I'm on the platform

[UConnNick]

Where’s 1999?

We all got drunk while celebrating our first natty, and forever lost in the lyrics of this song by the late, great artist "Prince".....

 

[David 76]

Absolutely the best conference in history.

It was. Good idea! Let's throw it in the crapper!

 

[Fishy]

It was. Good idea! Let's throw it in the crapper!

I’m convince that the dominance of Big East basketball that year was a huge part of what spurred the ACC and ESPN to attack it.

Football is football, but the ACC’s soul is rooted in the myth that they were the best basketball conference in America.

Even when it so clearly was not true.

 

[UConnNick]

It was. Good idea! Let's throw it in the crapper!

Yes, thanks to the Pee Cee Mafia at Big East HQ in Providence systematically bent on destroying it. Still waiting for that fateful decision from Villanova to upgrade to DIA football, eh Marinatto???

 

[David 76]

For 2011, this win would not be noticed.
However, we are not the UConn of glory days past.
For this team, this is a good win. You can scoff and say it should not be, but I imagine you have noticed our short-comings. You post about them constantly.
So you can't say we suck and then only feel it is a step in the right direction if we beat a top ten team.
Well you can. But you will be obvious.

We took one good step. No telling where it goes. It doesn't erase concerns about coaching. But it was refreshing.

 

[gtcam]

That team also had two future lottery picks. Far from mediocre.

Having 2 future lottery picks does not come into the equation of whether a team plays mediocre or not. Talking regular season league results not talent. U of Washington had the #1 overall pick in 2017 plus 2 first rounders in 2016 as well as 1st rounders nearly every year since 2010 - but weren't they no better than mediocre?
I don't care the level of comp in 2011 - the team was loaded and to finish a mediocre 9-9 in conference was just that - mediocre at best.
Folks here were jumping off roofs, JC was pulling his hair out and TV commentators were scratching their heads and talking about a huge UConn crash. If not for one miracle vs Pitt, I doubt the outcome of that season would have been pretty.
But great things happened and thank God they did
To be honest going into the BET, myself and many others were absolutely PO'd at the previous 60 days of effort and results.
Fishy has this hang up with correlating the seasons and AW isn't doing so
Maybe some just utilize analytical skills on different levels.......................

 

[Tenspro2002]

How many times did UCONN underperform their NCAA seeding expectation before 1999? How many times did they play to seed and how many times did the play over their seed.

Let's put this argument to bed once and for all.

I'll wait. Lets see .

I'll take a non-answer from you as a tapout.

By seed, and by expected wins by seed Historical Performance of NCAA seeds | mgoblog:

1990: #1 seed, Elite 8 (underperform by 1 round, -0.43 wins)
1991: #11 seed, Sweet 16 (overperform by 2 rounds, +1.51 wins)
1992: #9 seed, 2nd round (overperform by 1 round, +0.41 wins)
1994: #2 seed, Sweet 16 (underperform by 1 round, -0.43 wins)
1995: #2 seed, Elite 8 (perform to seed, +0.57 wins)
1996: #1 seed, Sweet 16 (underperform by 2 rounds, -1.43 wins)
1998: #2 seed, Elite 8 (perform to seed, +0.57 wins)

7 NCAAT appearances
2 overperform
2 perform to seed
3 underperform
+0.77 cumulative wins above expectation

So, overall, we performed about as expected in the NCAAT.

 

[RM99]

I’m on the train. Never been a platform kind of person. I liked the team’s cohesiveness, energy and feistiness! Let’s Go Huskies!

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

There was a LOT of talk in 2011 about if the team would MAKE the NCAA tournament without a bunch of wins in the BET. It was looking unlikely until Kemba happened.

That talk was ridiculous. Even if they'd lost to DePaul in the opening round they'd have been in the tournament, probably 9/10 line. Undefeated outside the Big East, not a chance they'd have been left out.

 

[SubbaBub]

Is Oregon not in the top 100??

Talk about falling off a cliff...

110 and they looked every bit of it.

 

[Dogdeacon]

By seed, and by expected wins by seed Historical Performance of NCAA seeds | mgoblog:
1990: #1 seed, Elite 8 (underperform by 1 round, -0.43 wins)
1991: #11 seed, Sweet 16 (overperform by 2 rounds, +1.51 wins)
1992: #9 seed, 2nd round (overperform by 1 round, +0.41 wins)
1994: #2 seed, Sweet 16 (underperform by 1 round, -0.43 wins)
1995: #2 seed, Elite 8 (perform to seed, +0.57 wins)
1996: #1 seed, Sweet 16 (underperform by 2 rounds, -1.43 wins)
1998: #2 seed, Elite 8 (perform to seed, +0.57 wins)
7 NCAAT appearances
2 overperform
2 perform to seed
3 underperform
+0.77 cumulative wins above expectation
So, overall, we performed about as expected in the NCAAT.

This is a ridiculous analysis by definition. UConn plays 30+ basketball games per year and is nationally relevant, competitive and entertaining in those games for an entire decade culminating in an NCAA championship at the end of the decade. Going thru those seasons, the NCAA successes and disappointments was a necessary part to building a program and reputation that led to the 1999 championship and the subsequent championships. To only look backwards at the end results of the season pre-99 is lunacy for how UConn got to winning and for how fun, entertaining, competitive and enjoyable that decade of basketball was. You don't define a decade of basketball with ".77", its defined by "its 16 to nothing", Nadav Henefeld sticking it to Mourning&Mutombo, Chris Smith getting killed yet killing it with his crossover, Donyell's mega-games, domination & 360 dunk, Ray Allen entering games & dominating as a frosh, etc... The decade didn't end when Khalid, RIP, Free & Ricky got beat by future NBA All-Stars playing a home game in Greensboro?! If the 90's were a play you missed the 1999 final act AND the epilogue exclamation point saying UConn went on to win an additional 3 national championships.

 

[August_West]

This is a ridiculous analysis by definition. UConn plays 30+ basketball games per year and is nationally relevant, competitive and entertaining in those games for an entire decade culminating in an NCAA championship at the end of the decade. Going thru those seasons, the NCAA successes and disappointments was a necessary part to building a program and reputation that led to the 1999 championship and the subsequent championships. To only look backwards at the end results of the season pre-99 is lunacy for how UConn got to winning and for how fun, entertaining, competitive and enjoyable that decade of basketball was. You don't define a decade of basketball with ".77", its defined by "its 16 to nothing", Nadav Henefeld sticking it to Mourning&Mutombo, Chris Smith getting killed yet killing it with his crossover, Donyell's mega-games, domination & 360 dunk, Ray Allen entering games & dominating as a frosh, etc... The decade didn't end when Khalid, RIP, Free & Ricky got beat by future NBA All-Stars playing a home game in Greensboro?! If the 90's were a play you missed the 1999 final act AND the epilogue exclamation point saying UConn went on to win an additional 3 national championships.

So you want to be Gonzaga.

 

[Waquoit]

So you want to be Gonzaga.

Or Kansas. Your post is just plain snide. Of course we want to be UConn. And the first step is to be the dominant program in our league like we were in the 90's when the best two teams in a given year was UConn and another team. I think your have argued yourself down a rat hole here.

 

[Dogdeacon]

So you want to be Gonzaga.

False equivalency, if you don't ultimately win or at least make a final four the process isn't rewarded. I.e. I wouldn't want to be Philly in the NBA and willfully give up 4-5 years of just losing for an as of yet unfulfilled chance/promise to win. The goal is to win, there is no disputing that.

 

[Tenspro2002]

This is a ridiculous analysis by definition. UConn plays 30+ basketball games per year and is nationally relevant, competitive and entertaining in those games for an entire decade culminating in an NCAA championship at the end of the decade. Going thru those seasons, the NCAA successes and disappointments was a necessary part to building a program and reputation that led to the 1999 championship and the subsequent championships. To only look backwards at the end results of the season pre-99 is lunacy for how UConn got to winning and for how fun, entertaining, competitive and enjoyable that decade of basketball was. You don't define a decade of basketball with ".77", its defined by "its 16 to nothing", Nadav Henefeld sticking it to Mourning&Mutombo, Chris Smith getting killed yet killing it with his crossover, Donyell's mega-games, domination & 360 dunk, Ray Allen entering games & dominating as a frosh, etc... The decade didn't end when Khalid, RIP, Free & Ricky got beat by future NBA All-Stars playing a home game in Greensboro?! If the 90's were a play you missed the 1999 final act AND the epilogue exclamation point saying UConn went on to win an additional 3 national championships.

dude. I was responding to AW who asked for how we performed in the NCAAT relative to seed. Calm the ff*** down.

 

[DMIL]

Because to me, this is accepting mediocrity. You don't build on mediocrity. You don't build on a home win vs an equally bad team. You want me to feel good about where this heading? Go out and beat Villanova. Hell, beat Cincinnati. Or maybe SMU. At this point, go out and beat Tulane on the road. Until then, last night is a win we all thought we should have. Of course, I am happy with the result. I applaud the guys on their effort and their ability to win from start to finish. I still don't feel any better about where things are heading. Last nights result didn't change a thing. If your program is building confidence off a home win vs UCF, that should be a major red flag. Has the bar been set that low?

Gotta start somewhere man. Too much season left and we are simply trying to make the best of it. That's it man. Everyone is frustrated about where the program is. I'm focused right now on green shoots and watching the squad that we have develop. Again, no one is satisfied with the status of the program.

 

[Dogdeacon]

dude. I was responding to AW who asked for how we performed in the NCAAT relative to seed. Calm the ff*** down.

I was calmly yet inspiringly speaking to the entire thread & obviously via subsequent posts August's premise. So to be clear though you are just the analyst

 

[Fishy]

That talk was ridiculous. Even if they'd lost to DePaul in the opening round they'd have been in the tournament, probably 9/10 line. Undefeated outside the Big East, not a chance they'd have been left out.

Absolutely no question they would have been in the tournament even with a first round loss.

Nova finished 9-9 (10th) and lost in the first round to USF - they went into the tournament as a 9 seed.

I suspect UConn would have been 7/8.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Absolutely no question they would have been in the tournament even with a first round loss.

Nova finished 9-9 (10th) and lost in the first round to USF - they went into the tournament as a 9 seed.

I suspect UConn would have been 7/8.

100%. As I'm reminded every time I see the Kemba game winner vs. Pitt, we were ranked something like 21st going into the Big East tournament.

If I told you that the 2011 champs won Maui, went undefeated out of conference, won the BE tournament, and was a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, you wouldn't be the least bit surprised. The narrative that 2011 UConn was a mediocre team that got hot for 3 weeks is not even close to accurate. If you could somehow eliminate the month of February, they were the best team in the country without much debate.

 

[The Funster]

So you want to be Gonzaga.

Dude, you've let superjohn get in your head. You've gone off the rails. Take a step back and refocus.

 

[August_West]

Dude, you've let superjohn get in your head. You've gone off the rails. Take a step back and refocus.

I’m all good. Littlejohn knows the score

 

[sammydabiz]

Ok, I just got off the platform, gonna call an Uber instead...

Watching this UConn team is like having a colonoscopy

, something needs to change. We're seriously worse than UMass. Good showings against UCF & Tulane can't hide the ineptitude of this coaching staff and their recent recruiting efforts (or lack thereof)

Injuries... sm'injuries.... Getting blown out by a mediocre Memphis squad is just plain sad.

Good luck with Nova, it's gonna be a blood bath

 

[LIuconn]

And, ucf and Tulane are junk