Ricky and KFree keep your head up

[Kitaman]

Sure you were in a new position and I'm sure tried your best as Calhoun taught you. Ricky especially, keep trying if Coaching is what you want to do. You are tenacious as they come. Bright future you have.

Every failure in a way is a success if you don't give up.

Thanks Guys!

 

[mauconnfan]

Well said Kita

 

[Chin Diesel]

Good, bad or otherwise we will see what college bball personnel see as their abilities going forward.

 

[Husky pride]

Sure you were in a new position and I'm sure tried your best as Calhoun taught you. Ricky especially, keep trying if Coaching is what you want to do. You are tenacious as they come. Bright future you have.

Every failure in a way is a success if you don't give up.

Thanks Guys!

Sent an email to Ricky Moore thanking him and wishing him the best. (Also, added that he’ll always be remembered for his offense and defense in our first National Championship ....a victory over Duke in 1999!!!) He replied thanking me.

 

[Scrutineer]

Sent an email to Ricky Moore thanking him and wishing him the best. (Also, added that he’ll always be remembered for his offense and defense in our first National Championship ....a victory over Duke in 1999!!!) He replied thanking me.

Thanks for contacting him. I will too, along with Kevin Freeman, and hope others will.
Kevin Freeman, I was once told by a retired high school coach in Western Mass, wanted to be a shooting guard in college but Calhoun needed his strength and athleticism at power forward. Maybe that or maybe he just wasn't a great outside shooter, but no matter, Kevin was a great player for UConn and I'll never forget how he and Hamilton would bow to each other after one or the other dunked on a fast break..........and there were lots of them in those days. Ollie sure could have used him to teach positioning and rebounding skills in his big men the past 6 years.

 

[glastonbury50]

Any idea what Killings is gonna do?

 

[Marat]

We've known them for 20+ years and that 1999 team is still my favorite Husky team to date.

Ricky schooled Duke's Avery in the championship and was one of the few who could guard Iverson.

KFree was a terrific player and who can forget those MVP chants at MSG after winning the BET championship..

Good luck to them.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Great players and Huskies. Gave us many memories. I think they will grow from this. They need to go learn from multiple different coaches, not just the JC tree. Hopefully they become great coaches in their own right.

 

[businesslawyer]

Ricky schooled Duke's Avery in the championship and was one of the few who could guard Iverson.



Good luck to them.

Iverson? Ricky could have defended God out of a game.

Totally seriously, Ricky Moore in the 98-99 season was the single best perimeter defender that I have even seen play college basketball. How he could guard either a 1 or a 2 totally out of the game was truly astonishing.

 

[djct1999]

I am wondering/hoping that KFree stays.

 

[bazzketball13]

Is there a chance Hurley hires them especially since Moore is on staff?

 

[Edward Sargent]

Sure you were in a new position and I'm sure tried your best as Calhoun taught you. Ricky especially, keep trying if Coaching is what you want to do. You are tenacious as they come. Bright future you have.

Every failure in a way is a success if you don't give up.

Thanks Guys!

Do you know for certain they are leaving?

 

[Kitaman]

Do you know for certain they are leaving?

I didn't say they were leaving, just noting their experience and thankful for their contributions along with encouragement.

With that said, I would be surprised if they were kept on staff.

 

[Palatine]

I always felt bad for Ricky. He was one of the best defenders in the history of the school. He must have gone insane watching player after player blow right by our guards.

 

[Cheddie]

Thanks for contacting him. I will too, along with Kevin Freeman, and hope others will.
Kevin Freeman, I was once told by a retired high school coach in Western Mass, wanted to be a shooting guard in college but Calhoun needed his strength and athleticism at power forward. Maybe that or maybe he just wasn't a great outside shooter, but no matter, Kevin was a great player for UConn and I'll never forget how he and Hamilton would bow to each other after one or the other dunked on a fast break.....and there were lots of them in those days. Ollie sure could have used him to teach positioning and rebounding skills in his big men the past 6 years.

I recall that after Rip left, Calhoun did allow Freeman to play some on the wing, rather than as an undersized power forward, to improve his next level chances. Don't remember him at guard.

 

[Hoophound]

Iverson? Ricky could have defended God out of a game.

Totally seriously, Ricky Moore in the 98-99 season was the single best perimeter defender that I have even seen play college basketball. How he could guard either a 1 or a 2 totally out of the game was truly astonishing.

He was awesome. However, Lyman Depriest could guard all 5 positions and he could totally lock down 1-4, which was at least equally amazing in my book.

 

[businesslawyer]

He was awesome. However, Lyman Depriest could guard all 5 positions and he could totally lock down 1-4, which was at least equally amazing in my book.

Loved Lyman's toughness, and versatility, and running through the screen in MSG against BC in the NIT that kept them from setting any more screens. But he was a really, really good defender. Those adjectives don't, in my book, put him near Ricky Moore's level.

 

[kansashusky]

I appreciate all they did for the program.

However, I would like to see Hurley clean house with the exception of Chill.

 

[Wordbomar]

Chill changed his bio and took UConn out of it so maybe he got the sense he won't be retained

 

[Danzz]

I am wondering/hoping that KFree stays.

He isn't in a coaching position so he may have a better chance of staying than Ricky IMO. Of course it all depends upon who Hurley wants to bring with him.

 

[djct1999]

 

[Chief00]

Iverson? Ricky could have defended God out of a game.

Totally seriously, Ricky Moore in the 98-99 season was the single best perimeter defender that I have even seen play college basketball. How he could guard either a 1 or a 2 totally out of the game was truly astonishing.

Quite frankly, same observation from where Chief sits.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Loved Lyman's toughness, and versatility, and running through the screen in MSG against BC in the NIT that kept them from setting any more screens. But he was a really, really good defender. Those adjectives don't, in my book, put him near Ricky Moore's level.

I don't think he could defend a guard the way Ricky could. Ricky was, as you said, the best defender of other guards I've ever seen. But step up to a small forward or PF, and Lyman was better. He was a multi-tool defender, capable of covering anyone shy of a David Robinson type on a switch.

 

[Excalibur]

Totally seriously, Ricky Moore in the 98-99 season was the single best perimeter defender that I have even seen play college basketball. How he could guard either a 1 or a 2 totally out of the game was truly astonishing.

I agree and have said so many times. I like to compare it to having Deion Sanders in his prime. You could choose one guy on the other side and know that there was no way he was going to affect the outcome of the game.

 

[boog204]

I recall that after Rip left, Calhoun did allow Freeman to play some on the wing, rather than as an undersized power forward, to improve his next level chances. Don't remember him at guard.

It was a mistake by JC, one of his few, to cater to Freeman to the detriment of the team. Freeman wanted to showcase and "prove" he could play the "3" as there were rumors he might transfer for the opp, so he changed his # to 33 and was a pump-faking savant on the perimeter his senior year. He passed up countless open shots to try and get to the rim which destroyed our offensive flow and spacing. That 99-00 should have been much better than 25-10 with Khalid, Mouring, Jake, KFree, TRob, Edmund, Ajou, Souley. We were pre-season #1 and lost to an eventual 14-16 Iowa team in our opening game and got humbled against Tennessee in the tourney with Khalid injured. That was a super disappointing year and put a great deal of the blame on KFree and JC for their experiment.