By JOSH NEWMAN
NEW YORK – Phoenix Suns point guard Tyler Ennis has already spent time in the D-League.
It’s no secret that Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim wanted him back for his sophomore season, but Boeheim has now put his team in the hands of freshman Kaleb Joseph.
Joseph is not Ennis, who starred for Boeheim last winter as a freshman, but bolted college after he was a projected first-round pick. Ennis wound up going 18th overall to the Suns, leaving the Orange to work a young, inexperienced team around a young, inexperienced point guard.
“We got spoiled a little bit last year because we had an unusual freshman point guard,” Boeheim said after Syracuse fell to the Bears, 73-59, late Thursday evening at the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden. “That’s a once in, maybe a coach’s career that you’ll get a freshman that can play with that understanding of the game.”
“Kaleb is a very good freshman point guard, very talented, but he’s got a lot to learn about the game.”
A mere eight seconds after the Orange tipped off against Cal, it looked like it would be Joseph’s night in front of the usual pro-Syracuse crowd at the Garden.
After the Orange won the tip, Joseph explored the defense briefly, moved into the lane and tossed an alley-oop to a backdoor-cutting Rakeem Christmas. The senior forward crushed the ball home to send the crowd into a frenzy, but unfortunately, that was arguably the highlight of his night.
Joseph, who is also following in the footsteps of another recent star Orange point guard, Philadelphia 76ers second-year man Michael Carter-Williams, struggled in finishing with 13 points, four assists and three turnovers with much of the scoring coming once the outcome was long-decided.
The loss relegates the Orange to Friday’s consolation game against Iowa. Cal advances to Friday night’s championship game against 10th-ranked Texas, a 71-57 winner over the Hawkeyes earlier Thursday evening.
“It takes time, that’s all it takes, practice and time,” Boeheim said. “He does have the potential to be able to score, but we have to keep working with him. This is a fairly normal freshman point guard coming to the Garden. The first time is going to be a difficult experience and I think that showed tonight.
This Syracuse team, which lost Ennis and sophomore forward Jerami Grant to the NBA Draft in addition to standout C.J. Fair graduating, is one of the youngest Boeheim-coached teams in recent memory. To be exact, the Orange have eight freshmen or sophomores. Of those eight, Joseph, Bronx native and freshman forward Chris McCullough and sophomore forward Tyler Roberson, an ex-Roselle Catholic star, are asked being asked to start and play big roles.
McCullough had gotten his college career off to a strong start, scoring 16 points to go along with 11 rebounds in his debut last week against Kennesaw State. The former Brewster and IMG Academy standout was solid early on Thursday on his way to 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks. .
Roberson, the former Roselle (N.J.) Catholic standout, played sparingly as a freshman but averaged 8.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 21.5 minutes over the Orange’s first two games before going for just four points and three rebounds.
Further-complicating matters is the fact that 6-foot-9, 255-pound junior DaJuan Coleman is still rehabbing from left knee surgery he underwent in January. There is no timetable for his return.
“The signs are there, but we have a lot of work to do, quite a lot of work to do,” Boeheim said. “We’re going to have to spend the month of December getting better and I think that will take some time. You can’t lose guys like we lost, come out and play the same way that we played last year.”
Beyond December and the rest of the non-conference schedule that includes a game at No. 12 Villanova, the problem with a young team is that the ACC schedule is unforgiving. The Orange play Duke twice, Feb. 14 at the Carrier Dome and Feb. 28 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and North Carolina once on Jan. 26 at the Dean Smith Center.
The end of the regular season is especially rugged. Between Feb. 14 and March 7, Syracuse’s schedule is vs. Duke, vs. Louisville, vs. Pittsburgh, at Notre Dame, at Duke, vs. Virginia and at North Carolina State.
Joseph must grow up along the line. And quick.
Photo: Rich Barnes
