Let's be honest...UConn hasn't had a dominant type team since 2008-09.

[Hi-Low]

I'll take the 2010-11 any year ofcourse but even they were 9-9 in BE. Not dominant by any stretch, but had a very, very magical post-season....11-0. Also had AO to rebound....he made the difference in the end.

The 2008-09 team was 15-3 in BE, a complete, dominant type team...Price, Adrien, Thabeet, Robinson, Dyson, Walker, Austrie, Edwards. Had Dyson stayed healthy they could have given UNC a run in the Final Four. Thabeet & Adrien both averaged 10 rebounds per game....imagine that.

UConn 2013-14 is an extremely 1 dimensional perimeter team. When we are able to get open looks and 2-3 guys are hot we are tough to beat....otherwise some more long nights ahead. We don't have a single reliable interior player right now. If we split with L'Ville, Memphis, Cincy, SMU will be thrilled...sign me up for 12-6 the rest of the way and 8/9 seed in the tourney....realistically what we are....no shame in it but not dominant.

 

[CTBasketball]

I think this might be best-case scenario.

 

[Tenspro2002]

This is a distressing point that can't be understated, especially in the context of realignment and shifting perceptions. Blue bloods, national powers, whatever you want to call them, don't go half a decade without a team that's dominant, in the top 10, and considered a championship contender wire-to-wire.

 

[upstater]

I'll take the 2010-11 any year ofcourse but even they were 9-9 in BE. Not dominant by any stretch, but had a very, very magical post-season....11-0. Also had AO to rebound....he made the difference in the end.

The 2008-09 team was 15-3 in BE, a complete, dominant type team...Price, Adrien, Thabeet, Robinson, Dyson, Walker, Austrie, Edwards. Had Dyson stayed healthy they could have given UNC a run in the Final Four. Thabeet & Adrien both averaged 10 rebounds per game....imagine that.

UConn 2013-14 is an extremely 1 dimensional perimeter team. When we are able to get open looks and 2-3 guys are hot we are tough to beat....otherwise some more long nights ahead. We don't have a single reliable interior player right now. If we split with L'Ville, Memphis, Cincy, SMU will be thrilled...sign me up for 12-6 the rest of the way and 8/9 seed in the tourney....realistically what we are....no shame in it but not dominant.

I don't know why people emphasize 9-9 so much. In the non-conference regular season they were 13-0.

Before the NCAA tourney, they were 18-0 outside the BE regular season. The entire year, they were 24-0 outside the BE regular season, with victories over Michigan St., Kentucky, Texas (ranked), Wichita St., Tennessee, Harvard. That's dominant, 24-0. In the 18 game BE regular season, they were middling, and that stretch also coincided with a huge drop in Kemba going to the foul line. The refs simply stopped calling fouls on defenders guarding Kemba, and that more than anything lead to those losses.

That team also had Jeremy Lamb on it, who together with Kemba made for a potent 1-2 punch. Compared to the 2009 team, you have two NBA starters as opposed to none on 2009.

That 2011 team is disrespected by so many, but I thought they proved their mettle on the court. Defensively they were ferocious. And they had Kemba.

That 2011 team wins this year's NCAA championship. In fact, they were the fourth most popular pick to win it in 2011 before the tourney.

 

[Gurleyman]

You have to be Eeyore to spin a national title into a bad year.

 

[Inyatkin]

People want to "yeah but" a national title away. It's unbelievable. Yeah, they won 32 times by accident.

 

[bobbygt]

I agree that 2008-2009 was a 'vintage' and dominant Uconn team, at least when speaking of Uconn's great seasons since 1990, but the 2010-2011 NC team had two lottery picks and the best player in the country on it.

Doing the math, that's five years removed from a FF and three from a NC.

We just need to forge onward and support the team as if it's 1990.

I think we'd all love to steal away into that way back when.

Certainly uncertain times, and although the expectations are now so high as a program, it might be necessary to be patient. Growing pains after the retirement of a legend of legends is rather normal, I'd think.

I'm not saying that we should lower expectations, but just be a little more understanding of what's happening.

 

[Ts5034]

I think upstater nailed this. Since 05-06, things changed dramatically in the BE. The additions of Louisville, Marquette, and Cincy made the conference a lot stronger. The 2010-2011 team was dominant outside the Big East. Keep in mind we did win the BE Tournament that year and outside of the Depaul win that week, we beat 4 really good teams. Also, which I think some people forget is that we beat Cincy in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, so we won our last 6 games vs Big East competition that year. Sure we went 9-9 in the conference regular season but won 15 out of 24 games vs Big East competition overall

 

[CTBasketball]

The team as a whole was an average, border-line top 25 team. But Kemba made everyone 10x better, lifting the team to a top 10 team.

There is no one on this team that makes people better. Therefore, its placed on the coaching staff and players to improve. We haven't seen any improvement.

 

[Hi-Low]

I don't know why people emphasize 9-9 so much. In the non-conference regular season they were 13-0.

That 2011 team is disrespected by so many, but I thought they proved their mettle on the court. Defensively they were ferocious. And they had Kemba.

That 2011 team wins this year's NCAA championship. In fact, they were the fourth most popular pick to win it in 2011 before the tourney.

I said I would take 2010-11 team every year, certainly didn't disrespect them....but they were simply not a dominant team all year. They lost 4 of the last 5 regular season games, St. John's blew them out, lost 9 BE games. A dominant team is just that...a complete, top 10, scary, consistently great team. They were great in Nov, Dec, March....so s0 in Jan/Feb. They were great when they had to be.

The 2008-09 team was also undefeated in non-conference (until Final 4), only 1 loss until Feb 16, only lost to Pitt, G'town and Syracuse(6 OT)...all who were highly ranked. They were a great, dominant team that made the Final 4....if anything the 2008-09 is the forgotten team sometimes.

As far as winning this year, I think I would take my chances with 2008-09 team against the good teams this year over the 2010-11 team....no disrespect.

 

[CAHUSKY]

bloods, national powers, whatever you want to call them, don't go half a decade without a team that's dominant, in the top 10, and considered a championship contender wire-to-wire.

Between 98 and 05 Carolina lost more than 7 games each season. None of those teams were what anyone would cal dominant. That's just one example that took me 5 seconds to find on google. I'm sure I could find more if I wasn't so lazy. For the record, I'll take a 32 win national title winning Uconn team over a dominating regular season team that doesn't even make the final four.

 

[Brochacho]

When was the last time Arizona was a dominant team? 2007 for UCLA? Kentucky pre-Calipari, post Anthony Davis.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You don't need a dominant team to beat down a turnip like Houston. There was no excuse for last night.

 

[ASweet3781]

You don't need a dominant team to beat down a turnip like Houston. There was no excuse for last night.

There has been a real helter skelter nature of the posts since last night. I like to keep it simple. Your posts sums it up. Last nights performance was inexcusable (and a lot of other bad words). It is a deeply distressing loss. One that makes me question a lot about this new coach.

 

[tzznandrew]

The team as a whole was an average, border-line top 25 team. But Kemba made everyone 10x better, lifting the team to a top 10 team.

There is no one on this team that makes people better. Therefore, its placed on the coaching staff and players to improve. We haven't seen any improvement.

So, the team with all its players was a Top 10 team?

You know, the 1998-99 team as a whole was an average, border-line top 25 team. But Rip made everyone 10x better.

Repeat with Okafor.

 

[CTBasketball]

So, the team with all its players was a Top 10 team?

You know, the 1998-99 team as a whole was an average, border-line top 25 team. But Rip made everyone 10x better.

Repeat with Okafor.

When they were on, and Kemba was shooting well, they could beat anyone.

 

[tzznandrew]

When they were on, and Kemba was shooting well, they could beat anyone.

Right. But the point is that this is pretty much the case with all great teams. If you took away thier best player, they would no longer be a great team. That 1999 team and the 2004 team were both better than 2011, especially in that they weathered some injuries and won games without great players (1999 won @Stanford without Rip, and 2004 won some BET games without Okafor), but over the long haul they would have been middle of the road BE teams without their stars--much like 2011.

 

[CTBasketball]

Right. But the point is that this is pretty much the case with all great teams. If you took away thier best player, they would no longer be a great team. That 1999 team and the 2004 team were both better than 2011, especially in that they weathered some injuries and won games without great players (1999 won @Stanford without Rip, and 2004 won some BET games without Okafor), but over the long haul they would have been middle of the road BE teams without their stars--much like 2011.

Completely agree. I'm not so sure I interpreted your first statement correctly. But I agree now. You take the head off the snake they die. Its the same thing with this team; if Shabazz is out for a game or doesn't perform, we lose. Badly.

 

[caw]

Sure, how many dominant teams have there been in the country since 2009?

Who else would qualify if 2009 UConn is the standard? Final four teams that have lost 5 games or less?

2009 UNC, MSU and Villanova were all good but Villanova wasn't dominant and neither was MSU. UConn was before Dysons injury but probably a step behind dominant afterwards.
2010 only Duke would qualify and I don't think anyone considers that team dominant.
2011, if UConn wasn't no one was at that final four.
2012 UK was. KU lost 7 games. UL and OSU were good but not dominant teams.
2013 UL was when healthy. Cuse was at times.

Their have maybe been 2-3 teams as good as a healthy UConn 2009 since 2009 and only one (UK 2012) that was better, IMO.

This years team isn't a dominant team but it is a pretty solid team overall.

Not sure there is a real dominant team out there this year and definitely not a single one I would say is better than UConn 2009.

 

[caw]

Right. But the point is that this is pretty much the case with all great teams. If you took away thier best player, they would no longer be a great team. That 1999 team and the 2004 team were both better than 2011, especially in that they weathered some injuries and won games without great players (1999 won @Stanford without Rip, and 2004 won some BET games without Okafor), but over the long haul they would have been middle of the road BE teams without their stars--much like 2011.

Not to mention what 2009 did without both Dyson and Sticks on the roster together most of the year.

 

[dsturdy5]

The 2002 team lost, at home, to St. Bonnaventure in late December. They went to the elite 8. Let's allow the season to play out beyond the 1/3 mark before making generalizations about the direction of the program.

 

[tzznandrew]

The 2002 team lost, at home, to St. Bonnaventure in late December. They went to the elite 8. Let's allow the season to play out beyond the 1/3 mark before making generalizations about the direction of the program.

Right! I thought it was in the Maui invitational. We did lose to a bad team in the early 2000s in Maui. When, and to whom? (Honest question, not trivia)

 

[zls44]

Right! I thought it was in the Maui invitational. We did lose to a bad team in the early 2000s in Maui. When, and to whom? (Honest question, not trivia)

Dayton 2001

 

[dsturdy5]

Right! I thought it was in the Maui invitational. We did lose to a bad team in the early 2000s in Maui. When, and to whom? (Honest question, not trivia)

November of 2000 they lost to Dayton, faced Chaminade and Louisville as a result and prevented a match up with Arizona. Zona came to Gampel a week or two later ("goaltending").

 

[Inyatkin]

Right! I thought it was in the Maui invitational. We did lose to a bad team in the early 2000s in Maui. When, and to whom? (Honest question, not trivia)

Dayton? Early in 00-01 season.