Nadav interviewed by Donny | The Boneyard

Nadav interviewed by Donny

I was fortunate to be a senior in 1990. I got to see the rise of the program. I watched Gampel being built in the summers I spent on campus. I was at the first game at Gample. And I was in the front row of the student section at MSG for the first Big East championship. The atmosphere on campus and how much it changed is difficult to describe to anyone that wasn't there.
 
I was in 4th grade and that season was the first one I really watched. I have scattered memories of the NIT title, Greg Economou, Earl Kelley, and getting throttled by Ewing, but 89-90 was the beginning. Not a bad year to start. My 4th grade teacher had a UConn wall where we cut out articles and she adjusted the curriculum to include it.

Nadav was amazing then. What’s crazy is if you rewatch those games, at least for me with more basketball knowledge now, he was even better. He completely dominated and at times without scoring a point. Playing the passing lanes, the cross court pass to set up an easy look, tipping rebounds to players, etc. His emergence, and the attention he brought, put us on the map. He’s in the conversation for the most important player we’ve ever had. And just like that he was gone.
 
boog204 said:
I was in 4th grade and that season was the first one I really watched. I have scattered memories of the NIT title, Greg Economou, Earl Kelley, and getting throttled by Ewing, but 89-90 was the beginning. Not a bad year to start. My 4th grade teacher had a UConn wall where we cut out articles and she adjusted the curriculum to include it.

Nadav was amazing then. What’s crazy is if you rewatch those games, at least for me with more basketball knowledge now, he was even better. He completely dominated and at times without scoring a point. Playing the passing lanes, the cross court pass to set up an easy look, tipping rebounds to players, etc. His emergence, and the attention he brought, put us on the map. He’s in the conversation for the most important player we’ve ever had. And just like that he was gone.
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Earl Kelley was long gone by then. His last season was 85-86. Agree with you 100% on Henefeld’s impact.
 
Scottzer said:
haven’t heard anything about him in forever!

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Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this it brings back such great memories of Uconn. When I first had season tickets to Men's basketball The cost was $2 to belong to the Uconn club and the seats were $4 each for the first row in the upper bowl at the HCC. The lower bowl was half empty so we just would just go sit in the lower bowl.

Then they hired Calhoun and everything changed, all for the better. The first game at Gampbel, a win over S Johns, is something I will never forget as well as the fire in the Quad.

I was crushed when Nadav did not return for his second year. He was so good at both ends of the floor
 
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Woof said:
I was fortunate to be a senior in 1990. I got to see the rise of the program. I watched Gampel being built in the summers I spent on campus. I was at the first game at Gample. And I was in the front row of the student section at MSG for the first Big East championship. The atmosphere on campus and how much it changed is difficult to describe to anyone that wasn't there.
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Thanks for sharing. As a season ticket holder at that time Hartford CC changed dramatically as well, it was a special time for sure. It slowly began with the NIT that Cliff and Phil Gamble brought us but it was full blown Huskymania when Smitty/Nadav/Scotty arrived. Great memories and some of the most raucous crowds in history of the program.
 
mauconnfan said:
Thanks for sharing. As a season ticket holder at that time Hartford CC changed dramatically as well, it was a special time for sure. It slowly began with the NIT that Cliff and Phil Gamble brought us but it was full blown Huskymania when Smitty/Nadav/Scotty arrived. Great memories and some of the most raucous crowds in history of the program.
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I didn't think you were that old. I know you are one of the originals but I always thought you were the same age as me or younger.

Yeah, the NIT year was crazy too. Cliff was actually a nice dude. I would cross paths with him in the building I tutored in. He always said hi and had a positive attitude.

Another thing a lot of people don't know about were the wars we had online with umass fans. They still hate us.
 
boog204 said:
I was in 4th grade and that season was the first one I really watched. I have scattered memories of the NIT title, Greg Economou, Earl Kelley, and getting throttled by Ewing, but 89-90 was the beginning. Not a bad year to start. My 4th grade teacher had a UConn wall where we cut out articles and she adjusted the curriculum to include it.

Nadav was amazing then. What’s crazy is if you rewatch those games, at least for me with more basketball knowledge now, he was even better. He completely dominated and at times without scoring a point. Playing the passing lanes, the cross court pass to set up an easy look, tipping rebounds to players, etc. His emergence, and the attention he brought, put us on the map. He’s in the conversation for the most important player we’ve ever had. And just like that he was gone.
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You are absolutely spot on boog. He could play today and do the same thing. We talk about Whaley on defense for a big, well Dove was him on steroids. His hands were special, if his guy wasn’t paying attention to his dribble it was taken from him. His ability to se the court as well as see the play happening ahead of its time was simply amazing. He made that special full court press not only because of his anticipation but because he made everyone better, on both ends of the court. I could go on and on, not an amazing 3 pt shooter but clutch.

When he announced he wasn’t coming back, it was some of the worst news we’ve ever had as Husky fans, it hurt!

Great interview, thanks for sharing made my day.
 
uconndogs said:
You will not find a tougher player both physically and mentally than the Dove. I suspect training in the Israeli military had something to do with that. Absolutely loved his game.
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Remember Mourning trying to intimidate him while lining up for FTs little did he know he was just throwing lighter fluid on a fire that already existed.
 
I went to UConn in 1989 as a St John’s fan. Experiencing that dream season was amazing and seeing that video brought back so many memories. Obviously, it’s been all UConn ever since. I got a bit teary eyed watching that as Nadav was such a fan favorite.

BTW Donny gets a lot of flack about his game calling, but he’s really a great guy (I’ve golfed with him a few times), and it really comes out in that interview. Thanks for sharing.
 
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That 1990 E8 loss to you know who and the shot by you know who is still the lowest I've ever been after a UConn loss. That magical season just seems like it wouldn't end until we had won it all. It all seemed so predestined, especially after the Clemson win. It was all so new and it hurt so much. Like that first girlfriend break up. It was the end the world.
Then came the local news report that summer that Nadav wouldn't be coming back to Storrs.
 
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Woof said:
I was fortunate to be a senior in 1990. I got to see the rise of the program. I watched Gampel being built in the summers I spent on campus. I was at the first game at Gample. And I was in the front row of the student section at MSG for the first Big East championship. The atmosphere on campus and how much it changed is difficult to describe to anyone that wasn't there.
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I was there too. Hard to describe the level of excitement.
 
I remember crying when Billy Martin got fired the first time. I felt the same way when I heard about Nadav leaving.
 
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Dove was a point forward ahead of his time. Great court vision and was a threat to pass/assist up court as soon as the ball was inbounded. He and Scott were highly disruptive defenders that started fast breaks with their D. 2 way players.
 
mauconnfan said:
Remember Mourning trying to intimidate him while lining up for FTs little did he know he was just throwing lighter fluid on a fire that already existed.
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That incident went beyond intimidation. Nadav took the high road and never really talked about it. But people knew. Any respect I had for Mourning was gone after that game.

IMG_4435.jpeg
 
Nice interview. It’s hard to describe what the state and fans were like in their response to Nadav and that team. I remember the signs on the windows of the Marble Pillar in Hartford. Jewish mothers tried to set up their daughters with Nadav. Players like Donny, KO and Donyell were heavily influenced by that team to come to UConn.

I loved the pressing defense of that squad especially against Georgetown. It was also unique in that the first and second round NCAA games were in Hartford. That can never happen again. I was there for both games and it was incredible. Thanks for the nice walk down memory lane.
 
mauconnfan said:
Thanks for sharing. As a season ticket holder at that time Hartford CC changed dramatically as well, it was a special time for sure. It slowly began with the NIT that Cliff and Phil Gamble brought us but it was full blown Huskymania when Smitty/Nadav/Scotty arrived. Great memories and some of the most raucous crowds in history of the program.
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I was a season ticket holder as well. The Civic Center was nuts. I miss the Husky mascot diving on the floor to drive the fans even crazier.
 
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alexd said:
That 1990 E8 loss to you know who and the shot by you know who is still the lowest I've ever been after a UConn loss. That magical season just seems like it wouldn't end until we had won it all. It all seemed so predestined, especially after the Clemson win. It was all so new and it hurt so much. Like that first girlfriend break up. It was the end the world.
Then came the local news report that summer that Nadav wouldn't be coming back to Storrs.
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I’ve been thinking about the most painful loss ever. The Duke loss was brutal, but that was the Dream Season for a reason. It truly was a dream for our fans. The most painful for me was the 1994 loss to Florida. The missed FTs by Donyell in a year we could have done some serious damage. The 1996 loss to Mississippi State was also a tough one to stomach. Anything after 1999 is caveated by the fact that we’ve won 6 championships since then. Talk about a dream. Wow.
 
Punkbo said:
I’ve been thinking about the most painful loss ever. The Duke loss was brutal, but that was the Dream Season for a reason. It truly was a dream for our fans. The most painful for me was the 1994 loss to Florida. The missed FTs by Donyell in a year we could have done some serious damage. The 1996 loss to Mississippi State was also a tough one to stomach. Anything after 1999 is caveated by the fact that we’ve won 6 championships since then. Talk about a dream. Wow.
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I looked at ‘96 as the toughest loss because it was the third consecutive year of frustration and the team was 32-2(!!!) going into that game. The Donyell missed FTs felt like a tragedy because fans felt we should have won that game. ‘95 vs UCLA we were on fire offensively… but UCLA was even more on fire scoring the ball. We didn’t actually play poorly in that game and we knew UConn was facing a juggernaut. Then ‘96, Ray and Sheffer were ice cold and it wasn’t even Dampier or Dontae Jones who crushed our dreams. Some guy named Darryl Wilson went berserk from 3. And our bench of freshman Rash, Hayward and Dion Carson contributed 3 points. A crazy-talented, but not deep team, crapped the bed that day and the fan base felt like we were never getting over the hump. But we did. We really did.
 
Punkbo said:
I’ve been thinking about the most painful loss ever. The Duke loss was brutal, but that was the Dream Season for a reason. It truly was a dream for our fans. The most painful for me was the 1994 loss to Florida. The missed FTs by Donyell in a year we could have done some serious damage. The 1996 loss to Mississippi State was also a tough one to stomach. Anything after 1999 is caveated by the fact that we’ve won 6 championships since then. Talk about a dream. Wow.
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I thought loss to George Mason was worse than loss to Florida in 1994 and I was there in Miami in 1994. I didn’t think UConn had much of a chance against Mississippi State due to their size.
 
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karstenkibbe said:
That incident went beyond intimidation. Nadav took the high road and never really talked about it. But people knew. Any respect I had for Mourning was gone after that game.

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Providence fans yelled some stuff towards him also, but a player doing it is crazy. Mourning would probably say it was to get in his head, and that's just what guys do. But there are lines.

Regarding worst loss... it was the Florida one for me. We were going to make that first Final 4. It was right there. I had to pick my sister up at the airport and there was no DVR. I listened to the game on the car radio. Donyell was a great free throw shooter and clutch. I was just shocked.

I honestly thought we'd get steamrolled by UNLV in 1990. I was upset we lost, but I was at UConn and every game was just a bonus compared to what I thought my college basketball experiences would be. I didn't have a couch to cry on thanks to the Clemson win.
 
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