Name your all-time UConn Defensive Team

[CL82]

It is crazy people don't even have Hassan Diara on their honorable mention lists. He has been a tremendous on the ball defender.

Not as crazy as the complete absence of Boat and Bazz. Opposing teams literally could not run their offense. I think the Harrison twins are still in therapy over the national championship game.

 

[Ricker]

No balance with respect to position in my list - just defensive impact

Castle (shut down every key scorer on the biggest stage)
Depreist (shut down pg [Scoonie Penn?} & defended Shaq) (who can deal man/man w/ a top center or top PG)
Clingan
Oakafor
Thabeet

Henefeld (passing lane steals virtually a career of steals in 1 year)(has to still hold record)
Brimah (a Defensive Player of the year)
Diarra (clear defensive disruption)
Whaley (impact protecting the rim, mid court steals trapping, and high hedge the best)
Moore or Jackson toss up reputation picks that are less firm with me
(Ricky by reputation but I can't think of specific top scorer shut downs, and Jackson was abused by both Gillespie and Richmond unable
to deal with getting isolated and backed down)

Maybe Sanogo who stood like a brick wall when post players tried to back him down, then collected the rebound.

 

[The Yakk]

People are way underrating Boatright in this discussion. He personally cost Wilbekin and the Harrison twins millions of NBA dollars after shoving them in the garbage in the final four.

And an under-the-radar addition: Kemba!

In his first two years, before he had to take on that massive offensive load in 2010-11, his game had a lot more emphasis on defense. His footwork was amazing; no guard could get past him. He was nearly as good as Ryan then.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Well you can have 2 bigs on either team. Regardless, Thabeet as 2x dpoy, over 4 blocks a game and similarly shut down everything at the rim is as good as Clingan if not slightly better. Both are behind Emeka for me. Thabeet also did it averaging like 32-33 MPG.

It is a nice conversation to know that over the past 20 years, a player of Thabeet's accomplishments is in the conversation for being the best defensive big man in UConn history, but might also be the third best.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

It is a nice conversation to know that over the past 20 years, a player of Thabeet's accomplishments is in the conversation for being the best defensive big man in UConn history, but might also be the third best.

100%. We didn’t lead the country in blocks for like 10 straight seasons for no reason!

 

[superjohn]

He is solidly #3 behind Okafor and Clingan. Yes, Thabeet had more individual honors, but end of the day, the other two had more effect on overall team accomplishments.

All three completely shut down the lane and forced teams to alter any game plan of getting to the rim.

Clingan is more in the Ricky Moore category of you don't see the numbers- blocks for Clingan or steals for Moore. They're numbers are good, but there are others at UConn with better numbers at their position. But you look at opponent FG%, and you see the effect.

I never thought I would see a better defender at UConn than Okafor but along came Clingan. Clingan has a chance at multiple NBA defensive player of the year in his future if he stays healthy, IMO.

Thabeet was a supreme shot blocker and anchored an intimidating frontcourt with Adrien and Stanley but he's our third best defensive big man which is still awesome considering the two guys ahead of him. I think third best defensive big also likely makes him our third best individual defender overall.

He never won a ring and DeJuan Blair made him his step stool on our homecourt.

 

[auror]

I think Steph, Andre, Donovan, Thabeet and Nadav are locks. Ironic that in a Hurley era focused on offense, we get at least three of our all-time best defenders. I don't think recency bias is even a factor with those three.

Steph is already being viewed as a "lockdown cornerback" in the NBA, and Andre was simply a game changer who had to be on the floor simply because he was a defensive savant.

As for Donovan, he became a tremendous shot blocker who made penetration nearly impossible. How many times did we laugh at teams that kept trying to take the ball to rim?

Thabeet was an incredible shot blocker, and Nadav was like Andre in that he had a unique defensive skill set. No pass was safe when he was on the floor. Although we had other good defenders, Nadav was really our first defensive star.

Okafor has to make it above Andre, IMO (unless you're trying to stick to team positions). He was a 2x Big East DPOY. Jackson was merely a very good defender.

 

[superjohn]

Okafor has to make it above Andre, IMO (unless you're trying to stick to team positions). He was a 2x Big East DPOY. Jackson was merely a very good defender.

I love Andre Jackson but he seems to be the most overrated defender we've had with all these people putting him top 5 all-time. He wasn't the perimeter defender Castle and Moore were, he got beat off the dribble a lot.

Donyell Marshall most underrated defender based on the responses.

 

[cwh20]

Depreist (shut down pg [Scoonie Penn?}

(Ricky by reputation but I can't think of specific top scorer shut downs

Lyman shut down Barros

FF 1999 Moore wouldn’t let Scoonie get the ball and when he did he wasn’t in a position to do anything without working. He cut the head off the snake.

Anyway my quick first thoughts for the best five in no particular order but with position in mind was:
Clingan
Nadav
Moore
Chris Smith
Castle

 

[Palatine]

How about Dom Perno?

He stole the ball from Bill Bradley to send the Huskies to the Elite Eight.

 

[Kenny11]

As a team that could play together I think
Boatright
Burrell
Castle
Okafor
Clingan

They wouldn't shoot well but they would make life a living hell for the other team. Toughest omission was Thabeet but I think Clingan is more well rounded

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Defensive team

1- Ricky Moore

2-3-4. A.Jackson , Burrell , and Henefeld

5 . Okafor

2nd team

1-2 Napier , Boatright

3 Castle

4 Donyell Marshall

5 Thabeet



Honorable Mention

Depriest

Clingan

C Smith

Akok

Whaley

Brimah

Dyson

Vital

George

C. Robinson

Gilbert

 

[CL82]

How about Dom Perno?

He stole the ball from Bill Bradley to send the Huskies to the Elite Eight.

"Perno stole the ball! Perno stole the ball! Perno stole the ball!"

 

[knicksin7]

Modern era 1985+

1st Team:
Ricky Moore
Nadav Henefeld
Emeka Okafor
Donovan Clingan
Hasheem Thabeet

2nd Team:
Steph Castle
Scott Burrell
Andre Jackson
Jake Voskuhl
Amida Brimah

Honorable Mentions: Travis Knight, Donyell Marshall, Jeff Adrien, Josh Boone, Christian Vital, Isaiah Whaley, Hilton Armstrong, Ryan Boatright, Jeff Adrien

Would to see Mek, Don and Thabeet on the court at the same time

 

[3rdbass]

Defensive team

1- Ricky Moore

2-3-4. A.Jackson , Burrell , and Henefeld

5 . Okafor

2nd team

1-2 Napier , Boatright

3 Castle

4 Donyell Marshall

5 Thabeet



Honorable Mention

Depriest

Clingan

C Smith

Akok

Whaley

Brimah

Dyson

Vital

George

C. Robinson

Gilbert

Vital and Gilbert before Diarra? Why I wouldn't call either of those as great defenders especially when comparing to Hassan Diarra. Hassan is just getting really disrespected even with defense which is what has made him so popular with the fans. I'm confused by his ommissions of not even being mentioned on any of the lists.

 

[businesslawyer]

I want to consider this for a while before naming teams, but I will note one thing: the fact that Thabeet, if you do this by position, won’t even be second team (because he’s behind Okafor and DC) is utterly crazy.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I want to consider this for a while before naming teams, but I will note one thing: the fact that Thabeet, if you do this by position, won’t even be second team (because he’s behind Okafor and DC) is utterly crazy.

Crazy because there isn't anyway you put those two ahead of him?

Or,

Crazy because UConn has had so many good defensive C's that a C of Thabeet's accomplishments really does slot in at #3.

This almost has the feel of having to put Mickey Mantle as the third best Yankee all-time because there's a couple of guys named Ruth and Gehrig.

 

[businesslawyer]

Crazy because there isn't anyway you put those two ahead of him?

Or,

Crazy because UConn has had so many good defensive C's that a C of Thabeet's accomplishments really does slot in at #3.

This almost has the feel of having to put Mickey Mantle as the third best Yankee all-time because there's a couple of guys named Ruth and Gehrig.

The latter. That there were two better.

And FWIW, there’s not a world in which Mantle is the third best Yankee of all time. See, e.g., DiMaggio, Joe.

 

[Excalibur]

If you're going by position, choosing between Clingan and Okafor is probably the most difficult one. I still think I go with Okafor just based on his quickness off the floor, lateral movement and advanced positional defending. The game has changed such that blocked shots are less frequent, but Okafor's numbers were just silly. But if there's a difference it's minimal.

1st team:
Ricky Moore
Stephon Castle
Nadav Henefeld
Lyman DePriest
Okafor

2nd team:
Boatright
Diarra
Scott Burrell
Donyell (even though he was merely a shot blocker and not great overall defender)
Clingan

Honorable mention:
Napier, Taliek Brown, Thabeet, Voskuhl, Feeman, Josh Boone, Tate George, Brimah

 

[SubbaBub]

Oak could have better shut down Edey on his own. Clingan did a decent job, but he's not Oak.

Honestly, this is like having a contest on who had the best handshake. Defense has been the price of admission to UConn since JC walked through the door. If you weren't an elite defender, you were a HoF scorer or you were on the bench.

 

[Hunt for 7]

We have run out of things to debate/argue about. The season is one week away. We have the chance to three peat. We know we have a very talented team. Anything that makes it feel like the calendar is moving faster for the next seven days is ok with me.

Thabeet #3 defensive center is probably right although impossible to think it should be.

I am not even going to try to name the best five just writing Thabeet down as #3 was enough for me.

 

[RichZ]

Emeka
KFree
Donyell
Ricky Moore
Vital

Hasheem
Josh Boone
Toby Kimball
Lyman DePriest
Bazz

 

[MrJama100]

The locks are:

Ricky Moore
Stephon Castle
Lyman DePriest
Emeka Okafor
Hasheem Thabeet

The bench then includes:
Clingan
Henefeld
Andre Jackson
Burrell

Then just for pure fear-inducing terror I am adding Toraino Walker

 

[auror]

Vital and Gilbert before Diarra? Why I wouldn't call either of those as great defenders especially when comparing to Hassan Diarra. Hassan is just getting really disrespected even with defense which is what has made him so popular with the fans. I'm confused by his ommissions of not even being mentioned on any of the lists.

Hard to put a bench player on an All-Time defense team. Maybe after this year.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

There might be three pick pockets from Boatright in the first 5 mins of this highlight alone. Think he’s being slept on based on these lists lol