JI: Counting down the top 10 UConn teams

[HuskyNan]

Journal Inquirer

The latest news from Manchester, Connecticut, as well as coverage of Enfield, Vernon, South Windsor, East Hartford and beyond.

www.journalinquirer.com

For those interested, there’s a similar thread for the women’s team on the other board

 

[Rico444]

I'm really surprised he chose 2011 over 1999. To me, you can make an argument for either 2004 or 1999 as the top team, but both are clearly better than 2011 was.

 

[J187Money]

That's a good roundup.

 

[ToolzieFan]

I just came here to post this. It was a fun read while in lockdown.

I have a hard time deciding between 1999 and 2004 as the best. The 1999 team was ranked #1 for an awful long time, and they beat an alleged all-time great Duke team. But 2004 had the #2 and #3 picks in the draft.

2014 is difficult to place. They won the whole thing, which would justify them being top four. However, I can't really say I think that team was better than the 1995 team, among others. I agree with 2006 and 2009 being ahead of 2014.

2011 still has to be my favorite team. I don't think anybody will ever surpass that team's March run. Of course, people sometimes forget we were undefeated outside of the Big East that year, as well as undefeated on neutral courts. It was a little less unlikely of a title than some realize.

Every title run has a special place in my heart. 1999 was the first. I was a student in 2004. 2011 was the greatest March run. 2014 was the most unlikely, with a new coach, and a year after a ban.

After James Bouknight surprisingly decides to return for a third year, I can't wait to see where the 2021 team ranks on this list.

 

[superjohn]

I'm really surprised he chose 2011 over 1999. To me, you can make an argument for either 2004 or 1999 as the top team, but both are clearly better than 2011 was.

Yes and he has the Dream Season too low.

 

[Huskybass]

I'm really surprised he chose 2011 over 1999. To me, you can make an argument for either 2004 or 1999 as the top team, but both are clearly better than 2011 was.

Have to agree. 2011 was not as balanced with stars like the 99 or 04 teams. Kemba shouldered way to much of the load for the 11 team to match up.

 

[87Xfer]

Yes and he has the Dream Season too low.

You're probably right about this.

 

[awfuldan]

Quick nitpick - Amida Brimah the best freshman center in UConn history? Love Brimah but I don't think that's right. Not gonna argue with 2014 at #6 though. You can't put a national champion any lower than that but obviously they were far from the most dominant team in UConn history.

Not sure of the rationale behind putting 2011 above 1999. 2011 team maybe had the most impressive postseason run of any team, but that's not the point of the list I don't think. And if it were, they'd be #1 anyway.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Amida Brimah the best freshman center in UConn history?

Emeka Okafor saya hello.

 

[Inyatkin]

2014 wasn't dominant, but you had a first-team all-American and his two sidekicks each playing at the peak of their ability when it mattered most, plus Giffey doing all the little things and a supporting cast that did what it had to. It's rare to see a borderline team reach its absolute potential, but this one did, and should get credit for it

 

[LStudfellow]

First of all, let's just say I agree 100% with @ToolzieFan and the rest of you - definitely a fun read and makes for an interesting debate.

That having been said - there is no way you can say the 2011 team was better than the 1999 team. The 1999 was substantially better AND more seasoned (a key point for anyone who knows college basketball). And this coming from a guy (me) who has always believed Kemba Walker should have been the Wooden Award winner that year over Jimmer "I suck at defense so I rarely play it" Fredette.

Kemba is the only guy from the 2011 team who would have started on the 1999 team. You can argue Oriakhi, but in my mind Voskuhl was a better fit at center for that team than Oriakhi would have been, and frankly so was Kevin Freeman at PF. In fact, KFree had better numbers in 98-99 than Oriakhi did in 10-11. Many people tend to forget just how important Kevin Freeman was to that team.

Then, compare the benches. The 98-99 team, with Mouring, Saunders, Wane and Jones was far superior to the 2011 bench of Coombs-McDaniel, Okwandu, Donnell Beverly and a freshman Tyler Olander.

Furthermore, it is obvious that Ostrout forgets just how much things changed during that 12 years, as many more of the top guys were going to the pros earlier in 2011 than in 1999. As a result, it was signficantly harder to win 6 games and the National Title in 1999 than it was in 2011. And, there was no team in the 2011 tournament that we faced that came close to the Duke team that the 1999 team had to beat to win it all.

Or, look at it second way: how do you think the 2011 team would have fared against that 1999 Duke team? As much as I hate to admit it, I think that Duke team would have beaten our 2011 team pretty easily. We had no way of stopping Elton Brand down low, or Trajan Langdon on the wing.

Honestly, the real matchup I would love to see is our 1999 champs vs. our 2004 champs. Definitely our 2 best teams ever. Now THAT would be a TITANIC game... one for the ages.

 

[Chin Diesel]

First of all, let's just say I agree 100% with @ToolzieFan and the rest of you - definitely a fun read and makes for an interesting debate.

That having been said - there is no way you can say the 2011 team was better than the 1999 team. The 1999 was substantially better AND more seasoned (a key point for anyone who knows college basketball). And this coming from a guy (me) who has always believed Kemba Walker should have been the Wooden Award winner that year over Jimmer "I suck at defense so I rarely play it" Fredette.

Kemba is the only guy from the 2011 team who would have started on the 1999 team. You can argue Oriakhi, but in my mind Voskuhl was a better fit at center for that team than Oriakhi would have been, and frankly so was Kevin Freeman at PF. In fact, KFree had better numbers in 98-99 than Oriakhi did in 10-11. Many people tend to forget just how important Kevin Freeman was to that team.

Then, compare the benches. The 98-99 team, with Mouring, Saunders, Wane and Jones was far superior to the 2011 bench of Coombs-McDaniel, Okwandu, Donnell Beverly and a freshman Tyler Olander.

Furthermore, it is obvious that Ostrout forgets just how much things changed during that 12 years, as many more of the top guys were going to the pros earlier in 2011 than in 1999. As a result, it was signficantly harder to win 6 games and the National Title in 1999 than it was in 2011. And, there was no team in the 2011 tournament that we faced that came close to the Duke team that the 1999 team had to beat to win it all.

Or, look at it second way: how do you think the 2011 team would have fared against that 1999 Duke team? As much as I hate to admit it, I think that Duke team would have beaten our 2011 team pretty easily. We had no way of stopping Elton Brand down low, or Trajan Langdon on the wing.

Honestly, the real matchup I would love to see is our 1999 champs vs. our 2004 champs. Definitely our 2 best teams ever. Now THAT would be a TITANIC game... one for the ages.

Would also like a FF of the 4 best non-title teams- Dream Season, '95, '96 and '06.

 

[LStudfellow]

Would also like a FF of the 4 best non-title teams- Dream Season, '95, '96 and '06.

I would throw in the '98 and '02 teams into that mix as well... For example, what if the '98 team did not have to play a powerhouse UNC team IN NORTH CAROLINA? And that '02 team with Caron leading the way... we pushed the eventual champ Maryland right to the end in that Elite 8 game.

Excellent idea @Chin Diesel... definitely a fun debate to have with so much time on our hands.

Personally, I have always thought that Dream Season team outplayed their individual talent more than any other team we have ever had, until the 2014 team did during their tournament run. That 10 to 11 weeks from mid-January 1990 through the gut-wrenching loss to Duke in the Meadowlands will always be the most fun I have ever had as a sports fan... and I was lucky enough as a senior at the time to be there as a fan, as an announcer for WHUS (on some of the games) or just being in Connecticut to live it all as it unfolded.

I still get chills every time I watch the beginning sequence against mighty Georgetown at the Hartford Civic Center on that snowy Saturday night in late January when we all first started to really believe that team was special. And before anyone chimes in with the Syracuse game from 5 days earlier (I was at that game also), remember that we had beaten Syracuse in each of the previous 2 years, and it always seemed like you could beat Syracuse because Boeheim was not a great in-game coach, even when he had the far superior talent on his side. Georgetown, on the other hand - beating them and the mighty John Thompson at the time was the ultimate mountain to climb. We had only beaten them once in the last 16 games coming into that game... and they were always more menacing because they played much more in-your-face hardcore man-to-man Defense (Hoya Paranoia) than Syracuse ever did with their more passive 2-3 zone.

I have never been in a place so loud, so exuberant as it was when Georgetown called that timeout at the 5 minute mark when they had not scored yet. I remember John Tuite and I looking at each other in sheer amazement at the cacophony of sound emanating from the crowd around us. It was awesome! I am truly thankful to @tcf15 every time I go to his treasure trove of compiled videos... Thank you @tcf15!

... These types of threads also serve as a great reminder of how lucky we have been as UConn Husky fans, particularly during our golden age when Jim Calhoun, the Michelangelo of all of college basketball, was the man at the helm.

 

[ToolzieFan]

Would also like a FF of the 4 best non-title teams- Dream Season, '95, '96 and '06.

2009 is also in the running for our best non-title team. They reached the Final Four without Dyson, and would have had a very realistic shot at a title with him.

 

[SubbaBub]

Listing the teams with the best tourney runs isn't an exercise worthy of debating. These are the best teams as in who would beat who.

2004
1999
1995
2014
2011
2009
2003
1994
1996
1998

 

[Palatine]

The top four are the NCs, pick any order you like.

Fifth is 2009 Final Four team that got knocked out by MSU playing a home game at Ford Field.

Sixth is 2006, the most talented of any in the history of the Huskies, knocked out of the Elite Eight by GMU playing a home game.

Seventh is 1990 Dream team that launched the elite era of Huskies basketball.

Eighth is the 1995 team that scored 95 points or more in every game of their run to an NCAA region final. An NCAA record that is unlikely to be broken in our lifetimes.

Ninth is the 1988 NIT Champs who were the dream team before the dream team.

Tenth is 1964, Perno steals the ball from Bill Bradley, the Huskies make the Elite Eight and the state catches its first glimpse of greatness. Connecticut is now a bunch of Husky fans.

 

[ThabeetDown]

1999
2004
2009
2011
1990
2006
1996
2014
1988
1994

99 over 04 for sentimental reasons, but wouldn't be upset swapping them.

I've recently become obsessed with the 09 team. They're an intact Dyson ACL away from being historic. Rewatch some of their old games, just an incredibly balanced team and really fun to watch.

2011 purely for Kemba and 5 in 5. Although I think 09 beats them hence why they're ranked higher.

Dream Season deserves to be top 5.

Struggled the most with 06 vs 96 to be honest. Very similar teams in the sense they underachieved incredibly. Talent was not an issue.

2014 I think is fair here even with the title.

Gotta give some love to the NIT Champs that put UConn on the map. Incredible they were 4-12 in Big East play.

It was between 94 and 95 but I went with the Donyell factor. Team went undefeated at home too.

 

[ucp990411]

The top four are the NCs, pick any order you like.

Fifth is 2009 Final Four team that got knocked out by MSU playing a home game at Ford Field.

Sixth is 2006, the most talented of any in the history of the Huskies, knocked out of the Elite Eight by GMU playing a home game.

Seventh is 1990 Dream team that launched the elite era of Huskies basketball.

Eighth is the 1995 team that scored 95 points or more in every game of their run to an NCAA region final. An NCAA record that is unlikely to be broken in our lifetimes.

Ninth is the 1988 NIT Champs who were the dream team before the dream team.

Tenth is 1964, Perno steals the ball from Bill Bradley, the Huskies make the Elite Eight and the state catches its first glimpse of greatness. Connecticut is now a bunch of Husky fans.

Only change is to put 1990 ahead of 2006. And I agree 1963-64 belongs on this list. I notice you and I agree on things. We must be about the same age. Where did you grow up? Me - East Hartford.

 

[JB75]

No way 2011 shud be ranked higher than 99. Kind of crazy though how we had to play UNC in Greensboro in the elite eigh:t UCLA out west in the elite eight and Michigan State in Detroit in the final four. If memory serves me correctly(2001?) we also had to play Texas in Texas I believe in the Sweet 16 when Marcus whites shot got stuck in side of the rim- Only payback was we got was Michigan State in the garden in the elite eight in 14