Best peak performance UConn team? | The Boneyard

Best peak performance UConn team?

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Scoe

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What I mean is who is the best UConn team when they clicked on all cylinders, everyone is healthy the 3 ball is falling and guys who were ineligible or suspended would play on this team so that means AJ would be playing on the 2006 team team for instance and Nate Miles on the 2009 team.

Here are my teams.
1994
1999
2004
2006
2009
2023

When these teams were on their A game no one could come close to beating them even a possiblity some of these teams could’ve gone undefeated. I think 2004, 2006 and 2023 are the top 3. Again this is when these teams have the entire roster and clicking on all cylinders. The 1999 team didn’t use the 3 ball as frequently different times.
 
Jorgensen said:
Fun game to play. Don’t sleep on 09. Team had weapons at every position and was super fun to watch. Could kill opposing teams in so many ways. RIP Dyson’s knee (sobbing).
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Exactly!!! They still got a banner though. That Final Four banner matters
 
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HuskyWarrior611 said:
2009 with a healthy Jerome Dyson either were undefeated or had one loss.

The best defensive team and was pretty much unstoppable in transition.
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Now imagine Nate Miles on that team and Majok. Kemba would in the Shabazz role in 2011 and Austrie as the ole reliable floor general off the bench.
 
2004 with Marcus Williams on the team. They had ridiculous size, shooting, depth, the best player in the country, and probably the best guard in the country.

2023 at it's best is pretty close though. Sanogo and Clingan is the best center duo we've ever had and with Hawk shooting 50% from three we were impossible to guard once it was rolling.

I don't know why Nate Miles and AJ Price are included when Nate never played a minute for UConn and AJ never played a minute on the 2006 team.
 
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1996. Big east was unbelievable that year but the team went 16-2 in conference and won the big east tournament. Ricky moore was a freshman shutting down Iverson in the second half of the big east championship game. His injury in the ncaa tournament took away their shut down defender and led to them getting upset in the sweet 16.
 
There’s no wrong answer but my reasoning for 09 over 04 is the frontline. Thabeet, Adrien, and Sticks were just impenetrable defensively.

Price, Dyson, Austrie, and Kemba was a crazy guard lineup to go with it. 04 had more front line depth. 09 had more guard depth.

09 had the better overall starting lineup (everyone had all conference player talent). 04 had the best top players, obviously.
 
HuskyWarrior611 said:
There’s no wrong answer but my reasoning for 09 over 04 is the frontline. Thabeet, Adrien, and Sticks were just impenetrable defensively.

Price, Dyson, Austrie, and Kemba was a crazy guard lineup to go with it. 04 had more front line depth. 09 had more guard depth.

09 had the better overall starting lineup (everyone had all conference player talent). 04 had the best top players, obviously.
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You must be too young to have watched '04. Nobody was getting by Okafor and Boone. Then you had Charlie V and Hilton off the bench. You had the 2 time Big East defensive player of the year and 2 time national Defensive player of the year in Okafor in '03 and '04 and then Boone was Big East defensive player of the year in '05, Hilton in '06.

There were six first round picks on that team and Boone was the lowest draft selection at #23. There were 4 lottery picks.

Marcus Williams was the best passer we've ever had.
 
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2023 with 2004 as a not too distant second followed by 2009.

I think players are just more skilled now too. Better 3 pt shooters. Sanogo and Karaban- our 4 and 5 guys could shoot 3s. And our guard trio was enormous and versatile between Jackson, Newton and Hawkins. Bigger than Rashad/Gordon/Taliek…. And certainly bigger than the 09 guards.
Bringing Clingan off the bench was just unfair.

Could be totally wrong, I’m pretty young and my memory only goes back to like the 07 team.
 
HuskyWarrior611 said:
There’s no wrong answer but my reasoning for 09 over 04 is the frontline. Thabeet, Adrien, and Sticks were just impenetrable defensively.

Price, Dyson, Austrie, and Kemba was a crazy guard lineup to go with it. 04 had more front line depth. 09 had more guard depth.

09 had the better overall starting lineup (everyone had all conference player talent). 04 had the best top players, obviously.
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I disagree if you are going on the premise of best peak, because 2004 then gets Marcus Williams to shore up the backcourt depth issue.

I also think it's a bit odd to put Anderson and Brown in the frontcourt discussion. Though Sticks played some backup four, Anderson was a 2/3 and Brown was a 3/2. They did play together at times when Gordon, or Taliek was out.

Either way I'd put up 2004's Brown/Gordon/Anderson/Williams against 2009's Price/Dyson/Austrie/Kemba any day of the week.
 
InTheRed said:
1996. Big east was unbelievable that year but the team went 16-2 in conference and won the big east tournament. Ricky moore was a freshman shutting down Iverson in the second half of the big east championship game. His injury in the ncaa tournament took away their shut down defender and led to them getting upset in the sweet 16.
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That team was not as good as 1995 or 1994. When you look at lack of a bench you have to believe they overachieved. Or how good Ray and Doran were.
Having two freshman as your bench must of gave JC sleepless nights.
IMG_0402.jpeg
 
superjohn said:
You must be too young to have watched '04. Nobody was getting by Okafor and Boone. Then you had Charlie V and Hilton off the bench. You had the 2 time Big East defensive player of the year and 2 time national Defensive player of the year in Okafor in '03 and '04 and then Boone was Big East defensive player of the year in '05, Hilton in '06.

There were six first round picks on that team and Boone was the lowest draft selection at #23. There were 4 lottery picks.

Marcus Williams was the best passer we've ever had.
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04 was the first season I watched every UConn game on both the men’s and women’s side. My dads side of the family would get together and watch all the games together. Special season to take in.

That frontline is crazy for sure. 04 Hilton wasn’t 06 Hilton but still good defensively. Charlie was an McD All American who was coming off the bench. Just nuts. Three of those guys weren’t playing on the court at the same time though.

Stix, Adrien, and Thabeet made it hell to try and get to the rim. Dyson healthy was probably the best perimeter defender in the conference let alone the team. He was like the guard version of Andre Jackson defensively with how hard he played matched with his athleticism.

09 guards were like 04 bigs. But maybe not because all the 04 big were NBA 1st rounders. Lol

Amazing stretch of ball for us. Hurley looks to have us on that path again.
 
caw said:
I disagree if you are going on the premise of best peak, because 2004 then gets Marcus Williams to shore up the backcourt depth issue.

I also think it's a bit odd to put Anderson and Brown in the frontcourt discussion. Though Sticks played some backup four, Anderson was a 2/3 and Brown was a 3/2. They did play together at times when Gordon, or Taliek was out.

Either way I'd put up 2004's Brown/Gordon/Anderson/Williams against 2009's Price/Dyson/Austrie/Kemba any day of the week.
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I’m not arguing that too much when you throw Anderson in the mix. You see the avi. Lol
 
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2023 wouldn’t even be in my consideration. Yes, we looked great when we were rolling over all opposition, but how many teams did we beat that were real top ten teams? ‘Bama? In November? Marquette once out of three tries? Creighton one out of two?

Most of the other teams on your list beat national championship contenders again and again and again. Last year was great, and I love how that team developed, and we are national champions because we deserved to be. But we don’t have the basis that we have with the other teams on your list to know that they could overcome other great teams.
 
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04's bigs might be the best group of 4 big men ever assembled on a college basketball team. It was so difficult for teams to get anywhere near the paint even when we had both our starters on the bench. Okafor was also just insane that year; he led the nation in field goals, blocks, rebounds, and win shares.

As a 10 year old at the time, I felt like Rashad Anderson was the pinnacle of shooting a basketball. Felt like the guy couldn't miss. I was surprised looking back that Denham Brown shot 39% from 3 that year as well.
 
2004 for sure. That team was absolutely loaded. Their only issue was focus, because from a talent standpoint they were better than anyone.
 
yungdowork said:
04's bigs might be the best group of 4 big men ever assembled on a college basketball team. It was so difficult for teams to get anywhere near the paint even when we had both our starters on the bench. Okafor was also just insane that year; he led the nation in field goals, blocks, rebounds, and win shares.

As a 10 year old at the time, I felt like Rashad Anderson was the pinnacle of shooting a basketball. Felt like the guy couldn't miss. I was surprised looking back that Denham Brown shot 39% from 3 that year as well.
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Slightly OT, I do wonder how 2006 would have stacked up if Bynum had made it to Storrs. And if Price hadn't had his suspension. Boone, Armstrong, Adrien, Nelson and Bynum would have been a boatload upfront. Not to mention Gay and Brown at the three. AJ, Williams, Anderson, Austrie at the guard positions. That team was already arguably the best team in the country without Bynum and AJ.

AZHuskiePop said:
That team was not as good as 1995 or 1994. When you look at lack of a bench you have to believe they overachieved. Or how good Ray and Doran were.
Having two freshman as your bench must of gave JC sleepless nights.
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1994, 1995 1996 all had issues with frontcourt depth. Obviously Marshall was in a class by himself but if Knight is the second best big over three years, that just shows how shallow those teams were at those positions. I know Donny played some four over those years but he wasn't really a four and him playing there only exacerbates how poorly depth there was.

I do think King gets a raw deal in how he is regarded partially because of how his senior year ended. He was playing really well before his suspension.
 
I have to look at it in a pre transfer portal way. The portal has changed college basketball.
The 2009 team was nasty and that's not an adjective I throw around too much, however, at peak time they were banged up a bit.
2004 was a resilient team as was 2014 and the run 2014 had in the NCAAs was nothing short of fantastic based on the competition.
2005-2006 - won the Maui vs 3 top 10 teams, lost 2 regular season games , lost the 6 OT OBE tourney game and came up short vs G Mason in the NCAAs - finished the season ranked 2nd in nation.
The 1995 and 1996 teams played in the wonder years of the OBE and more than held their own but again, injuries to key players prevented them from hitting the heights they deserved.
1998-99 had moxie and had not only talent at every key position but they all were tireless workers and willed their way to a NC.
Now to 2023 - the one thing that made the team harder to beat was DC off the bench - without him the team is no way near as strong as other teams in the past. I know the youngsters here haven't the privilege of experiencing the OBE in its heyday, and I dont agree at all that the players now are better shooters. Might be better athletes but not more skilled.
 
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gtcam said:
I have to look at it in a pre transfer portal way. The portal has changed college basketball.
The 2009 team was nasty and that's not an adjective I throw around too much, however, at peak time they were banged up a bit.
2004 was a resilient team as was 2014 and the run 2014 had in the NCAAs was nothing short of fantastic based on the competition.
2005-2006 - won the Maui vs 3 top 10 teams, lost 2 regular season games , lost the 6 OT OBE tourney game and came up short vs G Mason in the NCAAs - finished the season ranked 2nd in nation.
The 1995 and 1996 teams played in the wonder years of the OBE and more than held their own but again, injuries to key players prevented them from hitting the heights they deserved.
1998-99 had moxie and had not only talent at every key position but they all were tireless workers and willed their way to a NC.
Now to 2023 - the one thing that made the team harder to beat was DC off the bench - without him the team is no way near as strong as other teams in the past. I know the youngsters here haven't the privilege of experiencing the OBE in its heyday, and I dont agree at all that the players now are better shooters. Might be better athletes but not more skilled.
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Not sure I agree on 2023 assessment, or perhaps you are overstating it a bit, mainly because of Sanogo. I think even without DC off the bench 2023 would stack up pretty well against the 1995 and 1996 teams, I think Sanogo would feast against 1995 and 1996. And I think the 1-4 would hold their own.

Even against the 1999 team, Sanogo would probably be the best big in the game, like Brand was. I think the 2023 starting unit has a lot similarities to that 1999 Duke starting five. And while UConn won in 1999 it was a close game against Duke.

Brand - Sanogo
Battier - Karaban
Carrawell - Jackson
Langdon - Hawkins
Avery - Newton

Benches were different, but Duke in 1999 only got 8 points off the bench against UConn, all from Maggette. So they put up 66 without him. Without DC, 2023 doesn't have anyone as good as Maggette but I think Alleyne and Joey were at least as good as Burgess and James on 1999 Duke. With DC, the comparison is much better for the 2023 UConn team.

2023 without DC may not be as good, but they aren't as far away as you are making. Not that it matters, they had DC.

Without DC, 1994 would be a problem because they had Marshall to go with a crazy good 1-3. 2004 and 2009 could probably largely negate Sanogo with their depth and length and skill if you don't include DC.
 
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