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- Aug 26, 2011
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Our team this season is loaded with versatile talent, and appears to be one of our better teams athletically in a handful of years. I think we'll be a very good team, and I believe that KO will have this team playing its best ball come March.
That being said, I don't think people quite realize just how much we lost from a season ago. We all know about Shabazz - he was the heart and soul of the team, contributed all over the floor, and was off the charts with his intangibles. I won't go into too much detail here because we all realize how unbelievably valuable he was to our team and program. DeAndre gave us a matchup nightmare night in and night out. His ability to stretch the floor and be such a versatile offensive threat cannot be overlooked. In addition, he was a very good help side shotblocker, and his length allowed him to be a serviceable low post defender and rebounder. He led the team in rebounds (though that's not saying too too much) and once he got his consistency down, was unquestionably the second or third best player on our team.
The two guys whose losses are often overlooked are Niels Giffey and Lasan Kromah. Only the most diehard UConn fans (many of which are present here) understand how important Niels Giffey was to our team last season. Yes, he had one of the best three point shooting seasons in UConn history, but he did so much more than that. Brimah was UConn's shotblocker down low, and as such was often credited with being our most notable defender (in addition to Boat in the NCAAs), but in my eyes Giffey was without a doubt our best and most versatile player on the defensive side of the ball. Think about this: Giffey was the guy we used to guard Sean Kilpatrick and Julius Randle, and he did both at a high level. How many guys in the country could have done that? Additionally, Giff became a monster on the boards down the stretch which was a major component to our late-season run. I really hope we as UConn fans remember Giffey alongside other top former Huskies because he was an unsung hero of two national championship teams. His major contributions didn't always translate to the box score, but Niels was the perfect role player.
Kromah wasn't quite as valuable as Giffey, but one thing that can't be replaced is his lockdown perimeter defense. We won the championship last year due to our ability to make shots in the half court and our smothering defense. Kromah's contributions in this regard were huge. With Boat, Giffey, and Kromah, our perimeter defense was insanely effective. We always had 1-3 guys on the perimeter or wing who could lock down the other team. Kromah was also a great hustle guy. Besides his free throws to clinch the game in the National Title game, my lasting image of Kromah will be the way he chased that ball down the entire court against Memphis at the XL Center. He didn't end up getting the ball, but the roar from the crowd applauding his effort still gives me goosebumps. Kromah will be missed.
To an extent, even Olander's skillset is now something we're lacking on our squad this season. Despite his deficiencies, Olander was a fundamentally sound big who could stretch the floor a little bit, but was also out best passing big man. Brimah showed a couple flashes of being a good passer last season, but for the most part our current roster is lacking a big man with plus passing skills.
Does all this mean that I'm down on the team this year? Absolutely not. I just think we should look back and really appreciate what it takes to win a National Championship. When people claim our title run was "lucky" I just laugh because I know that we had a very complete roster that fit together seamlessly. Similar to 2011/2012, we may actually have more "talent" the year coming off a championship, but we all know how disappointing the 2012 season was. Basketball can be a fickle sport, and team cohesiveness and fit are often as important as talent. Our team this season is very talented and versatile. Ollie has already proven himself to be an elite coach, and it appears the players are fully buying into his system yet again. We have talent, championship pedigree and experience, and a winning culture that is unmatched anywhere else in the country. With that and KO at the helm, I won't rule out any postseason possibilities for this year's team. But sometimes it's easy to get caught up in preseason hype and not really appreciate what transpired during last year's magical run. It will take a lot of hard work and some luck to get back to where we were a season ago.
That being said, I don't think people quite realize just how much we lost from a season ago. We all know about Shabazz - he was the heart and soul of the team, contributed all over the floor, and was off the charts with his intangibles. I won't go into too much detail here because we all realize how unbelievably valuable he was to our team and program. DeAndre gave us a matchup nightmare night in and night out. His ability to stretch the floor and be such a versatile offensive threat cannot be overlooked. In addition, he was a very good help side shotblocker, and his length allowed him to be a serviceable low post defender and rebounder. He led the team in rebounds (though that's not saying too too much) and once he got his consistency down, was unquestionably the second or third best player on our team.
The two guys whose losses are often overlooked are Niels Giffey and Lasan Kromah. Only the most diehard UConn fans (many of which are present here) understand how important Niels Giffey was to our team last season. Yes, he had one of the best three point shooting seasons in UConn history, but he did so much more than that. Brimah was UConn's shotblocker down low, and as such was often credited with being our most notable defender (in addition to Boat in the NCAAs), but in my eyes Giffey was without a doubt our best and most versatile player on the defensive side of the ball. Think about this: Giffey was the guy we used to guard Sean Kilpatrick and Julius Randle, and he did both at a high level. How many guys in the country could have done that? Additionally, Giff became a monster on the boards down the stretch which was a major component to our late-season run. I really hope we as UConn fans remember Giffey alongside other top former Huskies because he was an unsung hero of two national championship teams. His major contributions didn't always translate to the box score, but Niels was the perfect role player.
Kromah wasn't quite as valuable as Giffey, but one thing that can't be replaced is his lockdown perimeter defense. We won the championship last year due to our ability to make shots in the half court and our smothering defense. Kromah's contributions in this regard were huge. With Boat, Giffey, and Kromah, our perimeter defense was insanely effective. We always had 1-3 guys on the perimeter or wing who could lock down the other team. Kromah was also a great hustle guy. Besides his free throws to clinch the game in the National Title game, my lasting image of Kromah will be the way he chased that ball down the entire court against Memphis at the XL Center. He didn't end up getting the ball, but the roar from the crowd applauding his effort still gives me goosebumps. Kromah will be missed.
To an extent, even Olander's skillset is now something we're lacking on our squad this season. Despite his deficiencies, Olander was a fundamentally sound big who could stretch the floor a little bit, but was also out best passing big man. Brimah showed a couple flashes of being a good passer last season, but for the most part our current roster is lacking a big man with plus passing skills.
Does all this mean that I'm down on the team this year? Absolutely not. I just think we should look back and really appreciate what it takes to win a National Championship. When people claim our title run was "lucky" I just laugh because I know that we had a very complete roster that fit together seamlessly. Similar to 2011/2012, we may actually have more "talent" the year coming off a championship, but we all know how disappointing the 2012 season was. Basketball can be a fickle sport, and team cohesiveness and fit are often as important as talent. Our team this season is very talented and versatile. Ollie has already proven himself to be an elite coach, and it appears the players are fully buying into his system yet again. We have talent, championship pedigree and experience, and a winning culture that is unmatched anywhere else in the country. With that and KO at the helm, I won't rule out any postseason possibilities for this year's team. But sometimes it's easy to get caught up in preseason hype and not really appreciate what transpired during last year's magical run. It will take a lot of hard work and some luck to get back to where we were a season ago.