Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSchonbrun: Without its superstar, Syracuse's credibility takes an unwarranted hit
Abstract:
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....
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Marc LeVine
posted 11/13/08 @ 10:18 AM EST
There are two kinds of star players in sports. The ones "annointed" as such in advance of team play and those who emerge later. Remember Louie Orr, the "stringbean" from Ohio? No one recruited him and yet he formed a great tandem with Roosevelt Bouie. Bouie was recruited to be the star. He had a great college career and disappeared from site after graduation.
Orr, had an equally great college career, followed by an impressive (but not a superstar calibre) NBA career and, eventually, a head coaching role at Seton Hall. Go figure.
By midseason, SU will have some new stars and team leaders to brag about. A coule of guys will step up and help us forget Greene, who was an imperfect player. He was really only a "forced superstar," because of the advance hype. True SU basketball fans know that his play was inconsistent and his ego a little too big for a Boeheim coached team. He was no Carmelo Anthony. 'Melo was a true leader and rarely gifted as a freshman ball player.