Shabazz and the Historical Perspective of the 2011 Team

[PAHusky]

The warranted hype Bazz is garnering over his performance so far this season made me think about the 2011 championship team and the perception of it outside of the Boneyard. Talking with my friends who are fans of college bball, and reading some of the retrospective views of the media pundits, the common narrative of that season seems to focus on "kemba and the kids", a team consisting of a lone superstar and a plucky and overachieving supporting cast. Even with the late emergence of lamb I feel like many looking back write UConn's title off as simply a hot hand during a down year. The media is quick to cite the UNC teams from that decade and a handful of others as superior squads. My question - will the individual success of Napier and, to a lesser extent, the other members of that team force a reevaluation of the 2011 teams?

Obviously, any discussion of this has to begin with the caveat that it's completely unfair to compare a senior Bazz (or anyone for that matter) to his freshman version. However, I'd argue that the 2011 team is undervalued due to a perceived lack of talent, and talent exists regardless of production or experience. If bazz were to win a major individual award this year and/or Uconn made a deep run in the tourney, what would that mean for that team historically? And the reevaluation isn't limited to just bazz. Kemba has proven that he's the best player on an NBA team. Roscoe leads the nation in rebounding. He Who Shall Not Be Named was a complete turd but he was a major inside presence on a pretty good Mizzou team and he did get drafted. Lamb is Lamb and is finding minutes on a contending NBA team. Even Bullseye Giffey gets more talk now for his shooting and his Euro performance, but his intangibles have been there since day 1 - I barely remember him shooting the ball his freshman year and he got minutes on a national championship team. I think that team was more than kemba and some overachievers - it was kemba surrounded by hugely talented but young players. That team, to me, should be put right up there with the other great teams of that decade.

Even among us boneyarders the 11 team is overlooked a bit when talking about the best UConn teams. In the last 15 years or so, the 99 and 04 teams are rightfully considered dominant. The 06 and 09 teams are the "what could have been" darlings, hugely talented without the banners to match. I'd argue that the 11 team overall is just a notch below the 99, 04 and 06 teams talent wise and ahead of the 09 team. Add in their intangibles and it's a whole other beast. Hopefully the successes of its members this year and potentially going forward brings a reevaluation of the type of team that was.

as a last note, I apologize for the length of this post, I got jacked up watching youtube videos of the tourney run

 

[HuskyBballFan]

You make a lot of fair points. I definitely agree that the Kemba/Napier/Lamb backcourt looks a heck of a lot more impressive now than it did in 2011, and I thought it was pretty darn good in 2011.

I think the biggest reason why that team doesn't get as much respect is because people can't get past the 9-9 regular season conference record. People see that and automatically think we must have been a slightly above-average team that just got hot at the right time. But here are the facts about that team that casual fans probably have no idea about:
1) Going into our game against Pittsburgh on December 27th, we were 10-0 and ranked #4 in the country.
2) Going into our game against Louisville on January 29th, we were 17-2 and ranked #5 in the country. We lose that game in double overtime and it sends us spiraling into a horrible stretch where we lose 7 of our last 11 BE games.
3) Obviously, we then proceeded to win 11 consecutive neutral court tournament games and cut down a whole bunch of nets.

So, sure, we got hot in March. But we basically played just as well in November, December, and January in order to win 17 of our first 19 games. We were a 3 seed for a reason - and it wasn't just because we won the BE Tournament. We had already beaten nine ranked teams before the NCAA tournament even started, and only two of those games were on our home court.

So if you were to consider our total body of work heading into the 2011 NCAA tournament, you'd see that our resume at that point was unbelievably impressive.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Love this post. Here's something even crazier to think about: Remove Kemba and add Drummond and you have just as much talent in 2012 with a much more disastrous result.

The takeaway is that leadership and clearly defined roles are the building blocks of chemistry. Talent + Chemistry = Championships, Talent - Chemistry = issues. This year see Jayhawks, Kansas.

 

[Kitaman]

Good post!

11 was a tourney team, perhaps the best we ever had. However I don't think they were one of the best teams we ever fielded, top ten yes.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Very interesting post and I hope to see more like it.

2011 is a weird team because it deviates substantially from the cyclical and predictable success we had from 1994-2009. Our best teams tended to evolve in 2-3 year waves culminating in championship-caliber basketball typically led by star juniors and a veteran supporting cast: 1996, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009.

A period of poor recruiting from 2006-2009 left the cupboard ostensibly bare, with the exception of Kemba. I still think "Kemba and the kids" is an apt description, regardless of how talented guys like Lamb and Bazz have shown themselves to be. Who they are now doesn't change the fact that they were merely complementary players on the 2011 team.

And if you're ranking the 2011 team among historical UConn teams, I'd put them below 1999, 2004, 2009, 2006, 1996, 1995, and maybe on par with 1990, 1994 and a bit ahead of 2002, 1998, and 2005.

 

[caw]

That recruiting class was underrated, clearly.

Roscoe was around 20-30 and he might be the best rebounder in college right now as a senior

Lamb was around 75 at the end and he went NBA after two years

Napier was around 80 after reclassifying (or at least for those who ranked him). He may be the best player in college as a senior.

Giffey was unranked (but was said to have top 100 talent) and he currently leads the country in 3pt shooting.

Wolf was also unranked (and thought to be 150-200) unfortunately he got kicked out before showing how good he was. He did look promising as a junior though.

Olander might have been overrated.

Bradley...who knows. Has he played anywhere yet?

Still, Giffey, Lamb, Smith and Napier alone were probably underrated as a group.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

I think the whole freaking Realignment/APR controversy/ESPN and off-the field crap has affected Connecticut's image to the point that only a year after winning the NCAA championship [I felt like] it was long forgotten. I also really hold a grudge against ESPN after that magical run, I feel like they downplayed it so much. They really didn't want Connecticut to win, its like everyone was against them in a way. They probably wanted the suckers down in Kentucky to win it all... To many, its like it never happened. Even the attendance didn't see a spike the year after. Its pretty sad really, because that team was so amazing and Kemba was simply unstoppable. I remember teasing my girlfriend every night prior to March saying "Ha, Connecticut is not going anywhere this year, look at that Big East record. They Suckkkkkk"... it was just my way of pissing her off as she was only a freshman and her huskymania was in full force. But little did I know what was coming. So shocking, yet so awesome. I'll never forget that Big East Tournament 5 day run, watching the games in my laptop while in lecture at SBU... followed by the out-of-this-world NCAA run... Has to be one of the most memorable in history... But the average NCAA fan seems to have ignored it, that's okay though. Connecticut is at the top once again, and I think this year is bound to be another superb year.

 

[joober jones]

They needed the Dove to be a truly historic squad.

 

[Inyatkin]

I don't think there's any question that the 2011 team is under appreciated because we already had two titles. If we were like most schools that would give anything just for a shot at a championship, just once, this would be an all-time team regardless of the circumstances.
Instead you see even UConn fans trying to "yeah, but" away a championship. They were 9-9 in conference. They weren't really that good. Etc.
Yes, they really were that good. You don't get hot in March-April and win 11 straight games by accident. You don't win 32 games with an OK team.
UConn is in the position of being able to rank our championship teams. It's a rare thing.

 

[CTBasketball]

With Kemba hot I think they could compete with any UConn team we've ever had. However, I think the 2004 team was and still has been the best.

 

[joober jones]

With Kemba hot I think they could compete with any UConn team we've ever had. However, I think the 2004 team was and still has been the best.

I think the 05-06 team had more talent, but didn't have the heart of the 2004 team.

 

[jleves]

With Kemba hot I think they could compete with any UConn team we've ever had. However, I think the 2004 team was and still has been the best.

Ricky Moore shuts Kemba down. 99 team crushes the 11 team.

 

[joober jones]

But Emeka would take Voskuhl right out of the game. A close contest for sure.

 

[UChusky916]

That 2011 class is really looking like one of THE MOST UNDERRATED recruiting classes ever

 

[Gurleyman]

I still say 1994 is the most talented team we have ever had. They were just a bit young for that era (no seniors on the roster), lacked postseason experience, and played tight at the end of the year.

The 1994 team had Ray Allen, Rudy Johnson, Kirk King and Travis Knight coming off the bench (along with Brian Fair). Those guys joined Sheffer in the starting lineup two years later and went 34-2. Marshall, Marshall, Ollie, Allen, and Knight were all NBA players and Sheffer was drafted but played in Israel.

Although...

2004 had Okafor, Gordon, Boone, CV, Hilton and Denham drafted.
2006 had Boone, Hilton, MW, Rudy, Adrien and Denham drafted.
2009 had Thabeet, Adrien, Price, Kemba, Dyson and Sticks drafted

So five NBA players and a draft pick who didn't play seems to be our cap (MW in 2004, AJP and/or Bynum in 2006, or maybe Miles in 2009 could have tipped the scale).

I think Kemba doesn't get revered enough outside the Storrs bubble for his 2011 run - should be considered more Danny Manningish.

 

[Ts5034]

Few tid bits to touch on about the 2011 team. We went undefeated the entire out of conference schedule vs really good teams like Mich St, at Texas, Tenn, and UK which was a final four team who we beat twice. The 9-9 conference record means absolutely nothing. Technically, vs Big East competition that entire season we were 15-9 because dont forget we beat Cincy in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

 

[Dmike]

I still say 1994 is the most talented team we have ever had. They were just a bit young for that era (no seniors on the roster), lacked postseason experience, and played tight at the end of the year.

The 1994 team had Ray Allen, Rudy Johnson, Kirk King and Travis Knight coming off the bench (along with Brian Fair). Those guys joined Sheffer in the starting lineup two years later and went 34-2. Marshall, Marshall, Ollie, Allen, and Knight were all NBA players and Sheffer was drafted but played in Israel.

Although...

2004 had Okafor, Gordon, Boone, CV, Hilton and Denham drafted.
2006 had Boone, Hilton, MW, Rudy, Adrien and Denham drafted.
2009 had Thabeet, Adrien, Price, Kemba, Dyson and Sticks drafted

So five NBA players and a draft pick who didn't play seems to be our cap (MW in 2004, AJP and/or Bynum in 2006, or maybe Miles in 2009 could have tipped the scale).

I think Kemba doesn't get revered enough outside the Storrs bubble for his 2011 run - should be considered more Danny Manningish.

You're forgetting Villanueva on the '04 team. He was a lottery pick in '05. Also, Dyson went undrafted, but worked his way into a few contract periods in the NBA.

 

[Nnocu]

Great points. I was thinking the other day "Dang, in three or four years, people are really going to wonder how a UConn team with Jeremy Lamb, Andre Drummond, Shabazz Napier, DeAndre Daniels and even Boatright won only 20 games."

It takes a couple years for us to realize just how talented and how much potential some of our teams have had.

 

[joober jones]

I don't think Adrien was drafted. He kicked around Europe and the D-League for a while before breaking in.

 

[Rico444]

The '04 team. That team had 6 (six!!!) first-round picks.

 

[Gurleyman]

The '04 team. That team had 6 (six!!!) first-round picks.

Yeah if you count Marcus. I admit I tend not to.