The Syracuse Orange basketball team has begun practicing for their upcoming trip to Canada. Donna Ditota and Mike Waters are on the scene, let's get caught up on everything they and others have seen so far.
Baye Moussa Keita likes what he sees out of the freshmen so far.
"They're really talented. They're really hard workers. We've been here working out at 6 in the morning everyday Monday through Friday. I've been here on the weekend and they've been here, too, so they're really hard-workers.''
However the team might only be as good as C.J. Fair lets them be. And he knows it.
"I've got to be one of the leaders on this team. I know a lot of the guys look up to me as a senior. I've got to be there to lead by example and vocally.''
As for Fair, when asked about the potential to become Syracuse's first ACC Player of the Year, he considers the honor "achievable."
"I think that's an achievable goal for me mdash; being the ACC Player of the Year," Fair said. "I think the main thing for me to get that is you gotta win. We might have to win the league for me to get that. So if we win the league, that helps me — and everybody else."
Even though Syracuse is allowed to schedule ten practices, Boeheim decided to only use six. Why?
"I was only going to go with two or three,'' Boeheim said after the Orange's first summer practice on Thursday at the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center, "but we ended up deciding to go with six. We don't need 10.''
Alrighty...Jimmy goes on to make a good point, though. It's not the practices that matter, it's the games.
"I think these games are more important than practice,'' Boeheim said. "We're going to have a lot of practices once we get started (in the fall). I think the games are a good indication for us, especially since we're playing good teams. If we played all bad teams, it wouldn't help. With playing good teams, they'll be able to learn more from the games.''
Brent Axe didn't write an article about practice but he did tweet some interesting sights, including...
You won't see DaJuan Coleman in that video I took, but he is noticeably slimmer since end of last season. Looks really fit.
— Brent Axe (@BrentAxeMedia) August 15, 2013
Ennis looks fluid. Really smooth game. Patterson is still a little rough around edges. Johnson I saw least @BHess46: how did freshmen look?
— Brent Axe (@BrentAxeMedia) August 15, 2013
Absolutely. I was really impressed. @JRaynor44: I know it was 1 day but do you think Ennis has the look of a starting point guard???
— Brent Axe (@BrentAxeMedia) August 15, 2013
He did! LOL. Had a fun conversation with him about the Internet as a matter if fact. #OldSchool @anthonylegion25: Did Boeheim stay awake?
— Brent Axe (@BrentAxeMedia) August 15, 2013
I demand to know Boeheim's thoughts on the Internet...
