By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Do not be misled by Syracuse's record or Top 25 ranking. The Orangemen very much miss what they lost last season to graduation and the NBA.

The defending national champions brought back a six-pack of experience this season but not superstar Carmelo Anthony or underrated Kueth Duany.

Those two missing ingredients have made all the difference in the Orangemen's unimpressive start. Despite returning six players, including All-America candidate Hakim Warrick and standout guards Billy Edelin and Gerry McNamara, Syracuse is just beginning to play up to its potential.

True, Syracuse is 6-1, having lost only its season opener to Charlotte. But the Orangemen's schedule has been home-heavy and soft, and they have had to rally to win many times.

The reason is clear: Syracuse is without its best scorer (Anthony), rebounder (Anthony) and defender (Duany) from last season, and the returnees and newcomers have been slow to adjust to their new roles.

This team seems loaded with talent on paper, but there is no senior presence, and four reserves are freshmen.

"We haven't played well," coach Jim Boeheim said. "We've struggled, and we've got some weaknesses. But this team could get a lot better. It hasn't come far enough yet. We've got freshmen who are talented, and they're going to be very good college players. Just not yet."

Anthony was the freshman who led Syracuse last season from the beginning and had one of the most dominating Final Four runs since Danny Manning's in 1988.

That won't, and can't, be Syracuse's ticket to San Antonio this season. The team has too much potential to allow for a one-man show.

"We depended so much on Carmelo on offense and on Keuth defensively last year," Boeheim said. "A big key is guys have to know what they have to do for us. And we have to get better."

The freshman reserves, Terrence Roberts, Louie McCroskey, Darryl Watkins and Demetris Nichols, need to gain consistency and confidence. Swingman Josh Pace needs to make key plays. Seven-footer Craig Forth needs to be an intimidator. McNamara needs to be a 3-point strength.

Much of what Syracuse needs, it already has. If the Orangemen get the most from their talent, by February they could be playing up to the standard they set for themselves last March.

BLUEJAY POWER: It's hard not to like Creighton's perfect record. A team that lost Kyle Korver (think Miami losing Wally Szczerbiak) has come back to run off eight straight wins, including one over rival Nebraska.

In the Bluejays, Southern Illinois and Wichita State, the Missouri Valley Conference has some heavyweights. One won't make the NCAA Tournament, which is why mid-major league games are every bit as competitive as majors.

SHELF LIFE: Wake Forest's 119-114 triple-overtime win over North Carolina last Saturday is a classic. Can't wait for the rematch at Wake Feb. 7.

Come to think of it, the entire Atlantic Coast Conference season should be pretty darn entertaining. That Florida State-Georgia Tech matchup might mean more than the one played on the football field.

KNIGHT SHAMES SELF AGAIN: Texas Tech coach Bob Knight's profanity-filled attack on the media Monday was passionate, but it was wrong.

In an ESPN interview, Knight, sitting by Iowa coach Steve Alford, ripped media for what he said was a mischaracterization of his supposedly strained relationship with Alford, a former player for Knight at Indiana. Knight claimed the media essentially made up the story that he and Alford weren't speaking to each other when Alford took over at Iowa in 1999.

Not only was Knight out of line, he was also factually wrong. Published reports point out that Knight and Alford did not speak to each other in 1999 at the Big Ten's media day in Chicago despite being seated 15 feet from each other. Other reports quote Alford prior to an Iowa-Indiana game in 2000 as saying he wrote letters to Knight, but Knight never responded.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After a 10-day layoff, Illinois' Dee Brown came back with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists in 39 minutes in Illinois' 71-70 win against Missouri Tuesday.