They scared Josh Pace for a minute. A fumbled pass here, two air balls there and the most highly touted recruiting class in Syracuse men’s basketball history looked, well, forgettable.

In their first taste of collegiate action, Terrence Roberts, Demetris Nichols and Darryl Watkins – self-proclaimed Carmelo Anthony clones – looked more like copies of Syracuse flameout Greg Davis.

‘They looked pretty bad,’ Pace said. ‘They had the rookie jitters worse than I’ve seen them.’

Luckily, it only lasted for a few Syracuse possessions in last night’s 94-82 win over Nike Elite.

After that, Roberts, Watkins and especially Nichols played like seasoned veterans, living up to their substantial preseason hype. Nichols played solid defense, scored seven points and grabbed four offensive rebounds in 21 minutes. Roberts sparked the crowd with a few rim-rattling dunks and scored 12.

Freshman Louie McCroskey did not play – or sit on the bench – because of an ongoing academic issue.

‘It was a good initial outing for them,’ Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘I thought they stepped up and did more good things than bad things, which says a lot.’

At the start, though, they didn’t do anything well. The first time Roberts touched the ball, he fumbled it out of bounds. Twenty seconds later, Nichols threw up an air ball from the left wing. On Watkins’s first chance, he backed toward the hoop before unleashing an air ball of his own.

‘It took a few minutes of mistakes before we really got comfortable,’ Nichols said. ‘But we did eventually get comfortable.’

So cozy, in fact, that Roberts grew brave enough to perform his first Carrier Dome celebration. After he threw down a monster dunk at the end of the first half, Roberts ran up court, pounded his chest and pointed to two of his tattoos.

Roberts missed a chance to celebrate again when, after his second big dunk of the night, he promptly slipped to the ground.

‘I wanted to pump the crowd up again there,’ Roberts said. ‘That’s just me. I like to get people excited. That’s the way I’m going to be all the time. I love the fans. I play for the fans. I’ll do anything to pump them up.’

Starting lineup

As expected, fans heard five familiar names when the Syracuse starting line-up was announced.

Billy Edelin, Gerry McNamara, Josh Pace, Hakim Warrick and Craig Forth started. Neither Pace nor Edelin had started before as Orangemen, though both played significant minutes last year.

Going into the game, only Pace harbored doubts as to whether or not he would start.

‘You always hope you’re in there,’ Pace said, ‘but it’s nice to know for sure. I hope this is the starting lineup once we get to the regular season.’

Though that seems likely, it’s not guaranteed. Two seasons ago, Ethan Cole started two exhibition games but found himself playing only in garbage time once the conference season started.

Roberts (18 minutes last night) and Nichols have both said they could contend for a starting spot. But after last night’s game, both freshmen said they were happy with their minutes.

‘I like this rotation now,’ Roberts said. ‘I was really happy with my minutes, with how everything worked out. We’ve got a lot of people who deserve to be on the floor.’

Perhaps that’s why every Orangeman on scholarship played at least 10 minutes yesterday. Center Jeremy McNeil played 15 minutes – as much as Forth, the starter. Matt Gorman, a non-factor last season, played 13.

Sharp shooter?

It took Hakim Warrick two minutes to get the Carrier Dome crowd buzzing. After a monster dunk, Warrick backed out and swished a 3-pointer, something he rarely did last season.

‘My outside shot is a lot better now,’ said Warrick, who scored 21 points to go with nine rebounds. ‘I worked on it really hard to improve it. I’ve been telling you guys that. Maybe now you should believe me.’

Red faced

Gerry McNamara scraped and burned the left side of his face while diving for a loose ball. As McNamara hit the floor, Nike Elite’s Jeff Boschee accidentally kneed him in the face.

Afterward, McNamara came to the bench and placed an ice-filled rubber glove on his face. He came back in the game and, other than a bruise, expects to be fine.

This and that

Last night’s game was played with an experimental extended lane and 3-point line. The effect? None. Both teams still shot well from outside and neither team was whistled for a 3-second violation. … Syracuse showed off new warm-ups at the start of last night’s game. The Orangemen wore predominantly white warm-ups with an orange logo and blue trim. Expect them to replace last year’s velvet suits. … Nothing like a national championship to negate student apathy. Students packed their section last night and stood for most of the game. … Looking for something Syracuse basketball-related to grumble about? Try 58.6 percent from the free-throw line. … Pace’s outside shot – which he claimed to rebuild over the summer – is the same hitch-and-go adventure it was a year ago. … Syracuse scored an eye-dropping 50 points in the paint. … A tell-tale sign that Connecticut is better than Syracuse: Last night, the Huskies beat Nike Elite by 18 points. Syracuse only won by 12.

Published on November 4, 2003 at 12:00 pm