Shout out to Kevin Freeman | The Boneyard

Shout out to Kevin Freeman

beerfan said:
He has got (well at least he helped) Penn State to a #9 ranking. They were predicted to be at the bottom of the B1G.
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Big game vs the Illini tomorrow. Go KFree!
 
KFree could well be the guy who is making Chambers look so brilliant as a coach this year. Always a hard worker and loyal. Came to UConn to be a shooting guard and sacrificed for the team by becoming our PF. Too bad he was overlooked here.
 
Speaking from a local perspective, while there has certainly been a lot of hand-wringing regarding the decline of UConn men's hoops (at least prior to the last 3 weeks or so), in Pittsburgh, it's incomprehensible that PSU has developed a better hoops program than Pitt.
 
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beerfan said:
He has got (well at least he helped)...
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Nope. You were right the first time. They helped him. Kevin Freeman can do know wrong.
 
Freeman played away from the basket to increase his draft prospects. It didn't work out very well for him in terms of the NBA, but he played for 10 years overseas and has had approximately two lifetimes worth of experiences at 41 years old.
 
Husky25 said:
Freeman played away from the basket to increase his draft prospects. It didn't work out very well for him in terms of the NBA, but he played for 10 years overseas and has had approximately two lifetimes worth of experiences at 41 years old.
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JC was being too nice actually it wasn't going well right from the start. Love Kelis Fisher but he was never going to be that player, no shot. In a way blemished a legacy undersized PF's career with the attempt. But can't blemish the NC that's for sure.
 
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mauconnfan said:
JC was being too nice actually it wasn't going well right from the start. Love Kelis Fisher but he was never going to be that player, not shot. In a way blemished a legacy undersized PF's career with the attempt. But can't blemish the NC that's for sure.
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Disagree. Freeman was not an NBA prospect without a 15 footer. There was no downside. That group won their National Championship and there was a slim to no chance of repeating without Hamilton, Moore, and Jones. Calhoun was fulfilling his roll as a college educator and attempting to help prepare a favored pupil for the next phase of his career.
 
olehead said:
They, along with Rip & Kobe were all on the same AAU team. Imagine running into that team at some AAU tournament back in the day.
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Jesus. Remember who the 5th was by any chance?
 
intlzncster said:
Jesus. Remember who the 5th was by any chance?
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according to this some little known guy named Vince Carter.

sportschew.com

16 Of The Greatest AAU Teams Ever Assembled

1. New Jersey Patterson – 1994 NBA Players: Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Rip Hamilton, Tim Thomas Along with future international journeyman Kevin Freeman, the talent that was packed into this particular Patterson squad is unmatched, especially when you consider how they have performed in the NBA...
sportschew.com
 
Husky25 said:
Disagree. Freeman was not an NBA prospect without a 15 footer. There was no downside. That group won their National Championship and there was a slim to no chance of repeating without Hamilton, Moore, and Jones. Calhoun was fulfilling his roll as a college educator and attempting to help prepare a favored pupil for the next phase of his career.
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Redisagree. Player before team never seems to be a good idea. And maybe that team wasn't going to repeat but that's no reason to not field your best squad. That team makes another Sweet 16 or Elite 8 if KEA doesn't get hurt late.
 
Waquoit said:
Redisagree. Player before team never seems to be a good idea. And maybe that team wasn't going to repeat but that's no reason to not field your best squad. That team makes another Sweet 16 or Elite 8 if KEA doesn't get hurt late.
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Freeman was not a walk-on taking the place of a more talented player. They did field their best squad. Freeman had nothing to do with El-Amin's injury and therefore did not prevent an appearance on the 2nd weekend.
 
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Husky25 said:
Freeman was not a walk-on taking the place of a more talented player. They did field their best squad. Freeman had nothing to do with El-Amin's injury and therefore did not prevent an appearance on the 2nd weekend.
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They fielded their best squad once they gave up the experiment and Freeman went back to PF.
 
Waquoit said:
They fielded their best squad once they gave up the experiment and Freeman went back to PF.
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Yeah, it’s too bad. The team was playing its best ball cone tourney time. The Khalid ankle injury was too devastating to recover from. They had a chance to make a deep run in my opinion.
 
Freeman was MVP of the Big East Tournament in 1999. Tough to overlook that.
 
superjohn said:
Lol, Freeman didn't come here to be a shooting guard.
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Someone who knew him well told me that's what he was thinking when he went to UConn. If you spoke with him about his goals in life maybe you can share his thoughts with us.
 
caw said:
according to this some little known guy named Vince Carter.

sportschew.com

16 Of The Greatest AAU Teams Ever Assembled

1. New Jersey Patterson – 1994 NBA Players: Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Rip Hamilton, Tim Thomas Along with future international journeyman Kevin Freeman, the talent that was packed into this particular Patterson squad is unmatched, especially when you consider how they have performed in the NBA...
sportschew.com
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that's insane.
 
Husky25 said:
Disagree. Freeman was not an NBA prospect without a 15 footer. There was no downside. That group won their National Championship and there was a slim to no chance of repeating without Hamilton, Moore, and Jones. Calhoun was fulfilling his roll as a college educator and attempting to help prepare a favored pupil for the next phase of his career.
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Disagree back. Is it fair to say to this team “hey we won a NC last year doubt we will do it with this team so we’re going to put this guy ahead of this team”???? Kidding right :rolleyes: that might be a job for a college educator but not for a coach like JC who lives to be the underdog.
 
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caw said:
according to this some little known guy named Vince Carter.

sportschew.com

16 Of The Greatest AAU Teams Ever Assembled

1. New Jersey Patterson – 1994 NBA Players: Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Rip Hamilton, Tim Thomas Along with future international journeyman Kevin Freeman, the talent that was packed into this particular Patterson squad is unmatched, especially when you consider how they have performed in the NBA...
sportschew.com
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Dear God!
 
Watchdog said:
Someone who knew him well told me that's what he was thinking when he went to UConn. If you spoke with him about his goals in life maybe you can share his thoughts with us.
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He never played shooting guard and was never recruited to play shooting guard here.
 
mauconnfan said:
Disagree back. Is it fair to say to this team “hey we won a NC last year doubt we will do it with this team so we’re going to put this guy ahead of this team”???? Kidding right :rolleyes: that might be a job for a college educator but not for a coach like JC who lives to be the underdog.
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I don't see how it can be said that Calhoun was necessarily putting Freeman over the team. The team only lost 8 regular season games and it's already been established that Freeman was not the reason UConn did not see the 2nd weekend, so the two seem fairly mutually exclusive.
 
Husky25 said:
I don't see how it can be said that Calhoun was necessarily putting Freeman over the team. The team only lost 8 regular season games and it's already been established that Freeman was not the reason UConn did not see the 2nd weekend, so the two seem fairly mutually exclusive.
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Don't confuse results with correct decision making (outcome bias). Part of a coaches job is putting guys in positions to succeed to best help the team by maximizing by their skill set. Freeman's skill set was not maximized by the way JC was using him. Therefore his impact on the team was less than it could have been.
 
intlzncster said:
Don't confuse results with correct decision making (outcome bias). Part of a coaches job is putting guys in positions to succeed to best help the team by maximizing by their skill set. Freeman's skill set was not maximized by the way JC was using him. Therefore his impact on the team was less than it could have been.
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They don't keep practice stats. I have no idea if Freeman hit his 10-15 footer more consistently than in the game, but if a coach can help expand a player's skill set, while still attaining the desired result (win), it is a no-lose proposition. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Surprisingly, Calhoun got inducted inducted into the Hall of Fame and won an additional national title, with little to no input from the peanut gallery.

I have no problem, particularly 20 years on, with him pushing the envelope on occasion with an individual player. Coaches who hold attempt to hold their players back may also be named Coach Jim, but their last name is spelled B-o-e-h-e-i-m.
 
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On UConn's 1999 championship team Freeman played the 4. The following year he was moved to the 3. But KFree didn't have the outside shoot to play the college three and was much less effective as teams could sag off him. I don't think he ever played the 2.

IMHO, his move to the 3 by Calhoun was to showcase him to the NBA as he would have gotten killed at the 4 in the NBA. Alas he was a 3/4 teener. Great college player. High end athlete. Incredible motor, Exceptional rebounder. Great teammate.
 
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