Is this UConns Greatest Team Ever

[Tonyc]

First let me say you cant compare teams from different eras. TASS and Diana has is the Greatest Team Ever because of all the All Americans (AAs) and Olympians. So this years team isn't far away from that. Its a wait and see. Breanna KML Bria and Stef imo are AAs. MoJeff is on her way. The rest is a wait and see.

One thing is for sure. We have great ball handlers, great shot blockers and I don't think WCBB has seen a team of so many ever, we have very quick guards and as we get healthy we will have the greatest 2 point shooting team of this era.

TASS and Diana played a different game because it was a different era. This years team plays a different game then any team of its era. IMO Breanna is the Babe Ruth of WCBB in this era. She can do things that no body else does. Can you imagine if she was allowed to take 25-40 shots a game like some other players in WCBB. As long as Breanna is healthy I don't think UConn will lose a NC.

A couple of notes. Breanna hasn't reached her prime yet. Either has Saniya . When they do look out. If they were on some other team you might see them light it up big time, but playing within a team concept and surrounded with the talent that UConn has it will take a little bit more time.

Geno knows exactly what he's doing and how to build them into superstars. It will take time. He isn't going to just throw them out there and let them go wild. He will keep them under control and develop them and when it all comes together look out.

 

[pap49cba]

Time will tell. Geno already has said he's not sure this team has the "killer instinct" of those other teams. Those guys didn't play nice... They wanted to crush the opposing team.

 

[baggerbob]

Everyone seems to forget the Notre Dame semi-final game last year, and the first half of the Louisville championship game, I think Stewie, Bria, and KML showed a killer instinct. Yes Skylar blocked a couple of Bria's shots, but was like everyone else when Stewie got the steal, and drove for the layup, played Matador defense. Ask Sims how nice they were to her, when she was 4-25?

 

[pap49cba]

Everyone seems to forget the Notre Dame semi-final game last year, and the first half of the Louisville championship game, I think Stewie, Bria, and KML showed a killer instinct. Yes Skylar blocked a couple of Bria's shots, but was like everyone else when Stewie got the steal, and drove for the layup, played Matador defense. Ask Sims how nice they were to her, when she was 4-25?

Geno's point was with those teams when they got up by 15 they wanted to get to 30. When they got to 30 they wanted to get to 40. Etc., etc. He hasn't seen that in this team as yet.

 

[EricLA]

No. The greatest team ever was Sue, Diana, Tamika, Swin and Ashja. Four of them are Olympians. It remains to be seen if UCONN's current starting 5 will all be Olympians or not. I have no doubt that Stewie will be an Olympian.

I think that Stef, Bria, and KML will all be in the mix. I think Moriah has the best shot of that group. But Sue and Dee have been starters on the National Team for years. They are the best to ever play their positions. Stewie may be the next in that line (I think Maya is as well). But I'm not sure this current team has the star power that the Sue, Dee, and the 3 headed monster had...

 

[Kibitzer]

I think we should revisit this question in April, after the NCAA Champion is identified. Even then, any consensus may be premature. and will surely not be unanimous.

But not now. Not yet.

 

[j66kicker]

No. The greatest team ever was Sue, Diana, Tamika, Swin and Ashja. Four of them are Olympians. It remains to be seen if UCONN's current starting 5 will all be Olympians or not. I have no doubt that Stewie will be an Olympian.

I think that Stef, Bria, and KML will all be in the mix. I think Moriah has the best shot of that group. But Sue and Dee have been starters on the National Team for years. They are the best to ever play their positions. Stewie may be the next in that line (I think Maya is as well). But I'm not sure this current team has the star power that the Sue, Dee, and the 3 headed monster had...

Geno said this team has a long way to go in order to compare to the best past teams. Agree with Tony & Eric that TASS + D was the best. I think they would school this year's team - at this point anyway. Lot of runway out there still, though....

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

As an outsider - always thought the Bird, Cash, Jones, Diana foursome made any team they were on "the best". Just look at their careers post UConn and wonder if your current team truly has a shot to equal them.

But - also from an outsider viewpoint - that team was much more charismatic than the current team (to a non-UConn fan). As were the Lobo / Rizzotti / Sales group, for that matter. I sense that Stewart in particular may have the personality - we will see. I know from reading the BY that there is plenty of personality on the team (as on most teams), but it doesn't come across watching them. And Maya Moore - who was one of the most effortless appearing performers I have ever seen, a joy to watch perform - had no obvious personality to the outsider.

And I think that, in some ways, a team personality can help to "define" it, and even be the difference between the "best" team and the "almost as good that performed about as well" team.

 

[j66kicker]

As an outsider - always thought the Bird, Cash, Jones, Diana foursome made any team they were on "the best". Just look at their careers post UConn and wonder if your current team truly has a shot to equal them.

But - also from an outsider viewpoint - that team was much more charismatic than the current team (to a non-UConn fan). As were the Lobo / Rizzotti / Sales group, for that matter. I sense that Stewart in particular may have the personality - we will see. I know from reading the BY that there is plenty of personality on the team (as on most teams), but it doesn't come across watching them. And Maya Moore - who was one of the most effortless appearing performers I have ever seen, a joy to watch perform - had no obvious personality to the outsider.

And I think that, in some ways, a team personality can help to "define" it, and even be the difference between the "best" team and the "almost as good that performed about as well" team.

Great observation! They had "it". This team - or 1 or more key players - may develop more "it". But Sue & DT had "it" right out of the box - it just got stronger and more dominant as they progressed.

 

[rocky rococo]

Another vote for 2002, TASS + D. There was a smoothness, a consistency and predictability across the board that made that team such a joy to watch. The point has been made that there's always someone to pick up the slack of inconsistency with this year's team, and it's true, there is. The superiority of 2002 is the same would have been there--and was, on the ONE occasion that year it was needed, at Virginia Tech. This team routinely needs somebody to step up, it hasn't matured into the grand vintage 2002 was. Four seniors versus two makes a palpable difference in the way they know each other's game, the game plan, the expectations of the coaches and each other.

 

[pvdoggy]

I don't think this team can beat the 2002 team (which was so smart) or the 2009 Championship team, which was extremely athletic.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Geno even said on the GENO LEGACY: SUE BIRD show last week he considered the 2000-2001 team that lost Svet and Shea to injury was the greatest team! And Sue agreed with him! They had 7 AA's! Without those 2 injuries, UCONN doesn't lose to ND, beats Purdue, and has 5 NC's in a row!
Sue Bird
Svet Abrosimova
Shea Ralph
Asjha Jones
Tamika Williams
Diana Taurasi
Swin Cash

 

[rocky rococo]

Geno even said on the GENO LEGACY: SUE BIRD show last week he considered the 2000-2001 team that lost Svet and Shea to injury was the greatest team! And Sue agreed with him! They had 7 AA's! Without those 2 injuries, UCONN doesn't lose to ND, beats Purdue, and has 5 NC's in a row!
Sue Bird
Svet Abrosimova
Shea Ralph
Asjha Jones
Tamika Williams
Diana Taurasi
Swin Cash

Ir was a very deep team:
Kennitra Johnson
Kelly Schumacher

 

[hoophuskee]

Geno even said on the GENO LEGACY: SUE BIRD show last week he considered the 2000-2001 team that lost Svet and Shea to injury was the greatest team! And Sue agreed with him! They had 7 AA's! Without those 2 injuries, UCONN doesn't lose to ND, beats Purdue, and has 5 NC's in a row!
Sue Bird
Svet Abrosimova
Shea Ralph
Asjha Jones
Tamika Williams
Diana Taurasi
Swin Cash

I listened to that. IMO if you listen to that whole conversation again I think he meant in terms of talent it was his greatest.

 

[hoophuskee]

This past summer a thread was started which was greatest of the undefeated teams. The 01-02 team won. I agree with that. For me, I give edge to 01-02 for now. We haven't seen this team win the title yet thus until we do I think they fall short. Even if they did, right now, I go with 01-02. Too bad Morgan Tuck is hurt as well.

We've seen DT for a full year as a super soph. While I believe Stewie can be greater as her career continues, let's see her dominate in final four again and make "the big play" like DT did in 01-02 if needed. If you recall in Finals vs Oklahoma we needed a basket at the end - we isolated DT vs. the smaller guard. Geno said later he could have done that all the time but he doesn't like to play like that. Therefore imo he called the isolation play because he felt threatened (i.e. needed a basket). Thus imo 01-02 has three advantages. Also this team 13-14 has three advantages.

01-02 has 4 seniors of which they have played over three years together.

01-02 Advantge is DT for a 2 guard was so darn big and Banks usage of playing signifciant minutes is questioned. DT would be able to use her size. If/when Geno felt "threatened" he could low post Dt and even if a big from 13-14 team helps, it would leave someone open. And if the ball ever swings to Bird or Jones it would be "money." A "missed shot off a double on DT results in the 2nd advantage that would be an advantage even without low posting DT. And that is:

01-02 Advantge. Offensive rebounding. Swin Cash and Tamika were awsome offensive rebounders. Plus for example somone like Tamika was a terrfic passer thus after a rebound she could also swing the ball outside before the defense sets. Overall we kow offensive rebounds result quite a bit in open 3's. We also know 13-14 could do a bit better job on defensive rebounds.

With that said the 13-14 team has 3 big advantages:

13-14 Advantage. While they would give up offensvie rebounds, their shot blocking is off-the-charts. Every offesnvie rebound made by 01-02 for a putback would be highly contested. Greatest shotblcoking tandem ever imo.

13- 14 Advantage. Size. We saw the year before in 00-01 what Ruth Riley did. Dolson would be tough to handle and of course Stewie.

13-14 Advanatge - the quickness and speed of this team's backcourt. Of course they aren't "better" but they will be able to score or set up players like Stewie and KML in transition.

Big things in this classic matchup is how well DT can be defended, transition offense/defense, who is hot, can Swin Cash/Tamika finish in the lane, and THE REFS (i.e. foul trouble).

 

[hoophuskee]

Another vote for 2002, TASS + D. There was a smoothness, a consistency and predictability across the board that made that team such a joy to watch. The point has been made that there's always someone to pick up the slack of inconsistency with this year's team, and it's true, there is. The superiority of 2002 is the same would have been there--and was, on the ONE occasion that year it was needed, at Virginia Tech. This team routinely needs somebody to step up, it hasn't matured into the grand vintage 2002 was. Four seniors versus two makes a palpable difference in the way they know each other's game, the game plan, the expectations of the coaches and each other.

I like the 2010 team over the 2009 team.

 

[Kibitzer]

You can pick whiehever team you want, then identify stats to validate your choice.

Scoring, percentages, A/TO ratio, blocks, rebounds, and on and on and on.

One stat was never recorded: #of buzzer beaters.

Put another way: # of "dagger-in-the-heart" plays.

Those were Diana's patented stats and make the difference between whatever team she was on and all those without her. Stewie might do it. Diana did it. Like no other.

 

[Suebird10fan]

I loved the 2002 team also, but I'll always believe the 09 and 10 teams were better. Person for person maybe 2002 was better but the team defense on the 09 and particularly the 10 team was out of this world. Each of the Maya/Tina teams were much better defensively than 02 IMO. They were able to suffocate opponent offenses at will.

Statistically, the 09 and 10 teams had an advantage over the 02 team in margin of victory over ranked opponents. I think that's the best apples to apples comparison statistically.

 

[msf22b]

With regard this team. So some extent, Stewie and KML and the Seniors are known quantities.
Morgan is not.
Moriah is the difference.
How much further she develops and dominates is the key to this team's legacy.

 

[alexrgct]

"The best team ever" discussion is based on a number of criteria. For one thing, if the team doesn't win the national championship, it's not the best team ever. Unfortunately, that eliminates 2000-01, notwithstanding the injuries. For another, you have to be more dominant in your time than other teams were in theirs. Based on that criterion, the 2008-09 team was every bit as good, if not better, than 2001-02. Another question is one of talent. What team was more talented? Well, 2001-02 had four starters who were top six 2002 WNBA draft picks, and the fifth was Diana Tuarasi, herself a #1 overall draft pick in 2004. Meanwhile, 2009 is also loaded with WNBA players; Tiff, Renee, Kalana, Maya, and Tina, were all picked somewhere in the first two rounds of various WNBA drafts. Finally, another criterion was who would you think would beat who head-to-head. There are a lot of debates that could be had there, but clearly 2001-02 had a convincing, if not decisive, edge in the backcourt.

Given all of these criteria, the verdict is still out on 2013-14. The team still needs to win a national championship. If they don't, the discussion is moot. They need to keep dominating, i.e., winning every game and doing so by double figures. They have some kids (Stef and Bria) who will be high WNBA draft picks this year, and other kids in the starting five who are clearly WNBA-bound. Who would win head-to-head? I think that won't be answered until we witness just how dominant they are in the balance of the 2013-14 season. Of course, I hope they're supremely dominant because I want the team to win #9, as well as because I am enjoying this season immensely and would like the enjoyment to continue!

 

[Jim]

They have some kids (Stef and Bria) who will be high WNBA draft picks this year, and other kids in the starting five who are clearly WNBA-bound.

This probably deserves its own thread, but how many on the current roster would folks consider to be WNBA-bound? If I had to pick right now, I'd say the six who have played USA Basketball (Stef, Bria, KML, Stewie, Morgan, and MoJef) are sure things; I'd put Kiah into the high likely camp; but I think it is too early to tell with Banks and Chong. Anyone have a different opinion?

 

[Suebird10fan]

This probably deserves its own thread, but how many on the current roster would folks consider to be WNBA-bound? If I had to pick right now, I'd say the six who have played USA Basketball (Stef, Bria, KML, Stewie, Morgan, and MoJef) are sure things; I'd put Kiah into the high likely camp; but I think it is too early to tell with Banks and Chong. Anyone have a different opinion?

Agree on all except that Kiah is a mortal lock IMO

 

[semper]

The whole debate is skewed by injuries, which makes a woulda coulda kinda scenario. I'll go with D+TASS, but they were all relatively healthy. Our "artiste" was severely injured; our great 6th man is off the table. Banks is just not back yet...which is too bad as she was hurt just as she was starting to produce big time, and then got hurt again. Hartley too, is a come-back kid this year. If this team had been and was healthy...but then what if 2000-01 had been....

 

[DobbsRover2]

Obviously a 2000-01 team that got blown out at ND in regular season is not the top team ever, even if they had gone on to win the NC. The Yankees had the "most talent" many years and did not win a World Series. Everything has to mesh for the greatest teams.

This may not be the nastiest team ever, but they are winning by the nastiest margins ever, so I'm not sure what the relevance about "wanting" to extend the lead ever upward. This team does that, whether or not they are getting together in the huddles and saying, "Let's put another 10 between us and them."

And though the 2001-02 has always been the gold standard, let's not forget that that it wasn't just the VTech game that was a challenger. Was the OK team in the NC just somehow the best NC opponent the Huskies ever had, that they just went 0-9 in 3-pt FGs, that Stacey Dales was really hot, or was it something else that had OK only 6 points down with 1:32 left (what happened at the 1:31 point was very nice though)? Does anyone think that if that OK team had faced off against last year's Louisville NC-game squad that they should be favored by 25 points (the difference of the final 8 and 33 point margins in the two NCs)?

Personally, it has always seemed to me a pointless effort to ask which team was best because, as Nan says about the MCBB and WCBB play, the conditions are completely different. Teams are constructed around different personnel and to face different teams. Even stats can be problematic in these comparisons because for instance a team that has few steals might pick up a few more rebounds and even have a better FG% defense due to its style of defense. Everything is relative, except that 0 in the loss column of the final record.

 

[hoophuskee]

Obviously a 2000-01 team that got blown out at ND in regular season is not the top team ever, even if they had gone on to win the NC. The Yankees had the "most talent" many years and did not win a World Series. Everything has to mesh for the greatest teams.

This may not be the nastiest team ever, but they are winning by the nastiest margins ever, so I'm not sure what the relevance about "wanting" to extend the lead ever upward. This team does that, whether or not they are getting together in the huddles and saying, "Let's put another 10 between us and them."

And though the 2001-02 has always been the gold standard, let's not forget that that it wasn't just the VTech game that was a challenger. Was the OK team in the NC just somehow the best NC opponent the Huskies ever had, that they just went 0-9 in 3-pt FGs, that Stacey Dales was really hot, or was it something else that had OK only 6 points down with 1:32 left (what happened at the 1:31 point was very nice though)? Does anyone think that if that OK team had faced off against last year's Louisville NC-game squad that they should be favored by 25 points (the difference of the final 8 and 33 point margins in the two NCs)?

Personally, it has always seemed to me a pointless effort to ask which team was best because, as Nan says about the MCBB and WCBB play, the conditions are completely different. Teams are constructed around different personnel and to face different teams. Even stats can be problematic in these comparisons because for instance a team that has few steals might pick up a few more rebounds and even have a better FG% defense due to its style of defense. Everything is relative, except that 0 in the loss column of the final record.

Great post. I agree with all - however last paragraph I do enjoy "what if" discussions. We can also see view how each poster views the game and compare how we look at it. For example I'm with you about Oklahoma - I thought their team in 01-02 was fantastic, and I agree with your point of scoring margin in your context.