3 reasons why we have to rethink our chances to 3 peat

[NJHusky]

2

You don’t need to be the best team. The #1 ranked team heading in rarely wins the whole thing. You need to survive and advance. And one thing that I do know about this team is they don’t quit.

2 #1 seeds have lost to #16. No reason a # 1 can’t lose to and 8/9 if they match up. According to Grok it’s happened 12 times

 

[Husky25]

This sort of thing creases me. As if a UConn loss negates the six titles since 1999.

The fact of the matter is that "U-Conn. (Cringe)" does indeed in fact look exactly like a 2x defending national title team. Turnover in college is worse than in pro basketball, particularly in the modern era. Kids graduate, leave for greater financial opportunity, playing time, and/or better exposure every single year. Turnover for a given program is close to at least half their roster or more on a yearly basis. UConn lost two starters and two key rotation players (Something like that. I'm ranting and not looking it up, only to losing my vigor) from the 2023 team and ran it back in '24 with a more dominant squad. Sure, it's so easy to replace four starters who left last year's team and who all saw meaningful minutes in the NBA. UConn still made the Dance this year.

Does what Florida did in 2008 diminish 2006 and '07?

I also can't stand the "January, February, Izzo, April..." crap. Sure, Michigan State hasn't missed the Tournament in quite some time, but one would be led to believe that MSU has more than one ring since their last NIT. If we are being fair, "they" should amend the meme to "Jan., Feb., Izzo, UConn...", seeing as the Final 4 is rarely played in March anymore.

Also I'm still waiting for the Arro6ant and Spo11ed" merch.

 

[SoFla Steve]

There were never indications Flagg was going to pick UConn, his dream school was Duke and his whole family were Duke fans. You gotta step outta the troll dimension that you reside, it's getting beyond weird and corny.

Stop. UConn was never in the lead for Flagg. This is such a silly thing to keep on...it makes the fan base look freaking cuckoo.

I've got no dog in this fight, but Cooper's father commented on the recruitment:

When the speculation was finally put to rest on Monday that the 6-foot-9 forward would wear the blue and white of the Blue Devils next season Ralph Flagg, Cooper’s father, took to social media to explain how tight the race was between Duke and UConn.​

​

“I don’t think people will truly ever understand how close it was,” Flagg posted.​

Duke basketball: Cooper Flagg’s father speaks on ‘close’ recruitment

 

[StllH8L8ner]

This sort of thing creases me. As if a UConn loss negates the six titles since 1999.

The fact of the matter is that "U-Conn. (Cringe)" does indeed in fact look exactly like a 2x defending national title team. Turnover in college is worse than in pro basketball, particularly in the modern era. Kids graduate, leave for greater financial opportunity, playing time, and/or better exposure every single year. Turnover for a given program is close to at least half their roster or more on a yearly basis. UConn lost two starters and two key rotation players (Something like that. I'm ranting and not looking it up, only to losing my vigor) from the 2023 team and ran it back in '24 with a more dominant squad. Sure, it's so easy to replace four starters who left l

I also can't stand the "January, February, Izzo, April..." crap. Sure, Michigan State hasn't missed the Tournament in quite some time, but one would be led to believe that MSU has more than one ring since their last NIT. If we are being fair, "they" should amend the meme to "Jan., Feb., Izzo, UConn...", seeing as the Final 4 is rarely played in March anymore.

Also I'm still waiting for the Arro6ant and Spo11ed"

I have this one in my repertoire that I wear….a lot.

 

[Tmac4468]

Not sure about you but i remember when March came both 2023 and 2024 teams were clicking and playing at a very high level especially 2024. That team was an absolute buzzsaw from wire to wire and i had no doubt about a repeat by the time the tourney started. Sure 2023 lost in the BET but you could see they had turned it around from the January struggles and while i wasnt sure about winning it all i knew they were playing well enough that theyd be a very tough out. This years team looks very beatable.

Exactly the negativity we need to keep us grounded!

 

[cullaville]

My problem is I’m a UConn guy that married into a Florida family. We keep kicking their butts. I don’t want to break the streak, even though it seems inevitable. I’d probably rather lose to Oklahoma than have to sit through Florida beating us. If we shoot well, we can beat anyone. We have some unique talent. We just need to hit open shots at 40%.

I hope I am just missing the sarcasm in the statement "probably rather lose to Oklahoma"

 

[80shusky]

Here are the 3 reasons why we shouldn't trust our doubt about this team. Spoiler: It's all about the coaching.

1. We weren't gonna shut down purdue's 3 point shooting. They're gonna get theirs.

- they didn't get theirs. At all. Nobody thought we'd let Edey score as much as he did either. Unorthodox game plan. Big results

2. The Gonzaga game- how are we gonna stop Timme? This is a bad matchup for us.
- we stopped Timme. We torched the best team in our region. Torched. Not beat. Torched. Against a great coach. He was baffled. They were baffled.

3. My biggest one- T Shannon and Illinois.

- a great coach and a superstar were outsmarted. Remember, this was a bad matchup for us. I want to focus on this for a bit.
We were all so very wrong. We based our thoughts on this game based on things we were so certain of- Shannon is gonna get his and they are soooo well coached.
They took the biggest beating of all time. After the game Underwood was confused. He had no idea what hit him.

All these things that every talking head was so sure of. We were so sure of. This year, we are so sure we can't hang. It's not like our staff is one of the ten best staffs in the country. They are the best. Why wouldn't we still believe this? Kelvin, Nate, Bruce, Barnes... these guys have been around for a minute and had the chances and resources to do what we've done. They haven't. Plain and simple. The last 2 years in the tourney the best coaches in the league were flumoxed by this staff.

I'm with you here in this way: The team got a bid. Here we are with a two-time championship staff and several players of the same pedigree. The team is great one night, not so much the next. I believe they could be hot for 6 games. I also believe they probably won't. But I'll be cheering for the former!
The biggest problem with your three reasons above is that we had Clingan and they didn't. Now we don't either.

 

[richw]

Less fouls, double bigs, better rebounding. I think we saw about 8 minutes of that this season , I seem to remember thinking this might work then it was never tried again .

 

[gsmooth]

Pass me whatever crazy bud or peyote some of you people are smoking, because I want some of it!!!

In no way, shape, or form have we shown anything close to a good enough game to beat this Florida Gators team on Sunday... IF we get past Oklahoma on Friday, which we will if we play our game, but of course far from guaranteed.

Did any of you watch Florida last weekend buzzsaw through the SEC Tournament? While we couldn't get past a decent but nowhere-near-great Creighton team that had played 2 OT's the night before against DePaul?

We made a 4 1/2 point a game scorer (Green) look like a superstar for gosh sakes! Florida has at least 4 if not 6 players better than Green.

Sorry... I would love it if our boys found a way to collectively raise their games far beyond anything we have seen this year... but we just don't have the guys in the backcourt to do it this year folks. And neither Karaban nor McNeeley have enough consistently to make up for it.

And no, I am not a Sergeant Buzzkill, or negative Nelly but I think after 33 games we can admit we just aren't that good. We don't have the horses in the backcourt needed to make up for our other deficiencies like we did in 2011 and particularly in 2014.

Let's wish for the best, and then hope with whomever we lose after this year we are able to make up for it with our stellar recruiting class and the right additions in the transfer portal.

We have had an amazing run... and I look forward to seeing it continue.

This post hits the bullseye. Think about it, DePaul gave Creighton a tougher match than UConn. Both UConn and Creighton are good solid teams but far from great, nothing more.

I am still seeing the same issues with this team that I saw in Maui. They might occur less, but those issues are still there such as not being able to stop the ball and keep the ball handler in front of you, terrible help defense and rotations, and not communicating and switching well, lack of ballhandlers to break pressure or breakdown a defense in the halfcourt offense, etc.

Due to some misses on roster construction the margin for error was always thin. If Hassan was healthy without the knee tendinitis, this team would be better, but not great. But with Hass hurt, it exposes the lack of depth at PG and more than uses up any thin margin for error they had. McNeeley's 1-month absence did, too.

Everyone keeps talking about Florida-UConn, but UConn is going to have a tough game against Oklahoma. Oklahoma's strengths attack. UConn weaknesses and get to FT stripe often. Jalon Moore is the type of player Karaban usually struggles with. UConn is so sensitive to any team's ability to shoot 3s that they overreact in getting spread out so easily that they barely help on dribble penetration and they allow 1-on-1 play in the paint. The Providence game at Gampel this year really showed this.

UConn has to exploit the size advantage they have with Reed Jr. and Sampson as OU has no rim protection. Outrebounding OU is a must and using their offense to slow down the game so OU can't run and is forced to expend more energy playing defense will be necessary, too.

 

[Deepster]

Last year we did have the best team. The #1 overall is rarely actually the best team. We had the best team in 1999 and 2004 as well. Probably in 2023 too. Identifying who the best team is, that's hard.

One game at a time. You can always win the game in front of you if everything goes right.

We didn’t technically have the best team in 1999. Duke was #1 more of the year and the top seed overall. And we were, I believe almost double digit underdogs that game.

 

[Husky25]

Not sure about you but i remember when March came both 2023 and 2024 teams were clicking and playing at a very high level especially 2024. That team was an absolute buzzsaw from wire to wire and i had no doubt about a repeat by the time the tourney started. Sure 2023 lost in the BET but you could see they had turned it around from the January struggles and while i wasnt sure about winning it all i knew they were playing well enough that theyd be a very tough out. This years team looks very beatable.

Almost as if repeating is really difficult, and 3-peating in the modern college era is sublimely absurd.

 

[HuskyHawk]

We didn’t technically have the best team in 1999. Duke was #1 more of the year and the top seed overall. And we were, I believe almost double digit underdogs that game.

We lost two games. There were two teams head and shoulders above everyone else. We won, therefore we were the best team. The only other time I recall feeling like two teams were locks for the final was 2021, with Baylor and Gonzaga. Nobody was close to those two that year. Guessing which is best that's the hard part.

 

[Husky25]

We didn’t technically have the best team in 1999. Duke was #1 more of the year and the top seed overall. And we were, I believe almost double digit underdogs that game.

That's certainly the perception and UConn was +9.5 in the Final.

OTOH, UConn was older, deeper, more experienced, and played a more difficult schedule. '98-'99 was an overall down year for the ACC. They only had 3 teams in The Dance. The Big East sent 5.

 

[Scrutineer]

I doubt this is true

What value is there in emphasizing being realistic if it runs counter to the optimism you claim?

So what?

So what?

Why is this your priority & focus for discussion in advance of a game? Who benefits from your observations & opinions?

Why not, instead, pray that the coaches and players prepare and do their best for Friday's game, and do the same for any game that may thereafter arise?

Your "guess" reveals a limited vision that suggests you only see one possibility and regard it with skepticism.

What would you like?

For you to put me on ignore.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

We didn’t technically have the best team in 1999. Duke was #1 more of the year and the top seed overall. And we were, I believe almost double digit underdogs that game.

 

[Scrutineer]

We didn’t technically have the best team in 1999. Duke was #1 more of the year and the top seed overall. And we were, I believe almost double digit underdogs that game.

We had one common opponent and, while we beat St. Johns by four in regulation at MSG, Duke had to go to OT in MSG to beat them by four.

Otherwise Duke only lost to Cincinnati while we lost two games. One at Syracuse while Voskuhl and Hamilton were out with injuries, while the other was an inexplicable loss at home to Miami. If I recall correctly we missed a lot of easy shots and layups in a game we should not have lost.

Duke was the big favorite and I remember listening to ESPN experts the day of the semi-finals saying things like, "Duke's second team could probably win this year". I guess that's why it's not a coronation and why they play the games.

 

[aceboon]

I've got no dog in this fight, but Cooper's father commented on the recruitment:

When the speculation was finally put to rest on Monday that the 6-foot-9 forward would wear the blue and white of the Blue Devils next season Ralph Flagg, Cooper’s father, took to social media to explain how tight the race was between Duke and UConn.​

​

“I don’t think people will truly ever understand how close it was,” Flagg posted.​

Duke basketball: Cooper Flagg’s father speaks on ‘close’ recruitment

paying lip service by saying it was close is not the same as saying Flagg was going to pick UConn like that troll did.

 

[Jaydumo20]

We lost two games. There were two teams head and shoulders above everyone else. We won, therefore we were the best team. The only other time I recall feeling like two teams were locks for the final was 2021, with Baylor and Gonzaga. Nobody was close to those two that year. Guessing which is best that's the hard part.

At the time, Duke was considered a machine. I was a sophomore at storrs in 99 and remember the feeling on campus was "well, at least we got here". Nobody considered uconn the better team.

If Duke won and Battier yelled "we shocked the world" we'd all say- "who are you kidding?"

 

[temery]

The problem was the preseason and early season expectations. It is not all on Hurley. Preseason rankings had UConn in the top five?

they lost four starters from the previous year. No one in their right mind should've been predicting 3 peat.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The problem was the preseason and early season expectations. It is not all on Hurley. Preseason rankings had UConn in the top five?

they lost four starters from the previous year. No one in their right mind should've been predicting 3 peat.

Do you actually believe that there are any of us in our right mind?

 

[TheChamps990411]

Almost as if repeating is really difficult, and 3-peating in the modern college era is sublimely absurd.

Yes it is and nowhere in my comment did i say or infer it wasnt supposed to be. What im saying is this team doesnt have the feel of either of those teams going into the tourney.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Exactly the negativity we need to keep us grounded!

Negativity? I didnt say there was 0 chance. As long as Uconn is in the tournament there is a chance just look at 2011 and 2014.

 

[Dogdeacon]

I've got no dog in this fight, but Cooper's father commented on the recruitment:

When the speculation was finally put to rest on Monday that the 6-foot-9 forward would wear the blue and white of the Blue Devils next season Ralph Flagg, Cooper’s father, took to social media to explain how tight the race was between Duke and UConn.​

​

“I don’t think people will truly ever understand how close it was,” Flagg posted.​

Duke basketball: Cooper Flagg’s father speaks on ‘close’ recruitment

So Cooper’s Dad confirmed what is true that we don’t understand that it was close and never will.

Also this is easy to say after the fact and ambiguous, like the SNL skit; “you can never put too much water in a nuclear reactor.”

 

[SoFla Steve]

We didn’t technically have the best team in 1999. Duke was #1 more of the year and the top seed overall. And we were, I believe almost double digit underdogs that game.

Actually, we were No. 1 in the AP for ten weeks, Duke for eight. We were +9.5 underdogs.

 

[giddyup]

All I know is they are going have to consistently play their A game to have a chance.