The All 2000’s Syracuse basketball team

[HRE Otto IV]

I most likely wouldn’t put battle on my all 2010 SU team

 

[gilardino]

these 9 need to be on team ino

melo
hak
gerry
wes
flynn
rick jakson
arinze
devo
rak

 

[NC_Orange]

no consideration for Shumpert?

no consideration for Shumpert?

Geez, You kind of forget he was 2000s. Anything between John Wallace and the 03 championship seems more tied in with the 90s.

 

[Trueblue25]

What's the criteria?

Is this an all star team [i.e., the best at each position, irrespective of fit] or an exercise in mixing and matching the best group of complimentary players?

Criteria’s win the acc/old big east, win the post season conference tourney, win it all.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Narrowing it down to ACC SU I would have a two deep if:

Starters
PG Ennis
SG Malachi
SF Fair
PF Grant
C Rak

Bench
PG Gillon
SG Gbinije
SF White
PF McCullough
C Lydon

My rotation would be Silent G backing up both Gs. Lydon backing up PF/C. SF I could go small Malachi/Silent G or big Grant/Lydon. McCullough would be on the team for his potential. White gives a guy off the bench who can shoot. Gillon gives a shooter who is also a change of pace.

I don’t see how you fit Battle on this team. No way you could put him in the rotation over the guys above. As the fourth G how can you put him in over Gillon or Cooney? They at least fill in the gaps. What would Battle give you that you don’t already have?

 

[721Comstock]

Yup, shows the talent we got a few years ago that we aren’t getting right now. He be the best player on this year‘s team and yet was the third option on his own.

When Battle came in, I fully expected him to be a taller, more athletic Dion, sans the baggage.
Basically, Dion 2.0 - an upgraded model.

He’s still taller and more athletic, and has that knack for taking and making HUGE shots, but for whatever reason, he never quite got to that same level overall.

It’s odd.
And doesn’t seem to make sense.

 

[SUFan44]

That's a long period of time to have a team...

The All-Decade Team (2010-19) would be much more interesting...

 

[Trueblue25]

When Battle came in, I fully expected him to be a taller, more athletic Dion, sans the baggage.
Basically, Dion 2.0 - an upgraded model.

He’s still taller and more athletic, and has that knack for taking and making HUGE shots, but for whatever reason, he never quite got to that same level overall.

It’s odd.
And doesn’t seem to make sense.

Dion has the real killer instinct. Not to be cliche but I think growing up in philly may have given him the added edge that no one else has seemed to have since.

 

[billsin01]

Can format the 9 based on the players you know and how you’d think they’d work after watching them.

I agree, it would have been interesting to see Tyus on a more dynamic team with some players like Flynn or K Jo who penetrated and demanded the defense’s attention.

I guess I’d put..

Flynn, MCW
Waiters, Devo
Melo, Wes
Hak, Grant
rak

Very hard keeping G, Rick, AO, Rautins, Nichols, Battle and even Mali out.

Like this group but I'd have Andy over Devo if we're actually thinking of playing games with this roster. Good defensively, good passer, smart player, moves really well without the ball. That stuff.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Narrowing it down to ACC SU I would have a two deep if:

Starters
PG Ennis
SG Malachi
SF Fair
PF Grant
C Rak

Bench
PG Gillon
SG Gbinije
SF White
PF McCullough
C Lydon

My rotation would be Silent G backing up both Gs. Lydon backing up PF/C. SF I could go small Malachi/Silent G or big Grant/Lydon. McCullough would be on the team for his potential. White gives a guy off the bench who can shoot. Gillon gives a shooter who is also a change of pace.

I don’t see how you fit Battle on this team. No way you could put him in the rotation over the guys above. As the fourth G how can you put him in over Gillon or Cooney? They at least fill in the gaps. What would Battle give you that you don’t already have?

Mpg I would have it:

PG Ennis 32 Silent G 8
SG Malachi 24 Silent G 16
SF Fair 32 Malahi 8
PG Grant 32 Lydon 8
C Rak 28 Lydon 12

No need for an 8th guy.

 

[SUFan44]

Dion has the real killer instinct. Not to be cliche but I think growing up in philly may have given him the added edge that no one else has seemed to have since.

One thing not discussed on this board enough is our lack of Philly presence and the situation we've been in since...

Rakeem, Rick Jackson, Scoop, Dion, even dating back to Warrick... all those guys brought some tenacity and a "basketball player" mentality.

The prolonged stretches of "mediocrity" (2005-07, 2015-Present) have all had one thing in common -- no Philly guys.

 

[NKR1978]

Yes, I know all of that.
He did have a Shaq-like FT % tho, barely over 50% for his career.

If you want to play Rick at the 4, who do you bump?
Not Melo, Wes, or Hak.

And if you're going to have an actual 5, I'd choose Rak or Fab over Rick, and maybe even Lydon -
given that he's got the "stretch 4" part of the modern game, and still some very solid rim protection too.

Rak Sr Yr: 17.5pts 9.1reb 2.5blocks
Rick Sr Yr: 13.1pts 10.3reb 2.5 blocks

Rick's game was all within 5' and closer to the rim.
Rak had a very versatile game, including a legit faceup J.
And shot over 70% from the line his last 2 seasons.

Rick didn't have to do as much though because the 2011 team was exponentially better than that 2015 team. So I'm not sure a side-by-side stat comparison is too telling. But ultimately you have to go with Rak.

 

[ForCuseSake]

No love for Josh Pace?!?!!

The ultimate glue guy. I'd pick him over Wes.

 

[OttoMets]

Mpg I would have it:

PG Ennis 32 Silent G 8
SG Malachi 24 Silent G 16
SF Fair 32 Malahi 8
PG Grant 32 Lydon 8
C Rak 28 Lydon 12

No need for an 8th guy.

Wow, I didn't read carefully and was wondering how to politely suggest that I wouldn't have any of those guys on my team except maybe -- maybe -- Christmas.

Then I saw that you limited it to the ACC era and it dawned on me: Syracuse is bad in the ACC because its players are worse across the board. We can criticize the awful offensive coaching all we want, but this highlights just how important talent is.

 

[NateW]

AO
Hak
Melo
Andy
Gmac

McNeil (Perfect safety when running the press)
Wes
Mali
Dion

 

[billsin01]

That's a long period of time to have a team...

The All-Decade Team (2010-19) would be much more interesting...

That's an interesting point but I still think (if we include the 09-10 team) that Battle, if you consider him solely a 2, is behind Dion, Andy, G (who I think fits better at the 2), and maybe Richardson if you think he fits in more as a 2. MCW and Scoop would be the PGs, I would think.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Wow, I didn't read carefully and was wondering how to politely suggest that I wouldn't have any of those guys on my team except maybe -- maybe -- Christmas.

Then I saw that you limited it to the ACC era and it dawned on me: Syracuse is bad in the ACC because its players are worse across the board. We can criticize the awful offensive coaching all we want, but this highlights just how important talent is.

Yeah the last 6 years of the Big East for comparison I would have:

PG Flynn MCW
SG Waiters Devo
SF Wes Fair
PF Joseph Donte
C Fab Rick

That’s leaving out

PG Scoop
SG Andy Triche
SF Southerland
C AO

Battle couldn’t make that three deep back court

 

[cusefan88]

Guard: Triche, Rautins, MCW
Foward: Melo, Warrick, Wes Johnson
Center: Onuaku, Fab Melo

 

[Jake]

Uh, no.

RickJack, much like AO, was a very solid, but not spectacular player for us.
They both get a lot of love (and deservedly so, as part of one of our very best TEAMs EVER), but neither was an elite college player.

Nor was Jerami. Elite athlete, not an elite player in college.

 

[721Comstock]

Nor was Jerami. Elite athlete, not an elite player in college.

True. That’s why I suggested CJ as a possible replacement.
Or Lydon.

 

[pfister1]

Nor was Jerami. Elite athlete, not an elite player in college.

I put Waiters in this category as well. I mean I know he had the talent and potential to dominate based on his draft position, the fact that he is still in the NBA and highly thought of, but I don't feel like he ever converted that into dominance at SU.

My first and second team top 9 based more on my recollection of what they contributed at SU, without regard to their pro careers.

(G)- Flynn / MCW
(G)- McNamara / Triche
(G)- Jardine / Gbinije
(F) - Melo / Fair
(F) - Shumpert / Nichols
(F) - Wes / Jackson
(F/C) - Warrick / AO
(C) - Christmas / Etan

 

[rrlbees]

I put Waiters in this category as well. I mean I know he had the talent and potential to dominate based on his draft position, the fact that he is still in the NBA and highly thought of, but I don't feel like he ever converted that into dominance at SU.

My first and second team top 9 based more on what I feel like they contributed at SU without regard to their pro careers.

G- Flynn / MCW
G- McNamara / Triche
G- Jardine / Gbinije
F - Melo / Fair
Shumpert / Nichols
Wes / Jackson
F/C- Warrick / AO
C- Christmas / Etan

That looks like only 8 each team.

 

[pfister1]

That looks like only 8 each team.

If I say it's 9, it's 9. What is this, a math test? Next thing you'll be wanting my best gramma.

 

[HakAttack]

In order:

Melo (SF1)
Hak (PF1)
Flynn (PG1)
Gerry (SG2)
Wes (SG1)
Dion (PG2)
Etan (C1)
Fair (PF2)
Melo (C2)
Devo (SF2)

 

[SBU72]

Reading the teams, I was surprised by the love given Devo, especially over GMac at the 2G. GMac is still the guy everbody compares to when discussing 3pt shooters and he was pg like 90% of the time. And isn't his career ft% the highest at SU? And Flynn has to be among the quickest. We never got to see what his hands would have been like in m2m defense.

Pg: Flynn, MCW
2G: GMac, Dion
SG: Mello, Johnson
Pf: Hak, Lyndon (because he showed he could play C for short periods of time)
C: Xmas