Syracuse guard Jaquan Carlos on his struggles: ‘I hold myself to a way higher standard’

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Jaquan Carlos is struggling and no one is more aware of that fact that him.
Carlos, the transfer point guard from Hofstra who was brought in this season to run the Syracuse offense, has not played up to anyone’s expectations. Including and most specifically, his own.
“I think I haven’t been playing to my best ability,’’ Carlos said as he sat in front of his locker in the New York Liberty’s dressing room following Syracuse’s 79-74 loss to Texas Tech here at the Barclays Center on Friday. “I think I can definitely play better. I know I can.’’
Carlos has gotten off to a rough start Syracuse after establishing himself as one of the nation’s top playmakers at Hofstra.
The 6-foot guard averaged 10.3 points and ranked 12th in the nation last season with 6.4 assists per game.
Syracuse coach Adrian Autry and his staff saw Carlos as the perfect pass-first guard to run the Orange’s offense, setting up the team’s scorers like JJ Starling and Chris Bell.
“We (brought) JC in to get other people the ball,’’ Autry said.
But Syracuse, which fell to 3-2 after Friday’s loss to Texas Tech, has struggled offensively; as has Carlos.
Carlos managed just 4 points on 2-for-6 field goal shooting against Texas Tech. He was credited with three assists and zero turnovers in 26 minutes.
The game mirrored his play in SU’s first four games when he had averaged 3.5 points and struggled to make anything. He was 4-for-20 on field goal attempts and a meager 1-for-7 from the 3-point line.
“Yeah, I definitely hold myself to a way higher standard than I’m playing,’’ Carlos said, “but I think I try to impact the game other ways even though offensively I’m struggling a little bit.
“But I’m definitely not playing to the standard that I hold myself to.’’
It’s a chicken-or-the-egg equation for Carlos and Syracuse.
As a point guard, he is dependent on his teammates making shots and right now the Orange isn’t making much of anything. Syracuse went 6-of-21 from 3-point range against Texas Tech and is now shooting 25.7% from the arc for the young season.
So will Carlos’ production improve when SU’s shooting improves or does Carlos need to offer more production in order to kick SU’s offense into gear?
Autry seemed to side with egg, instead of the chicken.
“He’s got people the ball,’’ Autry said, “but we haven’t been able to finish or convert.’’
Over the summer and into the early fall, the reviews coming out of SU’s workouts and practices was that Carlos would be the answer at the point.
Syracuse junior Chris Bell, who scored 20 points on Friday, said the reports were accurate.
“There is another level (to Carlos) that you guys haven’t seen,’’ Bell said. “It’s gonna come out.’’
Bell said Carlos’ struggles were no different than his own off nights in recent games. Every player can get in a funk. Carlos is just hitting a bad stretch at the opening stretch of the season.
“I’m not gonna just give up (on Carlos) one, four or five games into the season,’’ Autry said. “All right? He’s a good player.’’
As Carlos searches for his groove, he’s like a baseball player in a hitting slump. He’s done this before. The hitter just needs a blooper to fall in or a ground ball to scoot through the infield. Carlos, who made 34.4% of his 3-pointers last season, just needs to see a shot go through the net; even if it bounces once or twice on the rim.
And if the rest of his teammates start making shots with any consistency, his assist-to-turnover numbers could become even gaudier than his current 19 assists and 5 turnovers through five games.
“I just gotta go out there and play,’’ Carlos said. “It’s not like anybody knows how to get your rhythm back because that means every time you get out of your rhythm, you would get it right back.
“It’s not gonna happen overnight,’’ he continued. “It’s just day-by-day. It could be next game or it could be the game after. I’m hoping it comes back quicker. I’m working every day trying to get it back
“It could be any game,’’ Carlos said. “It could happen next game and then we will take off from there.’’
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