Best defensive player ever @ UConn and then in the NBA | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Best defensive player ever @ UConn and then in the NBA

DePriest was excellent, but like you said, he never had a chance to defend in the NBA.
He may not be elite, but another pretty recent guy who doesn't get enough credit for his defense was Ty Martin.
 
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UConn has had a long tradition of great defensive players. But no one was better than Clingan and Castle were and are.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
Boatright’s defensive reputation comes almost entirely from the tournament run in ‘14. Which is cool, he was locked in. But there was plenty of consternation about his inconsistent defense during the course of that season.
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He was picking up from full court since day 1. He also was doing his one man press steals into dunks from then all the way to his senior year.

Which is crazy to think about these days with all his responsibilities as a senior. And today we say teams don’t press not to tire the kids out lol
 
HW611 said:
He was picking up from full court since day 1. He also was doing his one man press steals into dunks from then all the way to his senior year.

Which is crazy to think about these days with all his responsibilities as a senior. And today we say teams don’t press not to tire the kids out lol
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The conditioning is next level
 
Maybe more of an honorable mention but I feel Voskuhl should get some love. His physical play helped him standout at his position at UConn. Believe he is 9th in program history in rebounds and 7th in blocks. He averaged 3.4 boards in 14 minutes per game in his NBA career which is about 11 boards per 48 minute game. Solid for sure.
 
Hey Adrien! said:
Hilton Armstrong was part of a long-line of UConn bigs that bided their time, but then had standout senior seasons. Armstrong, Gavin, Whaley, Samson, Facey, Okwandu, Nolan.

Those type of guys are the easiest to root for. Nothing handed to them, but worked their butts off to become key members as upperclassmen.
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Good point. All those guys. I feel like Samson is the last of that. Will there be a guy willing to wait 2-3 years at that position in this era?
 
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RuffRuff said:
Eye of the beholder

No one will ever convince me of that. You can’t compare a 6 10 guy to a 7 2 guy. You also can’t go by blocks because they don’t account for all shots in the paint that never happen because of one’s presence.
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On top of that, the game has changed since Okafor was here. The expansion of 3 point shooting has lowered blocked shot numbers across the board.
 
karstenkibbe said:
Any list that doesn’t include Nadav and his disruptive defense and 3.7 steals per game isn’t a complete list.
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On ball defender was the question. Nadav was Best ever off ball defender in my eyes. High IQ anticipation, always in passing lanes. Bird like even. Burrell was a better lockdown/ on ball defender though in dream season imo
 
Excalibur said:
On top of that, the game has changed since Okafor was here. The expansion of 3 point shooting has lowered blocked shot numbers across the board.
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But you hold the paint down, it means you can extend your 3 pt defense and pressure the line, force long jumpers. That dominant rim runner has massive trickle down impact.

Excalibur said:
I'd put Moore in front of Castle, and Burrell in front of Andre, but the names are the same.
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So hard to put Castle in front of Moore as he could guard tall SFs too.
 
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3rdbass said:
Not really a great on the ball defender. He was better off the ball to use his athleticism for highlight steals and blocks. He had issues staying in front of people when guarding them. Definitely not as I physically on the ball as Castle.
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I would say AJax was a solid on ball defender by his junior year, but he wasn't Castle. Castle was more akin to the 1st team NFL All Pro shutdown corner that can take away the #1 WR of the other team whereas AJax was more like the 1st team NFL All Pro free safety you wanted roaming the field/court to cause havoc. Castle would've shutdown Teddy Allen on New Mexico State. Thank the Basketball Lords UConn didn't have Castle in the 2022 season to do that because I would rather keep that loss to New Mexico State-it forced Hurley to rethink what skills build his team around and was the genesis to the back to back titles.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
Boatright’s defensive reputation comes almost entirely from the tournament run in ‘14. Which is cool, he was locked in. But there was plenty of consternation about his inconsistent defense during the course of that season.
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I felt like he was incredibly locked in when he could focus on D and let Shabazz run the offense. In subsequent years when we expected him to be both Ricky Moore and Khalid El Amin his productively on D dropped off and he wasn’t in the KEA, Kemba, Shabazz class offensively. So we kinda got the worst of both worlds.

But in March or 2014 he was as good on ball as just about anyone I’ve seen.
 
Waquoit said:
Very true, not to mention frustrating Sparty so badly they started throwing the ball out of bounds to relieve the pressure. But at a younger age, Castle is putting on a master class in defending SGA and Cade Cunningham.
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Hard to argue on Castle. His two way talent and defensive skill -combined with his physical and athletic excellence- is exceptional and translates in the NBA. Boat had the heart -athleticism-talent at the CBB level. Was just vertically challenged for the next level.
 
Burrell always seems to get lost in the shuffle so it's nice to see him getting his due in this thread. We all know how he was the only guy ever drafted first round in two of the three major sports until Kyler Murray and he could've been a big time college football player too and I think that overshadows just how good of a basketball player he was. Devastating injuries also took away all his athleticism and kept him from having a damn good NBA career which he would've had. I feel like UConn fans tend to forget how good he was and NBA fans just know him as the bench guy Jordan bullied for one chsmpionship season who shot the occasional three.

Screenshot_20260225_122353_Chrome.jpg
 
superjohn said:
Burrell always seems to get lost in the shuffle so it's nice to see him getting his due in this thread. We all know how he was the only guy ever drafted first round in two of the three major sports until Kyler Murray and he could've been a big time college football player too and I think that overshadows just how good of a basketball player he was. Devastating injuries also took away all his athleticism and kept him from having a damn good NBA career which he would've had. I feel like UConn fans tend to forget how good he was and NBA fans just know him as the bench guy Jordan bullied for one chsmpionship season who shot the occasional three.

View attachment 117467
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HS team faced him/Hamden in the baseball states, beat him 3-1.
 
IIRC. Scott was a HS QB and could easily throw a football 65-70 yards on the fly. Supposedly Michigan was interested in him for FB. Might have had something to do with JC handing him the ball for inbounds pass to Tate George jumper.
 
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Always think of Ricky Moore on D because of the beautiful 1999 championship, but he didn't play in the NBA

Uncle Cliffy

4 years at UConn - 116 blocks - 668 rebounds
20 years in the NBA - 1,390 blocks - 6,306 rebounds
 
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