The 93-94 Uconn team was loaded

[Scoe]

You had the 2 Marshalls, Ollie and Doron in the backcourt, Ray and Fair off the bench, and a constant rotation with the big guys in King, Hayward and Boo of the bench giving you 15 fouls each. I have never seen a coach rotate guys in and out like Calhoun, no one was better at that. I look at this years team, and that could potentially be like that 94 team with our depth. That team had 6 NBA players (Doron drafted but didnt play). When Brian Fair as a Jr is the 2nd guard off the bench that is just ridiculous.

 

[rip7774]

That was the year I became a Husky fan living in Pennsylvania in college!!!! I remember reading Street and Smiths and Sporting News and Ray was so much fun to watch and the style was great!

 

[superjohn]

You had the 2 Marshalls, Ollie and Doron in the backcourt, Ray and Fair off the bench, and a constant rotation with the big guys in King, Hayward and Boo of the bench giving you 15 fouls each. I have never seen a coach rotate guys in and out like Calhoun, no one was better at that. I look at this years team, and that could potentially be like that 94 team with our depth. That team had 6 NBA players (Doron drafted but didnt play). When Brian Fair as a Jr is the 2nd guard off the bench that is just ridiculous.

That was a really fun team to watch and our best fast breaking team in my opinion but I count only 5 NBA players. I'll count Donnie because he got his cup of coffee in the league but you can't count Sheffer, he was a second round draft pick but never played a minute in the NBA.

 

[Scoe]

That was the year I became a Husky fan living in Pennsylvania in college!!!! I remember reading Street and Smiths and Sporting News and Ray was so much fun to watch and the style was great!

He looked NBA ready as a Freshmen, he had 20 points in his 2nd college game. I just watched that game where Uconn demolished (putting it nicely) a decent UVA team on the road.

 

[HistoryMajor]

At that time, I thought Donyell was the best ever UCONN basketball player. Then when Ray started playing, I said to myself "Holy Smokes" (or something like that), this freshman Ray Allen is better than Donyell! In those days, Ray's athleticism was off the charts, his shot was awesome and his court savvy was like an upper classman.

 

[sdhusky]

I just watched that game where Uconn demolished (putting it nicely) a decent UVA team on the road.

Demolished? that is way,way to nice....

 

[Scoe]

You had the 2 Marshalls, Ollie and Doron in the backcourt, Ray and Fair off the bench, and a constant rotation with the big guys in King, Hayward and Boo of the bench giving you 15 fouls each. I have never seen a coach rotate guys in and out like Calhoun, no one was better at that. I look at this years team, and that could potentially be like that 94 team with our depth. That team had 6 NBA players (Doron drafted but didnt play). When Brian Fair as a Jr is the 2nd guard off the bench that is just ridiculous.

I forgot all about Rudy Johnson holy dog that team was stacked.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

When the issue of whether Rip might have been a better or more clutch college player than Ray was mentioned recently, I compared the lineups of the Ray team that lost to UCLA ('94-95?) and the Rip championship team. Which star had a better team around him? Ray: KO, Sheffer, Knight, Donny M., Fair, Hayward, etc. vs. Rip: KEA, Ricky M., Kevin F., Jake V., Rashamel J., etc. I gave the nod by a hair to the '99 team. If you look at the team with Donyell, they might well have had the better team, although IIRC, Travis was a lot better as a senior.

Who had the better team behind him, Ray or Rip?

 

[joober jones]

Don't forget Marcus Thomas.

 

[David 76]

I think Rip had the better team

 

[joober jones]

In terms of individual talent, I don't think we ever had a team better than 2005-06. The pieces of the puzzle just didn't fit together quite right and it undid the team in the end. Even though we tend to think of 2006 as the year of George Mason, in terms of winning percentage it was one our best seasons ever with just 4 losses.

 

[Gringo]

When the issue of whether Rip might have been a better or more clutch college player than Ray was mentioned recently, I compared the lineups of the Ray team that lost to UCLA ('94-95?) and the Rip championship team. Which star had a better team around him? Ray: KO, Sheffer, Knight, Donny M., Fair, Hayward, etc. vs. Rip: KEA, Ricky M., Kevin F., Jake V., Rashamel J., etc. I gave the nod by a hair to the '99 team. If you look at the team with Donyell, they might well have had the better team, although IIRC, Travis was a lot better as a senior.

Who had the better team behind him, Ray or Rip?

If Tyus Edney misses the layup against Missouri this team would have brought home our first title.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The 94-95 team was a lot better than 93-94, mostly because Donny, Ollie, Ray and Travis made huge jumps in that year. That 94-95 team was better than our last two Championship teams, and only lost to UCLA by 6 despite UCLA playing a perfect game against UConn while UConn played its B or B+ game. Knight plays better defense and Calhoun rotates Ollie back on the break a little earlier in the game to cover Bailey's early releases, and UConn would have beat UCLA and won its first title that year.

 

[mauconnfan]

The 94-95 team was a lot better than 93-94, mostly because Donny, Ollie, Ray and Travis made huge jumps in that year. That 94-95 team was better than our last two Championship teams, and only lost to UCLA by 6 despite UCLA playing a perfect game against UConn while UConn played its B or B+ game. Knight plays better defense and Calhoun rotates Ollie back on the break a little earlier in the game to cover Bailey's early releases, and UConn would have beat UCLA and won its first title that year.

I agree they were better but can't be by a lot. The found a monster chemistry and their ability to get out and fly up and down the court was truly fun to watch. The way they dismantled really good Cincy and Maryland teams was a blast to watch. But when you take away 25/9/3 as in Donyell, you just can't be "a lot' better.

 

[Waquoit]

But when you take away 25/9/3 as in Donyell, you just can't be "a lot' better.

But they were. It was another example of the Ewing theory.

 

[mauconnfan]

But they were. It was another example of the Ewing theory.

Not in this case it's not. One FT from being a FF team and the other team is "a lot better"?

Ok

 

[Waquoit]

Not in this case it's not. One FT from being a FF team and the other team is "a lot better"?

Ok

One team lost in the Sweet Sixteen to a crap team that lost in the FF. The other team went toe-to-toe with the champs in the Elite 8. That's a lot better.

 

[mauconnfan]

One team lost in the Sweet Sixteen to a crap team that lost in the FF. The other team went toe-to-toe with the champs in the Elite 8. That's a lot better.

Ok Waq gotcha. People say we were a "crap team" a couple times we won it all too. Just sayin' - can't think losing a POY guy makes you a lot better ewing theory or not. Ridiculous.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

The loss to Florida in '94 was painful. Would have won it if Donyell has hit those free throws at the end. If UConn has won, I would be very confident that UConn would have beaten BC in the East Regional Championship. Duke's team was decent; but, not as good as some of their other teams and thus, I believe UConn could have taken them, too, especially as their best player, Hill, would be negated by Allen. Beating Arkansas in the final would have been tough as that team was fast and big. That loss in retrospect hurt more that the loss in '95 as I would have been on-campus for that win.

I somewhat blame Calhoun for losing to UCLA in the West Regional final to UCLA in 1995. That was the one team in the tournament that could outscore UConn and the Huskies tried to run with the Bruins and lost 102 to 96. A stronger focus on defense could made the difference. If UConn won that game, I think UConn would have beaten both OK St and Arkansas in the Final 4. Damn. Only positive about that loss was that I met a very nice UCLA co-ed on a train from Geneva to Munich and spent an enjoyable 3 days with her touring beer gardens.

 

[Waquoit]

Ok Waq gotcha. People say we were a "crap team" a couple times we won it all too. Just sayin' - can't think losing a POY guy makes you a lot better ewing theory or not. Ridiculous.

But it did! We were better the next year without Donyell.

 

[mauconnfan]

But it did! We were better the next year without Donyell.

Yeah doubt they would have been any good if he stayed

 

[mauconnfan]

The loss to Florida in '94 was painful. Would have won it if Donyell has hit those free throws at the end. If UConn has won, I would be very confident that UConn would have beaten BC in the East Regional Championship. Duke's team was decent; but, not as good as some of their other teams and thus, I believe UConn could have taken them, too, especially as their best player, Hill, would be negated by Allen. Beating Arkansas in the final would have been tough as that team was fast and big. That loss in retrospect hurt more that the loss in '95 as I would have been on-campus for that win.

I somewhat blame Calhoun for losing to UCLA in the West Regional final to UCLA in 1995. That was the one team in the tournament that could outscore UConn and the Huskies tried to run with the Bruins and lost 102 to 96. A stronger focus on defense could made the difference. If UConn won that game, I think UConn would have beaten both OK St and Arkansas in the Final 4. Damn. Only positive about that loss was that I met a very nice UCLA co-ed on a train from Geneva to Munich and spent an enjoyable 3 days with her touring beer gardens.

They did run with them though unfortunately Toby Bailey played out of his a**. Without the game that basically made him an "awful" high draft pick the Huskies would have beaten them. It was potentially the most fun UConn loss to watch if there is such a thing!

 

[Danzz]

Not in this case it's not. One FT from being a FF team and the other team is "a lot better"?

Ok

Somebody had to mention the foul shots against Florida; figured it would be you.

 

[mauconnfan]

Somebody had to mention the foul shots against Florida; figured it would be you.

Always there to help Danzz

 

[UConn9604]

The 94-95 team was a lot better than 93-94, mostly because Donny, Ollie, Ray and Travis made huge jumps in that year. That 94-95 team was better than our last two Championship teams, and only lost to UCLA by 6 despite UCLA playing a perfect game against UConn while UConn played its B or B+ game. Knight plays better defense and Calhoun rotates Ollie back on the break a little earlier in the game to cover Bailey's early releases, and UConn would have beat UCLA and won its first title that year.

Even before the seeding, I remember Calhoun saying that he felt UCLA was the only team that could stop us. This is after we had just gotten handled by Villanova in the Big East Final, too.

I recognize this isn't a popular position, but I'm not sure that 1996 Ray was better than 1994 Donyell. It's a tough argument in hindsight because of what happened to their careers in the NBA, but in 1994, Donyell averaged 25.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.7 apg and over 3 blocks per game. He shot 51% from the field, 31% from three, and 75% from the line (I know, I know, Florida). He also destroyed the school record in blocks and was the first player since Patrick Ewing to win Big East POY and Defensive POY in the same year.

In 1996, Ray averaged 23.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.3 apg and half a block. He shot 47.2% from the field AND 46.6% from three (you read that correctly), and 81.0% from the line.

Both players ended their careers in the Sweet 16, obviously. Donyell was the no. 4 pick, Ray was the no. 5, but was immediately traded straight-up for the no. 4 pick.

It's certainly an interesting discussion, even though public opinion weighs very heavily in favor of Ray. Also, having had both Donyell and Ray on the same team as junior/freshman in 1993-94 is a lot like having Donald Brown and Jordan Todman on the same team in 2008; a weirdly coincidental collection of All American talent.