Adrian Autry sits Kiyan Anthony vs. Virginia: ‘That was my decision’
Adrian Autry sat Kiyan Anthony for the entirety of Syracuse’s loss to No. 18 Virginia, the first game this season the guard didn't play. Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Kiyan Anthony kept his warmup jacket and tear-away pants on for the entirety of Saturday afternoon. He sat there almost motionless. There were a few high-fives and shouts of encouragement. But for the majority of SU’s two-hour-long contest against Virginia, Syracuse’s freshman guard had his lips tightened, dead silent amid the on-court action.
Orange head coach Adrian Autry did not play Anthony versus UVA, the first game of his young career in which he logged zero minutes.
“No, no injury concerns. It was just, you know, my decision,” Autry said postgame. “(Virginia) is a physical team, an experienced team. And, you know, it was just my decision. It was nothing else, no injuries or anything like that, there’s no narratives about any of this stuff. Again, I just made the decision. That was my decision I made today.”
If you weren’t aware after reading it four times over in that quote, it was Autry’s choice to sit Anthony in Syracuse’s (13-11, 4-7 Atlantic Coast) 72-59 loss to No. 18 Virginia (20-3, 9-2 Atlantic Coast) Saturday inside John Paul Jones Arena.
The timing of this move couldn’t have been more interesting. During SU’s 87-77 defeat to No. 14 North Carolina Monday, Carmelo Anthony, Kiyan’s father, commented “SMFH” under an Instagram post that showed a highlight of the game. “SMFH” means “shaking my f—ing head.”
One could only imagine what Carmelo’s reaction to Saturday’s contest was.
The Naismith Hall of Famer was not in attendance for Syracuse-Virginia. He’s been a regular at his son’s games all season.
Just six days ago, Kiyan discussed his role with the Orange this season. He’s averaging about 20 minutes per game, though his playing time has steadily decreased since SU entered ACC play. He expressed after the UNC loss that he’s “super OK” with his bench-guard role, especially since it’s the final year of college hoops for senior guards J.J. Starling and Nate Kingz.
“It’s nothing personal,” Kiyan said Monday. “It’s no hard feelings. The business is business at the end of the day. So if that’s what it got to be, then that’s what it got to be. But we definitely gotta do a better job of executing.”
Autry didn’t offer a detailed explanation for why he sat Kiyan all 40 minutes. Though he acknowledged the Cavaliers’ high experience level and physical toughness, he never explicitly shared why he felt Anthony was the odd man out in his rotation against Virginia.
On the contrary, his reasoning for why Kiyan didn’t play could lie in his explanation for Bryce Zephir’s implementation into the rotation. Zephir tallied eight minutes as a point guard coming off the bench, earning time on the floor for his tenacious defense, Autry said.
However, Autry gave an intriguing answer about the way Zephir plays, using him as an example of what he wants to see from some of his other guys.
“(Zephir) is also a guy that is always looking to get everyone involved,” Autry said of how Zephir performs on offense. “I think that’s something that was missing a bit for us. We have guys that like to score.”
Kiyan is averaging 1.0 assist per game thus far. Zephir tallied one assist against Virginia. Autry spoke ad nauseam about SU’s lack of ball movement versus North Carolina, saying his team has an influx of players who need — and crave — the ball in their hands. Kiyan is certainly a ball-dominant guard, but Autry didn’t say if that was why he sat him in favor of Zephir.
Kiyan was not available to speak postgame.
After the contest ended, Kiyan initially liked an Instagram post from ESPN that showed a graphic of him playing zero minutes against Virginia and a clip of Autry discussing the benching. He has since unliked the post.
