We’re going to launch a new series here at TNIAAM, where we give you $44 and challenge you to construct the best roster for a variety of Syracuse Orange sports. The idea is to make it more difficult for you to pick two of the top five athletes in a particular sport so we think it should lead to some spirited debate.

Up first is men’s basketball

You probably won’t agree with these tiers and that’s alright. The idea is to force you into some uncomfortable decisions. You can’t get Carmelo and DC in this exercise (unless you want to play 4 on 5 and maybe you could win some games that way). Want to reunite the 2003 team? We did leave off Hakim Warrick, who should become a very popular selection for the $2 cost.

You could go with the Dave Bing/Jim Boeheim tandem and still have half of your budget left. Would you add Buddy Boeheim for another $2 and then have enough for Jason Hart and Wes Johnson?

Here’s the five I’m going with: Flynn, Waiters, Carmelo, Hackett, and Thomas. The offense will certainly run through ‘Melo but imagine Flynn and Dion in the open floor. I never saw Hackett play anyone who puts up 17 and 11 over their career is going to be able to do damage in the post. Etan Thomas is going to anchor our defense and help trigger the fastbreak.

Now let’s hear who you’re picking and why.