Funny what a national championship can do for expectations.

Last year, Syracuse entered the season with little national hype (Imagine that: Carmelo Anthony, unknown) and no ranking. This season, Syracuse entered the season ranked No. 7 despite losing Anthony and senior leader Kueth Duany.

So far, the Orangemen haven’t quite lived up to the hype. After losing their opener to Charlotte, they’ve allowed Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure to stick with them. How Syracuse, entering the meat of its non-conference schedule over Winter Break, performs over the next month will go a long way in proving how ready SU is to earn the preseason praise heaped on it.

‘The key for us is these next three weeks,’ Boeheim said. ‘Last year, we were underrated. This year, we were overrated. I hope we can prove everybody right this year.’

Here are four objectives for SU to accomplish in its nine games – all at the Carrier Dome – over Winter Break, beginning with Binghamton on Dec. 13 and concluding with Boston College on Jan. 10, if it wants to do so.

(BULLET) Beat the box-and-one: Last season, teams gladly gave Gerry McNamara, the an untested freshman, open looks at 3-pointers. This year, teams are gearing defenses to take them away.

Opponents have had success against SU’s offense by slapping a box-and-one defense on McNamara. They can afford to sag four men in the lane – and, therefore, stick more men on Hakim Warrick in the post – because Josh Pace and Billy Edelin aren’t threats shooting from outside.

Without forcing shots, Edelin and Pace could start attempting more outside jumpers, if for no other reason than to keep defenses honest.

Also, as time goes on, SU will adjust to the junk defenses.

‘If you guard Gerry like everybody does, there are going to be some openings,’ Boeheim said.

(BULLET) Replace Kueth Duany: The talk surrounded replacing Anthony. But replacing last year’s lone scholarship senior could be just as important.

‘One thing we miss, and people underestimate, we lost our two best defensive players,’ Boeheim said. ‘Kueth was our best defensive player on the perimeter.’

Warrick, with his 7-foot-1 wingspan, could become as adept at challenging perimeter shots as Duany was a year ago. He’s yet to look comfortable on the wing, sagging down to the middle. Boeheim estimated Charlotte defenders burned Warrick six or seven times. Still, Warrick is athletic enough to eventually fill the role.

Duany also left a large leadership void. Jeremy McNeil, now SU’s only senior, is probably too quiet to take on a leadership role. Craig Forth has shown signs that he’ll be a leader, but as of yet, the Orangemen haven’t identified the man they’ll look to when they need a boost.

‘It’s not just one specific person,’ Pace said. ‘It’s just everybody who experienced last year. We know what we have to do to get back there.’

(BULLET) Get the freshmen up to speed: This one could be the panacea for the issues above.

Loosening up that box-and-one? Once Demetris Nichols assumes a regular role on the wing, opponents won’t just respect his jump shot, they’ll fear it.

‘He’ll be one of the great shooters to come out of Syracuse,’ former SU point guard and current graduate assistant Allen Griffin said. ‘It’s hard to say he’ll be the greatest shooter, but he’ll be one of those players.’

For now, though, Nichols is finding it hard to get off the bench. In SU’s last game against St. Bonaventure, Boeheim inserted Nichols twice, only to pull him in less than a minute both times.

Terrence Roberts, a confident and vocal forward, has played tentatively thus far, a stark contrast to his cocksure attitude. Boeheim, though, has compared him to Derrick Coleman. Once Roberts finds a comfort level, his rangy, 6-foot-9 frame will fit perfectly in SU’s 2-3 zone defense.

Darryl Watkins, SU’s most raw freshman, needs time to develop. But he’s already shown an aggressive streak rebounding that belies his quiet, laid-back demeanor.

‘I’m hoping in December we’re going to get (the freshmen) opportunities to show what they can do,’ Boeheim said.

(BULLET) Don’t panic: College basketball rankings, in the month of December, anyway, are sports’ answer to the Hilton sisters: They’re fun to look at, but completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Where teams stand right now means very, very little.

So it’s taking a little more time than SU thought it would to adjust to life without Carmelo Anthony. But check last year’s record at this time: SU was 2-1 then, too. If Syracuse is having the same problems when students get back from break that it’s going through now, then it’s time to worry.

But, like usual, Syracuse will spend the holidays in the Carrier Dome working out its kinks against Upstate New York foes. While they do it, though, the Orangemen know those expectations bring the burden of a bull’s eye on their collective back.

‘A lot of people thought it was going to be easy on this team,’ Forth said. ‘Problem is, there are a lot of teams that are wanting to come at our throats. We got to know that every night is going to be a battle.’

Published on December 4, 2003 at 12:00 pm