Time to move past the APR. Things are still good!

[huskiesnyc]

I'm looking forward to seeing our guys play with pride and a real chip on the shoulder next year. Our backcourt is absolutely stacked with Bazz, Boat and Omar comin. The "mass exodus doomsday" talk is just media BS. Lamb and AD were both LOTTERY PICKS, so we really only lost Roscoe and AO because of the retro APR crap. I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and the incoming and returning players for their loyalty. It shows a lot about JC and Kevin O. We have a lot of young talent and high character kids in the program, with a $30+ million practice facility on the way. Everything will be fine people, and yes you will see another National Championship in Storrs, CT!

 

[Waquoit]

If by good you mean a meaningless, wasted year I agree with you.

 

[GemParty]

I agree with BOTH above ^^^^^ Posters.

 

[Robertelamin]

If by good you mean a meaningless, wasted year I agree with you.

Some good will come out of this year. My season tickets should be much closer to the court.

 

[UCONNfan1]

Another good thing - with low expectations, the ulcer quotient should be substantially less next year.

 

[Fishy]

Great Moments in Optimism!

"Everything will be fine people, and yes you will see another National Championship in Storrs, CT!" - huskynyc

"Ice berg? You call that an ice berg?! You candy ass, that's an ice cube! Floor it, Nancy!" -- Capt. Edward Smith


I'm not sure where I stand on all this. I'm not in the 'all is well' camp yet.

I'm not in the 'pass out the cyanide capsules' camp, either, but I at least want to know where the capsules are stored...just in case.

 

[orangehomer]

I'm looking forward to seeing our guys play with pride and a real chip on the shoulder next year. Our backcourt is absolutely stacked with Bazz, Boat and Omar comin. The "mass exodus doomsday" talk is just media BS. Lamb and AD were both LOTTERY PICKS, so we really only lost Roscoe and AO because of the retro APR crap. I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and the incoming and returning players for their loyalty. It shows a lot about JC and Kevin O. We have a lot of young talent and high character kids in the program, with a $30+ million practice facility on the way. Everything will be fine people, and yes you will see another National Championship in Storrs, CT!

i hate to start this argument too early but, why in your mind is napier, boatright and a freshman an elite backcourt? i'd like to hear a rational explanation why that is a better backcourt than triche, carter-williams and cooney.

 

[NEforceUConn]

I'm not sure where I stand on all this. I'm not in the 'all is well' camp yet.

I'm not in the 'pass out the cyanide capsules' camp, either, but I at least want to know where the capsules are stored...just in case.

You are seriously a fringin ! Maybe you should change your name to Pussyfish.

UConn athletics is fine and will be fine, and I'm a frigin Bantam that has taken my Huskies as my team! We will have ups and downs, and yes the conference thing has been dodgy of late, no fault of our own. . But can you name a university north of (yes) North Carolina who has achieved better college athletic results over the last ten years compared to UConn? It may take some time, but I guarantee ten years from now UConn will be compared with UNC, ND, UVA, and maybe even Michigan in terms of athletic excellence!

All I ask for is a Rent with a 50k/60k seating capacity which rocks the house in FB. Mind you if things progress as they have been, at some point within 5 years the CT population will realize a day at the Rent will mirror a WVU or VT afternoon. Mark my words, it will happen.

 

[champs99and04]

i hate to start this argument too early but, why in your mind is napier, boatright and a freshman an elite backcourt? i'd like to hear a rational explanation why that is a better backcourt than triche, carter-williams and cooney.

Napier and Boatright combined for 23 points and 10 assists last season, Triche and Carter-Williams combined for 11 points, 5 assists. I realize Carter-Williams and Triche played less minutes because Syracuse was much better than UConn last year, but Napier and Boatright are more proven at the Big East level than Carter-Williams. Also, Napier and Boatright are under-classmen, and would figure to have more room to grow than Triche, a junior. R.J. Evans, a four year man out of Holy Cross, will also be joining us. He's averaged 13 points per game over the course of his career. As for Cooney, he was ranked 65th per ESPN, whereas Calhoun was ranked 32nd. I would assume the difference between 32 and 65 is marginal, but I'd wager on Calhoun having a bigger impact next season.

Syracuse will have good backcourt next year, don't get me wrong. I just think UConn's backcourt is a little bit more battle tested, given Napier has won a National Championship and Boatright has a full year under his belt playing 25+ minutes per game. The big advantage Cuse will obviously have over us will be up front. Rebounding is going to be a struggle.

 

[diggerfoot]

If by good you mean a meaningless, wasted year I agree with you.

We won't see tournament action this year. The same could be said for the majority of college teams, at least for the NCAA tournament. The same could be said for UConn at times in the past, over the course of the 50 years I've been following them. I enjoyed following them, anyways.

As much as I loved the change in our fortunes and all the success when Calhoun arrived, the unfortunate side is it brings out attitudes such as you expressed here. Unbridled, elitist style indulgence and entitlement, of which there is much through our society.

 

[auggie22]

Napier and Boatright combined for 23 points and 10 assists last season, Triche and Carter-Williams combined for 11 points, 5 assists. I realize Carter-Williams and Triche played less minutes because Syracuse was much better than UConn last year, but Napier and Boatright are more proven at the Big East level than Carter-Williams. Also, Napier and Boatright are under-classmen, and would figure to have more room to grow than Triche, a junior. R.J. Evans, a four year man out of Holy Cross, will also be joining us. He's averaged 13 points per game over the course of his career. As for Cooney, he was ranked 65th per ESPN, whereas Calhoun was ranked 32nd. I would assume the difference between 32 and 65 is marginal, but I'd wager on Calhoun having a bigger impact next season.

Syracuse will have good backcourt next year, don't get me wrong. I just think UConn's backcourt is a little bit more battle tested, given Napier has won a National Championship and Boatright has a full year under his belt playing 25+ minutes per game. The big advantage Cuse will obviously have over us will be up front. Rebounding is going to be a struggle.

this, to me reads to be a rationale argument.

homer, since you you were so moved to post, the implication is you think the original statement to be absurd on its face. care to retort?

 

[hungry husky]

I'm liking this picture...

https://twitter.com/#!/PhilNolan_0/media/slideshow?url=http://instagr.am/p/NCPTZCKPUs/

 

[huskiesnyc]

I'm liking this picture...

https://twitter.com/#!/PhilNolan_0/media/slideshow?url=http://instagr.am/p/NCPTZCKPUs/

Phil Nolan is the man, and so is Omar! I love these guys

 

[CL82]

Great Moments in Optimism!

"Everything will be fine people, and yes you will see another National Championship in Storrs, CT!" - huskynyc

"Ice berg? You call that an ice berg?! You candy ass, that's an ice cube! Floor it, Nancy!" -- Capt. Edward Smith


I'm not sure where I stand on all this. I'm not in the 'all is well' camp yet.

I'm not in the 'pass out the cyanide capsules' camp, either, but I at least want to know where the capsules are stored...just in case.

So you are backing off the let's redshirt everyone and start walk ons?

Look not being able to play for the post season sucks but I like the fact that the guys who are here want to be here. I like that we are going to have the biggest us against the world ever year. I'm hopeful that will really set the table for a great 2013-2014 season but that's a long way away.

It is what it is and nothing really changes until March. I'm going to try not to worry about it until then.

 

[CL82]

Damn those are some skinny legs!

 

[Fishy]

So you are backing off the let's redshirt everyone and start walk ons?

Look not being able to play for the post season sucks but I like the fact that the guys who are here want to be here. I like that we are going to have the biggest us against the world ever year. I'm hopeful that will really set the table for a great 2013-2014 season but that's a long way away.

It is what it is and nothing really changes until March. I'm going to try not to worry about it until then.

I don't care about this year at all - it's meaningless on a lot of levels. Redshirt everyone, rotate 15 walk-ons into the games before the first television timeout, press at all costs, pretend the shot clock is four seconds...break some records for shots attempted, fouls given, most players used in a single game, stage flash mob performances before inbounding the ball. Get creative, play jazz out there. Introduce a new Nike Platinum Elite uniform that utilizes a cape. Whatever.

Longer term...there are seriously dark clouds out there that have to be dealt with. A bunch of nitwits waving pom poms on the internet won't make those go away, unfortunately.

 

[SJ]

I like the cape idea. Hmmm.

 

[champs99and04]

So you are backing off the let's redshirt everyone and start walk ons?

Look not being able to play for the post season sucks but I like the fact that the guys who are here want to be here. I like that we are going to have the biggest us against the world ever year. I'm hopeful that will really set the table for a great 2013-2014 season but that's a long way away.

It is what it is and nothing really changes until March. I'm going to try not to worry about it until then.

I think you hit on an important point there in your second paragraph. I believe this team has a built-in chemistry advantage over the majority of the teams in the country, simply because of the media's year long desire to write off the program, and because of Roscoe Smith and Alex Oriakhi bailing on their teammates for greener grass. There is no shortage of confidence and pride in this lockerroom with Boatright and Napier driving the bus. I haven't seen much of Omar Calhoun but he also seems like the type of kid JC loves. I don't think there is anything that bonds a team quite like backlash from exterior forces, and these guys have had to deal with a lot of that over the past twelve months. I can't say this team is the most talented in the country, but we can say that they know what it takes to win. Some of these kids are national champs and have been through the ultimate highs and lows of high stakes college basketball. The Nancy's on here that don't like the fact that our season won't be verified by the jackasses on the selection committee can step out of the door now, and the rest of us will watch and see if JC has one more vicious upper-cut left in him.

 

[diggerfoot]

I don't care about this year at all - it's meaningless on a lot of levels. Redshirt everyone, rotate 15 walk-ons into the games before the first television timeout, press at all costs, pretend the shot clock is four seconds...break some records for shots attempted, fouls given, most players used in a single game, stage flash mob performances before inbounding the ball. Get creative, play jazz out there. Introduce a new Nike Platinum Elite uniform that utilizes a cape. Whatever.

Longer term...there are seriously dark clouds out there that have to be dealt with. A bunch of nitwits waving pom poms on the internet won't make those go away, unfortunately.

Sometimes it appears to me like you have intimate knowledge of the goings-ons that others don't have, but I'd like to know your perspective. Up to 2004 we played tremendous basketball with no "dark clouds" of any nature. Since 2004 there have been some "dark clouds" by my definition even as we were winning. To me it seems like the presence of what I considered dark clouds are now diminishing. There's also a chance that we will never be quite as good as in the height of the Calhoun era, but without some of the bull***t that went on in the latter stages. If by dark clouds you mean our performance you could be right. If by dark clouds you mean bull***t, what types of bull***t do you think still looms on the horizon?

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Longer term...there are seriously dark clouds out there that have to be dealt with. A bunch of nitwits waving pom poms on the internet won't make those go away, unfortunately.

But are those dark clouds really something that a nice 2013 recruiting class couldn't fix?

 

[Waquoit]

We won't see tournament action this year. The same could be said for the majority of college teams, at least for the NCAA tournament. The same could be said for UConn at times in the past, over the course of the 50 years I've been following them. I enjoyed following them, anyways.

As much as I loved the change in our fortunes and all the success when Calhoun arrived, the unfortunate side is it brings out attitudes such as you expressed here. Unbridled, elitist style indulgence and entitlement, of which there is much through our society.

You are so busy patting yourself on the back for thinking you lack "unbridled, elitist style indulgence and entitlement" you miss the point.

Of course, "the same could be said for the majority of college teams, at least for the NCAA tournament." The difference is that we have no hope. Even a fan of the worst team has some hope. They are thinking just maybe the guys can put it together and surprise some people this season. Maybe we can get hot in the conference tournament. I know because that's the way I felt before we got good. And when a nice season came around like 78-79 I had a blast. For other fans, until the last game of the year, they have a chance. We have no chance. It's a wasted year to be a fan. There is no other side of the rainbow and that's a fact, not a sense of entitlement.

 

[champs99and04]

You are so busy patting yourself on the back for thinking you lack "unbridled, elitist style indulgence and entitlement" you miss the point.

Of course, "the same could be said for the majority of college teams, at least for the NCAA tournament." The difference is that we have no hope. Even a fan of the worst team has some hope. They are thinking just maybe the guys can put it together and surprise some people this season. Maybe we can get hot in the conference tournament. I know because that's the way I felt before we got good. And when a nice season came around like 78-79 I had a blast. For other fans, until the last game of the year, they have a chance. We have no chance. It's a wasted year to be a fan. There is no other side of the rainbow and that's a fact, not a sense of entitlement.

To each his own. We may not watch each game with the understanding that there is a larger goal to be accomplished, but to me, each individual game is its own two hour unscripted television show of entertainment. Are you telling me you're not going to watch the games next year, and draw entertainment from them? Because I can point to a lot of seasons where UConn didn't have a good year, but yet I had a lot of fun watching certain games, even the ones they lost. So although it sucks that we won't be playing in the tournament next year, the satisfaction and adrenaline rush I get from beating good teams will remain the same.

 

[Waquoit]

Are you telling me you're not going to watch the games next year, and draw entertainment from them?

I go to all the games including the exhibitions. The difference this year instead of 2 exhibitions there will be 18 or so. And that sucks. But yeah, I will enjoy myself especially the close games.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Obviously it's going to suck knowing that there's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow this year, but I still see myself being very invested in this season. The biggest reason is the fact that RJ Evans is the only senior on the roster. Everyone else has a chance to help future teams succeed in the postseason and there are lots of things I'm looking forward to seeing.

How does Daniels develop? Is Omar Calhoun the real deal? Are Tolksdorf and Nolan guys that will help us down the line? These are questions that will have a pretty big effect on our future and this season, at the very least, will give us a better idea of the answers.

Plus, the general perception of the future of this program is still up in the air. On that front, I think there's a big difference between a 15 win season where nothing goes right and an 18+ win season where our young guys show some real promise. There will be a handful of close games this year that will decide which bucket we fall into and I'll be rooting hard in those games.

 

[diggerfoot]

You are so busy patting yourself on the back for thinking you lack "unbridled, elitist style indulgence and entitlement" you miss the point.

Of course, "the same could be said for the majority of college teams, at least for the NCAA tournament." The difference is that we have no hope. Even a fan of the worst team has some hope. They are thinking just maybe the guys can put it together and surprise some people this season. Maybe we can get hot in the conference tournament. I know because that's the way I felt before we got good. And when a nice season came around like 78-79 I had a blast. For other fans, until the last game of the year, they have a chance. We have no chance. It's a wasted year to be a fan. There is no other side of the rainbow and that's a fact, not a sense of entitlement.

The fans of the worst teams do not have even theoretical hope, but that's besides the point. The fans of teams with only theoretical but impractical hope would be too often miserable if that was the reason they were fans.

Life is ultimately about the journeys, not the destinations, at least if we are to maximize our enjoyment of life. There could be enjoyment embedded in this year's journey if we are open to the possibility, even if the destinations of tournament play are unattainable. You even agree with that in one of your posts, though you contradict it in all the others.

Because of that I agree with you completely that I've missed your point. You concede in one post that you will enjoy some games, while reinforcing your claim in all the others that the season will be a waste. I miss the point of how a season with even a little bit of enjoyment can be a waste, unless the expectation is for near constant enjoyment or reaching a specific destination. However, you can save yourself the trouble of clarifying further; I've learned enough of your position to know I have no interest in understanding your point better.