Syracuse Starters Playing Less

An anomaly for this Syracuse season is the playing time for the starters; there's nobody playing a ton of minutes every game.  Girard leads the team with 33.8 mpg. There are 14 players in the ACC with a higher usage rate.

Last season four Orange players averaged 34+ mpg: Buddy Boeheim 38.0, Cole Swider 34.5, Joe Girard 34.1, and Jimmy Boeheim 34.7.

Tyus Battle

Leaders for recent seasons:

2021-22 Buddy Boeheim 38.0

2020-21 Buddy Boeheim 36.2

2019-20 Elijah Hughes 36.7

2018-19 Tyus Battle 36.3

2017-18 Tyus Battle 39.0

2016-17 Andrew White 37.2

2015-16 Michael Gbinije 37.9

2014-15 Trevor Cooney 37.3

2013-14 CJ Fair 37.8

2012-13 Michael Carter Williams 35.2

2011-12 Kris Joseph 32.2

You have to go back to 2011-12 with Kris Joseph to find the team leader with that low a minute per game usage.

Orange Backcourt Free Throw Shooting - Who's the Best?

 Free throw shooting has long been the Achille's Heel of Syracuse basketball.  A lot of fans may not have been paying attention, however, and noticed that the Orange have gotten much better as a team in that area the past few years. In fact last year's team was the best free throw shooting team in Syracuse history, and their clip of 78.2% is significantly better than the previous record of 75.1% set in the 1983-1984 season. The 2019-2020 season is now the fourth best on record for the Orange, so definitely an upward trend.

It is vital for a team to have a solid free throw shooting backcourt, as it helps to ice the lead late in a game.  Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard are currently shooting at a combined 89.7%, hitting 105 of 117 attempts through the first 17 games.  This would break the Orange record for free throw percentage for the starting backcourt.  Boeheim is shooting 90.4% while Girard is hitting 88.6%, truly a team effort for the duo.

There are thirteen Orange starting backcourts that have made 78% or more of their free throws.  Here are the thirteen, in order, with the current record holder listed first.

1.  2005-2006.  Gerry McNamara hit 90.2% of his shots and Eric Devendorf 81.1%, as the duo combined for 175-201 for 87.1%.  GMac is the school's all-time career free throw shooter, and Devo is 15th, so this really should not be a surprise for anyone. 

2.  2016-2017.  John Gillon hit 86.1% and Tyus Battle 79.8% as the duo combined for 84.8% on 190-224.

3.  2020-2021.  Joe Girard hit 78% and Buddy Boeheim 84.9%, for a combined 84-103 for 81.6%. So it should not be a surprise that the duo is taking a run at the record.  This is the least prolific duo on this list, even if you prorate the number of free throws to account for games missed due to Covid-19.

4.  2019-2020.  Joe Girard hit 89.4% and Buddy Boeheim 71.4% for a combined 122-150 for 81.3%. This is a reverse of the following year, with Girard carrying load over Boeheim.

5.  1971-1972.  Dennis DuVal hit only 66.0% and Greg Kohls 86.4%, for a combined 290-360 for 80.6%.  This was a case of Kohls taking the vast majority of the free throw attempts.  This was by far the most prolific free throw shooting duo of the top 13.  Kohls took 257 of the free throw attempts himself, an outstanding number.

6.  1978-1979.  Hal Cohen hit 76.9% and Marty Headd 82.1%, for a combined 105-132 for 79.5%.

7.  1967-1968.   Rich Cornwall hit 85.9% and Ernie Austin 69.6% for a combined 112-141 for 79.4%.

8.  1984-1985.  Pearl Washington hit 78.4% and Michael Brown 87.0%, for a combined 158-199 for 79.4%.  In retrospect I wonder how many fans realized that the Pearl was a solid free throw shooter?

9.  2017-2018.  Frank Howard hit 71.9% and Tyus Battle 83.9% for a combined 259-327 for 79.2%.  

10.  2008-2009.  Jonny Flynn hit 78.6% and Eric Devendorf 79.5% for a combined 277-351 for 78.9% This is the second most prolific duo on this list.

11. 2013-2014.  Tyler Ennis hit 76.5% and Trevor Cooney 84.1% for a combined 167-212 for 78.8%.

12.  2004-2005 Gerry McNamara hit 87.4% and Louis McCroskey a very poor 50%, for a combined 131-167 for 78.4%.  This was clearly a case of GMac carrying all the load of free throws.

13. 2002-2003.  Gerry McNamara hit 90.9% and Kueth Duany a weak 67.5% for a combined 167-213 for 78.4%.  Again, GMac carried the load for the free throws, but the duo did help lead the Orange to a National Championship. This is GMac's third entry on this list.

Boeheim and Girard will almost certainly make an entry into this top list, and have a real shot at #1.  They already hold the third and fourth positions.

While doing this research, I found it interesting that most of the top free throw shooting backcourts for the Orange were in the past twenty years, with nine out of thirteen.  The worst free throw shooting backcourts were predominantly in the 1950s and early 1960s.  So when your father/grandfather says that "young players today don't know the fundamentals such as free throw shooting like we knew when I was growing up",  you now have the evidence to contradict him.

Syracuse Three Year Scoring Leaders

Tyus Battle finished his Syracuse career this year as the #16 all-time scorer in school history.  Most scorers with 1,000+ points accomplished the feat in four seasons, but Battle did it in three.

There are only two three-year players ahead of Battle on the all-time scoring list. The top 10 scorers for three-year players are:

Dave Bing

1. Dave Bing 1,883 points (24.8 ppg)

2. Billy Owens 1.840 points (17.9 ppg)

3. Tyus Battle 1,647 points (16.0 ppg)

4. Dennis DuVal 1,504 (18.6 ppg)

5. Rudy Hackett 1,496 (17.2 ppg)

6. Pearl Washington 1,490 (15.7 ppg)

7. Bill Smith 1,451 (20.7 ppg)

8. Greg Kohls 1,360 (19.2 ppg)

9. Mike Lee 1,351 (16.3 ppg)

10. Vinnie Cohen 1,337 (19.7 ppg)

Obviously, there are some four-year players who would have made this list based on just their first three years.

Owens, Battle and the Pearl are the only ones on the list who left after their junior year. The others are players who played when freshman were not eligible.

Lawrence Moten, Syracuse's all-time leading scorer, had 1,745 points after his first three seasons.  He would have ranked 3rd on this list.

Sherman Douglas scored 1,914 point in his last three seasons at Syracuse, the most for any player over three consecutive seasons.  Stephen Thompson scored 1,764 in his final three seasons.

Tyus Battle - By The Numbers - 2019

Tyus Battle surprised many Syracuse fans when he bypassed the 2018 NBA draft and came back to Syracuse for his junior season.  Battle did improve some aspects of his game, particularly his efficiency, but overall the season was disappointing for the team.  Battle has announced he is going into the 2019 NBA draft, and I would be surprised if that were to change this year.  

Here are the numbers to remember Battle's career:

Tyus Battle

1,647 points for 16th all-time.  If he had not missed the ACC Tournament, he most certainly would have passed C.J. Fair (1,660 points), and possibly Eric Devendorf (1,680 points).

285 rebounds for 89th all-time.  He has one more than teammate Frank Howard, and roughly the same number as Trevor Cooney (285), Scoop Jardine (282) and Eric Devendorf (277).

214 assists for 44th all-time.  He's similar to Trevor Cooney (215) and Josh Wright (217).

179 three point field goals made for 9th all-time.  That's about the same as Todd Burgan (178).

23 blocked shots for 72nd all-time.  That is the same number as teammate Frank Howard, as well as Herman Harried and Erich Santifer.

135 steals for 31st all-time.  He is tied with Ryan Blackwell and close to Eric Devendorf (134).

33.5% three point shooting percentage for 37th all-time.  Comparable three point shooters to him are Trevor Cooney (33.7%), DeShaun Williams (33.6%) and Adrian Autry (33.3%).

80.3% free throw shooting percentage for 12th all-time.  Similar free throw shooters include Danny Schayes and Trevor Cooney.   Battle is one of only 12 Syracuse players to shoot 80% for their career (minimum 100 attempts).

Battle led the Orange in scoring in both his sophomore and junior seasons.  The last player to lead the team in scoring back-to-back years was C.J. Fair in 2012-13 and 2013-14. 

Battle fell four assists short of leading the team in assists.  If he had accomplished the feat, he would have been the first non-point guard since Andy Rautins 2009-10 to lead the team in assists.

Battle holds the Syracuse record for most minutes per game for his career in the NCAA tournament with 39.6 minutes a game for 5 games. 

Battle was a Second Team ACC Player his sophomore year, and Third Team ACC Player his junior year. 

Syracuse Orange Basketball - By The Numbers 2018-19

The Syracuse Orange basketball team ended the season on a sour note losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  On the bright side, they did comfortably make it into the tournament, earning an eight seed.

Here's some team level numbers to remember the year by:

Syracuse was 18-11 in games Frank Howard played.  2-3 in games he did not.

Syracuse was 5-1 in games that Marek Dolezaj started.  15-13 in games he did not.   Four of his starts were ACC games.

The Orange were 3-8 versus AP Top 25 teams.  The 11 games against ranked teams ties the school record set in 2005-06 and again 2015-16.

The Orange were 1-5 versus AP Top 5 teams.  The 6 games against top 5 teams ties the school record set in 1995-96, and again in 2017-18 (last year).  

The following is a list comparing 2018-19 statistics to the other 42 seasons in the Jim Boeheim era:

• 808 field goals made were the 2nd fewest in the Boeheim era (2014-15 is lowest with 763)
• 42.40% field goal percentage was the 2nd lowest (2017-18 is lowest at 41.7%)
• 68.5% free throw percent was 23rd lowest (1987-88 is lowest at 60%)
• 274 three point field goals was 3rd most ever (2015-16 is highest with 315)
• 824 three point attempts is 2nd most ever (2015-16 is highest with 876)
• 33.3% three point percent is 23rd highest ever, right in the middle of the pack (1986-87 is highest with 40.3%)
• 408 assists is third lowest (2017-18 is lowest with 395)
• 1176 rebounds is 8th lowest (1984-85 is lowest with 1,064)
• 424 turnovers is 7th lowest (2013-14 is lowest with 306)
• 162 blocked shots is 9th lowest (1994-95 is lowest with 141)
• 2,370 points is 7th lowest (2014-15 is lowest with 2,096)
• 69.7 points per game is 4th lowest (2017-18 is lowest with 66.6)
• 12.0 assists per game is 3rd lowest (2017-18 is lowest with 10.7)
• 34.6 rebounds per game is 2nd lowest (1984-85 is lowest with 34.3)
• +3.7 Point differential per game is 5th lowest (2017-18 is lowest with +2.8)

The last time the Orange has a negative point differential was 1968-69.  That was also the team's last losing season.

Syracuse set the NCAA Single Game home attendance record of 35,642 versus Duke on 2/23/2019.

Tyus Battle's 17.2 ppg was the lowest for the team leader since C.J. Fair had 16.5 ppg in 2013-14.

Oshae Brissett's 7.5 rebounds per game was the lowest for the team leader since C.J. Fair has 6.4 in 2013-14.

Frank Howard's 2.9 assists per game was the lowest for the team leader in school history.  The previous record was 3.1 by Ross Kindel in 1976-77.

Tyus Battle's 76.3% free throw shooting was the lowest for a team leader since Damone Brown's 75.0% in 1998-99.

Where to Rank Tyus Battle?

I honestly don’t know where to rank Tyus Battle in terms of all time Syracuse players.  Fortunately, there still a majority of this season to be played out.  Right now, I think he’s been a very good player on an offensively challenged team, and that has inflated some of his statistics.

Tyus Battle

Syracuse has played a lot of close games the past three years, and therefore a lot of opportunities for game winning heroics have existed.  And to Battle’s credit, he has taken advantage of most of those opportunities and succeeded.  That’s a plus for him.  

Battle is very good at isolation offense, and that has helped Syracuse when the offense has stagnated.   He is decent in the zone defense at Syracuse; not outstanding, but definitely up to the task of playing the position well and there’s not much to criticize there.   He does have only 9 steals so far this year… which is an anomaly for him, and very low for a SU guard after 10 games.  Looking back over recent history, Brandon Triche was the last guard to average that few steals, and he played about 2/3 the minutes of Battle.

He is not a solid three point shooter, he doesn’t rebound as well as you would like a 2-guard to rebound, and he has low assist totals for a guy who plays 40 minute almost every game.  He does not play well when there is poor point guard play, indicating his is dependent on his teammates to help him out. At the same time, I’ve always thought great players elevated those around them, and I’m not sure I see any of his teammates improve because of his presence on the court.  

If you compare him to a guy like Andy Rautins, the contrasts are obvious.  Battle has an NBA style of game and athleticism, so he may get a shot at the NBA, whereas Rautins was really never going to make that league.  But as collegiate players, Rautins had a better rounded game as a senior than Battle does as a junior.  Rautins made nearly 41% of this three point shots, averaged 4.9 assists per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, and had 2 steals a game.  Rautins couldn’t beat his man off the dribble and get into the lane like Battle can.  But he definitely improved the game of those around him, and he was outstanding at playing the top of the SU Zone.  

Back in 1961-1962 a sophomore guard name Carl Vernick led the Orangmen in scoring, by far, with 16.5 ppg.  He has 5.4 rebounds a game, and had a couple of games with 30+ points.  Vernick, while the best offensive player on that team, was an okay college player.  He looked much better because he had to step up compared to his teammates. That Orangemen team was 2-22 for the season, the worst in SU history.

New SU head coach Fred Lewis came aboard and started recruiting better players.  Vernick’s numbers started to drop, and by his senior year he averaged 2.6 ppg.  Players like Dave Bing, Chuck Richards, Norm Goldsmith and Jim Boeheim were simply better than him.  

I’m not suggesting Tyus Battle is Carl Vernick.  I just wanted to use Vernick as an illustration for a basketball player’s stats being highly influenced by the context of the team he is in and the players around him.  Vernick is an extreme example.

Battle is also not a Billy Owens, Carmelo Anthony or Lawrence Moten. Those guys took teams with young or little talent, and rose them to a very successful level.  SU’s teams with Battle have been borderline NCAA teams.  Owens carried the 1990-91 Orangemen to a 26-6 overall record, a 12-4 Big East season, with 23.2 ppg, 3.5 apg, and 11.6 rpg.  That team was 26-4 going into post season play.  Dave Johnson stepped up beside Owens to help with the offense, but make no mistake about how dominating Owens was.

Battle has shown moments of being able to dominate games; the second half of the recent Georgetown game is such an example.  It was amazing how he dominated the Hoyas in the second half; it was disappointing that as a junior guard, that it required being called out by his head coach at half time in order for him to step up. 

Battle is going to end up a top 15 scorer for Syracuse by the end of this year; if he stayed around another year he would move to #2 in scoring and have a shot at #1.    I don’t think it he is one of the best 15 players ever for the Orange; at least not on what I have seen yet.

Yet, he is going to leave us with many memorable game winning plays, a career full of heroic moments.  And I’m grateful for that.  

Career and Season Records from 2017-2018

Syracuse fielded a young squad in 2017-2018 with juniors Frank Howard and Paschal Chukwu, sophomore Tyus Battle, and freshmen Matthew Moyer and Oshae Brissett the starters.  Fellow freshman Marek Dolezaj, Bourama Sidibe and Howard Washington completed the bulk of the playing time.

A young squad is unlikely to have many players moving up significantly in the all-time career categories, but there were some things to note.

Tyus Battle

Tyus Battle became the 62^nd player to score 1,000 career points; how now has 1,097 points.  He is 55^th all-time. If he scored 700 points again next year he could move up to 13^th and surpass Rony Seikaly.  Frank Howard entered the top 100, and is now 93^rd all-time with 734 points.  Barring injury he should easily get to 1,000 points next season.

Ohae Brissett’s outstanding rebounding effort his freshman year put him well into the top 100 career rebounders at Syracuse. He is tied for 70^th all-time with Andy Rautins with 327 rebounds.  Paschal Chukwu is also in the top 100, with 281 career rebounds, placing him 85^th all-time.

Frank Howard has moved himself up the charts, and is now 18thall-time in assists with 351.  He needs only 88 assists to move all the way up to 8^th all-time.  Battle is also in the top 100, at 71^st on the list with 134 assists.

Battle is 17^th all-time in three point shots made with 137 made shots.  He should move up to around 5^th all-time next year.  Howard is 29^th with 87 shots made, and Brissett is 37^th with 55.  Considering any player who has ever made a three point shot makes the top 100 list, Geno Thorpe comes in 75^th (with 4), Adrian Autry Jr, Marek Dolezaj and Howard Washington are tied at 83^rd (with 2), and Matthew Moyer is tied at 92^nd (with 1).

Paschal Chukwu is 21^st all-time in blocked shots with 105.  Brissett is 56^th with 29, Dolezaj 58^th with 28, Bourama Sidibe 74^th with 20, Howard 76^th with 19, and Battle 81^st with 15.

Frank Howard is 38^th all-time in steals with 123.  Battle is 51^st with 98, Brissett 87^th with 43, Dolezaj 95^th with 30, and Chukwu 96^th with 29.

Battle is currently the 6th best career freethrow shooter with 82.6%.  Brissett is 18^th at 78.7%. 

The Orange also had several notable individual season accomplishments.

Battle’s 712 points and 19.2 ppg were the most since Hakim Warrick scored 726 with 21.4 ppg in 2004-2005. 

Brissett’s 327 rebounds were the most since Rick Jackson had 360 in 2010-2011. Brissett’s 8.8 rpg was topped by Rakem Christmas in 2014-2015 with 9.1

Chukwu’s 91 blocked shots were the most since Darryl Watkins had 112 in 2006-2007.  His 2.5 blocks per game was equaled by Rakem Christmas in 2014-2015.

Brissett’s 174 made free throws were a freshman record, and the most by any Orangeman since Jonny Flynn made 180 in 2008-2009.

Tyus Battle set a school record for minutes played with 1,443;  Howard has the 2^nd most all-time with 1,422 and Brissett is 4^th all-time with 1,411.  Jonny held the previous record with 1,418 in 2008-2009.

On the downside, Oshae Brissett led the Orange with a 33.1% three point shooting percentage. That was the lowest percentage ever for a team leader, breaking the mark set by Lawrence Moten back in 1992-1993 with 33.6%.  Brisstt's effort was the 60th best 3 point shooting season for Syracuse out of 74 players who qualified.  Howard was 63rd and Battle 64th.  

Tyus Battle is only the third Syracuse player to be named All-ACC First Team. The other two were Rakeem Christmas in 2015 and C.J. Fair in 2014.

A few oddities too about the 2017-2018 Orangemen. They were widely reported throughout the season to have the tallest team in the NCAA. The starting five:  Howard 6’4”, Battle 6’5”, Moyer 6’8”, Brissett 6’8”, and Chukwu 7’2”.  Reserves Dolezaj 6’9” and Sidibe 6’10” definitely helped that average.  The shortest regular player on the squad was Washington at 6’3”.

Coach Jim Boeheim won his 1,027 game as a head coach for Syracuse, and was involved in 1,218 wins for Syracuse basketball as a player, assistant coach and head coach.  He won his 50th ACC game.  He coached in his 33rd NCAA tournament.

The Orange Offense 2017-18

The Orange basketball team has some unusual statistical oddities occurring this season. This is being driven by the reliance on three guys to do virtually all of the scoring: Tyus Battle, Oshae Brissett, and Frank Howard.

Hopefully Matthew Moyer continues to exploit the defensive coverage being given to him and he  keeps improving his value as a fourth scorer. A tip of the hat to Howard who recognizes that Moyer is getting weak coverage and giving him the ball in those situations.

The Orange have a three headed offensive attack right now with three guys averaged 15.4 ppg or more.  The 1993-94 team was the last team with three guys with 15+ ppg:  Lawrence Mote 21.5, Adrian Autry 16.7, and John Wallace 15.0.  The 2012-13 team, which made the Final Four had a leading scorer C.J. Fair with just 14.5 ppg, lower than all three scorers this year.  The 2011-12 team's leading scorer had 13.4 ppg (Kris Joseph), and 2010-11 had 14.3 ppg (again Joseph).

The downside is that the fourth leading scorer on this year's squad barely averaged 5.3 ppg (Pascal Chukwu).  I have to go back to 2004-05 to find a team where the fourth leading scorer was even remotely close to that low, and that was Terrence Roberts with 7.2 ppg.  Fourth leading scorer on the 2001-02 team was Hakim Warrick with 6.1 ppg.  Fourth leading scored on the 1989-90 team was Dave Johnson with 6.5 ppg.  You would have to go all the way back to 1948-1949 to find a Syracuse team where the fourth leading scorer averaged 5.4 ppg or less.

I'd expect Moyer and Marek Dolezaj's numbers to improve as the year moves on, and for them to end up in the 6-7 ppg range; I'd also expect our top three scorers numbers to start to dip as the others on the team start to score more.

But it is interesting from an historical perspective how unusual our point spread is right now.

Seven Big Questions for 2016-2017

Orange fans hopes are very high for the upcoming men’s basketball season.  There indeed is a lot of potential on this squad, and the team may go ten players deep, something that has not happened often in coach Jim Boeheim’s career.

It is with almost certainty that the Orange will be a better team this year than the squad from last year.  But fans must keep in mind that last year’s team, before the NCAA tournament, may have been one of the worst squads that Boeheim has ever had.  The team was 19-13 in the regular season, and was 5-6 versus AP Top 25 teams.  That record was deservedly good enough to get into the NCAA tournament, particularly with the strength of some of the Orange’s wins.  But by Syracuse and Jim Boeheim standards, it was a mediocre season.  That is, until the NCAA tournament, where the team jelled, and made an improbably run to the Final Four.

It is also unlikely that no matter how good this year’s team is, that they will not get to the Final Four.  Several of Syracuse’s top teams have never made the Final Four.  Teams need to be playing very well as a unit, and get the right match ups, plus have players step up when they need to. 

This year’s team will be very hard to predict.  There are a lot of questions about what the squad really is comprised of. It does have a ton of potential. 

Question 1:  How good will Tylor Lydon be this year?  Last year he was the #4 option on the offense, 

and he was a terrible mismatch for opposing teams. This year he will likely be the #1 option. He is still a mismatch, but defenses will focus more on him.  Lydon has a terrific motor with a lot of hustle, and plays defense well. He should be better this year than last.

Question 2:  How good are the centers?  DaJuan Coleman is a fifth year senior, beset by injuries throughout this career. He started to play his best basketball in the NCAA tournament at the end of last year.  While there is no expectation for him to be a star, can he put up good numbers in 20-25 minutes of play?  Similarly, what do the Orange have in Paschal Chukwu?  He is a 7’2” player with a great wingspan and the ability to run the court.  He came as a raw talent and spent a year as a redshirt.  Can he be the shot blocking force that fans envision?  Does he have the ability to play defense other than blocking shots, and does he bring anything to the offensive end of the court?

Question 3:  Who will play the point, and how solid will that play be?  John Gillon and Frank Howard are the two point guards for this season.  Gillon is reportedly very quick with an average perimeter shot, a great ability to push the ball, and to press on defense. He is small, so he is not the prototypical guard for the top of the zone, though his speed may compensate for that.  Howard has the length to play the top of the zone, and has played in Boeheim’s zone for a year.  He showed last year that he is a terrific passer, with a good ability to get to the hoop, but very limited shooting range. Has his shooting improved?

Question 4:  How will the two fifth year seniors fit in?  The previously mentioned Gillon and Andrew White join Syracuse as graduate transfers.  White is reportedly a terrific shooter, though NBA scouts did indicate he needed to stay in school another year to develop more.  The two players have a ton of collegiate experience, and that brings a lot of value.  But both have no experience in Boeheim’s system, and how well will they play zone defense?  Do the personalities of both players allow them to be ‘team players’, or are they going to be self-focused? 

Question 5:  How good are the freshman? It seems that Tyus Battle is a terrific athlete and will see a lot of time at the shooting guard position. Taureen Thompson will see some time up front, and Matthew Moyer will try to find some time at the small forward position.  Do these players adjust well to being secondary players, if necessary? Particularly of concern would be Battle who may already have an eye on going to the NBA.  Can the freshman deliver?  For every Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, you have a Tyler Roberson and Kaleb Joseph.

Question 6:  Speaking of Roberson, which Roberson will we see this year?  Roberson did not make the big jump from his sophomore to junior season that you often see with players. He still had a limited shooting range, and most infuriating was that his effort and production was inconsistent.  There were nights of ‘plugged in’ Roberson where he pulled down 20 rebounds against Duke. And then there were nights that he barely registered in the stat column, frustrating Boeheim to the point that he publicly criticized his lack of effort.

Question 7:  How does this team gel?  Do the sum of the parts exceed the components, or do the individual efforts exceed what the team does?  Great teams do the former; poorer teams do the latter. 

We have a Hall of Fame coach who loves his job, and is as focused as ever.  Boeheim is publicly praising this team, and polls have the team in the top 20 preseason.  I’d love for the parts to come together, for the Orange to have a great season, one where the offense flowed well, and the defense continued to shut-it-down. 

We will start to find out November 11^th.