Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer of @UConnMBB are the only Division I teammate duo | The Boneyard

Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer of @UConnMBB are the only Division I teammate duo

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Maybe the Old Beezins can give context but is this what it was like with the Knicks with Frazier and Monroe?
 
Chin Diesel said:
Maybe the Old Beezins can give context but is this what it was like with the Knicks with Frazier and Monroe?
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It was different in that they never really liked each other and although they played together there were a lot of times that only one was on the floor. They made it work. Monroe was a way better offensive player but really not a maximum effort guy on defense. Frazier could do both but he was a way better defender. I think the lack of intensity on defense by the Pearl bothered Frazier. I may be biased as Clyde was the first athlete I idolized as a very young boy. Read his book and wash my face to this day the way he described in his book as the right way.
 
storrsroars said:
Cam has the numbers for certain and he's the perfect piece for his role on this team. But I'm not completely ready to pack away Nadav and store him in the attic.
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I expected the Henefeld comments. Spencer shoots 91% from the line. Henefeld shot 75%. The other shooting numbers have a similar disparity.
Henefeld NEVER had 9 assists in a game...in fact he never even came close. While Henefeld was great, Spencer is even better, and this team is far better than the "Dream Team" at 30-3 overall and 20-2 in the conference. Spencer is a huge part of something likely to be far more impressive than making the Elite 8.
 
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Secure Dog said:
It was different in that they never really liked each other and although they played together there were a lot of times that only one was on the floor. They made it work. Monroe was a way better offensive player but really not a maximum effort guy on defense. Frazier could do both but he was a way better defender. I think the lack of intensity on defense by the Pearl bothered Frazier. I may be biased as Clyde was the first athlete I idolized as a very young boy. Read his book and wash my face to this day the way he described in his book as the right way.
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This UConn team is very much constructed like that Knick team. They had several really cerebral players like Frazier, Bradley, DeBushere, Jackson that made offense look like it was choreographed. They had players at every position that were among the best in the league. And there was very little drop off if any when the second unit played. That is the last time I was a die hard Knick fan. I so much more prefer the college game.
 
Huskybass said:
I expected the Henefeld comments. Spencer shoots 91% from the line. Henefeld shot 75%. The other shooting numbers have a similar disparity.
Henefeld NEVER had 9 assists in a game...in fact he never even came close. While Henefeld was great, Spencer is even better, and this team is far better than the "Dream Team" at 30-3 overall and 20-2 in the conference. Spencer is a huge part of something likely to be far more impressive than making the Elite 8.
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Henefeld was clearly better defensively. He was 6'7 and had 137 steals in his one season with Uconn. I'd be happy with either on my team.
 
Cam’s ability to hold the dribble just a little bit longer and freeze the defense while he’s still scanning the floor for an open teammate is unreal. It looks like he’s in trouble sometimes but he’s totally in control, calm and knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s something that’s hard to master and I don’t think I’ve seen any other player as good at it, maybe Shabazz.

Once Cam reached 10 points I knew we weren’t losing.
 
UConnSwag11 said:
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I’ve never seen two more selfless talented players on a team together.

This quality doesn’t get nearly enough attention.

Frankly. I want championships but I don’t care when it’s all said and done. This is my favorite team since I started watching UConn.
 
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Huskybass said:
I expected the Henefeld comments. Spencer shoots 91% from the line. Henefeld shot 75%. The other shooting numbers have a similar disparity.
Henefeld NEVER had 9 assists in a game...in fact he never even came close. While Henefeld was great, Spencer is even better, and this team is far better than the "Dream Team" at 30-3 overall and 20-2 in the conference. Spencer is a huge part of something likely to be far more impressive than making the Elite 8.
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I admit I'm oversimplifying it, but sometimes a player's impact extends beyond the numbers. Henefeld was the spearhead of a very specially built team designed to panic you into strings of turnovers. It's arguable that style was only possible because of his unique combination of skills.
 
Huskybass said:
I expected the Henefeld comments. Spencer shoots 91% from the line. Henefeld shot 75%. The other shooting numbers have a similar disparity.
Henefeld NEVER had 9 assists in a game...in fact he never even came close. While Henefeld was great, Spencer is even better, and this team is far better than the "Dream Team" at 30-3 overall and 20-2 in the conference. Spencer is a huge part of something likely to be far more impressive than making the Elite 8.
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Uconn77Duke74 said:
Henefeld was clearly better defensively. He was 6'7 and had 137 steals in his one season with Uconn. I'd be happy with either on my team.
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As I mentioned in my original reply, Cam was the perfect piece to add to this near perfect team. There is zero question that the current squad is better than the Dream Season squad overall. However, that '89-90 team put UConn on the map and its importance in UConn history cannot be understated.

That said, while they play different positions, if you put Cam on that team and Nadav on this one, I'd think this current squad is almost as good (drop in offense, but gain on defense), while the Dream Team would've been significantly worse without Nadav's leadership. As much as Cam is the perfect piece for the current team, Nadav was the perfect piece for the Dream Season squad.

Again, from strictly a numbers standpoint, there's no argument Cam has better results. But there's a reason Nadav is on the All-Century team.
 
Uconn77Duke74 said:
Henefeld was clearly better defensively. He was 6'7 and had 137 steals in his one season with Uconn. I'd be happy with either on my team.
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I loved Henefeld and what he did for an early Calhoun team, but Spencer is playing like an All-American and if you want to compare him to someone then maybe look at Scott Skiles or Steve Kerr, he’s that good.
 
Cam over Nadav and I don't think it's particularly close. Nadev didn't shoot daggers the way Cam does.
 
Huskybass said:
I expected the Henefeld comments. Spencer shoots 91% from the line. Henefeld shot 75%. The other shooting numbers have a similar disparity.
Henefeld NEVER had 9 assists in a game...in fact he never even came close. While Henefeld was great, Spencer is even better, and this team is far better than the "Dream Team" at 30-3 overall and 20-2 in the conference. Spencer is a huge part of something likely to be far more impressive than making the Elite 8.
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You are using a guard oriented offensive statistic to compare with a forward whose eye popping statistics were defensive. Trying to compare them based on statistics is fruitless.

As to your claim about how far they elevated the team, before the season UConn was projected from 5-8, ie, a two seed at worst. Spencer’s contributions have ”elevated” that to a certain one seed. UConn has yet to beat a higher ranked team, in large part because we started out highly ranked from the beginning.

At the beginning of the Dream Season UConn was not ranked, but we beat several projected one and two seeds on the way to the program’s highest seeding ever. Which of Henefeld’s teammates had NBA careers? Several of Spencer’s teammates will.
 
Huskybass said:
Spencer is the best one year player we've ever had.
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No question about it. I was just telling my boys that last night Henefeld right there with him but that’s it. We had this conversation a few months ago about him, dove and scheffer - now I think it’s definitely a conversation.
 
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A lot to like about these guys while they're on the floor together. The one thing that stands out to me is their assist to turnover proficiency. Moving the ball/sharing the ball/delivering catchable passes on target and on time to open teammates is awesome to watch and hard to stop. Low TOs in the Tournament is an excellent recipe for success.
 
Honestly with all the attention these two are getting, and they deserve it, I think that Karaban has been overlooked.

Karaban is the ninja of the team.
 
Huskybass said:
Spencer is the best one year player we've ever had.
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Hard to believe back in the off-season we were wondering if he'd even be good enough to replace Joey C's production.

He's actually been a better offensive player than Hawkins at the college level.
 
storrsroars said:
Cam has the numbers for certain and he's the perfect piece for his role on this team. But I'm not completely ready to pack away Nadav and store him in the attic.
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Yep, this is another one of those instances where we can pause, take a breath, and reflect on just how blessed we've been as fans to have watched both, rather than dig in trying to sell which is the definitively correct answer.
 
B1GEast said:
Honestly with all the attention these two are getting, and they deserve it, I think that Karaban has been overlooked.

Karaban is the ninja of the team.
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He's the most curious 'forgotten man' I've ever seen. And I get no sense that he's bothered by it. He doesn't even leave a silver bullet.

The CT Scoreboard podcast, with Alex & Jared (@gwhusky), avoids flash, excitement, and hype. Instead, transmits a low-key quiet confidence. Subtle, wonderful, effective.
 
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