Syracuse Basketball: Joe Girard continues to be the spark plug for the Orange

Syracuse basketball continues to be sparked by its sensational freshman Joe Girard. Here are all the details and what it means moving forward.

Syracuse basketball seemed destined for an inevitable collapse.

The Orange had lost three straight games and five of its last six games. That losing momentum clearly crept into the minds of the Syracuse players and that led to poor energy in the first half vs Georgia Tech.

At one point the Yellow Jackets held a 12 point lead and were ready to bury the ‘Cuse.

Then everything changed in the second half thanks to a deep three-point look from freshman sensation Joe Girard. Syracuse used that momentum as a springboard and went on a 52-34 run over the final 20 minutes of the contest to pull away and secure the 79-72 dub.

This isn’t the first time and won’t be the last time JG3 proves to be a spark plug for the Orange.

Joe finished with 15 points on a 5-of-15 shooting performance. Girard also contributed with three assists, two steals, two boards, and two triple tries.

Is he a perfect prospect? Not by any means.

JG3 wasn’t very efficient with a 33 percent conversion rate, coughed up four turnovers (which was tied for the most in the game), and he struggles with shot selection often.

On top of that, Joe has even slipped up at the charity stripe. Girard has been magnificent from the line all year long, but recently has fallen into a bit of a slump. Despite that, he’s still averaging 91 percent which ranks seventh-best in the country, per ESPN Stats and Information.

The great thing about Joe is he hasn’t reached his ceiling. Girard is only a freshman which means he’s only going to continue to get better as he develops his entire game.

Also, it’s worth noting that Joe wasn’t supposed to be a starter this year, he was supposed to come off the bench as a two-guard. After Jalen Carey struggled to run the point and then suffered a mysterious thumb injury, the door of opportunity opened up for JG3 to become the new point guard on the hill.

With Joe, you have to take the good with the bad. For every wow play he makes inevitably it’ll be followed up by a bone-headed gaffe, but the good news is he’s going to get better and will continue to be the sparkplug for the Orange for many years to come.