had 8 assists but also 8 turnovers. Then he broke his nose, missed several games and had to wear a mask to protect his nose. He actually seemed to play better after that, his high point hitting a follow shot to beat wake Forest. Most observers considered him, (and Carey and Washington) to be better on defense than Girard or Boeheim. But we just lost too much offense when Joe or Buddy were on the bench. Brycen wound up 15 for 50 from the field, (30%) and 3 for 24 from the arc, (12.5%). He never looked like a point guard, passing for 16 assists with 17 turnovers. He entered the transfer portal, acknowledging that he could not beat out the guys ahead of him.
HOWARD WASHINGTON
Then:
He’s now back and able to play but he hasn’t played in a season and a half and he was not a highly recruited player to begin with. From what I saw, he has solid but unspectacular skills. I see him as a “break glass in emergency” guy who probably won’t be part of the regular rotation but still has three years left and could develop into a rotation player during his career here, especially if some of the guys ahead of him leave early. In Italy, Howard played 34 minutes, scored 14 points with 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals 4 turnovers and 2 fouls. He was 1 for 4 from three point range...
He sounds to me like a leader and a student of the game, maybe a coach someday. I’m sure that he has the full respect of the team. That’s why I think he could become our point guard at some point in the future. But he has a lot of completion this season.
Now:
Howard never made much of a dent in the box score. He hit double figures in minutes played five times. He scored 3 points once in those games and 2 points in the other four for a total of 11 points in 68 minutes. He did prove to be a good distributor with 15 assists vs. 4 turnovers in those games. He developed a reputation for calming things down when he was in the game. But he didn’t have to be guarded and so was not a threat to Joe Girard’s playing time. He could give you a decent 5 minutes without things falling apart. He also has entered the transfer portal and good luck to him. He deserves it.
OVERALL:
Then:
I’m impressed that we have 12 guys. I’m impressed that we have 12 guys who can play. I’m impressed that we have 12 guys who can score. I think the team as a whole will have a high basketball IQ and should be able to make their skills in the various combinations fit together. I think we’ll see the pick and roll which is supposed to be a big part of this offense but was impossible to run with Chukwu. I think we’ll see a lot of outside shooting. It may grow cold at times but when it’s on we are liable to blow somebody out – even somebody good. The team showed a fast pace in Italy and Boeheim indicated that he’d like to get back to running the fast break, which has been absent from this team that used to be famous for it, since the 2012 season. We pressed more in Italy and caused a lot of turnovers. We’ve got the depth to do that. We even played some man for man, (but don’t get your hopes up). My big questions are defense and rebounding. The new big men have to show that they can do those things as well as score and all the newcomers will have to learn the intricacies of Boeheim’s famous zone. But think this will at least be a fun team to watch, which is something we really couldn’t say about the recent teams. I don’t think they will be national title contenders such as we had in the early part of this decade but I also don’t think they will be the sort of bubble team that we’ve had in the latter part of the decade.
I expect to be curious, not nervous on selection Sunday.
Now:
Not all 12 guys could play and play well and that was the problem. Carey bombed out and had his operation. Braswell shut it down due to his shin splints. Goodine was terrible and then broke his nose. Guerrier was terrible early, then productive but awkward. Sidibie got pushed around and was always in foul trouble. Dolezaj played well but not enough due to foul trouble. Edwards “wasn’t ready” and Ajak redshirted. The backcourt of Girard and Boeheim were great on offense but not good on defense. Hughes was great all over but missed a key game and a half due to injuries.
We had a high IQ, (except for the fouls) but had fewer effective combinations than I’d hoped. The pick and roll game never showed up. Our outside shooting was a strength early but not down the stretch. We did blow some teams out but not simply by bombing away from outside. We looked more and more like the previous few teams as the season progressed as we depended more on drives to the basket and getting fouls. We did play faster, mostly because Joe did. We had more fast breaks, (special thanks to Marek there). We didn’t press much and never played man for man. What happened in Italy stayed in Italy. I was prescient to question our defense and rebounding. We didn’t see much of the new big men, unless you count Bourama as ‘new’ since he was starting for the first time. It was a fun team to watch, although losing is never fun.
I wasn’t nervous on selection Sunday, at least not about basketball. I was curious about what next year’s team might look like but we won’t find that until next year. It was a young team, full of players who could get better, some of them a lot better. Some of them stayed and some didn’t. I think we’ll still be Syracuse but we may continue to be ‘Syracuse Lite’ for a while longer.
