Calhoun: 2004 best team I ever coached

[boog204]

I think 99 would beat 04, personally. 04 was maybe more talented, but 99 was tougher. I don't think 04 had anyone to contend with Rip, I think Jake would body Emeka enough to mitigate his offense, and I'd put $$ on Ricky against anyone.

I think you could definitely make the argument that our 94 team with Donyell and 06 team were just as talented as 04. Both of those teams were flawed - 94 was soft and 06 had some sort of chemistry issue that just never got solved.

 

[3RingsCT]

99’ gives them all they can handle. However, it is hard to argue against 2004. I still like the ruthlessness of 99’ better. That team was 1 loss or less barring injuries.

2004 had a little soft spot mid season but then peaked at tourney time and as JC says, “they really kicked the window out, and played great, great basketball”. You could debate it all day but JC probably knows best.

We all forget that the 2004 team didn’t always play that way and they were a 2 seed in the tourney, but when they were firing on all cylinders, they were electric. There were games they had no cohesiveness tho. The 99 team, while a little less talented overall, always played with killer instinct and played better
defense.

Emeka would have eaten Jake Voskuhl for lunch, but the defense of Moore, El Amin, Jones and Freeman would have been too much, IMO. I say 99 team by 2.

We are fortunate to be fans of a program that can debate this. Hopefully we can see some teams in years to come to add to the argument.

 

[uconnbill]

Both the 99' and 04' teams were great. The better overall players were on the 04' team but the heart of the 99' team was better.

It would be a heck of a game and would be closer than some think

 

[ncteacher]

I live in North Carolina. In 1998/99 spent a year explaining to anyone who would listen that UCONN would beat Duke if they met in the finals. I explained very analytically why they would, and yet my argument was not taken seriously. Nobody believed my analysis as Dickie Vitale and many others proclaimed the '99 Duke team the greatest of all time. I never doubted UCONN that year. I especially liked how the UCONN players rooted for Duke to win the semis so they could eliminate any doubt. It was especially good that I was able to take my son to the finals that year. As far as which team would win if '99 played '04 I would definitely pick UCONN!

 

[Lamble]

People forget about the mid season injuries on the 98-99 team. Both Voskuhl and Hamilton went down and that is when they lost both games. If they stay injury free, or are injured earlier in the season during non conference, the 99 team legitimately could have gone undefeated.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

The 04 team, top to bottom, was better. But in a one-off game, if you told me 99 beat 04, I wouldn't be surprised. No one on the 04 squad had Khalid's heart and grit. But the 04 squad had too many shooters and too many bigs. Jake, Freeman, Wane, and Saunders would be overwhelmed by Okafor, Boone, Armstrong, and Villanueva.

 

[B1GEast]

We all forget that the 2004 team didn’t always play that way and they were a 2 seed in the tourney, but when they were firing on all cylinders, they were electric. There were games they had no cohesiveness tho. The 99 team, while a little less talented overall, always played with killer instinct and played better
defense.

Emeka would have eaten Jake Voskuhl for lunch, but the defense of Moore, El Amin, Jones and Freeman would have been too much, IMO. I say 99 team by 2.

We are fortunate to be fans of a program that can debate this. Hopefully we can see some teams in years to come to add to the argument.

JC tinkered with the 2004 lineup like a mad genius. That squad gave him so much flexibility, if he needed offense, Gordon, Brown, Anderson or Chuck were available. The defense in Okafor, Boon, Armstrong and Chuck were easy to rearrange and mix up

Scoring off the bench, D Brown, R Anderson, Chuck

Guard play, Taliek, Marcus and Gordon

The 99 team was a special bunch for what they did and how the blue collar bring your lunch box to work group did things, but the 2004 squad was lights out.

One team a tank, the other a Ferrari.

JC knows what he's talking about. The 2004 team has no equal. Every other championship team had to work for that championship, against Georgia Tech, JC had that team was in cruise control

 

[metsfan2323]

Every other championship team had to work for that championship, against Georgia Tech, JC had that team was in cruise control

They weren't in cruise control in the semis, and that Duke team was not nearly as good as the 99 Duke team.

 

[B1GEast]

They weren't in cruise control in the semis, and that Duke team was not nearly as good as the 99 Duke team.

That's true, Okafor was in early foul trouble and was the difference in the second half

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

That's true, Okafor was in early foul trouble and was the difference in the second half

One of Calhoun's greatest coaching moves was not reinserting Emeka in the first half of the Duke game with two fouls despite the being down. K put Shelden Williams and their other big back in and at least one if not both of them picked up their 3rd foul before halftime. Okafor was a dominant factor in the second half while the other two played in persistent foul trouble.

 

[Dogdeacon]

I like 99 better, but I trusted 2004 more. To wit, I too was at the final 4 in San Antonio and actually got tickets via the lottery thru the NCAA & had hotel rooms & flights nine months in advance. I was pretty confident the entire time.
Hard to compare that to before UConn makes its first FF, but that does say something about how good that team was that we all just knew they were a FF team and national championship contender. Khalid was a winner, RIP killer, KFree & Jake tough as hell but Emeka was as dominant a winning force on both ends as anyone that has ever played college basketball.