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Message: [QUOTE="BillSU, post: 4623466, member: 6809"] SWC75 - I just finished reading your wonderful account of the SU Basketball Team under Jim Boeheim. It is one of the best pieces, if not the best piece I've ever read on this forum. You are consistently great in your thoroughness and complete research on your posts. So now I am going to add a few things to what you have above. First, I came to SU in 1963, Dave Bing's first year. At the time SU basketball wasn't known as a perrenial power. Fred Lewis began the run with Dave and handed it off to Danforth. A player of Bing's caliber put SU on the Basketball map along with the small city of Syracuse. That was my introduction to college basketball and it was great. It excited me to see what one player could do to bring a team into the national spotlight. I watched, in Manley, a show in and of itself, from player introductions to the oranges being thrown at opposing players to raucous cheers of SO WHAT and BIG DEAL when an opposing players and their coaches would "try "and be introduced to the SRO crowds. A sort of coming out show for Syracuse Basketball fans. They finally had a team they could be proud of and love to be at their games. I include some of Dave Bing's stats as proof of how good he was. I would put him on any college team today. At 28.4 PPG a tremendous VJ and rebounding skills he was the total package. [B]Season Stats[/B] [TABLE] [TR] [TH]Season[/TH] [TH]Cl[/TH] [TH]Pos[/TH] [TH]G[/TH] [TH]GS[/TH] [TH]FG[/TH] [TH]FGA[/TH] [TH]%[/TH] [TH]FT[/TH] [TH]FTA[/TH] [TH]%[/TH] [TH]Asst[/TH] [TH]Reb[/TH] [TH]Fls[/TH] [TH]DQ[/TH] [TH]Pts[/TH] [TH][B]PPG[/B][/TH] [TH][B]APG[/B][/TH] [TH][B]RPG[/B][/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD][URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/1963-1964.htm']1963-64[/URL][/TD] [TD]So[/TD] [TD]G[/TD] [TD][RIGHT]25[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]25[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]215[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]460[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]46.7%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]126[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]172[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]73.3%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]-[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]206[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]60[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]-[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]556[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]22.2[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][/RIGHT] [CENTER]---[/CENTER][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]8.0[/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/1964-1965.htm'][B]1964-65[/B][/URL][/TD] [TD]Jr[/TD] [TD]G[/TD] [TD][RIGHT]23[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]23[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]206[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]444[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]46.4%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]121[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]162[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]74.7%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]-[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]277[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]59[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]-[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]533[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]23.2[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][/RIGHT] [CENTER]---[/CENTER][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]12.4[/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/1965-1966.htm'][B]1965-66[/B][/URL][/TD] [TD]Sr[/TD] [TD]G[/TD] [TD][RIGHT]28[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]28[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]308[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]569[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]54.1%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]178[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]222[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]80.2%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]185[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]303[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]61[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]-[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]794[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]28.4[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]6.6[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]10.2[/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Career[/TH] [TH][/TH] [TH][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]76[/RIGHT][/TH] [TD][RIGHT][B]76[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TH][RIGHT][B]729[/B][/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]1,473[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]49.5%[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]425[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]556[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]76.4%[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]185[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]786[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]180[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]0[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]1,883[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT][B]24.8[/B][/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][CENTER][B]---[/B][/CENTER][/TH] [TH][RIGHT][B]10.3[/B][/RIGHT][/TH] [/TR] [/TABLE] [JUSTIFY][/JUSTIFY] [IMG align="left" alt="Dave Bing Syracuse Orangemen Basketball"]http://www.orangehoops.org/davebing.jpg[/IMG] [JUSTIFY]Dave Bing, the greatest player in Syracuse history, could do it all on and off the court. He led the Orangemen in scoring all three years, and was the [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/Syracuse%20Top%20100%20Scorers.htm']all-time leading scorer[/URL] until [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/SDouglas.htm']Sherman Douglas[/URL] came along two decades later. Bing was a prolific scorer with a sweet shooting touch, but also a fantastic passer (if assists were official statistics throughout his career he would have racked up quite a few), and a phenomenal rebounder. As one NBA scout said, Bing may not have been the best at anything, but nobody was able to do as much as him. Bing was a terrific player coming out of Washington D.C., with schools such as UCLA and Michigan recruiting him. However, the legendary [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/EDavis.htm']Ernie Davis[/URL] convinced him to come to Syracuse; that, and Bing's own concern that he would get more playing time at a lower profile school. Bing would electrify fans during his freshman season on the frosh team, and routinely more fans would show up to the freshman game than the varsity game that season. Bing would average 25.7 points a game as a freshman along with 11.3 rebounds. With Bing as the catalyst, SU went from an 8-13 struggling program to a 22-6 NCAA contender, and a team that led the nation in scoring. As a senior Bing was named All-American, was 5th in the nation in scoring with 28.4 ppg, an SU record. Bing would be the 2nd player taken in the NBA draft that spring. He was no disappointment as he won the Rookie of the Year honors. Not willing to settle there, Bing led the NBA in scoring his sophomore year, becoming the first guard to do it in 20 years, beating out legendary scorers such as Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor. Bing would play 12 seasons in the [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/SyracuseNBA.htm']NBA[/URL] primarily with the Detroit Pistons, but also with the Washington Bullets and Boston Celtics. He was inducted into the [URL='http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Bing.htm']Basketball Hall of Fame[/URL] in 1980, after an NBA career with the following impressive stats:[/JUSTIFY] [B]NBA Career Statistics[/B] [TABLE] [TR] [TH]Guard[/TH] [TH][RIGHT]901[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT][B]32,769[/B][/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT][B]6,962[/B][/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]15,769[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]44.1%[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]4,403[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]5,683[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]77.5%[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]5,397[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]3,420[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]2,615[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]22[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]---[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]483[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]89[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT]18,327[/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT][B]20.3[/B][/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT][B]6.0[/B][/RIGHT][/TH] [TH][RIGHT][B]3.8[/B][/RIGHT][/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Pos[/TH] [TH]G[/TH] [TH]Min[/TH] [TH]FG[/TH] [TH]FGA[/TH] [TH]%[/TH] [TH]FT[/TH] [TH]FTA[/TH] [TH]%[/TH] [TH]Asst[/TH] [TH]Reb[/TH] [TH]Fls[/TH] [TH]DQ[/TH] [TH]TO[/TH] [TH]ST[/TH] [TH]BS[/TH] [TH]Pts[/TH] [TH][B]PPG[/B][/TH] [TH][B]APG[/B][/TH] [TH][B]RPG[/B][/TH] [/TR] [/TABLE] [JUSTIFY]His #21 was retired by the Detroit Pistons, and he was the first player to have his [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/RetiredUniforms.htm']uniform retired[/URL] at Syracuse, #22. Bing was 7 times an NBA All-Star and named to the NBA's 50th anniversary All-Time team in 1996. He was named to [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/AllCenturyTeam.htm']Syracuse University's All Century team[/URL]. Second, you mentioned how we used to be a fast break team and I miss that type of team that we enjoyed from 1985 - 1989 / 113 - 30, the Sherman Douglas, Stevie Thompson years. That was to me THE SYRACUSE BASKETBALL TEAM and how it should have kept on playing. You couldn't sit down bcause you never knew when a spectacular play was about to happen, be it a long pass and dunk per your film or Alley - oop from Douglas to Thompson or Seikaly or Coleman. I will take exception to "Sherman Douglas and Billy Owens got off to decent starts but then faded" Sherm played 14 years in the NBA. " Douglas would play the best basketball of his career for the Boston Celtics, managing to pilot the team to the playoffs in 1994–1995 season despite their 35–47 record in the final season of the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Garden']Boston Garden[/URL]. Douglas averaged 14.7 points and 6.9 assists per game that year." That's all I have. If we could play fast - break basketball as we did from [B]85 - 89[/B] [B]with players like we had then I don't think we'd be having this "conversation". [/B]But, how do we get players like we had again? There is so much parity and so much change in the game today.[B] You have to win to get them to want to play in Syracuse. I hope Adrian can bring us back to better seasons with better players. We're going to find out![/B] Thank you for providing such a detailed perspective on SU Basketball, it is very much appreciated. [/JUSTIFY] [TABLE] [TR] [TD][B]#20 Sherman Douglas[/B][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/Bball%20Player%20Index.htm']Back to Player Index[/URL][/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE] [TR] [TD][B]6'0"[/B][/TD] [TD][B]165 lbs[/B][/TD] [TD][B]Guard[/B][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE] [TR] [TD][B]HS: Spingarn[/B][/TD] [TD][B]Washington, DC[/B][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE] [TR] [TD][B]Born: 9/15/1966[/B][/TD] [TD][B]Washington, DC[/B][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE] [TR] [TD][CENTER][B]Season Stats[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][CENTER][B]Season[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Cl[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Pos[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]G[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]GS[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Min[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]FG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]FGA[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]%[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]FT[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]FTA[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]%[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]3Pt[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]3PA[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]%[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Asst[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Reb[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Fls[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]DQ[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]TO[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]ST[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]BS[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Pts[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]PPG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]APG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]RPG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/1985-1986.htm'][B]1985-86[/B][/URL][/TD] [TD]Fr[/TD] [TD]G[/TD] [TD][RIGHT]27[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]0[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]307[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]57[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]93[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]61.3%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]32[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]44[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]72.7%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]---[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]---[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][CENTER]---[/CENTER][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]57[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]44[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]33[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]0[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]33[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]33[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]5[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]146[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]5.4[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2.1[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]1.6[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/1986-1987.htm'][B]1986-87[/B][/URL][/TD] [TD]So[/TD] [TD]G[/TD] [TD][RIGHT]38[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]38[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]1240[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]246[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]463[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]53.1%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]151[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]203[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]74.4%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]16[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]49[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]32.7%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]289[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]97[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]72[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]0[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]121[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]64[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]5[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]659[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]17.3[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]7.6[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2.6[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/1987-1988.htm'][B]1987-88[/B][/URL][/TD] [TD]Jr[/TD] [TD]G[/TD] [TD][RIGHT]35[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]35[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]1195[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]222[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]428[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]51.9%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]104[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]150[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]69.3%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]14[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]53[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]26.4%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]288[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]76[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]55[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]0[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]117[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]69[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]1[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]562[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]16.1[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]8.2[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2.2[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/1988-1989.htm'][B]1988-89[/B][/URL][/TD] [TD]Sr[/TD] [TD]G[/TD] [TD][RIGHT]38[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]38[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]1348[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]272[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]498[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]54.6%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]110[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]174[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]63.2%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]39[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]106[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]36.8%[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]326[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]93[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]71[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]2[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]139[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]69[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]1[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT]693[/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]18.2[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]8.6[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2.5[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][CENTER][B]Career[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]138[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]111[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]4090[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]797[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]1482[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]53.8%[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]397[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]571[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]69.5%[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]69[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]208[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]33.2%[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]960[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]310[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]231[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]410[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]235[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]12[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2060[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]14.9[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]7.0[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2.2[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] � Sherman Douglas was the ultimate floor leader, leading Syracuse to its best three year run in school history. 'The General' was an excellent ball handler, who was a clutch scorer during the crucial moments of the game. Douglas graduated from Springarn High School in Washington D.C., the same school that [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/dbing.htm']Dave Bing[/URL] attended. Douglas was not highly recruited, with Syracuse being the only Division I school to offer him a scholarship. As a freshman, Douglas saw limited playing time as the dynamic [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/DWashington.htm']Pearl Washington[/URL] was running the show. However, the practice time everyday against the Pearl was invaluable in Douglas’ development. Douglas had big shoes to fill his sophomore season, as the Pearl left early. Suddenly thrust early into the starting role, expectations were not very high. Everyone was wrong, as Douglas proved to be an excellent floor general and a big scorer. He led the Orangemen in scoring, and they won the Big East regular season championship. That was only the beginning, however, as the Orangemen got even hotter. Douglas played phenomenally in the Big East tournament, scoring a tournament record [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/Syracuse30points.htm']35 points[/URL] against Pittsburgh in the semi-finals (since broken), along with 11 assists. Syracuse would lose in the Big East finals to rival Georgetown, but not due to Douglas' efforts (he had another 20 points, 8 assists). Douglas guided the team through the NCAA tournament, and they reached the NCAA Championship game. Only a Keith Smart shot with seconds remaining spoiled the miraculous run. Douglas showed himself to be able to run the fast break as well as any player in the country. His trademark was the alley-oop pass, lobbing the ball up near the hoop as sky-walker [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/SThompson.htm']Stevie Thompson[/URL] or big men [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/DColeman.htm']Derrick Coleman[/URL] and [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/RSeikaly.htm']Rony Seikaly[/URL] would slam it home. Douglas would often focus on passing the ball early in the games, and then would revert to becoming a scorer during the crunch moments of the game. He was gifted at helping his teammates get the easy basket, and very good at minimizing turnovers. Full court presses against Syracuse were foolish because Douglas always seemed to break them. His junior season, the Orangemen started the season #1 in the country. They would quickly fall from the rank with a loss to North Carolina. However, behind Douglas they remained one of the top teams in the country all season long, and they would win the[URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/BigEast/BE_Championships.htm'] Big East Championship[/URL]. There were high expectations in the NCAA tournament. However, Douglas was ill, and while he played against Rhode Island, his game was clearly off, and the Orangemen were upset. Douglas would lead SU to another fine season his senior year. Early in the season Syracuse had a rematch against Indiana in the preseason NIT, and Douglas would have his most memorable play. Receiving an outlet pass short of mid court, Douglas, without turning around, hiked the ball through his legs, tossing a beautiful pass to Stevie Thompson who would dunk the ball. It was also a season of personal accolades. Douglas would become Syracuse’s [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/Syracuse%20Top%20100%20Scorers.htm']all time leading scorer [/URL](later to be broken) and would become the NCAA’s all-time assist leader (again, later to be broken). He would set a Syracuse record with [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/GameResults/G1988-1989.htm']22 assists[/URL] against Providence on January 28, 1989. Douglas would be named to the [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/BigEast/BE_Conference_Teams_Player.htm']All Big East First Team[/URL] all three seasons he was a starter, and was the MVP of the 1989 Big East Tournament, despite the fact Syracuse lost the title. Douglas would be drafted by the [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/SyracuseNBA.htm']NBA[/URL]'s Miami heat in the 2nd round of the 1989 draft. [TABLE] [TR] [TD][CENTER][B]NBA Career Statistics[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][CENTER][B]Pos[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]G[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Min[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]FG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]FGA[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]%[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]FT[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]FTA[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]%[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]3FG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]3FA[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]3Pct[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Asst[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Reb[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Fls[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]DQ[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]TO[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]ST[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]BS[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]Pts[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]PPG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]APG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]RPG[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][CENTER][B]Guard[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]765[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]21,148[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]3,335[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]6,886[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]48.4%[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]1,601[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2,361[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]67.8%[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]154[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]576[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][CENTER][B]26.7%[/B][/CENTER][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]4,536[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]1,672[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]1,612[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]0[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]1,760[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]785[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]76[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]8,425[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]11.0[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]5.9[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [TD][RIGHT][B]2.2[/B][/RIGHT][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Though small by NBA standards at 6', Douglas would be a solid point guard for twelve seasons. His second year in the league was perhaps his best, as he averaged 18.5 points and 8.5 assists for the Miami Heat. Douglas was able to bring his famed alley-oop pass to the NBA, and succeed with it despite the fact many critics assumed the athletic talent of defenders in the league would prevent. He showed everyone he was the unquestioned master of that pass. Douglas would lead his team to the playoffs four times (1992, 1993, 1995, and 1998), making it past the first round just one time. Overall he would play for Miami (1990-90), Boston (92-96), Milwaukee (96-97), New Jersey (98, 2000-01), and the Los Angeles Clippers (99). He retired from the league in 2001. His [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/RetiredUniforms.htm']uniform was retired[/URL] by Syracuse in 2005, and he was named to the [URL='http://www.orangehoops.org/AllCenturyTeam.htm']Syracuse All Century Team[/URL] in 2000. [/QUOTE]

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