duffy ranks top 20 calhoun players of all time

[husky99]

Kemba is 1st. Not a bad list. I really start following in 1997 so i do not know much about the earlier guys.

Ok4 and walker are the only uconn players that other teams changed for and feared/ truely took over games, in my opn

http://blog.ctnews.com/uconnbasketball/2012/09/21/top-20-players-in-the-calhoun-era/

 

[8893]

Kemba is 1st. Not a bad list. I really start following in 1997 so i do not know much about the earlier guys.

Ok4 and walker are the only uconn players that other teams changed for and feared/ truely took over games, in my opn

http://blog.ctnews.com/uconnbasketball/2012/09/21/top-20-players-in-the-calhoun-era/

I recall Donyell being insanely un-guardable and dominating for long stretches. He caused terrible mismatch problems. Too agile for true big men to handle; too tall for traditional wings on most teams to guard.

And I firmly believe we would have won our first NC if he could have hit ONE FOUL SHOT. Sorry, I still have bad flashbacks every time I think of how his UConn career ended.

 

[aceboon]

Don't know who I would have at #1 but I would put Rip, Emeka, and Ray over Kemba, wouldn't put Rudy over KEA either.

 

[Wise2]

Sheffer is too high and Thabeet (really?), yes he is tall and got drafted high, but he should be not be near the top 10. He sucked his first two years and he blocked a lot of shots becuase he was tall. Didn't rebound that well for his height and if it wasn't a dunk, couldn't make a basket. NO Ollie?

 

[Brochacho]

Thabeet was too soft to dunk.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Don't know who I would have at #1 but I would put Rip, Emeka, and Ray over Kemba, wouldn't put Rudy over KEA either.

You could throw the names of all 4 in a hat and it wouldn't matter the outcome. I have no problem with his top 4.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Sheffer is too high and Thabeet (really?), yes he is tall and got drafted high, but he should be not be near the top 10. He sucked his first two years and he blocked a lot of shots becuase he was tall. Didn't rebound that well for his height and if it wasn't a dunk, couldn't make a basket. NO Ollie?

Really?!! The dude nearly averaged 14, 11, and 4 on one of the program's 4 Final Four teams. Not to mention, a team with very balanced scoring. Sometimes I wonder if some of you started watching UConn hoops during the last 11 games of '10-'11.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Donyell was absolutely unstoppable. Well, the free throw line stopped him but if there was a draft and I could have any UCONN player in their collegiate prime I would take Donyell.

 

[The Funster]

I'd swap Tate and Thabeet. I'd swap KEA and Cliffy. #1 through #4 are awfully hard to separate and can vary depending on the day, IMO.

 

[CL82]

You need to define 'top' to nit pick these. I might have changed the order of 1 through 4, but I understand, and don't disagree with his thought process. Others are too high or too low imo. I may post my thoughts later but one comment is I don't think Josh belongs on this list.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

KEA should be higher. Rudy & Sheffer should be lower.

What will always irk me about Doron is that his three worst games as a Husky were tournament losses against Florida (he was worthless on the floor), UCLA (too many passes into the seats, too many bricks from the 3 pt line) and Miss St (did absolutely nothing offensively or defensively and when we closed to where the was a tiny bit of hope, he burned our last TO to make a comeback impossible.

 

[Fishy]

I like the list, but have to fail the entire project for not including Jake Voskuhl.

I would not have Josh Boone or Marcus Williams on my list. Rod Sellers and Jake can take those spots.

AJ is too high. Kevin Freeman is too low.

I could spend all day trying to put the top 7 in order and probably change my mind 5,000 times...those cats were really, really good.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Donyell was absolutely unstoppable. Well, the free throw line stopped him but if there was a draft and I could have any UCONN player in their collegiate prime I would take Donyell.

As good as Donyell was offensively, his presence as a defender (his arms were like plasticman) was every bit as valuable. I remember many blocks & deflected passes that the opponent never expected. I also remember many bad shots & bad passes by the opposition out of fear of his wingspan.

 

[nomar]

I don't understand why the guy who was the best player on the 1999 team, Ajou-Ajou Deng, is nowhere to be found. Also not pictured: Monquencio Hardnett, Marc Suhr, and Antric "If I Make This Next Shot My Field Goal Percentage will be 3%" Klaiber.

Anyway, I think I may agree with his top-5. I certainly don't have any problems with it.

I always feel like Donyell kinda gets a bad rap (aside from the FT misses, which were ugh). His FT misses and his somewhat pedestrian NBA career have made people forget just how ridiculous he was. He was the most "dominant" player in UConn history. Kemba would beat you. But Donyell would throw 30 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocks at you. Emeka was obviously more dominant defensively, as was Thabeet. But Donyell just killed it on both ends.

That said, can I move him ahead of Rip, Ray or Kemba? I don't think so. Can I move Rip ahead of Ray? Without the title, it's not even close. But he led our team to its first national title. So maybe.

Kemba, to me, is the clear #1. What he did is something I don't think we'll ever witness in college basketball as long as we live. Just incredible.

My other comments:

*KEA should be higher, probably #10 behind Cliff.

*I think Thabeet should be right behind him. Again, the fact that he's a bust makes people forget that other teams literally would not even try to go to the rim against us. They would take floaters and fadeaways, etc.

 

[Waquoit]

I'd swap Tate and Thabeet. I'd swap KEA and Cliffy. #1 through #4 are awfully hard to separate and can vary depending on the day, IMO.

I'm half with you. Swap KEA and Cliffy. One guy stepped up in the big spot while the other didn't. Tate is the Don Larson of UConn hoop. A good player that did something great in a huge spot. Thabeet led his team to the Final 4. That's a big deal. I remember when UConn held the record for most trips to the tournament without making a Final Four.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Kemba had the best, most incredible single season. His overall career was not as good as the other top few, IMHO. So, I would move him down a little based on that distinction.

I agree with Jake over Josh, would move KEA up some on general principles, and move Rudy down some.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

^^ I agree. If people were to go back and watch tape of the 2009 team, they would appreciate how much of an impact Thabeet had on both ends of the floor. The easy win @ Louisville (when they were #5 or so in the country) comes to mind immediately. Samardo Samuels got his first shot blocked by Thabeet and didn't even bother to look at the rim the rest of the game.

 

[Wise2]

Really?!! The dude nearly averaged 14, 11, and 4 on one of the program's 4 Final Four teams. Not to mention, a team with very balanced scoring. Sometimes I wonder if some of you started watching UConn hoops during the last 11 games of '10-'11.

OK, Yes, he had a good/great year, but it was one year. Are we talking about a career or best year. Most of the board was killing him is first two years. "For a big guy he falls down and can't get position to rebound", Can't score unless it a dunk and then when he's under the basket he don't dunk and misses a lay up or constantly doesn't go up strong and get hacked. Then he brinks the free throws. Yes, he improved his Jr. year to get drafted the 2nd pick in the NBA. But did he really have a better career or more impact than say Jeremy Lamb or Nadav Henefeld. I'd say without Henefeld, we don't have the dream season and that team doesn't put us on the map. I'm just not sure what the criteria for top 20 players? Just for hahas. Say he didn't get drafted until the second round, would he still be on this list?

 

[HuskyBballFan]

OK, Yes, he had a good/great year, but it was one year. Are we talking about a career or best year. Most of the board was killing him is first two years. "For a big guy he falls down and can't get position to rebound", Can't score unless it a dunk and then when he's under the basket he don't dunk and misses a lay up or constantly doesn't go up strong and get hacked. Then he brinks the free throws. Yes, he improved his Jr. year to get drafted the 2nd pick in the NBA. But did he really have a better career or more impact than say Jeremy Lamb or Nadav Henefeld. I'd say without Henefeld, we don't have the dream season and that team doesn't put us on the map. I'm just not sure what the criteria for top 20 players? Just for hahas. Say he didn't get drafted until the second round, would he still be on this list?

If you're going to use Thabeet's freshman and sophomore years against him, then there is no way that you can have Kemba as #1 on this list. Nobody was mistaking Kemba for an all-time great Uconn player his sophomore year.

 

[J-dog]

OK, Yes, he had a good/great year, but it was one year. Are we talking about a career or best year. Most of the board was killing him is first two years. "For a big guy he falls down and can't get position to rebound", Can't score unless it a dunk and then when he's under the basket he don't dunk and misses a lay up or constantly doesn't go up strong and get hacked. Then he brinks the free throws. Yes, he improved his Jr. year to get drafted the 2nd pick in the NBA. But did he really have a better career or more impact than say Jeremy Lamb or Nadav Henefeld. I'd say without Henefeld, we don't have the dream season and that team doesn't put us on the map. I'm just not sure what the criteria for top 20 players? Just for hahas. Say he didn't get drafted until the second round, would he still be on this list?

Agreed... Henefeld has to be on that list

 

[The Funster]

I'm half with you. Swap KEA and Cliffy. One guy stepped up in the big spot while the other didn't. Tate is the Don Larson of UConn hoop. A good player that did something great in a huge spot. Thabeet led his team to the Final 4. That's a big deal. I remember when UConn held the record for most trips to the tournament without making a Final Four.

I wouldn't move Tate up for The Shot. I'd move him up because he was the PG who helped start the UConn ascendency. JC has always had a special relationship with his PGs. This goes back to a point that Fishy made: what is meant by top? For me it's all about overall impact, tangible and intangible.

 

[Wise2]

21. Nadav Henefeld
22. Talik Brown
23. Jake Voshkul
24. Rashad Anderson
25. Kevin Ollie
26 Jeff Adrien
27. Rod Sellers
28. Donny Marshall
29. Charlie Villenueva
30. Travis Knight
31. Denham Brown
32. Rash Jones.
33. Hilton
34. Jerome Dyson
35. Albert Mouring
36. Ed Saunders
37. Kirk King
38. Jeff King
39. Phil Gamble
40. Shabazz
41. Tony Roberson
42. AO
43. Lyman Depriest
44. Gerry Besilink
45. Ed Saunders
46.




Go

 

[HuskyFan32]

LOVE seeing AJ at #11! Hes the most underrated player of the last 10 or 15 years in my opinion. Not really sure how hes ahead of Khalid tho, but I do love seeing that Duffy gave him props.

 

[Fishy]

OK, Yes, he had a good/great year, but it was one year. Are we talking about a career or best year. Most of the board was killing him is first two years.

Never judge anything by what this board thinks or says - most of these morons will be after Ollie if we don't beat Mount Saint Hooter College by 92 in early November.

This place is a raging cesspool of stupid.

Thabeet belongs.

But you bring up a great case for Henefeld. Was Henefeld better in one year than Lamb or Gay were in two?

You know, I think he was.

 

[ctchamps]

Liked the list. I would have had Taliek ahead of both Kevin and Marcus. I would have placed Jake and Rod ahead of Josh. And I would have had Nadav ahead of Rudy. Rod would be 21.