Reminds me of 09-10 Team

[nomar]

Awful post. You should be embarrassed Husky999.

 

[huskyharry]

The 2005 team had really good potential...great passing between the bigs. But then Rashad was rendered ineffective by the severe staph infection and the clincher was the meltdown and dismissal of Kellogg, which wrecked the mojo and the lack of depth at PG really hurt in the NCAAs

 

[Husky999]

I know this is off topic but you do realize your forum name is a rip off of 99's name? He is a big shot around here so I would watch your back- he does not take kindly to people infringing of his trademarked moniker.

This year is really all about hitting our stride by the end of the year. I know that every says things like "this loss is good for us" which most of the time is BS. In this case we lost to a better team- and played a awful game. If they thought they were the #9 team in the country hopefully this gives them motivation to get better and earn it down the road.

I really think that this is an interesting year in college basketball. The NCAAs are gonna be nuts this year. Any team could lose at any time outside of the first round. Look at dook last night- us the night before- Uk lost- UNC- the dominant teams we expected have not really materialized. Quse is good and deep- but they are far from unbeatable.

I could care less.. I graduated Uconn in 1999. Husky1999 was taken or else I would have used that.

 

[Gurleyman]

The 2005 team had really good potential...great passing between the bigs. But then Rashad was rendered ineffective by the severe staph infection and the clincher was the meltdown and dismissal of Kellogg, which wrecked the mojo and the lack of depth at PG really hurt in the NCAAs

That also would have been AJ's freshman year, had he not been rushed to the hospital in October. How often do you have two unrelated life-threatening situations with your team in one season?

 

[Rockymtnroads]

Comparing an underachieving veteran team with an exciting (still learning their roles) young team is just asinine. This team is exactly where most of us probably figured they'd be at this point in the season. Calhoun will have this team ready by March, too much talent and just enough personality not to.

 

[DogMania]

This team reminds me of last year's team except w/out Kemba and the addition of 3 very good freshmen.

Seriously, I can't think of a single past UConn team that this team reminds me of. They are really young, comprised of predominantly Sophomores. Their 2 (AD & RB) of 3 freshman are playing major roles and the third (DD) is a solid rotation player who could also play himself into a bigger role. Our one upperclassman, Alex, is very important, but has really struggled.

The closest I can come up with was the 1997-98 team where the core of that team (Rip, KFree, Jake) were sophomores. They added a key freshman in Khalid. Had one key junior who was a core player in Ricky Moore. They had a solid 6th man in junior, Rash Jones, something that the 2011/12 team doesn't have...focusing on the junior aspect (I realize the team has a 6th, 7th, etc. man).

That team had an interesting group of freshman role players (EJ Harrison*, Albert Mouring & Souleymane Wane), most who did not contribute till the following year or beyond. They also had a few who never really panned out (Sam Funches-FR, Q Hardnett-Soph & Antric Klairer-Jr).

(* The website I was looking at listed EJ as a freshman, but wasn't he a junior via Div II or III transfer?)

One obvious similarity is the amount amount of PT and the type of role the core and role players had for both teams is similar.

Although the composition (class + role) is similar between the two teams, there comparison stops there. The 1997-98 team was coming off a tough prior season where Senior Kirk King and Soph Ricky Moore were suspended for taking plane tickets, while the 2011-12 team returns as reigning NCs. The 97-98 team didn't lose any key starters while this year's team lost Kemba.

How well does the following match-up?

Fr-Boatright vs Fr-EL-Amin
So-Napier vs Jr-Moore
So-Lamb vs So-Rip
Jr-Oriakhi vs So-KFree
Fr-Drummond vs So-Jake

So-Olander vs Sam Funches (JC tired Same but gave up on him. Tyler has a much bigger role.)
Fr-Daniels vs Jr-Rash Jones (Not a bad PT comparison.)
So-Smith vs Fr-Albert Mouring (Not a good comparison since Albie didn't join the team till the 2nd semester and never really got off the bench much that spring.)
So-Giffey vs E.J. Harrison (Not a position comparison at all and the jury is still out as far as how big NG's roll will be moving forward.)
So-Bradley vs Fr-Wane (If Bradley ever get's healthy maybe he'll see the floor and get spot duty like Wane did his freshman year.)
So-Wolf vs Antric Klairber (Like Antric, the only time Wolf will see the floor is walking to and from the bench and during time-outs.)

One thing that stands out is how much bigger role and more experienced the 2011/12 role players are compared to the 97/98 team. This year's team clearly has more talent that is ready to play compared to the pre-NC(98/99) team. Note that the 97/98 team really put it together late and ended up losing in the E-8 to UNC in Charlotte (or was it Greensboro?). They played them tough and from what I remember hearing, a few of the players were suffering from the flu.

I think the field was much better back in 98 as well. One could make a solid case that if this team can improve like most of JC's teams do, they have a great shot at going further than the 98 team. They not only have all the pieces necessary, but greater depth than the 98 team and most of the 2011/12 field. I still like our chances of reaching -4, but I'd feel a lot more confidence about it if I see incremental improvement over the next 6 to 10 games and witness success against top 10 to 15 teams such as GU, UL & SU.

 

[UCweCONN]

I keep seeing posts where people say "this team will be playing it's best basketball in March" with such certainty. We are mid-way through the season and I have not seen any improvement or signs that the team is gelling or learning how to play without Kemba. Everytime it seems like they are getting it they turn around and play a stinker or play well for only half a game. It's just as likely (or maybe more likely) that this team will never get it together this season. It could be that it takes until next season for the team to gel by which point Lamb and Drummond could go pro and blow everything up. Man, I hope I'm wrong but this is what I'm feeling right now. Sometimes it's possible to have too much talent as some of the North Carolina teams in past years have proven. As they say, 'there is only one ball.'

Some on this board had speculated that AO would go pro after this season as well. I don't see that happening. I'm also of the opinion (as shocked as I am to feel this after all the hype) that Drummond should play two years in college.