ROCHESTER – When the Syracuse basketball team came out for warm-ups here last night, it was hard not to chuckle. Thirteen Orangemen stormed the court while just nine St. Bonaventure players ran in lay-up lines.

When the game started, the difference showed even more. Just four players comprised St. Bonaventure’s bench, while the Orangemen’s sideline featured eight reserves.

The teams might as well have swapped. Syracuse, after all, needed hardly any of its bench. SU’s bench scored just two points, a first-half dunk from center Jeremy McNeil.

Syracuse used virtually a five-man rotation in its 87-78 win over St. Bonaventure last night. Other than starters Gerry McNamara, Billy Edelin, Josh Pace, Craig Forth and Hakim Warrick, backup center Jeremy McNeil logged the most minutes with nine. Freshman Terrence Roberts snuck off the bench for a seven-minute stretch in the first half.

‘The first five are starting to play the way we need them to,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘The other five guys need to be better prepared. They’re making foolish mistakes.’

For Roberts’ first-year teammate Demetris Nichols, the bench was an even more familiar sight. Nichols entered the game twice. Both times, he left the court after making a freshman mistake in less than a minute of playing time. Before he took his seat on the bench, he received a tongue-lashing from Boeheim.

Boeheim didn’t make a substitution in the second half until the 7:05 mark, when he sent Nichols in for guard Josh Pace. Exactly one minute and one Nichols turnover later, though, the freshman guard was back on the bench.

‘Demetris threw away a couple passes, and coach pulled him out,’ McNamara said. ‘He’ll learn from that.’

Though SU’s bench produced little, that might have been because the starters didn’t give them a chance.

‘You have to go with what’s working,’ McNamara said. ‘If five guys are playing great, what’s the point of taking them out?’

Hop-py to have him

This off-season, SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins’ name swirled as a possible replacement for Jan van Breda Kolff after the ex-Bonnies coach was fired. He decided to stay at Syracuse – lucky for the Orangemen last night.

‘Mike would’ve known our plays before we did them,’ Boeheim said. ‘He’s a great coach.’

An easier time against the Bonnies isn’t the only reason SU is glad to still have Hopkins on its sideline. Hopkins recruited several Orangemen and is a beloved jokester before, after and sometimes during practice.

‘Coach Hop is one of the reasons I came here,’ McNamara said. ‘When there were rumors of him leaving, it was tough for me to stomach. Of course, I would’ve supported his decision, but for the most part, I wanted him to stay.’

Bench marks

They don’t play a large role – in fact, they haven’t played any minutes this season – but missing from the Syracuse bench were walk-ons Garry Hall and Josh Brooks.

Neither player likely would’ve entered the game. But with walk-ons Ronneil Herron, Ross DiLiegro and Andrew Kouwe present, why were those two absent?

‘It’s almost finals week,’ Warrick said, ‘so they stayed home to study.’

Warrick said the two would travel with Syracuse for future games.

Downtown despair

Syracuse’s 2-3 zone is designed to keep players outside, to make the opposition beat SU with the jump shot.

But for two straight games, SU’s opposition has failed to do what it needs to.

St. Bonaventure shot just 7 of 29 from 3-point range, including 2 of 15 in the first half. It follows a 1-for-22 performance from Rhode Island on Saturday.

Marques Green was the only St. Bonaventure player with good outside-shooting numbers. Green hit 4 of 9 3s from beyond the arc.

‘Marques, in the Creighton game, didn’t take a lot of shots,’ Boeheim said. ‘I was kinda hoping he’d do that against us.’

Forward Maurice Young had the worst night from downtown for the Bonnies, connecting on just 1 of 7 3s.

This and that

The attendance of 11,650 at last night’s game marked the biggest crowd to ever watch a sporting event at Blue Cross Arena. The majority of the fans pulled for St. Bonaventure. McNamara said the Rochester atmosphere reminded of his hometown, Scranton, Pa., with one difference: ‘Someone said to me, ‘Scranton sucks,” McNamara said. … Marques Green, St. Bonaventure’s 5-foot-7 point guard, who came into last night’s game averaging 20.7 points, wore humongous shorts that hung to his ankles and, when he crouched, nipped his shoelaces. Had he dribbled between his legs, the ball likely would’ve been lost in cloth. … After watching McNamara last night, a scout for the NBA expansion Charlotte Bobcats cited Golden Boy’s height and said, ‘He better get his degree.’

Published on December 3, 2003 at 12:00 pm