I think everybody forgets Jeremy Lamb averaged 16 pts and 5 boards on 58% shooting in the 2011 NCAA tournament.. Kemba was spectacular but it was hardly a one-man show. Lamb made some HUGE shots/plays during the NC run.
Sure gonna miss this kid...
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I think everybody forgets Jeremy Lamb averaged 16 pts and 5 boards on 58% shooting in the 2011 NCAA tournament.. Kemba was spectacular but it was hardly a one-man show. Lamb made some HUGE shots/plays during the NC run.
Horatio
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Fair points. It's hard to compare the 2011 team to the 2014 team. I'd say that Kemba had a better starting five but Shabazz had a far better bench with more options.
intlzncster
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And we can thank JC for that. Who else would have given the keys to the kingdom to a guy with just 2 years assistant coaching experience? Guy was just flat out good at what he did.
intlzncster
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That was a huge shift for him at the end of the year. Same as Boatright's tournament leap. I'm guessing these things aren't total accidents? Great coaching.
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Seriously, Boatright matured like a million % from beginning to end of season. He became the most selfless player on the team. Throughout his time here, he's been the guy that too often watching you say "oh no oh no what are you doing?!" sometimes that would be followed by a "okay... good shot" and the others it took for the next defensive play for him to make it up, gradually near the end of the season he just stopped making those bad decisions, stopped over dribbling, passed when he was supposed to. The kid played near perfect near the end of the season, I just feel so bad for him because its hard to shine when you've got a guy like Shabazz doing and saying everything just right.
We've been saying it all year, but I think now the world knows that this might be the best 1-2 punch in a backcourt in NCAA history... and certainly the best 'undersized' 1-2 guard punch ever. Give me Boatrights all lifetime long in recruiting, means we might have them for 3-4 years rather than the Cuse avg. of 1-2 years
intlzncster
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Although, UCONN has had some back courts that could rival them. El-amin and RIP (whenever he played the two). Ray Allen and Doron Scheffer. Man UCONN has had some teams.
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You're right about that, when RIP put the "clamps" on em, that backcourt became capable of the kind of D this one played. I know its bias due to it being fresh in the memory but there was something just magical about this squad. Never before has our defense been able to either "get lucky that X team played their 'worst' game of the season" on offense, or as we know it "completely disrupt the comfort that a talented, well coached, veteran-laden, or all three team had in its offense", and also be just complete pests to have to stay in front of when we have the ball.
Defense wins championships, but its never been more easily discernable than we made it this year. Does anyone else get the sense that this year our run could honestly change the way a lot of programs coach their teams, recruit for players, and spend time in practice in a major way?
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