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Syracuse Orange in the Orlando Summer League

It has been an up and down first couple of days for the former Syracuse Orange players in the NBA Summer League this week in Orlando. Currently three former Orange men, Donte Greene, Arinze Onuaku and rookie Jerami Grant are all participating, and the one doing the best might surprise you.

With three games under his belt this week with the Brooklyn Nets, Donte Greene has played fairly well. He has done a little bit of everything, averaging 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while also making all 11 of his free throw attempts. After making only three of his 10 shot attempts in the first game, Greene has been less aggressive but more efficient in the past two, making five of the nine shots he has taken. For a guy who hasn't been in the NBA for a year, this is a huge opportunity, so hopeful he can take advantage of it and get a chance with the Nets or somebody else. Right now he is on the right track, but might need to do a little more to impress.

Jerami Grant, the man who just got drafted a couple of weeks ago, had a breakout game on Tuesday, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds in a 21 point Philadelphia win over Houston. This was a huge game for Grant, given he had scored a combined four points in the first two games of the summer. We all knew he had a lot of improvements to make heading into his NBA career, as he is more of a raw talent than a ready one, so hopefully he can continue to stay confident and make strides towards developing more offensively.

Lastly, Onuaku, who saw some time on NBA rosters last year, played his first game of the summer on Monday for the Indiana Pacers and did well, scoring three points but grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots. Hopefully he can gain some more playing time as the week goes along, as he proved he can be a force on the boards.

I'm excited to see how the rest of the week pans out for these guys. As we see each of them get more time, they have shown improvements in certain aspects. Grant, who is just a rookie, has more time to improve, while Greene and Onuaku are looking to impress to keep their NBA careers going. Hopefully things work out well for all of these former Syracuse players