Most Underrated Players of the Past Decade

[Trueblue25]

There could be a long list...

But I'd have to say my vote goes to Scoop Jardine. I think he did a lot more to create chemistry or hold the team together than we give him credit for. Sure he made some boneheaded mistakes, but that kid sure had a lot of heart, a lot of balls too.

I'm sure a lot could be said of Brandon Triche too and many other players. So I'd like to hear your opinions.

 

[orangefan13]

I always felt scoop was a better shooter then he got credit for. The numbers may not have showed it but his misses looked good, he hit big shots and was very confident. He was physically strong in the lane for someone his size.

Still it wasn't to his Senior year though that he could isolate and run a no high post offense, but in fairness he didn't get alot of screens from AO and Rick either, they knew how to score inside and stayed in the paint more. MCW didn't learn to score in the lane to near the end of his sophmore season. Its early but, I think Ennis is a better prospect in the longrun and its good to know it is almost definite he will be heretwo years atleast. Alwasys loved Scoop.

Always felt devendorf was underated as a college player, he gets shot outs but he never had the defensive chemistry around him. Had he had the chemistry around him that Rautins did he would have had as strong of a legacy. Almost identitcal to what Melo is going through in the NBA. Maybe our best scoringsg guard of the last decade behind Gerry, and despite the numbers he gave Gerry a run for the money imo. he beat out Dion really because dion was only here 2 years.

 

[Trueblue25]

I always felt scoop was a better shooter then he got credit for. The numbers may not have showed it but his misses looked good, he hit big shots and was very confident. He was physically strong in the lane for someone his size.

Still it wasn't to his Senior year though that he could isolate and run a no high post offense, but in fairness he didn't get alot of screens from AO and Rick either, they knew how to score inside and stayed in the paint more. MCW didn't learn to score in the lane to near the end of his sophmore season. Its early but, I think Ennis is a better prospect in the longrun and its good to know it is almost definite he will be heretwo years atleast. Alwasys loved Scoop.

Always felt devendorf was underated as a college player, he gets shot outs but he never had the defensive chemistry around him. Had he had the chemistry around him that Rautins did he would have had as strong of a legacy. Almost identitcal to what Melo is going through in the NBA. Maybe our best scoring guard of the last decade, he beat out Dion really because dion was only here 2 years.

I agree. Devendorf is in my top 5 favorite orange of all time. That kid embodied what a competitor should be. He was also one of the best teammates you could ask for. I've had friends play with him in the king of kings league, and they said there was no one ever as nice as Eric was.

Kid talked the talk and walked the walk. He was a fantastic offensive talent and really knew how to throw off the opposing teams. He got inside peoples heads. People loved to stop focusing on the game and start focusing on hating Devo.

He was so damn exciting.

 

[bevosu]

Billy Edelin...a great point guard. A short on and off tenure, but when his game was on he was great.

 

[Ghost]

Kristof!!!!! Eh, probably not. People always seemed to appreciate his effort.

Ummm, underrated. Probably Donte Greene. Put up some pretty fantastic numbers for a Frosh, but seemed to get bashed right from the jump (and especially after he jumped to the NBA).

 

[Trueblue25]

The sound of Kristof's head hitting the court is still echoing in my head

 

[bevosu]

Kristoff's head hitting the court was not an uncommon occurrence.

 

[Shawn91111]

Josh Pace

 

[moqui]

Paul Harris . . . yes, he was a diva at times, but in the end he was a very, very good player who was plagued by unreasonable expectations while being forced to play mostly out of position.

 

[Trueblue25]

Josh Pace

The championship team was the second year I joined my dad going to every game, we had season tickets right next to where the orange ran out of the locker room to the court.

I was 9 at the time and had no idea what was going on in 2002-2003. I always rooted for Josh Pace and didn't like Carmelo because I thought Josh Pace was the coolest and best :bat:

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

Josh Pace

Not a bad choice. He always seemed to find a way to make a play when we needed it. Unfortunately, however, he is also a leading candidate for worst free-throw mechanics of all-time, right along with Herman Harried, Derek Brower, and Stevie Thompson.

But I digress, and humbly submit the name of Craig Forth. At least for the Championship run, he locked down the middle of the D. In the Final, KU got next to nothing in the paint. That's saying a lot.

 

[Trueblue25]

Paul Harris







...I joke I joke.

 

[rrlbees]

Carmelo Anthony

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[dasher]

I agree. Devendorf is in my top 5 favorite orange of all time. That kid embodied what a competitor should be. He was also one of the best teammates you could ask for. I've had friends play with him in the king of kings league, and they said there was no one ever as nice as Eric was.

Kid talked the talk and walked the walk. He was a fantastic offensive talent and really knew how to throw off the opposing teams. He got inside peoples heads. People loved to stop focusing on the game and start focusing on hating Devo.

He was so damn exciting.

devo is on the most overrated list. He was horrible on defense. The team was better without him. Beat memphis on the road with andy up top

 

[Trueblue25]

devo is on the most overrated list. He was horrible on defense. The team was better without him. Beat memphis on the road with andy up top

Andy had the defense, Eric had the fire.

 

[dasher]

Andy had the defense, Eric had the fire.

eric was a punk. Our punk. But a punk.

 

[Trueblue25]

eric was a punk. Our punk. But a punk.

I just think he was different. People didn't understand him. He wasn't your preppy whitey knocking down threes like the kids you see at Duke or Wisconsin. Eric was a loud, fiery, smash mouth street baller like kid who wasn't afraid to get in your face.

Because he was different, and good, people loved to hate him.

He may have been a bit of a punk, but he wasn't as bad as people made him to be.

 

[jekelish]

Andy Rautins. People (outside of Syracuse) failed to realize just how well rounded his game was. Non-Syracuse fans thought he was just a shooter, but he could play defense, and was a terrific passer with the type of vision you typically see in a point guard, not a shooting guard.

 

[albanycuse]

Jeremy McNeil.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Some good answers. For me, Devendorf, Harris, McNeil, and Scoop are all right there. Tough to choose, frankly.

 

[two3zone]

Few guys on my list.

Andy Rautins - I made the mistake of under rating him until his senior year where he turned me into a big fan of his.

MCW - Has a lottery pick coming out of this program ever had so much hate and non believers on him?

Fab Melo - What he meant to the team his sophomore year is undeniable in my eyes. I know most people think it was tough to lose him but the level of his value was sky high. He was the most important player on that team in my eyes and nobody was close.

Preston Shumpert - Give him ONE solid player next to him and those teams are way better. The guy could shoot, defense wasn't great but it really wasn't as bad as people make it out to be.

 

[CaptainJ]

Josh Pace

JB himself said Pace was the most underrated player to ever have played for him, and off the top of my head it's hard to disagree with that.

For his contribution to the national championship team I think Kueth Duany's senior leadership was underrated.

I just wanted to add it's kind of a hard question to answer as I don't really know how other people envision certain players, so it's hard for me to disagree with anyone on this thread because they've all been underrated by some some folks.

 

[Trueblue25]

JB himself said Pace was the most underrated player to ever have played for him, and off the top of my head it's hard to disagree with that.

For his contribution to the national championship team I think Kueth Duany's senior leadership was underrated.

I just wanted to add it's kind of a hard question to answer as I don't really know how other people envision certain players, so it's hard for me to disagree with anyone on this thread because they've all been underrated by some some folks.

Josh Pace and Kueth Duany. My numbers 1 and 2 favorite Syracuse players of all time. 3 is AO, 4 is Jeremy McNeil and 5 is probably a tie between GMac and Eric Devendorf

 

[Upstate]

Senior Rick Jackson

 

[Eric15]

Donte Greene. Statistically, had one of the best freshman seasons in SU history (18 pts, 7 rebs per game). SU fans take out their frustration for that disappointing season on him, but it wasn't his fault that we had miserably little firepower with Devo and Andy out.