Naithan George played like his Syracuse teammates envisioned: ‘He’s a wizard out there’

Syracuse, N.Y. – When William Kyle met Naithan George in Los Angeles last spring to work out, he had a feeling his new teammate could elevate his own game.

George, who led the ACC in assists when he played at Georgia Tech last year, likes to pass the ball. And Kyle, an athletic marvel who likes to dunk, could see how a combination of a George pass and his own emphatic finish might be mutually and collectively beneficial for their Syracuse teammates.

“He’s a wizard out there,” Kyle said. “Coaches are always telling me, roll, roll, roll. I roll and he finds me. I feel like the chemistry was already there when I first started playing with him just because I’m a lob threat. I know he’s an elite point guard.”

Kyle rolled to 16 points in Monday’s dominant 85-47 win over Binghamton in the JMA Wireless Dome. George directed the lob passes he caught and converted.

After a pedestrian couple exhibition performances, George turned it on against Binghamton. He scored 14 points on 6-of-9 overall shooting and a 2-for-4 effort from the 3-point line. He grabbed four rebounds, had eight assists and five steals. He did all of this in 23 minutes and eight seconds of game action.

Orange coaches, desperate for a point guard infusion after last season, likely expected that kind of performance when they plucked George from the transfer portal.

“I thought he did a really good job of getting people the ball, making some passes, like, finally calmed down on offense, made a couple shots,” SU coach Adrian Autry said. “But when you have a point guard like him, you can give him the ball and let him run the offense. I think he did a really good job of that. He stayed with it. The first half was a little choppy. I thought the second half, he kind of found the rhythm of the game and was making the right plays.”

George said he evaluated his exhibition outings and considered what to do about them.

He went 0-for-5 against Division II Pace and finished with three points and four assists. He was 1-for-5 against Buffalo and committed four turnovers.

He acknowledged he is still learning the strengths and weaknesses of his teammates. He’s still determining how to deliver them the ball in situations that would best benefit the Orange.

Autry’s penchant of rotating players frequently into games, of using various lineup combinations, meant that George would need to familiarize himself with every one of his teammates.

SU went 11 deep against Binghamton. Akir Souare’s 10 minutes, 22 seconds were the fewest minutes any of those 11 guys played.

George said SU players were told during their recruitments that Autry wanted a deep bench that could take advantage of fresh legs.

“It’s just kind of figuring out everyone on the team and figuring out where I fit it,” George said. “Playing against ourselves every day is different than playing against someone else. Especially in exhibitions. It’s harder to keep that focus. I feel like it was just there [Monday].”

George resolved to be more decisive.

He wanted to “play with more intent.”

It started on the defensive end. George had five steals Monday. When a reporter in the postgame SU locker room asked Donnie Freeman about George, Freeman emphasized that steal tally.

“It was just really executing the defensive game plan,” George said, “being in our gaps, like Coach emphasizes every day and yeah, I just happened to get some steals.”

Point guard is the most tactical, most demanding position on the basketball court. George, by far, has the most Power Five experience at that position on SU’s roster. He likely will play bigger minutes once the level of competition elevates.

Syracuse needs him to excel.

“George is amazing,” Freeman said. “He’s still finding his footing, but he’s amazing. He communicates well with us and he’s going to be big for us down the stretch.”