The dog days of the football season are upon us, and by ‘us,’ I mean the media. We’ve had to cover a team on track for a 6-6 season, which is never exciting nor compelling and is hardly interesting.And so I welcome the start of the basketball season. This is a chance to cover games that mean something, and most importantly, talk to a coach with some energy.Because from what I’ve seen – most notably when SU head coach Jim Boeheim said, ‘Who won the fucking national championship?’ at media day in response to a Big East-ACC question – sitting through a coaches press conference will be much easier.SU head football coach Paul Pasqualoni would never say such a thing. Instead, I’ve heard the same scouting report week after week – (Insert team here) is very, very good. They execute very well. They do what they do very well. You know what I’m saying?Well, with such generalities, a child could understand that. But Boeheim, now there is a man whose press conference is worth attending.I’ve already witnessed one Boeheim press conference, the one following an 83-71 loss to the Harlem Globetrotters. In it, he snapped at a reporter who asked about the play of the inside players. Boeheim, who had just answered a question on his centers, responded by saying, ‘We’ve been talking about that for the last 15 minutes. Pay attention. This isn’t first grade.’Priceless.

Questions surround the Syracuse men’s basketball team this year. Can SU live up to last year? Who will replace Carmelo? But as it turns out, the biggest question is: Who can replace Kueth?That’s Kueth Duany for those of you who forgot about the serviceable senior on last year’s championship team. He served as Boeheim’s whipping boy, taking the brunt of Boeheim’s tirades. He also supplied himself when players needed advice and even initiated conversations with others if he thought something was wrong.’It’s a big void,’ assistant coach Mike Hopkins said of Duany leaving. ‘It really is. Everybody assumes the best player on the team is the guy. But it was Kueth. We just try to stress that everybody has leadership ability and hopefully someone can take his place.’The two guys’ names thrown around to replace Duany have been point guard Gerry McNamara and forward Hakim Warrick.McNamara said he thinks it’s center Jeremy McNeil’s team. But McNeil, the lone senior on SU, is no replacement for Duany. In fact, McNeil hardly speaks at all.’He’s more of a quiet leader,’ guard Josh Pace said. ‘He leads by example when he plays.’Better hope he teaches quick. After the below-average showing by the centers against the Globetrotters – a combined 1-for-4 shooting for two points in 33 minutes for Forth and McNeil – Boeheim said he’s prone to bench both centers in upcoming games if they don’t provide more offense.

Coming off a championship year is tough, especially when your Michael Jordan – i.e. Carmelo Anthony – leaves the team.So when the clich question came up, players spouted the same answer aloud like a programmed machine.’The only way to top last year,’ they said, ‘is to do it again this year.’I heard it from McNamara, Pace and McNeil. Not that I blame them, really, because what else are they going to say?But even if SU runs the table, pounds through the NCAA Tournament and wins the championship again, would that really surpass last year’s storybook season? The season in which SU came from outside the Top 25 as late as January, boasted the most celebrated college player in the country and won its first championship ever?In a word, no.In more words:

In truth, the most impressive player on SU so far has been freshman Demetris Nichols. At media day, all the players said he shot better than any of the other freshman, hit shots from halfcourt and may be a sleeper this season.I wandered over to Manley Field House on Wednesday for practice and caught Nichols hit 4 of 5 3-pointers at the end of a scrimmage. Afterward, he and assistant coach Mike Hopkins worked on his shot, and Nichols hit more than half of his 3-point attempts.’Yes, sir,’ Nichols hollered after hitting a 3 on Wednesday.

So I can’t wait for basketball to start to see if Nichols lives up to my hype and how SU answers the questions surrounding the Orangemen.But we are stuck in football season, still. Syracuse hosts West Virginia on Saturday, and on Monday, Pasqualoni wrapped up the explanation behind the Mountaineers’ recent success.’They play hard,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘They are executing well. They play well on defense.’You can see how I doze off at times during these things. Bring on the basketball season.

Scott Lieber is an asst. sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at smlieber@syr.edu.