Christain Vital Tweet

[HuskyBballFan]

I guess the brief way of saying all of that is that RA got the fruits of the heart of UConn's glory, whereas CV(2) got the detritus of our lowest time. Comparison of the two is inherently unfair.

Rashad Anderson was good enough to start, or play starters' minutes, on arguably the two most ridiculously talented UConn rosters in history.

Christian Vital is good enough to start at UConn now, while we're in the midst of our worst stretch in 30 years.

I'm sorry, but CV would not play a second on the 2004 team. If he were on the 2006 team, MAYBE he'd get to fight with freshman-year Craig Austrie over the backup point guard scraps....and if not for the unfortunate start to AJ Price's college career, those minutes wouldn't have been available either.

 

[tzznandrew]

You've been here a while was it always like this? The threads right now are the hottest of takes.

It wasn't always like this, and least I don't think so. I mean, the game chats were always full of garbage Change started maybe around 2012 or so.

 

[Crank]

Rashad Anderson was good enough to start, or play starters' minutes, on arguably the two most ridiculously talented UConn rosters in history.

Both of those teams had the massive luxury of being able to carry RA as a starter, or for starter minutes, because those teams were, in fact, so incredibly stacked.
Said differently, when you've got Emeka Okafor and Josh Boone rebounding, and Denham Brown and Ben Gordon bombing from outside, you can carry a guy whose only Top-D-1 skill was 3 point shooting.

It is very likely true that CV could never had started or been a 6th man on 04 or 06. But that doesn't answer the question, "who is better, CV or RA?" That answers the question, "which guy was better for that team?"

Does anybody think that, if you put RA as a shooting guard on the last 3 teams that he shoots anywhere near as well as he did with 04 and 06 guys? Of course not. If you put RA on the last three teams and you ask him to do what CV did, people would be calling RA a bum, because his 3pt shooting would be lower and he'd be a bigger turnover machine than CV ever was, minus the rebounding and relentless defense.

Not a rip on RA. Like I said - guy is a legend because he was perfect place, perfect time and had the stones. That's not we UConn needed the last 3 seasons.

CV has been awesome, given the trash he's had to work with.

 

[selles]

Rashad Anderson was good enough to start, or play starters' minutes, on arguably the two most ridiculously talented UConn rosters in history.

Christian Vital is good enough to start at UConn now, while we're in the midst of our worst stretch in 30 years.

I'm sorry, but CV would not play a second on the 2004 team. If he were on the 2006 team, MAYBE he'd get to fight with freshman-year Craig Austrie over the backup point guard scraps....and if not for the unfortunate start to AJ Price's college career, those minutes wouldn't have been available either.

Vital would have brought value to the 2006 team. That team lacked a smaller guard capable of chasing around other small guards on defense. Vital would have brought that piece and gotten some run when the situation dictated.

 

[UCfor3]

It's all in the nuance of the opinion and how you state it. It's one thing to say "I think this coach, while he has been pretty successful, is a little overrated in my opnion and here's why." It's another thing when someone says the national player of the year is mostly just an athlete and isn't all that great a basketball player despite all evidence to the contrary. The first thing usually and hopefully prompts a discussion. The second thing prompts a reaction, which is probably what it was designed for. We could all probably be a little less dismissive of others somewhat benign opinions that we might not agree with but over the top outrageous opinions usually provoke equally outrageous reactions.

 

[McLovin]

I don't see the point of arguing whether CV is as good as any past player or what type of roles he would have had on any past team. That is all speculation and whatever stats are used for either side of the argument can't be compared apples to apples. Offensive schemes and players' roles within those schemes has changed so much over the past 10 years.

Regardless if he stays or goes, I think it is fair to say it won't have much of an impact on the outcome of next season. It is a team sport. It takes a very special type of player (Kemba / Shabazz) to materially impact the results of the entire season. Obviously everyone on here knows that CV isn't going to be that guy, nor have there ever been expectations for that during his UConn tenure.

Why don't we all just take a deep breath and realize that CV loves UConn and our fans. Let's show him that same respect. And if he does return next year, regardless of his role on the team, we should support him and hope he has a chance to finally be part of a winning team (and just maybe a chance to play in the post season).

 

[superjohn]

Both of those teams had the massive luxury of being able to carry RA as a starter, or for starter minutes, because those teams were, in fact, so incredibly stacked.
Said differently, when you've got Emeka Okafor and Josh Boone rebounding, and Denham Brown and Ben Gordon bombing from outside, you can carry a guy whose only Top-D-1 skill was 3 point shooting.

It is very likely true that CV could never had started or been a 6th man on 04 or 06. But that doesn't answer the question, "who is better, CV or RA?" That answers the question, "which guy was better for that team?"

Does anybody think that, if you put RA as a shooting guard on the last 3 teams that he shoots anywhere near as well as he did with 04 and 06 guys? Of course not. If you put RA on the last three teams and you ask him to do what CV did, people would be calling RA a bum, because his 3pt shooting would be lower and he'd be a bigger turnover machine than CV ever was, minus the rebounding and relentless defense.

Not a rip on RA. Like I said - guy is a legend because he was perfect place, perfect time and had the stones. That's not we UConn needed the last 3 seasons.

CV has been awesome, given the trash he's had to work with.

There is so much wrong in here I don't even know where to begin. You're making it out like Rashad lucked into the perfect situation, he was the 24th best recruit in the country and could have played anywhere. He was primarily a three point shooter here because that's the role Calhoun wanted for him on a championship winning team. He was doing way more off the dribble the following season before he got staph and his season and UConn's season was derailed. Rashad would average 20 for us these days.

You're saying it's likely true Vital wouldn't have started on that team or been the 6th man, no s^^t. Charlie V, Denham Brown, Hilton Armstrong, and Marcus Williams (before ineligibility) came off the bench for that team. Only chance Vital could have gotten a few minutes in '06 is because of AJ not playing and us scrambling to find Austrie but ballhandling is a weakness for Vital. Rashad is a far better player than Christian.

 

[8893]

Vital reminds me more of Donyell.

 

[freescooter]

I honestly don’t get where some of these guys get the idea that they are NBA ready, or where their “people” get it. Sometimes you wonder if they ever have watched an NBA game.

 

[Towney007]

There wasn't a single, NBA caliber player on our roster this year.

Next year? We'll have some guys with a real shot.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Not sure how this thread got "off the rails" so fast. If CV is back the team will be better, full stop. If he works hard this summer he has the chance to surprise a lot of people. I'm taking the optimistic side and hoping that his game gets better, then we can reopen the RA vs CV rants.

 

[Crank]

Rashad . . . was the 24th best recruit in the country and could have played anywhere. He was primarily a three point shooter here because that's the role Calhoun wanted for him on a championship winning team.

You still maintain that I'm being silly?
Do you think his HS ranking is relevant to the discussion? Very relevant? You've brought it up at least twice.
Is his NBA draft position (undrafted, iirc) relevant? You haven't mentioned that.

He was primarily a three point shooter here because that's the role Calhoun wanted for him on a championship winning team.

This is like saying, Tacko Fall is mainly plays inside, because that's the role the coach wants for him.

Rashad was a great 3 point shooter, and our best ever clutch shooter. Hands down.
But the guy had mittens on, didn't create for anybody else, and was slow on D.
I remember one Calhoun story where he said he had a player come off the court and ask to be switched off a guy, saying, "he's too fast for me coach." JC said he never had a guy say that to him. I think that was RA.
I also remember Calhoun saying once, about a guy, "he didn't get one rebound. How can you play a full game and not get one rebound." Might have been RIP, but it could have been RA.

Point is, RA was what he was. Calhoun certainly didn't tell him, "go out there and don't assist or rebound, your "role here is primarily as a 3 point shooter.""

His last year he averaged 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.

If we are all to believe your scorching take, we'd have to believe that JC was willing to take any chance RA had of making the league and flush it down the toilet.

You are a trench digger.

 

[superjohn]

You still maintain that I'm being silly?
Do you think his HS ranking is relevant to the discussion? Very relevant? You've brought it up at least twice.
Is his NBA draft position (undrafted, iirc) relevant? You haven't mentioned that.

This is like saying, Tacko Fall is mainly plays inside, because that's the role the coach wants for him.

Rashad was a great 3 point shooter, and our best ever clutch shooter. Hands down.
But the guy had mittens on, didn't create for anybody else, and was slow on D.
I remember one Calhoun story where he said he had a player come off the court and ask to be switched off a guy, saying, "he's too fast for me coach." JC said he never had a guy say that to him. I think that was RA.
I also remember Calhoun saying once, about a guy, "he didn't get one rebound. How can you play a full game and not get one rebound." Might have been RIP, but it could have been RA.

Point is, RA was what he was. Calhoun certainly didn't tell him, "go out there and don't assist or rebound, your "role here is primarily as a 3 point shooter.""

His last year he averaged 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.

If we are all to believe your scorching take, we'd have to believe that JC was willing to take any chance RA had of making the league and flush it down the toilet.

You are a trench digger.

You're arguing Vital is better than Rashad, sorry you're offended people think it's stupid.

You win, Vital is better than Rashad because he put up better #'s on a team that's gone 46-52 overall while playing in the AAC.

 

[johnhuskies95]

This thread has turned into a Vital bashing of sorts because of a throwaway comment comparing him to Rashad. Vital is a good college player and valuable on both offense and defense. Whether or not he would play for a national championship team is irrelevant considering we're not winning a national championship next year anyway. The biggest goal is to make the tournament and in my opinion he's definitely good enough to start for a tournament team.

 

[Fishy]

If we’re comparing players from that era, CV is more Denham Brown than Rashad. I do agree CV has turned into an excellent shooter.

Denham and Rashad were both better players than Vital. Vital would not have seen the court on those UConn teams.

Back to the original post....how do we know Christian wasn’t talking about cleaning his dorm room or finishing a project or reorganizing his sock drawer?

Don’t follow these players on social media.

 

[UCfor3]

This is tame. You really want to heat things up, start up that age old Enosch Wolf vs Justin Brown argument. It's a battle as old as time that really gets a bee in everyones bonnet.

 

[Northbound]

You want as many CV’s in the program as you can get. Guys that care about winning games, guys with some fight in them, guus willing to battle - may not win them all but with guys like that you've got a chance.

We’ve got guys in a college program (different sport and different division) where im an assistant that could care less about W’s and L’s. They care more about where we eating after the game than the game itself. Im a new coach there two years and changing culture is extremely difficult. I told them the other day you should say “sandwiches” instrad of “family” when you break a huddle - its more appropriate.

Sorry i digress - slipped into a therapy session for a moment.

 

[intlzncster]

Do you view all people who disagree with you as silly? Or just the ones here?
Rashad was, basically, a one-trick pony. He was masterful at that one trick. And it worked exactly when we needed it to. But Rashad had serious deficiencies in his game that were covered up by the fact that he played with wall to wall studs.

But Rashad is a hero (mine too!), and it's impossible to get "non-silly" people to objectively assess their heroes! Enjoy!

We don't know what he could have become were he forced to be the man, especially early in his career. He probably would have looked like a totally different player.

I was busting his chops earlier in the thread a little, but that was in comparison to his NBA teammates.

He had more tools to work with than CV. His role was just different.

 

[intlzncster]

I used to think there was better basketball talk here than the other college bball boards, that's definitely changed.

It's hard to have quality basketball talk when there's such a poor product on the floor. I think the level of discussion will be raised as the product on the floor becomes better. Some good posters don't feel like participating when it's such a mess, while on top of that, dealing with 3/4 of the people bitching.

 

[Urjetsfan]

Who cares whether RA was better than CV. The point is, CV may coming back at a pivotal time in UCONN history.

 

[pj]

It's a dumb comparison, Vital isn't good enough to play on those teams. Rashad was a starter and played the role of knock down shooter, championship winning teams often have guys who fill roles and are great at those roles. Vital is a jack of all trades player for the worst stretch at UConn in 35 years. He plays hard but he was never meant to start at a program like UConn and it shows how far we've fallen.

Rashad never played more than 25.6 minutes per game and in his senior year he started exactly zero games. In no season did he start more than 15. It wasn't like he was losing his starting position to an NBA player either, Denham Brown generally started over Rashad all four years, and played more minutes. Denham was a very mechanical player with no chance at the NBA. I don't get the Rashad love in this thread.

 

[8893]

It's hard to have quality basketball talk when there's such a poor product on the floor. I think the level of discussion will be raised as the product on the floor becomes better. Some good posters don't feel like participating when it's such a mess, while on top of that, dealing with 3/4 of the people bitching.

So you’re saying it’s KO’s fault?

 

[MDHuskFan]

I think CV is more of a best of version of Kemba, Ray, Rip & Emeka rolled into one

 

[Son of Robert]

Christian has gotten better each year with the most notable improvement being this past year with Hurley and his staff. I'll wager that next year he will be even better. He has definitely shown the ability to visibly improve his overall playing year to year, individually and in team play, and even his decision making on the floor, although not without fault, has improved dramatically. If Christian tightens his handle, works on his midrange scoring, and moving without the ball, he will be even more effective and be a Vital part of our offense next season (see what I did there). I for one am seriously enthused that CV is returning, bringing his senior leadership, solid guard play, and lead by example effort to the 2019-2020 UConn Huskies. CV will help us win games next year.

No doubt about it.

 

[superjohn]

Rashad never played more than 25.6 minutes per game and in his senior year he started exactly zero games. In no season did he start more than 15. It wasn't like he was losing his starting position to an NBA player either, Denham Brown started over Rashad in his senior year, Denham was a very mechanical player with no chance at the NBA. I don't get the Rashad love in this thread.

Oh boy....Do you think Christian is better than Denham? Do you think Christian has a chance at the NBA?

Rashad's senior year he was the second leading scorer on a team with 5 players who played in the NBA.