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Message: [QUOTE="OttoMets, post: 1666236, member: 716"] What I think gets lost in these debates: Cooney is, what, a 97th-percentile basketball talent? Watching Syracuse for decades, we're spoiled by having top-end talent every year - 98th-percentile guys with the occasional Coleman or Anthony who's even better than that. So there are tiny differences in natural talent that can make a relatively big difference in what we see on the court. Sometimes hard work and even luck (McNamara playing with Warrick for three years instead of Eric Williams) make up for a slight talent deficit Cooney is a very good basketball player who happens to have a slight talent deficiency compared to some of those who've come before him - some guys instinctively know how to finish in traffic, others have a good vertical but have to actively work hard to pair that elevation with absorbing contact and going through the mechanics of shooting; some guys can run a fast break, others must think their way through "draw the defender, eyes up, prepare to pass NOW, ball in outside hand, prepare to shoot." For the guys whose instincts don't get the job done, it takes a lot of extra work to do things that Michael Lloyd did in his sleep and most of us take for granted. Cooney's worked hard, but he hasn't been bailed out by playing with a bunch of stars (how would our opinion of Matt Roe change if he'd had Cooney's teammates instead of Owens, Sherm, and the gang?), nor has he enjoyed what I'd consider typical rest during games (far from it - I believe that he expends more energy on defense than a more naturally-skilled player would, catching him in a negative feedback loop). Whatever, he's worked hard, hasn't done any stupid things. We're Syracuse fans and we root for the guys who play for us; some years we've got great players, some years merely good players. Recognize his limitations, hope he mixes in some productive games down the stretch and tacks a few more wins onto the end of his career. [/QUOTE]

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