Somewhere in the middle of all the boos and arguing Tuesday night was a basketball game. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim’s ejection may have grabbed the headlines in the Orange’s 86-73 defeat of Saint Rose, but underneath it all sat a young team preparing for its first season in the new Big East.

Syracuse returns one full-time starter from last season – senior guard Gerry McNamara – on a team that exited the NCAA Tournament in the first round. In the new conference, which features two more Tournament teams from 2005, the Orange will have to grow up quickly.

Syracuse will try again at 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome versus LeMoyne.

‘We lost three guys that played 35 minutes a game – 38 minutes for two of them and 22 for the other guy,’ Boeheim said. ‘That’s a lot of experience and a lot of wins here, and for us not to expect to have some growing pains with this team would be a big mistake.’

Hakim Warrick, Josh Pace and Craig Forth graduated and in their place is an inexperienced group of juniors, a redshirt junior and three freshmen.

Terrence Roberts, Demetris Nichols and Louie McCroskey all saw significant playing time last season, but were inconsistent and could not hold a starting role for long stretches. In addition, Darryl Watkins inherits a starting center spot that Forth didn’t relinquish once in his four years at SU.

‘Everybody’s in a new role,’ Boeheim said. ‘Everybody tried to pressure us (last season) and when we were pressured, Josh Pace would just take the ball and get a lay-up. We don’t have that anymore.’

One of the players charged with trying to replace that offensive production is likely sixth man Eric Devendorf. The freshman from Oak Hill Academy said he was nervous in his first game, and his production showed it. But expect all three freshmen to see playing time this season as opposed to last, when it was common to see a seven or eight-man rotation.

‘All these guys are gonna play,’ Boeheim said. ‘We don’t have the luxury of saying, ‘Well these are the guys who are gonna play.’ All 10 guys are gonna have to play this year.

‘We lost three very experienced players that did an awful lot for this program, and that’s going to show for a while.’

McCroskey is one of those players ready to shine. After coming to Syracuse in the wake of SU’s first ever national championship, he now has to take the lead as a veteran.

‘It’s like, ‘Wow they’re really not here,” McCroskey said of the graduated seniors. ‘We got to be leaders; we got to grow up fast.’

It’s tough to replicate departed leadership off the court as well as replace lost production on it. Forth, Warrick and Pace were good students who stayed out of trouble, McCroskey said.

While Orange fans are hungry for instant success, Boeheim is realistic about these first few games. He knows they are an opportunity to test out some different combinations to see what may work during the season.

‘We have to be patient,’ Boeheim said. ‘I have to be patient with the young guys especially. Everybody’s kind of in a new role.’

Published on November 2, 2005 at 12:00 pm