Top 50 Uconn players - The dumbest thing you'll read all day via theuconnblog

[Lefty2one]

He's not being that over-dramatic.

We just came off the most disappointing season of the JC era, we lost a ton of production, Kemba was thought of as a work-in-progress still, our previous three recruiting classes had been largely disappointing and we were loaded with underclassmen. We were picked to finish 10th in the Big East in the preseason poll. Not to mention the questions about JC's future, his contract saga and the Miles mess.

There's no question IMO that one year ago today was a very unnerving time to be a UConn fan. I had a discussion with a few friends and we basically reminisced about the JC era, assumed it was all but over and hoped for a best case scenario of Kemba developing into a nice player and making one last run with him as a senior and Drummond as a freshman. I remember turning off my TV after the season opener and thinking to myself, "this going to be the first time in 20 some odd years we'll be going to back-to-back NITs".

 

[NightDog]

Bleacher Report=Swagger, and nothing else.

 

[Prezidint]

I look at it this way - and reasonable people can disagree.

Take Ray off the team. Take Mek off the team. Take KEA off the team.

How do they do?

If you take Kemba off the 11 team . . . and I'm trying not to exaggerate here, they don't make the NIT and they may not win a Big East game.

Put him on and they win the NC.

No other player comes remotely close to being that important.

That's greatness.

Ergo - he gets the 1 spot from me, and the 2nd guy is a distant second guy.

 

[61cygni]

C'mon, we still beat DePaul without Kemba.

 

[lavuuk153]

I look at it this way - and reasonable people can disagree.

Take Ray off the team. Take Mek off the team. Take KEA off the team.

How do they do?

If you take Kemba off the 11 team . . . and I'm trying not to exaggerate here, they don't make the NIT and they may not win a Big East game.

Put him on and they win the NC.

No other player comes remotely close to being that important.

That's greatness.

Ergo - he gets the 1 spot from me, and the 2nd guy is a distant second guy.

When you say off the team, do you mean their respective teams? Best is different than most valuable. Allen, Hamilton, Okafor, etc (feels nice to have this many awesome players) would all have been the guy on last year's team and would have carried them farther than any average replacement. Last year's team was the perfect storm of young players buying into the system and playing tough defense combined with a lack of great or even really good teams. Does anyone really think last year's team beats either Duke team from 99 or 04 more than twice out of 10 times? If last year's team had North Carolina on their jersey would Walker be better than Jordan?

The best player to ever play at Uconn is the only sure fire Hall of Famer the school has produced, Ray "Jesus" Allen.

 

[61cygni]

If your criteria includes the post-UConn career.

 

[HuskyHawk]

When you say off the team, do you mean their respective teams? Best is different than most valuable. Allen, Hamilton, Okafor, etc (feels nice to have this many awesome players) would all have been the guy on last year's team and would have carried them farther than any average replacement. Last year's team was the perfect storm of young players buying into the system and playing tough defense combined with a lack of great or even really good teams. Does anyone really think last year's team beats either Duke team from 99 or 04 more than twice out of 10 times? If last year's team had North Carolina on their jersey would Walker be better than Jordan?

The best player to ever play at Uconn is the only sure fire Hall of Famer the school has produced, Ray "Jesus" Allen.

Even just looking at the UConn careers, Kemba isn't best. MVP of a single season sure. But AJ was ahead of him his sophomore year and he only played a little as a freshman.

The program was certainly not in trouble. And if the prior year was poor, and they missed the tournament, why isn't that on Kemba in part? You look at the whole body of work. He's not close to #1 by that criteria.

 

[Deadrody]

not sure if this was posted yet as I couldn't find it.

It takes something spectacular to get me to link to Bleacher Report, but they've really outdone themselves today, so here you go: A list of UConn's 50 best basketball players that is as hilarious as it is wrong. It is impossibly stupid, don't read it unless you want to get angry.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/908054-uconn-the-top-50-players-in-school-history

And the best part ? You only have to start at #50 to find something ridiculously stupid - Andre Drummond.

It is beyond debate that when all is said and done, Drummond is very likely to be much farther up the list, but as of today, having never even played an official game, he doesn't belong on the list AT ALL. Yikes

And then you only have to click once more to find something NEARLY as stupid - Jeremy Lamb #49. Really ? The clutch #2 scorer on an all-time underrated run to a national championship ? I'm going to go with a handful of other players on championship / final four teams - Rip, Emeka, Gordon, Price, and add in a few all time greats - Caron, Ray, Donyell, Cliff - to fill up the list of guys that clearly belong above Lamb. He's not done and already I'm going to slot him into #10-#20.

Travis Knight above Voskhul ? What ?
Marcus Williams above Rashad "The Dagger" Anderson ?
Doron Sheffer and Phil Gamble above Ricky Moore ?
Tony Hansen #10, Toby Kimball #7, Art Quimby #6 ?
Emeka at #2, but Gordon down at #11 ?

Ironically, Kemba gets #1 for the championship he delivered in 2011. And yet that kind of TEAM success is apparently ignored on much of the rest of the list. If that kind of success counts, there is nobody pre-Calhoun making the top 10, at least.

Also, it seems to me that the author of the list went out of their way to include pre-Calhoun players just for the sake of it. There are at least 4 or 5 guys on the list I've never even heard of. Balasuknia, Kimball, Quimby, Coles, etc. Sure. They belong. Not sure who got left of the list in their favor, but I'd have to think about it...

Horrendous list

 

[Deadrody]

Ray Allen is number 1. Sorry.

Not a chance

 

[Deadrody]

Even just looking at the UConn careers, Kemba isn't best. MVP of a single season sure. But AJ was ahead of him his sophomore year and he only played a little as a freshman.

You see, this disqualifies you from even HAVING an opinion. When Kemba was a Sophomore, AJ Price was in the NBA. Please, buy a clue before chiming in again

 

[uconnfan68]

not sure if this was posted yet as I couldn't find it.

It takes something spectacular to get me to link to Bleacher Report, but they've really outdone themselves today, so here you go: A list of UConn's 50 best basketball players that is as hilarious as it is wrong. It is impossibly stupid, don't read it unless you want to get angry.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/908054-uconn-the-top-50-players-in-school-history

Nice list. Happy to see they recognized some older guys. Won't even start about the order. We could all argue that all day.

 

[HuskyFan32]

Could you be anymore dramatic?

"Inches from death".... or as it's known in the state of Connecticut, 1 season removed from the Final 4.

That was the point. I was going for over the top dramatic.

 

[HuskyFan32]

Not a chance

Well saying Ray "doesnt have a chance" disqualifies you from having an opinion. Ray may not be #1, but he def "has a chance".

 

[HuskyFan32]

Could you be anymore dramatic?

"Inches from death".... or as it's known in the state of Connecticut, 1 season removed from the Final 4.

And thanks Lefty. It was meant to be dramatic, but looking back its really not. We may have been one year removed from the Final Four, but we brought in an unhearalded recruiting class. We lost scholarships and were still facing potential APR violations. Without Kemba, no Daniels for sure, and probably no Drummond. Lamb and Bazz dont develop like they did. The team most likely wouldnt get along and have the intagibles that it now does. The program had no energy at all. If Kemba just had a good season, we miss the tourney, hed go pro and wed be left with a less developed lineup of bazz, lamb, roscoe, olander, and Oriakhi with giffey and bradley as our subs and maybe boatright. That teams not making the tourney (only bec Lamb and Bazz wouldnt be nearly as good without kemba). We were pretty close to falling off the map and becoming Maryland and going 19-11 every year. Im not arguing that we would become Depaul. But to me, turning into what Maryland did the past 7 yrs is pretty much falling off cliff in my eyes

 

[Mr. Hand]

(only bec Lamb and Bazz wouldnt be nearly as good without kemba)

That point can be argued. Kemba was the best possible leader a coach could ask for, but look who his coach was. I wouldn't count out Calhoun finding a way to bring out the talent in those two somehow.

 

[cohenzone]

In general, this list is ok. Of course anyone can differ with the order, but except from a few guys who arguably could be on the list, nobody on the list is that much worse than anyone left off. The Drummond thing is a little silly, and it is quite possible that Daniels can jump many on this list, so if Drummond is to be there, so should Daniels. Other possibles not included are Jimmy Foster, Joey Whelton, oldtimers John Pipcynski and Len Carlson. I'm not sold on Travis being a top 50 in school history.

 

[Robertelamin]

You see, this disqualifies you from even HAVING an opinion. When Kemba was a Sophomore, AJ Price was in the NBA. Please, buy a clue before chiming in again

Do you have to be an condescending balloon knot every time you post? Can you be miserable somewhere else?

 

[HuskyHawk]

You see, this disqualifies you from even HAVING an opinion. When Kemba was a Sophomore, AJ Price was in the NBA. Please, buy a clue before chiming in again

Fair enough...huge gaffe on my part. Shouldn't post at 6:50 AM before morning caffeine. But that makes the point stronger. Kemba didn't assert himself to save that 09-10 season. Maybe the mistake prone Dyson and inconsistent SR doomed the team, maybe. But some said he gets #1 for somehow "saving the program" from the brink, when he was the starting PG on the team that somehow put us "on the brink" of doom.

He had one spectacular season. The best ever by a UConn player. But doing it over time is the hallmark of greatness. I'd say Donyell, Ray, Rip and Emeka all had a bigger impact on multiple successful seasons.

 

[Prezidint]

I suppose we'd have to define "great" first.
It could mean "most talented."
It could mean "best stats."
It could mean "most valuable to team."
It could mean "most successful."
and so on.
It comes down to something like this - on the greatness scale, are Marino and Montana even close? Depends on your definition. If you use 1 and 2. If you use 4, then Montana.

I'd define greatness as a complicated combination of value to value to team and success.

Talent is wonderful.
But winning is where it's at.

Create a scale. Add winning and value to team together. Kemba is highest. That's greatness to me. It's hard to be "great" when your team does poorly, especially in a 5 man game like basketball.

But I could certainly see why some would say Allen is the greatest UConn player. It's almost indisputable that he had more talent and better stats than Kemba.

 

[hooskies]

any way ya rank em....we've had some amazing players.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I suppose we'd have to define "great" first.
It could mean "most talented."
It could mean "best stats."
It could mean "most valuable to team."
It could mean "most successful."
and so on.
It comes down to something like this - on the greatness scale, are Marino and Montana even close? Depends on your definition. If you use 1 and 2. If you use 4, then Montana.

I'd define greatness as a complicated combination of value to value to team and success.

Talent is wonderful.
But winning is where it's at.

Create a scale. Add winning and value to team together. Kemba is highest. That's greatness to me. It's hard to be "great" when your team does poorly, especially in a 5 man game like basketball.

But I could certainly see why some would say Allen is the greatest UConn player. It's almost indisputable that he had more talent and better stats than Kemba.

I like all of this but the conclusion. "It's hard to be "great" when your team does poorly, especially in a 5 man game like basketball." So why did the 09-10 team do so poorly with Walker as starting PG? I think last year is still too fresh, and the shock of the NC from that unexpected team has not worn off. On the winning scale, I'd have to put Rip or KEA at the top of the list.

 

[Kitaman]

I look at it this way - and reasonable people can disagree.

Take Ray off the team. Take Mek off the team. Take KEA off the team.

How do they do?

If you take Kemba off the 11 team . . . and I'm trying not to exaggerate here, they don't make the NIT and they may not win a Big East game.

Put him on and they win the NC.

No other player comes remotely close to being that important.

That's greatness.

Ergo - he gets the 1 spot from me, and the 2nd guy is a distant second guy.

Not a reassuring post to read before the start of our season.................

 

[Prezidint]

Not a reassuring post to read before the start of our season.................

Very funny!
Well the math is simple

(UConn 2011) <=> (UConn 2011)-(Kemba,Jamal Coombs-McDaniel,Bev,Chuck)+(DD,AD,The Boat Show,Allen,Bradley)

Of course, the summer experience of the returnees should be factored in.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Ray Allen is number 1. Sorry.

Depends what you mean by "best." Most talented UConn play ever? Probably. But he didn't ever win a National Championship.

For me, I'd say Rip Hamilton. He won the elusive first, and he pretty much dragged that team on his back. Okafor had a much better supporting cast than Hamilton did. Plus, y'know... that game against Duke is still my all-time greatest sporting memory ever. Probably didn't hurt that I was on campus for the impromptu party/riot afterwards.

 

[HuskyFan32]

That point can be argued. Kemba was the best possible leader a coach could ask for, but look who his coach was. I wouldn't count out Calhoun finding a way to bring out the talent in those two somehow.

I 100% agree. I didnt argue that Lamb or bazz wouldnt turn out to be great players. Calhoun certainly wouldve developed them. Im just saying, their maturation wouldnt be as quick without Kemba and neither would be as good as they are today without him.

 

[Deadrody]

Do you have to be an condescending ******* every time you post? Can you be miserable somewhere else?

Bite me. You really need people chiming in on UConn history that don't even know who played on which team TWO YEARS AGO ? No, I don't abide stupidity

 

[Deadrody]

He had one spectacular season. The best ever by a UConn player. But doing it over time is the hallmark of greatness. I'd say Donyell, Ray, Rip and Emeka all had a bigger impact on multiple successful seasons.

One spectacular season ? He was a key contributor on a Final Four team, including a clutch performance in the final eight, without which they don't MAKE the Final Four. As a freshman. How many of the three you mention even made a SINGLE final four ? One. The other two made NONE. And Kemba carried his team of far less experienced players on his back not just TO the final four, but to the national championship. I'm not even sure "spectacular" does it justice.

Oh and while we're at it, lets also remember than Kemba Walker came as close to winning the player of the year award as Emeka or Ray. Frankly, all three of them were robbed.

Greatest ever. Hands down.

 

[Deadrody]

Well saying Ray "doesnt have a chance" disqualifies you from having an opinion. Ray may not be #1, but he def "has a chance".

Not compared to Kemba Walker he doesn't. Frankly, I think you are inserting far too much post-UConn Ray Allen lore here. When he left UConn in 1996 he was not reverred to any degree greater than Kemba Walker is now, and nothing he did at UConn comes close to what Kemba Walker did in 2010-11.

 

[HuskyFan32]

Not compared to Kemba Walker he doesn't. Frankly, I think you are inserting far too much post-UConn Ray Allen lore here. When he left UConn in 1996 he was not reverred to any degree greater than Kemba Walker is now, and nothing he did at UConn comes close to what Kemba Walker did in 2010-11.

Did you read my post? I actually agree that Kemba should be #1 since he saved our program from falling into mediocrity, but to say Ray doesnt have a chance is absurd. Overall, Ray had the better career, but Im giving Kemba the #1 spot based on his miraculous once in a lifetime season. But im pretty sure that its close and Kemba isnt head and shoulders above Ray Ray.

 

[Deadrody]

For comparison purposes - Here is the UConn 1000 point scorer's list and reference to their position on the list

1.) CHRIS SMITH, 2,145 pts. (#8 on the list -7)
2.) RICHARD HAMILTON, 2,036 pts. (#3 on the list -1)
3.) TONY HANSON, 1,990 pts. (#10 on the list -7)
4.) RAY ALLEN, 1,922 pts. (#4 on the list --)
5.) CORNY THOMPSON, 1,810 pts. (#13 on the list -8)
6.) BEN GORDON, 1,795 pts. (#11 on the list -5)
7.) KEMBA WALKER, 1,783 pts. (#1 on the list +6)
8.) WES BIALOSUKNIA, 1,673 pts. (#9 on the list -1)
9.) CLIFF ROBINSON, 1,664 pts. (#15 on the list -6)
10.) KHALID EL-AMIN, 1,650 pts. (#14 on the list -4)
11.) DONYELL MARSHALL, 1,648 pts. (#5 on the list +6)
12.) MIKE McKAY, 1,633 pts. (#21 on the list -9)
13.) JEROME DYSON, 1,630 pts. (#30 on the list -17!!!)
14.) JEFF ADRIEN, 1,603 pts. (#24 on the list -10)
15.) EARL KELLEY, 1,592 pts. (#18 on the list -3)
16.) SCOTT BURRELL, 1,562 pts. (#16 on the list --)
17.) KEVIN FREEMAN, 1,476 pts. (#20 on the list -3)
18.) RASHAD ANDERSON, 1,432 pts. (#33 on the list -15!!!)
19.) EMEKA OKAFOR, 1,426 pts.(#2 on the list +17)
20.) ART QUIMBY, 1,398 pts. (#6 on the list +14)
21.) PHIL GAMBLE, 1,371 pts. (#27 on the list -6)
22.) TOBY KIMBALL, 1,361 pts. (#7 on the list +15)
23.) AL WESTON, 1,342 pts. (Not in the top 50)
24.) JOEY WHELTON, 1,337 pts. (Not in the top 50)
25.) DORON SHEFFER, 1,329 pts. (#26 on the list -1)
26.) BOB STAAK, 1,288 pts. (Not in the top 50)
27.) A.J. PRICE, 1,284 pts. (#19 on the list +8)
28.) VINCENT YOKABASKAS, 1,275 pts. (#35 on the list -7)
29.) DENHAM BROWN, 1,267 pts. (#37 on the list -8)
30.) TATE GEORGE, 1,247 pts. (#34 on the list -4)
31.) STANLEY ROBINSON, 1,231 pts. (#38 on the list -7)
32.) BILL CORLEY, 1,219 pts. (#17 on the list +15)
33.) ALBERT MOURING, 1,214 pts. (Not in the top 50)
34.) DONNY MARSHALL, 1,197 pts. (Not in the top 50)
35.) TONY ROBERTSON, 1,160 pts. (Not in the top 50)
36.) ROD SELLERS, 1,143 pts. (Not in the top 50)
37.) CARON BUTLER, 1,136 pts. (#12 on the list +25)
38.) BRIAN FAIR, 1,130 pts. (Not in the top 50)
39.) BOB BOYD, 1,122 pts. (#36 on the list +3)
40.) JACK ROSE, 1,116 pts. (Not in the top 50)
41.) JIM ABROMAITIS, 1,084 pts. (#40 on the list -1)
42.) TALIEK BROWN, 1,039 pts. (#29 on the list +13)
43.) HASHEEM THABEET, 1,028 pts. (#23 on the list +20)
44.) CAL CHAPMAN, 1,023 pts. (Not in the top 50)
45.) TIM COLES, 1,016 pts. (#39 on the list -6)

OTHERS:
Rudy Gay (#22 on the list +28)
Walt Dropo (#25 on the list +25)
Ricky Moore (#28 on the list +22)
Kevin Ollie (#31 on the list +19)
Marcus Williams (#32 on the list +18)
Ron Hrubula -(#41 on the list +9)
Al Cooper - (#42 on the list +8)
Charlie Villanueva - (#43 on the list +7)
Josh Boone - (#44 on the list +6)
Travis Knight - (#45 on the list +5)
Jake Voskhul - (#46 on the list +4)
Alex Oriakhi - (#47 on the list +3)
Nadav Henefeld - (#48 on the list +2)
Jeremy Lamb - (#49 on the list +1)
Andre Drummond - zero games played

I'm going to re-order this list based on +/- and see if we can come up with an ranking adjustment for both rebounds and assists, as well as team success. Clearly those are the biggest modifiers. I'm also going to see if I can find a way to account for less than 4 seasons.

Based on this comparison, so far, the one that needs to come down the most is Rudy Gay. Great recruit. Not a "great Husky", per se. Should be on the list, but not #22. Am I seeing some Rudy Gay in Walt Dropo as well ? His profile talks about playing in MLB. So ?

The guy getting dropped the worst is Rashad Anderson. Granted, one dimensional player, but a prolific scorer and as clutch as clutch could be. Was a MAJOR factor in the 2004 championship with all the threes. MAJOR.

Big surprise, the guy getting the LEAST amount of love - Jerome Dyson. I wonder if people will ever forgive the kid for being the #13 scorer in school history.

Interesting list of guys left off the list entirely: Al Mouring, Donny Marshall, Tony Robertson, Rod Sellers, and Brian Fair. I think you have to find a place for Marshall and Sellers.