The key for Fab Melo: patience

Fab Melo was everyone's pick to win the freshman of the year in the Big East.

A 7'0", 250 pound Brazilian that had grown up playing soccer, it was no surprise to see Melo get put into every recruitnik's top 20 in the class of 2010. Throw in the fact the middle of the Syracuse zone had a hole the size of Arinze Onuaku's rear-end, and you have the perfect storm for expectation -- hyped freshman, necessity of position, and a rabid fan base remembering their last freshman named Melo.


One of the things that we have forgotten in this period of one-and-done superstars like Kevin Durant and John Wall and, well, Carmelo Anthony is that most freshmen, basketball players and otherwise, take some time adjusting and settling into the college life.

And Melo is the poster child.

The picture that Bud Poliquin's column for the Syracuse Post-Standard today paints is an uncomfortable one. Melo is in just his second year of playing organized, American basketball, but he simply cannot find a way to break into the rotation. He played just three minutes in the three games prior to Saturday's overtime win against Rutgers, and he got four -- literally four -- seconds of playing time:

He is, after all, in his second season of organized American basketball after having spent the bulk of his life as a South American soccer player. He’s wending through strange college courses while speaking his third language. He’s living through his first-ever winter -- a brutal, sunless thing that has seeped into his bones and messed with his mind. He’s a long, long way from home.

And he’s playing for a tough, tough man who (a) is so very aware of Melo's negligible contributions across the Orange's 22-6 start and, (b) has more than just a smidge of Captain Hook in him. Not a happy combination, that.

You can't really blame Jim Boeheim for not playing Melo. As a coach, you aren't there to play favorites, you are in a position where you play the best player. And while you can freely criticize Boeheim for playing Melo for four seconds and pulling, the coach played a hunch. He thought Melo might be ready to go after sitting out back to back games. Instead, Melo foul Gil Biruta on his first possession, and Boeheim gave him the hook.

It didn't come without boos from the crowd, however:

"I know people want to see Fab succeed," said the Orange boss when asked about the boos. "I want to see him succeed. So, I get it. But I just didn’t think he was ready to play, and it had nothing to do with how long he was out there. I have to make that judgment, and that’s the judgment I made.

"The thing is, it was my mistake. But the mistake wasn’t pulling him out of the game; it was putting him into it. I shouldn’t have put Fab in that situation. But I had a hunch that maybe he’d be able to help us, but he just wasn’t ready. I shouldn’t have done it. It's my fault. That’s the bottom line."

My advice -- be patient, Syracuse fans.

Jim Boeheim has a pretty good track record when it comes to developing players. Did anyone expect Kris Joseph and Rick Jackson to be potential first round picks? What about Andy Rautins? You all saw that one coming, right? Melo will get better -- he can't exactly get any worse, can he? -- but it will take time, confidence, and, perhaps most importantly, comfort.

Remember, Melo is a Brazilian now living in Upstate New York. You think the winters in Syracuse are a bit different than the winters in Rio de Janeiro, or in Florida, where he played a year of high school ball?

Give him time, and you will be rewarded.

Very few freshman dominate from the moment they set foot on campus.

And if we have learned anything this year, its that Fab Melo is not Carmelo.