In the photo gallery of the Carrier Dome locker room hallway, one image stands out. It’s not a spectacular highlight-reel play. Not even a very memorable moment. But it may capture a player’s essence better than any other.

The photo shows Syracuse forward Kristof Ongenaet replacing his contact lens with the help of a trainer during the middle of a game.

It looks somewhat out of place, juxtaposed with point guard Jonny Flynn splitting two defenders as he goes up for a layup and linebacker Jake Flaherty hunting down the ball carrier.

But for Syracuse’s lone scholarship senior, who will play his final home game tonight against Rutgers (9 p.m. ESPN), the image is fitting. Ongenaet has spent the past two years making a name for himself as a ‘glue guy,’ an unselfish player who leaves nothing on the court but doesn’t always make the stat sheet.

A picture of Ongenaet throwing it down on a defender, posing after a made 3-pointer or a circus layup wouldn’t quite fit. The 6-foot-8 forward from Ghent, Belgium, doesn’t play with that philosophy, often accumulating more floor burns than points.

‘They should keep a stat on how many times I fall on the ground,’ Ongenaet said. ‘But I’m just trying to get the ball and be aggressive and do the little things. That stuff happens. I’m not worried about it. It’s just part of my game. I’m glad to take those things and help the team.’

Numerous times this year, when asked about Ongenaet’s play, head coach Jim Boeheim responded with the same answer: ‘He is what he is.’

What Ongenaet is, is a player who cleans the glass and protects the paint. Boeheim said after one game if everyone went to the glass like Ongenaet, Syracuse would be a great rebounding team. Look no further than Sunday against Cincinnati for a perfect example.

He played 19 minutes and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while adding seven points.

The box score, though, doesn’t always equate how much influence Ongenaet has on the game. Against the Bearcats, Ongenaet dove across the court, skidding on the hardwood of Jim Boeheim Court in an attempt to save a ball from going out of bounds. He was on the floor again in the second half when he tried to block a Bearcat shot, but ended up landing on the player’s back, then ricocheted to the ground, landing hard on his hip.

‘He doesn’t care about how many points he’s scores. He just wants to win games,’ said associate head coach Bernie Fine, who works primarily with the front court. ‘As I said before, he’s a great kid, he gives you everything he has. As a coach, you have to love a player like that.’

The attitude is ever present in practice, too. A half hour before practice, the court is empty with a couple basketball racks, along with some team managers occupying it. But one basket is devoted to Ongenaet and Fine.

Before any of his teammates arrive, Ongenaet is working with Fine to perfect his low post moves. After every up fake, power dribble and slam, Ongenaet looks back at Fine for critiques. As his teammates emerge from the Dome hallway with their photos pasted on the walls, Ongenaet has already been practicing for at least a half hour. He’s already had a half hour of tutoring. He’s done it the entire season. Whether he was seeing a lot of playing time or struggling to get off the bench, his work ethic never wavered.

‘You need someone like that on every team,’ SU center Arinze Onuaku said Sunday. ‘Loose ball, he’s the first person down on it. Rebound, he’s the first one to run up to it. He’s a great player, a hard-working player, and it helps and it helps him. We get lots of rebounds and easy buckets from plays like that.’

Ongenaet learned to play this way in Europe, of all places, where players aren’t known for their toughness. Overseas, NBA players Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol are just a few European NBA players who are seen as soft. Both are 7-footers but have been criticized for their toughness.

But Ongenaet credits his tenacious attitude to his time playing in Europe. The notion that European players are ‘soft’ is an unfair stereotype that Ongenaet is proving false, he says.

‘I think that’s more of the American view on European players,’ Ongenaet said. ‘I know from experience it’s not like that in Europe. They’re strong and maybe there are some examples here in the NBA that Europeans might appear soft, but if you go to Europe and see those leagues and they are strong and physical. That’s where I learned it from.’

His play has led to a recent spike in minutes for Ongenaet. In seven of his last eight games, Ongenaet has seen the court for about 20 minutes a game. He’s scoring 3.8 points over that stretch, and his presence is being felt on the glass and in other areas. Ongenaet is averaging seven rebounds in the last seven games where he sees at least 10 minutes of play.

But for the same reason his action shot in the Dome is far from a highlight play, Ongenaet isn’t concerned with filling the box score with big plays.

‘I just think little plays are important, big plays are overrated,’ Ongenaet said. ‘The big plays might be (important), but I don’t know what the big plays are. I think I just tried to be an example of how aggressive we should be and all the extra things we can do except for just making points.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on March 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm