Jeremy Lamb appreciation thread

[Hans Sprungfeld]

What's crazier to consider is that Lamb didnt even get many minutes early in the year. He barely played in Maui.
His rapid maturation in 1 year was incredible.

I've been waiting until I read all of the comments before posting what immediately occurred to me when I read the OP.

With a combination of amusement & embarrassment, I admit to txting my sister during a game that I saw "nothing" in him.

Ever since, I have scaled back both my instant enthusiasm and harsh criticisms of early-season freshmen.

Once again, I love threads like these, and we are so very fortunate as a fan base to have so much to work with.

Finally, I'll mention that nobody expected Emeka Okafor to start every game, average 30+ minutes per game, and lead the team in FG percentage, rebounds, and blocks. And he showed 'special' from the beginning.

Maryland was just a little bit better in the Elite Eight that year. As with UCLA in 1995, I considered the loss to the eventual champion as indication that the NC was UConn's if the E8 game had been in our favor (a fan's prerogative).

 

[boog204]

Agree 100%. UConn’s rise in 1990 doesn’t happen without the Dove.

True... But we do not win a 'ship without Khalid and that's not even debatable. Khalid came on his official visit and was organizing the team during a pickup game. I know Ricky is a reviled player here for good reason, but he was a mediocre point guard and we do not win with him as the sole PG.

 

[8893]

I know Ricky is a reviled player here for good reason, but he was a mediocre point guard and we do not win with him as the sole PG.

I think you meant "revered"?

 

[mussels]

how is being the second best player on an elite 8 team more significant than lamb's role as the second best player on a chip team?

El-Amin put the program over the top.

Also, remember that the elite 8 game, where we lost to North Carolina, was played in Greensboro. In that game our freshman point guard led all scorers with 24 points. (more than Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, or Richard Hamilton).

It was the swagger on top of swagger that put the program over the top.

 

[bendm]

El-Amin put the program over the top.

Also, remember that the elite 8 game, where we lost to North Carolina, was played in Greensboro. In that game our freshman point guard led all scorers with 24 points. (more than Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, or Richard Hamilton).

It was the swagger on top of swagger that put the program over the top.

if the question was most significant role by a sophomore i would have said el-amin

 

[CallMeBruce]

how is being the second best player on an elite 8 team more significant than lamb's role as the second best player on a chip team?

How old are you? Not to be an "eye test" guy, but if you saw the way that team transformed from the 96-97 season to the 97-98 season, you'd understand.

 

[7774]

How old are you? Not to be an "eye test" guy, but if you saw the way that team transformed from the 96-97 season to the 97-98 season, you'd understand.

Exactly. I feel like you can only have these questions if you didn't see Khalid play. Khalid was just better overall, and the degree of difficulty of coming in and playing point guard at the level he did is just way higher than what Lamb had to do. Lamb was a great sidekick. Khalid was the 2nd best basketball player on the team, but he was not a sidekick, that was his team.

 

[Rico444]

I think you meant "revered"?

He's reviled in Durham, that's for sure.

 

[bendm]

How old are you? Not to be an "eye test" guy, but if you saw the way that team transformed from the 96-97 season to the 97-98 season, you'd understand.

i was 10 in '99 but i dont think you are answering the OPs question

the question was "who played such a significant role to success on our team over the entire course of their freshman year?"

so measuring el-amin's impact across seasons is not technically answering the question. for me this was easy. i looked at the frosh starters on our most successful teams (i.e. the chip teams) and there were only 2- lamb and boone.

 

[McLovin]

Players I’m considered for this “impact” list would be freshman on teams that made an E8 or deeper run.

Meaning only guys im considering would have been freshman on the teams: 2014, 2011, 2009, 2006, 2004, 2002, 1999, 1998, 1995 and 1990.

Brimah had that huge play and was a contributor as a freshman but idk if he changed the season as a whole for that team. Same with freshman Kemba.

Caron was great statistically as a freshman but their team didn’t even make the tournament in 2000-2001.

I agree with Boone in 04 (forgot he was a freshman that year) and KEA in 98 as invaluable contributors over the season.

KEA always gets plenty of love on here, as he should. But Boone and Lamb don’t get talked about enough. Especially Lamb. 2011 never even comes close to happening without him. That 2004 team was much deeper than our 2011 team, but Boone was big that year when they needed him to be.

 

[7774]

i was 10 in '99 but i dont think you are answering the OPs question

the question was "who played such a significant role to success on our team over the entire course of their freshman year?"

so measuring el-amin's impact across seasons is not technically answering the question. for me this was easy. i looked at the frosh starters on our most successful teams (i.e. the chip teams) and there were only 2- lamb and boone.

I don't really see people measuring Khalid over multiple seasons, I see people saying Khalid was more impactful his freshman year.

And giving the championship so much weight in an exercise like this is kind of silly. If that 2011 team played the Vince Carter/Antawn Jamison Carolina team in Greensboro in the Elite 8, they also are not winning a championship.

 

[bendm]

And giving the championship so much weight in an exercise like this is kind of silly. If that 2011 team played the Vince Carter/Antawn Jamison Carolina team in Greensboro in the Elite 8, they also are not winning a championship.

talk about silly...if that's how winning chips worked we'd have no more than 2 because 2014 certainly wasnt the best team in the country either

imo chips are the single most important measure of success, everything else is secondary. if you have different ways of measuring success then knock yourself out

 

[7774]

talk about silly...if that's how winning chips worked we'd have no more than 2 because 2014 certainly wasnt the best team in the country either

So just to summarize, Lamb was better than Khalid as a freshmen because Lamb's team won a championship and Khalid's didn't. Amazing.

 

[bendm]

So just to summarize, Lamb was better than Khalid as a freshmen because Lamb's team won a championship and Khalid's didn't. Amazing.

where did i say he was better? that's not what the question was and that's not what i said.

 

[7774]

where did i say he was better? that's not what the question was and that's not what i said.

How much difference is there between more impactful vs being better? Impact is the difference between what your team would be with you on the team vs not on the team. The better you are the more impact you have.

Whatever you want to call it, being good, having impact, Khalid is the correct answer between those 2 players.

 

[bendm]

How much difference is there between more impactful vs being better? Impact is the difference between what your team would be with you on the team vs not on the team. The better you are the more impact you have.

Whatever you want to call it, being good, having impact, Khalid is the correct answer between those 2 players.

no the question was which freshman played the most significant role "to success on our team"

you cant have more success as a team than winning a chip so for me the answer was limited to freshmen on chip winning teams by default... in that case el-amin certainly isnt the correct answer because he wasnt even a choice.

and there are absolutely differences between being good and being impactful and i'm not debating the nuances with you

 

[7774]

no the question was which freshman played the most significant role "to success on our team"

you cant have more success as a team than winning a chip so for me the answer was limited to freshmen on chip winning teams by default... in that case el-amin certainly isnt the correct answer because he wasnt even a choice.

and there are absolutely differences between being good and being impactful and i'm not debating the nuances with you

Yes, that was the question, not "which freshman played the most significant role on our most successful teams", which is the question you are answering. Thanks for the laughs.

 

[bendm]

Yes, that was the question, not "which freshman played the most significant role on our most successful teams", which is the question you are answering. Thanks for the laughs.

the question was not "who was the best freshmen" as you are claiming it is...your interpretation renders the qualifier "to success on our team" superfluous. laugh it up fool.

 

[HuskyFich]

Charlie Villanueva!?

 

[mussels]

you cant have more success as a team than winning a chip so for me the answer was limited to freshmen on chip winning teams by default... in that case el-amin certainly isnt the correct answer because he wasnt even a choice.

By that logic Donnell Beverly had a bigger impact on a season than Ray Allen.

Here's what a pretty knowledgeable coach had to say about Freshman El-Amin and his impact on the team. (underlining mine)

"We thought he brought exuberance we didn't have," Calhoun said Friday. "Some kids are great players, but don't necessarily have the pizzazz, the thing that goes beyond making shots and passes. I thought he brought that hundred-fold to us. He has changed the personality of our team.

"I've never seen a freshman who's been able to make as many big plays at the right time," Calhoun said, "and with a tremendous will he transmits to other people."

 

[Spaceman213J]

The Dove hbeing helped transform UConn. His defense helped fuel their press. He was one of those guys who just made everyone better by being on the floor with them.

I always thought that Lamb, Walker and company didn't get the credit they deserved. Everyone talks like about how poor Butler shot and played. A lot of that was UConn's defense. I think teams looked at them and height wise, they weren't that impressive. While Lamb is the poster child for this, they were LONG and quik. Smith and Oriakhi, along with lamb could make guys adjust shots that they thougt initially would be easy to get off. Butler shot poorly, but so did Kentucky and Arizona. Aside from length, Kemba and Bazz were pests for other team backcourts during their run.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

I remember the Lamb on Kentucky being much more highly rated and touted than Jeremy and Jeremy proved to be the much better player and knocked the other Lamb out of the final four. Well done Jeremy.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

People already forgot Brimah
No Brimah no NC
Three point play or gone
His defense allowed us to unleash our guards. He was a huge part of that team.

I’m still amazed he got the rebound, made the shot, and the free throw. Our hopes and dreams were hanging by a thread and Brimah saved the season.

 

[bendm]

By that logic Donnell Beverly had a bigger impact on a season than Ray Allen.

no it doesnt because they prob still win w/o beverly. said freshmen still had to be integral pieces of the chip team which is why i only listed lamb and boone.

and as OP clarified ray doesnt make the cut either because he was limiting this to the most successful teams i.e. those that made the elite 8 (whereas i was limiting it even more to just chips).

anyways i'm done debating semantics and principles of interpretation. moving on to other threads.

 

[mussels]

no it doesnt because they prob still win w/o beverly. said freshmen still had to be integral pieces of the chip team which is why i only listed lamb and boone.

and as OP clarified ray doesnt make the cut either because he was limiting this to the most successful teams i.e. those that made the elite 8 (whereas i was limiting it even more to just chips).

anyways i'm done debating semantics and principles of interpretation. moving on to other threads.

Don’t think the OP did anything of the sort but agree Lamb was a critical part of a critical season.