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Message: [QUOTE="billsin01, post: 5420295, member: 837"] Yeah, I think to do this exercise you have to draw a line somewhere around 1995 or so. You're just talking about a different era of basketball. With no line, I think you'd have to put Bing, Melo, and then basically guys from teh mid-to-late 80s -- so sherm/pearl, DC, Billy O, Rony. Maybe Hackett too? Moten? But with absurd talent sticking around for years and a wild west recruiting scene that greatly favored long-time coaches and big programs, it's just a totally different era. So, for me, I draw a line around the time of that '96 final four team and consider that the more 'modern' era of cuse hoops. To that end, my starting 5 would probably be: [B]MCW Rautins Melo Wallace Fab[/B] I don't know. I can see arguments for Flynn (who was probably the better player than MCW but not quite as good a distributor/defender), Etan, Wes, Gerry, Grant and some others. I think Rautins is really underrated here. Second-team all Big East in a loaded conference and as good as his numbers were, they really don't tell the whole story of his defensive impact and ability to constantly push the tempo. I'd argue he and MCW were the two best guards defensively in the zone and Fab at his best as a sophomore was probably the best all-around center defensively (even though Etan was probably the better pure shot-blocker). Melo and Wallace were walking buckets and big/physical enough to rebound against two opponents (a must on the weak-side in the zone). [B]Toughest omissions:[/B] [B]Flynn[/B] -- The teams weren't overly successful but he was a stud and probably the best player other than Melo in this era at creating his own shot if needed. [B]Grant[/B] -- Just an utterly dominant athlete but he became a much better scorer at the next level. Would have made the list if he played 2 more years. Maybe even one. [B]Gerry[/B] -- His efficiency numbers aren't pretty but the threat of him going off was terrifying for teams and he carried a huge offensive load his last two years here. [B]Hak[/B] -- Incredibly productive and athletic. If he was more of a factor defensively I'd replace wallace with him. Wallace wasn't great defensively either. [B]Etan[/B] -- His shot-blocking changed games and he was quietly a good offensive player despite some limitations. [B]Honorable mentions:[/B] Elijah Hughes and Andrew White (Hughes last season was really, really good ... underrated I think; White got off to a rocky start defensively, but played really well on both ends the second half of his one season), CJ, Waiters, probably several others i'm not thinking of off the top of my head. [/QUOTE]

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