Too High Expectations

[TheChamps990411]

I know this will not be popular but Rudy Gay. With the level of talent he had he shouldve been a one and done national player of the year once a generation type player. Maybe im wrong about what i saw but i really think he shouldve been an NBA superstar and he just never became anything near that. He had some good seasons but never even made an All Star team. Really believed he couldve been a lot more both in college and NBA.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Drummond was the top ranked player in his class before reclassifying. He performed well for a typical freshman, but he most certainly underperformed considering expectations and his ranking. Add in that the team as a whole underperformed significantly that season, and I think including him on this list is justified.

It’s not justified. How many freshmen average 12-7 in the Big East(back when the conference was the best)? His team under preforming has nothing to do with the conversation anyways. But even if it did, I’d place much more blame on Shabazz and Alex for mishandling the situation, than the freshmen. You’d swear he was Enoch the way some people talk about him.

 

[Improviser]

Scott Hazelton
Vance Jackson*
Rakim Lubin*
Kwinton Williams*

*Before I realized Kevin Ollie was longer good at his job.

I would omit Jackson. He had a decent shot and actually good footwork near the basket but rarely played there. He did better at his next stop as I remember, and would have helped us if he stayed.

The other three define pathetic.

 

[JayKoz]

I was at UConn 2004-05 though 2007-08, so in general, my expectations were super high all the time, especially since the team won the tournament my senior year of HS, going to every home game in the front row, feeling that energy....

That being said, I had very high expectations for Ed Nelson.

When you hear "ACC Rookie of the Year" you don't expect a guy to average less than ten minutes per game and, don't mean to be rude, someone who is more known today for his rap music than his work on the court.

That being said, I can't blame the guy for an underwhelming performance when he was fighting for playing time with the likes of Boone, Villanueva, Hilton, and my favorite player while at school: Jeff Adrien.

Looking at his per-40 stats, however, Nelson remained very consistent with his production, even with his lack of PT:

View attachment 89348

The guy drops an iconic rap song while at UConn and you do him dirty like this?

“Take a ride in my pick up truck, baby you ‘bout ta get stuuuuuuuuuccckkkk”

 

[Umami Zen]

Wiggins

 

[Hoopcrazee]

I know this will not be popular but Rudy Gay. With the level of talent he had he shouldve been a one and done national player of the year once a generation type player. Maybe im wrong about what i saw but i really think he shouldve been an NBA superstar and he just never became anything near that. He had some good seasons but never even made an All Star team. Really believed he couldve been a lot more both in college and NBA.

I was too intimidated to say Rudy Gay aswell....Definitely did not live up to hype..32% 3 pt shooter Soph year after 40% plus as frosh...did not help being on the 05-06 team that lost in SHOCKING and SICKENING fashion to George Mason

 

[TheHorde]

Brian Fair and Edmund Saunders

 

[Connecticut13]

I was too intimidated to say Rudy Gay aswell....Definitely did not live up to hype..32% 3 pt shooter Soph year after 40% plus as frosh...did not help being on the 05-06 team that lost in SHOCKING and SICKENING fashion to George Mason

Rudy Gay was a first-team All-American his sophomore year. Gotta think that’s enough to not be labeled a disappointment.

 

[Scottobot]

Drummond. Ajou Deng.

These 2 guys + Majok + Villanueva

Drummond and Villanueva were good players, but expectations were they would compete for player of year.

 

[zmart]

Brian Buckelew

 

[FreeKlaiber]

I always thought Calhoun held Brian Fair back...guy couldnt miss from corner, but i think his defense wasnt up to snuff or confidence was down, so ended up on pine too much i thought

I have a memory of Calhoun falling off bike (or sick or something?) in early 1990s and missing game, so Howie coached...he played Fair and he shot lights out, big game...anyone have memory of this?

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Adju Deng
Scott Hazelton
Marcus Cox

 

[Scoe]

It’s not justified. How many freshmen average 12-7 in the Big East(back when the conference was the best)? His team under preforming has nothing to do with the conversation anyways. But even if it did, I’d place much more blame on Shabazz and Alex for mishandling the situation, than the freshmen. You’d swear he was Enoch the way some people talk about him.

There was just so many moving parts and distractions that year. Calhoun was in his last year with NCAA coming down on him for the BS APR, not sure he was in the best of health either. Oriakhi was feuding with Calhoun and getting his father involved. Then you had the bogus Boatright suspension twice.

The freshman on the 2011 team weren’t ready to lead yet I think Shabazz was but replacing Kemba had to be a collective effort and sacrifice.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Rudy Johnson, great athleticism I thought he could be a 15 & 8 ish guy for huskies and loved him filling the lane on break. Lost time to health then never fully put it back together.

 

[KingAG]

Smoke and mirrors
Yeah the kid had the goods but way too much baggage and many knew about it but decided to turn a blind eye.
He let the team down in so many ways - the story will come out some day.
I feel sorry for the kid but he is his own worse enemy and shame on those who knew and didn't step in.

Until it “comes out” everything you just spouted is BS

 

[Chin Diesel]

Rudy Johnson, great athleticism I thought he could be a 15 & 8 ish guy for huskies and loved him filling the lane on break. Lost time to health then never fully put it back together.

Yeah, injuries robbed him. Really liked him as a recruit.

Put me in the Doug Wrenn and Toraino Walker column. Wish those guys would have taken advantage of the opportunity to use basketball to get them through college.

Toraino was Jeff Adrien 15 year before Jeff Adrien.

 

[lange10]

I thought Sam Cassell Jr. was going to be a stud after his performances in the two exhibitions to start the '14-15 season.

 

[Nick2005]

Not sure how to put this but what player did you have high expectations for but for whatever reason they did not reach 'your' expectation?


For me I would say Jalen Adams. In high school he was the shizzle (liked him over Briscoe), and he did had a good college career. I just felt he was AA material coming in.

Just Drummond, not even close.

 

[Shabizzness]

Yeah, injuries robbed him. Really liked him as a recruit.

Put me in the Doug Wrenn and Toraino Walker column. Wish those guys would have taken advantage of the opportunity to use basketball to get them through college.

Toraino was Jeff Adrien 15 year before Jeff Adrien.

Speaking of Doug Wrenn, I stumbled across his name recently checking out NBA combine measurements.

His wingspan was the longest in his class at 7’7.5”! Just insane. Longer wingspan than Hasheem Thabeet, Andre Drummond and Anthony Davis.

And he was a small forward. So much potential.

Draft Combine Anthrometric | Stats | NBA.com

 

[StllH8L8ner]

I was too intimidated to say Rudy Gay aswell....Definitely did not live up to hype..32% 3 pt shooter Soph year after 40% plus as frosh...did not help being on the 05-06 team that lost in SHOCKING and SICKENING fashion to George Mason

I considered him bc I felt like he played most of his sophomore season like he didn’t want to get hurt before entering the draft. He was good and maybe he just made it look easy….and 15ppg is nothing to scoff at. But coming into that year, all I’d read about was how he was head and shoulders above everyone on the US U21 team talent wise. So I had ultra high expectations for him that season. Be he was still really good.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Rudy Gay was a first-team All-American his sophomore year. Gotta think that’s enough to not be labeled a disappointment.

If Denham Brown hits the stepback 3 to beat George Mason, nobody even considers Rudy Gay.

 

[HooperScooper]

If Denham Brown hits the stepback 3 to beat George Mason, nobody even considers Rudy Gay.

You're probably right.

I find it amusing that 2 of the players mentioned in this thread (Rudy and Hasheem) were consensus 2nd team All Americans (both were 1st team on some of the All American teams). Tough crowd here.

 

[Waquoit]

If Denham Brown hits the stepback 3 to beat George Mason, nobody even considers Rudy Gay.

That shot wasn't going in, in a million years.

 

[slepers]

Why do we want to have a thread that “trashes” our players. Maybe too”low”expectations would serve us better.

 

[Captbluefin]

Andre Jackson’s NBA career

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I know this will not be popular but Rudy Gay. With the level of talent he had he shouldve been a one and done national player of the year once a generation type player. Maybe im wrong about what i saw but i really think he shouldve been an NBA superstar and he just never became anything near that. He had some good seasons but never even made an All Star team. Really believed he couldve been a lot more both in college and NBA.

I was going to say Rudy Gay as well. With his athleticism and size, he should have been able to dominate whoever was guarding but a lot of times he just settled on 3s instead of taking it to the rim. He was a great finisher on a breakaway dunk or what not but the guy never took over games. Have to give him kudos for the NBA career he's had.

A few more:

Marcus Johnson: a guy who seemed like another freak athlete who never really materialized.

Scottie Harrelton: guy was supposed to be a great 3 point shooter. He was off more than he was on.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

*Scottie Haralson

 

[Deleted at users request]

I was going to say Rudy Gay as well. With his athleticism and size, he should have been able to dominate whoever was guarding but a lot of times he just settled on 3s instead of taking it to the rim. He was a great finisher on a breakaway dunk or what not but the guy never took over games. Have to give him kudos for the NBA career he's had.

A few more:

Marcus Johnson: a guy who seemed like another freak athlete who never really materialized.

Scottie Harrelton: guy was supposed to be a great 3 point shooter. He was off more than he was on.

It’s funny with the game on the line all throughout the tournament Rudy never had the ball. It was Shad, Brown, or Marcus taking the shots with the game on the line.

It’s funny cause yeah, in the NBA Rudy was pretty good at hitting game winners.

I remember wondering why Marcus Johnson never made much of an impact too.

 

[mauconnfan]

Stanley Robinson
Curtis Kelly
Doug Wiggins

So much so that the cat we got in 2006 is named Stanley Curtis Wiggins - or Scwiggins for short. He's 17 now and still alive. Can't be said for all the guy mentioned above (RIP Stanley)

I'm ok with the last 2 but I have no idea how Stanley is on that list? He was a very good player who fought through some personal and academic issues and ended up improving throughout his career. Think his years, his teams sometimes seemed to frustrate us but he was hardly the main reason. One of my favorites ever, Stanley RIP!

 

[SaeHusky]

Michael Leblanc - but at least his unheralded high school teammate Jake Voskul way a key to helping us win our first title.