16. Syracuse
If everything goes right, a trio of promising juniors could hand Jim Boeheim his most balanced team in more than a decade
Posted: Wednesday November 18, 1998 02:08 PM
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Hart may have to fight off challenges from some younger players. Al Bello/Allsport |
Whenever
Orangemen coach Jim Boeheim is left in charge of his infant son, he
makes sure that all toys and food are placed to the right
of six-month-old Jim Jr. "He would never admit
it," says
Juli Boeheim, "but he's trying to make sure our son
doesn't turn out to be lefthanded."
While Boeheim may have a preference for righties, Syracuse
center Etan Thomas, a righthander, has been working
diligently this fall with assistant coach and resident big
man guru Bernie Fine on
developing some
lefthanded post moves that could turn him into a more potent scorer.
The shots that matter most, however, probably won't be the
inside ones from Thomas. They'll be the outside ones from
guard Jason Hart and forward Ryan Blackwell. If those go
swish instead of
clang, then the
Orange—talented, deep and, in Boeheim's words,
"as athletic as any Syracuse team since Coleman,
Seikaly and that bunch"—will have the kind of
balanced attack that could turn them into a Top 10
team.
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| STARTING LINEUP |
| POS. | HT. | CLASS | KEY STAT |
| SF Ryan Blackwell* | 6'7" | Jr. | 12.6 ppg |
| PF Eric Williams | 6'8" | So. | 2.4 rpg |
| C Etan Thomas* | 6'8" | Jr. | 61.0 FG% |
| SG Allen Griffin | 6'0" | So. | 2.4 ppg |
| PG Jason Hart* | 6'1" | Jr. | 5.0 apg |
'97-98 record: 26-9
Final rank (coaches' poll): No. 13
*Returning starter
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The big question is: How will the shots be divided among
the big three—all juniors, all team leaders? "It
might be a problem if it was three guards," says Hart,
a
6'1" point who may move to two guard from time to time
if versatile
6'4" freshman Tony Bland is as good as advertised, and
who, in fact, may move to the bench from time to time if
promising sophomore Allen Griffin steps up. "But it's
three different positions. It's going to be easy for
everybody to get enough." Well,
maybe. But the sometimes trigger-happy Hart shot only 36.6% from
the floor last season (26.0% on three-pointers), while both
Blackwell and Thomas need to develop take-charge, scorer's
personalities.
Eric Williams, who will divide time at the power forward
spot with another talented sophomore, Damone Brown, quit
the team briefly last season because he was upset with his
lack of PT. Williams, slimmed down to 243 pounds from the
268 he was packing
last season, says he placed a photograph of Boeheim next to his
bed this summer and stared at it every morning to remind
himself to "prove what kind of player I can be."
Boeheim might recognize that as kind of a lefthanded
compliment.
—Jack
McCallum
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