Midseason grades probably couldn’t come at a worse time for the Syracuse men’s basketball team.

The Orangemen (17-5, 6-2 Big East) have lost three of their last four games – including their last three on the road – forcing them to plummet in the national standings.

Since Syracuse has rarely played as a team and almost never acted like one recently, each SU player will be graded individually this year relative to his preseason expectations. It still isn’t too pretty.

Preston Shumpert
Shumpert, who averaged 19.5 points last year, has continued to score, dropping in 20.5 points a game. His three-point percentage, 41, is two points better than last year.

But in the previous 10 games, Shumpert barely showed up in the first half. He may be the world’s biggest proponent of the let-the-game-come-to-you strategy. Shumpert sits by the three-point arch for the first 20 minutes and sometimes doesn’t even take a shot. Then, when the second half rolls around and SU is down by 15, Shumpert pours in 18 points. It makes you wonder what he could do if he looked for his shot the whole game.

Still, Syracuse is worthless without Shumpert (see Monday night’s blowout at Georgetown). His long arms are essential in the SU zone, and he leads the team in rebounding with 5.5 per game.
Grade: B+

DeShaun Williams
Williams has shot the same number of three pointers (143) as Shumpert but has made 14 less than the All-America candidate. Williams does average 18.3 points, a considerable five-point jump from last year.

But his Achilles’ heel, turning the ball over, became a major problem for Syracuse when Williams logged minutes at point guard earlier in the year. He still leads the team with 77.

Williams may be the only Orangeman who can create his own shot and make it. Without his ability to penetrate, opponents could put four defenders on Shumpert instead of three.
Grade: B-

Craig Forth
After an impressive start, Forth’s plight has been obvious the past 10 games. On the season, the freshman center averages just 4.1 rebounds and 4.8 points. He has fouled out three times and been within two fouls on 15 other occasions.

Worse is his field-goal percentage. Forth only takes layups but makes just 43 percent of his shots – a number reflective of Shumpert’s three-point clip.
Grade: C-

James Thues
At the beginning of the year, many – including myself – doubted Thues would ever be a legitimate point guard. He proved us wrong. Playing more than 30 minutes a game, Thues boasts an assist-to-turnover ratio better than 2-to-1, good enough for second best in the Big East. His free-throw shooting (48 percent last year) has vastly improved – 7 of 8 over the last two games.

Thues’ quickness enables him to drive to the basket, which in part makes up for his inability to hit a jumper. Defensively, Thues can anticipate a pass better than anyone in the conference, resulting in 71 steals – third best in the Big East.
Grade: A

Kueth Duany
After making the Preseason NIT All-Tournament team, Duany seemed poised for a breakout year. Since, he is averaging fewer than 13 points. Even as SU’s third scoring option, his baskets rarely seem to come when needed.

Statistically, Duany is the most-improved player on his team and, arguably, in the conference. He is the best Syracuse defender and he finally seems confident in his outside shot.
Grade: B+

Jeremy McNeil
Negatives: McNeil fouled out against Virginia Tech in 11 minutes, he averages just four rebounds and his offense revolves solely around the dunk.

Positives: He is a threatening shot blocker who has shown marked improvement at catching the basketball.
Grade: D+

Billy Celuck
Well, we didn’t really expect to see Celuck this year, and honestly, we didn’t really hope to. McNeil and Forth were supposed to strengthen the middle of SU’s zone, remember? But, since the zone is as soft as ever and the other two centers are always in foul trouble, Celuck reemerged in the last two weeks.

Celuck’s energy sparks the team, and his mere appearance on the court sparks the crowd. He is the most active of SU’s centers, eagerly running to the top of the key to set screens.

He still lacks the strength to bring down a rebound in a crowd and the coordination to knock down a six-foot jumper.
Grade: C+

Hakim Warrick
Warrick spent the first half of the season trying to show us he could dunk. He failed miserably. The freshman, who shows flashes of unreal potential, tries to dunk every time he touches the ball. He’ll try to soar over three defenders from the free-throw line.

On the rare occasion that Warrick decides to settle for a jump shot, he usually makes it. His fluid stroke – not his overambitious dunking attempts – is what gives SU fans hope for the future.
Grade: D+

Josh Pace

When Pace gets to play, which isn’t too often, he is usually impressive. In the Orangemen’s loss to Georgetown on Saturday night, Pace showed a stellar ability to finish. When he gets near the basket, he finds a way to put in a pretty layup.

But Pace has struggled on the defensive end. He fails to extend the zone and challenge dangerous three-point shooters.
Grade: B

Leadership
Yikes. Syracuse can’t win on the road and has yet to come back from a significant deficit to win a game. Leadership is the main nonfactor preventing this team from making a run in March.
Grade: D-

Coaching
Head coach Jim Boeheim will enjoy another 20-win season and NCAA Tournament berth, but it is hard to call that impressive. That 26-year coach has forced us to expect great things because of his lauded success. Boeheim and assistant coaches Bernie Fine, Mike Hopkins and Troy Weaver need another year to mold the freshmen. If they do it well, the basketball team will enjoy better midterm grades next year.
Grade: C+

Eli Saslow is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at eesaslow@syr.edu.