Triche, Second Edition

I was surprised when the season opened with Brandon Triche in the starting lineup, and Scoop Jardine on the bench. I had liked the way Jardine played the point in his freshman year, especially the way he shared the ball. I was less worried about Flynn's departure, knowing that Jardine could run the team this year. So why was this freshman starting in his place?

That question became even more pressing after Triche began the year with tentative play. In the Garden, against California, when Triche seemed unable to get into the flow of the offense, Scoop came off the bench to lead the team in scoring and assists, while committing a single turnover. It seemed only a matter of time before Scoop replaced the freshman, or perhaps we had one of those situations where the starter sat sat down early in the game, and the substitute racked up all the minutes and points.

But it became apparent after only a few games, that regardless of how much he produced offensively, Triche was helping to make the defense more effective. This year's 2-3 has two big guards out front, making it harder for teams to shoot over the zone. Plus, his athleticism allows him to chase down open guys, as teams swing the ball around looking for an open man. And he showed us early on that he could take the ball to the hole. After all, he's 6'4", and strong enough to go inside against pretty much any other guard.

But whatever doubts remained about Triche and his offensive game, as well as his qualifications to play with the starters, were erased over the last couple games. Against Oakland, he led the team in scoring with 27, and more importantly, shot 6 for 6, from three-point range. Boeheim sat him with about ten minutes in the game; otherwise he could have racked up really huge numbers for the night. Talk about hot. And with Triche hitting threes, that means the team has three different starters who can, maybe not all on the same night, hit the outside shot. So it will be harder for teams to defense the Orange by smothering the big guys, and clogging the lane. Because if no one comes outside to challenge Johnson, Rautins and Triche, at least one of them should be able to knock down threes. And then if defenses come outside on Johnson and Triche, both of them can go strong to the basket.

Cuse is still among the nation's leaders in scoring average. And last I looked, they led all of Division I in field goal percentage. Partly that's because AO and Jackson rarely shoot when they're more than three feet from the basket. But it's also because the team is making more than forty percent of its threes.

I heard in the Dome the other night that when Triche was a high school freshman, he played even against Flynn, who was then a junior. We've had other years when freshmen played above everyone's expectations, and took the team deep into the tournament. And that seems to work well when there are also seniors on the floor, who can provide leadership and stability. Back on the '86 team, it was Triche's uncle who provided that senior leadership to a talented bunch of underclassmen. The role is reversed this year, but it sure looks like the latest Triche will be making big contributions all winter long.