All time UConn team

[patrick]

No way I could justify Andre Drummond on the Team!

Gotta go with the MIGHTY OAK!!!

 

[Hugo]

The mount rushmore of uconn is undebatable:

EMEKA
DONYELL
RIP
RAY
KEMBA

those are the greatest huskies ever and thats only taking college career into consideration.

THIS.
The original list lost significant credibility by having AD over Oak, but then lost all cred by leaving Donyell off the list. Regardless of the position he played, and during his career he played the 3, the 4 and I think even some 5 as a Soph, he has to be on the starting five.

 

[Giddyup5]

Drummond in the starting 5?? Are you kidding me. OP lost all credibility the second I read that.

When we do these lists, IMO it has to be based on college career.

IMO

Kenna
Ray
Rip
Donyell
Mek

 

[B1GEast]

When we do these lists, IMO it has to be based on college career.

Agreed

 

[Inyatkin]

Caron is hurt by only having two years here instead of three. Given that, if you're talking the Calhoun years, I don't know how you get around a starting five of Kemba, Ray, Rip, Donyell and Emeka.

I've defended Taliek Brown a lot over the years, but I just can't see it here.

 

[Gurleyman]

Once Burrell graduated, Donyell and Donny became sort of a hybrid 3-4 combo in 1993-94, where they could interchangeably go inside and outside on offense, although Donyell guarded the 4s on defense.

But in crunch time we often went small (Ollie-Sheffer-Ray at 1-2-3 or Brian Fair/Rudy) and played the Marshalls at the 4-5, leaving our bigs (Hayward, Knight, Boo) on the bench. I don't think we ever played Hayward-Knight together at the same time.

Donyell would step outside and shoot regularly his junior year, but he was a college 4. The nine rebounds and three blocks a game are 4 numbers.

 

[SouthTampaBill]

PG: Taliek Brown
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Rip Hamilton
PF: Donyell Marshall
C: Emeka Okafor

Bench: Rashad Anderson, Kemba Walker, Jeff Adrien, Charlie Vills, Khalid El-Amin, Caron Butler, and Hasheem Thabeet.

Walk-Ons: Shabazz Napier, Jerome Dyson, Jake Voskuhl, and Cliff Robinson

Head Coach: Jimbo Calhoun
Asst. Coach: Kevin Ollie
Director of Basketball Operations: Georgie Blaney
Director of Drugs: Jamal Coombs-McDaniels
Director of Social Media: Alex Oriakhi

Please pass the crack pipe on Taliek on any all UConn team
He could not shoot outside of one foot and sometimes that would be a problem
Defenders would give him 5 feet on D and dare him to shoot
Imagine a Kemba on that team?

 

[Hoophound]

I'm putting Ricky Moore on my team. Anyone who doesn't better be prepared to lose. I am locking up your best player with him.

 

[Greathusky]

I could almost hear Ricky Moore screaming "They don't know! They don't know!". He makes the list somewhere for his stop on Trojan Man.

 

[HooperScooper]

Wow, botched that post. Meant to say Rudy wasn't very good at UConn and developed in the NBA. Without thinking about it deeply, I'd probably put Rudy in the 20s somewhere.

Rudy gets a bad rap from UConn fans. How many UConn fans remember that he was a first team All American his sophomore year? First team! And in only his second season. Donyell, Ray (twice), Rip (twice), Caron, Emeka (twice) and Kemba were the only other First Team All Americans in the JC era. In today's world Ray and Rip aren't coming back for their junior years. I leave off Emeka because he was a different sort of guy.

I guess he gets a bad rap for a few reasons. The 2 teams he was on disappointed in the NCAA Tournament - 2005 second round loss to NC St. and the Elite 8 loss to the team that shall remain nameless in 2006. He never did take over like he should have because he deferred to the upperclassmen on the team and it just wasn't in his nature. And he left after only 2 years. If he had stayed for his junior year and taken over like he could have I bet he doesn't get the bad rap.

Rudy Gay Earns First Team All-American Recognition

 

[freescooter]

Wes Bialasuknia averaged more than 20 points a game, 28 one season. And that was before the 3 point shot. And Toby Kimball was a legitimate NBA player. Both belong on any all-time team without any apologies. People want to put Villanueva and Drummond...yipes. Why not Bynum. He played almost as much for UConn as Drummond...

 

[caw]

Are we talking best players, or best combined team?

Limited to the Calhoun era and a 13 man roster, but not including any current players:

I can't see how this isn't the starting five when you look at college careers:

PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Rip Hamilton
PF: Donyell Marshall
C: Emeka Okafor

However, the second five would give them a game and a half:

Bench (locks, IMO):
Khalid El-Amin
Ben Gordon
Caron Butler
Rudy Gay
Hasheem Thabeet

This is where it gets tricky:
Bench (arguable, IMO):
Doron Sheffer
Jeff Adrien
Cliff Robinson

Walk-ons (best walk-ons in UConn's history?):
Andre Drummond
EJ Harrison

Bench (possible, IMO, in no specific order):
Chris Smith
Tate George
Jeremy Lamb
Marcus Williams
AJ Price
Ricky Moore
Rashad Anderson
Denham Brown
Taliek Brown

Kevin Freeman
Travis Knight
Jake Voshkuhl
Josh Boone
Donny Marshall
Charlie V.
Hilton Armstrong
Henefield

 

[Dogbreath2U]

You sure? I always thought he played the wing, but occasionally started at the 4 and 5 spots.

I think he always played the 4 (but my memory ain't what it used to be). He was named BE DPOY due to getting a lot of blocked shots (even though it was rumored that he could not guard a chair).

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Ray
Kemba
Rip
Mek
Donyell

Bench: Caron, Ricky, Smitty, Gordon, , Cliffy and Nadov, Talek, KEA
Honorable mention: Corny and Tony Hansen(since they didn't play for JC)

 

[champs99and04]

PG: Taliek Brown
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Rip Hamilton
PF: Donyell Marshall
C: Emeka Okafor

Bench: Rashad Anderson, Kemba Walker, Jeff Adrien, Charlie Vills, Khalid El-Amin, Caron Butler, and Hasheem Thabeet.

Walk-Ons: Shabazz Napier, Jerome Dyson, Jake Voskuhl, and Cliff Robinson

Head Coach: Jimbo Calhoun
Asst. Coach: Kevin Ollie
Director of Basketball Operations: Georgie Blaney
Director of Drugs: Jamal Coombs-McDaniels
Director of Social Media: Alex Oriakhi

I'm sorry, but Taliek Brown and Rashad Anderson do not belong on this team. The fact that you have Taliek starting over Kemba is a joke. Seriously, give me one thing Taliek did better than Kemba.

Rashad was basically a spot-up three point shooter who didn't do much else. He didn't rebound, couldn't handle, and wasn't all that great defensively. Granted, we don't win the title in 2004 without him, and we certainly don't make it as far as we did in 06, but there is no need for him on this team.

Charlie Villanueva is another guy that really does not belong on this list. You also left off Jeremy Lamb, Ben Gordon, and Chris Smith, two of whom were the second best players on championship teams, and one of whom was one of the most influential players in the history of the program. Oh, and Ricky Moore? Gotta have him on the roster.

PG: Kemba, Smith, El-Amin

SG: Ray, BG, Ricky

SF: Rip, Caron

PF: Donyell, Cliff

C: Emeka, Hash

Toughest omissions for me were J-Lamb, Jeff, and Rudy. Shabazz still has a chance to work himself onto this list if he sticks around one more year.

 

[gampelcrazies]

1. Kemba Walker
2. Ray Allen
3. Rudy Gay
4. Caron Butler
5. Andre Drummond

Bench:
Guards: Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Jeremy Lamb, Khalid El-Amin
Forwards: Emeka Okafor, Hasheem Thabeet

Head Coach: Jim Calhoun
Assistant: Kevin Ollie

Manager: Jonathan Mendeldove

Walk-ons:
Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright, Doron Sheffer, Chris Smith, AJ Price


Recruiter: Tate George (Listen, if the man can put together a Ponzi scheme then he can certainly find a way to bring in 5 star recruits with some cash)

Why Andre? He wasnt that good at UConn.

 

[bmayuc]

I am going to pretend this is an NBA rotation, (because those make the most sense)

Starting 5(best qualities)

PG Kemba(Heart, Leadership, Toughness)
SG Ray Allen(Shooting, spreading floor, pick 'n roll)
SF Caron Butler(Tough Juice, shotmaking, balance)
PF Donyell (rebounding, mid-range)
C Emeka (rim-protector, rebounding)

Role Players:

6th Man(bench scorer):
Ben Gordon(microwave, Iso Offense)

First Big off the Bench(defense/rebounding):
Drummond(size, defense, rebounding)

Lockdown Wing(Defender/Athlete/Shooter):
Scott Burrell ( Athleticism, all-around balance)

Reserve Players
(G)AJ Price(Mid-Range J, playmaking)
(G/F) Rudy Gay(Athleticism, versatility)
(F) Rip Hamilton(Mid-range, pop-n-shoot game)
(12th) Jake Voskuhl(defense, Rebounding, Toughness)

In My Opinion:

This team would be excellent offensively, especially on isolation and set play execution. They will be weak, however, when it comes to pick 'n roll offense, as Kemba and Ben Gordon were never the smoothest at running that play. That is where AJ Price could play a pivotal role off the pine, spreading the floor with shooters and running the P & R. Defensively they may struggle with bigger lineups, as Marshall was never an excellent on-ball defender. However, they can make up for that with their help-side athleticism and ability to pressure the ball.

 

[Kitaman]

College only:

Kemba is interchangeable. Emeka is not. Rip is not. Donyell is not. Ray is somewhat.

Kemba is equal to Chris Smith, or KEA

Ray you have Ben Gordon and Caron Butler

Emeka, Rip and Donyell are the anchors. Emeka and Donyell need no writeup.

Surprised to see Rip left off some teams. What Rip (1st team AA) did to the best team in college basketball when the lights were on was remarkable, yet he was doing it all his career. Clearly our most fearless player, nothing and no one stopped him.

Kemba was awesome his Junior year especially tourney times. Chris and KEA were awesome for a longer period of time.

Ray (our legend) was a great player but so were Ben and Caron, and to say one had a better career than the other will always be debatable.

 

[freescooter]

No way Rudy Gay gets anywhere near the all-time team. Heck, he was never the leader of any team he played on and by his final season he more and more found himself on the bench come crunch time. Someone else was always taking the critical shot...Rashad Anderson or someone. All in all he was the one guy who got his laurels because of the name on the front of his shirt, not the name on the back.

My All time team would be: Guards, Gordon, Kemba, Doron Sheffer Ricky Moore
Forwards: Donyell Marshall, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Caron Butler Bialasuknia, Tony Hanson, Freeman
Centers: Emeka Okafor, Toby Kimball, John Thomas, Thabeet (almost forgot him)
I was going to list small forwards and power forwards separately, but too many guys really played both. Only Freeman on my list was a "pure" power forward. Caron played like one in college, Marshall was a "hybrid" of sorts at UConn, so I decided to just list them all. Tony Hanson was Caron in an earlier incarnation.

 

[B1GEast]

No way Rudy Gay gets anywhere near the all-time team. Heck, he was never the leader of any team he played on and by his final season he more and more found himself on the bench come crunch time. Someone else was always taking the critical shot...Rashad Anderson or someone. All in all he was the one guy who got his laurels because of the name on the front of his shirt, not the name on the back.

My All time team would be: Guards, Gordon, Kemba, Doron Sheffer Ricky Moore
Forwards: Donyell Marshall, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Caron Butler Bialasuknia, Tony Hanson, Freeman
Centers: Emeka Okafor, Toby Kimball, John Thomas, Thabeet (almost forgot him)
I was going to list small forwards and power forwards separately, but too many guys really played both. Only Freeman on my list was a "pure" power forward. Caron played like one in college, Marshall was a "hybrid" of sorts at UConn, so I decided to just list them all. Tony Hanson was Caron in an earlier incarnation.

You sir are old. Bialasuknia?

 

[Gurleyman]

College only:

Kemba is interchangeable. Emeka is not. Rip is not. Donyell is not. Ray is somewhat.

Kemba is equal to Chris Smith, or KEA

Ray you have Ben Gordon and Caron Butler

Emeka, Rip and Donyell are the anchors. Emeka and Donyell need no writeup.

Surprised to see Rip left off some teams. What Rip (1st team AA) did to the best team in college basketball when the lights were on was remarkable, yet he was doing it all his career. Clearly our most fearless player, nothing and no one stopped him.

Kemba was awesome his Junior year especially tourney times. Chris and KEA were awesome for a longer period of time.

Ray (our legend) was a great player but so were Ben and Caron, and to say one had a better career than the other will always be debatable.

I agree with Rip - he was getting you 20+ in every postseason game. His Gonzaga performance (shooting 9-for-14 against a box and one) was unreal, scoring 24 on a night when KEA was in la-la land and he had to score (plus he had two dump-down passes to Jake for late lay-ups that were the difference).
Kemba and Ray are locks for the backcourt, in my opinion. Don't think anyone can really touch them. I know they have chinks in their armor (Kemba's sophomore year, no Final Fours for Ray), but the plus side of their ledger trumps anything that anyone else can bring to the table (Kemba's junior year and two Final Fours, Ray's 49-5 Big East record and path to Springfield). Both were No. 2 in National Player of the Year voting as well.

That squeezes Caron out, but as much as I loved seeing him play, I think that's fair. He played one less season, and really didn't turn the corner into star status until late in his sophomore year.

 

[RichZ]

Also, if we were putting together an actual team to play real games, someone has to make room for Ricky Moore, just in case someone on the other team needs to be shut down. We won't have trouble scoring.

Agreed. But I also want Lyman DePriest on the bench for pretty much the same reason. I always figured we'd only need to score once if we had Ricky and Lyman on the court at the same time.

Seriously, this thread really reminds me how many really good and really entertaining players we've had the pleasure of watching over the past quarter century or so.

 

[freescooter]

You sir are old. Bialasuknia?

Well not that old, but I did see him play once and was of an age where the name was great. My father & my uncle took a cousin and I to the UConn-BC NCAA tourney game at URI. Cousy coached BC at the time. I also remember my mother was hosting a shower for her cousin and it my father wanted to get as far away as possible. But look at his stats...He scored 28/game one year when there was no 3-point line. He had 50 one time. If the 3-point line had existed he'd have averaged 40 points a game.

 

[Gurleyman]

Well not that old, but I did see him play once and was of an age where the name was great. My father & my uncle took a cousin and I to the UConn-BC NCAA tourney game at URI. Cousy coached BC at the time. I also remember my mother was hosting a shower for her cousin and it my father wanted to get as far away as possible. But look at his stats...He scored 28/game one year when there was no 3-point line. He had 50 one time. If the 3-point line had existed he'd have averaged 40 points a game.

You do realize that you're claiming he would average 12 three-pointers a game, right? We'll just chalk that one up to a little hyperbole.

 

[Hoophound]

You do realize that you're claiming he would average 12 three-pointers a game, right? We'll just chalk that one up to a little hyperbole.

He really did shoot many, many bombs per game. I have had two previous generations of fans tell me this for years. Freescooter is probably right.

 

[Gurleyman]

Agreed. But I also want Lyman DePriest on the bench for pretty much the same reason. I always figured we'd only need to score once if we had Ricky and Lyman on the court at the same time.

Seriously, this thread really reminds me how many really good and really entertaining players we've had the pleasure of watching over the past quarter century or so.

Good call. Lyman had a part in shutting down 5-9 Dana Barros and 7-1 Shaquille O'Neal in the postseason - not many folks could pull that off.

Well, maybe shutting down is too strong of a description with Shaq, who still got his numbers, but he helped slow him down and we killed them.

 

[Scoe]

I wouldnt put him on the alltime Uconn team but Denham was pretty underrated, he was clutch. He had the game tying shot to send it into OT against well you know who in our Elite 8 game you could argue he got fouled on that shot, then he had the potential GW 3 that would have sent us to the FF that year.

 

[Gurleyman]

He really did shoot many, many bombs per game. I have had two previous generations of fans tell me this for years. Freescooter is probably right.

Only five times in NCAA history has a player made more than 12 three-pointers in a single game (the record is 15, three guys have made 14 and one made 13). I believe Ray holds our school record with nine in a game against Rutgers and our record for a season with about 3.5 per game. Only once has an NCAA player averaged more than 5 a game for a single season - Darrin Fitzgerald of Butler in the very first year they had the rule.

You have to remember - Wes might have shot nothing but deep bombs back in the day, but teams would guard it differently if it was worth three points instead of two.

 

[Inyatkin]

I agree with Rip - he was getting you 20+ in every postseason game. His Gonzaga performance (shooting 9-for-14 against a box and one) was unreal, scoring 24 on a night when KEA was in la-la land and he had to score (plus he had two dump-down passes to Jake for late lay-ups that were the difference).
Kemba and Ray are locks for the backcourt, in my opinion. Don't think anyone can really touch them. I know they have chinks in their armor (Kemba's sophomore year, no Final Fours for Ray), but the plus side of their ledger trumps anything that anyone else can bring to the table (Kemba's junior year and two Final Fours, Ray's 49-5 Big East record and path to Springfield). Both were No. 2 in National Player of the Year voting as well.

That squeezes Caron out, but as much as I loved seeing him play, I think that's fair. He played one less season, and really didn't turn the corner into star status until late in his sophomore year.

Craziest stat in all this -- 49-5. 49-5 in the Big East! That's insane.

 

[rw005]

It's too hard to put an all-time team together because each player has had success in UConn regardless of era, but I'll try . This is more of my own opinion. So criticize on!

PG: Kemba
SG: Rip
SF: Donyell
PF: Emeka
C: Thabeet (gotta have the block-shots)

Bench: Ben, Cliffy, Ray, Art Quimby, AJ, Caron, Voskuhl (leadership)

3 players in case of injury and on roster:
Khalid, Chris Smith, and Rudy

Head coach: Jim Calhoun

3 Assistants:
Kevin Ollie
Corny Thompson
Scott Burrell

Director of Basketball: Ricky Moore
Assistant Director: Rashad

Media and Public Relations: Ed Nelson with Donny
Personal bodyguards of the team: Andre Drummond, Dyson, Adrien

enjoy!