Orange Win 2k Sports Classic

Wow. I would be lying if I told you I thought the Orange would be 4-0 at this point of this season. I would have been pleased with 3-1. The team lost its top three scorers from last season, including Jonny Flynn who basically controlled every aspect of the offense last year.

Syracuse easily beat Robert Morris and Albany. I had hope and optimism from those two games because the Orange not only beat those teams, but they beat them easily, something that Syracuse really has not done for the past decade. Even in the famous 2002-2003 season, the Orange won a lot of close games, and really never blew too many teams out of the building.

But this year’s Orangemen have taken this a step even further. The not only beat easily the teams they should beat, they took on #12 California and #4 North Carolina, and easily dismantled those teams. That’s the North Carolina Tar Heels, the defending national champion. Yes, the Tar Heels lost four starters from last year, but they still have a ton of talent, a Hall of Fame coach, and they were ranked #4. That was Syracuse 87, North Carolina 71.

I have no idea how good this Syracuse team is, but it is clearly not the #6 team in the Big East. Wesley Johnson is one of those rare situations where he is better than advertised. Johnson had 25 points and 8 rebounds against a big Tar Heel front line. He was 10-17 from the floor and 4-8 from three point range.

Andy Rautins has clearly grabbed the leadership of this team, and his teammates are behind him. Rautins defense in the zone has been simply superb this year. He had seven steals this evening, to go along with his seven rebounds and seven assists. Oh yeah, he did make a few threes going 3-8. Rautins is showing all the poise, guile and maturity of a fifth year senior, and that time on the Canadian National Team is surely helping him. And those passes Rautins is throwing? I hope his teammates are icing down their hands because he is blistering them.

Scoop Jardine is making us almost want to say “Johnny who?”. Jardine is not the scorer Flynn was, but he surely is showing he can run an offense. And he is backing up Brandon Triche. I’ll be really excited to see what happens when these two actually learn how to run this team.

Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku are just eating up the inside. And unlike the past two seasons, their teammates are getting the ball inside to them.

Of course the real success to this team is their defense, which has been outstanding. Extremely active, very active. They have long bodies on the court, but it’s the mental attitude that is making the difference. These guys really buy into the Jim Boeheim defense, and are giving a clinic on how to run it.

We can temper our expectations with a few realities. The team is flat awful at free throw shooting. If another team can get them into a close game, it will be tough for the Orange to pull it out. It some aspects it reminds me of the Orangemen in the Coleman-Douglas-Owens era. Those guys would run most opponents off the court; when they lost a game it was a close one where the free throws did matter.

The Orangemen are also making a lot of turnovers, though they did well against California. Part of that is being overly aggressive, and part is being youthful at some positions. Those types of turnovers can hurt you down the road. This is something that can be corrected (unlike the free throws which will be an albatross this year).

It is going to be a long season. One with many ups and downs as the team learns. But right now they are definitely on an up. Hard to believe this is the same squad who played LeMoyne a few weeks ago. Time for the Orange fans to really enjoy this.

I know I am eager to see what this team can do over the long haul. Let’s go Orange!

Let's Play Two

“Let’s play two”, was what the legendary Ernie Banks was attributed to saying. The Orange faithful can all remember back to the memorable 6 Overtime game against UConn on March 12th, 2009 at the Big East Tournament. It surely seemed like Syracuse played two that day. And technically, they did as when the game ended at 1:40 am EDT, they went to bed, woke up and played West Virginia that night (and of course, that game went into overtime too). I doubt we’ll ever see another team play 195 minutes of basketball in the Big East tournament, even if they expand to another round.

The other thing we are likely never to see again is a scheduled doubleheader of basketball. Who would be crazy enough to do that? Well, former Syracuse coach and athletic director Lew Andreas did just that to kick off the 1948-1949 season. Syracuse played the University of Toronto on the afternoon of December 4th, 1948 at the Syracuse Coliseum, and later that evening came back and played the Ithaca College. Syracuse would win both games easily, beating Toronto 81-41, and Ithaca 76-34. Jack Kiley and Ed Stickel would lead the scoring for the day, both having a combined 25 points for each game.

Of course, Syracuse did have some advantages in those games, especially when compared to the Syracuse/UConn 6OT game. First of all, the competition was far less intense, as the final scores indicated. Second of all, there was a couple of hours break between the two games. And third, and most importantly, was how deep Andreas went into his bench for each game.

In terms of playing his reserve players, Andreas was the anti-Boeheim. 19 different Orangemen would play against Toronto in the first game, 17 players would play in the second game. Coach Andreas was notorious for making wholesale substitutions during his coaching career on the hill, and often had a First Team, Second Team, Third Team, that he would send in as a whole group. In some games, he would start his second team, and then bring his first team in.

The 19 players that Andreas played in the Ithaca game were not a school record. On January 14, 1939, Syracuse played Fordham at Archbold Gymnasium. The Orangemen routed the Rams 57-22. Andreas would play 21 different players that day; the local news that day questioned if that was possibly a collegiate record (I don’t know the answer to that even now).

To put 21 players into perspective, Jim Boeheim has only played 20 different players the past two seasons combined, and 25 different players the past three seasons combined.

Anyhow, let’s play two!

Veterans Day 2009

On this Veterans day, I would like to once again thank all those who have served our country, putting their lives on the line to do those tasks that need to be done.The Orange basketball team has had its share of veterans over the decades. And has been tradition at OrangeHoops, I would like to recognize those former basketball Orangemen who did serve. I acknowledge this is not a complete list; only those I know of (each year I add a few more). I imagine more Orangemen were in the service that I am omitting; if so, please post a recognition here! Also please feel free to recognize any other veterans in the comments.

In World War I, the following served:

Albert Ackley
Bradley Barnard
Meyer Bloom
Jim Casey
Ed Cronauer
John Cronauer
Charles Fasce
Russ Finsterwald
Ken Harris
Ted Huntley
Bernie Kates
Ken Lavin
Nathan Malefski
Danny Martin
Walter ‘Dutch’ Notman
Walter Peters
Elias Raff
Billy Rafter
Horace Ruffin
Courtland Sanney

In World War II, the following served:

Jim Ackerson
John Balinsky
Dick Casey
Larry Crandall
Wilbur Crisp
Dan DiPace
Les Dye
Alton Elliott
John Emerich
Bob Felasco
Paul Ferris
Billy Gabor
Ed Glacken
Joe Glacken
Marc Guley
Lew Hayman
Bill Hennemuth
Tom Huggins
George Jarvis
Jim Konstanty
Stan Kruse (Kruszewski)
Guy Luciano
Saul Mariaschin
Tom McTiernan
Francis Miller
Joe Minsavage
Andy Mogish
Roy Peters
Hank Piro
Phil Rakov
John Schroeder
Bill Schubert
Bob Shaddock
Wilmeth Sidat-Singh
Red Stanton
Mike Stark
Joe Sylvestri
Charles Taggart
Ray Tice

In Korea the following served:

Reaves Baysinger, Jr

In Vietnam, the following served:

Reaves Baysinger, Jr
George Crofoot
Rick Dean

The following were veterans who served but were fortunate to miss a war era:

Art Barr
Mel Besdin
Rudy Cosentino
Roy Danforth
Ronnie Kilpatrick
George Koesters
Jack Malone

Four of the aforementioned players deserve special note, as they sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

Wilmeth Sidat-Singh was a member of the Tuskegee Airman, and was killed in a training accident when his plane crashed into Lake Michigan in 1943.

Charles Taggart was a member of the US Navy serving aboard the USS Frederick C. Davis, and was killed when his ship was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on April 24, 1945. Taggart and 115 crew members perished.

John Cronauer was killed in World War I in 1918.

Joe Minsavage was killed in World War II on June 19, 1943 when his ship was attacked and he was lost at sea.

Win #800

Congratulations to Jim Boeheim on his career win #800. It was an inevitable win for a coach who routinely wins twenty games a year. If the win did not come against the Great Danes of Albany (it did 75-43), it was going to happen. It seems like only yesterday that Boeheim won game #700; in fact it was a lopsided win over Providence at the Dome on February 26, 2005, with Hakim Warrick leading the way with 36 points.

Syracuse University has now won 1756 games, fifth all time for NCAA Division I basketball (only Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke have more). Jim Boeheim hasn’t coached all those games, it just seems that way. He has however won 45.5% of the games the Orange have won. As a player, Syracuse was 52-24, as varsity assistant coach, Syracuse was 139-65. So all combined, he has been involved with 991 wins for Syracuse basketball. Think about the magnitude of that number… 991. He has been involved with 56% of the wins for Syracuse basketball.

The 2008-09 season should be an interesting one to watch. It would have been a different season had Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris all stayed. There is no doubt about that. A team with a ton of experience and talent, a rare combination in today’s NCAA. And definitely a team that could have challenged for the NCAA tournament, even though it had some weaknesses. However, I think this year’s team, as currently comprised will be an NCAA tournament team, one that will be much better in March than it is in November. It is a young team in some aspects, but it is a team with some fifth year seniors (Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku), and a some great potential in young players.

Let’s go Orange.

The Best to Transfer to the Orange

The 2009-2010 basketball season is soon upon us. The Albany game on November 11th is quickly approaching. This should be a very interesting season, and despite losing four significant players in Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Eric Devendorf and Kris Onganaet. There was a lot of talent still remaining on the team, and the incoming freshmen are highly taugted. But the most interesting player for this upcoming season may be Wesley Johnson.

Johnson was a strong player as a freshman and sophomore at Iowa State, averaging 12.3 points a game and 6.1 rebounds. He has been described as a fantastic rebounder in practice, and based on his both is resume and his build, I do not see a reason to doubt that he can indeed rebound. The Big 12 is a highly reputable conference, and those were decent numbers for a young player in that conference.

We will not know what to expect until the games actually begin. How well does Johnson transition from the Big 12 to the Big East will remain to be seen, as does how he gels with his new teammates (whom he has been fortunate to be practicing with during his redshirt transfer year).

There really have been seven notably successful transfers to Syracuse since 1940, and if Johnson can fall into the upper half of this group, Syracuse will be in good shape. For purposes of discussion, I excluded transfers pre-1940; college transfer and eligibility rules were different a while back, and it just made a mess to evaluate them.

#7 of the best transfers for Syracuse is Michael Lloyd. Lloyd scored 1,871 points in two years of junior college at San Jacinto College, and he did not disappoint at Syracuse. He replaced the graduating Adrian Autry, and Lloyd helped Syracuse to a 12-6 Big East record, 20-10 overall. Lloyd would play only one year because of an academic disqualification of his San Jacinto credits. But he helped guide a team with Lawrence Moten and John Wallace.

#6 is Fred Saunders. Saunders came to Syracuse from Southwest Louisiana, and would only be eligible for the second semester of his senior year. Saunders was an NBA style forward, capable of running the court well and a strong rebounder. Syracuse started the 1973-74 season at 7-3, but would finish 12-4 after Saunders joined the lineup. Saunders ‘only’ averaged 9.8 points a game; but scoring wasn’t what the Orangemen needed. His 9.8 rebounds helped Rudy Hackett up front and the Orange would make the NCAA tournament with their strong finish.

#5 is LeRon Ellis. Ellis had an outstanding sophomore season for the University of Kentucky, averaging 16 ppg and 5.5 rebounds. Kentucky was nailed with recruiting violations and the NCAA allowed any player who was not part of the scandal to transfer and play immediately at any other school, so Syracuse was the beneficiary of Ellis’ transfer.

Ellis may be better than I am crediting him for. He did end up being a first round NBA pick. But while Ellis was a physically gifted player with a nice soft shot, he was not a strong inside presence, and was ‘soft’ by Big East standards. He did allow Derrick Coleman to move back to the forward position, and Ellis did have to split time with Rich Manning his first year (Manning would transfer). Ellis improved a lot his senior year, both in scoring and rebounding. And he provided some crucial senior leadership in 1991 as the lone scholarship senior.

#4 is Jason Cipolla, the junior college transfer from Tallahassee Community College. Cipolla was a New York kid, a tough player on the court who provided some critical perimeter shooting on the 1996 Final Four team. He’d split a lot of time that year with Marius Janulis, and the duo were a three point shooting monster. Cipolla would be part of a ‘smaller’ Syracuse team in 1997, a team that had more three point shooters than is the Orange norm. He would score 13 points a game and make 85% of his free throws.

3 Ryan Blackwell 30 g, 118 pts, 3.9 ppg

#3 is Ryan Blackwell, who transferred to Syracuse from Illinois. Blackwell was unhappy with his playing time at Illinois, averaging 3.9 ppg. He made an immediate impact at Syracuse, helping to upgrade the strength on the front line and doing yeoman’s work as a rebounder. He would average 7.8 rebounds a game in his three years at Syracuse; while not outstanding numbers, they are very respectable. Add in his 11.8 points a game, along with is solid defense, and two NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances, and his impact is noticeable.

#2 is the seldom mentioned, perhaps obscure, Chuck Richards. Richards transferred from West Point to Syracuse. At 6’9”, 220 lbs he provided the big man that Fred Lewis needed for his Orangemen. The Orangemen went from 8-13 to 17-8 and the NIT Tournament in Richards first year on the hill. A large part of that of course was the arrival of a great sophomore class led by the legendary Dave Bing, who had 22.2 ppg and 8.2 rebounds. But Richards took advantage of teams focusing on Bing, and scored 22 points a game himself, along with 9.5 rebounds. Hard to knock those numbers, regardless of the situation. Richards’ numbers would decrease his senior year as a result of injuries and the presence of other players taking possessions away, but he still had a respectable 14.7 ppg and 8.5 rpg.

#1 in my opinion, is no contest. The best transfer at Syracuse has been Leo Rautins. Rautins played for Minnesota his freshman year, and put up solid numbers of 8.3 ppg, to go along with 106 assists and 110 rebounds. He was second in the Big 10 with assists, as a freshman, to some sophomore named Magic Johnson. As a sophomore Rautins showed his versatility, helping run the Syracuse offense, scoring 9.4 ppg with 3.6 assists and 5.4 rebounds. He would cap off his sophomore season with the dramatic tip in basket in triple overtime to allow Syracuse to beat Villanova and win the Big East Championship.

Rautins would help lead Syracuse to a Second Big East Championship in 1982. He would lead the team in assists and rebounds, and averaged 13.3 ppg. His senior year he continued to improve, increasing his scoring to 14.2 ppg, along with 6.2 apg, and 7.3 rpg. He shot 75% from the free throw line, 52% from the floor, and he’d finish his collegiate career with three triple doubles. Rautins would also be a first round NBA pick.

High Schools of Note to the Syracuse Landscape

You sometimes hear that a college has a “pipeline” with a particular high school, a school where they seem to get a lot of their top talent from. I do not think those situations are as prominent as some may suggest, at least not in the past few decades, though there are clearly situations where a school as obtained two or three good players in a short period of time from one high school.

I’ve started working recently on my OrangeHoops website, putting together a listing of all the high schools and prep schools that Syracuse players have attended. It’s by no means a complete list, and admittedly, since I am short of all the data, there could be some significant contributing schools that I am missing. Nevertheless, I do have some opinions on which schools have helped Syracuse basketball the most over its 110 year history.

Top of mind will be Jamesville-Dewitt High School, who already sent Danny Schayes and Andy Rautins to the Orangemen. With Brandon Triche joining the Orange this year, it will be interesting to see how he does; if he has an outstanding collegiate career, J-D will definitely move up my list. I think it is interesting that the three most significant Orangemen basketball players from J-D are all related to notable Syracuse basketball players. Danny was the son of NBA Legend Dolph Schayes of the Syracuse Nationals, Andy of course the son of Leo Rautins, and Brandon the nephew of former Syracuse captain Howard Triche.

Now when ranking the impact the schools have had on Syracuse, it is both a combination of the greatness of the players and how many players. Towson Catholic gave Syracuse Carmelo Anthony and Donte Greene, but that is only two players, both who only played one year at Syracuse. Admittedly, two of the best freshman seasons on the hill ever, but not enough to make the top 5.

Dunbar High School (Baltimore) gave us some players in the 1980s & 90s, Masten Park (Buffalo) basically formed the team in the early 1900s, Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) has sprinkled in some players over the years, and Lansingburg (Troy, NY) gave the Orange some solid players in the 1920s. Tiny Norwich was a big impact on the Orange in the first quarter century, and the Manlius Military Academy had its moments before it closed down.

However, these are my top five:

Binghamton Central (Binghamton, NY). Binghamton gave Syracuse a four sport letterman in Joe Vavra in the 1930s; he would be more successful in boxing than in the other sports, but nevertheless was a valuable member of the basketball team. It was when Bullet Billy Gabor stepped on the court in 1942 that Binghamton Central became important; Gabor was the first thousand point man for Syracuse. In the 1950s two more BC guys came, Ted Parke, and Jon Cincebox. Cincebox is from a statistical perspective the best rebounder Syracuse has ever had (based on rebounds per game).

Springarn High School (Washington, DC). This is the exception to the rule, but what an exception. Only three players to Syracuse, but when two of them are Dave Bing and Sherman Douglas, arguably the two best guards Syracuse has ever had, it’s tough to overlook the school. Add in Gerry McFadden who transferred to Syracuse in the late 1960s, and you have three starters from this D.C. school.

The top three schools are miles ahead of the rest, and were difficult to sort through. At number three I have Mont Pleasant High School (Schenectady, NY). This school was indeed a pipeline for the Orangemen, starting in the 1930s and going into the late 1950s. John Gorecki, Paul Podbielski, Don MacNaughton, Stan Kruse, Chris Koray, Roy Peters, Dick Suprunowicz, Bill Manikis, Jack Larnad, Larry Loudis, Bruce Kollath, and Chaundu Carey all came from Mont Pleasant. While this school was not producing superstar players for the Orange, it was producing solid everyday players, the type of players who start for two or three seasons, or do the dirty work of a sixth or seventh man.

Number two is Central High School, of Syracuse, now long closed. In the 1920s Central was the pipeline for Syracuse University, and was one of the best basketball programs in New York State. Central did not have a basketball team until shortly before 1920. Syracuse basketball players George Noakes and Herman Brickman, though both alumni of Central, likely played basketball for the Syracuse YMCA rather than at Central. But basketball was becoming a popular sport, and individuals such as Dave Brodsky championed to have the programs at their high schools.

That would lead to players such as Brodsky, Gordon Mahley and Phil Rakov playing together in high school, and then together for the Orangemen. More importantly, a young man named Vic Hanson also played basketball with them at Central. Hanson, of course, would lead Syracuse to the 1927 Helms Foundation National Championship, along with earning himself recognition in the College Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

Brodsky, upon graduation at Syracuse, would go back to Central and coach the basketball team for several years. He would win several district championships and some state championships while there. All which would lead to Brodsky as being recognized as the “father of Syracuse high school basketball”. Along the way, talented players such as Ken Beagle, Ronnie Phillips, George Armstrong and Warren Stevens would play for him. Later players such as Adam Markowski, the wonderfully talented Manny Breland, and crew legend Bill Sanford would attend Central.

Which brings us to the top high school for Syracuse basketball. Surprisingly, it is not a Syracuse area high school, though it is a New York school. Brooklyn Boys & Girls School (formerly Brooklyn Boys) has been the source of more impact players than any other high school for Syracuse basketball. In the mid 1910’s, Syracuse saw the arrival of Charley Dolley and John Barsha. Dolley was a great shooter, and developed a reputation at Syracuse for his game winning shots. Barsha was an outstanding defensive player, and a critical part of the 1918 Syracuse Helms Foundation National Champions. Barsha would also earn All-American status in football. Fellow gridiron star Herm Sawyer would also play hoops.

In the 1950’s Brooklyn Boys & Girls would send the talented Vinnie Cohen to the Hill. Cohen would lead Syracuse to its first NCAA berth, and a final position in the Elite eight, along with being the first Syracuse player to average twenty points a game in a season. The 1960s saw Sam Penceal arrive with his strong defensive play (good enough to shut down the multi-talented Bill Bradley). Later in the decade, Vaughn Harper brought his tremendous leaping ability and rebounding skills to the Orangemen. And last, but certainly not least, in 1983 Boy & Girls sent the much publicized Pearl Washington to the Dome, where the Pearl electrified the crowds, and helped make 30k-plus crowds a true ‘happening’ in the Carrier Dome.

Who knows? Perhaps the success of Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris will revitalize the Buffalo connection. Or Kris Joseph will help the Baltimore/D.C. pipeline, or the Canadian express line. But the schools above, definitely helped sculpt the landscape of Syracuse basketball.

2009 Orange Hoops Hall of Fame

In 2007, OrangeHoops inducted its charter class into the OrangeHoops Hall of Fame: Dave Bing, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Vic Hanson, and Pearl Washington. In 2008 Billy Owens was added to that list, bringing the total to 6. Another year has passed, and now it is time for the 2009 inductee.

I won’t bother you with all the rules for eligibility (you can catch up on them here). 2009 does have six new eligible candidates (using the fifteen year rule): Adrian Autry, Scott McCorkle, Charlie Lockwood, Jason Gluck, Kris Aaron, and Mike Begovich. None, based on their current resumes, would warrant consideration for this year’s vote, and Autry was the only starter among the bunch.

I think this year’s viable top candidates come down to the following seven, listed chronologically: Lew Castle, Joe Schwarzer, Lew Andreas, Billy Gabor, Vinnie Cohen, Roosevelt Bouie, and Rony Seikaly.

Castle was a two time All-American at Syracuse, and was captain and leading scorer of Syracuse’s only undefeated team, the 1913-1914 squad that went 12-0.

Schwarzer was a two time All-American, and was captain and leading scorer of the 1917-1918 squad that went 16-1 and was retroactively named the National Champions by the Helms Foundation.

Lew Andreas coached Syracuse basketball for 27 seasons, including the 19-1 1925-1926 squad that was awarded the Helms Foundation National Championship. He had a career record of 358-134, and he was the Syracuse Athletic Director for 28 years (1937-1964).

Gabor was a two time All-American, was a prolific scorer, becoming the first Syracuse player to score 1,000 points and led Syracuse to their first post-season tournament in 1945-1946 with the NIT Tournament.

Cohen was an All-American, the first Syracuse player to average 20+ points a game in a season, and led the team to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1956-1957.

Bouie was a two time All-American, a standout defensive player who led Syracuse to a 100-18 record in his four years.

Seikaly was an All-American, a standout defensive player whose outstanding play in the 1987 NCAA tournament took Syracuse to the brink of its first tournament championship.

Tough choices again this year. However, the 2009 Orange Hoops Hall of Fame inductee is Billy 'The Bullet' Gabor.

Gabor came to Syracuse in the midst of World War II, during the 1942-1943 season. Because of the war, freshman were allowed to start on the varsity. Gabor would quickly earn a starting berth on the team, and would lead the Orangemen in scoring with 12.1 ppg. He would set the Syracuse single game scoring mark of 28 points on Feb 24, 1943 versus West Virginia, breaking the school record set by Paul Kartluke (Bob Shaddock would break Gabor’s record three days later with 33 points against Colgate).

Gabor would miss the last game of the season as he was called into active service for the military. He would serve in the war as a bombardier for the U.S. Army Air Corps.

After the war, Gabor returned to Syracuse for the 1945-1946 season, and would lead the Orangemen to their first postseason action ever, with a 23-4 record, and an NIT berth. Gabor would lead the Orangemen in scoring, averaging 15.2 ppg, and would again break the school single game scoring record with 36 points against Oswego on December 8, 1945.

Gabor was known as ‘The Bullet’ for he was exceptionally fast on the court. He would again lead the Orangemen in scoring his junior and senior seasons. He would finish his career as Syracuse’s all time leading scorer with 1,344 points, a mark that would stand for 18 seasons until Dave Bing broke it I 1966. Gabor was the first Orangeman to score 400 points in a season, was named an All-American twice, and scored 30+ points in a game 5x.

He was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals of the NBA, and would make the NBA All Rookie team in 1949. In 1953 he made the NBA All-Star team, and in 1955 he helped the Nationals win the NBA Championshp. Gabor would retire from the NBA after that season.

His uniform #17 was retired by Syracuse in February 2009.