So if we had talent from say the 1987-89 period

[Toga]

How many national titles would we have won since 2004?

 

[orangenauburn]

Three

 

[OrangeDW]

How many national titles would we have won since 2004?

We’d have been the favorite every single year for a long time. Though now with 3 being worth more than 2 and teams being loaded with shooting being so common, and our lack of outside shooting, we’d be subject to random upsets from hot shooting teams with less talent.

However there’s probably 5-10 other teams from that era that never won titles that you could say would win many titles in the last 15 years. The talent level was way higher across the board when almost everybody stayed in school for 4 years, obviously.

 

[SWC75]

How many national titles would we have won since 2004?

I don't know but it would be more than just the one. We were recruiting as well as anyone in those days. The first investigation/probation/post-probation experience knocked us back for a decade. We're still in the second one. Without the probations, we'd be an elite program instead of just a respected one.

 

[IthacaMatt]

How many national titles would we have won since 2004?

All of them.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

Coleman, Douglas, Seikaly, & Thompson were all at least 36 in 2004. I highly doubt they would’ve been able to compete with top college players into their 40s

 

[Newhouser]

Every school could say the same thing.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I mean none of those guys would be staying more than two years.

 

[ManleyRocks]

As an aside, I recall that most of those teams from that era outshot / outplayed their opponents from the floor but ultimately would lose the game from the free throw line. Just from memory, I may be wrong but believe those SU teams shot free throws in the mid 60 percent range and when they lost the opponent would either get to the line more or shoot more efficiently. Someone recently has begun teaching the players how to shoot free throws, especially the bigs. They seem to release the ball closer to the basket and more in front of themselves rather than over their head. Stevie Thompson in particular was an adventure at the free throw line. Bottom line, if those late 1980s teams could have been more efficient from the free throw line, they would have picked up several more wins a season and rarely loss.

 

[SWC75]

As an aside, I recall that most of those teams from that era outshot / outplayed their opponents from the floor but ultimately would lose the game from the free throw line. Just from memory, I may be wrong but believe those SU teams shot free throws in the mid 60 percent range and when they lost the opponent would either get to the line more or shoot more efficiently. Someone recently has begun teaching the players how to shoot free throws, especially the bigs. They seem to release the ball closer to the basket and more in front of themselves rather than over their head. Stevie Thompson in particular was an adventure at the free throw line. Bottom line, if those late 1980s teams could have been more efficient from the free throw line, they would have picked up several more wins a season and rarely loss.

1986-87 final statistics - Syracuse University Athletics

1986-87 final statistics

cuse.com

(For some reason Cuse.com doesn't have 1987-88)

1988-89 - Syracuse University Athletics

1988-89

cuse.com

 

[OttoMets]

1986-87 final statistics - Syracuse University Athletics

1986-87 final statistics

cuse.com

(For some reason Cuse.com doesn't have 1987-88)

1988-89 - Syracuse University Athletics

1988-89

cuse.com

That was the worst year of all, I crunched the numbers years ago. Nine losses, three by 1 point and eight by 4 or fewer points, for a team that shot 60% from the line. It was really a situation in which 15 missed free throws was the difference between wire-to-wire #1 and possible national champion and just another "what-if" team.