After the Syracuse University men's basketball team lost for the sixth time in the last seven games on Saturday afternoon, all the conversation was about why talented freshman Kiyan Anthony didn't play for the first time all season.

Head coach Adrian Autry said that not playing Anthony was his decision.

Let's dive a little deeper.

The tendency is to overreact to this decision, and maybe there is a deeper meaning to it, but it's also possible that this is just a one-game situation.

With Syracuse now 13-11 and 4-7 inside conference play, Autry has been searching for answers and sparks. Recently, Autry took his best player Donnie Freeman out of the starting lineup for a game in order to get Sadiq White Jr. in the starting five. He called that a matchup-based decision and Freeman was back in the lineup the next game.

White played just two minutes on Saturday. One day? A start. A week later? Nearly the entire game on the bench. Perhaps this decision with Anthony is just a matchup-based one and he'll get his customary 13-20 minutes on Feb. 11 against Cal.

It's certainly possible.

Hear me out.

Anthony is the son of a program legend, a Hall of Famer and a guy who has donated millions of dollars to the program. It's never easy to bench someone who comes from that kind of lineage and it certainly takes guts.

But is it also what's best for the team? Some would argue yes. Anthony is shooting just 23.3 percent from three-point range this season and 61 percent at the foul line. He's slight of frame and has a hard time matching up defensively as a result.

Metrics have called him SU's least efficient player. Maybe benching him is actually for the best as Syracuse attempts to right this sinking ship?

I've watched every Syracuse game this season, and myself or Tom Goslowski has been at every single home game except two. We've seen Anthony in person many times.

It's very clear to me that he's someone who plays better the more he plays, and I actually am in favor of giving him more time.

Anthony is a playmaker. He's best served getting into the flow of the action and being given the freedom to make those plays. When you come in for three minutes here, and five minutes there, do you really ever feel comfortable? Anthony knows his time is limited, can you really play with confidence in that scenario?

And when you're on the floor for such short bursts with the likes of Freeman, JJ Starling, Naithan George and Nate Kingz, aren't you likely to defer to your upperclassmen and team leaders?

If Autry is trying new things and searching for answers, I'd like to see him put the ball in Anthony's hands more and see if he can really establish a rhythm. 

Either way, we'll see SU back on the floor on Wednesday night against Cal at the JMA Wireless Dome.

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