Small Fish in Big Ponds

[SWC75]

Watching tonight’s second game Of the NBA finals, it occurred to me that with all their Injuries, this could have been a game for Dion Waiters to shine. But he’d been traded away. It made me wonder how many former SU basketball players had played in the NBA finals. Using the Media Guide, (“Orange in the NBA”), and Pro Basketball reference.com, I came up with this list:


Billy Gabor was on the 1955 Syracuse Nationals but retired early in the season.

Dennis DuVal played 5 minutes for the Washington Bullets, who got swept by the Warriors in the 1975 finals. He scored 2 points, had 1rebound and 1 assists, missing two shots. This all came in Game 3, a 101-109 loss.


Fred Saunders was on the 1975-76 Suns but didn’t play in the final series.


Marty Byrnes played 1 minute for the Lakers in the 1980 finals again the 76ers. He had no other stats. He played this minute in Game 6, the last game of the series a 123-107 win.


Derrick Coleman was on the 2005 Pistons, who lost to the Spurs in the finals but Derrick had retired by then.




Former Syracuse players in the Super Bowl, (from the SU Media Guide). The year is the year of the season whose championship was being decided, (thus the 2001 Super Bowl is the one where the Patriots beat the Rams in January, 2002). This is players, not coaches.


John Mackey 1968, 1970

Larry Csonka 1972, 1973

Ken Clarke 1980

Keith Moody 1980

Art Monk 1983, 1987, 1991, (he was injured in 1982)

Mike Charles 1984

Joe Morris 1986

Pat Kelly 1989

Daryl Johnston 1992, 1993, 1995

Kevin Mitchell 1994

Dave Wohlbaugh 1996

Sir Mawn Wilson 1998

Melvin Tuten 1998

John Flannery 1999

Roland Williams 1999, 2002

Qadry Ismael 2000

(They list Quinton Spotswood as being in the 2001 Super Bowl with the Giants but they werren’t in that Super Bowl and neither was Quinton)

Tebucky Jones 2001

Donovan McNabb 2004

Dwight Freeney 2006, 2010

Marvin Harrison 2006

Ryan LaCasse 2006

James Mungro 2006

Josh Thomas 2006

David Tyree 2007

(They list Stan Walters has being in the 2008 Super Bowl with the Cincinnati Bengals but neither 60 year old Stan or the Bengals were in that one)

Arthur Jones 2012

Jamel McClain 2012


That’s 26 guys who played in 34 Super Bowls, (26 different games) between them.



I realize there are many more positions in football and so a greater opportunity for a player from a certain school to play in the Super Bowl than the NBA Finals. But with the degree of success we’ve had in basketball vs. football in the Super Bowl Era, it’s shocking that we’ve never had a single player who was a significant guy for a team that made the NBA Finals. Even our best players, like Dave Bing and Carmelo Anthony, wind up big fish in small ponds. When will we have a big fish in the big pond?

 

[doc05]

I'm pretty sure Jason Hart did with the Spurs -- but I could be wrong. Either way there is certainly a lack of Cuse NBA Championship pedigree.

 

[SWC75]

I'm pretty sure Jason Hart did with the Spurs -- but I could be wrong. Either way there is certainly a lack of Cuse NBA Championship pedigree.

Hart was with the Spurs in 2002 and 2004 and they didn't make the finals in either year.

 

[JoeSU]

Chandler Jones, 2015.

 

[SWC75]

Chandler Jones, 2015.

Good pick-up. I was using last year's Media Guide. So we've had 27 guys play in Super Bowls and 2 guys play a total 6 minutes in NBA Finals.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Good pick-up. I was using last year's Media Guide. So we've had 27 guys play in Super Bowls and 2 guys play a total 6 minutes in NBA Finals.

Pretty stark contrast especially considering the NBA Finals are what like 72 games or something? Didn't the playoffs start in April or thereabouts? When do they end, Labor Day?

 

[bevosu]

Danny Schayes...all that time in the league and no finals?

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

Watching tonight’s second game Of the NBA finals, it occurred to me that with all their Injuries, this could have been a game for Dion Waiters to shine. ?

funny, I had the same thought. LeBron willed that team to win last night, and he may will them to another win or 2. But he really needs that complimentary scorer to keep pace with the splash bros, who won't always shoot as poorly as they did last night. Dion could have filled that role and added exponentially to his value with a good showing in this Finals. It was a great game, with Mozgov being a difference maker in the first half, and then JR almost giving the game away like we Knicks fans know he can. But Deli's D and LeBron making just enough shots saved the day for the Cavs. Great 2 games so far.

 

[Delmar]

Tyree played in the Superbowl? Who knew?

 

[Col. Bleep]

Dion could have filled that role and added exponentially to his value with a good showing in this Finals.

It seems unlikely the Cavs would be in the finals if they still had Dion and didn't have Shumpert & JR Smith.

 

[MSOrange]

Tyree played in the Superbowl? Who knew?

Yeah you might have missed him. I don't think he made any big plays...

 

[SWC75]

Danny Schayes...all that time in the league and no finals?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/schayda01.html
Click on the team and look at the playoff results.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

It seems unlikely the Cavs would be in the finals if they still had Dion and didn't have Shumpert & JR Smith.

I see your point, but I think good Dion plays as well as head case JR did last night. Despite the bone headed plays, JR has made the most of an opportunity that Dion squandered.

 

[Briancuse]

I see your point, but I think good Dion plays as well as head case JR did last night. Despite the bone headed plays, JR has made the most of an opportunity that Dion squandered.

He sure tried to give that game away last night.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I see your point, but I think good Dion plays as well as head case JR did last night. Despite the bone headed plays, JR has made the most of an opportunity that Dion squandered.

No way Dion is going to have the discipline to chase Thompson or Curry around. Some of the shots Thompson made against JR were TOUGH shots. Still JR made some dumb plays. Great two games of high energy ball. What has happened to Speights, btw? He was sort of a chiseled PF out of Florida if I remember correctly. Now he can barely dunk. That botched dunk was hilarious.

 

[SWC75]

Any theories on the reasons why we've had 27 guys in the Super Bowl and 2 guys in the NBA Finals, (and none in 35 years)?

 

[Briancuse]

Any theories on the reasons why we've had 27 guys in the Super Bowl and 2 guys in the NBA Finals, (and none in 35 years)?

Just from a numbers standpoint, 106 players play in the super bowl every year, as opposed to 30 who make it it to the nba finals every year.

 

[NYCorange]

I see your point, but I think good Dion plays as well as head case JR did last night. Despite the bone headed plays, JR has made the most of an opportunity that Dion squandered.

JR is about 20x better than Dion at this point in there careers. Dion can do a lot on the BB court; unfortunately, he prefers to call for the ball incessantly and shoot contested jumpers with a foot on the line. Dion also doesn't play D. I wondered a few times over the past few years whether the problems in Cleveland were because Dion was immature or Kyrie was a ball hog. It's clear now that both are probably true, but the problem was definitely Dion.

 

[SWC75]

Just from a numbers standpoint, 106 players play in the super bowl every year, as opposed to 30 who make it it to the nba finals every year.

27 Super Bowl players X 30/106 = 8 NBA Finals players.

And our Super Bowls players have included stars of the teams and the games. Our NBA Finals guys have played 6 minutes and scored 2 points.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

JR is about 20x better than Dion at this point in there careers. Dion can do a lot on the BB court; unfortunately, he prefers to call for the ball incessantly and shoot contested jumpers with a foot on the line. Dion also doesn't play D. I wondered a few times over the past few years whether the problems in Cleveland were because Dion was immature or Kyrie was a ball hog. It's clear now that both are probably true, but the problem was definitely Dion.

Yes and No. 20x seems like a stretch, but you are right about Dion being a problem. I wouldn't go so far as to say he alone would have kept them from the Finals. We'll never know for sure of course, and I still hold out hope the young man gets it together in time to have a productive career on successful teams.