All-time all athletic team for Syracuse each positions

[orangefog]

He could, but barely.

Yeah, he was no high flier, but he could take it baseline and go up string off two feet and put it down with two hands. I prefer the Elijah kind of baseline jam, but the Moten works, too.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Surprised only one person has mentioned MCW, and really surprised nobody has mentioned Etan at the 5. The all-time best shot blocker in history didn't stuff all those shots on accident, and his second jump was insane and got him a whole lot of blocks, contests, and rebounds that other guys just weren't physically capable of ever doing.

 

[sufandu]

Yeah, he was no high flier, but he could take it baseline and go up string off two feet and put it down with two hands. I prefer the Elijah kind of baseline jam, but the Moten works, too.

I don't think I ever saw the two handed one off of both feet. I only saw the one handed barely over the rim off one foot dunk occasionally on the break. My main baseline memories involve his insane ability to get shots off over bigger players and kiss them off the glass while barely jumping. May be the best unathletic finisher ever.

 

[orangefog]

I don't think I ever saw the two handed one off of both feet. I only saw the one handed barely over the rim off one foot dunk occasionally on the break. My main baseline memories involve his insane ability to get shots off over bigger players and kiss them off the glass while barely jumping. May be the best unathletic finisher ever.

It was a long time ago, so I may be mistaken, but I swear I remember the baseline dunk a few times. It wasn't a wow dunk, but...wait, just found it. The VERY last highlight here. It wasn't a drive, it was off a pass from Autry.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I guess you have to start by defining what you think athletic ability is.

I think of it in terms of raw speed, agility, jumping ability, hand to eye coordination, footwork.

PG

Flynn is the gold standard here. Really fast, could jump really well, could whip a pass down the court with little effort, super agile. Pearl was a good not great athlete IMHO. Not much of a jumper. Not super fast. Sherm was fast and could jump and probably is my second team guy. Though Eddie Moss should be considered as well. He was really fast, strong, agile and was a terrific leaper. Our best man defender at guard in the JB era.

SG

I didn't see Bing play at Syracuse. Too young. I did see him play in the NBA in the second half of his career and even then he was a freak athlete. Really fast, great leaper, agile and so smooth. I give him the nod over Stevie by a hair. Tony was a great leaper but not as agile or quick as the other guys.

SF

David Johnson was a fantastic athlete. Seemed to do something remarkable every game he played. Fast, strong, so coordinated, so great in the air.
Wes wasn't as strong but was maybe a hair faster and maybe a hair more agile. Jerami did everything well and was the best athlete on the court just about every time he played at SU but I can't give it to him. He was too reserved and perhaps didn't show everything he was capable of all the time when he was here. Paul was strong and was a very good leaper and had good speed but not like DJ and WJ. I give this to David by the smallest of margins.

PF

I have Billy Owens, Hakim Warrick, Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Coleman as my finalists here. I think those are the finalists. Pretty good group

Billy wasn't a freak athlete. He was a really good athlete who was also really smart. Hak had great leaping ability and body control and I think has the best catalog of blocks thrown down at Syracuse in history. Really good rebounder and shot blocker for a forward. But maybe not as well rounded as some of the others here. Melo had the best first step of any player I have seen play at Syracuse. Also exceptionally smart but not a crazy good leaper, not super fast. He beat you more with his mind than his body. Derrick was a very good leaper and had that quick jump to beat others for putbacks. Also was really good bringing the ball up (Owens and Melo were no slouches here either) and was a terrific passer for a forward. Best outlet passer I have ever seen at the college level (did not see Unseld at UL). Gotta go with Derrick here. Honorable mention to Leo Rautins, who did everything well and if he was 100% might have challenged Derrick.

C

Rosie was really agile, really quick, could jump really well and had a lot going on. Maybe a bit underappreciated because he played so long ago and did not play afterwards in the NBA. Rony was as fast as anyone who played center at Syracuse. Another really good leaper. BMK might have been even more agile but that was his only great strength and he didn't do much of anything else really well. Conrad was also very fast and could jump out of the gym. Yes he was wild and out of control a lot but he was really fun to watch running around like a madman. Etan and Mookie were fine athletes too. Really close here but I think I have to go with Rony. At his best, he dominated more than the other guys.

Before I was old enough to remember but what about Dennis Duval and Bug Williams?

 

[sutomcat]

Before I was old enough to remember but what about Dennis Duval and Bug Williams?

They were good athletes for sure.

If you only consider speed, Bug might be the fastest SU basketball player I have ever seen.

Dennis was a very good overall athlete but to be a starter on an all athletic SU hoops team, you need to be a spectacular athlete. I don't think he makes the cut either. At least not for me.

 

[Todoubled23]

Girard
Buddy
Jimmy
Swider
Sean Williams

temery I think it's time to bring individual post awards to the site haha

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Josh Wright
Mike Jones
Stevie Johnson
Hakeem Warwick
DC

 

[20plus]

I think Jason Hart was the best PG athlete in program history. Incredible speed and agility to lock people down defensively which is precisely why he had a longer NBA career than 95% of the players mentioned in this thread.

Jonny Flynn > JHART In the category of athleticism

 

[OmahaCuse]

This is a lot harder than I thought. Is athletic jumping ability? Strength? Dexterity? Or a combination of them all.

I’ll go top three in each position…but no order because I think people define athleticism differently.

PG Flynn, Sherman, Richmond (ouch)
SG Dion, Dave Johnson, Bruin
SF Wes, Stevie, Southerland
PF Hak, Jerami, DC
C Rony, Etan, Rosie

Cant just rank them on success on the court. But these were players I saw that made physical plays that made me say, wow. - I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before.”

the one guy not on this list that needs to be there is Billy. His athleticism is underrated. He’d probably replace Bruin, and then I’d slide Stevie to SG. Stevie wasn’t a guard, he was a utility player who happened to play with a PG, two forwards and a center. He didn’t play the game like a guard, he played like a forward. The fact that he couldn’t shoot, had a really weak handle, and was only 6’2” 1/2 and still scored nearly 2,000 points is insane.

Don’t see Richmond as particularly athletic. Michael Carter Williams, Jason Hart both more athletic

 

[HOFCeluck]

MCW
Flynn
Stevie
Hak
Etan

Sixth man Billy Celuck (obv)

 

[grepal]

Pg- Johnny Flynn can’t think of anybody else close. Michael Lloyd was pretty athletic!

Sg- Stevie Thompson or Tony Red Bruin can’t think of anybody else close either. Tyus but Tyus wasn’t Stevie or Bruin!

Sf- there’s a ton of Small Forwards that I can think of that are super athletic. Paul Harris, Wes Johnson, I think Jeremy Grant played both three and four

pf- I think I’m gonna go with Hak here over Jeremy Grant.

Centers - we actually had at least 3 very athletic centers Jeremy McNeil, Conrad McRae, Ronnie Seikaly!

My final squads- Flynn, Thompson, Grant, Hak, McRae

Bing, Pearl, Coleman, Melo and Seikaly Head Coach-Roy Danforth he was smart enough to hire JAB as his assistant. Only kidding, of course it is JAB.