Best peak performance UConn team?

[Chin Diesel]

2004 had six future first rounders, four lottery picks, three top 10 picks, and two Top 3 picks. That doesn't include Rashad or Taliek or Denham. Our best player was the best player in the nation and #2 pick in the draft.

This.

Rashad is one of the best 3 point shooters and most clutch shooters in UConn history and is outside of that group of NBA picks. Denham scored over 1000 points.

Both were physically strong and could run all day.

Taliek's overall offensive game was iffy at best but by 2004 he was a bulldog on defense and had improved his decision making.

 

[nomar]

This.

Rashad is one of the best 3 point shooters and most clutch shooters in UConn history and is outside of that group of NBA picks. Denham scored over 1000 points.

Both were physically strong and could run all day.

Taliek's overall offensive game was iffy at best but by 2004 he was a bulldog on defense and had improved his decision making.

SJ mentioned a couple posts above us being down by 8 against Duke with under 3 to go. IIRC that 8-point lead lasted about 5 seconds, until Rashad drained a 3 to bring it back down to 5.

You have to think if he misses that 3, we don't win the title.

 

[Deleted at users request]

SJ mentioned a couple posts above us being down by 8 against Duke with under 3 to go. IIRC that 8-point lead lasted about 5 seconds, until Rashad drained a 3 to bring it back down to 5.

You have to think if he misses that 3, we don't win the title.

He tried to save us in 2006 too with Washington. Would’ve loved to see him get that last shot against GMU even if Brown was the one to send us to OT.

 

[Waquoit]

He had to have forgotten about that game because that one was definitely worrisome. I was sweating bullets in that one but it made the walk out of the Alamodome pretty sweet.

I remember thinking "What am I gonna do until the plane leaves on Tuesday?" I sure as wasn't going to Duke-Ga Tech.

 

[superjohn]

SJ mentioned a couple posts above us being down by 8 against Duke with under 3 to go. IIRC that 8-point lead lasted about 5 seconds, until Rashad drained a 3 to bring it back down to 5.

You have to think if he misses that 3, we don't win the title.

Oh yeah, that game was over without that shot. Taliek had a brutal game but he got the rebound and pushed finding Rashad with the perfect pass in his shooting pocket. With under 3 minutes left it took that shot, Duke taking forced shots with too much time on the shotclock, and amazing defense by UConn to pull that one out.

With Okafor playing the whole game I think UConn wins that one by at least 10. I never liked Calhoun's 2 early fouls and you sit the whole half but he ended up looking like a genius and K ended up looking pretty bad considering how his team didn't execute at all down the stretch.

 

[Scoe]

Oh yeah, that game was over without that shot. Taliek had a brutal game but he got the rebound and pushed finding Rashad with the perfect pass in his shooting pocket. With under 3 minutes left it took that shot, Duke taking forced shots with too much time on the shotclock, and amazing defense by UConn to pull that one out.

With Okafor playing the whole game I think UConn wins that one by at least 10. I never liked Calhoun's 2 early fouls and you sit the whole half but he ended up looking like a genius and K ended up looking pretty bad considering how his team didn't execute at all down the stretch.

Can watch this over and over again. Rashads 3 shook Duke and their decision making down the match and it turned it into an Okafor vs Horvath matchup.

 

[Waquoit]

I never liked Calhoun's 2 early fouls and you sit the whole half but he ended up looking like a genius

Sitting Oak all that time let Duke back in the game, they were getting smoked. And down 8 with 2:45 doesn't sound like genius to me. Let's face it. Shad won that game.

 

[Scoe]

Sitting Oak all that time let Duke back in the game, they were getting smoked. And down 8 with 2:45 doesn't sound like genius to me. Let's face it. Shad won that game.

and if Okafor pick up his 3rd before the half then what, it was a gamble but no panic there was just enough time and we ripped out there hearts makes it a glorious finish as Duke fans thought they were going to pull off what we did to them in 99.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Can watch this over and over again. Rashads 3 shook Duke and their decision making down the match and it turned it into an Okafor vs Horvath matchup.

The floor almost had a 1980's HCC vibe to it.

 

[gsmooth]

SJ mentioned a couple posts above us being down by 8 against Duke with under 3 to go. IIRC that 8-point lead lasted about 5 seconds, until Rashad drained a 3 to bring it back down to 5.

You have to think if he misses that 3, we don't win the title.

correct. Which is why I stated a few days ago in another thread, I don't remember which one, that shot is easily a top 5 clutch shot of all time for UConn. It won't be remembered because it wasn't in the last 30 seconds to tie the game or take the lead.

 

[superjohn]

Sitting Oak all that time let Duke back in the game, they were getting smoked. And down 8 with 2:45 doesn't sound like genius to me. Let's face it. Shad won that game.

It looks genius because UConn won the game and Okafor was totally dominant in the second half. Refs let them play in winning time and Okafor fouled out Duke's frontline. Still, UConn doesn't win without Rashad hitting that shot.

I hated Calhoun's adherence to the 2 fouls and you sit especially against a team like Duke, they were too good to give a cushion like that but it all worked out in the end. If Okafor picked up a cheapie on foul 3 in the first half a lot of fans would've lit Calhoun up but I wouldn't have been one of them. The 2 fouls and you sit and not fouling up 3 were the two Calhoun things I never liked. Nobody is perfect.

 

[Scoe]

Remember the Pitt comeback in the BET final with Okafor fouled out and Charlie V (out with a sprained ankle).

Weren’t they down 11 in the 2nd half?

 

[HooperScooper]

I remember thinking "What am I gonna do until the plane leaves on Tuesday?" I sure as wasn't going to Duke-Ga Tech.

All I had brought with me were UConn shirts and I was thinking the same as you and also wondering what I was going to wear because I wasn't going to hang out down at the Riverwalk after losing to Duke. Emeka saved us from that indignity.

 

[Scoe]

All I had brought with me were UConn shirts and I was thinking the same as you and also wondering what I was going to wear because I wasn't going to hang out down at the Riverwalk after losing to Duke. Emeka saved us from that indignity.

What were the comments Duke fans if you can remember.

 

[TheHorde]

Agree 2004. But how can any team be a wide margin ahead of 2023 after the performance we just watched?

The overall quality of play isn’t as high in 2023 as it was in 2004. I’d say the early entries into the draft and the G league, and the transfer portal has made for less overall team continuity and fewer veteran teams. The 2004 Duke team was also a great team and probably runs the table in the 2023 tournament also by a considerable margin.

 

[TheHorde]

The 1995 and 1996 UConn teams are often overlooked and under appreciated. Those were also great teams that had a combination of injuries and some unlucky seeding that hurt them.

 

[Husky25]

1999. UConn was without Voskuhl and Hamilton for one loss and only lost by 2 vs Miami at Gampel. They went undefeated outside the state border of CT and/or when losing at halftime.

Even considering Hamilton, that team was far greater than the sum of it's parts.

 

[HooperScooper]

What were the comments Duke fans if you can remember.

Walking out of the Alamodome? They didn't say a word. They had their tails between their legs! Or before the game? Duke fans were pretentious with a high brow attitude. I don't remember them talking smack much. They thought they were above us. Glad the Huskies put them in their place in 1999 and 2004.

 

[gsmooth]

Walking out of the Alamodome? They didn't say a word. They had their tails between their legs! Or before the game? Duke fans were pretentious with a high brow attitude. I don't remember them talking smack much. They thought they were above us. Glad the Huskies put them in their place in 1999 and 2004.

I remember that in the 1999 Final Four when I was in St. Petersburg, Florida. I walked up to some Duke fans that were older guys with some gray hair as they were leaving a restaurant table as I was entering the restaurant. They really looked like old money guys, like rich boosters or something. I had my UConn Final Four t-shirt on and I asked them how they thought the final would go against UConn after Duke had their first non-blowout game in the NCAAT against Mich. St.

Their response couldn't have been more dismissive or snobbish. I remember one of them said, "Mich St. was lucky to make the game close" and that he also said "I don't think it will be close against UConn. Duke won't have any problems". I replied "okay, we will see". I didn't want to argue as I just wanted to get seated quickly and get my breakfast. Just recalling that moment makes me grin.

In St. Petersburg, the Ohio St., Mich St., and the fans at the game who were not fans of any of the Final Four teams were all pulling for UConn.

 

[diggerfoot]

fwiw, just ran a sim for a 7-game series on neutral court between '04 and '99.

'99 won 4-2, with the 6th game going into OT.

I then ran sims between '04 and '23 until '23 won a game. Took 17 games for '23 to notch a win, and that was in OT. Most weren't close, although I did get a 77-74!

I am not surprised by the sim results, but from glancing through this thread I suspect most might not know why and need some context.

The Duke squad UConn defeated in 1999 was the most formidable of all FF opponents UConn faced. Duke ended up with the most wins ever in a season until Kentucky eclipsed them about 13 years (?) later, and they compiled those wins against a strong ACC. That’s a factor that would boost them in a simulation over ‘04.

Despite facing their most formidable FF opponent of all time, they beat the spread against them by what remains a championship record. That’s another factor that would boost them in a simulation against ‘04.

The only other team besides Duke that was rated #1 that year was UConn, after Duke was first to lose their lone regular season game. UConn would not hold on for long because they subsequently lost when missing two key starters, Hamilton and Voskuhl. Even so, UConn ended up with their best overall record, BY FAR, out of all UConn teams when they only lost two games for the entire season. That’s another factor that would favor them in a simulation over ‘04.

Some of the once mighty Big East opponents such as Georgetown and St. John’s were starting to decline by ‘04, and the bottom feeders were worse. Schedule strength is yet one more factor that would favor ‘99 over ‘04 in a simulation.

I get why so many people automatically think ‘04 must be the best, given the talent on that squad, but sometimes the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts. Comparing the two centers may be instructive.

Okafor was no doubt the greatest UConn center of all time, and bests Voskuhl in all the most heralded stats. But there were two things Voskuhl did better. He was perhaps our best center ever at the outlet pass and was certainly the best center for setting bone-jarring screens. He did little things that made the team as a whole better. That was really the story for the whole team that year; they played extremely well together.

Despite their very high ceiling, there were a few wtf moments and games for the ‘04 squad. The same could not be said for the ‘99 squad with the best overall record and the most impressive championship win over what many considered one of the greatest teams all time …. until UConn beat them.

 

[bmayuc]

Easy answer 2004. Lots of people have stated why but just overwhelming, dominant talent all over the court(Ok4, Boone, Villanueva, Gordon) and excellent specialists(Marcus, Taliek, Denham, Anderson). They had everything and a backup of everything.

I will never forget as a student the moment when they were absolutely clowning #6 Oklahoma in Gampel by like 35 or 40 points and Taliek takes an outlet pass and throws the most absurd and unnecessary no look to Rashad to cap the game off.

That team went through some injuries, Marcus Williams getting suspended, the whole thing. But when they got it together they were just untouchable.

I've been to a whole bunch of games and I've never heard Gampel at this volume it was shaking...

 

[uconngb]

I am not surprised by the sim results, but from glancing through this thread I suspect most might not know why and need some context.

The Duke squad UConn defeated in 1999 was the most formidable of all FF opponents UConn faced. Duke ended up with the most wins ever in a season until Kentucky eclipsed them about 13 years (?) later, and they compiled those wins against a strong ACC. That’s a factor that would boost them in a simulation over ‘04.

Despite facing their most formidable FF opponent of all time, they beat the spread against them by what remains a championship record. That’s another factor that would boost them in a simulation against ‘04.

The only other team besides Duke that was rated #1 that year was UConn, after Duke was first to lose their lone regular season game. UConn would not hold on for long because they subsequently lost when missing two key starters, Hamilton and Voskuhl. Even so, UConn ended up with their best overall record, BY FAR, out of all UConn teams when they only lost two games for the entire season. That’s another factor that would favor them in a simulation over ‘04.

Some of the once mighty Big East opponents such as Georgetown and St. John’s were starting to decline by ‘04, and the bottom feeders were worse. Schedule strength is yet one more factor that would favor ‘99 over ‘04 in a simulation.

I get why so many people automatically think ‘04 must be the best, given the talent on that squad, but sometimes the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts. Comparing the two centers may be instructive.

Okafor was no doubt the greatest UConn center of all time, and bests Voskuhl in all the most heralded stats. But there were two things Voskuhl did better. He was perhaps our best center ever at the outlet pass and was certainly the best center for setting bone-jarring screens. He did little things that made the team as a whole better. That was really the story for the whole team that year; they played extremely well together.

Despite their very high ceiling, there were a few wtf moments and games for the ‘04 squad. The same could not be said for the ‘99 squad with the best overall record and the most impressive championship win over what many considered one of the greatest teams all time …. until UConn beat them.

Interesting and thorough analysis…..but the question posited was peak performance. You can’t dispute that the 04 team has far more talent than the 99 team. And depth of talent. If they both performed to their peak abilities, I don’t think it would be within 10 points. Same with 04 v 23. 99 and 23 both gelled, had chemistry, etc……but peak talent 04 is a slam dunk.

 

[diggerfoot]

Interesting and thorough analysis…..but the question posited was peak performance. You can’t dispute that the 04 team has far more talent than the 99 team. And depth of talent. If they both performed to their peak abilities, I don’t think it would be within 10 points. Same with 04 v 23. 99 and 23 both gelled, had chemistry, etc……but peak talent 04 is a slam dunk.

Saying that ‘99 and ‘23 both gelled hints at missing the point. The only bad games ‘99 had was when they were down two starters. They gelled for the entire season, not just the playoffs.

Was the question about potential peak or actual peak? The ‘99 Duke team was being considered one of the greatest teams of all time, certainly better than ‘04 Duke, and would have been had not UConn beat them. ‘99 UConn beat the toughest team and set a record for beating the spread in a championship game. I would call that an actual peak performance that bests ‘04.

Finally, using your metrics to support your claim, I would be forced to say that ‘99 Duke was better than ‘99 UConn, since they had more pro talent. Not happening. I insist that ‘99 UConn was a better team than ‘99 Duke despite having less pro talent. Sometimes the whole really is greater than the sum of the parts.

 

[Scoe]

In 2009 the country was cheated out of a UConn-UNC final, would’ve been reminiscent of 99 UConn-Duke final.

 

[Scoe]

1990 vs 2023 would be a very good matchup. Could very well be the best two passing teams in UConn history. The weakness our 2023 team had was handling pressure, which 1990 loved to do , assuming 2023 could handle the pressure which we got better at as the season went along, (like I said peak performance). Jackson vs Burrell would be fun to see not that they would be guarding each other.

Hawkins and the combo of Sanogo and Clingan would be too much to handle. Unlike Georgetown who had Mourning and Mutombo, while that seemed liked a good idea, and yes they did overwhelm most of their opponents against elite teams though their lack of ball handlers and shooting would get exposed got thus making Mutombo and Mourning a detriment offensively.

With Clingan off the bench Sanogo was getting rested and you wouldn’t lack shooting or ball handling.

 

[Waquoit]

It's funny how much the game has changed since our first title. I say the 2023 team than more than a punchers chance against any of the other due to their 3-point shooting alone. I can't see KEA or Ben fighting through all those screens.

 

[Chin Diesel]

1990 vs 2023 would be a very good matchup. Could very well be the best two passing teams in UConn history. The weakness our 2023 team had was handling pressure, which 1990 loved to do , assuming 2023 could handle the pressure which we got better at as the season went along, (like I said peak performance). Jackson vs Burrell would be fun to see not that they would be guarding each other.

Hawkins and the combo of Sanogo and Clingan would be too much to handle. Unlike Georgetown who had Mourning and Mutombo, while that seemed liked a good idea, and yes they did overwhelm most of their opponents against elite teams though their lack of ball handlers and shooting would get exposed got thus making Mutombo and Mourning a detriment offensively.

With Clingan off the bench Sanogo was getting rested and you wouldn’t lack shooting or ball handling.

There's a good chance you have these match ups:

Tate v. Newton
Smitty v. Hawkins
Burrell v. Jackson
Dove v. Karaban
Sellers v. Sanogo

1990 Bench- Murray Williams, John Gwynn, Lyman DePriest, Dan Cyrulik and Toraino Walker

2023 Bench- Alleyne, Clingan, Calcaterra and Diarra off the other bench.

And just to add some spice JC v. Hurley

That would actually be fun to watch.

 

[NJHoops]

It’s so interesting how a few people are already “misremembering” this past season, just a few months after it ended. Memory is a funny thing. They basically had a bad month in the middle, they didn’t suck all along and then finally play well in the tournament.

 

[CL82]

Kemba and the Kembettes

This. As the run took off in the big east tournament, didn't seem to matter who they were playing. Kemba is probably the most clutch player in UConn basketball history.

 

[CL82]

It’s so interesting how a few people are already “misremembering” this past season, just a few months after it ended. Memory is a funny thing. They basically had a bad month in the middle, they didn’t suck all along and then finally play well in the tournament.

They had "a bad month" because they were given a tough schedule on the road against top teams while in the middle of a blood feud by the officials. It would have been very easy for pretty much any team to lose confidence during that stretch. Hurley and the staff adjusting to the "don't go Jackson" strategy and keeping everyone's confidence levels up, especially Jackson was very, very good coaching. I sincerely doubt there are many other staffs that would have, or could have, handled it as well. It was an exceptional job of explaining our strengths and hiding our weaknesses, in my opinion.