Rank your top 10 players of the JB Era.

[OttoMets]

Alsacs made an interesting post about this in the other thread. Seems like a good off-season topic, since certain SU players produce such varied opinions. Thoughts?

 

[HOFCeluck]

Alsacs made an interesting post about this in the other thread. Seems like a good off-season topic, since certain SU players produce such varied opinions. Thoughts?

I'd rank GMAC lower than Deshaun Williams but above Mike Jones. Slightly.

 

[Alsacs]

Use whatever criteria you want.

1. Pearl Washington
2. Derrick Coleman
3. Sherman Douglas
4. Carmelo Anthony
5. Billy Owens
6. John Wallace
7. Roosevelt Bouie
8. Laurence Moten
9. Hakim Warrick
10. Ronny Seikaly

Honorable mention: Gerry McNamara, Jonny Flynn, Wes Johnson, CJ Fair, Etan Thomas, Jason Hart, Dion Waiters, Michael Carter-Williams, Stephen Thompson, Louis Orr, Preston Shumpert.

 

[Toga]

Use whatever criteria you want.

1. Pearl Washington
2. Derrick Coleman
3. Sherman Douglas
4. Carmelo Anthony
5. Billy Owens
6. John Wallace
7. Roosevelt Bouie
8. Laurence Moten
9. Hakim Warrick
10. Ronny Seikaly

Honorable mention: Gerry McNamara, Jonny Flynn, Wes Johnson, CJ Fair, Etan Thomas, Jason Hart, Dion Waiters, Michael Carter-Williams, Stephen Thompson, Louis Orr, Preston Shumpert.

Everything looks so good.

 

[OttoMets]

Mods, want to merge these? McNamara and player rankings

 

[Alsacs]

I didn't see this when I created my thread so a merge would be great under my title if possible.

 

[RF2044]

1. Derrick Coleman -- pound for pound, the best player to don a Syracuse uniform in my lifetime
2. Carmelo Anthony -- one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, led us to our only title
3. Billy Owens -- injuries derailed his pro career, and his college career was marred by the final two games, but what an amazing talent
4. John Wallace -- developed into the best low post player in college basketball his final two seasons [at 6-7], and singlehandedly led us to the title game
5. Sherman Douglas -- this is bound to be controversial, given who is next on the list. But in my book, the General took the program that Pearl built to the next level
6. Pearl Washington -- put our program on the map, and gave us a bona fide superstar in the fledgling Big East conference. RIP Dwayne.
7. Rafael Addison -- terrific scorer, shooter
8. Stephen Thompson -- one of the top scorers in program history despite being 6-2 and congenitally incapable of shooting. Also a stud defender
9. Hakim Warrick -- skinny plan B who became one of the top players in program history, and had a nice NBA career
10. Lawrence Moten -- along with Wallace, program savior during a critical time in our history, and all time leading scorer

Honorable mention: Jonny Flynn, Wes Johnson, Rony Seikaly, Etan Thomas, Jason Hart, CJ Fair, Dion Waiters, Michael Carter-Williams, Louis Orr, Preston Shumpert, Gerry McNamara, Andrew White, Michael Gbinije

 

[Eric15]

1. Derrick Coleman -- pound for pound, the best player to don a Syracuse uniform in my lifetime
2. Carmelo Anthony -- one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, led us to our only title
3. Billy Owens -- injuries derailed his pro career, and his college career was marred by the final two games, but what an amazing talent
4. John Wallace -- developed into the best low post player in college basketball his final two seasons [at 6-7], and singlehandedly led us to the title game
5. Sherman Douglas -- this is bound to be controversial, given who is next on the list. But in my book, the General took the program that Pearl built to the next level
6. Pearl Washington -- put our program on the map, and gave us a bona fide superstar in the fledgling Big East conference. RIP Dwayne.
7. Rafael Addison -- terrific scorer, shooter
8. Stephen Thompson -- one of the top scorers in program history despite being 6-2 and congenitally incapable of shooting. Also a stud defender
9. Hakim Warrick -- skinny plan B who became one of the top players in program history, and had a nice NBA career
10. Lawrence Moten -- along with Wallace, program savior during a critical time in our history, and all time leading scorer

Honorable mention: Jonny Flynn, Wes Johnson, Rony Seikaly, Etan Thomas, Jason Hart, CJ Fair, Dion Waiters, Michael Carter-Williams, Louis Orr, Preston Shumpert, Gerry McNamara, Andrew White, Michael Gbinije

That list looks great. The only change for me personally would be to swap out Addison and put GMac at 7 or 8.

 

[Alsacs]

That list looks great. The only change for me personally would be to swap out Addison and put GMac at 7 or 8.

Cmon man do a list.

 

[RF2044]

Cmon man do a list.

Second that!

 

[Eric15]

I know the arguments against GMac, and most are reasonable. He was a bad defender, shot the ball too much, and was the best player on a very bad team at the end of his SU career. But, he finished fourth in points scored (2,099), first in minutes played (4781), second in steals (258), third in assists (648), first in three-point shots made (400) and attempted (1,131), and first in career free-throw percentage (89.1%). And in the most important game in SU history, he was lights-out.

He is probably one of the two most iconic and most beloved players of the Boeheim era along with the Pearl, and he has by far (no one else is even close) the most legendary moments in SU basketball history. GMac has to be on this list.

I'll say:

1. DC
2. Melo
3. Pearl
4. Sherm
5. Wallace
6. Owens
7. GMac
8. Thompson
9. Warrick
10. Moten

 

[Trueblue25]

We've had an embarrassment of riches, the "honorable mentions" would be considered program changers for over 75% of the college basketball league.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Melo
DC
Pearl
Wallace
Sherm
Owens
Moten
Warrick
McNamara
Thompson

 

[Waltdods]

I'm doing 9, because I can't remember and/or was not alive for pre-Pearl players, at least one of who I assume belongs somewhere on here.

1. Coleman
2. Douglas
3. Anthony
4. Washington
5. Wallace
6. Owens
7. Warrick
8. Thompson
9. Moten

It's interesting that it's hard to build an argument for any post-GMac player, despite the run of 09-13 run of success. No truly transcendent talents, and the best guys only lasted a year or two. I'm not sure who the best candidate of the last decade or so would be - Flynn and Waiters were great talents but their careers feel incomplete (Fab too I suppose); Wes was great but only for a year and was a somewhat limited player who fell into a perfect situation; Arinze, Rautins, CJ Fair all had a great four years that can't compare with Warrick/Stevie/Moten; Christmas and Gbinje (and White) were a step behind that batch. So that leads to this - MCW is the greatest Syracuse player of the last decade. At his best, he was dominant in a way only Flynn and Waiters could really match, he was the best player on a Final 4 team, and his steal and dunk at Louisville is a signature moment.

 

[Alsacs]

No post GMac player belongs on the list.
CJ Fair would be the top candidate IMO. If we won it all in 2012-Waiters, 2013-MCW, 2014-Ennis, 2016-Gbinije could have possibly been Ten for me.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

1. Melo
2. Coleman
3. The General
4. Wallace
5. MCW
6. Moten
7. Owens
8. Thomas
9. Pearl
10. Warrick

FIGHT ME

 

[Eric15]

1. Melo
2. Coleman
3. The General
4. Wallace
5. MCW
6. Moten
7. Owens
8. Thomas
9. Pearl
10. Warrick

FIGHT ME

 

[Trueblue25]

1. Melo
2. Coleman
3. The General
4. Wallace
5. MCW
6. Moten
7. Owens
8. Thomas
9. Pearl
10. Warrick

FIGHT ME

You gonna provide justification for this inexplicable abomination or just fight those who oppose?





either way, respect.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

You gonna provide justification for this inexplicable abomination or just fight those who oppose?





either way, respect.

NO AND YES

 

[Trueblue25]

NO AND YES

I wouldn't put MCW in the top 12.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I didn't realize that CJ Fair and Brandon Triche both scored over 1500 points until I looked at our top scorers of all time to come up with this list.

 

[OttoMets]

Rankings aren't easy, but in my regard for these players, I tend to think I give roughly equal weight to 1) production (stats), 2) winning, 3) longevity, and 4) talent. Stuff like post-season success and subjective things like likability might bump a guy up a little, as will my interpretation of his place in SU history (Pearl ----> more great recruits and winning; Wallace bridging the probation talent gap). I've never applied those criteria to a set of rankings before, but I'll try to type this out while I eat lunch.

1. Wallace
2. Coleman
3. Anthony
4. Douglas
5. Warrick
6. Pearl
7. Owens
8. Seikaly
9. Moten
10. Bouie
11. Addison

As I expected, Pearl's difficult to quantify (and that ranking includes a little bonus for being Pearl). But I think that's a solid Boeheim ten-plus-one ranking list. As always, this kind of ranking involves different criteria for different people (many wouldn't weight longevity equally with winning or talent, the second of which is subjective anyway), but this seems like a pretty representative snapshot of the best of the Boeheim era.

 

[OttoMets]

1. Derrick Coleman -- pound for pound, the best player to don a Syracuse uniform in my lifetime
2. Carmelo Anthony -- one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, led us to our only title
3. Billy Owens -- injuries derailed his pro career, and his college career was marred by the final two games, but what an amazing talent
4. John Wallace -- developed into the best low post player in college basketball his final two seasons [at 6-7], and singlehandedly led us to the title game
5. Sherman Douglas -- this is bound to be controversial, given who is next on the list. But in my book, the General took the program that Pearl built to the next level
6. Pearl Washington -- put our program on the map, and gave us a bona fide superstar in the fledgling Big East conference. RIP Dwayne.
7. Rafael Addison -- terrific scorer, shooter
8. Stephen Thompson -- one of the top scorers in program history despite being 6-2 and congenitally incapable of shooting. Also a stud defender
9. Hakim Warrick -- skinny plan B who became one of the top players in program history, and had a nice NBA career
10. Lawrence Moten -- along with Wallace, program savior during a critical time in our history, and all time leading scorer

Honorable mention: Jonny Flynn, Wes Johnson, Rony Seikaly, Etan Thomas, Jason Hart, CJ Fair, Dion Waiters, Michael Carter-Williams, Louis Orr, Preston Shumpert, Gerry McNamara, Andrew White, Michael Gbinije

Nice. I had to squeeze in the two great centers, but that list plus Thompson makes a lot of sense.

 

[Alsacs]

I put Pearl first because he is the guy that made us in the Big East.
He didn't have the best career but I just give him the respect.
I do believe Coleman pound for pound was the greatest to wear the Syracuse uniform in JBs tenure.

 

[OttoMets]

No post GMac player belongs on the list.
CJ Fair would be the top candidate IMO. If we won it all in 2012-Waiters, 2013-MCW, 2014-Ennis, 2016-Gbinije could have possibly been Ten for me.

Agree - I thought one would manage to get on here, but it wasn't even close when I was looking at numbers. Again, my longevity bias skewed things for sure. But even a very good player like Wesley Johnson...how could I possibly swap out any of my 11 for him? And all those other guys are so much worse than everyone on the list.