Another year, another two lottery picks.

[freescooter]

Yes - this. It helps.....a lot.

Of course it does, but on the other hand we had some terrific teams BEFORE we had lots of NBA draft picks, and the team with the most NBA picks flamed out, this one with 2 lottery pciks did too, so maybe it helps less than you think.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Of course it does, but on the other hand we had some terrific teams BEFORE we had lots of NBA draft picks, and the team with the most NBA picks flamed out, this one with 2 lottery pciks did too, so maybe it helps less than you think.

Uconn's Lottery Picks:
Donyell - Sweet Sixteen
Ray - Elite Eight
Rip - National Champion
Caron - Elite Eight
Emeka - National Champion
Ben - National Champion
Charlie - National Champion
Rudy - Elite Eight
Hilton - National Champion
Hasheem - Final Four
Kemba - National Champion
Jeremy - National Champion
Andre - 2nd Round Loss

Our first lottery pick and our most recent lottery pick did not go as far as the Elite Eight in their college career, but every single lottery pick in between did. Seven of the thirteen lottery picks won a National Championship at Uconn. I'd say we usually do pretty well when we have lottery picks on the roster.

 

[freescooter]

Uconn's Lottery Picks:
Donyell - Sweet Sixteen
Ray - Elite Eight
Rip - National Champion
Caron - Elite Eight
Emeka - National Champion
Ben - National Champion
Charlie - National Champion
Rudy - Elite Eight
Hilton - National Champion
Hasheem - Final Four
Kemba - National Champion
Jeremy - National Champion
Andre - 2nd Round Loss

Our first lottery pick and our most recent lottery pick did not go as far as the Elite Eight in their college career, but every single lottery pick in between did. Seven of the thirteen lottery picks won a National Championship at Uconn. I'd say we usually do pretty well when we have lottery picks on the roster.

You're right. That wasn't the question, though. The question was whether putting guys in the league is a prerequite for good recruiting. Calhoun recruited well and built good teams before he had lots of lottery picks. He doesn't need lottery picks to have good teams, and in fact many of the best lottery picks were not highly ranked coming in.
Just as an aside, too, Drummond's loss would have been considered a 1st round loss had the NCAA not decided to re-brand the palyin games as the first round. I believe that he is the first UConn lottery pick never to win an NCAA game, since I don't think the NBA draft had lottery picks when Clifford played.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm okay with the opin i ons and agree with much you said.

But he was easily the 2nd most important player on the NC team.....his improvement and confidence down the stretch made teams adjust more and open up things for Kemba and what proved to be a breakout by a less than stellar offensive player like Oriahki......he was the key along with Kemba.......

Not sure how much anyone expected him to lead last year.....to me the expectations were low because of his personality.....

 

[DrewDog85]

Pretending he was somehow more important than Kemba and even Orkiaki in that run is an interesting view. But OK...my view is that his accomplishment while at UConn are on the lower end for our lottery picks. He made some shots, but let's be real. That team began and ended with one guy and it wasn't Jeremy Lamb. Everyone else was backgound music. When it ame time to step into the role as the man, he was nothing more than average, with a tendncy to disapear in some critical moments.

Freescooter No one said JL was the MVP! You stated that he didn't even "move the Needle" Are you really this dumb????