I DVR'd the Cuse-UConn '94(one of the most entertaining SU games ever played, by the way) game last night and watched after the Wake game since they were on at the same time. While watching, I started thinking about this. Thinking how Grant is a projected lottery pick as a soph., and I was watching a sophomore John Wallace who was far more advanced in his skills and just a better basketball player at the same stage than Grant is. Wallace wasn't a projected lottery pick as a soph...or at any point as he went 18th as a Senior(and was projected around there when he considered leaving as a Junior).
And then I got thinking...am I wrong in thinking that '94 team was as good or better at almost every position than this team? And while that was a very good SU team, they weren't #2 and 20-0! That was a 23-7, sweet 16 team.
Moten was way better than Cooney. Wallace was significantly better than Grant. Hill(a freshman) was better than Christmas(a Junior).
Fair is better than Jackson, though Luke was a solid player. And honestly, as much as I love Ennis and think he's outstanding...a senior Adrian Autry was really, really good and would have to get the nod.
There was just a lot more basketball skill on the court back then...for everyone. I think those of us who watched basketball back then, have a hard time seeing a lot of these guys projected so high in the drafts. Even though we know how it works, it's still hard to make that connection. Players who aren't even that good yet and are pretty limited in what they can do right now get picked high every year!