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Message: [QUOTE="General20, post: 2651079, member: 724"] This is such an interesting thought experiment! #1 and 2 on the list pretty much pick themselves, don't they? I can't imagine there will be much argument or debate there. But my gosh there isn't a lot separating #3 from #15 or 20. It comes down to perspective/preference. Here's my list. #1 Wallace - Was his senior year the best single year any Boeheim player has ever had? I would say, yes, it was, even better than Melo's. #2 Warrick - Really no explanation needed for this All American or the guy above him on the list. #3 Gbinije - He just did so much for us, and did it all exceptionally well. We didn't have a point guard so he learned how to play the position. He was arguably the best defensive player in the country. He shot just about 40% from 3 and could slash and finish with the best of them. Even though we made a final 4, he played under a cloud of sanctions and because of that never had a lot of talent around him. I would have loved to watch him play on a more talented team, I think he would have looked even better. #4 Rautins - SU was the best team in the country his senior year. The fans tended to give Johnson the most credit for this, opposing players tended to give Onuaku the most credit, but opposing coaches almost always gave Rautins the most credit. 9 times out of 10 the teams we played organized their D around stopping him from getting open looks, and the few that didn't paid for it big time - this made things a lot easier for Johnson, Onuaku and crew to do their thing. Rautins was an elite defender, an elite passer for a shooting guard, and an elite rebounder for a shooting guard. My favorite part of his game was that he never made the simple pass, he always always made a move to put a defender in a bad position before shooting or passing. It lead to a few more turnovers than you'd want, but paid off much more often with easy points, I wish every player played that way. This is where it gets really hard for me. There is almost no way to differentiate 5-10 in my eyes. I'm making judgment calls on tiny differences. For instance, how to differentiate Christmas and Thomas? I don't think Thomas could have carried a bad team the way Christmas did, but Thomas's shot blocking ability is a game changer, especially with a talented surrounding cast. I'm not sure there's a right answer when choosing between the two. #5 Christmas - GREAT season, bad team. The guy defended like a beast, grabbed rebounds, and scored at will. It doesn't take too much imagination to picture what it would have been like if Christmas was surrounded by better talent. Imagine him on the 03 team, or even last year's team, or even senior Christmas on the previous year's final four team instead of junior Christmas - that team probably would have won it all with senior Christmas. #5a(6) Thomas - Was his senior year the last time before this upcoming year that SU brought back all 5 starters? His junior year SU was an NIT team. His senior year SU was a good team capable of beating anybody, and credit for that improvement should go directly to Thomas and Heart working their asses off in the offseason and willing themselves to be better. Thomas was an all time great shot blocker in a time when shot blocking was even more important than it is now. His team lost to eventual champs Michigan St. in the sweet 16, but had a lot of whistles go against them which really turned the game. SU could have beaten Michigan St and anybody else that year. They were good, and Thomas was the main reason why. #7 Moten - Moten's legacy is one of being really really good for 4 straight years, and less of being great in any one year. I still think his junior year was his best, but the Big East's all time leading scorer deserves his due respect. #8 Autry - He was a big point guard with a little of everything in his game. He could shoot, pass, slash, defend. Autry and Moten made for a deadly back court on both ends of the floor, and Autry is one of those players who tends to be underrated as time passes. Maybe even by me? I was thinking I'd have him higher on the list than this. #9 McNamara - By far the hardest player to place. On one hand his offensive numbers are not very good, and he was an average defender as well. On the other hand he was the only shooter on an mediocre team, and had to deal with an insane amount of defensive focus. Despite that defensive pressure, McNamara put up some of the greatest performances in SU history. His (partly by circumstance, and partly by his own decision making) was a career of ups and downs. McNamara at his best was as good as college basketball players get. McNamara at his worst was a liability, which you can't say about anybody else on this list. Still I couldn't leave out somebody who single-handedly carried SU to some of the amazing wins they've ever had. #10 Jardine - His stats might not be as good as the other players on this list, and there are plenty of guys I would choose over him if my team needed a number one option, but there is nobody I'd rather have controlling the game for a super talented team. He wasn't the point guard of two 1 seeded teams by accident. He had an amazing feel for when to set up his teammates and when to score himself. He played great D, and had a knack for putting the ball in the basket in the clutch when baskets are hardest to come by. Some others Jackson - He wasn't good enough his junior year. By his senior year he made himself good enough, and was a real force down low, especially on the boards, but also in the low post. Onuaku - Could not be stopped down low (except by Thabeet). If he could have made free throws he might have been #1 on this list. Nichols & White- Another two guys you can't differentiate. Both guys made shots. Both guys were average defenders. Nichols was a terrible rebounder, White was a better rebounder, but Nichols shot the ball slightly better than White, and was a lot better when he was asked to make a tough shot with a guy in his face. White probably makes for a better second or third option, but Nichols definitely made a better #1 option. Shumpert - we remember him as a shooter, but he was a worse shooter than you probably remember, and a much better rebounder and defender than you probably remember. He was actually a very good overall player, but he faded at the end of the year, which is why I don't have him in the top 10. Fair - I had a really tough time placing Fair as well. He was the perfect glue guy or garbage man. As a senior he needed to become the #1 option, and while he did an admirable job, that's really not where you'd want him to play. Fair was best hanging out around the basket, always finding himself in the right places, and scrapping for rebounds and points - perhaps hitting the occasional wide open 3. He was good enough to probably never be able to stay in this role as a senior, but not quite good enough to be a guy I'd want leading my team. Senior Fair would be a perfect addition to a dream team type line up. Sims - He defended well, and controlled the game well, but make no mistake that final 4 team was all about Wallace. He was Gladys Knight and everyone else was a pip. [/QUOTE]

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