The 2010/11 Huskies

[60'sfan]

Our 2010/11 Huskies won the National Championship but were they really that good? They finished 9-9 in the conference but in the post-season they were unbeatable. Were they just a hot team at the right time? Did they have an easier path to the NC than our other teams? How would they fare against the 1999 and 2004 teams?

 

[Waquoit]

Our 2010/11 Huskies won the National Championship but were they really that good? They finished 9-9 in the conference but in the post-season they were unbeatable. Were they just a hot team at the right time? Did they have an easier path to the NC than our other teams? How would they fare against the 1999 and 2004 teams?

They would lose. The 2011 squad caught a lot of breaks but was able to take advantage of them. I think the overall talent level of all teams is not what it was just a few years ago.

 

[bazzdog]

Our 2010/11 Huskies won the National Championship but were they really that good? They finished 9-9 in the conference but in the post-season they were unbeatable. Were they just a hot team at the right time? Did they have an easier path to the NC than our other teams? How would they fare against the 1999 and 2004 teams?

Kemba Walker-all you need to know

 

[Tenspro2002]

I think we did get hot at the right time. If we had lost one of those close games in Maui, we never would have cracked the top 10. That said, by the end of the year we racked up a really impressive slate of wins.

The only "easy" game on our way to the championship was Butler. Let's not forget that in 1999 we got Gonzaga in the Elite 8, and in 2004 we didn't face a team seeded better than 6th until the Final Four.

 

[caw]

Our 2010/11 Huskies won the National Championship but were they really that good? They finished 9-9 in the conference but in the post-season they were unbeatable. Were they just a hot team at the right time? Did they have an easier path to the NC than our other teams? How would they fare against the 1999 and 2004 teams?

They were undefeated out of conference, not just in post-season.

How good was that team? Probably the weakest of UConn's 4 final four teams. I'm not sure they beat any of the other three even with Kemba playing his best.

The 2011 team was one of the better teams that year in the country. Top 16 team easily, very capable of winning against any other top team.

The 1999 team, when healthy was almost unbeatable. They really could have gone undefeated, or been a one loss team if they had stayed healthy and/or gotten a bit lucky against Miami. I would take Rip/KFree/Jake over the 2011 frontcourt all day. I think Ricky would do well enough against Kemba to really slow the 2011 team down. 1999 was also really deep with Jones/Saunders/Wane/Mouring all capable of giving solid minutes.

The 2004 team, when healthy, was probably the best team in the country or at least the most talented. 2011 has no answer for Okafor/Charlie/Boone/Hilton down low, I'm not sure I wouldn't put all four of those ahead of Oriakhi/Smith. They also have no answer for Anderson/Brown at the three spot. The backcourts are a tie at worse if not in favor of 2004.

The 2009 team was probably second best all year, when healthy, at worst top 4. Thabeet would abuse Oriakhi. Adrien would abuse everyone. Stanley would dunk all over Roscoe. AJ and Kemba would be entertaining but fairly even or maybe a slight advantage for Kemba. Dyson, if allowed, would be able to physically disrupt Lamb enough. Freshman Napier versus freshman Kemba off the bench probably favors Kemba. Gavin versus Olander/Okuandu has to go to Gavin. Austrie versus Beverly again goes to Austrie.

Take all of those teams healthy all year and 2011 ends up on the bottom and I love Kemba

 

[CTBasketball]

2004 would beat them by 10 points.

1999 would beat them by 10 points.

2004 would beat 1999 by 10 points.

Exactly 10 points. Each time. Consistency.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Obviously 2011 was the weakest championship team, but here's what a lot of people forget. On January 29th, we were 17-2 and ranked #7 in the country. We lost to Louisville in double OT that day (a game we should have won in regulation and should of won again in the first overtime) and that snowballed into a really tough stretch where we went 4-7 in the next 11 games (including Louisville) before the great postseason run.

Of course, everyone always says that if you take away that last 11 games, we were a just a mediocre 21-9 team that was nothing special. Well, if you take away the 11 games prior to that instead, we were 28-2 and unquestionably the best team in the country.

 

[ctchamps]

They were undefeated out of conference, not just in post-season.

How good was that team? Probably the weakest of UConn's 4 final four teams. I'm not sure they beat any of the other three even with Kemba playing his best.

The 2011 team was one of the better teams that year in the country. Top 16 team easily, very capable of winning against any other top team.

The 1999 team, when healthy was almost unbeatable. They really could have gone undefeated, or been a one loss team if they had stayed healthy and/or gotten a bit lucky against Miami. I would take Rip/KFree/Jake over the 2011 frontcourt all day. I think Ricky would do well enough against Kemba to really slow the 2011 team down. 1999 was also really deep with Jones/Saunders/Wane/Mouring all capable of giving solid minutes.

The 2004 team, when healthy, was probably the best team in the country or at least the most talented. 2011 has no answer for Okafor/Charlie/Boone/Hilton down low, I'm not sure I wouldn't put all four of those ahead of Oriakhi/Smith. They also have no answer for Anderson/Brown at the three spot. The backcourts are a tie at worse if not in favor of 2004.

The 2009 team was probably second best all year, when healthy, at worst top 4. Thabeet would abuse Oriakhi. Adrien would abuse everyone. Stanley would dunk all over Roscoe. AJ and Kemba would be entertaining but fairly even or maybe a slight advantage for Kemba. Dyson, if allowed, would be able to physically disrupt Lamb enough. Freshman Napier versus freshman Kemba off the bench probably favors Kemba. Gavin versus Olander/Okuandu has to go to Gavin. Austrie versus Beverly again goes to Austrie.

Take all of those teams healthy all year and 2011 ends up on the bottom and I love Kemba

Great post! In the interview with Joey D. JC discusses his past teams. He lauds the 1999 and 2004 teams. Of the teams that didn't win NC's he felt the 2009 team had the best chance to win the NC if Dyson didn't go down. He also felt the 95 team had a good shot.

 

[UConn5]

They would be crushed by the other title teams but college basketball has also changed a ton since the 1999 and 2004 teams played. Both the 99 and 04 teams were built over the course of 3 years with a great core group that slowly matured and that was sort of the norm in college basketball to an extent. In today's world with freshman coming in and then leaving after 1 season if they're excellent you don't get a lot of those teams anymore.

 

[huskyhal]

On paper, they would lose to all 3 other FF teams. But, the way that post-season unfolded, I'm not sure they would have lost to any of them. Once they ran the table in the BET, they were playing with house money ... there was absolutely no pressure on them, because we, as fans, and I suspect they as players, felt anything they did in the NCAA's was gravy. It was a classic example of a team on an incredible roll, and even the breaks falling into place for them seemed somehow to be pre-ordained. The '99 team had the pressure of finally making the FF, and I think part of their success was that, once they got there, the monkey was off their backs. The '04 and '09 teams had the burden of living up to expectations. '11 and, to an extent, '99 were able to play care-free basketball.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Obviously 2011 was the weakest championship team, but here's what a lot of people forget. On January 29th, we were 17-2 and ranked #7 in the country. We lost to Louisville in double OT that day (a game we should have won in regulation and should of won again in the first overtime) and that snowballed into a really tough stretch where we went 4-7 in the next 11 games (including Louisville) before the great postseason run.

Of course, everyone always says that if you take away that last 11 games, we were a just a mediocre 21-9 team that was nothing special. Well, if you take away the 11 games prior to that instead, we were 28-2 and unquestionably the best team in the country.

That's an interesting point, but taking the bait -- heading into the BET at 21-9, we were hoping for a win or two to build confidence into the Tournament likely as a #6-7 seed. You can't say anything even remotely similar about any of those other teams. They were top 5 wire to wire.

I would consider the 2011 bunch maybe the 8th best UConn team of all time, behind 1999, 2004, 2009, 1996, 1995, 2006, and 1990.

 

[RichZ]

If they played the games on paper, there are at least 5 or 6 UConn teams that beat the 10/11 team. But there's no way to calculate the Kemba with a green light in a single elimination factor.

 

[Gurleyman]

If they played the games on paper, there are at least 5 or 6 UConn teams that beat the 10/11 team. But there's no way to calculate the Kemba with a green light in a single elimination factor.

1999 had the ultimate Kemba antidote, though.

 

[rw005]

The number 11 is all you need to know about the season.

 

[CTBasketball]

I think that the 05-06' team would have beaten any UConn team. The 10-11' team would have beaten anyone if Kemba had gone nuts.

 

[nomar]

I think any of our title teams -- or our best non-title team, 1995 -- easily could have beaten any of the other teams in a tournament game.

But in a 7-game series, any of them probably would beat the 2011 team. And maybe a few other UConn teams would as well.

 

[Gurleyman]

I think that the 05-06' team would have beaten any UConn team. The 10-11' team would have beaten anyone if Kemba had gone nuts.

Disagree with 05-06, unless you can give them a healthy and unsuspended AJ Price.

 

[kemba]

Obviously 2011 was the weakest championship team, but here's what a lot of people forget. On January 29th, we were 17-2 and ranked #7 in the country. We lost to Louisville in double OT that day (a game we should have won in regulation and should of won again in the first overtime) and that snowballed into a really tough stretch where we went 4-7 in the next 11 games (including Louisville) before the great postseason run.

Of course, everyone always says that if you take away that last 11 games, we were a just a mediocre 21-9 team that was nothing special. Well, if you take away the 11 games prior to that instead, we were 28-2 and unquestionably the best team in the country.

I agree. We had impressive wins in Maui, in Texas, in Big East play. You can definitely argue that we finished the regular season in a slump more than just getting hot in the tourney. Yea, we played our best ball in the tournament but we played extremely well early in the year too.

I think the 99 team was by far the best championship team both in how they compare to the rest of the country that year. I think head to head 04 would beat 11 but it would be close and if they played a series 11 could take some games. And I think compared to the rest of the country they were pretty similar. Both were inconsistent during the regular season, 04 had a better record, but the Big East wasn't as deep then. Both played great ball during the tourney. You could make an argument for either.

 

[Scoe]

the 2011 team would not have beaten the 99 or 04 team but their tournament run will be most impressive. The 5 games in 5 days and of course the NCAA tournament run it will never happen again. We started that year 18-2 and then our young team hit a wall and those loses made us stronger, we destroyed Depaul, beat on overrated Gtown team once we beat Pitt the momentum just carried us.

1999

Anything less then a FF appearance would have been a failure. That team like one of the previous posters stated could have literally gone undefeated our only loses were to Miami and Syracuse (without Rip and Jake), not to mention we destroyed Stanford on the road without Rip. That was like an old school Uconn team just down to the bone toughness that would lay it all out on the line. They were so used to being in close games, when they played Duke in the second half I just felt comfortable watching them.

2004

Anything less then winning a national championship would have been a failure. That team was going to win a national championship no matter what, it wouldnt have mattered if Melo had returned for his Sophomore year. They handled the 03 Cuse team twice. I do believe the 04 team paced themselves throughout the year, Taliek was hurt early in the year, Emeka missed some games, and Charlie missed some games. That team would destroy teams and also come from behind to win so they could win in different ways. Without Emeka that would have been a top 15 team with him of course no one was stopping us. I think if Emeka doesnt get into foul trouble vs Duke we beat them by double digits ok maybe we beat them by 8 or so. When that team did lose some games early on in the season I was like ehh big deal wait till tournament time.

 

[Scoe]

What about the 2002 team it was kind of similar to the 2011 team, young its too bad we had to play a veteran Maryland team, we played against them better then any of the other teams that played them in the tourney. Caron's was sort of like Kemba's and we had Freshmen in Ben and Mek.

 

[CL82]

I think any of our title teams -- or our best non-title team, 1995 -- easily could have beaten any of the other teams in a tournament game.

But in a 7-game series, any of them probably would beat the 2011 team. And maybe a few other UConn teams would as well.

I think it is the exact opposite. Kemba and the kids were the masters of single game elimination. Probably the most amazing run of all time especially given the personel.

 

[Gurleyman]

Plus 1990 was a lot like 2011 as well - a young team coming out of nowhere, with the role of Kemba being played by a 2-2-1 fullcourt press (I've always said I wished you youngsters could go back and experience that season. Nothing like it. You know how people say UConn fans are spoiled and apathetic these days? Picture the exact opposite of that - picture thousands lining I-84 to wave to the team bus after a loss).

Pure talent-wise, 1994 was probably our best team - just a bit too young and lacking big-game experience, so they lost to a four-senior, one-junior Florida team they shouldn't have lost to. Ray came off the bench on that team. 1995 was just a little older and wiser, so they were more successful, but in terms of personnel, it was the same as 1994, minus a first-team All-American who dropped 26 a night.

 

[Husky25]

Our 2010/11 Huskies won the National Championship but were they really that good? They finished 9-9 in the conference but in the post-season they were unbeatable. Were they just a hot team at the right time? Did they have an easier path to the NC than our other teams? How would they fare against the 1999 and 2004 teams?

Simply put...they would have gotten crushed by the other 2 championship teams.

Ricky Moore would have neutralized Kemba. Freeman would shown Oriaki the front door to the school, and no one would have driven on Boone, Emeka, or Hilton. On the other side of the court, 3s be raining all night by the Rash's (Rashmel and Rashad), Rip, and Gordon. It's just that simple.

 

[Husky25]

I think it is the exact opposite. Kemba and the kids were the masters of single game elimination. Probably the most amazing run of all time especially given the personel.

No argument, it was a magical month (Don't forget that this team also won the Maui Classic and beating Kentucky in the process...again. The Huskies were 14-0 in Tournement play on 2010-11)....THey still would have gotten crushed.

 

[mauconnfan]

Amazing run by Kemba and the gang but that team was double digit losers to both national champ teams, the other FF team as well as 94 and 95 teams...........no matter we will never forget the amazing run by Kemba and the maturity before our eyes of Jeremy Lamb!!