Favorite Non Connecticut Team and/or Player | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Favorite Non Connecticut Team and/or Player

FSU - Otto Petty, King, Royals
ND - Shumate, Dantley, Brokaw
Memphis State - Larry Kenon, Finch
Jacksonville - Gilmore, Burroughs, Morgan
PC - Hassett, Eason, Campbell
NC State - Thompson, Burleson, Towe
Marquette - Ellis, Tatum, Lee
URI - Owens, Garrick, Green
BC - Murphy, Adams, McCready, Clark
Kenny Green led the nation in blocks his senior year. That URI squad was a great all around team.
 
I'll surprise people and not pick a Kansas team.

Favorite for me was Loyola Marymount 1989-90. Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble. Just a run and gun scoring machine. I really liked that UNLV team they eventually lost to as well.

I also did really enjoy the 1991-92 Kansas team that lost to UNC in the Final Four. Special for me because I went to every home game that year, my first in Lawrence. Rex Walters, Richard Scott, Greg Ostertag, Adonis Jordan.

Lastly, the Houston teams with Drexler and Olajuwon. They were incredible to watch.
 
Paul Pierce and it's not close. Trying not to take anything away from 'Zona (That was a great game), but they should have won it all in '97.

How do you lose with Vaughn Haas, Pierce, Lafrenz, and Pollard?
 
Paul Pierce and it's not close. Trying not to take anything away from 'Zona (That was a great game), but they should have won it all in '97.

How do you lose with Vaughn Haas, Pierce, Lafrenz, and Pollard?

Ugh. That team had no business not winning a title.
 

Not that the regional final loss to Duke in '90 wasn't painful for so many reasons, but I was really looking forward to the Dream Team getting their shot at UNLV in the Final Four. I thought the key to UNLV's success was LJ and Augmon just killing other teams with strength and athleticism, and was looking forward to see if Burrell could negate Augmon's athleticism and Henefeld could deal with LJ's strength.
 
I know at this point it's not quite as fashionable as it was maybe 10 years ago, but I still really like Gonzaga and enjoy watching them play.

The first year I really remember noticing them was 03-04, when they went about 27-2 and got a 2 seed (then promptly got upset in Ro32, of course, that tourney would be remembered for other reasons, too). Then of course, the Adam Morrison years were fun, and an affinity was born. Wish they'd beaten the cheaters in 2017. I'd love to see them break through and finally climb that mountain some time soon, unless it would be at our expense; maybe this year?

Oddly enough I did not know about the connection between UConn and the inception of Gonzaga's ascendance until much later, maybe around 2010. I was still too young to comprehend the 1999 team at the time (I was 3-4 years old), but found the link between the two teams an additional reason to be partial to the Zags.

Plus, for a young kid, "Gonzaga" was just fun to say!
 
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Ugh. That team had no business not winning a title.
That team made Roy Williams an enemy for life for me.

Of course there is the academic fraud, but he is most responsible for me rooting against UNC in neutral games prior to the Big East Collapse...except for Duke. After 2003, I wanted either Cameron or the DeanDome to catch fire. Now I want every ACC arena to catch on fire.
 
I liked the Michigan final four team in 2013.

If you look at their roster it was extremely talented and probably a little overlooked at the time.
Trey Burke
Tim Hardaway jr
Glenn Robinson jr.
Nik Stauskas
Mitch McGary (what happened to him)?

and the best player who didn't play much on this team became Caris LeVert
 
In general: Michigan and Gonzaga. Michigan is always fun to watch, and a few buddies at work are big fans. Zags always put together a good team, and alwaaayys come so close but can never seem to clinch it in march. If it isn't us i'd really like to see them win a natty in '21.

Also F Cuse.
 
chris webber, jay williams, blake griffin, and the guy who averaged 26 and 11 as a freshman, KD.
 
Wayne Gretzky was the first dominating athlete ever I saw that didn't dominate by athleticism. He was NOT bigger and stronger than other players. Nor was he the fastest or quickest guy on the ice. He didn't have the hardest shot.

He was simply smarter and more skilled than those around him. That made him unstoppable. He played the game in the future while other players were confined to the present.

The first UConn opponent that I saw who had some of what Gretzky has was Malik Sealy form St Johns. Obviously Sealy was nowhere near the Gretzky level. But he was so smooth. The game was so easy for him. I would watch him and wish the Huskies could have a guy like that. And we eventually did when Ray Allen came down the heavens.
 
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ND - Shumate, Dantley, Brokaw
Memphis State - Larry Kenon, Finch
Jacksonville - Gilmore, Burroughs, Morgan
PC - Hassett, Eason, Campbell
NC State - Thompson, Burleson, Towe
This is the kind of answer that could inspire me to do similarly. These bring back clear memories.
 
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Paul Pierce and it's not close. Trying not to take anything away from 'Zona (That was a great game), but they should have won it all in '97.

How do you lose with Vaughn Haas, Pierce, Lafrenz, and Pollard?

And yet Dickie V' sMt Rushmore has Roy Williams on it who has been as blessed as any coach with the best talent available year in year out for most of his career. JC is SO much of a better coach than Roy Williams it's not even close.
 
Never Nervous Pervis at Louisville
Reggie Williams and David Wingate at Georgetown
Phi Slamma Jamma at Houston- Dream, Clyde, Michael Young, Benny Anders, Alvin Franklin
Larry Johnson and Sticks Augmen at UNLV
Big Fundamental Timmy D and Randolph Childress at Wake
Waymon Tisdale at Oklahoma
Jerome Lane at Pitt
Glen Rice Michigan

I'm sure there will be several others mentioned in this thread but off the top of my head those are a few.

Reality is after UConn Dream Season interest in those outside of the Huskies became much less.

We must be the same age. This is basically dead on for me, maybe take out the Wake guys and substitute Armon Hammer and Anderson Hunt for UNLV. There are a few more to add: Lowell Hamilton, Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, etc from that Illinois team of jumping jacks, Keith Gatling from Maryland, Derrick Chievous from Mizzou, Mel Turpin from Ky, Baskerville Holmes, Keith Lee and Andre Turner from Memphis St.

But like you say, Wingate/Williams, Tisdale, Jerome Lane...those are the absolutely the guys I wanted to be when I was a youngster.
 
Wayne Gretzky was the first dominating athlete ever I saw that didn't dominate by athleticism. He was NOT bigger and stronger than other players. Nor was he the fastest or quickest guy on the ice. He didn't have the hardest shot.

He was simply smarter and more skilled than those around him. That made him unstoppable. He played the game in the future while other players were confined to the present.

The first UConn opponent that I saw who had some of what Gretzky has was Malik Sealy form St Johns. Obviously Sealy was nowhere near the Gretzky level. But he was so smooth. The game was so easy for him. I would watch him and wish the Huskies could have a guy like that. And we eventually did when Ray Allen came down the heavens.
I remember him having a run of game-winning shots and a tragic, early death. Because he was slender, I think more of Rip than Ray.
 
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This is the kind of answer that could inspire me to do similarly. These bring back clear memories.

You know what's funny is when I was scraping the driveway at home honing my shooting skills in the winter it all started with the likes of Howard Porter, Jim McDaniel, Rex Morgan, Larry Kenon, Pistol Pete, Ernie D, David Thompson, Adrian Dantley and our own Poughkeepsie Popper, Cal Chapman, Jimmy Foster, Al Vaughn, Bobby Boyd and Staak.

Thats's where college hoops started for me.
 
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Loyola Marymount ca. 1990.

They have several games up on YouTube. If you're a fan of wild, woolly, high scoring action, then you can't get much better.
had a nice little 30 for 30 ESPN about their coach and that run and gun philosophy he lived and died by. Entertaining as anything and after the death of Gathers hard to not root for them in the tourney
 
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had a nice little 30 for 30 ESPN about their coach and that run and gun philosophy he lived and died by. Entertaining as anything and after the death of Gathers hard to not root for them in the tourney
Paul Westphal passed away 1 month ago, he was a true basketball innovator.
 
Rooted hard for all the original BE teams in the dance before the dream season. I still root for any New England team outside of BC that makes the tourney. Loved that Vermont team that beat Cuse.
 
Wayne Gretzky was the first dominating athlete ever I saw that didn't dominate by athleticism. He was NOT bigger and stronger than other players. Nor was he the fastest or quickest guy on the ice. He didn't have the hardest shot.

He was simply smarter and more skilled than those around him. That made him unstoppable. He played the game in the future while other players were confined to the present.

The first UConn opponent that I saw who had some of what Gretzky has was Malik Sealy form St Johns. Obviously Sealy was nowhere near the Gretzky level. But he was so smooth. The game was so easy for him. I would watch him and wish the Huskies could have a guy like that. And we eventually did when Ray Allen came down the heavens.
WG always seemed to be in the right place/right time. When asked how he was able to do this so effectively. He said. he said he tried to be (visualize) where the puck was going to be. Not where it was at that moment.

The hockey equivalent of BB court vision.
 
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Marques Johnson - Always a big UCLA fan.
Adrian Dantley
John Bagley - Probably my favorite player because he was local and just his creativity for a guy who was slow and couldn't jump. Players today should watch tape of him.
Chris Jackson - LSU
Pearl Washington
 
Paul Westphal passed away 1 month ago, he was a true basketball innovator.
May be so, but Paul Westhead coached the Kimball/Gathers LMU team.

"The System" not only consistently reached 100 points in a 40 minute college game, they averaged over 100 for three straight seasons and set a PPG record. Pretty remarkable considering the shot clock was 45 seconds.

According to the 30 for 30, the goal would be to get a shot up within 7 seconds of inbounding the ball or gaining possession.
 
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Loved watching the Fab Five and UNLV in the late 80's-early 90's and definitely Jason Williams throwing unnecessary behind the back passes at UF. Rex Chapman at KY, JR Reid and Jeff Lebo at UNC come to mind also.

Constantin Popa was always a favorite of mine for whatever reason. He looked so lost on the court his first year at Miami I almost felt bad for him. But he ended up becoming a pretty good player in the years following.

Edit: Shaq at LSU was must see TV also.
 
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I forgot about Vin Baker. He was definitely a local favorite.
Went to an early season UConn/Hartford game when he was a junior. Absolutely torched us in the first half. He didn't have much help so the Huskies ran away with it but he was the best player on the court at the time.
 
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