Syracuse, NY – Kadary Richmond was the only positive thing coming out of the first half of Syracuse’s game at Duke on Monday night.
Syracuse was losing 52-34 in the break, but Richmond, the six-foot freshman, had stepped off the bench to score 13 points in a variety of twisting moves and turned to the basket.
Joe Girard, on the other hand, personified most of Syracuse’s struggles in the first half. The second-year guard failed to buy a basket, losing all four strokes. He seemed slow and drew the ire of SU coach Jim Boeheim, with a head-scratching twist on the sideline.
So, when the second half started, Richmond also started.
It was a rare move by Boeheim, who usually puts the same five players who started the game back on the pitch at the start of the second half.
“In the first half, he hit 0 out of 4 and turned around trying to dribble and dribbled out of the court,” said Boeheim, referring to Girard. “Kadary arrives and gets 12 (sic) points. Obviously, it is not a difficult decision. Even if I had started Joe, I would have played Kadary most of the second half. I thought that would give us a jump start to the second half. ”
Although Richmond provided the lining of hope for a bleak first half, there was not a spark large enough to make a difference in the second half.
Duke (11-8 overall, 9-6 ACC) kept Syracuse (13-7, 7-6) at bay and ended with an 85-71 victory over Orange at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Richmond ended the game with 15 points, a shy of the 16 he scored against Niagara on December 3. Richmond made 6-11 on the field, including a rare 3 points. Richmond is now worth 4 to 16 out of a 3-point streak this season. He also had five rebounds, three assists and a theft against Blue Devils.
Boeheim said Richmond took advantage of the opportunities created while Duke remained with the Syracuse snipers.
“I think one of the things that happens when he comes in is that they are so concerned about Buddy, Alan and Quincy (that) they don’t help him much,” said Boeheim. “The big guy (Duke’s 2-meter center Mark Williams) was out of the game and (Richmond) came in and got four layups, five layups and then hit three. ”
In the second half, Duke adjusted to Richmond. At this stage in his career, Richmond has yet to figure out how to adjust to the adjustments.
“In the second half, they saw him coming,” said Boeheim. “They stayed behind. They let him get the maximum penetration and when he got there, the big guy was there. Then he got up in the air and couldn’t finish.
“They just adjusted to it,” added the SU coach. “In these situations, he has to get on the track and find people. Make better decisions. ”
Girard ended the game with zero points in 18 minutes. It was the continuation of a confusing season for the guard, who averaged 12.4 points per game in the first year.
Girard has been great or terrible this season, especially last month. There was no middle ground.
On January 19, Girard scored 23 points against Miami. In the three games that followed, he averaged 6.0 points and hit 7 out of 22 on the field.
Girard came out of the small crash with 19 points in the defeat at Clemson. He hit seven out of 13 shots that day.
Then he got just six points against NC State. He recovered with 16 points from 7 out of 13 shots against Boston College.
But in the last two SU games against Notre Dame and Duke, Girard totaled five points in 2 out of 10 shots.
“Joe has been fighting, ” said Boeheim. “He played some very good games. He didn’t just have OK games. He’s been bad or good. Two or three of the last four games have been bad. ”
So Boeheim has two guards who can play the point. One is learning to deal with adversity. The other is to learn how to handle the defense’s attention after you have had some success.
Boeheim has said many times this season that Orange needs all three of its guards – Girard, Richmond and playmaker Buddy Boeheim – to play well to win.
On Monday, Buddy Boeheim scored 21 points, hitting five of his nine 3-point shots. Richmond was halfway productive.
“He’s learning,” said Jim Boeheim of the freshman. “He’s a very good player, that’s what I always said. In the second half, he didn’t score because he took his shot. He will learn. He has to learn how to deal with it and when to make a move. ”
And Girard played a bad game.
“He just didn’t play well,” said Boeheim. “This is what is happening. The statistics are there. He didn’t play well. ”
That combination was not enough to defeat Duke on Monday. It is unlikely to be enough to beat any of the remaining quality teams on Syracuse’s schedule.
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