Charity game at Mohegan...

[Ts5034]

What did everyone else who went think? I thought it was a great time as always. One big piece missing though-JC. I thought this was the most competitive charity game ever and the sudden death OT added a lot more intensity. I was standing courtside for that along with most of the crowd and you could tell those guys were playing to win. I noticed Jeff Adrien a couple of times complaining to the refs about some no calls. My favorite parts of the game were being able to watch the guys who played at the same time paired up on the same team again tonight. For example the starting lineup for the white team was Kemba, Dyson, AJ, Hasheem and Edwards...all from the 08-09 final four team. One negative would be the lack of representation from the 2004 team. The only players who showed up were Talkek and Rashad. This was Hamiltons first game since 2004 which was cool but he didnt play. I think i saw that over 7,000 people came out tonight. Shabazz, Wolf, Giffey, and RJ Evans also were in attendance.

 

[WillB4]

What did everyone else who went think? I thought it was a great time as always. One big piece missing though-JC. I thought this was the most competitive charity game ever and the sudden death OT added a lot more intensity. I was standing courtside for that along with most of the crowd and you could tell those guys were playing to win. I noticed Jeff Adrien a couple of times complaining to the refs about some no calls. My favorite parts of the game were being able to watch the guys who played at the same time paired up on the same team again tonight. For example the starting lineup for the white team was Kemba, Dyson, AJ, Hasheem and Edwards...all from the 08-09 final four team. One negative would be the lack of representation from the 2004 team. The only players who showed up were Talkek and Rashad. This was Hamiltons first game since 2004 which was cool but he didnt play. I think i saw that over 7,000 people came out tonight. Shabazz, Wolf, Giffey, and RJ Evans also were in attendance.

It was fun! Where else would you get Kemba vs. Rudy for the last shot and have the entire place standing and screaming. An exhibition/ charity game no less. Great stuff.

 

[UConnSwag11]

i went with my little cousin and we had a great time, got a bunch of autographs, missed kemba and rudys... was bummed Rip and stix didnt come out for autographs but it is what it is... Gav seemed to sign every single persons autograph and took pictures with everyone even out on the casino floor and thabeet did the same thing minus the casino floor. Was so impressed with Talieks play, that guy hasnt missed a beat and hopefully he can come back and teach the future pgs some day... Glad to see Rip came out and that stix is recovering from his surgery... Aj seemed really into it especially coming out in the second half... Wouldve like to see more from the 04 team as well or 06 but it was a great time none the less

 

[uconndennis]

I enjoyed it as usual. They were going after it at the end, it was great to see.

Some of my thoughts:
I thought the guards were great...Kemba is a flat-out beast. Taliek can still play as pointed out above....and Dyson was into it.
Rashad was 4-19 for 3. It was funny to see that every time he touched the ball, he was firing it up
Rudy is just awesome, even in this half speed format....and he has certainly hit the weight room. Looked like a man out there. I hadn't seen him up close in years( not counting TV).
I wish Ray and Rip would have played for a few minutes, but it was good to see them there anyhow.
I thought it was interesting that during every time-out.....Ray would shoot free-throws with the kids, talk to the refs, or just wander...never stayed in the huddle at the bench. Maybe it was just his way of making sure everyone saw him...who knows.
Even with the collection of guys that showed up, there were still plenty that couldn't/didnt that I wished could have. Emeka, Ben, Charlie, Caron, and El-Amin to name a few.
Good to see Coach Ollie address the crowd (with Blaney)
There were maybe 5 guys from South Carolina directly behind me, they seemed to be big donors perhaps, they were having loud conversations from Row 3 with Blaney on a few occasions.....for some reason, they hated Ed Nelson...literally screaming at him from 10 feet away at a charity game...thought it was a little weird.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

There were maybe 5 guys from South Carolina directly behind me, they seemed to be big donors perhaps, they were having loud conversations from Row 3 with Blaney on a few occasions.....for some reason, they hated Ed Nelson...literally screaming at him from 10 feet away at a charity game...thought it was a little weird.

Maybe Ed was singing on the bench.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Are the rosters of who showed up available anywhere?

Couldn't tell from the twit pic, but pretty sure saw Ricky & Lyman. Besides Taliek, who was in-shape, out of shape? Any totally random attendees such as a Uri Cohen Mintz sighting?