J.J. Starling shakes off rust in return from hamstring injury
J.J. Starling returned from a two-game absence for his first full game of the season against Monmouth, dropping 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer
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J.J. Starling stands on the court pregame with his purple Kobe-branded shoes off to the side. With about an hour before tip-off, the Baldwinsville native’s white socks connect to the hardwood.
Starling made the scene part of his pregame routine when he first entered college. It’s a way for him to mediate before battle. In his senior season, why change it?
“It’s just to get a feel for the court,” Starling said. “(I) get grounded into what I want to do, who I am and what I want to accomplish.”
Starling’s ritual was interrupted over the first two weeks of the year as he was sidelined with a hamstring injury. In his return to action Tuesday, it was a mixed bag of results as Syracuse (4-0, Atlantic Coast) defeated Monmouth (1-3, Coastal Athletic) 78-73 despite a late scare.
The shooting guard scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 26 minutes of play. His six shot attempts were a far cry from his 16 per game last season, and Starling went just 2-of-5 from the free-throw line. He wasn’t perfect. But the Orange returned their senior captain and leading scorer from a year ago, just at the right time, with a pivotal trip to Las Vegas looming.
“I felt good. I definitely could tell just getting the rust off and stuff like that,” Starling said postgame. “So I’m just trying to get back in the swing of things, and I know that I’m going to be better.”
Before taking his shoes off on Jim Boeheim Court, Starling soothes his soul with a long pregame nap and some R&B music. Starling’s return to his happy place evokes an obvious excitement. As SU runs through pregame drills, Starling dances with his teammates to up the energy. The JMA Wireless Dome is his palace. Doing what he loves in front of a supportive crowd is an unbeatable feeling in his eyes.
Though it was all stripped away just three minutes into his last dance. Starling hobbled to the locker room early in Syracuse’s season opener against Binghamton. He returned to the bench in a sweatsuit and sat out the next two games versus Delaware State and Drexel.
The road back required patience. Fellow guard Bryce Zephir said Starling incrementally ramped up his speed in preparation for a return. Freshman Sadiq White noted Starling’s presence vocally from the sidelines. But he’d been through this before. Starling missed seven games last year with a broken left hand.
Both times, as a competitor, it hurt him to watch. However, Starling said the game slowed down for him, as he was able to pinpoint specific defensive rotations he hadn’t focused on before. Through the process, Starling improved. The Orange need him at his best.
“He’s our leader,” SU head coach Adrian Autry said of Starling after the win over Drexel. “For this team to be whole, for this program to be where we think we can be, he’s a big part of it.”
J.J. Starling runs off the court in Syracuse’s win over Monmouth Tuesday. Starling returned to action after suffering a hamstring injury in SU’s season opener against Binghamton. Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer
From the get-go Tuesday, Starling was at the forefront of Syracuse’s operation. He caught a swing pass from point guard Naithan George, drove left to right and missed a scoop shot off the glass. It was Starling’s ability to get downhill and put pressure on the rim that Autry felt made him effective against Monmouth. Yet after his shot attempt 15 seconds in, Starling didn’t attempt another until under seven minutes remained in the opening frame.
Autry emphasized playing Starling in short spurts to keep him fresh. The senior hadn’t played a full game since the Pace exhibition on Oct. 29, where Starling played a team-high 29 minutes. Versus the Hawks Tuesday, Starling substituted out less than four minutes into the game. He sat out four minutes and then played nine.
In the second half, as his aggressiveness prevailed, Starling played less than four minutes again before subbing out for just 90 seconds and returning for a six-minute spurt. A four-minute exit was followed by the final five minutes on the court, outside of the last 30 seconds, when he was subbed out as the Orange closed the game.
“I thought his competitiveness took over,” Autry said. “He wanted to push a little bit more, but I thought J.J. was fine for the first time being out there for a while.”
Starling’s first score of the game — and the season — was a floater through the heart of the Hawks’ defense. It was his only bucket of the first half. In the second, Starling got to the rim for layups multiple times while also hitting a 3 from the right corner. It was noteworthy for the star guard, as he said shooting from beyond the arc was his point of emphasis in the offseason. He only shot one. But it felt right.
As a guard who uses his quick first step to attack the rim, Starling’s free-throw shooting is what held him back. He missed three in the second half, even airballing one as part of SU’s overall 19-of-33 performance. Autry said Starling simply needs to find his rhythm as he returns. Starling thinks he rushed his attempts, and he’s too good a player to be “in his head.”
Starling also knows free throws can be the deciding factor in winning games. He claims he’ll be back in the Carmelo K. Anthony Center on Wednesday to address the issue.
“At the end of the day, I’m 100%. So that’s more so just me mentally and how I prepared for this game,” Starling said. “I don’t think I prepared the way I should have, which led to me being timid both offensively and defensively.”
Starling’s presence adds a punch to Syracuse’s winning equation. George said it benefits everyone to have a great scorer like Starling return to the lineup. Zephir sees Starling as a do-it-all player.
However, Starling isn’t where he wants to be yet. It wasn’t too much of a surprise to him that he was a bit passive in his return. But it’s not an excuse. Despite the win, he was disappointed in his play. He knows who he needs to be to help the Orange reach their lofty goals.
It’s himself.
“I just know who I am, and I know what I showed over the years. And injury or not, that wasn’t me,” Starling said.
