"Will to Win" online beginning Saturday April 1 ...

[cusefan88]

That was a great non-conference slate too. At Mich State, Memphis, with GT and Missouri in the Dome.

 

[OrangeDW]

That was a great non-conference slate too. At Mich State, Memphis, with GT and Missouri in the Dome.

GMac’s steal and buzzer beater before half against Missouri was great. I recall quotes that Gerry was baffled that the students stormed the court after that game, lol.

I went to GT, Seton Hall(Billy’s first home game), Pitt, ND, and Rutgers that year. Remember each game, where we sat, etc. vividly. Remember where and with who I watched most of the TV games too. Stormed the court after Pitt and ND. What a time.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[chugg21]

Just poured a bourbon and turned it on...LFG

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Just poured a bourbon and turned it on...LFG

Wife is going away this weekend. I will follow your lead

 

[heresjohnny88]

Just watched. Excellent. Brought back so many memories. Question for the board, as my memory is foggy: would Melo have actually stayed another year? I don’t seem to remember thinking that was even remotely a possibility. But he claims JB talked him into leaving. Not sure if anyone has any insight.

 

[JustPherU]

Just watched. Excellent. Brought back so many memories. Question for the board, as my memory is foggy: would Melo have actually stayed another year? I don’t seem to remember thinking that was even remotely a possibility. But he claims JB talked him into leaving. Not sure if anyone has any insight.

That’s the legend, but Melo was always leaving.
I’ll never believe he even gave it a second thought.

 

[rocklloyd]

That’s the legend, but Melo was always leaving.
I’ll never believe he even gave it a second thought.

He seemed so torn up in that press conference when he Said he was leaving. I always felt he would have stayed, but who knows

 

[chugg21]

Just watched. Excellent. Brought back so many memories. Question for the board, as my memory is foggy: would Melo have actually stayed another year? I don’t seem to remember thinking that was even remotely a possibility. But he claims JB talked him into leaving. Not sure if anyone has any insight.

He certainly pushes in the doc that he planned on staying and appeared to be teary-eyed saying he was leaving but sure seems hard to believe he'd have come back after accomplishing the ultimate goal in year 1 and looking like he was going to be the #2 pick in the draft...

 

[DoubleDee]

Just finally watched. Very good. Enjoyed the outtakes during the credits for than anything else really. Thank goodness we won. I can’t imagine not having that in our back pocket.

 

[shandeezy7]

He certainly pushes in the doc that he planned on staying and appeared to be teary-eyed saying he was leaving but sure seems hard to believe he'd have come back after accomplishing the ultimate goal in year 1 and looking like he was going to be the #2 pick in the draft...

I think he loved Syracuse and really did want to stay, but there was just no way anyone could let that happen, himself included. We’ve seen a lot of guys declare for the NBA early from SU, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy get as emotional as he did. It was truly genuine.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Here are links

Coming Saturday: Watch ‘Will to Win,’ syracuse.com’s film on Orange’s 2003 NCAA championship

The film includes new interviews from Carmelo Anthony, Jim Boeheim, Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick as they recount how the team became champions.

www.syracuse.com

Watched it last night...awesome trip down memory lane..

Pretty cool to see one of the board's own in a couple of pix...

I do not believe that Julius Hodge would have been able to contest, let alone block, Lee's shot.

Hodge going to NC State may have been the first brick on that yellow brick road to 4/7/03.

 

[CusefanATL]

Watched it at 8am with my coffee. Such a great great job by Mike Waters and the whole Syracuse.com staff. Kudos. I’m so happy I was fortunate enough, along with my brothers and several friends, to attend all 6 games. Such a wild ride.

While the documentary showed highlights from many great games, which I’ve watched replays of many times, I absolutely loved the behind the scenes and human interest stories. So glad Jeremy was able to be highlighted in this and his story told.

Those shots of the SU crowd outside of the hotel awaiting the teams return were no joke. Crazy scene. The Kansas hotel was right across the street from us and they all stood outside too with long faces and having to listen to our celebration. Good times.

I encourage everyone to watch it. It’s much more than just the games. Lots of funny stories too.

Thank you to all for a job well done.

"big 12 champs" chant directly at Kansas players returning and their 100 or so fans was the greatest chant i was ever part of.

 

[Eric15]

My wife has been on me lately to make sure our kids don't watch anything inappropriate on Netflix, etc. So tonight my 8 yo and I sit down to watch Will to Win, and literally two minutes in:

Carmelo: "Pardon my language but you can't fluck with us."

I was laughing on the inside but pretended to be offended.

 

[Eric15]

My wife has been on me lately to make sure our kids don't watch anything inappropriate on Netflix, etc. So tonight my 8 yo and I sit down to watch Will to Win, and literally two minutes in:

Carmelo: "Pardon my language but you can't fluck with us."

I was laughing on the inside but pretended to be offended.

This reminds me of one of my all-time favorite anecdotes. My buddy worked at Best Buy at Carousel in the early 2000s. Melo goes in a few days after we win the title. This woman and her little boy see Melo at the store and he really wants to say hi but is nervous. The mom says to him "just say hello and ask him how his back is feeling." The boy walks up and says "Hi Carmelo! How is your back feeling?"

Melo: "Hurts like a motherfuc*a."

 

[Orangezoo]

Glad we have things like this and the game replays.

 

[Eric15]

For anyone who saw the end of the Laker game last night, it really demonstrated how insanely hard it is to run full speed at a three-point shooter and successfully block the shot without fouling. What Hak did was incredible athletically.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

For anyone who saw the end of the Laker game last night, it really demonstrated how insanely hard it is to run full speed at a three-point shooter and successfully block the shot without fouling. What Hak did was incredible athletically.

Didn’t hurt that there was so much more available space for Hak on those sidelines. They have to get the bench guys much further back in those corners.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Col. Bleep]

Really well done.
Besides the reporters, HUGE congrats to producer/director Christa Lemczak.
She did some great work.

https://muckrack.com/christa-lemczak

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[SBU72]

A couple of questions. Does coach push Melo out the door if the last 20 seconds of the last game goes differently and SU loses like 1996 or does he let him stay and push for the title the next year? 2ndly, did JB lose some of his Mojo with the championship under his belt? Some could say his recruiting went down hill after the following season with guys he already had committed.

 

[shandeezy7]

A couple of questions. Does coach push Melo out the door if the last 20 seconds of the last game goes differently and SU loses like 1996 or does he let him stay and push for the title the next year? 2ndly, did JB lose some of his Mojo with the championship under his belt? Some could say his recruiting went down hill after the following season with guys he already had committed.

I don't know. In 24 years prior to the championship (1978 to 2002), Boeheim landed 12 McDonald's All-American recruits out of high school. In 13 years after the title (2003 to 2015), he landed 8. Doesn't seem like a drop off to me. The real recruiting drop off happened after the 2016 class, which unsurprisingly coincided with the Hopkins transition debacle.

 

[SBU72]

I don't know. In 24 years prior to the championship (1978 to 2002), Boeheim landed 12 McDonald's All-American recruits out of high school. In 13 years after the title (2003 to 2015), he landed 8. Doesn't seem like a drop off to me. The real recruiting drop off happened after the 2016 class, which unsurprisingly coincided with the Hopkins transition debacle.

Stand corrected. But checking the records, the years before the championship SU rarely ended less than 4th in the Big East, after they finished 4th or higher only 5 times (half the time). Won't get into ACC finishes. Only saying that the documentary points out that JB felt relieved after winning the championship. Did that dampen the fire a little?