Kris Joseph walked out of the locker room and through the hallway out onto the court. As he took his first step onto Jim Boeheim Court, the stands distracted him.
"I'll tell you what, it's not something I've ever seen before," the freshman Joseph said after Syracuse's 77-56 exhibition win over Cal-State Los Angeles. "And I heard that it gets worse, but now that I'm in the flow and I'm used to it I'll be alright."
In the Orange's first game of the season, 16,755 fans filled the Carrier Dome. Two days later, 16,260 fans trekked to the Dome to watch SU take on Richmond. It's just one of the adjustments freshmen have to make while transitioning from high school to college. Joseph will have another opportunity to adjust to the college game when Oakland makes the trip to the Dome Friday to take on the Orange at 7 p.m.
In Joseph's first game against Cal-State Los Angeles, he shot 1-for-4 from the field and finished with four points. But the freshman was noticeably nervous in the game.
"The first game I was definitely nervous and I think it really showed," Joseph said after SU's Nov. 9 win over Indiana (Pa.). "This game, after meetings with my coaches and teammates and even with myself, I learned to just be calm."
Joseph opened the season against Le Moyne by scoring seven points with one assist in 22 minutes of play. He showed up on the defensive end as well, recording three steals and a blocked shot.
Against a tougher Richmond team Tuesday, Joseph saw the floor for 12 minutes. He scored two points, grabbed four boards, and dished three assists. He also tallied a steal in SU's 76-71 win. But perhaps the most impressive stat for the 19-year old was the zero in the turnover column.
"I just wanted to make plays and get guys open," Joseph said. "And not really forcing the issue but making plays for my teammates."
Joseph's fellow freshman teammate Mookie Jones hasn't made the transition as smoothly. Jones didn't see action in Syracuse's game against the Spiders.
In the preseason opener, Jones looked more comfortable than Joseph, finishing with eight points, on 3-of-6 shooting, including two 3-pointers. The next two outings, Jones got lost in the shuffle. In the Orange's first two regular season games and final exhibition, the 6-foot-6 forward played a total of 27 minutes and scored three points by going 1-for-8 from the field.
"He struggled," head coach Jim Boeheim said of Jones. "He struggled in the matchup defense. It's hard to play against. He's been struggling and you know I just feel he needs to get a little bit more ready to be able to get out there. He's just not ready right now."
But Boeheim isn't worried or surprised, for that matter, that either of his big name freshmen have yet to produce major contributions. This early season production out of the freshman is helpful, but his veterans will win and lose games.
"You're playing a veteran team - we're going to go with the veteran guys as much as we can," Boeheim said Tuesday night after the Orange beat Richmond. "You know I think Kris made a nice contribution, but we need to keep the veterans going in this kind of a game. You know early in the year veterans are going to have to be there for us."
Joseph has only played 34 minutes this season. But that's been enough time for him to shed his initial trepidation of playing in the Dome.
"I learned to just be calm. It's not different from high school," Joseph said. "I mean obviously it is because of the competition, but if you can play game-wise, if you can play (here), you can play anywhere. So I was just more confident when I played, more poised."
mibonner@syr.edu
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