Nadav interviewed by Donny | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Nadav interviewed by Donny

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.
 
Early in the Dream season we got beat at St Johns and it looked like we were in for another long season. To be able to beat them in the Gampel opener was great. Does anyone remember the song they were playing on the radio as the regular season came to a close and we won the BET? "What I like about UConn". I remember it being played in the morning as I drove to work in my truck. The whole State was nuts. The loss to Duke made worse when Nadav said he was not coming back. But then big recruits from other areas of the country started to show up. Ray, Donyell, Donny, KO, Jake Voskuhl, Emeka and we eventually broke through. Rip returning for his junior year was so important.
 
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Great interview. There will never be a season like the Dream Season. What a high to be on all season long! mauconnfan has it right. Nadav was clutch. He wasn’t a great foul shooter or three point shooter overall but late in games he was incredible at making those shots. He had great hands and anticipation. He could read the opponents offense like no other and flash into the passing lane for a steal or tip. Going to the hoop he always made the right decision to pass for an assist or shoot himself when the Huskies had the numbers. (And as an aside, I don’t think anyone compares to Chris Smith going to the hoop on fast breaks even when one on two. He always scored). There is no player since the Dove with that feel for the game that he had. It was a huge blow to know he wasn’t coming back.

And as for AlexD’s comment I remember my SIL casually trying to cheer me up after the Elite 8 game. She knows nothing about sports and I don’t even know why she was there. I really wished she would just shut up and go away. I wanted to be miserable for awhile. Anyway, Nadav is on my all time favorites list as he is with so many other UConn fans.
 
Henefeld reminded me of Bird, and no, I'm not saying he was as good. It was his smarts and ability to do things on the court with less athleticism. You would have thought he was a senior in that 1 year, just so smart and ready to play. Loved him. Played a great center field when the press was on.
 
karstenkibbe said:
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.
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I was thinking about UCLA as well. We were always so close, but never quite there in that game. That one really hurt.
 
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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CLAS 1990. Jungle and Belden. I remember going to the Hartford Civic Center to watch us play 'Nova my senior year. Just me and two relatively hot girls from my dorm with the pre-game at the Russian Lady. Rollie was still coaching the Wildcats, and the Dove had a breakout game in which we were losing by double digits at halftime but nearly pulled off a win at the end. I remember telling these girls, "keep an eye on this dude, he is going to be a stud." Sure enough, one of them ended up "dating" him with her Jewish parents blessings.
 
I was so elated by the 1990 season that the loss to Duke didn't hurt. The UCLA loss is the one that stung. We never got back on defense and that killed a brilliant offensive performance. 1999 took away the pain.
 
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I heard him say in the interview that he was 23? Looked up his age and see that he was 21 when he stepped on campus. Can you imagine of he stayed 3 season? I he would have improved so much under JC.
 
Fairfield_1st said:
Henefeld reminded me of Bird, and no, I'm not saying he was as good. It was his smarts and ability to do things on the court with less athleticism. You would have thought he was a senior in that 1 year, just so smart and ready to play. Loved him. Played a great center field when the press was on.
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Coincidentally, Nadav came back to the States the following year and played with the Celtics summer league team. The Knicks hosted summer league back then at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, about 18 miles from my childhood home in Stamford. I was home from Binghamton for the summer and I spent many nights there, breathing in cigar smoke from Red Auerbach, who was sitting a few seats away from me. He seemed to be very focused on Nadav. Summer league was A LOT different 35 years ago. Fans just walked onto the court after the games and mingled with players. I had a nice conversation in Hebrew with Nadav after one game. I remember asking him to speak slowly because my brain couldn’t keep up with translating to English - just like he described the reverse translation in the interview with Donny and Burrell!
 
HCCForever said:
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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Didn’t we sort of see the GMU loss coming though? Memory may be foggy but losing to 16seed at the half and needing a miracle from Denham Brown to get past UW. Don’t remember the round of 32 game against UK but do know it was close.

That team had 4 first round picks but just never felt like a cohesive unit like our championship squads.
 
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KembaRunner said:
Didn’t we sort of see the GMU loss coming though? Memory may be foggy but losing to 16seed at the half and needing a miracle from Denham Brown to get past UW. Don’t remember the round of 32 game against UK but do know it was close.

That team had 4 first round picks but just never felt like a cohesive unit like our championship squads.
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You’re probably right. I know the first round game was close in Philly (Albany) in first half and then UConn beat Kentucky and Rajon Rondo. Rashad hit a shot against Washington and Brandon Roy to send the game into OT in DC which they won. I was actually at that game and chose to not attend the game against George Mason and came home. I attended a reunion of a favorite local band of mine Little Village instead at the Hungry Tiger.
 
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