Syracuse Basketball: Why Jim Boeheim Must Play the Freshmen More

Syracuse Orange head coach, Jim Boeheim, has played freshmen Michael Carter-Williams and Rakeem Christmas sparingly this season.

I rarely question the decision-making of the Hall of Fame coach, but I think it would be wise for him to give each of the freshmen just a little more playing time during the regular season finale and the Big East tournament.

The extra court time for the rookies could pay dividends in the NCAA Tournament.

If Boeheim needs them in a pinch during the big dance, they'll be much more comfortable and ready to go. If one of the Orange stars goes down with injury (ex: Arinze Onuaku in 2010 Big East playoffs), the youngsters will be ready to come in and make an impact.

Starter Rakeem Christmas usually never gets more than a couple of minutes of action until he's benched, then he never sees the floor again. I don't think that's a great motivational tool.

When Christmas actually gets into the flow of the game, he's proven he can contribute at a high level. His two highest amounts of playing time in the conference schedule were the Cincinnati game (27 minutes) and the St. John's and Providence games (16 minutes each).

Against the Bearcats, Christmas grabbed nine rebounds, dished two assists, blocked three shots and went 2-2 from the field.

He scored eight points against the Friars, and against the Johnnies, he did a little bit of everything: seven boards, two assists, two blocks and 2-2 from the field. 

But since then, Christmas has been keeping the bench warm, and who knows how he'll fare once he's thrown into the NCAA Tournament fray. Just a couple of extra minutes here and there over the next week would help boost his confidence heading into the national tourney.

Carter-Williams has played in just eight of Syracuse's last 14 games, and his performance in those games has varied. His highlight game was against St. John's in New York, where he scored 13 points, had three assists and a monster dunk.

At Connecticut on Saturday, Carter-Williams made the most of his seven minutes; he notched a couple of nifty assists, hit a three-pointer and grabbed a steal.

On the other hand, there have been games where the young guard commits an early turnover and Boeheim pulls him quickly.

Boeheim has done a fantastic job of managing this deep roster and finding a good rotation this season. But loosening the leash a little bit on the freshmen now would make them even more productive in the big dance.