February - Other Big East Games

[Umami Zen]

He's a cocky little bastard. He's from Cumberland, RI. I watched him when he was a 6th and 7th grader in a local tournament at a school in Cumberland where I coached a girl's team. His dad was a Div 3 player, set some New England scoring record. I watched him play on his older brother's team vs a team of 9th graders from Providence. City kids vs suburban kids, and the little 7th grader Kolek dominated them all. He has moxie to spare. I wanted UConn to pursue him as a transfer. Only question back then was athleticism at this level.

Sounds like you would know.. Judging my comments based on watching him a few times this year and the on-court demeanor I observed in those games. Seems confident for sure.

 

[wheelerdog]

damn right. Which is why when Kalkbrenner was talking trash to Sanogo in that video about being preseason BEPOY I loved it and had no anger. Sure he looked bad after the fact when Sanogo destroyed him in Gampel, but I still loved it. Why? Because that kind of stuff builds up an exciting and entertaining rivalry and that is what I thought when listened to his statements. I simultaneously thought about the apathy and indifference of when UConn played the likes of Tulsa, Tulane, South Florida, and East Carolina-that is far worse than UConn fans being angry about being 0-5 vs Creighton at the time.

As others have said, I watch the other non-UConn Big East games whereas in the AAC I rarely watched non-UConn games unless it only involved Memphis, SMU, Houston, or Cincinnati and most UConn fans didn't even do that.

You hit the nail on the head. Apathy toward the AAC was burying the fan base.

 

[Billy Jack]

Providence has made the round of 32 twice in the last 25 years and hasn’t so much as sniffed a final four in almost 40 years. They have two [2] conference tournament championships in total. I would let them enjoy a tiny bit of conference regular season success - luck, foul discrepancies or otherwise.

Providence hasn’t sniffed a Final Four in almost 40 years? Is that a fact? Hmm . . .

Well, they went to a Final Four 36 years ago. They went to an Elite 8 in ‘97, which was 26 years ago, and lost to that year’s champions, Arizona, in OT. I’d certainly call that “sniffing a Final Four.” And last year it took national champs Kansas to knock PC out of the sweet 16 in a 5-point game, the closest anyone played KU until the actual championship game itself itself and a game in which PC held the lead with 5+ minutes to go. That was pretty close.

No need to disparage other conference mates. Save that for the chumps from the so-called P5.

 

[Umami Zen]

Providence hasn’t sniffed a Final Four in almost 40 years? Is that a fact? Hmm . . .

Well, they went to a Final Four 36 years ago. They went to an Elite 8 in ‘97, which was 26 years ago, and lost to that year’s champions, Arizona, in OT. I’d certainly call that “sniffing a Final Four.” And last year it took national champs Kansas to knock PC out of the sweet 16 in a 5-point game, the closest anyone played KU until the actual championship game itself itself and a game in which PC held the lead with 5+ minutes to go. That was pretty close.

No need to disparage other conference mates. Save that for the chumps from the so-called P5.

IIRC..Ernie D and Marvin made John Wooden a little nervous back in the day(Stone Age of CBB)

 

[UConnSwag11]

Well, PC certainly worked hard to get fouls called against Xavier at the end of the game so they could stop the clock and put Xavier on the line. They fouled 3 separate times and the refs refused to call the foul. Only on their 4th foul did the refs call it. So obvious that even the announcers commented on it. Cost PC 11 seconds when there were only 24 seconds left in the game.

Yeah, I heard that too. Tough break

PC should have never put the game in the hands of the officials. They wouldn't be complaining about the refs if they scored more points and allowed fewer.

 

[gsmooth]

You guys think you had it bad... When MU went to PC earlier this year the calls were crazy lopsided. PC hacks, bumps, etc and gets away with so much. MU tried to play tough back and got blasted by the refs. Final FT disparity was 49(!) to 19 during that game!

Yup I remember that game. That is why even though I thought UConn got the short end of what I thought were bad calls in the game at PC, it didn’t fully excuse them from their poor game because Marquette got screwed worse and still managed to get the game into double OT.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Providence hasn’t sniffed a Final Four in almost 40 years? Is that a fact? Hmm . . .

Well, they went to a Final Four 36 years ago.

Yeah, how silly of him to characterize 36 years as almost 40.

They went to an Elite 8 in ‘97, which was 26 years ago, and lost to that year’s champions, Arizona, in OT. I’d certainly call that “sniffing a Final Four.”

Perhaps it is merely semantics but an elite eight appearance (a quarter of a century ago by the way) isn't exactly sniffing a final four.

Since that elite eight appearance the following schools made their first final four appearances: Maryland (happened to win it all a year later), George Mason (that one was on us), Butler (twice), VCU, Gonzaga (also did it twice), Virginia (won it all), Auburn & Texas Tech. Additionally, Loyola Chicago (who by the way happen to have a national title in their past) made it to their first in nearly six decades. Oregon (who also happen to have a title in their past) made it to their first since before WWII, West Virginia made their first since the 1950's and Wichita St, made their first since the mid 1960's.

All things considered I think it's pretty safe to say his claim that "Providence hasn’t sniffed a Final Four in almost 40 years" is a pretty accurate statement.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Hopkins is a bigger version of Colin Gillespie and does the same thing Dixon and Daniels do for Nova.

Just ram your body and shoulder in to the defenders chest repeatedly and then put up a flailing shot hoping to draw a foul.

Plus, especially against X, Hopkins was going full LeBron waving his arms and complaining whenever he didn't get a call. Dixon at Nova is really annoying with that same behavior.

And it's kinda a shame. Hopkins is a lunch pail type of guy who brings it hard every second. Just wish he wasn't so YMCA with his back down game.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

IIRC..Ernie D and Marvin made John Wooden a little nervous back in the day(Stone Age of CBB)

Yeah, at least that's the stance every PC fan that was around at the time holds. The reality may be a bit different as that UCLA squad, with Walton, Larry Farmer, Wilkes, Lee, Hollyfield (Meyers, Nater, Curtis off the bench) was 75 games into the longest unbeaten streak ever (lasted nearly another year) and may have been the only one that could have knocked off the Kareem (Lew Alcindor), Shackleford, Allen, Warren Bruins from a half dozen years earlier.

That was a tremendous PC squad, due to Barnes and Ernie D but Memphis St had an equal center/point guard due (Larry Kenon, Larry Finch) and a deeper roster. They may have been able to knock off PC if Barnes was healthy (they won going away in the actual game).

PC was quite talented that season but I doubt any school made Wooden/UCLA nervous that year.

 

[Austin316]

Donny Marshall on the Butler @ Marquette game “this looks like a trap game”

I just cannot see that happening. Thad Matta is rebuilding and Shaka Smart’s team has play FANTASTIC all year long.

 

[Billy Jack]

Yeah, I heard that too. Tough break

PC should have never put the game in the hands of the officials. They wouldn't be complaining about the refs if they scored more points and allowed fewer.

Yeah, I heard that too. Tough break

PC should have never put the game in the hands of the officials. They wouldn't be complaining about the refs if they scored more points and allowed fewer.

I guess you missed my point.

 

[Billy Jack]

Yeah, how silly of him to characterize 36 years as almost 40.


Perhaps it is merely semantics but an elite eight appearance (a quarter of a century ago by the way) isn't exactly sniffing a final four.

Since that elite eight appearance the following schools made their first final four appearances: Maryland (happened to win it all a year later), George Mason (that one was on us), Butler (twice), VCU, Gonzaga (also did it twice), Virginia (won it all), Auburn & Texas Tech. Additionally, Loyola Chicago (who by the way happen to have a national title in their past) made it to their first in nearly six decades. Oregon (who also happen to have a title in their past) made it to their first since before WWII, West Virginia made their first since the 1950's and Wichita St, made their first since the mid 1960's.

All things considered I think it's pretty safe to say his claim that "Providence hasn’t sniffed a Final Four in almost 40 years" is a pretty accurate statement.

How is losing an Elite 8 game in OT to the national champion not “sniffing a Final Four”? They lost to the same team that everyone else lost to and came closer to beating them than anyone else. That’s a sniff, dude. “Sniffing” doesn’t mean getting to the Final Four. If that’s what was meant, then that’s what should have been said.

 

[Billy Jack]

Yeah, at least that's the stance every PC fan that was around at the time holds. The reality may be a bit different as that UCLA squad, with Walton, Larry Farmer, Wilkes, Lee, Hollyfield (Meyers, Nater, Curtis off the bench) was 75 games into the longest unbeaten streak ever (lasted nearly another year) and may have been the only one that could have knocked off the Kareem (Lew Alcindor), Shackleford, Allen, Warren Bruins from a half dozen years earlier.

That was a tremendous PC squad, due to Barnes and Ernie D but Memphis St had an equal center/point guard due (Larry Kenon, Larry Finch) and a deeper roster. They may have been able to knock off PC if Barnes was healthy (they won going away in the actual game).

PC was quite talented that season but I doubt any school made Wooden/UCLA nervous that year.

Oregon State & Stanford both took UCLA down to the wire the 2nd time each of them met, both losing by 6. Wooden was always calm and composed, so I don’t know if he got nervous in the final minutes of those games, but he certainly had reason to be.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It may be a different way of viewing things (basically looking for actual accomplishments, not participation trophies) but in my humble opinion, even though we participated in three elite eights in the nine years from 1990 to 1998 we did sniff a final four until 1999.

You did pique my curiosity however on your other point and I now will need to investigate if after the 2014 tournament St Joe's went around taking victory laps for playing the eventual national champs closer than anyone else in that tournament.

 

[SwingDog]

Butler was within 4 with a minute to go vs. Marquette but couldn't quite pull off the upset.
Final: Marquette 60 Butler 52

 

[wheelerdog]

Butler was within 4 with a minute to go vs. Marquette but couldn't quite pull off the upset.
Final: Marquette 60 Butler 52

By the logic I've seen in the GTown post game thread, this is a horrible win by Marquette

 

[SwingDog]

By the logic I've seen in the GTown post game thread, this is a horrible win by Marquette

It looks that way. So, the stage is set for Marquette vs. UConn on Tuesday. Two teams coming off lackluster wins.

 

[UConnSwag11]

By the logic I've seen in the GTown post game thread, this is a horrible win by Marquette

It is

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I still think bringing Thad Matta back was a mistake by Butler, but he got a team to put up a fight against a good Marquette team, and Butler was missing one of its best players.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I still think bringing Thad Matta back was a mistake by Butler, but he got a team to put up a fight against a good Marquette team, and Butler was missing one of its best players.

We’ll see in a couple years if the coaches of the Big East can get us to where it was before it broke up. The conference has a great coaches. Maybe more than any other conference

 

[Billy Jack]

It may be a different way of viewing things (basically looking for actual accomplishments, not participation trophies) but in my humble opinion, even though we participated in three elite eights in the nine years from 1990 to 1998 we did sniff a final four until 1999.

TBH, I think you’re lying. Because if you’re telling the truth, you’re the only UConn fan I’ve ever met who wasn’t celebrating the accomplishments of “The Dream Team”, who wasn’t cursing Christian Laettner, who wasn’t saying “We were in the Final 4. We were right there. I could taste it. I could smell it. If it wasn’t for GD Christian Laettner . . .” And it was in OT. That, my friend was sniffing the Final 4. No, we weren’t there, but we could sniff it, we could taste it. We were that close . . .

And then there was ‘95 . . . Ray Allen put on display one of the greatest performances any UConn fan has ever seen. That was a dog fight. A boxing match. We hung in there with them right to the bitter end. I can still see Ray putting up a 3 in the final minute. But in the end we fell shirt. To the eventual national champions. It was a near miss. Was it a bitter loss? Of course. Did we hold our heads high, proud of what we had accomplished? We certainly did, feeling that we were as good as any other team in that tournament, but on one given day, we fell just short . . .

Could we sniff it in ‘98? Not really. We didn’t come that close. But it did set us up for ‘99. That was the only real consolation that year. We knew that we had everyone coming back to take another shot at it.

You can look back smugly in light of what’s been accomplished since and say what you did about the ‘90’s, but if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit that you didn’t feel that way then.

When the comment was made that PC hasn’t “sniffed a Final Four in almost 40 years, I understood that to mean that they hadn’t come close. Well in addition to their FF 36 years ago, they sure came close in ‘97, and they had a heck of a run last year. The poster was obviously trying to take a cheap shot at them as though they haven’t done anything in the last 40 years. That was at best an exaggeration and at worst factually wrong. I’m guessing that he had completely forgotten about ‘97 and wasn’t paying attention to just how close they came to advancing last year.

 

[Get a Job]

TBH, I think you’re lying. Because if you’re telling the truth, you’re the only UConn fan I’ve ever met who wasn’t celebrating the accomplishments of “The Dream Team”, who wasn’t cursing Christian Laettner, who wasn’t saying “We were in the Final 4. We were right there. I could taste it. I could smell it. If it wasn’t for GD Christian Laettner . . .” And it was in OT. That, my friend was sniffing the Final 4. No, we weren’t there, but we could sniff it, we could taste it. We were that close . . .

And then there was ‘95 . . . Ray Allen put on display one of the greatest performances any UConn fan has ever seen. That was a dog fight. A boxing match. We hung in there with them right to the bitter end. I can still see Ray putting up a 3 in the final minute. But in the end we fell shirt. To the eventual national champions. It was a near miss. Was it a bitter loss? Of course. Did we hold our heads high, proud of what we had accomplished? We certainly did, feeling that we were as good as any other team in that tournament, but on one given day, we fell just short . . .

Could we sniff it in ‘98? Not really. We didn’t come that close. But it did set us up for ‘99. That was the only real consolation that year. We knew that we had everyone coming back to take another shot at it.

You can look back smugly in light of what’s been accomplished since and say what you did about the ‘90’s, but if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit that you didn’t feel that way then.

When the comment was made that PC hasn’t “sniffed a Final Four in almost 40 years, I understood that to mean that they hadn’t come close. Well in addition to their FF 36 years ago, they sure came close in ‘97, and they had a heck of a run last year. The poster was obviously trying to take a cheap shot at them as though they haven’t done anything in the last 40 years. That was at best an exaggeration and at worst factually wrong. I’m guessing that he had completely forgotten about ‘97 and wasn’t paying attention to just how close they came to advancing last year.

This discussion is stupid, but you're definitely correct that "sniffing" means coming close. Losing in the Elite 8 in OT is basically the dictionary definition of sniffing the Final Four.

 

[AzHusky]

Watching Illinois vs Iowa on Fox and they just posted a chart of the Big Ten standings and they have UConn in 5th place at 6-5 in the conf. Does Fox know something we don't?

 

[UConnSwag11]

Lol omg St. John’s

 

[gsmooth]

Lol omg St. John’s

I know it still bugs me like all hell that UConn got beat handily at home vs this St. John’s team. X is beating them brakes of the now without Freemantle