History Lesson for Young Uconn Fans

[Kitaman]

This is the team that built the bandwagon we now ride:

 

[Bezzz]

"Cyrulik takes it away from Mutombo!" Yeah, that happened.

 

[HuskyV]

25 years ago.... never gets old.

The only time I ever rushed the court. MSG on Sunday afternoon with our 1st BE Tourny Championship.

We need some throwback jerseys (including shorts with the dribbling Husky) & a Johnny Gwynn bobblehead with machine gun tongue action.

 

[sdhusky]

History lesson?

Read the Joe Marrone thread. That is UConn history...

 

[Kitaman]

History lesson?

Read the Joe Marrone thread. That is UConn history...

Joe was a Legend, may he rest in peace.

Like in school there are multiple history subjects, this happens to be on basketball in a basketball 'classroom' .

Relax and reminiscence seeing the Dove, Smitty and others make history and set things up for our 4 Championships, Continual National TV Coverage, Elite Recruiting, etc..

So many nuggets in that video, including Gampel's first game was a victory (BE). With the 'team' concepts Calhoun instilled it shows why his charity event is so popular and veterans keep coming back, staying involved.

If you listen to the players in their interviews you actually can hear Kevin Ollie and understand why he is who he is today (basketball wise).

He is passing it on!

 

[mauconnfan]

Oregon's press was better!

 

[DreamSeason]

Just reading the word Huskymania brings back nastalgia. Remember when this state was crazy for our team and games were packed and rowdy. Goodtimes.

 

[Worldwide]

This is the team that built the bandwagon we now ride:

Great video but I would argue the 88 NIT championship run started the bandwagon for many including myself.

 

[Kitaman]

Great video but I would argue the 88 NIT championship run started the bandwagon for many including myself.

In hindsight I agree. Using a metaphor; they built the bandwagon, and this team loaded the passengers (i.e. fans) and also made it a national touring one, even to this day.

 

[breezy]

pretty crazy that the court at MSG could be stormed back then

 

[OkaForPrez]

@Kitaman Solid new avatar.

 

[Excalibur]

pretty crazy that the court at MSG could be stormed back then

It was stormed again in 1996 at the Big East tournament. They tried again in 98 but couldn't get there.

 

[RichZ]

The think I liked most about the video was how cool, calm and articulate JC was. No interpreter needed!

OK, I liked watching Nadav, Smitty and Gwynn more. And the BET crown, that too. But 'laid back' JC was retty cool, too.

 

[mlz01]

@Kitaman regardless of what may have started the bandwagon, this is an awesome video and brings back great memories. I'll never forget, as a ten year old watching with my Dad....remembering him say "wow, they're really going to take down Georgetown....UConn is for real". Then to go on and take their first BE championship (and against Syracuse) was incredible.

If the ball bounced left....just think what could have been. Thankfully we have 4 Trophies to erase the pain of that Duke game. Plus, it would have been miraculous for anyone to beat that UNLV team.

"I wouldn't trade a hundred Final Fours for the privilege of coaching this basketball team" - Coach

thanks for posting!

 

[David 76]

If you weren't there, it would be hard to understand how delirious it was. Casual fans and non-fans were going crazy. The newspapers were obsessed. The fact that we won the BE was practically unbelievable. That we were a #1 seed in the NCAA. Slipping behind and then beating Clemson with "The Shot".
People selling UConn shirts at street corners and at gas stations

We appeared to come out of nowhere, like the Kemba team, but it was much more of a whole statewide phenomenon.

 

[Waquoit]

I was at a sports book in Vegas the week before that BET. I looked up the posted odds at was stunned to see UConn at the top. I said to my buddy, "Can you believe UConn is favored?" The sports book guy overhears and says, "They're real good this year, I think they'll win it" Of course what I meant was "Can you believe we made it to the point where we are rightly favored over teams with Mourning, Mtumbo, Coleman and Owens?"

 

[Kitaman]

Channel 8 New Haven started picking up every game, exposing them to New Haven/Fairfield Counties and beyond, I believe in the middle of the season. Its was a phenomenon that just couldn't be stopped.

Calhoun said in the interview "We didn't make it to the Final Four, but someday I believe we will."

 

[CL82]

I've often thought about what things would have been like if Tate holds on to that ball. It would have slowed down Duke's 90s run and sped up ours. Still, I have no complaints (other than conference affiliation) with the way things worked out.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Let's not pretend that UConn didn't have a solid following even back under Perno. I started watching games with my dad back in the Corny Thomson, Mike McKay etc. era. They had some very solid teams.

I was at UConn for the NIT win, and what I think that did was take things to another level. It's when we first believed that things like final fours and championships were possible. It was a beautiful time.

 

[superjohn]

@Kitaman regardless of what may have started the bandwagon, this is an awesome video and brings back great memories. I'll never forget, as a ten year old watching with my Dad....remembering him say "wow, they're really going to take down Georgetown....UConn is for real". Then to go on and take their first BE championship (and against Syracuse) was incredible.

If the ball bounced left....just think what could have been. Thankfully we have 4 Trophies to erase the pain of that Duke game. Plus, it would have been miraculous for anyone to beat that UNLV team.

"I wouldn't trade a hundred Final Fours for the privilege of coaching this basketball team" - Coach

thanks for posting!

If Tate could have just held on to the ball we would have had another finals appearance in my opinion but know way we're we beating that UNLV team. The more interesting question I sometimes ponder is how good would we have been the following year if Henefeld didn't go back to Israel.

 

[Scoe]

If Tate could have just held on to the ball we would have had another finals appearance in my opinion but know way we're we beating that UNLV team. The more interesting question I sometimes ponder is how good would we have been the following year if Henefeld didn't go back to Israel.

Hard to say because every year is different, Tate George was a big loss as well. Perhaps still a retooling year in 91 but a team that would peak at the right time, I think in 92 we are a FF-national title team for sure with a freshmen Marshall boys and Ollie. Could you imagine Nadav and Donyell playing together wow. Not to mention you would have Smith, Sellers, and Cyrulik as Seniors, Burrell as a Jr.

 

[Waquoit]

If Tate could have just held on to the ball we would have had another finals appearance in my opinion but know way we're we beating that UNLV team.

The Russian National Team played both that season and their coach said UConn was better.

 

[David 76]

I don't think anyone was going to beat UNLV in 1990. Offensively, they were at another level. But it would have been nice to see what our defense would've done to them..

 

[Kitaman]

If Tate could have just held on to the ball we would have had another finals appearance in my opinion but know way we're we beating that UNLV team. The more interesting question I sometimes ponder is how good would we have been the following year if Henefeld didn't go back to Israel.

You know its kind of an interesting thought. I too often wondered, but by not 'tapping the ball up the court' he just could of created an even bigger chain of events. Calhoun was hungrier at the taste of almost reaching the FF, and coaching a great squad. Consequently perhaps he recruited harder, prepped/practiced harder and learned a life giving lesson (sports wise) which is the game is never over. Remember how we (or at least I) used to complain how he kept his starters in 'too long' during seemingly blowouts at the end of games. Watching this video I may have found the reason why he did this, or at least coached until the horn sounded.

Just saying the dook result could have been a blessing in disguise. Amazing how we did the exact same thing to Clemson the game before so what goes around sure came around, didn't it?

Only thing for me John is that I long for those defensive type teams displayed in that video, that team was more exciting than any offensive juggernaut we have fielded, including 2004. It was defense then fast breaks galore, so exciting!

In fact even today, I can't stop watching our 2014 Championship Game or Tournament, because that was old school UConn bball. Boat/Bazz steals leading to Giffey, DD, and others on the break. So fun!

 

[CL82]

Let's not pretend that UConn didn't have a solid following even back under Perno. I started watching games with my dad back in the Corny Thomson, Mike McKay etc. era. They had some very solid teams.

I was at UConn for the NIT win, and what I think that did was take things to another level. It's when we first believed that things like final fours and championships were possible. It was a beautiful time.

The Perno years were pretty lean. I often wonder what Calhoun would of done with Corny, Mike, Karl Hobbs and Chuck Aleksinas.