Ennis - It hit me today.

[OttoMets]

I don't see the Edelin/Ennis comparison, other than their similarity in being safe, careful ball-handlers who play the game at a steady pace.

But calling Billy anything other than an excellent point guard is inaccurate. And using his lack of professional career as evidence of some flaw in his game is not only silly but demonstrates ignorance of the illness that derailed his collegiate career.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Billy Edelin was an outstanding point guard. Without him, we do not win in 2003. It's too bad that he had such an up/down career.

 

[Bayside44]

slow fat starting point guard billy e has got a ring.

He came off the bench.

 

[SWC75]

I will say that I would have liked to see what a backcourt of Edelin at the point and GMAC at the 2 would have looked like. There's some comparison to what we have now.

 

[orangefan13]

In terms of ball handling I like the comparison.

Edelin used a slow in control dribble with his head up to run the offense and he could really slow it down in the lane while maintaining control of the ball.

Unlike a flynn or dion who used crossovers, between the legs, spin moves, and behind the back(to get the defender off balence), Edelin just used his body superior ball handling and welcomed physical pressure to make things happen.

Ennis is alot of the same type of pg he welcomes defenders all over him. Ennis won't slow it down in the lane like edelin did but he does alot of slowing it down and running the offense from the perimeter.

 

[Eric15]

One of the great tragedies in SU basketball history is missing out on four full years of GMac and Billy playing side-by-side. Could you even imagine how great of a point guard Billy could have become as a highly-experienced upperclassman? It would have completely taken the pressure off GMac and allowed him to play shooting guard. And then instead of starting, Frosh Devo could have come off the bench as an offensive spark plug during their senior year.

 

[BuffOrange]

Put me in the "What @ Edelin not finishing" camp.

But really I want to +1 TacoTime's point about Ennis' b'ball IQ. I think it's a great example of my long-standing theory that announcers talk out of their behinds 90% of the time when they reference "freshmen mistakes" & "senior smarts". There are plenty of seniors who make plenty of dumb plays and we've seen our share of those in SU teams.

 

[djcon57]

He came off the bench.

So?... we don't win the championship game w/o him.

 

[Bayside44]

So?... we don't win the championship game w/o him.

Just making a correction for the record, someone called him a starter. Not on that team. No need to diss Duany or GMac to defend Billy.

 

[rrlbees]

Put me in the "What @ Edelin not finishing" camp.

I'm wondering how he ever scored and averaged 14ppg his soph year since he didn't really have an outside shot.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[LennX6]

Edelin was fat, slow, and absolutely could not finish.

Sorry, but the comparison is not a good one.

Edelin was tall, and he made the layups Tyler is rimming out on.
Edelin was awesome the little time we had him, seems so sad.
One thing I will say, I went back and looked at the 02-03 stats, and I seem to remember Billy playing more, shooting better. His stats look very *yawn*. But the Billy I remember is the one that could not be stopped when he decided to drive and will forever remember him wasting Chris Thomas to the chants of "You can't guard him, You can't guard him!"

 

[OttoMets]

One of the great tragedies in SU basketball history is missing out on four full years of GMac and Billy playing side-by-side. Could you even imagine how great of a point guard Billy could have become as a highly-experienced upperclassman? It would have completely taken the pressure off GMac and allowed him to play shooting guard. And then instead of starting, Frosh Devo could have come off the bench as an offensive spark plug during their senior year.

I've always thought that that cost us ~15 wins, another Final Four, about five percentage points off McNamara's career shooting numbers, and, of course, statistically the third-best point guard in school history in Billy. Hurt the development of the 2007s, too.