Newest Commit…...

[selles]

What year did Voskuhl average 10 ppg? Why is he even listed here?

Probably because he was a quality starter and crucial contributor on a championship team, which is more relevant than some arbitrary ppg value you want to set. But never mind, carry on keeping it real.

 

[intlzncster]

Not too easy is it. I'm not the one who makes irresponsible statements like "rankings don't matter."

It's not irresponsible in the least. And, to any reasonable reader, the statement clearly implies "as much as people think". The fact that every single person person on the board disagrees with your perspective in this thread should tell you everything.

I'll tell you what, I'd take a 99th ranked Okafor ranked every single day of the year. Not one of the 98 ranked ahead were better college players than him that's for sure.

 

[husky91]

I love Okafor, he was a great Husky. He won a NC on a team that had Josh Boone, BG, CV and great role players Rashad, DB, Hilton and Taliek. That was a great team.

Okafor was top 100 in the final rankings. He was a great college player. I won't get into his NBA career, there are actually people on this board who still think he should have been #1 ahead of D12. Mind boggling.

It's not irresponsible in the least. And, to any reasonable reader, the statement clearly implies "as much as people think. The fact that every single person person on the board disagrees with your perspective in this thread should tell you everything.

I'll tell you what, I'd take a 99th ranked Okafor ranked every single day of the year. Not one of the 98 ranked ahead were better college players than him that's for sure.

 

[Walker11]

I won't get into his NBA career, there are actually people on this board who still think he should have been #1 ahead of D12. Mind boggling.

I'd love for you to expand on this.

What's your take on all NBA players like Curry, Westbrook, George, Lillard who were unranked?

 

[Gurleyman]

I love Okafor, he was a great Husky. He won a NC on a team that had Josh Boone, BG, CV and great role players Rashad, DB, Hilton and Taliek. That was a great team. Okafor was top 100 in the final rankings. He was a great college player. I won't get into his NBA career, there are actually people on this board who still think he should have been #1 ahead of D12. Mind boggling.

Okafor was not top 100 when we recruited him and signed him. He put up a triple double in a second-tier all-star game in Pittsburgh in April of his senior year and snuck in at 99 after that. JC was there in person looking for a diamond in the rough after an NIT year - ended up with Chad Wise and Okafor out of that game. That's a 1-for-2 we'll take every time.

Nobody here thinks he should have been taken over Howard any more. The last people clinging to that thought gave up in around 2007.

 

[Fishy]

Hey Fish hack, the next time you post something insightful will be the first time. Your prattle and blabber is such noise. Go post Tour De France preview stories on Tumblr. That's something you'd actually be good at.

I dunno...it seems to work for me.

You, on the other hand, not so much - do you ever wonder why people don't like you or are you simply incapable of introspection?

 

[sportsart]

Hey Husky91...you probably never heard of these guys, but do you know what they have in common? They all had no P5 offers and are or were on NFL rosters. There are more but hopefully you get the point. Probably not as many as Alabama but we're getting there.

Ryan Griffin
Blidi Wrey Wilson
Sio Moore
Nick Williams
Kashif Moore
Donald Thomas
Kendall Reyes
Scott Lutrus
Robert McClain
Lawrence Wilson
Will Beatty
Marcus Easley

 

[champs99and04]

Okafor was not top 100 when we recruited him and signed him. He put up a triple double in a second-tier all-star game in Pittsburgh in April of his senior year and snuck in at 99 after that. JC was there in person looking for a diamond in the rough after an NIT year - ended up with Chad Wise and Okafor out of that game. That's a 1-for-2 we'll take every time.

Nobody here thinks he should have been taken over Howard any more. The last people clinging to that thought gave up in around 2007.

Plus, it isn't as though it was unreasonable at the time to think Okafor should go ahead of Howard. Howard was an unknown coming out of high school while Okafor was a rapidly ascending player who had just dominated college basketball. Given Okafor won ROY in '05, I still maintain that 'Mek would have been a really good NBA player without the back injuries. Obviously in hindsight, Howard was the right pick.

 

[husky91]

He was 6-9 with no back to the basket skills or mid-range game

Back it no back he's a quasi bust as a #2 pick. But the fact that he's such a classy person goes a long way for how people think about him

Plus, it isn't as though it was unreasonable at the time to think Okafor should go ahead of Howard. Howard was an unknown coming out of high school while Okafor was a rapidly ascending player who had just dominated college basketball. Given Okafor won ROY in '05, I still maintain that 'Mek would have been a really good NBA player without the back injuries. Obviously in hindsight, Howard was the right pick.

 

[champs99and04]

He was 6-9 with no back to the basket skills or mid-range game

Back it no back he's a quasi bust as a #2 pick. But the fact that he's such a classy person goes a long way for how people think about him

I wouldn't say he had no back-to-the-basket game. He had that little fall-away jumper he would go to down there, the occasional drop-step over his left shoulder. I don't think anybody expected him to be a 20 point scorer, but coming out of college, he seemed capable of anchoring a defense and dominating the boards. Given he averaged 15 and 11 his first year in the league, he seemed headed in that direction until he got hurt his second season. As somebody who averaged 14, 11, and 2 his first five years in the league, "quasi bust" seems a bit harsh. There have been far worse picks at #2 - "moderate disappointment" would be as far as I'd go.

 

[selles]

He was 6-9 with no back to the basket skills or mid-range game

Back it no back he's a quasi bust as a #2 pick. But the fact that he's such a classy person goes a long way for how people think about him

In all seriousness, what do you derive from being a UConn fan? I've tried hard to hold my tongue with you on recruiting thread after recruiting thread, but I just can't handle it much more. Why are you here?

 

[dsturdy5]

In all seriousness, what do you derive from being a UConn fan? I've tried hard to hold my tongue with you on recruiting thread after recruiting thread, but I just can't handle it much more. Why are you here?

He's just one of those real fans who is "objective" and always "keeps it real" and doesn't get caught up with the "footie pajama fanboys." At least that is what the trolls on other boards and who populate a lot of local sports radio stations say about themselves.

 

[uconnfan68]

I dunno...it seems to work for me.

You, on the other hand, not so much - do you ever wonder why people don't like you or are you simply incapable of introspection?

Time for a dislike button? At least for him.

 

[CTBasketball]

@husky91: a couple of things.

1. Mek' had a back to the basket game. Please re-watch the 2004 FF vs. Duke and the games vs. UNC in 2004 and 2003. (Those will be easily found on Youtube)

2. And players that were ranked outside of the top 100 who scored 10.0ppg:

• If you go by ESPN, Jeremy Lamb wasn't in the top 100. He was the 43rd best SG. Rivals had him at 76.
• Shabazz was unranked by ESPN, as you pointed out due to reclassifying, but Rivals had him at 98.
• You mentioned Gavin Edwards earlier.

Other than that, recent rankings don't have anything and your statement is justified. I agree with you on recruiting though. Players like Turtle Jackson won't have much of an impact in my opinion - too far ahead too tell, but I've seen him play a few times and I don't know why we offered him.

 

[mauconnfan]

This went from "Newest Commit" to "fat Manuel and Diaco's proving nothing" - how the hell is that?

 

[kcc1442]

Husky91....Its amazing you have even received 1 like on here. Your cynicism and negativism is insufferable. I came to read this thread about a new commit instead ended up torturing myself after reading pages of your unrelenting ignorant crap. I can't figure out if I'm more pissed you consider yourself a UCONN fan despite your hatred for the football program and the fact you just trashed on one of our all-time-mt rushmore worthy greats in EO or the fact that you manipulated a completely obscure stat (10ppg) coupled it with a flawed random and subjective HS rankings system (Top 100) and used it as gospel like not-nobody has ever been good if they are ranked 101 or higher but a bunch of self proclaimed 18 year old sport experts............Anyways thanks for your continued support of the basketball team (kinda) keep on not showing up to football games so we are stuck in this conference because of bozos like you.

 

[intlzncster]

This went from "Newest Commit" to "fat Manuel and Diaco's proving nothing" - how the hell is that?

boneyard

 

[caw]

I said top 100. Thabeet and Okafor were ranked top 100. Shabazz would have been top 35 if he was properly classified. Again, if rankings mean nothing go list the players outside top 100 that averaged 10ppg in any season in last 20 years.

Okafor and Thabeet depend entirely on the service you are using. Okafor moved into the top 100 in the final ranking of a few services as did Thabeet.

Armstrong was at 9.6 or 9.7 PPG.

Napier was around 70-80 in his class before reclassifying. He would not have been top 35.

One big factor you are missing is that you are looking at final rankings after UConn signed a guy in basketball. There is a noted bias for a kid to be bumped up when a program like UConn signs them.

If you were to look at the kids rankings when they were at the same point in their high school career you would have quite a few more outside the top 100, including Lamb, Okafor and Thabeet. So why not at least wait to see where these kids Diaco has signed end at as opposed to where they are now in the rankings.