Syracuse men’s basketball: JJ Starling was a “student of the game” during his injury

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — For over a month, Syracuse Orange basketball fans didn’t see JJ Starling on the court, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t finding a way to get better.

“I was a student of the game,” Starling said of his absence. “I spent hours and hours watching film, not just watching myself, but I watched other guards around the country and took some things from them.”

During Starling’s seven-game absence, the Orange went 2-5, with the only wins coming over UAlbany and Bucknell, but SU has nabbed two wins in a row to get to 2-1 since his return. Against Boston College, he scored 26 points, including 20 in the second half, to lead the Orange back for their first road win of the season.

While he was out of action, Starling studied two of the nation’s best guards, Alabama’s Mark Sears and North Carolina’s RJ Davis, trying to pick up notes on how to improve his game.

“Those are aggressive scoring guards,” he said. “Mark Sears plays with great pace, coming off ball screens and how he gets downhill, plays off two feet, so I took off that. And then RJ Davis, he’s a scoring guard. He comes off pick-and-rolls and he’s able to shoot and attack the big, so I also looked at that.”

While Starling is a few inches taller than those two, and has played off the ball a lot more than either, it has offered him a major benefit as his role changed.

When the Baldwinsville native came back into the Syracuse lineup, it was at the point rather than his customary two-guard slot, putting the ball in his hands much more often, and allowing him to dictate the flow of the offense.

But in Red Autry’s eyes, he’s not just dictating the flow of the offense, he’s become an extension of the coaching staff on the floor.

“JJ got better,” Autry said. “His understanding of the game and what we’re trying to do in certain situations. What I love today was that he was giving me feedback on what he’s seeing out there.”

Starling and Autry’s conversations helped the Orange persevere through a tough second half, where they didn’t get much scoring from other places until the midway point.

“I always try to talk to my point guards,” Autry said. “You have to be a student of the game, you have to be able to see out what’s going on out there. We’ve always had that, but it’s a different conversation. Sometimes it might be about something else, he was talking really on both ends ‘what about this adjustment, what about that adjustment.’”

Syracuse went on a 10-0 run from the middle of the second half to take a 56-54 lead, and then pushed that lead out to win 79-71 in Chestnut Hill on Saturday. Starling’s return to the line-up has led to some better play from the Orange and will see if they can keep the momentum going when the Louisville Cardinals come to town on Tuesday night.