Don't Start Dion
In his Sophomore year, Dion Waiters has made The Leap. He might even be the second best player on the team. Amazingly, he comes off the bench. And that is how it should be for the rest of the season.
Waiters was fantastic in tonight's tug-of-war match down in Raleigh. Most of his 22 points were momentum swingers, including the 3 of 6 he hit from three-point range. On a team loaded with scorers, he's now had double-digit points in eight of eleven games. He's quick and athletic, and he's playing the zone extremely well (see: 6 steals versus George Washington, and his 2.4 steals per game).
His cousin, Scoop Jardine, meanwhile, has hit his ceiling. We know what we're going to get from the fifth-year senior. Tonight was fairly typical. He gave the Orange some good stuff (7 of 9 shooting), some spectacular stuff (the two threes on either side of the 7-minute mark that helped extend a 3-point lead to 11), and some ugly stuff (4 turnovers, including one where he paused to beat himself up for the play instead of hustling back to defend the ensuing Wolfpack fast break).
It's easy to compare the two guards and say Dion is more talented, therefore he should be starting over Scoop. You could also make the argument he should be starting over Brandon Triche, who is in the midst of a 3-game funk. Actually, Triche's last big game was the 20 he had against Florida, when Dion scored only 2 points. Triche had only one tonight. Lately, it seems like if one of those two is playing well, it comes at the expense of the other. But that trend probably won't hold. Triche made The Leap last year at the beginning of the Big East regular season, developing into a consistent scorer. He had double-digit points in all but 5 Big East regular season games. He'll get his offense going again.
Dion could start over either Triche or Scoop. He IS more talented. But Boeheim will never do it this season. And he shouldn't. He's not playing a video game. He's playing with human beings. Triche has started every game of his career at Syracuse. Why undermine him with a benching, no matter how good Dion is playing?
There will, of course, be more talk of playing Dion over Scoop as the season unfolds. Actually, it started after SU's loss to Marquette in the NCAAs last spring, when Dion scored a team-high 18 as Scoop went for only 8 points and took a horrible three-point shot late in the game. In the video-game version of the 2011-12 Orange season, you start Dion.
In real life, you need Scoop in the first five. You cannot bench a fifth-year senior who is your heart, soul, and voice. You shouldn't do it in a normal year. And you can't do it this year, with the Bernie Fine scandal hanging over the program and the head coach. Scoop is talking for the team off the court, and he is setting the tone for the team on the court, in games and (I would imagine) in practice.
Scoop has to start. He HAS to start. He paid his dues, and was once a talented sophomore coming off the bench to provide a little offensive spark. Now this is his team. It is Scoop's team, more than, perhaps, it has been any senior Orange's team since Gerry was proving he wasn't overrated.
You have to start Scoop. You just have to.
Scoop-haters can take some solace in this - Boeheim may never change his starting lineup, but he has shown that he will ride the two hottest hands out of those three talented guards. Triche was off tonight; he only played 17 minutes. Scoop was horrible against Virginia Tech; he played 20 minutes. Dion got 14 minutes against Florida. One of those three will sit in crunch time in any given game. And you know why it will work? Because Scoop set the tone for cheering on your teammates in that Virginia Tech game. Unlike the potty-mouthed Freshman Dion (may that version rest in peace), Scoop cheered happily from the bench during Dion's pivotal 9-point barrage midway through the 2nd half against Va Tech. It is possible to have too much talent on a basketball team, but that problem isn't going to afflict this team. Boeheim will start the upper-classmen, and the hot hand will get the playing time.
Dion is going to have a great career. Next year, he will be the star on a talented team. But this year, like it or not, Scoop is the leader. His play might drive you crazy at points. He might even cost Syracuse a critical game. But the Orange aren't winning the title if they change up their lineup.
Still don't like it? Well, try saying this out loud: "Our second five is better than your starting five." That's pretty fun, no? And it's probably true when directed at 90% of the teams in D-I. Dion-MCW-Southerland-CJ-Keita. Good times!
Waiters was fantastic in tonight's tug-of-war match down in Raleigh. Most of his 22 points were momentum swingers, including the 3 of 6 he hit from three-point range. On a team loaded with scorers, he's now had double-digit points in eight of eleven games. He's quick and athletic, and he's playing the zone extremely well (see: 6 steals versus George Washington, and his 2.4 steals per game).
His cousin, Scoop Jardine, meanwhile, has hit his ceiling. We know what we're going to get from the fifth-year senior. Tonight was fairly typical. He gave the Orange some good stuff (7 of 9 shooting), some spectacular stuff (the two threes on either side of the 7-minute mark that helped extend a 3-point lead to 11), and some ugly stuff (4 turnovers, including one where he paused to beat himself up for the play instead of hustling back to defend the ensuing Wolfpack fast break).
It's easy to compare the two guards and say Dion is more talented, therefore he should be starting over Scoop. You could also make the argument he should be starting over Brandon Triche, who is in the midst of a 3-game funk. Actually, Triche's last big game was the 20 he had against Florida, when Dion scored only 2 points. Triche had only one tonight. Lately, it seems like if one of those two is playing well, it comes at the expense of the other. But that trend probably won't hold. Triche made The Leap last year at the beginning of the Big East regular season, developing into a consistent scorer. He had double-digit points in all but 5 Big East regular season games. He'll get his offense going again.
Dion could start over either Triche or Scoop. He IS more talented. But Boeheim will never do it this season. And he shouldn't. He's not playing a video game. He's playing with human beings. Triche has started every game of his career at Syracuse. Why undermine him with a benching, no matter how good Dion is playing?
There will, of course, be more talk of playing Dion over Scoop as the season unfolds. Actually, it started after SU's loss to Marquette in the NCAAs last spring, when Dion scored a team-high 18 as Scoop went for only 8 points and took a horrible three-point shot late in the game. In the video-game version of the 2011-12 Orange season, you start Dion.
In real life, you need Scoop in the first five. You cannot bench a fifth-year senior who is your heart, soul, and voice. You shouldn't do it in a normal year. And you can't do it this year, with the Bernie Fine scandal hanging over the program and the head coach. Scoop is talking for the team off the court, and he is setting the tone for the team on the court, in games and (I would imagine) in practice.
Scoop has to start. He HAS to start. He paid his dues, and was once a talented sophomore coming off the bench to provide a little offensive spark. Now this is his team. It is Scoop's team, more than, perhaps, it has been any senior Orange's team since Gerry was proving he wasn't overrated.
You have to start Scoop. You just have to.
Scoop-haters can take some solace in this - Boeheim may never change his starting lineup, but he has shown that he will ride the two hottest hands out of those three talented guards. Triche was off tonight; he only played 17 minutes. Scoop was horrible against Virginia Tech; he played 20 minutes. Dion got 14 minutes against Florida. One of those three will sit in crunch time in any given game. And you know why it will work? Because Scoop set the tone for cheering on your teammates in that Virginia Tech game. Unlike the potty-mouthed Freshman Dion (may that version rest in peace), Scoop cheered happily from the bench during Dion's pivotal 9-point barrage midway through the 2nd half against Va Tech. It is possible to have too much talent on a basketball team, but that problem isn't going to afflict this team. Boeheim will start the upper-classmen, and the hot hand will get the playing time.
Dion is going to have a great career. Next year, he will be the star on a talented team. But this year, like it or not, Scoop is the leader. His play might drive you crazy at points. He might even cost Syracuse a critical game. But the Orange aren't winning the title if they change up their lineup.
Still don't like it? Well, try saying this out loud: "Our second five is better than your starting five." That's pretty fun, no? And it's probably true when directed at 90% of the teams in D-I. Dion-MCW-Southerland-CJ-Keita. Good times!
posted by Prof. A at 1:39 AM
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