A study in contrasts: At this time last year, the Syracuse men’s basketball team was 17-5 (6-2 Big East). The Orangemen had lost three of their last four games and would monumentally collapse, losing five of their next eight and banishing themselves to the NIT.

Today, the Orangemen are 13-3 (4-2 Big East). They’ve lost two of their last four.

But don’t expect a similar catastrophe.

Physically, this year’s Orangemen are more athletic. Running the floor is their forte.

In the locker room, this group lacks a problem child like DeShaun Williams.

Sure, these Orangemen are young. But they’re eager and less likely to fold.

Four games in the next nine days — including Pittsburgh, Georgetown and Connecticut — should provide a litmus test of the Orangemen’s season.

For now, a graded player-by-player report based on SU’s first 16 games:

Carmelo Anthony — A-

The freshman phenom’s season started auspiciously. Anthony averaged 24.9 points in SU’s first nine games. But as Big East teams started double-teaming him, Anthony’s numbers dropped — 16 points per game against conference teams.

Sometimes, he’s played like a freshman. His defense can be spotty, and, Wednesday night, he let Rutgers’ reserve Juel Wiggan goad him into a technical foul.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim might not prefer an 18-year-old carry his team, but that’s exactly what Anthony must do.

Gerry McNamara — A-

He made a seamless transition into the point-guard role, subbing for the suspended Billy Edelin. Known primarily as a shooter, McNamara’s assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92) is fifth in the Big East.

But if the Orangemen want to boost their offense — SU has not scored more than 65 points in three of its last four games — McNamara needs to shoot better.

In the last four games, he’s shot 7 of 27 from 3-point range.

Hakim Warrick — B+

Call him what you want: Spider Man, The Human Pogo Stick, Jumpin’ Hak.

Any way you put it, he’s the Big East’s most improved player — and its best dunker.

Warrick’s second on SU with 16.1 points per game and tied for first with 9.3 rebounds. The Orangemen need him to be a consistent No. 3 scorer every night. He scored six points in SU’s 68-65 loss at Rutgers on Wednesday night and made just three shots in a 73-60 loss at Pittsburgh.

Kueth Duany — C-

Boeheim dubbed him SU’s “mystery man.”

One night, Duany is an offensive supernova (20 points in SU’s Jan. 8 win at Seton Hall).

The next, he can’t catch fire if you spotted him a gallon of gas and a lighter (1-of-10 shooting for three points Wednesday night).

Though the fifth-year senior is an insufferable 15 of 46 in Big East games, he insists he can shoot.

Start proving it.

Craig Forth — C

Let’s get this straight. He’s 7 feet tall and said he’s stronger than last year, when he averaged 4.5 rebounds.

But Forth’s boards have dipped to 3.8 per game this season.

He played well Wednesday night, scoring eight points.

Now that Forth’s sore Achilles is healed, his biggest problem is his head. One foul and his eyes focus on the floor. One missed layup and he’s cursing himself.

Georgetown’s Mike Sweetney could very well dismember him — appendage by appendage — Monday night.

Jeremy McNeil — B-

Until Wednesday, you could sum up McNeil’s basketball talent with a picture of his swinging right arm.

And unless his 10-point, seven-rebound effort at Rutgers is some sort of an epiphany, he’s still a one-dimensional player. McNeil is second in the Big East with 3.2 blocks per game. But his fouls (nearly three per game) land him on the bench too often.

Billy Edelin — INC

Edelin’s four games — three, really, considering he barely played at Pitt — fail to provide enough fodder on which to rate him. He’s averaged 5.3 points and 3.8 rebounds and was SU’s third-leading scorer, with 11 points, in an 83-65 home win over Seton Hall on Jan. 22.

Early on, Edelin has struggled to fit into the offense and has 13 assists to 12 turnovers. Boeheim’s trying to catch him up, but Edelin might not be a factor until next year.

Josh Pace — B-

And just like that, he’s gone.

With Edelin’s return, Pace became the Orangemen’s Keyser Soze. He averaged 22 minutes before the loss at Pitt. But he’s played 17 in the last four games.

Clearly, there’s a method to Boeheim’s plan. After SU’s loss at Miami on Sunday, Boeheim called Pace “a non-shooter,” which tends to be a problem if you’re a shooting guard.

Coaching — B+

These Orangemen are one of Boeheim’s biggest coaching challenges. Sure, they’re talented. But they were raw early on. And they’re still not deep, playing seven men a night.

Slowly, Boeheim taught a free-firing team how to play defense (SU gives up 66.6 points per game). Though the Orangemen still struggle with half-court sets, they’re athletic enough to make up for it.

Boeheim has handled individual players in typical Boeheim fashion. He’ll devote entire postgame press conferences to concocting clever ways to rip — and motivate? — a player. He sprinkles praise. His stars — Anthony and McNamara — are mostly immune to his public ire.

Syracuse’s next two games could determine how Boeheim handles the Orangemen the rest of the way.

Intangibles — A

There’s no doubt this is a close group. Last year’s locker room dissension is gone. Two losses haven’t fractured SU, but young teams can be volatile (see Seton Hall three years ago).

While the Orangemen play well together, they’re wont to stand around and watch Anthony. As Big East double-teams wear down the freshman, SU will need more from Warrick and Duany — every night.

Darryl Slater is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at dpslater@syr.edu.

Published on January 30, 2003 at 12:00 pm