The Syracuse men’s basketball team escaped defeat Monday night, and with the victory, Gerry McNamara breathed a sigh of relief – another day without the questions.

Never before had McNamara needed to explain himself. Not the pride of Scranton, Pa., a town of 75,000 that busses hundreds to Syracuse’s home games.

For so long, everyone supported him. Marveled at those logic-defying fadeaway 3s. Cheered as Golden Boy headed Syracuse’s introductions.

That is, until Syracuse stopped winning.

On Monday night, McNamara again struggled from the field, finishing 3-for-10, 1-for-6 from downtown.

Still, McNamara’s 11-for-12 free-throw shooting, including five late to secure SU’s 64-59 win over Villanova, netted him 18 for the game, tying him with the dependable Hakim Warrick for SU’s lead.

And while the point totals covering his last two games are less than McNamarian – 18 and 13 against VU and Georgetown, respectively – SU won both games, alleviating McNamara from the pressure, diminishing him as the focal point, quelling all the questions about his shot. McNamara should be thankful. Because as long as SU keeps winning, no one cares if McNamara shoots 17 percent from 3-point range and 30 percent overall, as he did Monday vs. Villanova.

‘Gerry’s gonna make some mistakes,’ SU coach Jim Boeheim said, ‘but we’re playing against some tremendous defensive players. … There are going to be shots we don’t make. These guys like Josh (Pace) and Hakim and Gerry and Craig (Forth), they’re a part of that. And if we start making them, that takes some of the defensive pressure off.’

When Syracuse first started its drought – with a 74-67 loss to Seton Hall – McNamara thrust himself under a microscope, saying he could hardly move at halftime with a groin injury, leading to his 2-for-10 night.

Since then, it’s been a game-by-game assessment of McNamara’s shot. After a 3-for-11 showing in a 66-45 loss to Pittsburgh, McNamara blended in with the rest of the Orangemen, in effect a police lineup of bad shooters.

A 26-point game against Virginia Tech followed by a nine-point performance – on 2-for-17 shooting – in a loss to Connecticut. Another nine-point game as SU lost to Providence. A 10-point game as Syracuse snuck by Rutgers.

In that mini-saga of ineffectiveness, Syracuse went 2-4, beginning a nosedive that many still believe is ongoing.

‘(Gerry) got a few shots that just didn’t go in the basket,’ Boehim said after SU’s 84-72 loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 16. ‘We couldn’t get anything really out of anybody else. Gerry got a lot of shots in the first half that he can make that didn’t go in the basket.’

With the disappearance of McNamara’s shot came the emergence of a blame game. Deserved or not, McNamara was the goat. That’s what happens to the struggling stars.

Of course you can’t fault Warrick, a midseason All-America selection by The Sporting News, who emerges as the only other blamable Orangeman.

Warrick’s shot is consistently on, sometimes producing dominating games and, once, perfection, an 11-for-11 afternoon against Miami.

McNamara should, in some ways, strive to mirror Warrick, who is calm and controlled but still the utmost competitor. Warrick rarely forces shots, perhaps his greatest strength.

McNamara is the opposite, darting back and forth beyond the arc until he finds a moment of open space before his signature fall-away 3.

The fall-away looks good if it does just that – falls. But recently, like twice last night, McNamara has air-balled that shot.

Certainly McNamara is playing out of position, dutifully replacing the enigmatic Billy Edelin, who has missed the past four games for personal reasons.

And he still appears staggered by the groin injury suffered more than five weeks ago. Monday, McNamara took himself out late in the first half and cringed midway through the second half after pivoting too hard.

But nobody will accept the injury as an explanation if losses pile up.

In truth, McNamara’s slump is hardly that at all. Poor shooting nights sprinkled McNamara’s stat sheet earlier this year. He shot just 1-for-9 against Rhode Island, 6-for-15 against St. Bonaventure and 6-for-19 against Canisius.

The difference: SU won.

But once SU’s slide started, losses magnified McNamara’s slump. Off-nights were no longer acceptable.

‘Whenever you have the problems when you’re not scoring,’ Boeheim said, ‘it puts more pressure on Gerry and Hakim.’

Thankfully for McNamara, the wins are piling up again and the questions have ended. That is, until SU’s next loss.

Scott Lieber is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at smlieber@syr.edu.

Published on September 8, 2004 at 12:00 pm