Syracuse Basketball: Joe Girard III, facilitating and scoring, stellar in romp

It may have only been an exhibition game, and Le Moyne isn’t the same kind of opponent that Syracuse basketball will encounter during its 2021-22 regular season, but junior point guard Joe Girard III still had himself some kind of performance in the Orange’s 40-point blow-out of the Dolphins on Monday night inside the Carrier Dome.

The 6-foot-1 Girard, who looks to bounce back after an up-and-down sophomore campaign a stanza ago, put forth a brilliant effort in not only scoring against Le Moyne, but also in setting up his ‘Cuse teammates.

Girard, according to cuse.com, finished with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Equally as important, he dished out nine assists.

Additionally, Girard picked up two steals and only committed two turnovers, per statistics posted on Syracuse.com. Look, I get that Le Moyne is a Division II squad, but these are still fabulous numbers produced by Girard.

Syracuse basketball guard Joe Girard III was the star in a demolition of Le Moyne.

Late last month, when the ‘Cuse held a scrimmage and some skills events on the Hill, Girard was phenomenal in the team’s 3-point challenge.

During the scrimmage, and I acknowledge that it was only a scrimmage, he seemed to have regained some confidence and swagger that may have been missing a tad in the 2020-21 term, and let’s not forget that Girard had to deal with a Covid-19 infection.

We’ll have to wait and see how Girard and his teammates fare in the 2021-22 regular season, but I’m certainly excited about what Girard did versus Le Moyne.

Because this ‘Cuse roster has multiple threats from 3-point land besides Girard, whether it’s senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim or senior forward Cole Swider, I’m hopeful that this takes some pressure off of Girard to continually hoist up attempts from deep.

He’s going to get his looks, and he showed on Monday evening that he’s capable of collecting 20 points on any given night. But in the Le Moyne game, as well as the Orange’s exhibition win over Pace last week, Girard has also been really good at facilitating and play-making for others.

He’s made a concerted effort to find junior center Jesse Edwards, which is pivotal. In both exhibition contests, ‘Cuse players often looked for Edwards and sophomore center Frank Anselem in the paint.

That sort of mentality will go a long way toward Syracuse basketball succeeding in 2021-22, since the Orange doesn’t want to put all of its scoring eggs in the 3-point basket all the time.

So if Edwards and Anselem can grab some points in the interior, and guys like Swider, graduate student forward Jimmy Boeheim, Buddy Boeheim, junior guard Symir Torrence and freshman forward Benny Williams are aggressive in driving to the basket, that will prevent opponents from primarily being able to focus their defensive schemes around the perimeter when the ‘Cuse has the ball on offense.

Diversity in scoring will prove huge for Syracuse basketball in 2021-22, and Girard can play a key role in this arena.

After a 2-0 mark in its exhibition series, the Orange gets things going in the regular season beginning on Tuesday, Nov. 9, when the ‘Cuse hosts Lafayette.