ESPN Ranks all 75 NCAA National Championship teams

[conn man]

Anderson and Gordon outscored Alabama 40-29 in the first half - by themselves. Okafor only played three minutes to start the second half and then took the rest of the game off....they just beat Bama to death.

Really lol ...He was so dominant in the first, I guess it felt like he played both halves.

 

[superjohn]

There was a possession in the first half where Bama looked like they had an easy layup I think Okafor blocked them 4 times in a row at the rim.

 

[dsturdy5]

The 04 team when fully healthy and engaged was a wrecking crew, without Oak getting called for 2 bogus fouls at the start of the Duke game we would have ran them out of the building, we demolished everyone else that tournament, The 99 team lost to Syracuse when Rip and Jake were out, not positive on this but I think Jake was out for the Miami loss too, that team had a very good chance of going undefeated with a full lineup. It was ridiculous that Duke was a 10 point favorite in the title game, I told anyone that would listen that we were going to beat them.

I believe Jake got hurt during the Miami game. I can still see the final play and wonder if Jake were there to take up space and set a better screen if UConn wouldn't have won.


As for 04, there were precious few games where they played well and lost...I recall a game at UNC. That might be it. Just a loaded team that could beat you in about a hundred different ways.

 

[zls44]

There was a possession in the first half where Bama looked like they had an easy layup I think Okafor blocked them 4 times in a row at the rim.

Blocked a guy twice on the same sequence- once with each hand.

 

[conn man]

The look on Mark Gottfried's face during that game was priceless.

 

[dsturdy5]

Blocked a guy twice on the same sequence- once with each hand.

Probably my all time favorite defensive play...especially when he switched hands that he was going to block him with.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Probably my all time favorite defensive play...especially when he switched hands that he was going to block him with.

Yes, that play was amazing.....a thing of beauty.

 

[ctchamps]

The sad thing is if Duke won in 99 that team would have been listed in the top ten by ESPN.

So duck ESPN, duck the NCAA, duck the BE, duck Emmert, duck JH, duck AO, duck the injuries to SN this year and last, duck Pitt and Cuse, duck the C7, duck ND and duck it that I can't have sex with my wife for 8 wks while she heals which is why I'm doing all this ducking stuff on the internet with a bunch of anonymous men.

It's a good thing I'm in a good mood today after hearing her pathology report, otherwise I'd be ducking up a storm!

 

[superjohn]

They looked like an nba team.

 

[Horatio]

I love Ricky Moore also and I know what he did but we cant sit here and act like Taliek had regular , get to the basket, foot speed. He was a blur at times.It's all debatable . The 2004 edge might be there NBA post players . All those guys went pro. You can argue that the 12 ? Point outburst that Ricky Moore got against Duke in 99 might've landed in the consessions stands against the 2004 team.

Your right. 99 has the mental toughness edge. As far as the Langdon play is concerned we as Uconn fans need to be honest - It was a classic stop by Moore but Langdon has zero ball handling skills. Lets be honest people.[/quote]

 

[TheChamps990411]

I love Ricky Moore also and I know what he did but we cant sit here and act like Taliek had regular , get to the basket, foot speed. He was a blur at times.It's all debatable . The 2004 edge might be there NBA post players . All those guys went pro. You can argue that the 12 ? Point outburst that Ricky Moore got against Duke in 99 might've landed in the consessions stands against the 2004 team.

Your right. 99 has the mental toughness edge. As far as the Langdon play is concerned we as Uconn fans need to be honest - It was a classic stop by Moore but Langdon has zero ball handling skills. Lets be honest people.

[/quote]

i believe ricky held iverson to 13 points in a game. no one was quicker than iverson.

 

[TheChamps990411]

the 04` became dominant after ok4 got healthy and rashad got into the starting lineup. im not sure if we even lost a game after that happened. i just remember the team just taking off.

 

[Horatio]

i believe ricky held iverson to 13 points in a game. no one was quicker than iverson.[/quote]

I know. I know. He showed Ricky's defense the respect it deserved also. I'm just saying that Langdon has no handle and when Taliek decided he was going to the basket it was a blur. Lets not honor Ricky and totally dismiss Talieks quickness people.

 

[Gurleyman]

Oak suffered a stinger against Alabama. At that point, we were crossing our fingers he could make it to the finish line in one piece. The 2004 team also lost two games right after Ben broke his nose and was not himself (UNC and PC in the Gomes game) - and the finale against Cuse when Oak's back flared up again (causing him to miss the first two rounds of the BET).

I've given the 1999 team the edge over the years in the hypothetical matchup for one reason. Ben was really the guy that 2004 went to when they needed a bucket. The 1999 team had Ricky. Rip was the guy 1999 went to. The 2004 team didn't have a guy who could stay with him. Neither Rashad nor Denham could have chased him around.

 

[traitor71]

They lost most of those games, though, when Okafor was gimpy. I saw one game at MSG against Georgia Tech. When Okafor wasn't in there, they didn't look the same. Tech beat them. Just like Okafor in the F4 against Duke had maybe a +15.

Who was the guy that used to post about Okafor's back throughout that season? It was just all gloom and doom from that guy as I remember.

 

[Horatio]

Oak suffered a stinger against Alabama. At that point, we were crossing our fingers he could make it to the finish line in one piece. The 2004 team also lost two games right after Ben broke his nose and was not himself (UNC and PC in the Gomes game) - and the finale against Cuse when Oak's back flared up again (causing him to miss the first two rounds of the BET).

I've given the 1999 team the edge over the years in the hypothetical matchup for one reason. Ben was really the guy that 2004 went to when they needed a bucket. The 1999 team had Ricky. Rip was the guy 1999 went to. The 2004 team didn't have a guy who could stay with him. Neither Rashad nor Denham could have chased him around.

Yes Rip would've had about 30 pts. but we can't forget about Oak , Boone , Hilton and CV vs Jake , Wane , Edmond and Kevin. That's pro post players vs. good college guys.

 

[Jerry1714]

I was at the Georgia Tech game too, think it was the first game of the season, we all drove back to CT. pissed but we all still felt confident we would win it all.

It was the 4th game of the year

 

[Dogdeacon]

Put me down for 1999. Great and talented as 2004 was no one has mentioned that they effectively built upon and were buoyed by the success of the 1999 team and national championship. The 1999 team got it dobe with the pressure of never having won it. Unknown if 04 would have been able to get that first one, but 99 did = toughness edge to 1999.

Incidentally, granted many 04ers are still playing but no coincidence that we see an awful lot of 1999 on the sidelines these days.

 

[uconnfan68]

I think the fact that the final against butler was such an ugly game for everybody except UCONN to watch hurt us there.

And they blame us because Butler couldn't shoot. That game would have been #1 if Butler won it.

 

[upstater]

And they blame us because Butler couldn't shoot. That game would have been #1 if Butler won it.

Zona and Kentucky were hot shooting before they played UConn, and then they went 30% on FGs. So UConn's D had a lot to do with Butler's shooting.

As for UConn shooting, the starting lineup had 2 fouls and didn't play with 8 minutes left until the end. In the second half, they shot 50% until the final minute when they took the air out of the ball.

 

[Huskies0514]

Where do you think the 2014 team will be ranked?

 

[gtcam]

Are you serious? Ricky Moore was a GREAT on ball defender and he would have shut down Taliek and would have probably cut Ben's production in half. Ricky Moore as a senior was the best defender I ever saw wear a UConn uniform by a large margin. He was tough as nails and had a killer focus. It could be argued that he was MVP in the title game, as great as Rip was overall. He made a defensive stop on a really good offensive player all by himself to win the game for us. He played it absolutely perfectly and Langdon ended up traveling. Who could make a play like that on any of our teams since then? No one.

While '04 had the better overall talent, mainly in the person of Emeka, I could easily see '99 winning based on how mentally tough they were, as well as how well they played as a team. Jake would have played much better defense against Emeka than any of the Dookies.

you mean boatright isn't as good as ricky???? maybe ko should bring rm to help boat

 

[gtcam]

The elite 8 game against Alabama sticks out in my mind during that run. Mr Okafor invited more than half the Crimson Tide to his personal block party.

and rashad was lights out

 

[businesslawyer]

No.

Ricky Moore was a good on the ball defender but I can't see him keeping Taliek in front of him and Ben would give him fits.

No. Absolutely not. Ricky Moore could shut down any guard in the country. He was far, far better defensively than either Ben or Taliek offensively.

 

[7774]

I love Ricky Moore also and I know what he did but we cant sit here and act like Taliek had regular , get to the basket, foot speed. He was a blur at times.It's all debatable . The 2004 edge might be there NBA post players . All those guys went pro. You can argue that the 12 ? Point outburst that Ricky Moore got against Duke in 99 might've landed in the consessions stands against the 2004 team.

Your right. 99 has the mental toughness edge. As far as the Langdon play is concerned we as Uconn fans need to be honest - It was a classic stop by Moore but Langdon has zero ball handling skills. Lets be honest people.

You thinking Ricky Moore wouldn't be able to shut down Taliek Brown is one of the funniest things I've ever read on this board. First of all, Calhoun would never put Ricky on Taliek, that would be a waste. He would put him on Ben, and Ricky would make it very, very difficult for Taliek to even pass Ben the ball. As someone else mentioned in this thread, Ricky was a complete pain in the ass for Alan Iverson.

I love Taliek and think he got way more criticism than he ever deserved, but you would need to put his picture on the back of a milk carton if Ricky was guarding him.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Your right. 99 has the mental toughness edge. As far as the Langdon play is concerned we as Uconn fans need to be honest - It was a classic stop by Moore but Langdon has zero ball handling skills. Lets be honest people.

[/quote]

Yeah, but Ricky did that to many throughout his career, including Allen Iverson in the Big East Tournament during Ricky's frosh year. AI claimed after the game that he's "the only player in college basketball quick enough to guard me".

Ricky "cut the head off the dragon" and "removed the eye from the cyclops".

He would have given Ben Gordon fits on the 2004 team.

 

[Horatio]

You thinking Ricky Moore wouldn't be able to shut down Taliek Brown is one of the funniest things I've ever read on this board. First of all, Calhoun would never put Ricky on Taliek, that would be a waste. He would put him on Ben, and Ricky would make it very, very difficult for Taliek to even pass Ben the ball. As someone else mentioned in this thread, Ricky was a complete pain in the ass for Alan Iverson.

I love Taliek and think he got way more criticism than he ever deserved, but you would need to put his picture on the back of a milk carton if Ricky was guarding him.

Dude, people need to calm down. First of all I'm a fan so it's no need to get insultive people. If you read my first post on the thread I specifically said that Ricky Moore would have a hard "keeping Taliek in front of him". Again, I know Taliek wasn't a scorer but he was one of the quickest guys we had as far as dribbling and going to the hole with wreckless abandon , leading to an assist or a "and one" . Taliek at the point of a fast break was lethal . That's all.

 

[7774]

Dude, people need to calm down. First of all I'm a fan so it's no need to get insultive people. If you read my first post on the thread I specifically said that Ricky Moore would have a hard "keeping Taliek in front of him". Again, I know Taliek wasn't a scorer but he was one of the quickest guys we had as far as dribbling and going to the hole with wreckless abandon , leading to an assist or a "and one" . Taliek at the point of a fast break was lethal . That's all.

Sorry, didn't mean to insult you at all. We just disagree. Taliek was no real outside threat, so Ricky would be able to give him more space than normal and easily cut off all his driving angles. He would have no problem keeping Taliek in front on him in my opinion. Ricky could roll out of bed and keep guys like Taliek in front of him. He was amazing.

 

[jleves]

Dude, people need to calm down. First of all I'm a fan so it's no need to get insultive people. If you read my first post on the thread I specifically said that Ricky Moore would have a hard "keeping Taliek in front of him". Again, I know Taliek wasn't a scorer but he was one of the quickest guys we had as far as dribbling and going to the hole with wreckless abandon , leading to an assist or a "and one" . Taliek at the point of a fast break was lethal . That's all.

I don't think he was trying to insult you. Maybe you started watching after Ricky Moore. Maybe your perception is different than many of us. But Ricky shutdown everyone's best guard for years. Many of them better than Taliek, several at least as fast. He shut down scorers better than Ben. He just shut everyone down. It was a given going into a game that the other teams best guard would be around half their average with twice as many turns. No matter what he scored, he was worth at least 10 points on the defensive end.

I've always wondered what it would be like if Ricky could have played with Oak in their college primes. That would have been fun to see. No team shoots better than 30% against that duo.

 

[Horatio]

I don't think he was trying to insult you. Maybe you started watching after Ricky Moore. Maybe your perception is different than many of us. But Ricky shutdown everyone's best guard for years. Many of them better than Taliek, several at least as fast. He shut down scorers better than Ben. He just shut everyone down. It was a given going into a game that the other teams best guard would be around half their average with twice as many turns. No matter what he scored, he was worth at least 10 points on the defensive end.

I've always wondered what it would be like if Ricky could have played with Oak in their college primes. That would have been fun to see. No team shoots better than 30% against that duo.

Ok. It's all cool. But if Rick guards Ben then who guards Taliek. El Amin . I'll give 99 the advantage as far as having Ricks defense and Rips scoring. But 2004 had a height advantage and Pros in the post positions. I started watching during the NIT championship year. I used to visit friends at uconn when I was at WCSU. I was on campus when Tate hit the shot against Clemson.