This season can't start soon enough

[Dogbreath2U]

To me, it's as much about likeability as about success ... and 'likeability' is a very elusive term to try to quantify. I just feel like, for whatever reason, the 3 NC teams were more fun to root for than the '09 team, even though all 4 obviously made it to the FF.

In '99, the team was #1 or #2 all year, yet we'd never made it to the final four, so there was still kind of an underdog mentality, and the NC was still considered a surprise, especially because Dook was so stacked that year.

'04 was the only year I can remember where UConn was the "we're the best team, and we know we're the best team, so deal with it" favorites. But even with that, they were still a likeable group of kids.

This year's team, obviously caught lightning in a bottle, and came out of nowhere. And, of the 4 teams, to me this was the best group of kids.

For some reason that I still can't put my finger on, the '09 team, even though very successful, was just harder to root for. I don't know if there were chemistry issues or not, but it didn't seem like that team had as much fun playing as the NC teams, and I never was able to feel the same satisfaction with their success as I did with the others. And it's not because they lost in the FF. I honestly feel like if '09 had won a NC, and this year's team had lost in the semi's, I still would have liked this year's team better.

I also feel like the 3 NC teams each played a more 'artistic' style than the '09 team. Don't know if that contributes to the likeability, or results from the likeability.

The 2009 team had some significant weak spots that would show up and create some significant feelings of vulnerability for that team. The loss of Jerome was very big, but even with him we would go from being very good to so so on defense whenever Hasheem went to the bench. Our offense would go into stagnation very often when AJ went out of the game. Hash, Jeff, Stanley, and Gavin all had weak spots in their games that could be exploited and they had trouble handling the ball against pressure. Even inbound passing was an adventure. All things considered, that team did extremely well with the makeup of the team, especially with Jerome out. MSU took AJ out of the game and we never could recover.

 

[UofCT]

huskyhal really? You didn't root as hard for the 09 team as you did for the other final four teams? What kind of fan are you?

If we went to a few threads from that season I remember everyone rooting for them and rallying behind them. This team is special to me because 09 was my senior year and I watched the majority of their home games from the first few rows.

Hash was so much fun to root for. He got like 5 or 6 blocks a game, he was sick.
Jeff Adrien had a lot of intensity and energy and the crowd, especially the student section went nuts for
Sticks had a few huge blocks and alley oops here and there, same with Jerome
AJ had tons of swagger. He would hit big shots for us on the reg. He always showed up that season (except for the buffalo game).

That team was awesome, they worked their asses off and they made a final 4. They should be included in a lot more conversations on this board.

 

[UConnSwag11]

if it wasn't for stix coming back the second half of the yr i don't believe they make that final four run... oh and two weeks from this friday until first night! seeing those pictures from the photo shoot just makes the wait even harder

 

[intlzncster]

Actually, I wouldn't mind being National Champs for a summer again. Hell, this off season is one big Al Bundy hand in the pants, beer in the hand, satisfied sigh on the lips. Not too shabby.

 

[huskyhal]

huskyhal really? You didn't root as hard for the 09 team as you did for the other final four teams? What kind of fan are you?

If we went to a few threads from that season I remember everyone rooting for them and rallying behind them. This team is special to me because 09 was my senior year and I watched the majority of their home games from the first few rows.

Hash was so much fun to root for. He got like 5 or 6 blocks a game, he was sick.
Jeff Adrien had a lot of intensity and energy and the crowd, especially the student section went nuts for
Sticks had a few huge blocks and alley oops here and there, same with Jerome
AJ had tons of swagger. He would hit big shots for us on the reg. He always showed up that season (except for the buffalo game).

That team was awesome, they worked their asses off and they made a final 4. They should be included in a lot more conversations on this board.

I don't think I said that I didn't root as hard for the 09 team as for the others, I said that rooting for them was harder (as in more difficult). I've been a UConn fan since 1963, and I've rooted hard for every team since then. And when I say that '09 was harder to root for, it's very much relative to the other 3 FF teams ... I was thrilled with the FF appearance in '09. As you point out, there was a lot to enjoy in '09, just as there is a lot to enjoy about every Husky team. I just feel that, to me, as a group, the '09 team wasn't quite as compelling as the other 3 FF teams.

 

[UofCT]

okay i gotcha.. that team meant a lot to me personally.. knew a lot of them, friendly with some, lost my voice several times watching them.. devastated when they went down.