Votes Are In: Greatest Syracuse Football Players

The votes are in for the Greatest Syracuse Football player of all time. 32 voters decided to cast their ballots. I have a feeling that all the voters struggled like I did. There are six or seven guys who clearly make the top of the list, but sifting through the remaining great players to find the final three or four was tough.

The Top 10 Syracuse Football Players of all time are:

1. Jim Brown
2. Marvin Harrison
3. Ernie Davis
4. Donovan McNabb
5. Larry Csonka
6. Art Monk
7. John Mackey
8. Jim Ringo
9. Joe Morris
10. Floyd Little

For the record, my top 10 were as follows: Ernie Davis, Jim Brown, Marvin Harrison, Donovan McNabb, John Mackey, Jim Ringo, Vic Hanson, Larry Csonka, Art Monk, and Tim Green. But I think the top 10 that you the readers came up with is quite fine.

I am fairly confident that Davis or Brown is the greatest Syracuse football player of all time. Brown, of course, became a legend in the NFL, and easily could be voted the greatest NFL player of all time. I went with Davis for two reasons. First, Davis helped the Orangemen to a National Championship; yes, it is a team game, but when you are getting down to fine details between two great players, I think that deserves some consideration. Second, and more importantly, Davis was impressive enough to convince the Heisman voters to award him the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first African American to win that honor. Brown was not able to accomplish that. It was ‘only’ five years between Brown’s senior season and Davis winning the Heisman, and Davis was able to get voters past their prejudices.

I think if this vote were done again in 2008, we may see a different result at the top. Why? In 2008, ‘The Express’ will be released in theaters, detailing the life of Ernie Davis, and bringing exposure to a gentleman many people in this country do not know about.

The voting breakdown was as follows:

Jim Brown was on all 32 ballots, with 16 first places, 13 second places, and 1 third place. That’s pretty dominant results.

Marvin Harrison was on 28 ballots, with 4 first place votes, 1 second, and 11 third place votes. What is the justification for the four voters who left Marvelous Marvin off their ballot?

Ernie Davis was on only 22 ballots, with 9 first places, 5 second places, 4 third places, and 4 fourth places. That accounts for all the votes for Davis. Twenty two voters put him in their top 4, and ten left him completely off the ballot. That is a huge discrepancy, and I am guessing in part caused by younger fans having no idea who Ernie Davis was.

Donovan McNabb was on 23 ballots, with 2 first places, 6 second places, 6 third places, and 6 fourth places. That accounts for all but two votes for McNabb. The other nine voters left him off their ballots. I cannot explain that. 2/3 of the voters thought he is a top 4 candidate, and the rest did not vote for him.

Larry Csonka was on 26 ballots, with 0 first places, 2 second places, and 5 third places. Zonk’s votes were scattered all over the board, and that makes sense.

Art Monk was on 26 ballots, with 0 first places, 5 second places, and 3 third places. Like Csonka, Monk’s voters were scattered all over the board.

John Mackey was where the voting started to significantly get divided. Mackey was on only 14 ballots, with 3 second places.

Jim Ringo was on 11 ballots, with 2 fourth places.

Joe Morris was on 14 ballots, with 2 fourth places.

Floyd Little, rounding out the top 10, was on 9 ballots, with 2 fourth places.

The only other player to receive a #1 vote was Jake McBride, star halfback / quarterback from 1922-1924. That was the only vote McBride received on 32 ballots.

Players like Tim Green, Don McPherson, Keith Bullock, Vic Hanson, Gary Anderson, Jim Nance, Darryl Johnston, Joe Ehrman, Rob Moore, Marvin Graves, Donovin Darius, Roland Williams, Tebucky Jones, and Kevin Johnson rounded out the top 25. All were great college players for Syracuse, and made the voting tough.

Many other great players like Mike Charles, Roger Davis, Tommy Myers, John Brown, Al Bemiller, Jim Ridlon, Rob Burnett, Kevin Mitchell, and Terry Wooden, were outside the top 25. And that is to name only a few. Considering that Syracuse Football has been around for over 110 years, and that in modern football there are at least 24 prominent players each season (your starting 11 on offense, starting 11 on defense, kicker, and punter), there are a lot of talented players to choose from.

The polls will continue to remain open at Rankopedia, so please feel free to vote if you have not. I will check in again in a few months and see if the results have changed.

Votes Are In: Greatest Syracuse Lacrosse Player

The votes are in for the greatest Syracuse Lacrosse and Football players; I will cover them in separate articles. Admittedly, the results will be slightly skewed, since I will assume most readers of this blog are huge Syracuse basketball fans, and not necessarily big lacrosse or football fans.

Only 10 voters for the greatest Syracuse Lacrosse Player of All Time. The top 10 were:

1. Gary Gait
2. Mike Powell
3. Jim Brown
4. Casey Powell
5. Paul Gait
6. Ryan Powell
7. Dick Finley
8. Tom Marechek
9. Brad Kotz
10. Matt Palumb

No big surprises on this list. The top 3 were what I expected, though I was not positive that younger fans wouldn’t vote Mike Powell over Gary Gait. Take into account that I am not a lacrosse expert, I can say that I have never seen a better player than Gary Gait. The Air Gait move he pulled off in the NCAA Playoffs was truly unforgettable. I know one barometer I use for greatness is when I player accomplishes something so amazing, unpredictable, and unstoppable, that the sports governing body changes the rules to try to stop the player from using it again. The Air Gait move falls into that category.

Gary Gait appeared on all 10 ballots, with 5 firsts, 3 seconds, 1 third and 1 fourth.

Mike Powell appeared on all 10 ballots, with 3 firsts, 3 seconds, and 2 thirds.

Jim Brown appeared on 9 ballots, with 2 firsts, 1 second and 3 thirds. As Brown is in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and is considered by many experts to be the greatest lacrosse player ever, I am curious how he was left off of one ballot.

Casey Powell appeared on all 10 ballots, with 4 thirds and 4 fourths.

Paul Gait appeared on all 10 ballots, with 2 seconds, and 2 fourths.

Ryan Powell appeared on 9 ballots, with his highest vote being for fifth.

Dick Finley appeared on only 6 ballots, with his highest vote being fourth. I read up a little on Finley, and apparently he was the first lacrosse player to routinely use trick moves (such as shots behind the back). He played back in the early 1960s, so I am guessing he was the forerunner to players like Gary Gait.

Tom Marechek appeared on 7 ballots, with his highest vote being for seventh.

Brad Kotz appeared on 6 ballots, with his highest vote being for eighth.

Matt Palumb finished out the top ten appearing on 3 ballots. His position on the poll was greatly enhanced by receiving a second place vote.

My guess is that experts on the Syracuse lacrosse program would likely choose Hall of Famer Oren Lyons over Matt Palumb. Lyons was an outstanding goalie in the Jim Brown era.

The Nelson brothers, Tim and Tom, were big news on campus in the early 1980s. However, Tim only received 3 votes, and Tom none. They, along with Brad Kotz, were responsible for creating the strong Syracuse teams that were the forerunner to the Gait era.

Several Syracuse players in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame received no votes: Fred Fitch, Bill Fuller, Victor Jenkins, Stewart Lindsay, Irv Lydecker, Bill Ritch, Lou Robbins, Vic Ross, Roy Simmons Sr, Roy Simmons Jr, and Glenn Thiel. Hall of Famer Pat McCabe received 2 votes. I am not criticizing anyone for leaving these players off their vote, for a two reasons:

I had never heard of many of these men before, either
Many of the players in the top 10 will eventually be a Hall of Famer. They have not yet met the time eligibility requirements.

The poll will remain open at Rankopedia, so if you want to continue to vote, feel free.

Votes Are In: Syracuse Most Underrated Basketball Player

The votes are in for the most underrated Syracuse Basketball player of all time. As I mentioned when I created my own top 10, it is a difficult thing to do because you have to make an assumption that fans are not giving the player as much credit and you want to give them. When someone else does not think a player is underrated, it is either because he does not think he is very good, or he thinks he gets quite enough credit.

Anyhow, the top 10 as of this morning are listed below. I put in brackets where I had them in my list earlier this week.

1. Roosevelt Bouie (#2)
2. Preston Shumpert (#7)
3. Stevie Thompson (NR)
4. Josh Pace (NR)
5. Jason Hart (NR)
6. Leo Rautins (#6)
7. Kueth Duany (NR)
8. Demetris Nichols (NR)
9. Rafael Addison (#10)
10. Etan Thomas (NR)

From my perspective, I can take two approaches to those results: very humbling that only 4 of my players made that list, OR ‘what the heck are you all thinking’! Probably a little of both.

I think that Kueth Duany and Etan Thomas are viable underrated candidates. I had considered them both. Duany developed into one of those players who did every good; he wasn not great in any aspect, but he was a decent perimeter shooter, rebounder, ball handler, defender, and free throw shooter during his senior season. Thomas is rarely considered in discussions for top Syracuse center, yet he was two time Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

I’m having a tough time seeing Stevie Thompson, Demetris Nichols or Josh Pace being underrated; I think fans respect them very much for who there were. Thompson’s one of my own personal favorite players, and I think fans are quite aware of who he was, what he did, and how valuable he was for the team. If you voted for him being underrated by non-Syracuse fans… yes, I would whole heartedly agree with that. If you didn’t see Thompson play every day, you would really have no idea who he was.

Nichols was the best player on an average Syracuse team last year. A big time scorer; he is getting continued coverage with the NBA draft and the summer camps. I just don’t see how he’s underrated? I’m guessing he’s one of the top 30 Syracuse basketball players of all time; maybe top 25. Am I supposed to think he is higher than that?

Pace is a slightly different scenario. Like Duany, he is a guy who was good at everything (except actually shooting from 10+ feet out). He did all the dirty work on the court, got the rebounds and loose balls, played some point forward, some solid defense, etc. Typically, those are characteristics of a guy who gets underrated. However, I think Pace is an exception. He played a key role on the 2003 Championship team, and that is still recent history. I think Pace is still fresh in the minds of fans, and I think most fans do appreciate him appropriately. In fact, I think there’s enough of a movement to even suggest the many fans are overcompensating for him and he’s starting to fall on the overrated side of the equation.

Then there is Jason Hart, falling in at #5 on this list. I am not going to say too much about Hart here other than the fact I’m very surprised that he is on this list. He is actually going to be a central figure in a future article, and the word ‘overrated’ is associated with it. And he is going to be very high on that list.

I am humbled by the fact that my personal number one, Vinnie Cohen, did not make the top 10 of the fan list (he came in at #11); he was only on 3 ballots, receiving two first place votes (one of which was mine). I can draw three conclusions from this. The first two are either fans really do appreciate Vinnie Cohen’s accomplishments or fans don’t think highly of him. This third is fans have no clue at all who he is and are not capable of voting for him. I am guessing it is the third answer (admittedly that is self serving for me).

My other top 10 came in as follows: Jim Brown at #23, Bill Smith at #20, Eddie Goldberg (not ranked), Rudy Hackett (#12), and Marty Byrnes #24. Really, not even close… especially with only 20 voters.

How did the voting break down? The voting was very split. Bouie, who was top rated, had only 2 first place votes, 4 second place votes, 2 third place votes, and was on only 13 of 20 ballots.

Shumpert, who came in second, had no first place votes, 3 second place votes, 3 third place votes, and was on only 11 of 20 ballots.

Thompson, who came in third, had 3 first place votes, 2 second place and 2 third place, while appearing on 11 ballots.

Pace, who came in fourth, had 2 first place, 2 second place, 2 third place, while appearing on 11 ballots.

Hart, who came in fifth, had 1 first place, 3 second place, 2 third place, while appearing on 7 ballots. Basically, few voted for him, but those who did, voted him high.

Rautins, who came in sixth, had 1 first place, no second place, 3 third place, while appearing on 8 ballots.

Duany, who came in seventh, had 2 first place, no second place, 1 third place, while appearing on 7 ballots.

Nichols, who came in eighth, had no first or third place, 1 second place, while appearing on 7 ballots.

Addison, who came in ninth, had 1 first place, 1 second place, no third place, while appearing on 7 ballots.

Thomas, who came in tenth, had no first place, no second place, and 1 third place, while appearing on 6 ballots.

Where were all the other first place votes (that’s only 12 above)? Cohen had 2 (as mentioned above), Rudy Hackett 1, John Wallace 1, Marius Janulis 2, Carmelo Anthony 1, and Billy Gabor 1. I think that Hackett, Wallace, Janulis and Gabor are all worthy for underrated consideration (I know that TNIAAM will be sad that Marius didn't do better). As for Melo… well, you’ve got to be kidding, right? There is no way he is underrated.

So thanks for participating. It is always and education experience for me, and I hope it was fun for you. The voting will continue to be open, and I will check back in a few months and see how things may have changed.

More Voting... Football and Lacrosse

Since its a non-election year, and the doldrums of summer with little Syracuse University action going on, and I've been in a 'ranking mode' lately, I've set up two more polls for Syracuse fans to get involved with.

I'm a lacrosse fan, love watching the game the Orangemen play. I'll admit I'm not an expert on lacrosse, nor its history, but I've put together a poll of who I think the top candidates are. Feel free to vote for the Greatest Syracuse Orangeman Lacrosse Player. There have been a lot of great ones on the hill; my personal favorite was Gary Gait. But I'm sure many of you feel that one of the Powell brothers, or Jim Brown, or perhaps Dick Finley should get the honor. I'm sure Roy Simmons I & II have an opinion.

We can turn to the gridiron. Many legendary players have played at Syracuse, and we all know about the legendary 44. How rich is the history at Syracuse? It's quite possible that the great Jim Brown, who I think is the greatest NFL player ever, wasn't even the best running back for the Orange. I'm not saying Brown wasn't, but a very good argument for Mr. Ernie Davis could be made. Or perhaps a great wideout like Art Monk or Marvin Harrison, or a Hall of Famer Tight End like John Mackey, or a Hall of Fame center such as Jim Ringo (because football is won in the trenches, or so we are told). Many to choose from; who do you think was the Greatest Syracuse Orangemen Football Player?

It's all in fun, of course, but I think if you take the voting a little bit seriously, we might get some interesting votes. I am definitely eager to see who the most underrated basketball player for Syracuse is. And a few months back we saw that Dave Bing took the honor of Syracuse's Greatest Basketball Player (though with the ever changing vote, who knows).

Most Under Rated: You Vote

On Thursday I provided my opinion of who I thought the 10 most under rated Syracuse Basketball players were of all time, along with providing reasons why I thought they were underrated.

Do you agree, disagree? Now it is your chance to vote for the 10 Most Under Rated Syracuse Orangemen Basketball players of all-time at Rankopedia.com.

As with the Greatest Orangeman poll I had a few weeks back, you can vote as many times as you want, but only once a day. I'll summarize the results in a week or so.

Most Under Rated Orangemen

Thousands of athletes have passed before our eyes, generation after generation. Many get their accolades, while others fall into that undesirable category of ‘underrated’. Syracuse basketball has its share of underrated players.

Why are some players underrated? I think many factors come into play.

Time diminishes a player’s value. As time passes, the number of fans who saw the player perform decrease, while the number of fans who never saw them play increases. And for most people, seeing is believing. Fans are more willing to believe what they have seen for themselves, rather than the words of someone else. As such, the more current players are valued higher and those from the past are underrated.

Players’ performance in the NBA. Fans will often justify or change their opinion of a college player on how they perform at the next level. If a player struggles in the NBA, it suggests that perhaps the player was not as good as was thought at the college level. If the player doesn’t even make the NBA, it’s a greater curse on the player.

There are four problems with retroactively evaluating a college player based on his professional experience. First, the college game is different than the professional game, in many different ways. Second, a player could have circumstances such as health or even simple nagging injuries that detract from their professional career. Third, a player’s motivation or desire to play at the professional level may not be as strong as it was in college; call it the ‘fat paycheck’ syndrome. In college a player was striving to get the payday, while in the NBA, he has achieved it. And fourth, many players continue to improve year after year, and the player they are in the NBA is a much more skilled player than the one they were in college. However, other players never improve beyond how well they played in college. None of these should detract from how good they were in college; yet they often do.

Performance of his Team: Players who play on great teams get far more credit than players who play on average or bad teams. There is some justification in this logic, since a player does account for 1/5th of a team. However, it’s not universally applicable. Basketball is a team game, and a player cannot be held accountable for the performance of his teammates. A great player can elevate the play of some players around him, but not all of them.

Great Teammates: A player who is on a team with another great player or several other very good players may tend to get underrated. This is only natural. If the world’s second greatest basketball player (whomever that may be) played on the same team as the world’s greatest basketball player, the first player would look less impressive. Furthermore, there is a limit to how much scoring can actually be done in a game, how many rebounds can be pulled down. The more great players, the less each of those great players can accumulate. If you have four great players on a team, they may all average around 15 points a game; it’s really not possible for them all to get 20 ppg.

Overshadowed by Replacements: A great player who is replaced by another great player, is going to tend to be underrated. The newer player will be fresher, more relevant, and will tend to quickly overshadow the first player. A player’s reputation is enhanced if a few years go by, and fans have time to rehash the memories of that player in their mind. If a player is immediately replaced by another, that period of adulation is non-existent.

Playing From A Different Era: The rules of the game change, the style of play changes, and the type of players changes. In the first 25 years of college ball there was a designated free throw shooter, who took all the free throws. This player would often account for 80% of the team’s scoring. Until the early 1930s, there was a focus on getting the ball to one player to do the majority of the scoring. Guards literally guarded opposing players, and rarely took a shot. There was a jump ball after every made basket until 1938, thus keeping scoring down and eliminating a lot of fast breaks. From the 1940s until the mid 60a scoring was consistently increasing. Late in the 80s the three point shot was introduced, allowing perimeter scorers to become significantly more productive. Defense became the motto of college basketball in the 90s, and scoring has been down the past two decades. Yet, if you don’t know the changes in the game, you cannot really understand what it meant to a 15 point per game (ppg) scorer in the 1920s versus the 1950s versus the 1980s versus today. Players from lower scoring eras are typically underrated, those from high scoring are overrated.

Substance vs Style: Players who are flashy, give a good quote, play big in national games, get the recognition and are more memorable. Those players who play solid game after game with a workmanlike attitude tend to get ignored.

Failure to Hit Milestones: Players who score 1,000 points, or score 20 points a game in a season, or have 10 rebounds a game are remembered. But if you score 980 points, you fail to make the ‘list’ and those tend to get ignored.

I’ll give you my opinion of who I think the most underrated Orangemen of all time have been. It is a dangerous list to try to compile, because it makes an assumption that I think a guy is being underrated by other fans, and that is tough to quantify. However, based on conversations with Orange fans, chats on message boards, and Syracuse articles, I’m willing to take a shot at putting together that list.


So who are the 10 most underrated basketball players in Syracuse history?

First, let me give you my honorable mention: John Wallace. Huh? Now most fans would easily have Wallace in their top 10, so why is he underrated? I think he earns a mention in this category because when I did the poll in May on the greatest Syracuse basketball players of all time he came in 8th. Wallace was a four year starter at Syracuse, carried the 1995-96 team on his back to the brink of a National Championship, averaging 22.2 ppg, and 8.7 rebounds. Wallace shot 42% from three point range that season (best on the team), and also had 2.4 assists a game, and shot 76% from the charity stripe. He had the complete game at the college level. I think a guy like that could be considered by some to be the best ever, and should be in the top 5, so when he’s showing in the bottom half of the top 10, I’d say that’s underrated.

Rafael Addison: Raf had a sweet 16 foot jumper, nice overall shooting touch and was a clutch player in the mid 80’s. He was a decent rebounder and ball handler, and was comfortable in many areas of the court. One reason Raf tends to get underrated because he moved to shooting guard his senior season and hurt his leg at the mid point. While he didn’t miss any games, it did hamper him and reduced his scoring ability. As it was his missed by 7 points in being the player to break Dave Bing’s scoring record. I imagine if he had scored 8 more, he would be for more memorable today. Addison also suffers because he played with the dynamic Pearl for three seasons, and was the season after Raf graduated, Derrick Coleman came on to campus.

Jim Brown: Brown is well known for his football and lacrosse exploits, but his ability in basketball is greatly underrated. Brown averaged 38 ppg in high school basketball. As a sophomore at Syracuse, he scored 15.0 ppg, second only to Vinnie Cohen’s 15.8. As a junior Brown dropped to 11.3 ppg. He was a ferocious rebounder, a strong slasher to the hoop. Brown stopped playing basketball after his junior season because of problems with coach Marc Guley. Brown’s notoriety at football and lacrosse overshadowed his basketball results, and the Syracuse basketball program was low profile at the time.

Bill Smith: How many 6’11” centers, averaging 20.7 ppg and 12.9 rebounds per game, fail to make the top 10 of their schools list of best players? Bill Smith is one. Smith shot nearly 60% from the floor for his career, averaged a double / double all three seasons. His senior season Smith scored 22.7 ppg with 14.5 rebounds. As a sophomore he would score 41 points in a game, and as a senior he would score a Syracuse record 47 points against Lafayette, a record that still stands. Syracuse basketball received little local press during his first couple of seasons, which hampers his rating. A disappointing NBA career (30 games) and a very routine name (how much more common can you be than Bill Smith) also play to the lack of notoriety.

Preston Shumpert: Shumpert blossomed into a star his junior season, with terrific three point shooting and an incredible shooting range. He would be on the All Big East first team his last two seasons. He scored 30+ points seven times in his career. His eye injury in the 2001 Big East Tournament against Providence, cost the Orangemen dearly in the next game, a one point loss to Pittsburgh. Shumpert’s legacy is tarnished by the complete collapse of the Syracuse team. The Orangemen were 14-2 in January, ranked #7 in the country behind the outstanding play of Shumpert. Unfortunately, personnel issues with DeShaun Williams (whom from all accounts was the instigator) cause the team to fall apart and go 4-9 down the stretch, missing the NCAA tournament. I think the lingering image of that season’s collapse hangs over Shumpert and keeps him away from any discussions on great Syracuse players. His failure to make it to the NBA also counts.

Leo Rautins: Leo is now getting attention because of his son Andy’s involvement with the team, and because Rautins Sr is now the head coach of the Canadian National Team. However, people forget how good Leo was at Syracuse. A transfer from Minnesota, Rautins played three seasons for Syracuse during the toughest era of the Big East (The Ewing / Mullin / Pickney days). Rautins was an amazing passer, playing the ‘point forward’ position for the Orangemen. He was a solid rebounder and a terrific scorer. He was the first player to have a triple double in the Big East, and the only player to do it twice. Rautins’ legacy is hurt by many factors. He played alongside two terrific scorers in Tony Bruin and Erich Santifer, so Leo’s scoring was reduced. Syracuse struggled to win the big games in an extremely tough conference dominated by big men, at a time when the Orange did not have a big center. Rautins had to play in the shadows of Big East players such as Patrick Ewing, Eddie Pinkney, Chris Mullin and Bill Whittington. Rautins also injured his knee at Syracuse. He was drafted in the first round of the NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76’ers, but was always hampered by his knee injury and he would last only two seasons.

Eddie Goldberg: Who? I must admit that when I first started studying the history of Syracuse basketball (now many years ago), I had never heard of Ed Goldberg. Goldberg was a terrific scoring guard for Syracuse from 1958 to 1960, averaging 16.3 ppg. In a freshman game, he set the Archbold Gym scoring record with 44 points against Cornell. He was a good perimeter shooter and a solid free throw shooter. Unfortunately, Goldberg was also injury prone and would miss playing time each season due to injury. He also played at a time when football was unquestionably #1 at Syracuse (and in the nation, in 1959), and the basketball team was struggling slightly above .500. That doesn’t help with gaining much attention. Goldberg finished his career with 943 points, failing to hit the magical thousand points that would have garnered him familiarity.

Rudy Hackett: Hackett was a terrific three year player at Syracuse, scoring 1496 points and averaging 17.2, and had 990 career rebounds with an 11.4 average. Syracuse would go 24-5, 19-7, and 23-9 in his three seasons with 3 NCAA bids, the first time SU would go to the tourney 3 years in a row. In 1975, Hackett averaged 22.2 ppg and 12.7 rebounds in leading the Orange (along with Jimmy Lee) to a miracle run at Syracuse’s first Final Four bid. Hackett was a great rebounder, a gifted runner who could quickly get to the hoop. Hackett would have two undistinguished years in the NBA before starring over in Italy for several seasons. Hackett’s recognition is reduced because of the arrival of the Bouie N’ Louie team shortly after he left. Though the improbable run through the NCAA should have left a stronger impact on his memory, I think the excellence of Jimmy Lee in that tournament (Lee hit the clutch shots and was the tournament’s leading scorer) overshadowed Hackett’s outstanding play.

Marty Byrnes: Byrnes is the forgotten man at Syracuse. He was a natural leader and the team captain both his junior and senior seasons. Byrnes was one of those players who wasn’t outstanding in any one area; he was just good in many of them. He could score with a nice left handed shot, he could rebound, and he was recognized as being the clutch player on the team. Byrnes would be drafted in the first round of the 1978 NBA draft (18th overall pick), and would play four seasons averaging 5.7 ppg, primarily as a reserve. He is, as of today, the only Syracuse player to win a NBA championship, in 1980 with the Lakers. I think Byrnes recognition suffers from may factors. He always had talented and/or flashier teammates around him (Dale Shackleford, Jimmy Williams, Louis Orr, and Roosevelt Bouie). The Bouie & Louis Show came on board when Byrnes was a junior, so he shared the limelight his two biggest seasons. Byrnes wasn’t flashy, and he didn’t have any aspect of his game that made him overly memorable.

Roosevelt Bouie: Bouie is greatly unknown by many younger fans (other than being part of Bouie & Louie), and there are misconceptions on why he wasn’t in the NBA. Bouie was an outstanding defender in college, and a big man (6’11”) who could run the court. He was teamed with Louis Orr for all four seasons, where Syracuse had the amazing record of 100-18. He would score 1,560 points in his career, and average 8.4 rebounds. Impressive numbers by themselves, but more impressive when you consider that he had to share points with guys like Orr, Byrnes, and Danny Schayes. Bouie made 59% of his career field goals and blocked 327 shots. His talent kept Danny Schayes off the court for three seasons. Bouie was the 34th pick of the 1980 draft, taken by the Dallas Mavericks. Contract negotiations didn’t go well, so Bouie went to Italy instead. He found he loved playing over there, he loved the lifestyle, and Italy loved him. So Bouie played there for thirteen seasons, never contemplating coming back to the NBA. Today, some fans figure he couldn’t make the NBA, but the reality is he never gave it a try.

Vinnie Cohen: Cohen would have to go down as the most underrated player in Syracuse history. Many fans have no idea who he is. Cohen led Syracuse to its first NCAA tournament bid in 1957, averaging 24.2 points a game. He was the first Syracuse player to average 20+ a game in a season, and his average is still the third best ever. He was an explosive leaper who could drive to the hoop, handle the ball well, and rebound strong, despite the fact he was only 6’1”. He would score 1337 points in his career, averaging 19.7, and took Syracuse to the Elite 8 in 1957. Cohen ignored the NBA and instead earned a law degree from Syracuse, and became prominent Washington lawyer. Cohen lacks recognition because he played over 50 years ago, and he has no NBA resume, from which people draw the wrong conclusion.

There are players from the first half of the 20th century that could also use recognition, guys like Vic Hanson, Joe Schwarzer, Wilbur Crisp, Lew Castle, Lew Hayman, Ev Katz, Edgar Sonderman, Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, and others. I'm not going to say these gentlemen were underrated; in many ways, they are totally unknown, and choosing one of them as being more underrated then the rest would be impossible; for that reason I've excluded players from those eras. They were outstanding players with outstanding contributions and records on and off the court.

Nichols Drafted by Portland

Congratulations to Demetris Nichols who was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2007 NBA draft by the Portland Trailblazers. Nichols is the 50th Syracuse player drafted by the NBA, and hopefully he’ll be the 34th former Orangemen to play in the NBA.

The Trailblazers would have been interesting for Nichols. On one hand, it was a team with a lot of young talent, a situation that may have made it difficult for him to get the opportunities he would need to grow. It’s also a team with a very bright future. On the other hand, the Portland market is probably more suited to a player with Nichols character, a player who is somewhat shy and shuns the spotlight.

Nichols fortunes took a turn last night however, as the Trailblazers traded him to the New York Knicks for the Knicks’ 2008 2nd round pick. There will be more opportunities for Nichols in New York (I would think), and the Knicks are much closer to family, friends and SU fans. On the other hand, New York isn’t the kindest market to players who have low key personalities, so we’ll see.

I’ve always thought that Nichols has tremendous upside in the NBA. He has the right NBA style body (tall, athletic, quick) and a very good shooting touch. He needs to continue to improve his game as he did at Syracuse, but his NBA career is pretty much going to be his to define. I could see him eventually being a star player, or a guy with barely a taste of NBA action.

From a historical perspective getting out of Portland may have been a good thing for Nichols. Two former Orangemen have been drafted by the Trailblazers, and both had very short careers. Bill Smith was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1971 NBA draft (the 42nd pick overall), and Dave Johnson in the 1st round of the 1992 draft (the 26th pick overall). Smith would play 30 games in the NBA, and Johnson 59 (by the way, how mundane is it that the previous two Orangemen drafted by Portland had names so common as Bill Smith and Dave Johnson. If Mike Jones had stayed at Syracuse he could have been the trifecta in 2010).

The New York Knicks haven’t been much kinder to former Orangemen. Howard Triche and Gary Clark were both drafted by the Knicks but failed to play in the NBA. John Wallace was a 1st round pick in 1996 (18th pick overall); he’d have a seven year career in the NBA, but no where near the success a 1st round pick should have.

Though there was some hope that Darryl Watkins would get drafted, it was not a surprise he was not. He’s definitely a project in the NBA, and I think not getting drafted will benefit him. Now Watkins and his agent can pick the right opportunity for him as a rookie free agent. He may need to spend some time in Europe or the NBDL, but I could see 'Mookie' making the NBA someday as a serviceable backup player.

The Iverson Effect

I believe there are often times when a player is so gifted athletically that fans (and experts) are so amazed by the great plays that they overlook the obvious shortcomings of the player. Even more so, I would contend that often the player is put into a position to be a late game hero because of his own failure to deliver during the rest of the game. This is what I call the “Iverson Effect”.

Allen Iverson is no doubt a talented basketball player. He has a reputation throughout his career of being a great clutch player, a guy who carries the team in the fourth quarter to amazing come-from-behind victories.

I would contend, however, that he is the reason his team is behind in the fourth quarter. Iverson has historically been a selfish player, a shoot first, pass second guard (not my favorite type). I'll give two examples from the 1999-2000 season. On December 23rd, 1999 in a 94-99 loss against the New Jersey Nets, Iverson, the starting point guard played 47 minutes, scoring 42 points. He had NO assists. He scored 42 points by chucking the ball up 26 times (making 11 baskets) and going to the free throw line 20 times and making 17 freebies. Nobody on the 76ers shot particularly well that day, but 47 minutes, and not one cheap assist?

Later that same season on March 29th, Iverson played the whole game in an 84-98 loss to the Utah Jazz. Iverson was 7-21 from the floor, with only four trips to the charity stripe, and a ho-hum 18 points. Again he had 0 assists. This time, his teammates were shooting sharp. Toni Kukoc was 6-12, Tyrone Hill 4-8, Aaron McKie 3-6 and Matt Geiger 6-9. Not one of those guys was the beneficiary of an assisted basket by Iverson. They are all shooting well and he throws up 21 shots, bricking 14 of them. He could’ve had 5-8 easy assists by passing the ball to the hot hand.

Iverson isn't even a great shooter. For his career he is only 42% from the floor. He good at driving the lane and drawing fouls, but even with all that he's still only 42%. He’s gotten better from the floor the past few seasons, and has learned to bring his teammates into the game. But he was already a legend by that point in time. And I’m referring to the stuff that made him a legend.

Let’s take into hand his reputation for being a clutch 4th quarter player, and let’s assume its true (I have no statistical evidence to confirm nor deny it). Let’s say that he does play better in the last 12 minutes when the game is on the line, and he shoots 50% in that quarter (a big assumption, but it will help illustrate a point). If Iverson truly is that good in the fourth quarter, which is what his supporters would like to believe, then he’s even worse in the first three quarters than the statistics earlier supported. For if he’s a 42% career field goal shooter, and he hits 50% in the clutch fourth quarter, then statistically, he must be shooting under 40% for the rest of the game; possibly well under.

Whereas, if Iverson were to play solid in the first three quarters, the 76’ers would likely have been in the lead in the fourth quarter and had no need for his late game heroics. Its because he missed the shots earlier in the game and failed to get his teammates involved, that late in the game he has no choice but to try to make it up.

And here’s where the legends are made. Let’s say you are trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter and you take 10 shots. If you are cold, and make only 3 out of 10 baskets, your team will never really be in it down the stretch, and so there won’t be any close moments for you to blow. If you’re somewhat hot, and you make 5 out of 10 baskets, now you’ve helped bring your team back… even if you still lose. People remember, “yeah, the 76’ers lost, but Iverson helped bring them back”, completely forgetting the 1-9 effort in this first 3 quarters (for example). And if you’re really lucky, and go 7-10 or 8-10, then you overcome that big deficit single handedly, and a legend is born.

The Iverson effect is essentially, a player puts himself into the situation to be the star of a game because of his inability to play well earlier in the game. I think this happens with several ‘superstars’ out there in many different sports. The player can’t stay focused for the whole 9 innings or the whole four quarters or 3 periods. So they hang around, playing mediocre, and give it their best shot late in the game.

It’s really the opposite of the “ARod Effect”. The ARod Effect would be a player who puts up great stats but has a reputation for failing in the clutch. ARod’s critics would say he hits an ‘empty’ 50 home runs and meaningless 140 rbis. Perhaps he does struggle in some close moments; but I would contend that the number of close moments is greatly reduced because he played so well during the rest of the game. Because ARod hit that 3 run home run in the ‘meaningless third inning’, the Yankees were leading by 5 in the 8th inning and didn’t need any heroics. Or because he hit that ‘meaningless 2 run homer in the first inning’, the Yankees were down by only one run late in the game… and he strikes out at that point making himself the goat.

I’ll admit I’m not Iverson fan. He possesses many characteristics I dislike in modern athletes. A criminal background, a lot of hype, self centered style of play, more athleticism then basketball skill. He was everything John Thompson didn’t like in a guard, but played for the Hoyas, in my opinion, because of a political statement by Mr. Thompson.

Look, Allen Iverson is a very good player, with great athletic ability in a 6’0” frame. And in the past few years, he’s learned to involve his teammates. But if a guy in my church basketball league put up 27 shots in a night and made only 11, and did that on a regular basis, we’d all have a simple name for him: he’s a ‘chucker’. You wrap that chucker up in an athletic body, and suddenly he’s labeled a star. Accomplishes the same thing… but gets more recognition doing it. In my book, if you put up 25+ shots in a game, you had better score 30+ points. Scoring 20 points on 10-14 shooting is impressive; scoring 20 points on 10-30 shooting isn’t.

US Open 2007 - Truth in Advertising

Allow me a minor diversion from Syracuse basketball.

Tiger, Phil, Vijay and others prepare to tee off this weekend for the 107th US Open on one of the country's toughest golf courses in Oakmont, PA according to the official US Open site. However, that statement isn't quite true.

The US Open is being played at the Oakmont Country Club, a record 8th time for a site to host the open. The Oakmont Country Club, however, is not located in the beautiful village of Oakmont. Only a maintenance shed on a corner of the property is located in Oakmont.

The club is instead located in Plum Borough, PA. Plum is the second largest borough (in terms of land space) in the state of Pennsylvania with 28.6 square miles, and a population of 27,940 (2000 US Census). It's best described as a rural suburb, on the outskirts of the Pittsburgh suburban area. It is also the home of the OrangeHoops blog, and thus the compulsion by me to set the facts straight.

Now to be fair, the area of Plum where the Oakmont Country Club is located is mostly small housing and open fields. The business section of Plum, what little there is, is miles away from the club location. Whereas the village of Oakmont is literally right next store, and the large beautiful homes of Oakmont decorate both sides of Hulton Road as you go down into the village. In fact, residents of Plum who live in that area, refer to themselves as living in "East Oakmont", though they are indeed Plum residents.

So Plum won't get the notoriety this week (except in this blog). But the residence, such as myself, can take some solace in having a nice bump in the tax revenue for the borough over the next week.

Good luck to all the players in this week's tournament. And as history shows, it will definitely be a tough battle.

Tailgating and Visting the Syracuse Area

If you're looking to visit the Syracuse area, and in particular are looking to attend a Syracuse football or basketball game, I would suggest visiting the blog of TexanMark. He has done an outstanding job of detailing the campus, city and regional area, and gives a large amount of information that will help those unfamiliar with the area, and many helfpul hints.

He's put together similar guides for other Big East venues, so give those a shot too if you're going there. If he's put together the same vim and vigor for those as he did for Syracuse, you should be in good shape.

Details of the Poll

The results for the poll for the Greatest Syracuse Orangemen keep coming in; we're now up to 158 voters. The overall results really haven't changed (still the same top 5), and the same candidates in the top 10, though the lower half have shifted around. There does seem to be an individual trying to stuff the ballot box for Jimmy Lee, which I find amusing.

If you want to see how individuals are doing in the polling, you can click on their name, and it will tell you how many first-through-tenth place votes they have.

Dave Bing has by far the most number one votes, which pleasantly suprises me. His breakdown of top four votes goes a follows: 77 first place, 28 second place, 8 third place, and 4 fourth place

Looking at the remainder of the top 5, this is how they break out:

• Carmelo Anthony 36 first, 40 second, 15 third, 12 fourth
  
• Derrick Coleman 8-33-36-22
  
• Pearl Washington 3-19-23-24
  
• Sherman Douglas 1-7-19-20

Thanks for all the continued interest.

Orangefan - Goodbye

Sadly, Orangefan has decided to discontinue his blog after 22 months of service. He's been a wealth of information on Syracuse recruiting, putting together a nice comprehensive coverage on a routine basis, and frankly covering an important aspect of Syracuse basketball that I've admittedly had little interest in doing myself. I've found him to be a good source of filtering out the rumors and putting together a good look at not only who the Orange are really looking at, but how good they could be.

The blog business does take a lot of time, both on the writing end and on the information gathering. I'd like to wish him well as he moves on with more important things. As we all know, Syracuse basketball is a great diversion, but it is just that.

If you enjoy his stuff, please make sure to drop him a goodbye.

Thanks Orangefan.

The Results are In

My thanks to everyone who participated in the poll to determine the greatest player to suit up for the Syracuse Orangemen basketball squad. As of this morning, there were 87 voters on our Rankopedia poll. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Typically when you run a poll like this, you get a some unusual results with the ‘latest, greatest’ dominating the results, and that was not our case. I can’t disagree too much with the top 10, though I’ll give a few comments and provide you with my own list later in the blog.

The top 10, as of this morning:

Dave Bing
Carmelo Anthony
Derrick Coleman
Pearl Washington
Sherman Douglas
Lawrence Moten
Billy Owens
John Wallace
Gerry McNamara
Hakim Warrick

The most surprising thing about this top 10 wasn’t so much who was on it, but the clear separation in the results for the top 10 from the rest of the pack. I would not have thought the top 10 was definitive; the separation line for me would have likely be around the top 8. But as a group, we the voters thought that players such as Rony Seikaly, Roosevelt Bouie, Louis Orr, and Leo Rautins weren’t close enough to that top 10 group.

I was happy to see that Dave Bing got his recognition and end up at the top. There’s never been a classier gentleman at Syracuse University, and clearly his Hall of Fame credentials and outstanding NBA career are still getting notice. So often you see players from bygone eras unjustly discounted because they played in an older era, under the mind set that all the greatest athletes have existed in the past 10 years. Legendary players such as Lew Castle, Joe Schwarzer, Vic Hanson, Ed Sonderman, Billy Gabor and Vinnie Cohen really didn’t stand a chance in this poll. Then again, the game has changed so much, particularly prior to the 1960’s, that evaluations of those players can be tough.

Dave Bing has more #1 votes than anyone else with 39. Carmelo Anthony had 25, Coleman 7, the Pearl 2, Douglas 1, Moten 1, Wallace 1. You always end up with some votes that I've got to question with GMac getting 3 first place votes, Warrick 4 first place votes, and Eric Devendorf 1 first place votes.

I do think that Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick made the top 10 based on their recent popularity; as time goes by, I might expect to see them drop off. Don’t get me wrong; I’m big fans of GMac and Hak. I’m just not sold that they are significantly better than Seikaly, Bouie, Orr, Rautins, and a few others.

You also question votes at times when players are left off a ballot. 13 voters didn't think Bing was in the top 10. There were 12 who felt the same about Anthony, 15 for Coleman, 17 for the Pearl, and 25 for Douglas. I'm not positive who the best is, or the order of the top 10, but I'm 99.9% confident these five guys are in the top 10. If someone seriously thinks they aren't please let me know; I'm more than willing to hear the perspective. My personal thought is people leave certain players off the list as an oversite and/or in spite of a player (i.e. I don't like Coleman, so I won't put him anywhere on the list).

So having said that, my personal top 10 are as follows:

Derrick Coleman
Dave Bing
Billy Owens
John Wallace
Carmelo Anthony
Pearl Washington
Sherman Douglas
Lawrence Moten
Rony Seikaly
Vic Hanson

I realize I might bore you with a complete analysis of all my picks; however, I’ll provide you with some comments on each, in reverse order, and try to keep it concise (yeah, right).

The 10th position was very difficult for me. I considered Hakim Warrick, Leo Rautins, Roosevelt Bouie, and Vinnie Cohen for that position, before settling on Vic Hanson. Hanson did play in a much different era of basketball, 1925 to 1927. It was an era of half court offenses, jump balls after every made basket, and teams had one or two defensive specialists who did nothing but ‘guard’ opposing players (fyi – a history lesson on why two positions are referred to as ‘guards’). Hanson was the best in his era, one of the two most dominant basketball players in college basketball at that time. He led the Orangemen to a 49-7 record over three years. He was an outstanding athlete, being the only man ever inducted in to the college football and college basketball hall of fames. He played for the New York Yankees farm system (this is the Yankees of the Ruth / Gehrig / Lazzeri era). Hanson was 5’10”, 175 lbs, and played forward. Clearly he couldn’t play forward today. But at 5’10”, he’s no smaller than guys like Sherman Douglas or Gerry McNamara, and being a tremendously skilled basketball player and outstanding athlete, I’m sure Hanson could play guard today and still be outstanding.

Rony Seikaly at #9 draws career comparisons very similar to Warrick. Both were struggling players as freshman; both improved dramatically each year, and both were dominant players their senior seasons. These are the types of players very difficult to evaluate in terms of ‘career value’ because clearly they were different players throughout their career. And to be fair, you have to tend to gravitate how they finished their career, when put into this context. For those of you may remember, Seikaly was probably the most dominant center Syracuse ever during his senior season, and he had learned the turnaround jumper at that point in his career.

Lawrence Moten at #8 is probably the Syracuse basketball player with the highest basketball IQ. He wasn’t the most physically gifted player at Syracuse, but always knew where to be on the court, and flowed effortlessly into the offense. And he was that way the day he stepped onto campus. Moten was so effortless, you would watch a game, and when it ended you would be shocked that he had scored 20 points again.

#6 and #7 always create problems for me, and if you asked me to vote again tomorrow, I might flip them again. Pearl Washington and Sherman Douglas were great playmakers at Syracuse, both excellent at breaking down defenses, setting up their teammates, and taking over the scoring in clutch time. Both were great showman, with slightly different styles. The Pearl was all shake-and-bake, and he embarrassed defenders routinely. Douglas could throw a pass anywhere, and it always seemed the Orangemen had five or so alleyoop dunks each game he played.

#5 is Melo. This will probably be controversial with many fans out there. Melo had a great season, one of the best seasons a Syracuse player has ever had (though not necessarily the best… that’s for a later day). The problem with his career value, is that it was only one season. The players I have ranked higher then Melo had at least one season, if not more, equivalent to Melo’s one season. Melo, as a freshman, was not better than Derrick Coleman as a senior, or Billy Owens as a junior, or John Wallace as a senior, or Dave Bing. All of these players took Syracuse to national prominence and strong tournament showings throughout their careers. There are guys who didn’t make the top 10 list who probably had seasons in their careers comparable to Melo (Vinnie Cohen and Rudy Hackett come quickly to mind).

#4 is John Wallace. Wallace is probably the most underrated player on the top 10 list (and I have a list of top 10 most underrated players for a later date). He was considered a lottery pick after his junior season, after what had already been a stellar collegiate career, and he chose to come back for his senior season. All he did at that point was lead the Orangemen through a miracle run in the NCAA tournament, and come within a few points of an NCAA title.

#3 is Billy Owens. Owens was as complete a player as Syracuse has had, a small forward with guard skills in a power forwards body. He could pass, shoot, rebound. His junior season, when he led the Orangemen to a 26-4 regular season record, the Big East Regular season championship, and #6 national ranking is a testament to his ability. His reputation is often tarnished by the subsequent and unexplainable quick exists from the Big East Tournament and NCAA tournament that year, plus an injury plagued NBA career that was disappointing.

It was tough picking between the top two. I have Dave Bing at #2. As I mentioned earlier, never a classier gentleman at Syracuse University. He exploded onto Syracuse on the freshman squad, and more fans showed up to watch the frosh team then the varsity. The Syracuse basketball program was reborn under new coach Fred Lewis, and his star player Dave Bing was the primary reason. The team went from 8-13 to 17-8 in Bing’s first season. Bing would destroy every scoring record at Syracuse, was an outstanding rebounder and a tremendous playmaker. Bing technically was a forward for Syracuse, though he was the primary playmaker, and spent a lot of time in the backcourt. He would go onto a stellar NBA career and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

I had to go with Derrick Coleman at #1. His impact at Syracuse, like Bing, was significant from the first day he stepped on campus. Coleman was 6’11”, with a wingspan that was even bigger. He was a rebounding machine, pulling down more rebounds in the modern era of college basketball than anyone ever. Coleman could run the court, could jump, could handle the ball, and was a tremendous force inside with the ball. He quickly developed the ability to shoot facing the basket, and could make the three point shot (though he was rarely in the position to do that). Jim Boeheim would often have DC help bring the ball up the court to help break the full court presses. If Howard Triche had blocked Keith Smart’s shot like Hak had blocked Michael Lee’s, DC would have been Melo twenty years earlier.

Coleman’s statistics aren’t nearly as impressive as some of the other players on the list. He had to share scoring honors with guys like Sherman Douglas, Stevie Thompson, Rony Seikaly and Billy Owens. Yet, he was still able to set the school record for career scoring. He had to share rebounds with talented rebounders like Thompson, Seikaly and Owens. Yet, he was still able to pull down more than anyone else in history. He was named to the Big East First Team three times, and named the Player of the Year in 1990. He would go #1 in the NBA draft, something no other Orangemen has done.

Coleman has tarnished his legacy by failing to become the player everyone wanted in the NBA. He became fat and lazy; yet for a guy who underachieved in the NBA, he still had decent numbers over a fifteen year career. Clearly disappointing, but 16.5 ppg and 9.3 rebounds per game, for his career isn’t ‘bust’; it’s just a shadow of what was expected. And, I think the damning of Coleman for what he wasn’t in the NBA, speaks volumes for what he was at Syracuse.

Again, my thanks to everyone who voted. The Rankopedia poll will stay out there, and will continue to get votes over time. I may revisit this in a few months and see how things have changed, if at all.

RY

Who's the Best Ever? You decide.

As a casual summer project, I thought I’d run a poll on who is the greatest basketball player in Syracuse history. The focus should be on career value, not a single season, though individual season efforts should be considered.

I’ve set up a poll on Rankopedia. This poll is open to anyone. I’ve pretty much pre-populated the list with any player worth considering, plus a few additional players. If I missed someone, you can add him to the list.

A few of things to note about Rankopedia’s scoring methods:

• Voting for only one player will not count as much as if you voted for a complete list of top 10. So for example, if you thought you could give Gerry McNamara an advantage by voting him #1 and giving nobody else a vote, you are wrong. You are better off voting Gerry #1 and then also completing the voting 2 – 10. I don’t know the algorithm Rankopedia uses to weight it, but in their bylaws they make that clear.
• You can vote as many times as you want, though only one time each day for each poll.
• I can’t control who votes, so obnoxious rival fans could vote, or message board trolls, or English soccer fans. But over time, those with interest in the Orangemen will tend to comprise a larger percent of the poll.

So feel free to join in on the voting. At some future date, I’ll let you know who I think my top 10 are, and who the ultimate #1 is. But I don’t want to spoil that for now

Here's the current results:

Hopkins - Next Orange Head Coach

According to a report by Andy Katz at ESPN, Mike Hopkins has officially been named Jim Boeheim's successor at Syracuse University.

I applaud the university for making this move; it may be the first move athletic director Darryl Gross has made that I'm in favor of. I'm slightly biased because Hopkins is one of my favorite former players, but I'm also a huge fan of continuity. I think continuity helps with recruiting and with keeping a strong fan base solid. The fact that Hopkins has been an assistant at Syracuse for 12 years says a lot about his commitment to the program. I'm not at all concerned that Hopkins hasn't been a head coach before. Boeheim was new to the role (though he was the coach of the freshman squad) and Jamie Dixon stepped in with no problem at Pitt.

Kristof Ongenaet

The addition of Kristof Ongenaet to the Orangemen for the 2007-2008 season is a big plus from my personal perspective for three reasons.

First, it addresses what I thought was the biggest concern for next season, which was the lack of experience and depth at the power forward and center positions. I’m not an expert on Ongenaet; I’ve never seen him play, but Orange Fan has done his normal thorough research and analysis on Syracuse recruits, and I like what I’m reading. A big guy who plays tough defense and loves to rebound; plus he has some college basketball experience, even if it is at the Junior College level.

The second reason is Ongenaet allows me to delve into many other historical perspectives and comments. I mean, not only is he a junior college transfer, but he’s also an international player (from Belgium).

As far as I know, there have been only three junior college transfers to Syracuse during the Jim Boeheim era; two were significant contributors and one was an interesting side note. Michael Lloyd played for the Orangemen in the 1994-95 season with solid success at the point guard position, with 12.5 points and 5.2 assists per game. An irregularity in his transcript forced him to leave school after that season.

Jason Cipolla is probably the most notable junior college transfer for the Orangemen. He was a vital part of the 1995-96 team that made a run at the national championship. Cipolla brought some hard nose play and more importantly a nice three point shot. He would score 7.7 ppg that year and 13.2 ppg his senior season.

The third transfer I’m aware of is walk-on Tyrone Albright. Albright played basketball at Onondaga Community College for two years before coming to Syracuse for an opportunity to play. He would be a 26 year old senior on the 1995-96 team, providing some maturity on the team. His playing time was that typical of most walk-ons, playing in the last minutes of lopsided games.

The other aspect of Ongenaet is that he is from Belgium. As far as I can tell, he’s the first Orangemen to be born in Belgium, the sixth from Europe. There are been 14 Orangemen born overseas, and they have met with varying success at Syracuse. Leo Rautins, Rony Seikaly, Joe Schwarzer and John Barsha were college All-Americans. Kueth Duany and Marius Janulis was vital contributors to Final Four teams, and Elvir Ovcina was a decent role playing center/forward the later part of his collegiate career. Clinton Goodwin was a decent player at the turn of the century, and Marc Guley was team captain his senior year and later the head coach for the Orangemen for 12 seasons, taking the Orangement to their first NCAA tournament. Hank Piro was a football player who played a little basketball (and would go to the NFL), and Joel Katz was a walk-on.

There really have been three foreign players who did not succeed at Syracuse: David Patrick was a speedy guard who transferred after his freshman year; John Karpis and George Papadokas were Canadian big men who didn’t work out and transferred elsewhere. So the international experience, while somewhat limited, has been pretty successful for the Orangemen over time.

The third reason I like the arrival of Kristof Ongenaet is his last name. He is going to create nightmares for college hoop announcers. According to Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician, the correct pronunciation of this name is OH-Jah-Naut. And I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but everytime I see his last name, my mind transposes the letters and I see ‘Orange Net’. That’s got to be a good sign.

Kristof Ongenaet is going to join the list of Syracuse players with unusual names such as Ernest Uthgenannt, Clarence Houseknecht, Zangwill Golobe, and the legendary Wilmeth Sidat-Singh.

The Chamberlain Effect

Occasionally there is an athlete who is so superior to his competition that he puts up statistics that are overwhelming in their nature. They are in fact, so overwhelming, that fans cannot truly appreciate them and in effect start to devaluate the statistics. This is what I call the Chamberlain Effect, after the legendary Big Dipper Wilt Chamberlain.

Chamberlain’s 1961-62 season is legendary: 50.6 points per game, 25.7 rebounds per game, a total of 4029 points, including a 100 point effort against the New York Knicks. These numbers are so large, that I believe fans start to rationalize he couldn’t have been that good, and therefore they disregard the numbers entirely, or at least rationalize them away until they are trivial in their minds.

It’s one of the arguments that fans make when comparing Bill Russell to Chamberlain. The argument is that Russell was a better player because his teams won more championships; Russell ‘sacrificed’ his statistics so that his team would be better, and most would contend Russell was a better rebounder.

First of all, Russell played with a bevy of Hall of Fame teammates: Tommy Heinsom, Satch Sanders, KC Jones, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Bob Cousy, Frank Ramsey, Clyde Lovelette and Bill Sharman. Chamberlain, in the same comparable time period, would play with a handful: Tom Gola, Paul Arizin, Nate Thurmond (1 year), Hal Greer, and Billy Cunningham. He’d later join up with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, when all three were venerable veterans. So, it’s rather clear that Russell had a lot of talent around him on the court, and that played some part in all those championships. Russell absolutely was a key factor, if not the key factor for the Celtic dynasty, but it wasn’t a one man show. Unless one wants to argue that all those Celtics made the Hall of Fame riding on the coattails of Russell’s success (I would suggest that is hogwash).

Second, many fans will say that Russell didn’t score because he did not have to, and he could have scored comparable to Chamberlain if he wanted. Well, there’s no evidence that could ever have been true. You must assume, that if Russell were the intelligent player he is credited with being (and I do assume this to be true), that he would defer to his teammates when he was in a low percentage situation, and he would take the shot when he was in a high percentage situation. Given that, consider that Russell’s best season from the floor, he shot .467 (1959-1960). If he were to take significantly more shots, you would have to expect that number to go down, not up due to the need to take more low percentage shots, and general fatigue.

Chamberlain, on the other hand, taking all the shots, never shot below .461 from the floor in his career; and that was his rookie season. His next lowest season was .499, and he shot over 50% from the floor every other season of his career. The fact was that he could score, he could score big, and he could score with more ease than any other player on the court.

Third is the knock that Russell was a better rebounder. I guess he must have looked like a better rebounder, because somehow Chamberlain pulled down more rebounds each year, and for his career than Russell. Russell may have had better form, but the Stilt still got more. The NBA record for rebounds in a game is 55 by Wilt Chamberlain; and he did it against Bill Russell and his Celtics.

Russell was definitely a better defensive player, one of the best in league history, if not the best and an unparalled shot blocker. However, Chamberlain was a very good defender himself, and an effective shot blocker. Russell’s defensive edge over Chamberlain isn’t close to the offensive edge that Chamberlain had.

That’s not knocking Russell. Russell was a great NBA player, one of the greatest ever. He won all the championships, he was admired by the fans and the sportswriters, and an outstanding center. He was also on a team that allowed him to focus on what he did best (defense), and didn’t require him to be a strong offensive presence…which was good because it seems apparent he would never have been a dominant offensive threat.

Ask yourself this question about Chamberlain. If you put him on the Celtics, surrounded by all those Hall of Famers, coached by Red Auerbach, and you put Bill Russell on the Warriors with Paul Arizin and Tom Gola. Which team would have won the NBA titles? Chamberlain probably wouldn’t have had his 50 points per game; there wouldn’t have been the need, and Auerbach would’ve had him focused more on defense. He probably would have had a mere 35 – 38 points a game that magical 1961-62 season; he probably would’ve increased his shooting percentage from a lowly .504 to .550/.580 range.

The Chamberlain Effect occurs across sports. I believe Babe Ruth is a victim of this effect to some extent, and was Ted Williams. Perhaps 20 years from now fans will look retrospectively and apply the Chamberlain Effect to Barry Bonds (whose stretch from 2001 to 2004 was unbelievable).

Jim Brown suffers from the Chamberlain Effect from many fans (though I think he and Ted Williams both receive extreme respect from today’s athletes; it seems the athletes understand how significant these accomplishments were, more than some fans). Brown led the league in rushing 8 times in his 9 seasons, and led in scoring touchdowns 5 times. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry for his career. Again, the numbers seem too impressive, and so fans say “well, but…” or “compared to today…”.

There are times when statistics are misleading, and they must be evaluated in their correct context. All the greatest hitters in baseball didn't live in the 1930's and 1990's, and all the greatest pitchers didn't live in the 1910's and 1960's. Players in the 1960's weren't better rebounders across the board than players in the 2000's. Guys scoring 25 points for the Denver Nuggets in the 1980's weren't as impressive as guys scoring 20 points for the Detroit Pistons in the 1990's. But, sometimes (often), statistics point out the greatness they were intended to measure.

WKRP

My apologies for the lack of posts the past two weeks; work has been calling.

As an apology gift from me to you, here's a couple of classic TV comedy clips, two of my all time favorites. For you older readers (those of my age), you'll immediately remember these, I'm sure. For you younger readers, sit back and enjoy.

WKRP Thanksgiving Promotion

Reverend Jim's Driving Test

Enjoy.

RY

Roberts And The Free Throw Record

I must admit that I dropped the ball on the Terrence Roberts Free Throw shooting watch. All year long I kept you up to date on his quest for greatness, to be the worst free throw shooter at Syracuse University of all time. And he pretty much sealed the deal back in January. However, I do owe the man a final wrap up of this accomplishment.

Out of 59 players at Syracuse University who have attempted 200 or more free throws in their career, Roberts by far set the mark. His finished his career at 48.0%, 176 for 367, surpassing the legendary Stevie Thompson (52.7%) for the mark. Roberts wasn’t just satisfied with setting the career mark; he also made sure to nab the worst season performances, grabbing both the #1 and #2 positions. His junior season he was 42.1% from the line (56-133). His senior season he improved to 48.4% (62-128).

The Bottom 10 free throw shooters at Syracuse (minimum 200 attempts) are:

Terrence Roberts 48.0%
Stevie Thompson 52.7%
Darryl Watkins 54.2%
Rony Seikaly 57.6%
Jimmy Williams 58.1%
Etan Thomas 59.8%
Bill Smith 60.8%
Dale Shackleford 61.1%
Conrad McRae 64.8%
Otis Hill 65.3%

As I mentioned earlier in the year, the worst free throw shooters I ever saw on the Hill were Herman Harried and Derek Brower. And if you lowered the standard of free throw shooter to 100 attempts the Bottom 4 would be:

Herman Harried 37.8% (45-119)
Derek Brower 42.1% (67-159)
Louis McCroskey 47.2% (51-108)
Terence Roberts 48.0% (176-367)

Brower, if you recall, was responsible for an NCAA rule change regarding intentional fouling.

Some interesting notes about the bottom four. Harried, Brower and McCroskey combined for 386 attempts; Roberts had 367 attempts by himself.

McCroskey was a classmate of Robert and Darryl Watkins. We’re talking about three of the worst free throw shooters in Syracuse University history, all in the same recruiting class! Thankfully Demetris Nichols came along with his 75.2% shooting.

How bad were Harried and Brower? Brower was 67 for 159 in his career. If he had gone 41 for 41 to finish his career, that would have raised him to 108 for 200, or 54% for his career. He still would’ve qualified for #3 on the all time list with a minimum of 200 attempts!

Harried was 45 for 119 for his career. If he had finished going 81 for 81, he would’ve been 126 for 200 for his career, or 63.0%, coming in at #9 on the list. Egads.

Of special note is Hakim Warrick. He started his freshman season on pace to be the worst free throw shooter ever at Syracuse going 23 for 60 (38.3%). Yet, in his sophomore season he improved dramatically to 66.7% (124 for 186), and remained about that level for the remainder of his career. So whomever taught Hak how to shoot free throws that summer… sign him up!

Now Roberts was a frustrating player to watch for four seasons. The guy appeared to have tons of potential, but never seemed to put it all together. Yet, he was a solid player. He’d get his rebounds, do some scoring, play solid defense. He’d make stupid fouls, take silly 3 point shots (5-25 for his career), and shy away from physical play inside. Yet, he showed tremendous heart and hustle. He basically played on one leg his senior season, battled through a lot of pain, and managed to pull down 20 rebounds in the Big East tournament versus Notre Dame.

Roberts would play 127 games at Syracuse, score 963 points (7.6 per game), and pull down 716 rebounds (5.6 per game).

So Terrence, thanks for the memories! It was an adventure to watch you play.

2006-07 Milestones

The 2006-2007 season has been completed for a few weeks now. The senior class is widely recognized as an underachieving class, both in terms of NCAA accomplishments and personal growth. It is true that in the three seasons they were significant contributors the team was 0-2 in the NCAA tournament, and was excluded from the third. On the other hand, they did contribute in back-to-back Big East Championships.

But the season is over, so it is time we can reflect on how the players did in personal accomplishments.

Demetris Nichols finished as the schools 28th all-time leading scorer with 1,344 points, tying him with Bullet Billy Gabor. Terrence Roberts finished at #50, with 963 points. Eric Devendorf, after two seasons, has 945 points, 53rd all time. Darryl Watkins comes in at 86th with 633 points.

If Devo keeps up his pace, he’ll finish around 9th all-time.

Roberts finished as the 18th all time rebounder with 716. Watkins is 25th with 614, and Nichols 35th with 509. Freshman Paul Harris had 248 rebounds, good enough to place him 66th on the all-time career list. Devo comes in at 79th with 180, Matt Gorman at 9th with 142.

If Harris were to play four years at 248 rebounds a year, he’d finish 6th all-time at Syracuse; the reality is that if he stayed four years, he would likely increase his average, and would finish at #2. I think Derrick Coleman is safe at 1,537 for now (Coleman had 333 rebounds his freshman year).

Devo is currently 30th on the Syracuse all-time assist list with 227. The enigmatic Josh Wright comes in at 32nd with 216. Nichols is 55th with 132, Roberts 58th with 121, Andy Rautins 80th with 60, Watkins 84th with 61, and Harris is 87th with 57. Statistics were only an official statistics as of the 1965-1966 season, so there’s not a ton of history to compare against.

There have only been 70 players to make a three point basket for Syracuse, with the shot being introduced in the 1986-87 season. Nichols finished 3rd all time with 205 3 point field goals. Devo is 13th with 104, Rautins 17th with 82 and Wright 30th with 34.Gorman is 38th with 17, Roberts 46th with 5, and Harris is 57th with 1.

How does Harris’ freshman campaign stack up? His 248 rebounds is 5th all-time for a Syracuse freshman. He was third all time in free throws made, and 14th all-time in points scored with 302.

Devo had the 6th most assists ever for a sophomore, and was 8th in points, and 5th in 3 point field goals made. Rautins had the third most three point fields goals ever for a sophomore.

Wright has the 9th most assists ever for a junior (and he did not make the top 10 in most turnovers).

Nichols finished with the 8th most points for a senior and the 2nd most three point baskets by a senior. He increased his scoring from his junior season to his senior season by 197 points; that’s only good enough for the 20th biggest increase from a junior to senior season (if you were curious).

26 times a Syracuse basketball player has had 50+ 3 point fields goals made in a season. Three occurred this season as Nichols, Rautins and Devendorf all accomplished the feat. The only other time that has occurred? 2005-2006 with Gerry McNamara, Devo and Nichols accomplished the feat.

Nichols 41.7% from three point range last season was the fourth best in Syracuse history for players with 100+ three point attempts.

Nichols 85% from the free throw line was 9th best in school history for players with 100+ free throw attempts.

Harris was a rebounding machine, almost leading the team in rebounding despite playing about 22 minutes a game. He averaged 13.08 rebounds per every 40 minutes of playing time; 4th best total in school history (though minutes played was only tracked starting in the early 80s). Derrick Coleman holds the top three: 13.77 (junior), 13.65 (senior), 13.55 (sophomore). Harris does hold the freshman record; Coleman had held it with 11.45.

Finally, Syracuse University played its 1,700 men varsity basketball game last season. Jim Boeheim coached his 1,000th game, and reached 750 career wins.

The Off Season

So what is up for Orenge Hoops during the off season? Well, the blog will be continuing. Even during the regular season, I don’t have a regular posting schedule. I’ll probably be more likely to post something every couple of weeks, but you never know… a few may come in a couple of days span.

I mentioned earlier in the year a concept called the “Jeter Effect”, and I promise I will get to that one day. I also have some additional concepts called the “Iverson Effect” and the “Chamberlain Effect”, which I’ll eventually get too.

You can also expect to see more commentary on past Syracuse teams, trends of the past few seasons, and where I see this team going. I won’t be covering recruiting too much. It’s not something I generally have too much interest in, and Orange Fan covers that very well. Likewise, Cuse Country covers former Orangemen in the professional action with great detail, so I’ll let them keep up the good work. I'm sure I'll have some words on the NBA draft.

I’ll also continue to update the ongoing project of OrangeHoops.Org. I’ve recently added the profile of the 1924-25 Orangemen, and a player profile for Otis Hill. I also need to finish my 2006-2007 player updates.

Anyhow, I just wanted to let you all know I’m still around, and the information will keep flowing.

I appreciate all the e-mails I have gotten! It is great to hear from you all. Thanks.

Harris going pro?

Paul Harris came to Syracuse with a lot of potential, and he had a solid freshman season. He showed he was an outstanding rebounder. His defense at times was stellar, and other times he looked lost. On offense, he demonstrated he had no jump shot of any form, and a tendacy to run like a bull through a China shop when he saw a lane to the hoop. When he didn't have the ball in his hands, he looked like he struggled where to go on the court. He still had enough talent to score, despite these obvious short comings.

So why do I mention this? Because ESPN's Chad Ford has Harris listed at 50/50 about going in the NBA draft this spring.

I don't have any idea what Ford's source is, whether he has talked to anyone or if he's just flat out speculating (I'm guessing the latter).

I personally find it inconceivable that Harris would even contemplate going professional at this point, unless he has pressing financial concerns that need immediate address.

Normally I don't like to post speculative articles, but considering that ESPN is a major media outlet, and Ford's opinion is completely in contrast with my own, I thought it was interesting to share.

Orange Blogger Awards - Best Sophomore

And the Syracuse Orange Blogger Awards continue to move on.

Who was the best sophomore player for Syracuse this season? There are two viable candidates with Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf. Ironically the two candidates fought for the same starting position for much of the season (shooting guard) and ended the season sharing the starting backcourt with Rautins settling into the shooting guard, and Devo taking over the point.

Devo came away the winner, with 7 out of 8 votes. For most of the blogs, he was such an obvious choice that no additional comment was needed.

Sports Night with Howie Mansfield felt “Devo came into his own this year, and pulled away from the shadow of Gerry McNamara with his aggressive style and no-fear attitude. If he scores next year the way he did in the last six games, Devendorf could be the Orange's go-to player.”

Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician focused on the obvious emotional edge that Devo brings to the court: “Although he lets his emotions get the better of him every now and again and even though he’s a part of the Terrell Owens club (If he played for anyone else, we’d all hate him), Eric Devendorf is the heart of the team and that will be even more so next season.”

Yours truly would add that “Devo was clearly the one guy on the team who wanted to be ‘the guy’, even if it at times he wasn’t the one who was best situated.”

Matt of Orange 44 was the lone dissenting vote: “Andy Rautins - Eric Devendorf is the obvious selection simply because of minutes played, but Rautins may have actually outplayed Rautins this season statistically. With a higher offensive rating and effective field goal percentage than Devendorf, Rautins actually contributed more to the Orange's success than Devendorf's efforts. Plus, he turned over the ball less than Devendorf, which, in my book, is the most important aspect to Rautins' contributions.”

Jim Boeheim has got to feel good about his back court for next season when he’ll have two experienced juniors returning, a couple of highly touted freshman guards coming in, and a senior point guard on the bench.

Tune in tomorrow at noon at Getting Back to ’03 to see who the Biggest Villain of the 2006-2007 season was.

Blogger Awards: Worst Game of 2006-2007

Five awards done today, one more to go. What was the Worst Game for the Orange in the 2006-2007 season? A season where possibly any one individual loss may have cost the Orange a bid in the NCAA tournament. And sadly, there were many games to pick from. In a season where Syracuse lost three non-conference games, none of those three made honorable mention for the worst game of the year. A loss to Wichita State and Drexel did not warrant a single vote from our panelists. That's unbelievable. So which game was the worst loss of the season?

Sports Night with Howie Mansfield went with Notre Dame: “Notre Dame loss. A shootout that Syracuse couldn't win.” Definitely a viable candidate; a Dome record for most points ever given up in a game to an opponent, where Syracuse looked totally overmatched on defense.

Getting Back to ’03 voted for the Louisville loss: “Louisville, You could just feel it seeping away…”. Yep.

And yours truly, OrangeHoops voted the same: “Unfortunately too many to choose from. The worst game for me was the Louisville game… having a 14 point lead late in the game, the game well in control, and then falling completely apart.”

Two votes for Louisville, yet blowing a 14 point lead on the road did not win this coveted award. So what was the worst loss for 2006-2007?

A January 21st loss to a forgettable St. John’s team on the road, 64-60, was the winner.

Cuse Country had two personal perspectives for the loss. Josh said “Having the St Johns MSG game ruin my up-till-then-fantastic weekend in NYC.”. Tim chipped in with “There's nothing like losing to St. John's. I have spent way too much time saying "MSG is Cuse Country" to survive that loss with my pride intact. “

Matt of Orange 44 was a little more direct: “Syracuse v. St. John's. If anyone picks a different game they are batshit insane.”. Guess, I may be insane… then again, he could be right.

Finally Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician summed it up: “St John’s loss. In a season where one more win, ONE MORE, would have changed the entire outcome of our postseason fate…this one hurts even more. Honorable mention: The Louisville collapse.”

Unfortunately in a season with two many candidates for this particular category, we have the Red Storm as the winners.

Check in tomorrow at noon with Sports Night with Howie Mansfield to find out the Most Disappointing Player for the season.

Note: apologies for a late post, but I’m out on the west coast this week on business, so not only am I three hours behind, but I’m tied up in meetings to the late hours. My appreciation to my fellow bloggers for letting me post last each day. Expect a late post for Thursday too.

Syracuse Orange Blogger Awards

Starting Wednesday, the collective of the Syracuse basketball bloggers will be presenting the Syracuse Orange Blogger Awards. Six different blogs will be participating in rolling out the awards, including yours truly, Troy Nunes is An Absolute Magician, Cuse Country, Getting Back to ’03, Orange 44, and Sports Night With Howie Mansfield.

The announcements start at noon, EDT. Check in with TNIAAM for the complete schedule.

One For The Books

Congratulations to the Orange for advancing to the next round of the NIT Tournament. And more importantly, to have the character of players that make fans want to come out and cheer you on in record numbers. 26,752 fans at the Carrier Dome for a tournament that only 10 days ago we (meaning the collective Orange Nation) wanted to boycott. It speaks volumes about the character of the community to support a team with such actions.

Orange 44 and CuseCountry have put in similar sentiments, so thanks you Orangemen for the memories.

And it makes it even sweeter that the players recognize the moment too. From Mike Waters article in the Post Standard (link):

"In the Carrier Dome's 27-year history, there has never been a more
deserved standing ovation than the one given on Monday night.

During a timeout with 3 minutes and 19 seconds left in Syracuse's
80-64 victory over San Diego State in the second round of the National
Invitation Tournament, Dome public address announcer Michael Veley gave the
game's attendance: 26,752.

The figure not only shattered the NIT's
all-time attendance record of 23,522 set in 1979 for a Kentucky-Clemson game at
Rupp Arena, it was also the third-largest crowd of the season for Syracuse.

At that point, the Syracuse players and coaches stepped out of
their huddle and applauded the fans. In the center of it all was Syracuse coach
Jim Boeheim, clapping his hands over his head."

Let’s Go Orange

Blessing in Disguise

Sometimes genuine memories get created from the least likely scenarios. I think in many ways, the Orange getting snubbed by the NCAA is going to make this post season more enjoyable, and certainly more memorable than many Syracuse post seasons.

Like many other Syracuse fans, I was both angry and confused by the NCAA’s decision not to invite the Orangemen to the tournament. I saw some handwriting on the wall that things weren’t as easy as everyone thought, but even given that, I was still shocked when the announcement was made.

However, the decision by the NCAA committee did not cost Syracuse a national title. Despite their recent improvement (and they are a much better team in their past ten games than they were in the first 2/3 of the season), the Orangemen are still a dysfunctional team, where the team total is less than the sum of the parts. The Orange could probably match up and stay close with most every team in the tournament on any given night, but even now are quite capable of losing against the Oral Roberts or Wright States in the tournament. I think they would likely have gone one and out, maybe won two, before they left.

Instead, the NCAA shipped Syracuse off to the NIT. And something wonderful happened. Something very memorable. Syracuse fans showed they weren’t just whining or complaining. Rather, they showed they truly cared. In a world where actions should speak far more than words, 16,832 Orange fans bought tickets and went to the Carrier Dome last Wednesday to cheer the Orangemen on. They gave the Orangemen a 5 minute standing ovation during their shoot-around. All of this without the students (who were on spring break) to lead them on, something that is usually a prerequisite for this type of action.

And the Orangemen responded by giving the Syracuse fans a solid played game, even if it took the seniors thirty minutes to get into the game (and who can really blame them, since the NIT really is the end for them). Eric Devendorf put on a memorable 34 point show, single handedly carrying the team until Demetris Nichols started scoring in the second half, and Darryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts started playing defense and grabbing some rebounds. The Orangemen were 17-20 from the charity stripe that night, and had only 10 turnovers, both high marks for a team that often shot itself in the foot this season. The Orange were able to overcome some amazing (and lucky) perimeter shooting by South Alabama.

It was a game to be proud of in regards to how the team responded down the stretch, how they were able to put South Alabama away, and how the fans responded. After the game ended, Syracuse fans were even more rabid for tickets, as the demand became high enough that Syracuse had to stop the on-line sales of tickets. In what could/should have been a downer post season, I now have anticipation for Monday night's game against San Diego State.

So we’re not going to win a national title this year. And quite probably, we won’t win the NIT title (though, we could). But the memory of Syracuse fans showing they truly do care for the players, and the memory of Syracuse’s players responding in like, is something to cherish. At least it is for me. And other than a miraculous run through the NCAA tournament, what could have more value than that? 10 years from now, I’ll still remember this (including the snub). I wouldn’t remember if we 1 and out in the NCAA, or 2 and out.