Shabazz vs CP3

[FfldCntyFan]

I knew I would have a couple ommissions. And I blew Khalid's NC Year. I guess.

Honorable mentions: Jeremy Lamb, Marcus Williams...

I believe that Lamb belongs on the second tier, not third. I also think Boonie belongs on the second tier (the Duke semifinal game alone, when Emeka was on the bench puts him there) while Rashad warrants equal stature as Albie Mouring.

 

[UChusky916]

Get out of here.

If he leads us to another championship he could definitely be in the mix for the top spot overall (he'd be the only one with 2 national championships). Even if he got us to another final 4, it'd be near impossible not to include Bazz as a top 5 all-time husky.

So no, you get out of here.

 

[UChusky916]

You make valid points. However I will add that by the tournament, Shabazz was verrrrrry important. And he made about 5-10 plays in the tournament that, without them, we don't make it. He was critical. Remember the reverse insane layup that closed the Kentucky game?

And the free throws against Cuse. And the free throws against UK. And his clutch pick-pocket steals for easy lay-ups. And, and.... we could go on and on. Kemba stole the show in 2011 but Bazz pulled his weight to say the least.

 

[aceboon]

besides the key plays it was like clockwork that the team would always start to pick up their play when Bazz would come in and Kemba would move off the ball, without Bazz being able to effectively play PG it wouldn't have worked. I still remember the CBS halftime shows with Kenny Smith & Charles Barkley applauding JC for his "adjustments" of moving Kemba off the ball, as if that wasn't something that was done every game.

 

[Kitaman]

Honorable Mention(no order): Jeff Adrien, Rudy Gay, AJ Price, Hasheem Thabeet, Taliek Brown, Jake Voskhul, Donny Marshall, Cliff Robinson, Chris Smith, Albert Mouring.

Chris Smith and Albert Mouring are not equals.

 

[hungry husky]

If he leads us to another championship he could definitely be in the mix for the top spot overall (he'd be the only one with 2 national championships). Even if he got us to another final 4, it'd be near impossible not to include Bazz as a top 5 all-time husky.

So no, you get out of here.

Better than Gordon, Okafor, Caron, Ray, Donyell, Kemba, Chris Smith, Rip, Taleik, and most importantly, Johnnie Selvie?

 

[aceboon]

Better than Gordon, Okafor, Caron, Ray, Donyell, Kemba, Chris Smith, Rip, Taleik, and most importantly, Johnnie Selvie?

Obviously the Selvie mention was a joke, but you can't possibly think Taliek is better than Bazz.

 

[Dmike]

I believe that Lamb belongs on the second tier, not third. I also think Boonie belongs on the second tier (the Duke semifinal game alone, when Emeka was on the bench puts him there) while Rashad warrants equal stature as Albie Mouring.

On the alpha list for non-NC teams, I'd include Doron Scheffer. 15 ppg and 5+ assists per game. Team had a 1 seed and they lost to Miss. St. in Sweet 16. He was definitely a leader and deserves at the very least an honorable mention.

 

[tykurez]

The best part about the video is that Bazz and CP are the same height.

This.

At the time, all you kept hearing was how Kemba was "too short." It's as if people never took the fact that CP3 was a generous 6'0" into account yet still considered him the best in the league. We're about to have a pretty nice tag team of "too short" guards in the NBA after this year.

 

[James]

wow this kid is a stud, very unheralded productive junior season. I like that because it means he still got the chip/boulder on his shoulder. he's always been able to get buckets,so lets see if he can really improve Nolan + deandres game, probably a goal of his. Very underrated defender as well, when @ 100%

 

[UChusky916]

Better than Gordon, Okafor, Caron, Ray, Donyell, Kemba, Chris Smith, Rip, Taleik, and most importantly, Johnnie Selvie?

Right now, he's behind all of those except Taleik. (Ignoring Selvie). But he has another year to do something special. And I think he will.

To me, if you're ranking the best UConn player you have to account for the following:

-national / conference / tournament championships
-individual accolades/stats
-importance to program during time at UConn

I would ignore NBA careers, but possibly consider NBA draft position.

Kemba is my vote for #1. Kemba has a Final4, BE championship, and National Championship under his belt in just 3 years. Also he was of paramount importance to the program during a time when many thought that UConn was about to fade out of national relvance. And he was drafted early in the first round.

Rip/Ray/Okafor/Caron/Donyell/Gordon/Smith are all behind Kemba and ahead of Shabazz, FOR NOW.

Shabazz would be the only one to have a shot at 2 national championships, possibly 2 conf tournament championships, and more. If that happened, I'd assume Shabazz would garner attention for other individual accolades as well. No other Husky would have that type of reputation. Add the fact that Bazz is more-or-less the ambassador of our program and stuck with UConn during conference realignment, a post-season ban, and coaching changes. He'll be largely responsible for ringing in the Ollie-era at UConn and will have a huge impact on the program's impression going forward under Ollie. (look at what Kemba did for the program).

This is all best-case scenario, of course. But to think a conference championship or final4 is out of the realm of possiblity for this team is plain dumb. If they get that far, Shabazz will largely responsible for leading them there.

 

[James]

besides the key plays it was like clockwork that the team would always start to pick up their play when Bazz would come in and Kemba would move off the ball, without Bazz being able to effectively play PG it wouldn't have worked. I still remember the CBS halftime shows with Kenny Smith & Charles Barkley applauding JC for his "adjustments" of moving Kemba off the ball, as if that wasn't something that was done every game.

A lot of game changing plays happened when he came in with 100% energy, like when he ripped the zona pg in the back court. Or just simple off ball plays for walker. Huge piece to 2011.

 

[OkaForPrez]

1) Its a little early to be playing the "what if" game regarding a 2nd national championship for Bazz, although it certainly is indicative of the level of optimism flowing through the board these days. Heck I went slightly off the rails with my "I believe" monologue. I hope the boys are prepared to handle the pressure.

2) What elevates Bazz's place in Husky Lore and cannot be said enough is his importance in sustaining the excellence of the program in the most vulnerable time period in its history. He had a tough choice and he chose loyalty. What would last season have looked like without Bazz? We saw it in Cincinnati and South Florida. It would have been a down year in a banned year.

The UNC's of the world can survive Matt Doherty, but the conventional wisdom on UConn is that all of our value is associated with Calhoun. 1 or 2 bust seasons of reinforcing that narrative and that chorus grows louder. In the AAC, it could (still can?) bury us. Certainly the loudest of our community of haters already has. Hello to the cusefan lurkers who still read here then post how irrelevant we are.

But, 1 or 2 elite seasons and the tune changes. The talking heads REALLY get behind the easily marketable Ollie and the momentum carries into the next Kemba, the next Bazz. I think we all feel that season is coming its just a matter of how loud of a season it ends up being.

For the choice, the stakes, the ring and last year which was kemba/caron'like in the way he carried us in big moments and overtimes, Bazz is already a concoction of the greatest attributes of our most celebrated legacies. If next year manages to "change the tune," I'm not sure what it will take to do so, but if it manages to, Bazz will be one of the greatest of all time.

 

[Joobie]

The x-factor here (& I am surprised that no one has mentioned it), is that Bazz's teammates BELIEVE in him. They are convinced that he can take them all the way to a NC. If they believe, it makes sense that we should too!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

On the alpha list for non-NC teams, I'd include Doron Scheffer. 15 ppg and 5+ assists per game. Team had a 1 seed and they lost to Miss. St. in Sweet 16. He was definitely a leader and deserves at the very least an honorable mention.

My problem with Sheffer was that ('96 game at Georgetown excepted) his worst performances were our three NCAA tournament losses when he was here. His passing, shooting, decision making were all out of character when compared to the remainder of his career here but he was borderline awful in those three losses. While I absolutely do not believe it was intentional, if someone were to throw a game it would look very similar to his performances against Florida, UCLA & Miss St.

 

[CardiacKemba]

Have watched that vid a good 6-7 times today. Season can't come soon enough...

 

[61cygni]

"He's the consummate winner. Very unselfish. Trusting his teammates. Sharing the basketball. Making big shots. Wanting the ball in crunch time, and he's also defending. There's nothing more he can do. You can simply say, "You are special, my friend." When they remember you and they recall you by your one name, Kemba. It was Kemba, Kemba, Kemba."

I want this quote to ring just as true at the end of the next season when you replace Kemba with Shabazz. We believe in Shabazz! He doesn't need anything more to cement his place in Husky lore, but lord knows they'll be giving it their all.

 

[LIUCHusky]

My problem with Sheffer was that ('96 game at Georgetown excepted) his worst performances were our three NCAA tournament losses when he was here. His passing, shooting, decision making were all out of character when compared to the remainder of his career here but he was borderline awful in those three losses. While I absolutely do not believe it was intentional, if someone were to throw a game it would look very similar to his performances against Florida, UCLA & Miss St.

Doron was hurt prior to the game against Miss St. No one made much of it but he was severely hampered during that game.

 

[superjohn]

Shabazz is the best point guard in the country.

 

[Edge2017]

Rashad warrants equal stature as Albie Mouring.

Completely agree with this, Rashad should be here.

 

[superjohn]

Completely agree with this, Rashad should be here.

Rashad was definitely a better Husky than Albert. Where is Selvie?!??

 

[hungry husky]

Obviously the Selvie mention was a joke, but you can't possibly think Taliek is better than Bazz.

I do. All time assists leader, 1,000 point scorer, NC and an elite 8, 2 tournament/2 BE championships and started 134 games.

I think Shabazz improved a lot last year, both TO and FG % wise but he has the chance to really become the leader we've been looking for him to become. At this point, not top 5.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Pumped to start the season. Shabazz is a top 5 all-time husky with a full year to bid on the top spot.

Unless he can surpass kembas run he will have to settle for #2. Even if he wins a second title he may still be #2.

 

[aceboon]

I do. All time assists leader, 1,000 point scorer, NC and an elite 8, 2 tournament/2 BE championships and started 134 games.

I think Shabazz improved a lot last year, both TO and FG % wise but he has the chance to really become the leader we've been looking for him to become. At this point, not top 5.

Bazz became that leader last year, this year is just to cement his legacy and see where he ultimately ranks among the all time greats in the program. Any questions of what kind of leader Bazz is was put to rest when after the USF game the first thing DeAndre said was we were missing our leader out there tonight, and then after the Prov game he stated how happy the team was to see Bazz putting his warmups on. I agree that right now he's definitely not top 5, but I do think if he has the kind of special year that I believe he and the team are capable of I think he can reach there, and Taliek definitely is not anywhere near the top 5. To me it comes down to if you were to plug Taliek in Bazz's place last year does the team have the same kind of season it did? Would Taliek be able provide the scoring punch necessary that Bazz did? I don't see anyway he could have, and Bazz is just as good a passer, he just didn't have the luxury of playing with some of the best collection of talent in the program's history.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Well this comment is a bit much, but for fun lets build this list, with a couple tiers:

National Championship ALPHA Tier:
1. Kemba - clear Alpha on NC, another FF as freshman, epic tournament record
2. Hamilton - clear Alpha on NC
3. Emeka - Teamed up for NC, defined Husky dominance
4. Gordon - Teamed up for NC

Sub-National Championship ALPHA Tier:
5. Ray - Greatest Non-NC Husky
6. Caron - I struggled with Caron/Donyell. Tournament performance was tie-breaker.
7. Donyell - First big-timer. Welcome to prime-time.
8. Shabazz - Freshman NC, 3 years of leading team in scoring/assists, loyal through tough times.
9. Khalid - Freshman NC, 2 years of leading team in scoring/assists.
10. Alex Oriakhi - Defensive anchor of NC team. Local boy. JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!#
10. Kevin Freeman - This is purely on my love for his game. 100% hustle and heart.

Honorable Mention(no order): Jeff Adrien, Rudy Gay, AJ Price, Hasheem Thabeet, Taliek Brown, Jake Voskhul, Donny Marshall, Cliff Robinson, Chris Smith, Albert Mouring.

I am very surprised myself that I have Shabazz so high, but when I think about it he absolutely belongs. For production, contribution to NC teams, leadership, and heart/clutch, he 100% belongs on this list. Congrats to him.

Add Ricky Moore.