When Brandon Triche moved from point guard to playing off the ball this season, it was natural for questions to arise. How would he handle the transition? Could he shoot the ball well enough to be effective? Could he find a different niche?

The answer to that question is becoming clearer with each and every game.

Triche averaged just eight points per game in Syracuse’s first nine games of the season, with only one game in double figures. Since then, the sophomore guard has scored at least 11 points in eight of 10 games, while averaging 12 points per game.

Triche is also doing it at a very efficient rate. In the 10 games since going 1-for-7 against Michigan State on Dec. 7, Triche has shot 55 percent from the field, including 45 percent from 3-point range. He’s becoming the consistent perimeter shooter SU lacked in the early going.

‘He’s a good shooter, he’s a very good shooter,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said.  ‘He gets good shots, so he just has to relax, and he’ll make them.’

Perhaps the most impressive part of Triche’s efficiency is that it is coming against some of the toughest teams on SU’s schedule — Big East teams. Syracuse may not have gotten past Seton Hall without Triche scoring 15 second-half points. He was equally important in a win over St. John’s four days later at Madison Square Garden.

Freshman guard Dion Waiters was expected to push Triche for minutes in the backcourt once he got his feet wet and began to play up to his potential. Though Waiters is playing better, Triche isn’t seeing his minutes decrease in the slightest.

Instead, the combination of Triche, Waiters and point guard Scoop Jardine is a very formidable three-guard rotation in the SU backcourt. Triche’s shooting and scoring ability keeps defenses from hesitating to double down on Rick Jackson when he gets the ball in the post.

‘He’s been playing well for us all year,’ SU forward James Southerland said following a win over Cincinnati on Jan. 15. ‘When he’s playing at a high level, he gives us another weapon on offense.’

It’s becoming more and more evident that for the Orange to reach its highest goals, Triche must continue to play at a high level. His ability to play either guard position gives Boeheim a number of options to work with.

Syracuse will need his best if it wants to contend for a national title.

aljohn@syr.edu

Published on January 18, 2011 at 12:00 pm