Best big man

[78AlwaysHappy]

I see Bruce a few times each year

Next time you see him, say hi for me. As an NBA rookie Bruce Kuczenski started multiple games for the reigning champion Philadelphia 76ers alongside Julius Erving in 1984

 

[noeynox]

Cliff was awesome but I don't know if I would call him a center, even as a college player, and at least my interpretation views this as a center discussion.

Its what he played for us. There wasn't even an alternative. His Sr. Year he hit some threes but he had not yet become the stretch 4 that today's NBA loves so much. Cliff really impacted at the pro level more than he had at UConn. Did Rod play the 4, Cliff's Sr year?

 

[BarkingDog]

1. Okafor: a force on both ends. Always played at high intensity and always productive.
2. Sanogo: rare combination of strength and finesse. Improved every year and was a joy to watch. One of my all time favorite Huskies
3. Thabeet: owned the paint. teams feared him like no other player in uconn history.
4. Clingan: amazing help defender who at times can take over the game.
5. Probably Kimball but I never saw him play.

And a shoutout to Chuck Aleksinas. The Morris Mountain.

 

[bfs3]

1. Chuck - (I’m from Morris)
2. Okafor -
3. Sanogo
4. Clingan
5. Jake - First UConn player I met as a kid.
6. Thabeet

Donyell is a favorite of mine and I met him after one of his camps once but I’m sticking to centers.

Out of the guys I’ve seen play. More of a list of my favorite Centers than best. Clingan is my second favorite CT player, after Chuck and ahead of Tyler.

Without disrespecting Kimball who could be #1 without any argument from me but I’ve never seen him play

 

[Smp7598]

I considered Uncle Cliff, but drunk free throws or not, Donyell just did way more in His time here.

Exactly what would that be?

 

[KembaRunner]

1. Okafor: a force on both ends. Always played at high intensity and always productive.
2. Sanogo: rare combination of strength and finesse. Improved every year and was a joy to watch. One of my all time favorite Huskies
3. Thabeet: owned the paint. teams feared him like no other player in uconn history.
4. Clingan: amazing help defender who at times can take over the game.
5. Probably Kimball but I never saw him play.

And a shoutout to Chuck Aleksinas. The Morris Mountain.

Feels like everyone forgot about Sanogo already! He was an absolute bucket last year.

Another guy who gets no love he Brimah. Amazing shot blocker.

 

[Shamon30]

Senior year Hilton Armstrong wasn't our #1 best big ever, but certainly was among the greats

 

[OceanDoggie]

Exactly what would that be?

Donyell Marshall:

• Unanimous Big East Player of the year
• Big East Defensive Player of the year
• UConn's first Consensus First Team All-American
• National Player of the Year Finalist
• 2x All-Big East
• 1x Big East regular season champion
• 3-2 in NCAA tournament
• 1st round 4th overall NBA draft pick

Uncle Cliff:

Your turn, Go....

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Start with this one — should be a fun watch:

UConn 68-51 Louisville (Feb 2, 2009) Game Recap - ESPN

Expert recap and game analysis of the UConn Huskies vs. Louisville Cardinals NCAAM game from February 2, 2009 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

UConn emphatically ended Louisville's nine-game winning streak by dictating the pace and using Thabeet's massive 7-foot-3 wingspan to hold Louisville to a season-low point total. The junior's defensive dominance was so complete UConn coach Jim Calhoun looked surprised when he found out his center was credited with just four blocks.

"Thabeet had four blocks? Come on," Calhoun said. "It doesn't matter if he has four or 40. Just his presence in there was intimidating."

The Cardinals shot 34 percent from the floor -- including 5-of-17 3-pointers -- and rarely challenged one of the nation's leading shotblockers. Louisville shot two free throws and the Cardinals were so reticent to get in the lane that they sometimes pulled up for jumpers on the fastbreak rather than try and get to the basket.

"It's February and it's time to get better," Thabeet said. "Coach told me to control the middle and not let them get into the offense and not give up uncontested shots. After I got a couple of blocks they stopped bringing it in there."

Thanks for sharing. Can’t find it in my initial search, there’s not a lot of non-tournament full games available to watch where we won online. But if anyone is able to find it I’m happy to watch.

I’ve found one where we were at full strength with the Gonzaga game so I’m in the process of going through that. Hard watch for Thabeet here because he was in foul trouble most of the game and the Zags had bigs who could shoot so he spent a lot of defense away from the rim. Don’t know how the hell we pulled this one out.

Going to have to look at Missouri and if I can stomach it, MSU (maybe cut the game off at the 5 min mark).

Skill for skill so far it’s hard to not give it to Donovan if I’m not looking at the accolades. A lot of the knocks on Thabeet (hands, coordination, knowledge of the game, being raw) are not issues for Donovan.

It sucks because he was robbed of a lot of the accolades he should’ve received this year because of injury. Plus as crazy as it sounds, he’s only playing 22 minutes a game. Kemba Walker played more minutes for the 09 team as a freshman with 25.

Talent wise, there’s a good argument for him having the most ever.

 

[nutmegger]

Al Cooper

 

[CTFIRERETIRED]

Just an FYI, before DC, Sanogo, Emeka, Thabeet, Toby Kimball, et.al., there was another rebounding machine. Admittedly I never saw him, but the numbers don't lie. Art Quimby, from Bulkley high in New London (now closed) still holds rebounding records for
rebounds for a single game (40), single season (611) and career (1,716). He also owns the single season and career rebounding averages (24.4 and 21.5 per game, respectively). Quimby's combined career point and rebound totals (3,114) are more than any other Connecticut player.
Granted those numbers were from the early 50's, but as I said, the numbers don't lie.

 

[Captbluefin]

Any list without Donyell is a absolute joke.