Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSchonbrun: Without its superstar, Syracuse's credibility takes an unwarranted hit
By Zach Schonbrun
Posted: 11/12/08, 7:34 PM EST Section: Basketball 2008
In the locker room after a game in February last year, there was Syracuse men's basketball assistant coach Mike Hopkins talking about Donte Greene.
"How the game started tonight, he didn't shoot that well. And then he gets back and nails four in a row, and you're like 'This kid has got ice water in his veins,'" Hopkins gushed. "That's what was so exciting.
"That's how you know he's just going to kill it one day. The world will be his."
It seemed much of the 2007-08 basketball season was swept away by the aura of Mr. Greene, by the tacit implication of a 6-foot-11, deft-shooting gift dropped from the heavens - or via Baltimore. He was the superstar in Carmelo Anthony's mold, held on a rarefied alter thanks to good genes, good Scout.com ratings and, later, good ESPN mock drafts.
As the players around him improved, Greene remained the most talked about athlete on Syracuse's campus, more because of what he might do than what he did. His jumper fell with seismographic inconsistency, but it hardly echoed the concerns of SU fans who feared he was listening to the NBA, not Jim Boeheim, call out his name. They, like the rest of the conference, lapped up his talents and underestimated his teammates.
His departure leaves a ship without an anchor, or so it would seem. But what about Paul Harris and Jonny Flynn and Arinze Onuaku? Don't they get the buildup No. 5 got when he stepped on the court?
Apparently not. Last year, after losing three of its top five scorers, the AP gave Syracuse 103 votes in the preseason poll. This year, despite returning four-fifths of its starting five, the Orange received 83.
Pollsters think stars when they're looking at teams, and Syracuse, without Greene, leaves a brand-name hole. But the Orange is a better team this year, even without so much hype. Syracuse has all the right pieces, even without its transcendent superstar.
The Big East needs stars, too, which is why last year, despite starting two freshmen and two sophomores, SU was picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches poll. This year, despite adding Eric Devendorf, Andy Rautins and a year of experience, Syracuse was picked to finish eighth.
"If we had Donte, we'd be second or third," Boeheim said at Big East media day in mid-October.
Basketball, more than any other sport, deifies the individual, hyping wristbands and windmill dunks - fine fuel for the freakish athlete who can leap but not lead. It's why highlight reels showed Greene's dazzling finishes on alley-oop dunks, but not Flynn, the one who threw them. They caught Greene's trademark pull-up 3-pointers, but not Harris, the 6-foot-5 hustler with the defensive rebound that set things up.
Greene's departure leaves a hole, but it can be filled by others. He led the Big East in 3-pointers attempted, which is more than enough to go around.
"I love their team without Donte Greene. I love them," Villanova head coach Jay Wright said at Big East media day. "Now they can present you with different problems. They can go three guards with Flynn, Devendorf and Rautins. That's a tough guard, too."
First, there's Devendorf, the Bay City, Mich., bad boy with tattoos and goatees and fearlessness that have come to personify his play. A few years ago, he was the potential one-and-done, after a senior season at the revered Oak Hill (Va.) Academy that earned him a McDonald's All-American slot. Now, after two-and-a-half seasons and a serious knee injury, Devendorf's admittedly matured on and off the court - part of the effect of being a father. He's the experienced scorer by example.
Next, there's Andy Rautins, the calm and cool Syracuse native who possesses a textbook right trigger arm. He shocked almost everyone as a sophomore when he emerged as a deep threat with frightening consistency, before a knee injury took him down last summer. He can spread the floor and hit open 3's.
Then, there's Jonny Flynn, Greene's on-court companion and off-court friend, the other prized recruit of Boeheim's blue-chip 2007 class. Flynn emerged as a star himself early on - he scored 28 points in his collegiate debut - but never wavered as second fiddle to Greene's Batman persona. He embraced the sidekick role, happily floating lobs to a target even more happy to receive them. They took the pressure off each other.
Flynn's the captain now - but without his first mate. He'll have the hardest transition: running the point without his top option, finding open looks without his main decoy.
But SU, as a team, has its pieces in place. The superstar's gone, but there's hype where it matters.
"Donte was a tremendous player, but he was basically an outside shooter," Boeheim said. "We didn't have to do anything but get two guys back to being healthy to improve our 3-point shooting. That part should take care of itself."
Soaring under the radar, with no spotlight on a star. Mock drafts may not find their way into February telecasts; vanity T-shirts may have to wait until the next can't-miss hoops prodigy comes flying up I-81.
Will Syracuse find buoyancy with its lightweight expectations? How long before others notice the Orange has more than one player?
The task for Flynn and Rautins and Devendorf and the others is to prove to the pundits they belong. But they can revel in cohesion.
This year Syracuse has its roles, and superstar isn't one of them.
Zach Schonbrun is The Daily Orange's sports columnist, where his columns appear every Tuesday. He can be reached at zsschonb@syr.edu.
"How the game started tonight, he didn't shoot that well. And then he gets back and nails four in a row, and you're like 'This kid has got ice water in his veins,'" Hopkins gushed. "That's what was so exciting.
"That's how you know he's just going to kill it one day. The world will be his."
It seemed much of the 2007-08 basketball season was swept away by the aura of Mr. Greene, by the tacit implication of a 6-foot-11, deft-shooting gift dropped from the heavens - or via Baltimore. He was the superstar in Carmelo Anthony's mold, held on a rarefied alter thanks to good genes, good Scout.com ratings and, later, good ESPN mock drafts.
As the players around him improved, Greene remained the most talked about athlete on Syracuse's campus, more because of what he might do than what he did. His jumper fell with seismographic inconsistency, but it hardly echoed the concerns of SU fans who feared he was listening to the NBA, not Jim Boeheim, call out his name. They, like the rest of the conference, lapped up his talents and underestimated his teammates.
His departure leaves a ship without an anchor, or so it would seem. But what about Paul Harris and Jonny Flynn and Arinze Onuaku? Don't they get the buildup No. 5 got when he stepped on the court?
Apparently not. Last year, after losing three of its top five scorers, the AP gave Syracuse 103 votes in the preseason poll. This year, despite returning four-fifths of its starting five, the Orange received 83.
Pollsters think stars when they're looking at teams, and Syracuse, without Greene, leaves a brand-name hole. But the Orange is a better team this year, even without so much hype. Syracuse has all the right pieces, even without its transcendent superstar.
The Big East needs stars, too, which is why last year, despite starting two freshmen and two sophomores, SU was picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches poll. This year, despite adding Eric Devendorf, Andy Rautins and a year of experience, Syracuse was picked to finish eighth.
"If we had Donte, we'd be second or third," Boeheim said at Big East media day in mid-October.
Basketball, more than any other sport, deifies the individual, hyping wristbands and windmill dunks - fine fuel for the freakish athlete who can leap but not lead. It's why highlight reels showed Greene's dazzling finishes on alley-oop dunks, but not Flynn, the one who threw them. They caught Greene's trademark pull-up 3-pointers, but not Harris, the 6-foot-5 hustler with the defensive rebound that set things up.
Greene's departure leaves a hole, but it can be filled by others. He led the Big East in 3-pointers attempted, which is more than enough to go around.
"I love their team without Donte Greene. I love them," Villanova head coach Jay Wright said at Big East media day. "Now they can present you with different problems. They can go three guards with Flynn, Devendorf and Rautins. That's a tough guard, too."
First, there's Devendorf, the Bay City, Mich., bad boy with tattoos and goatees and fearlessness that have come to personify his play. A few years ago, he was the potential one-and-done, after a senior season at the revered Oak Hill (Va.) Academy that earned him a McDonald's All-American slot. Now, after two-and-a-half seasons and a serious knee injury, Devendorf's admittedly matured on and off the court - part of the effect of being a father. He's the experienced scorer by example.
Next, there's Andy Rautins, the calm and cool Syracuse native who possesses a textbook right trigger arm. He shocked almost everyone as a sophomore when he emerged as a deep threat with frightening consistency, before a knee injury took him down last summer. He can spread the floor and hit open 3's.
Then, there's Jonny Flynn, Greene's on-court companion and off-court friend, the other prized recruit of Boeheim's blue-chip 2007 class. Flynn emerged as a star himself early on - he scored 28 points in his collegiate debut - but never wavered as second fiddle to Greene's Batman persona. He embraced the sidekick role, happily floating lobs to a target even more happy to receive them. They took the pressure off each other.
Flynn's the captain now - but without his first mate. He'll have the hardest transition: running the point without his top option, finding open looks without his main decoy.
But SU, as a team, has its pieces in place. The superstar's gone, but there's hype where it matters.
"Donte was a tremendous player, but he was basically an outside shooter," Boeheim said. "We didn't have to do anything but get two guys back to being healthy to improve our 3-point shooting. That part should take care of itself."
Soaring under the radar, with no spotlight on a star. Mock drafts may not find their way into February telecasts; vanity T-shirts may have to wait until the next can't-miss hoops prodigy comes flying up I-81.
Will Syracuse find buoyancy with its lightweight expectations? How long before others notice the Orange has more than one player?
The task for Flynn and Rautins and Devendorf and the others is to prove to the pundits they belong. But they can revel in cohesion.
This year Syracuse has its roles, and superstar isn't one of them.
Zach Schonbrun is The Daily Orange's sports columnist, where his columns appear every Tuesday. He can be reached at zsschonb@syr.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Marc LeVine
posted 11/13/08 @ 10:18 AM EST
Let's fool the experts and win. There is a good pro example to follow this year - the NY Knicks. While stars Stephon Marbury and Eddie Curry ride the bench a team of lesser known players and emerging stars are winning games. (Continued…)
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