Of the title teams, which get teams/players awards for these categories

[Scottzer]

Been a fan since the dream season, when I was 10 years old. There are seasons that I recall better than others, just based upon what was going on in my life. That stated, here's my (uneducated recollections of various teams and the questions I'd like to ask. Will change this into a poll after I see the pieces I'm forgetting/missing/not enough of a basketball analyst to recognize.

My quick notes:
Methodology on some of this must include regular season. Otherwise we get ties - with all obviously having the same results.
'99 - tough team, extremely talented.
'04 - most talented team, occasionally hampered by injuries (Emeka).
'11 - flashes of brilliance whenever it mattered. Those flashes, combined with previous history, led to fan confidence, despite the underclassmen.
'14 - the title team that I didn't give a shot. Not until the sweet 16 or E8, forgot which.


Toughest team?

I'll go with '99. That record, in a tough Big East, winning tight games day in and day out.

Over-achievers?
Yikes. I get anybody picking anyone but '04. I pick '11, just b/c we had no expectations and such a young team. Including the conference tourney as regular season, the 9-9 conference record is suddenly 14-9, way above incoming expectations (although the conference season was the slump for that team). Hard to argue against '14 - who I'd call "most surprising champions", and '99 - how hard was it to go 14-2 in Big East play in '99?

Underachievers?
Has to be '04. That talent level (with enough upperclassmen - may not be replicated for some time). I recall, that season I picked Pitt or somebody else to take it all. And once the tourney started, it was so clear that I was wrong.

Toughest single player?
Yikes. Too many choices. rip had 145 points in '99 tourney, I think. Kemba put the team on his back in a legendary way in '11. I'm going Kemba here. But, there are so many valid arguments. Emeka fouled out like three guys in 8 minutes back in '04 FF game vs Duke.
Best 6th man?
Don't recall. I'm too old to recall who the 6th men were on some of these teams.

Most underrated star?
I have to go with Shabazz. Never thought he was as good as his final results. Thought he was way above average, but it took awhile for me to think of him as a college superstar. (We're spoiled - we've seen guys like Donyell, Rip, Ray, Caron, Ben, Emeka, and Kemba before him).

Season I most enjoyed:
Should be '99, but, as a college freshman I didn't catch all the games. 2011 was great, as an adult, to watch a team come out of nowhere, with an incredibly talented leader. Kemba's my all time favorite husky.

Edit:
Forgot this: best tourney test en-route to title (including title game)?
-'99 - gonzaga
-'99 Duke
-'04 Duke
-'11 San Diego State
- '14 - too many to name!

 

[huskyharry]

'04 Dook...late comeback from down 8 was epic!

 

[Scottzer]

'04 Dook...late comeback from down 8 was epic!

It was nice, for once, to see K not get the calls. Oh, he sure got them in that first half, but when Emeka came back out, it seemed like the refs were trying to fix the obvious errors they'd made.

 

[ctchamps]

Been a fan since the dream season, when I was 10 years old. There are seasons that I recall better than others, just based upon what was going on in my life. That stated, here's my (uneducated recollections of various teams and the questions I'd like to ask. Will change this into a poll after I see the pieces I'm forgetting/missing/not enough of a basketball analyst to recognize.

My quick notes:
Methodology on some of this must include regular season. Otherwise we get ties - with all obviously having the same results.
'99 - tough team, extremely talented.
'04 - most talented team, occasionally hampered by injuries (Emeka).
'11 - flashes of brilliance whenever it mattered. Those flashes, combined with previous history, led to fan confidence, despite the underclassmen.
'14 - the title team that I didn't give a shot. Not until the sweet 16 or E8, forgot which.


Toughest team?

I'll go with '99. That record, in a tough Big East, winning tight games day in and day out.

Over-achievers?
Yikes. I get anybody picking anyone but '04. I pick '11, just b/c we had no expectations and such a young team. Including the conference tourney as regular season, the 9-9 conference record is suddenly 14-9, way above incoming expectations (although the conference season was the slump for that team). Hard to argue against '14 - who I'd call "most surprising champions", and '99 - how hard was it to go 14-2 in Big East play in '99?

Underachievers?
Has to be '04. That talent level (with enough upperclassmen - may not be replicated for some time). I recall, that season I picked Pitt or somebody else to take it all. And once the tourney started, it was so clear that I was wrong.

Toughest single player?
Yikes. Too many choices. rip had 145 points in '99 tourney, I think. Kemba put the team on his back in a legendary way in '11. I'm going Kemba here. But, there are so many valid arguments. Emeka fouled out like three guys in 8 minutes back in '04 FF game vs Duke.
Best 6th man?
Don't recall. I'm too old to recall who the 6th men were on some of these teams.

Most underrated star?
I have to go with Shabazz. Never thought he was as good as his final results. Thought he was way above average, but it took awhile for me to think of him as a college superstar. (We're spoiled - we've seen guys like Donyell, Rip, Ray, Caron, Ben, Emeka, and Kemba before him).

Season I most enjoyed:
Should be '99, but, as a college freshman I didn't catch all the games. 2011 was great, as an adult, to watch a team come out of nowhere, with an incredibly talented leader. Kemba's my all time favorite husky.

Edit:
Forgot this: best tourney test en-route to title (including title game)?
-'99 - gonzaga
-'99 Duke
-'04 Duke
-'11 San Diego State
- '14 - too many to name!

Huh?


Just kidding! Nice write up.

 

[MexicoHusky]

99 team was the best team in my opinion. I knew the 99 team was better than Duke. The 99 team was good enough to play to their opponents level and always win at the end. A Rip injury from being undefeated. Conversely, I was actually a little surprised we beat Duke in 04. K really coached a stinker at the end of both of those games. He went to Langdon and Reddick when they needed buckets. Neither had the tools to take the ball and beat the d at the end of the game. Still don't know how we won in 04. Gordon had 4 fouls for a long time at the end. He had to guard either duhon or ewing. Both had pro caliber ball handling skills. Instead K went to Reddick to try to beat us with the drive...such a stupid play. K showed poor in game decision making and poor prep. To get that far and to not have someone who both wanted the ball and had the abilities to win the game.

We had both Rip and Khalid in 99 and Gordon in 04. Those three guys both wanted the ball and had the necessary skills to win a game. None of the Duke guys with the skills wanted the ball. The Duke players who wanted the ball didn't have the skills.

 

[RichZ]

Edit:
Forgot this: best tourney test en-route to title (including title game)?
-'99 - gonzaga
-'99 Duke
-'04 Duke
-'11 San Diego State
- '14 - too many to name!

SAINT JOE'S. There can be no other.

 

[Scottzer]

99 team was the best team in my opinion. I knew the 99 team was better than Duke. The 99 team was good enough to play to their opponents level and always win at the end. A Rip injury from being undefeated. Conversely, I was actually a little surprised we beat Duke in 04. K really coached a stinker at the end of both of those games. He went to Langdon and Reddick when they needed buckets. Neither had the tools to take the ball and beat the d at the end of the game. Still don't know how we won in 04. Gordon had 4 fouls for a long time at the end. He had to guard either duhon or ewing. Both had pro caliber ball handling skills. Instead K went to Reddick to try to beat us with the drive...such a stupid play. K showed poor in game decision making and poor prep. To get that far and to not have someone who both wanted the ball and had the abilities to win the game.

We had both Rip and Khalid in 99 and Gordon in 04. Those three guys both wanted the ball and had the necessary skills to win a game. None of the Duke guys with the skills wanted the ball. The Duke players who wanted the ball didn't have the skills.

That team's record alone makes it hard to disagree. I picked us, (and won a smaller pool of about 20 people that year), but really thought of that title game as a pick 'em. Didn't get the 9 point spread, especially when Duke was favored by less over their other FF opponent who had played them tight. And we'd been a super highly ranked team all year. Guess the odds makers didn't give JC credit since the previous, very talented teams hadn't been able to close the deal. Or, maybe there were an out of nowhere Ricky Moore game from being right.
I still remember my roommate being pissed b/c he wanted to watch some stupid tv show. Imagine that, some balloon knot wanted to keep me from watching UConn history!

 

[HuskyFich]

SAINT JOE'S. There can be no other.

Arizona '11?

 

[Dogbreath2U]

99 team was the best team in my opinion. I knew the 99 team was better than Duke. The 99 team was good enough to play to their opponents level and always win at the end. A Rip injury from being undefeated. Conversely, I was actually a little surprised we beat Duke in 04. K really coached a stinker at the end of both of those games. He went to Langdon and Reddick when they needed buckets. Neither had the tools to take the ball and beat the d at the end of the game. Still don't know how we won in 04. Gordon had 4 fouls for a long time at the end. He had to guard either duhon or ewing. Both had pro caliber ball handling skills. Instead K went to Reddick to try to beat us with the drive...such a stupid play. K showed poor in game decision making and poor prep. To get that far and to not have someone who both wanted the ball and had the abilities to win the game.

We had both Rip and Khalid in 99 and Gordon in 04. Those three guys both wanted the ball and had the necessary skills to win a game. None of the Duke guys with the skills wanted the ball. The Duke players who wanted the ball didn't have the skills.

In that spot, most coaches would go with the guy that got them there and I guess that would have been Langdon and Reddick, but obviously both were jumpshooters when Dook needed a Kemba or Bazz to attack. If they had a time-out, would they have gone with Avery? Just the limits of those Dook squads.

 

[MexicoHusky]

In that spot, most coaches would go with the guy that got them there and I guess that would have been Langdon and Reddick, but obviously both were jumpshooters when Dook needed a Kemba or Bazz to attack. If they had a time-out, would they have gone with Avery? Just the limits of those Dook squads.

That's what i mean by failure to prep. For example, Rashad Anderson had ice water in his veins and proved it on the court. But there's no way JC gives him the ball one on one and says, go get em' rashad. Yes, Avery should have had the ball. And he should of had some expierence in those situations. 04 was even more inexcusable. Duhon was a senior and ended up playing NBA pg for a while. How does JJ get the ball as the primary option in the biggest play of the game. He was a sophomore. How does Duhon not have those expierences at that point in his career. He won a NC as a freshman....K gave us that game.

 

[MexicoHusky]

That team's record alone makes it hard to disagree. I picked us, (and won a smaller pool of about 20 people that year), but really thought of that title game as a pick 'em. Didn't get the 9 point spread, especially when Duke was favored by less over their other FF opponent who had played them tight. And we'd been a super highly ranked team all year. Guess the odds makers didn't give JC credit since the previous, very talented teams hadn't been able to close the deal. Or, maybe there were an out of nowhere Ricky Moore game from being right.
I still remember my roommate being pissed b/c he wanted to watch some stupid tv show. Imagine that, some wanted to keep me from watching UConn history!

My roommate and I watched the game together...in the Tampa Bay Devil Ray's Stadium.

 

[MexicoHusky]

SAINT JOE'S. There can be no other.

For me it was Nova. I was so pumped by KOs words entering half. The team's play in the 2nd half left me almost speachless. Couldn't believe what i just saw. I remember posting on FB about the game. "This year's Husky team isn't the best team we have ever had, but that may have been the best tournament game we ever played" Relative to the team's ability. Still in awe to this day.

 

[Scottzer]

Arizona '11?

Yeah, Arizona was closer than San Diego State wasn't it? I need to go back and watch that game.