Getting that Feeling (Again) . . .

[OkaForPrez]

We don't have the lights-out jump shooter our other top teams have had. That's keeping down the irrational exuberance for me.

I'll Gibbs you another try to think of one.

 

[80shusky]

If we beat Temple Thursday night and can win at least one of the SMU games and beat Cincinnati at home, I'll start to feel it. The Temple game I think is big. We need to tie them up in conference. Same with splitting with SMU and Cincinnati.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Prediction- We go 2-2 over the next 4 games and people will want Ollie fired again.

 

[Waquoit]

I'll Gibbs you another try to think of one.

He's the our best bet. But he's no Rip, Shad, Ben, Kemba or Bazz. He's not even a Giffey.

 

[8893]

He's the our best bet. But he's no Rip, Shad, Ben, Kemba or Bazz. He's not even a Giffey.

Our memories of them are undoubtedly influenced by their strong finishes, when they stringed together consistently great shooting performances that were key to those championship runs. Ben didn't find that place until Emeka went down in the BET and he had to take over. Bazz never put together a string of consistent shooting performances until the NCAAT, and Giffey only really kicked into gear down the stretch that year as well. Even Kemba looked like he was running out of gas before he found a higher gear in the BET.

As I say every year, the stories are all written in March.

 

[TasteofUConn]

He's the our best bet. But he's . . . not even a Giffey.

In fairness, Giffey was unique, and nobody we've had gave us the same combination of killer open-3 shooting, relentless defending, dogged rebounding, and general glueiness. Nobody. And if anybody disagrees with that assessment, poops to him.

 

[intlzncster]

Don't take the bait. Yours was the type of post I like from you (instead of what you wrote when I last quoted you and left you confused and requesting a PM if I wanted to clarify

Bait? It was a joke for crying out loud. Hence the winking smiley face to make it beyond obvious. Ya'll are beyond sensitive right now.

 

[intlzncster]

IMO he's still not a great in-game coach, but he's proved to be really good at 1) recruiting, 2) adapting to his team's strengths over the course of a season, 3) coaching defense, and 4) coaxing improvement out of individual players over their respective careers.

Add in the fact that his guys don't get in trouble off the court and all seem to be killing it in the classroom, and it's hard not to be extremely excited about the future of the program.

And it's worth mentioning (or emphasizing) that any guy is going to have some weaknesses. Especially a relatively green coach. It's unsurprising that his weakness is in0-game coaching, as that comes with time and experience. Get a couple hundred games under his belt, and I don't think we'll be talking about it.

 

[intlzncster]

1,2,3 are characteristics of NBA coaches. College coaches have to be much more hands on throughout the course of a game. NBA coaches let players do their stuff, observe the ebb and flow and then earn their paycheck the 4th quarter. In a college game, decisions made at the 12 minute mark of the first half can be crucial to outcomes. The talent level in college is much more unequal and coaches have to adapt more quickly to trends. In the NBA talent tends to equalize over the first 35-40 minutes of a game.

I'm still not buying #4 yet. We haven't seen any of the players develop above their entrance level. No one has exceeded expectations. Yet.

Facey, Hamilton, and Brimah have all markedly improved (at different things). Wait til Hamilton is a junior. Boatright improved. Shabazz improved immensely. Daniels got better. Giffey definitely. Those guys late careers were all under Ollie, not Calhoun.

And Gibbs, Jalen, Enoch, and Miller are first year guys. Phil isn't going to improve under any coach on the planet.

 

[intlzncster]

Our memories of them are undoubtedly influenced by their strong finishes, when they stringed together consistently great shooting performances that were key to those championship runs. Ben didn't find that place until Emeka went down in the BET and he had to take over. Bazz never put together a string of consistent shooting performances until the NCAAT, and Giffey only really kicked into gear down the stretch that year as well. Even Kemba looked like he was running out of gas before he found a higher gear in the BET.

Kemba was getting beat to sh_t in the BE. Once reffing returned to normal, he shined again.

 

[Waquoit]

@8893 Bazz had a ton of game winners before the tourney. But you are right, March is when the stories are written. I'm not feeling it, I hope I'm set straight then.

 

[champs99and04]

He's the our best bet. But he's no Rip, Shad, Ben, Kemba or Bazz. He's not even a Giffey.

I wouldn't really classify Kemba as a lights out jump shooter. Lamb was probably closer to that by the end of the season.

 

[intlzncster]

I wouldn't really classify Kemba as a lights out jump shooter. Lamb was probably closer to that by the end of the season.

Lights out scorer would probably be a better term. When you needed a big bucket, give the ball to Kemba and let him work.

 

[tzznandrew]

Our memories of them are undoubtedly influenced by their strong finishes, when they stringed together consistently great shooting performances that were key to those championship runs. Ben didn't find that place until Emeka went down in the BET and he had to take over. Bazz never put together a string of consistent shooting performances until the NCAAT, and Giffey only really kicked into gear down the stretch that year as well. Even Kemba looked like he was running out of gas before he found a higher gear in the BET.

As I say every year, the stories are all written in March.

Also, Giffey was uncharacteristically awful for really important NCAAT games (5/19 for the tournament, 0/5 against MSU).

 

[intlzncster]

Also, Giffey was uncharacteristically awful for really important NCAAT games (5/19 for the tournament, 0/5 against MSU).

Giffey was a great guy to have on the team, and an important cog in the championship run, but the way people talk about him, you'd think he was Scottie Pippen.

 

[businesslawyer]

Dream season had it from very early on all the way to CL.
In 99 I had it all year.
In 04 I had it out of the gate, lost it mid season (back issues, Gordon hot/cold), had it the rest of the way.
In 06 I had it, but lost it very early (always thought that team lacked an intangible - chemistry?).
In 09 I had it from starter pistol to Michigan State.
In 11 I had it in Maui, lost it mid season (foolishly believing Kemba was not "that guy"), then got it back when JL started hitting the floater like Popeye hits Bluto, and MM decided to go epic thread on our asses, and had it big time the rest of the way. Would have bet 100 grand on beating Butler, were I a gambler.
In 14 I had the nascent rumblings of it for much of the year, but it did not galvanize until Giffey got the starting role, then I had it the rest of the way.

Got that feeling perking up inside. Not quite there yet, but definitely forming. I think the genesis was the coalescence of the return of Amida, the greater role of Adams, the reassignment of Purvis, and the exit from the funk of this year's Moses, who seems to have been reborn.

Played More than a Feeling at the bar whilst prepping this morning to celebrate the fact that, unlike a mere month ago, I am now anxiously looking forward to each game.

Finally, the difference between the height of the current high and the low I felt a month ago is easily the greatest delta I have experienced as a UConn fan, when we had threads by 10,000 post posters questioning our Coach's ability (me and most others echoing the query).

Maybe Ollie is a basketball genius. Maybe not. Either way, I'm super excited about the home stretch.

Dream Season from early on? Seriously? Didn't St. Johns beat us in Queens by like 70, and didn't we lose at home to a very mediocre Nova team, well before anyone could have had a clue that we were any good? I don't remember thinking there was anything special about this team by pre-Calhoun standards until mid-January, when we beat 3 ranked teams in 3 games (Georgetown, Syracuse and St Johns) and opened Gample to boot.

 

[Waquoit]

@businesslawyer. You forget the pre-season game against the Russians. We won a barnburner against a team that steamrolled all comers save UNLV. Afterwards, their coach said UConn was the best team they played. And fans were pissed about that Nova loss, hence the legendary booing.

 

[Waquoit]

Giffey was a great guy to have on the team, and an important cog in the championship run, but the way people talk about him, you'd think he was Scottie Pippen.

Who hit the biggest shot in the Final?

 

[8893]

@8893 Bazz had a ton of game winners before the tourney. But you are right, March is when the stories are written. I'm not feeling it, I hope I'm set straight then.

He did. But he never put together a consistent string of complete games until the NCAAT.

And I'll admit that I didn't think he could until he did.

 

[CL82]

We're DOOOOOMED!!!

You should know better than to start this thread Frank.

 

[intlzncster]

Who hit the biggest shot in the Final?

I guess he's Scotty Pippen then. lol

Did I not say he contributed to the run? How does your statement jibe with that?

And personally, I thought Boatright's pull back (holy elevation) jumper up and over a charging Randall was the shot of the final.

 

[intlzncster]

Dream Season from early on? Seriously? Didn't St. Johns beat us in Queens by like 70, and didn't we lose at home to a very mediocre Nova team, well before anyone could have had a clue that we were any good? I don't remember thinking there was anything special about this team by pre-Calhoun standards until mid-January, when we beat 3 ranked teams in 3 games (Georgetown, Syracuse and St Johns) and opened Gample to boot.

Hence why it was called 'the Dream Season'. There wasn't much expectation of that kind of run.

 

[businesslawyer]

@businesslawyer. You forget the pre-season game against the Russians. We won a barnburner against a team that steamrolled all comers save UNLV. Afterwards, their coach said UConn was the best team they played. And fans were pissed about that Nova loss, hence the legendary booing.

I will gladly take your word, as I have no recollection of it whatsoever. Certainly was not following pre-season games before we became really good.

 

[Gringo]

Our memories of them are undoubtedly influenced by their strong finishes, when they stringed together consistently great shooting performances that were key to those championship runs. Ben didn't find that place until Emeka went down in the BET and he had to take over. Bazz never put together a string of consistent shooting performances until the NCAAT, and Giffey only really kicked into gear down the stretch that year as well. Even Kemba looked like he was running out of gas before he found a higher gear in the BET.

As I say every year, the stories are all written in March.

Bazz and Kemba were both 1st team All-Americans and Ben was the third pick in the NBA draft.

I like Gibbs so not trying to bash him but he doesn't compare to those guys. I do agree that he is capable of going off an any given night.

 

[August_West]

He did. But he never put together a consistent string of complete games until the NCAAT.

And I'll admit that I didn't think he could until he did.

actually he was better earlier. He was missing wide open knock down shots in the tournament. Especially at MSG. He was 1-8 from three and 4-15 overall in those two MSG games. He was causing me an ulcer against Mich St.