Jean Marc Koumadje Visiting August 22nd

[CHIROMIKE]

Can't. Teach. Size.

Marc Suhr would agree

 

[elduderino]

Rip destroyed Brand in the title game and took home the hardware, that's all that matters and you are definitely in the minority thinking UConn had more talent than Duke.

Although langdon might have been the most overrated player in cbb history. He could do exactly one thing well.

 

[UconnU]

What ever happened to that dwight howard clone d'jery Baptiste we were recruiting last summer? Kid was a beast, dont hear much about him anymore.

 

[intlzncster]

Rip destroyed Brand in the title game and took home the hardware, that's all that matters and you are definitely in the minority thinking UConn had more talent than Duke.

Perhaps, but UCONN had the best SF in the game (who happened to be the 1a to Elton Brand's 1 for best player). We had the best defensive player in the game, in Rickey Moore. We had the better point guard, imo, in KEA. Avery and KEA's per 40 stats were almost the same, and KEA had a leadership and moxie that few players in UCONN history have ever had.

At PF, Battier and Kfree might have been a toss up, but Kfree had better numbers that year. I'd take him in a heartbeat.

They had the better overall 2 guard (Langdon) and the better center (Brand).

 

[pj]

Brand was a superstar and Duke had more overall talent, but UConn played hard and together and was the better team that day. It was a great, great win. Duke and UConn were the two best teams all year, no one else was close.

 

[DogMania]

Nobody knew this guy existed two weeks ago and now he's going to be one of the best centers we've ever had? You do realize that Okafor was a first tean all-american and national defensive player of the year, right?

I do agree we need to temper our enthusiasm, but note that many were putting down fans for such enthusiasm before Thabeet and Brimah set foot in Storrs, and they both turned out to be pretty talented college 5s. Based on what I saw, I'd say that Koumadje could be every bit as good as the two 7 footers I just mentioned if he's a good learner, has solid BBIQ and instincts and can stay healthy. Some bigs, no matter how athletic they might be never learn the mental part of the game, such as Justin Brown. But I'm optimistic in light of the last two 7+ footers we've had who did just fine in learning the game. His biggest problem starting out will be staying on the floor. It takes time for the 7 footers to learn to anticipate what's going to happen and move those big puppies quick enough so that they don't pick up silly contact fouls at an alarming rate. If and once they learn that, they can be extremely effective, at least on the defensive end of the floor where they're needed most. Getting a little post offense our of them is gravy IMO, as long as they're not turning it over at an alarming rate.

That's my 2 cents. Stone would be a more ready to contribute 5, though Koumadje could turn out to be a more devastating defender at the college level after 2 or 3 years. I'm fine with either one. For the more immediate impact on the team's success, Stone would fit the bill. Long term, Koumadje makes sense since he'll likely stick around for 2 to 3 years, while Stone takes his skills to the NBA.

 

[elduderino]

Is Koumadje a distant third in terms of talent to Stone and Enoch? I know Stone is heads and tails above the other two, but I know nothing about Kou.

More importantly, who and how should this guy 69?

 

[imno1]

More importantly, who and how should this guy 69?

Perhaps she could help

 

[elduderino]

Brand was a beast that year

until he met up with the

Perhaps she could help
View attachment 6400

duckck that, Im not sure Ive got what it would take, but Id damn sure give her a try myself.

 

[BearJWS]

Brand was a superstar and Duke had more overall talent, but UConn played hard and together and was the better team that day. It was a great, great win. Duke and UConn were the two best teams all year, no one else was close.

UConn & Duke were the only 2 teams ranked #1 during the 1998-1999 season. UConn was #1 for a majority of the season too. I never understood why everyone thought Puke were heavy favorites. UConn was a better defensive team & we're much hungrier than Puke.

 

[Tampahusky]

Thread is officially hijacked

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

We had the best player on the court against Duke. Like Calhoun has said time and time again, if you have the best guy on the court, you can beat anybody.

 

[intlzncster]

Thread is officially hijacked

It's what we do.

 

[PAHusky]

It's what we do.

I feel like someone needs to start a thread on hijacking, just to see where it ends up.

 

[intlzncster]

I feel like someone needs to start a thread on hijacking, just to see where it ends up.

Our most on-topic thread ever is about Pizza. I'm not sure what that says about the boneyard.

 

[UConn990411]

Four times UConn has had the likely runner-up to the NPOY awards (possibly five, as I'm not sure where Rip ranked in '99), and, in my opinion, three of those guys (Ray in '96, Emeka in '04, Kemba in '11) got jobbed. In Okafor's case, it wasn't close. Nelson was a staggeringly bad choice for NPOY.

The only people who think that post on this board.

Both players would have been justified winning NPOY. Regardless, I'll take UConn's result in the tourney that year versus St. Joe's.

 

[johnhuskies95]

The only people who think that post on this board.

Both players would have been justified winning NPOY. I'll take UConn's result in the tourney that year versus St. Joe's.

People on this board are the only ones that care, but I think most objective observers would agree that Emeka was more deserving. If St. Joes had lost even two games in the regular season, Nelson wouldn't have been more than a fringe candidate in my opinion. Truthfully, Delonte West was the better offensive player for them, and it's not like Nelson was a lights out defender.

 

[UConn990411]

People on this board are the only ones that care, but I think most objective observers would agree that Emeka was more deserving. If St. Joes had lost even two games in the regular season, Nelson wouldn't have been more than a fringe candidate in my opinion. Truthfully, Delonte West was the better offensive player for them, and it's not like Nelson was a lights out defender.

...but they didn't lose a game that year. And he was a good defender in college.

Here were both players' stats that season:
Emeka - 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 4.1 bpg, 1.0 spg, 60% FG, 52% FT (UConn's regular season record: 24-6)
Nelson - 20.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.3 apg, 2.8 spg, 47.5% FG, 39% 3s, 79% FT (St. Joe's regular season record: 27-0)

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Maybe our guys can win an NPOY competing in this new conference instead of going against the best of the best. That's how guys like Nelson, Jimmer, and McBuckets won it.

 

[intlzncster]

...but they didn't lose a game that year. And he was a good defender in college.

Here were both players' stats that season:
Emeka - 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 4.1 bpg, 1.0 spg, 60% FG, 52% FT (UConn's regular season record: 24-6)
Nelson - 20.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.3 apg, 2.8 spg, 47.5% FG, 39% 3s, 79% FT (St. Joe's regular season record: 27-0)

Emeka played with a bad back half the time. And didn't he miss a few games?

And while going undefeated is going undefeated, look at the list of who they played. There's only 4 or so good wins in there.

Gonzaga
Boston
Old Dominion
San Francisco
Pennsylvania
Boston College
Drexel
California
Pacific
Delaware
George Washington
Richmond
Duquesne
Fordham
Xavier
Massachusetts
St. Bonaventure
Temple
Villanova
La Salle
Dayton
Rhode Island
Fordham
Temple
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
St. Bonaventure
Xavier

 

[johnhuskies95]

...but they didn't lose a game that year. And he was a good defender in college.

Here were both players' stats that season:
Emeka - 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 4.1 bpg, 1.0 spg, 60% FG, 52% FT (UConn's regular season record: 24-6)
Nelson - 20.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.3 apg, 2.8 spg, 47.5% FG, 39% 3s, 79% FT (St. Joe's regular season record: 27-0)

Not that win shares are the end all-be all, but Emeka's significantly better in that category. And he had a better effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage(slightly).

But I think what made Emeka the best player was that he was absolutely elite in two categories that year, blocks and rebounds, something that Nelson can't say. So when they're fairly comparable scorers, I think the edge goes to Emeka on that basis.

 

[nomar]

UConn & Duke were the only 2 teams ranked #1 during the 1998-1999 season. UConn was #1 for a majority of the season too. I never understood why everyone thought Puke were heavy favorites. UConn was a better defensive team & we're much hungrier than Puke.

I agree that Duke shouldn't have been favored as much as they were. But we were #1 for the majority only because Duke lost in Alaska and we took their place until we lost to Cuse. Duke never lost again until March 29.

Taking on what someone else said (and a lot of people on this board have said over the years), I really don't think it's arguable that we had as much "talent." They had Elton Brand (NPOY, 1st Team AA, 1st overall pick in 1999), Trajan Langdon (2nd Team AA, 11th overall pick in 1999), Corey Maggette (explosive scorer, 13th overall pick in 1999), Will Avery (3rd guy on this list to shoot over 40% from 3, 14th overall pick in 1999), Shane Battier (3-time NDPOY including 1999, 6th overall pick in 2001), and Chris Carawell (10 ppg scorer, 1st Team AA in 2000, 41th overall pick in 2000).

We didn't have more talent. We had depth, and a coach with the brains and balls to use it. We had a better game plan. We had heart. And we have the ability as winners to write the history books. It's not an insult to say we beat a team with more overall talent. It makes it more impressive. 2004, on the other hand, was a different story. We were better than they were.

 

[donyell34]

Never did buy the thought duke had so much more talent then us, they barely got by st. John's. We owned the johnies that year beat them 3x that year and twice fairly easy. We were a tougher team.

 

[CallMeBruce]

...but they didn't lose a game that year. And he was a good defender in college.

Here were both players' stats that season:
Emeka - 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 4.1 bpg, 1.0 spg, 60% FG, 52% FT (UConn's regular season record: 24-6)
Nelson - 20.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.3 apg, 2.8 spg, 47.5% FG, 39% 3s, 79% FT (St. Joe's regular season record: 27-0)

Whether or not St. How's lost a regular season game or two isn't the issue. Nelson was a terrible choice for NPOY because he wasn't close to being the best or most valuable player in the country. He was the second-most valuable player on his own team, while Okafor was, by a pretty fair margin, the most valuable player in the country. This isn't just my opinion; I'm working of the numbers here, and not just raw points. Look for yourself. http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/2004.html

 

[Hoophound]

I agree that Duke shouldn't have been favored as much as they were. But we were #1 for the majority only because Duke lost in Alaska and we took their place until we lost to Cuse. Duke never lost again until March 29. Taking on what someone else said (and a lot of people on this board have said over the years), I really don't think it's arguable that we had as much "talent." They had Elton Brand (NPOY, 1st Team AA, 1st overall pick in 1999), Trajan Langdon (2nd Team AA, 11th overall pick in 1999), Corey Maggette (explosive scorer, 13th overall pick in 1999), Will Avery (3rd guy on this list to shoot over 40% from 3, 14th overall pick in 1999), Shane Battier (3-time NDPOY including 1999, 6th overall pick in 2001), and Chris Carawell (10 ppg scorer, 1st Team AA in 2000, 41th overall pick in 2000). We didn't have more talent. We had depth, and a coach with the brains and balls to use it. We had a better game plan. We had heart. And we have the ability as winners to write the history books. It's not an insult to say we beat a team with more overall talent. It makes it more impressive. 2004, on the other hand, was a different story. We were better than they were.

I agree with everything you said above but we all know that defense and intangibles matter. Duke was the more talented offensive team but we had the best player, the better lead guard, the best defender and better team defense. It is also pretty hard to say that they were more talented when we had greatness at three positions on the floor, they only had greatness at one.

I know Duke had more talent in retrospect, but some of their talent was young and unproven. Ours talent was mature and confident with a hint of assured arrogance. Our guys would have beat them in a basketball game or a street fight, we were just stronger and tougher.