Cuse Country

Continuing our countdown of reasons to get pumped for the upcoming basketball season. Cuse Country’s resident media genius Tom was thinking about this stuff way back in June. Tom has a memory like an iron maiden for Syracuse basketball and realized that the collection of players on this year’s team might be the strongest in recent memory.

#23: Historic strength at nearly every position

Tom looked at the rosters from the past 20 years or so and really likes how the current players stack up to history. Take it away, Tom:

* Point Guard: Jonny Flynn is coming off of the best freshman season ever for a Syracuse point guard. Maybe you trade him for the Pearl or Sherman, but I might hold on this hand.
* 2 Guard: I’m going to take this position as a combination of Devendorf and Rautins, since they both fit here and it’s unclear if either will absolutely be 100%. Lawrence Moten is the gold standard here, but aside from him, I want these guys.
* Small forward: Carmelo Anthony, sure. Probably Billy Owens. But Paul Harris brought his game to an elite level in the home stretch of last season, and became our most reliable scorer and rebounder - putting up routine double doubles. He’s the hustle, and he’s poised for a monster year.
* Power Forward: As I said, this is the exception. Rick Jackson and K-Ong will be serviceable, but will never be Derrick Coleman, John Wallace, or Hakim Warrick.
* Center: The only people who would compete with Arinze are Etan Thomas and Rony Seikaly. Maybe I trade for Etan, but Arinze is a force to be reckoned with. Huge bruiser with an offensive touch. You can’t go wrong with that.

The full list:
#30: another lacrosse walkon
#29: Plenty of games along I-95
#28 & #27: Mookie Jones and Kris Joseph
#26: Kristof goes coast to coast
#25: Sean Williams’ go-go gadget arms
#24: Scoop Jardine has a broken leg
#23: Historic strength at nearly every position