KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An hour before Saturday night’s game at Thompson-Boiling Arena, only one team warmed up.

Every Tennessee player gathered around one basket. Some practiced three-pointers, some rebounded, some just talked. But everyone was there.

On the other side of the court, you could see a few Syracuse players shooting around, maybe a few even joking around. But you couldn’t see a team. Some Orangemen were still in the locker room, some left stretching on the far reaches of the court.

Everybody was doing something, but nobody was doing anything together.

The scattered, unity-less warmup scheme is becoming a disturbing microcosm of SU’s season — one that screamed louder than ever Saturday night. Syracuse needs a leader and, so far, nobody is really volunteering.

Without a leader, the Orangemen came out with energy appropriate for spectating, not for playing. They looked timid and nervous in front of a hostile road crowd. And, because of such, Syracuse dropped its third game this year to an unranked opponent.

Preston Shumpert, the senior superstar, seems the logical option. But when was the last time you saw Shumpert voice any emotion on the court? Sure, sometimes he raises his hand after a big three, but he never screams, never yells, never pulls his team together.

“I guess I like to lead by example a little more,” Shumpert said after Syracuse lost, 66-62, to Tennessee. “In the second half I just decided to bring it or we would lose by more. I just tried to play a little smarter. It is me trying to take a leadership role.”

But leaders don’t just decide to disregard the first half — which Shumpert did, scoring two points in the first half Saturday — and then “bring it” at the start of the second.

Next on the leadership potential list is Kueth Duany. He loves to play with emotion, but he’d rather scream and yell toward the crowd after draining a big shot than celebrate with his teammates.

Which leaves DeShaun Williams, who admittedly distances himself from his teammates, deciding to spend the majority of his time away from the court by himself.

“Kueth, DeShaun and Preston are all leaders,” freshman center Craig Forth said early in the season. “They all lead by example and work ethic. I don’t think they really need to say anything.”

But time is proving that they do. Because right now for Syracuse, nobody stays together unless they have to. After a foul, five SU players huddle silently as if thrown together by mere circumstance. Their arms dangle awkwardly on each others’ shoulders.

Worse yet, it is awful to walk into the locker room after a game and see some players sitting in front of their lockers, some walking out to the bus and some still lingering alone in the shower.

It is kind of discouraging that after 40 minutes of close, competitive basketball, the Syracuse basketball team still finishes as it started: leaderless and scattered.

Published on January 21, 2002 at 12:00 pm