He captains Syracuse basketball’s Juicing Station: ‘It’s a big job’

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Philadelphia – The chemistry and camaraderie between teammates is very often visible to all.

The connectivity between a quarterback and a trusted receiver or the link in a double-play combination.

But sometimes these bonds, what creates them and how they impact the team, are hidden from public view.

In the aftermath of Syracuse’s 80-50 win over Drexel on Saturday, SU coach Adrian Autry offered a little insight into the Orange’s inner-workings.

In an answer to what sparked his team in its second-half defensive throttling of Drexel — the Orange held the Dragons to just six points in the first 12 minutes of the second half — Autry referred to the “Juicing Station.’’

The Juicing Station is the nickname bestowed upon Syracuse’s bench. Those players not in the game are charged with energizing and encouraging their teammates on the court.

In coming up with the Juicing Station concept, Autry, who says he wants to use a deep rotation, also wanted to keep the bench players engaged so they were ready when called upon.

“They’re waiting to get in, right?’’ Autry said. “They provide energy. You know, they got the juice. And once they get in the game, they bring the juice.’’

Interestingly, the leader of the Juicing Station is a player who won’t see the court much this season.

That guy is Noah Lobdell, a 6-foot sophomore from Syracuse who played in just four games last season. In previous years, Lobdell, who played high school ball at Faith Heritage, would have been considered a walk-on. But the NCAA has done away with walk-ons, so Lobdell is now a scholarship player.

But his scholarship status has nothing to do with his role on this team. Autry has named Lobdell the captain of the Juicing Station.

Do not scoff. Autry considers Lobdell’s role an important one.

“It’s a big job. It’s a big responsibility,’’ Autry said. “Some people may say it’s not, but it really is. It’s a big job and be serious about it.’’

I caught up with Lobdell in a hallway of the XFinity Mobile Arena as he left the SU locker room after the Drexel game.

“In the beginning of the year, he promoted me to that role,’’ Lobdell said of bench captaincy. “Basically, what I have to do is make sure I support the team and make sure we’re all bringing energy.’’

Among other things, Lobdell keeps track of Syracuse’s kills – three consecutive defensive stops. The Syracuse coaches track kills. Autry has referred to analytics that target a specific number of kills that usually result in wins.

Lobdell and the other SU players will get up and shout encouragement to their teammates after a defensive stop, urging them to get to the magic number of three for a kill.

In the first half of Saturday’s game, Syracuse failed to record a single kill.

“He mentioned it at halftime,’’ Lobdell said, diplomatically.

In the first 12 minutes of the second half, Syracuse had four kills. That’s 12 defensive stops — empty offensive possessions for Drexel — in just 12 minutes.

When Syracuse slapped its full-court press on the Dragons, every player on the SU bench was standing and cheering.

“We ended up really locking in the bench,’’ Lobdell said. “The bench was super energetic through the whole second half and we ended up winning by a big margin.’’

With 1:16 remaining in the game and Syracuse leading by 30, Autry rewarded Lobdell, who had not seen any action in SU’s first two games, with some actual playing time.

Lobdell took the first shot of his career, a 3-pointer with time running out. He missed, but that wasn’t the point. He had already done his job as captain of the Juicing Station.

“That’s his role,’’ Autry said, “and he does a really good job of it.”