Alltime Uconn starting lineup

[CTBasketball]

I'll give you that but throw the bruiser out in a second for a 23 and 10 guy who is also the national defensive player of the year………no need to bruise anything but the other teams ego's with 'Yell out there!

I agree. And with your later post. Its so damn hard to make these teams because you always leave a good 50 guys out. Chances are those guys would be any old school's best player of all-time.

I don't want to say we're fortunate, because we make our own success.

 

[RayRay19]

This is insane now...wow...

 

[TheRogers]

First Team
PG Kemba
SG Ray
SF Rip
PF Caron
C Okafor

Second Team
PG Bazz
SG Ben
SF Rudy
PF Nadav
C Cliffy

 

[TheRogers]

Wait......

Change Nadav with Donyell......

 

[Tk79]

The awesome thing about this is...you can pick any starting five you want, and I can pick a second team that would be competitive. That's called sustained excellence!

 

[Brochacho]

I would love to see:

Shabazz, Allen, Caron, Adrien, Okafor vs Kemba, Gordon, Rip, Donyell, Thabeet

Would be a lot of fun.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Can't we just put Ray at the 3, Rip at the 4, and play small ball ?
1- Bazz
2- Kemba
3- Ray
4- Rip
5- Emeka

Small ball worked for us in the tourney

This is the all time line up.

 

[Incursio007]

PG: Kemba- leadership and heart personified
SG: Ray- top 10 SG all time and IMO best shooter ever
SF: Caron- tough juice, decent shooting stroke and great athleticism
PF: Cliff- stretch four with great length
C: Emeka- Smart, athletic, great defender and good with back to the basket
6th Man- Rip Hamilton- great at running off screens, great midrange game

Ton of great players that have come through Storrs

 

[SkyWalker2011]

If we're talking about all time greats, these guys need to be on that team.

 

[UConnSwag11]

If we're talking about all time greats, these guys need to be on that team.

lol i could definitely see that their faces, more-so kemba lol

 

[Husky999]

NO AJP in any of this? I think he's 3rd… just behind Kemba and Bazz and a notch above KEA. Might have been the all time greatest had he not had the medical and legal setbacks.

 

[UConnDad]

I would love to see:

Shabazz, Allen, Caron, Adrien, Okafor vs Kemba, Gordon, Rip, Donyell, Thabeet

Would be a lot of fun.

Well in August at Mohegan Sun maybe you can!

 

[dante]

1. Bazz
2. Kemba
3. Rip
4. Okafor
5. Thabeet


how don't know how some of you guys have bazz the best husky ever out of the starting line up

 

[tzznandrew]

1. Bazz
2. Kemba
3. Rip
4. Okafor
5. Thabeet


how don't know how some of you guys have bazz the best husky ever out of the starting line up

Career vs. individual season. If he is the best Husky ever, that's certainly only on career level. No offense to him indended, because he had a great season, but Rip (99), Okafor (04), Donyell (94), Kemba (11), and Ray (95, 96), all had individual better seasons, IMO. And that's why, if I'm making a starting line up, I'm going with those four, with Bazz the first off the bench.

We won a title doing that, so I'm not too worried.

 

[JaYnYcE]

for anyone who has the nerve to leave Shabazz off their all time starting 5, remember this: dude stuck with the program for four years, won the Bob Cousy award and was our leading rebounder as a guard!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-2013-14-grades-after-national-title-game-win

 

[dante]

Career vs. individual season. If he is the best Husky ever, that's certainly only on career level. No offense to him indended, because he had a great season, but Rip (99), Okafor (04), Donyell (94), Kemba (11), and Ray (95, 96), all had individual better seasons, IMO. And that's why, if I'm making a starting line up, I'm going with those four, with Bazz the first off the bench.

I can't agree on that ray had better season then bazz? let's not forget that bazz lead the team in leadership, rebounding, points, assists, steals you name it and the only thing ray did was score.
And in IMO thats what seperates bazz and kemba from the rest..

 

[tzznandrew]

I can't agree on that ray had better season then bazz? let's not forget that bazz lead the team in leadership, rebounding, points, assists, steals you name it and the only thing ray did was score.
And in IMO thats what seperates bazz and kemba from the rest..

We'll just disagree on this. His 1996 team played at a fast pace (averaged 82.6 ppg), and yet held opponents to only 64.7 ppg--good for 33rd in the nation...not adjusting for pace. The team could play D, and that meant some of it fell on Ray. Was he a star on D? No.

But he averaged 23.4 ppg while shooting 47% from the field, and 46% from 3. Also, add in that he averaged 6.5 rebounds per game (second on the team) and 3.5 apg, despite playing next to Doron Sheffer. He was also second on the team in steals, right behind Sheffer. So he was first or second on the team in all those categories. That season is unreal.

He did have a better individual season than Shabazz...but I'll give Shabazz the better career with 2 titles to go with the first team AA.

 

[UC Billy]

I know it was a different era but can you imagine if there was a 3 point line back when Wes Bialosuknia played for the Huskies
He was one of the best pure shooters the Huskies ever had. He lit up the old Fieldhouse and averaged 23.6 PPG without the 3 point line. He also played with Toby Kimball and I believe Bill Holowaty. Some great basketball back then in the Yankee Conference.

 

[Scoe]

This list was freaking hard before Kemba and Shabazz now holy dog , just have fun with it.

 

[champs99and04]

1. Shabazz
2. Kemba
3. Caron
4. Donyell
5. Emeka

It seems absurd to leave out Ray and Rip, but Shabazz, Kemba, Caron, and Emeka are four of the best two-way players to ever come through this program, and at the four, I don't see how you can't have Donyell.

 

[carlos]

I was and still am a big time Marcus Williams Fan. with the careers that Kemba and Shabazz had combined with the 2006 team not advancing past the elite 8, its easy to see why hes taken a back seat at the PG position. but he did it all for that team, scoring and incredible play making. With him being the only true ball handler/playmaker, it was an awfully heavy burden for him to carry. With a healthy A.J. Price that year, perhaps Marcus is viewed differently now, but Since he was playing on a ball handling flawed team, he's not viewed as highly.

 

[dante]

We'll just disagree on this. His 1996 team played at a fast pace (averaged 82.6 ppg), and yet held opponents to only 64.7 ppg--good for 33rd in the nation...not adjusting for pace. The team could play D, and that meant some of it fell on Ray. Was he a star on D? No.

But he averaged 23.4 ppg while shooting 47% from the field, and 46% from 3. Also, add in that he averaged 6.5 rebounds per game (second on the team) and 3.5 apg, despite playing next to Doron Sheffer. He was also second on the team in steals, right behind Sheffer. So he was first or second on the team in all those categories. That season is unreal.

He did have a better individual season than Shabazz...but I'll give Shabazz the better career with 2 titles to go with the first team AA.

you can't compare bazz and rays stats head up because 1995, 1996 teams were running teams, fast break teams which resulted in more possessions more rebounds more assists and so on,this years team used 20 seconds of the clock before even trying to make a play. Again Bazz lead the team in everything not because he was the tallest or the most athletic or fastest he lead in everything because the extra rebound he got was crucial that extra steal was crucial he had to lead by example and that meant doing everything better then everybody else not just in our team but whoever we were playing.

bazz avg
18.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 4.9 APG
ray avg
23.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 3.3 APG

bazz took 12 shots per game ray took 18 shots per game, you and i both know that if bazz took 18 shots like ray he would average what ray did.

 

[tzznandrew]

you can't compare bazz and rays stats head up because 1995, 1996 teams were running teams, fast break teams which resulted in more possessions more rebounds more assists and so on,this years team used 20 seconds of the clock before even trying to make a play. Again Bazz lead the team in everything not because he was the tallest or the most athletic or fastest he lead in everything because the extra rebound he got was crucial that extra steal was crucial he had to lead by example and that meant doing everything better then everybody else not just in our team but whoever we were playing.

bazz avg
18.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 4.9 APG
ray avg
23.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 3.3 APG

bazz took 12 shots per game ray took 18 shots per game, you and i both know that if bazz took 18 shots like ray he would average what ray did.

Well, considering Ray shot 47% from the field, and 46% from 3, compared to Shabazz's 43% and 40.5%, and not entirely convinced. He likely would, because he got to the line 238 times compared to Ray's 147...but remember that when you are fouled, it takes away a shot attempt. In all likelihood, they're actual attempts were a little closer (Shabazz averaged about 6 FTs per game, to Ray's 4).

I get your point on pacing. I even acknowledged it (becuase it cuts both ways) when looking at the defense. The other thing to keep in mind is that Ray averaged that many rebounds despite having someone on the team average 9.5 rpg. And Ray's job was to score, not to distribute, so it is no surprise that Shabazz averaged more assists, although Ray was second on the team.

Ray is the best player that UConn has produced. His NBA succeses are thus far unparalelled. And no one on this team will match it...the only player out there right now who might be a HOFer in the same category is Drummond...but he is far away from that at the moment.

I think Ray had two better college seasons than Shabazz's best--which is no discredit, in my opinion, to Shabazz's greatness. If I'm making a team to play a game, I can't leave off Ray Allen. His team didn't win a title, but that wasn't because of him. He was just unreal in college.

 

[JaYnYcE]

As great as Ray was, in my opinion, he has to take a back seat to 4 Final Four MOP's. If you want to play a 2006 Nova 4 guard lineup, by all means put him out there. But it would be disrespectful to the legacy of four of the best players to ever play for this program. At the end of the day, it's about winning and unfortunately Ray doesn't have a solid argument when he's compared to 4 Final Four MOP's.

 

[dante]

Well, considering Ray shot 47% from the field, and 46% from 3, compared to Shabazz's 43% and 40.5%, and not entirely convinced. He likely would, because he got to the line 238 times compared to Ray's 147...but remember that when you are fouled, it takes away a shot attempt. In all likelihood, they're actual attempts were a little closer (Shabazz averaged about 6 FTs per game, to Ray's 4).

I get your point on pacing. I even acknowledged it (becuase it cuts both ways) when looking at the defense. The other thing to keep in mind is that Ray averaged that many rebounds despite having someone on the team average 9.5 rpg. And Ray's job was to score, not to distribute, so it is no surprise that Shabazz averaged more assists, although Ray was second on the team.

Ray is the best player that UConn has produced. His NBA succeses are thus far unparalelled. And no one on this team will match it...the only player out there right now who might be a HOFer in the same category is Drummond...but he is far away from that at the moment.

I think Ray had two better college seasons than Shabazz's best--which is no discredit, in my opinion, to Shabazz's greatness. If I'm making a team to play a game, I can't leave off Ray Allen. His team didn't win a title, but that wasn't because of him. He was just unreal in college.

lol Of all your post this has to be the only one I will never agree with, I said if Bazz took 6 more shots per game he would avg ray's PPG lets break it down 47%-46%? form the field at 6'5 and super athletic he dunked the ball more often then probably this year team combined. Bazz shoots the 3 ball at 40% so from the extra 6 shots ray took Bazz would only need to shoot it at 33% from 3 in other words he would only need to make 2 of those 6 baskets to avg Ray's PPG.

lets round the numbers, whats more impressive a 6'5 guy grabbing 7 boards or a 6'0 guy grabbing 6?

Bazz would avg atleast 1 or 2 more rebounds "if" Nolan knew how to finish "if" Brimah knew how to catch the ball "if" there were more possessions or opportunities to run more sets.

Now this is what you said "Ray's job was to score, not to distribute, so it is no surprise that Shabazz averaged more assists, although Ray was second on the team." lol

Shabazz Napier job was to do everything EVERYTHING and guess what he lead the team in pretty much everything. lol

And lead the team to championship, no need to bring up what Ray did or is doing in the NBA, you comparing apples and oranges there.

 

[dante]

I was and still am a big time Marcus Williams Fan. with the careers that Kemba and Shabazz had combined with the 2006 team not advancing past the elite 8, its easy to see why hes taken a back seat at the PG position. but he did it all for that team, scoring and incredible play making. With him being the only true ball handler/playmaker, it was an awfully heavy burden for him to carry. With a healthy A.J. Price that year, perhaps Marcus is viewed differently now, but Since he was playing on a ball handling flawed team, he's not viewed as highly.

I love Marcus Williams that dude was a baller best pure point guard UConn ever had, Marcus Williams went trough the same thing Shabazz Napier went trough in 2012 with the chemistry issue on the team.

 

[tzznandrew]

lol Of all your post this has to be the only one I will never agree with, I said if Bazz took 6 more shots per game he would avg ray's PPG lets break it down 47%-46%? form the field at 6'5 and super athletic he dunked the ball more often then probably this year team combined. Bazz shoots the 3 ball at 40% so from the extra 6 shots ray took Bazz would only need to shoot it at 33% from 3 in other words he would only need to make 2 of those 6 baskets to avg Ray's PPG.

lets round the numbers, whats more impressive a 6'5 guy grabbing 7 boards or a 6'0 guy grabbing 6?

Bazz would avg atleast 1 or 2 more rebounds "if" Nolan knew how to finish "if" Brimah knew how to catch the ball "if" there were more possessions or opportunities to run more sets.

Now this is what you said "Ray's job was to score, not to distribute, so it is no surprise that Shabazz averaged more assists, although Ray was second on the team." lol

Shabazz Napier job was to do everything EVERYTHING and guess what he lead the team in pretty much everything. lol

And lead the team to championship, no need to bring up what Ray did or is doing in the NBA, you comparing apples and oranges there.

You disagree. I get it. I think Ray had an unbelievable season in 1996. The teams they played against were also, to be fair, better. Players stayed in college longer then, and college basketball was much more talented. That Kentucky team in 1996 would steamroll every single team in 2014's tournament. And it's not even close.

So I love Shabazz, and his career is the best ever at UConn. But give me Ray Allen's 1996 season (or Kemba's 2011, or Donyell's 1994, or Okafor's 2004).

Reasonable minds can disagree on this.

 

[mcs333]

Bazz has to be at the top of the list with Emeka. Kemba, Rip have to be part since winning NC is paramount. My 5th player would be Donyell. However the first four s/b set in stone.

 

[tzznandrew]

Bazz has to be at the top of the list with Emeka. Kemba, Rip have to be part since winning NC is paramount. My 5th player would be Donyell. However the first four s/b set in stone.

Those are obviously the best 4 careers. And it's not even close. I'd pick Ray over Donyell, because he had two great years (2nd team AA and 1st team AA) as opposed to one.

 

[NotADimeBack]

Based on since I've followed uconn basketball
1st team
Bazz
Kemba
El Amin
Rip
Okafor

2nd team
Boatright
Taliek
B.Gordon
Ray
Caron

3rd team
M.Williams
Price
Rudy
Adrien
Thabeet

4th team
R.Moore
J.Lamb
Giffey
DD
Jake

5th team
J.Dyson
R.Anderson
S.Robinson
K.Freeman
Boone


6th team
TSam
D.Brown
T.Robertson
Charlie v
H.Armstrong


7th Team
A.Mouring
G.Edwards
R.Smith
A.Oriahki
Drummond

8th team
D.Beverly
R.Jones
E.Saunders
Ed Nelson
A.Brimah


thoughts?