Joe Girard III regains shooting stroke against Notre Dame and Oakland

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Joe Girard III was frustrated seven days ago. Walking off the State Farm Center court in Illinois last Tuesday wasn’t a good feeling for Girard, or the rest of Syracuse’s team, he said. The Orange had lost 73-44, their worst defeat in a disappointing start to the season, and Girard had just recorded his second-career scoreless outing, clamped by Fighting Illini defenders and extending his missed shots streak to 14.

“Obviously, I wasn’t happy,” Girard said.

In the three days before his next game against Notre Dame, though, Girard made no changes to his routine. No more shots than usual, no extra time spent watching film. He just got back in the gym and watched the ball go through the net. “Just doing the usual, and getting my confidence back,” Girard said.

For the most part, the frustration wore off against ND, where Girard had 20 points and found his groove again. But he thought he should’ve made more shots. So he got back in the gym, did the usual, and watched the results pay off Tuesday night in the form of his most efficient performance of the season (7-of-10 from the field). Girard dropped 18 points in 23 minutes to help lift Syracuse (5-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) to a 21-point halftime lead and eventual 95-66 blowout win over Oakland (2-9, 0-2 Horizon). Girard hit shots from the wings, the corner, the lane — everywhere — and his eight points during SU’s 18-0 run to end the first half sat him on the bench next to head coach Jim Boeheim for the second, cheering on the Orange’s reserves.

“It’s obviously a good confidence booster,” Girard said. “But credit to my teammates and coaches, again, just for believing in me and sticking with me. These guys haven’t given up on me, they’ve done a lot for me, been behind me the whole time and I give all the credit to them.”

Boeheim bristled when asked about where Girard’s confidence stood after the loss to Illinois. “He’s a senior. If he doesn’t have confidence, he shouldn’t be playing,” Boeheim said. Tuesday, Boeheim said he wouldn’t reassess where Girard’s confidence is now. But it’s clearly ticked up over the last week.

“He got back on track at Notre Dame,” Boeheim said of Girard. “I don’t worry about him, that’s for all the skeptics out there, the critics, to do.”

The openings that weren’t present against Illinois, and that slowly emerged against Notre Dame, were unmistakable on Tuesday. Unlike Saturday’s game, Syracuse didn’t have to run constant off-ball screens for Girard to get space on the perimeter, instead letting Girard come to the ball himself, and often create his own shot. His use of pump fakes, stepbacks and the occasional ball screen gave him enough space to knock down shots consistently.

Girard got five points early in the first half, dribbling around a Jesse Edwards’ screen on one before pump faking and connecting on his shot in the lane. Moments later, Girard got a soft screen from Edwards and drove right before cutting back outside toward the wing. His right-handed dribble kept the defender off-balance, and he stepped back slightly to drill the 3 that gave Syracuse a 16-15 lead.

Girard said that the SU coaches preach picking his spots when they’re there. They won’t always be, but against a struggling mid-major team like Oakland, they certainly were. Girard looked confident off the dribble, rarely just catching and shooting, instead patiently hunting his shots. In the first half, he pump faked, dribbled inside and faded away for a jumper that touched nearly every part of the rim before falling in late in the first half. Later, Girard curled around screens from Edwards and Benny Williams, caught the pass from Judah Mintz, took one dribble and drilled the 3 from the right wing.

For Girard, the open space was there, and so, too, was the aggressiveness. He didn’t look for his shot often against Illinois, finishing with only three attempts. On one play, Girard looked long and hard for a passing window, but was forced to pick up the ball and kick out to Justin Taylor, who committed a shot clock violation.

There was a play in the final minutes of the first half Tuesday that showed what had changed over the last seven days. He was on the right wing, seemingly not even part of the offensive set — with Mintz even pointing for John Bol Ajak to pass inside to Edwards — but Girard sprinted past Mintz, just a few feet from Bol Ajak, and the short pass led to a deep 3 from the top of the arc that made it 37-24 Syracuse.

The 3 was part of a strong finish to the first half that helped the Orange cruise throughout the second 20 minutes. Girard checked out for the final time with 17:03 left, replaced by backup Symir Torrence. He sat next to Boeheim, clapping as his teammates, including Justin Taylor, who shoots with Girard regularly in practice, made plays.

Taylor said the team let Girard stick to himself over the past week. Knowing Girard has been through slumps — though few like the three-game one that ended Saturday — there were no messages to “keep shooting.” Syracuse has confidence in Girard, Taylor said, knowing he’ll come back after bad games, put shots up in the gym and stay locked in. That’s what happened this past week, “the usual” routine paying off for Girard and the Orange.

“He bounced back, obviously, these past few games,” Taylor said. “That’s just who he is.”