UConn 2004 vs UConn 2024

[OceanDoggie]

I'd start Denham over Rashad for defense and better ball handling for flow of the offense. Denham can pop the three when needed and the drop off in range is worth the exchange for the former benefits.

 

[OceanDoggie]

Emeka would have problems with Clingan. It's 2024 all day.

Or he may just treat him like Luke Schenscer

 

[bendm]

Can we agree the '04 team would have dominated purdue, which was easily the second best team in the country?

to keep up with this year's offense the '04 team would have to maximize shooting by starting gordon / anderson / denham / charlie / okafor. with taliek and boone off the bench. i think gordon and anderson matchup well w/ newton and spencer, denham matches up reallly well w/ castle. charlie would be a tough cover for karaban. and obviously okafor against clingan would be epic. i'd use taliek in a diarra role off the bench. boone would have abused samson.

i think it would be really close if okafor could get clingan into foul trouble. in a 7 game series '24 wins 4-3. '24s elite passing ability would be the difference.

 

[Brochacho]

If you look at Kenpom, the 2024 team is the 5th best team while the 2004 team is the 87th best team going by AdjEM since 1997. 2024 would probably be a 4 point favorite on a neutral floor. Castle would absolutely lock up Ben Gordon and this inside battle is neutral. Different eras. One generational team, one elite team.

 

[B1GEast]

Here’s a question, how would our 2004 team do against Purdue and Edey.

UConn wins that matchup IMO

 

[superjohn]

8-2 2024 Castle slows down Ben enough, Same with Clingan on Okafor. Okafor was amazing but 6 9 vs 7 2 is a big difference. Offense of Cam Tristen and Karaban out scores 04 by enough. 2024 is the best UConn team ever I'll hear an argument for 99 but no other team is in the convo in my opinion

Okafor was incredible defensively and physically strong but he wasn't exactly the smoothest offensive player. His damage was done with dunks, put backs, little hook shots. He would have trouble getting any of that stuff off on Clingan. Clingan wouldn't score much against Okafor either but he wouldn't have to. Okafor was a beast but Donovan makes him look like a little boy.

 

[cap10dingus]

You can tell the age of the poster based on how they answer this question.

Be a game to watch for sure!

 

[ucp990411]

Or he may just treat him like Luke Schenscer

That is quite a comment. Did Luke Schenscer get drafted?

 

[ucp990411]

Can we agree the '04 team would have dominated purdue, which was easily the second best team in the country?

to keep up with this year's offense the '04 team would have to maximize shooting by starting gordon / anderson / denham / charlie / okafor. with taliek and boone off the bench. i think gordon and anderson matchup well w/ newton and spencer, denham matches up reallly well w/ castle. charlie would be a tough cover for karaban. and obviously okafor against clingan would be epic. i'd use taliek in a diarra role off the bench. boone would have abused samson.

i think it would be really close if okafor could get clingan into foul trouble. in a 7 game series '24 wins 4-3. '24s elite passing ability would be the difference.

Taliek started for four years, you don't really think he would not start do you?

 

[ucp990411]

Which team has the advantage with coaching? And what team does Tom Moore coach?

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Here’s the question everyone’s missing:

Which team has the coaching edge?

Laughs maniacally

I don’t think Hurley can make 2011 happen. Lol

 

[Waquoit]

Taliek started for four years, you don't really think he would not start do you?

Does he stay on the floor when Hurley doesn't guard his jump shot?

 

[ucp990411]

Does he stay on the floor when Hurley doesn't guard his jump shot?

The 2004 team ran at all costs with Taliek leading the way. They did not need him to shoot, and there are adjustments that can be done. See Andre Jackson.
20 years later and you are still dissing Taliek. The most disrespected player in our history.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

I loved Ben Gordon as much as anyone and you don't average 18+ in back to back years in the Big East without being really gifted, but Castle locked up NBA talents all year long.

Devin Carter, Trey Alexander, Scheiermann (matched up mostly vs Karaban iirc), Olivari, Kam Jones were all 17+ ppg scorers in the best league in college basketball, and I guarantee you they'd pick just about any other defender in the nation before they'd want to matchup against Castle again.

and you didn't mention Shannon, Jr., who was scorching hot before meeting Castle.

 

[bballmicmac]

Recency biasis has me leaning towards 24', really good depth that you could take any 1 payer away and they'd still be fine, but if the 04' team lost Emeka or Gordon they wouldn't have been as good.....that said, I don't know if this current team would have an answer for Gordon, I'll say 6-4 in favor of 04'

 

[bendm]

Taliek started for four years, you don't really think he would not start do you?

says who? jim calhoun magically transported 20 years into the future? boone also started but i wouldnt have him starting either. isnt this a made up game?

 

[ucp990411]

For referees give me Tim Higgins, Pat Driscoll and Larry Lembo

 

[huskyfever34]

Here’s a question, how would our 2004 team do against Purdue and Edey.

We would absolutely destroy them. Okafor limits Edey and we are bigger stronger faster at every other position, plus more depth.

 

[superjohn]

We would absolutely destroy them. Okafor limits Edey and we are bigger stronger faster at every other position, plus more depth.

I doubt Okafor would limit Edey. You let Edey get his like UConn did and lock up everyone else on the perimeter. Taliek is bigger than Braden Smith but Smith is the better player.

 

[Waquoit]

They did not need him to shoot, and there are adjustments that can be done.

Like what? He was the PG.

 

[huskyfever34]

Okafor was incredible defensively and physically strong but he wasn't exactly the smoothest offensive player. His damage was done with dunks, put backs, little hook shots. He would have trouble getting any of that stuff off on Clingan. Clingan wouldn't score much against Okafor either but he wouldn't have to. Okafor was a beast but Donovan makes him look like a little boy.

View attachment 102438

The pic definitely makes a good point but a bit unfair bc Emeka is probably 20-30lbs of muscle down from his playing weight at this point. I believe Emeka averaged twice as many blocks per game as Clingan at Uconn. His feel for when to leave his feet was impeccable- I remember a video of lebron asking carmelo how he got his shot off against Emeka around that era

 

[huskyfever34]

I doubt Okafor would limit Edey. You let Edey get his like UConn did and lock up everyone else on the perimeter. Taliek is bigger than Braden Smith but Smith is the better player.

Remember, Edey partly just burned out in that game bc he was relied upon so heavily. I think it would look similar. And yes Smith would be their only other positional advantage but he was a mess that night. We would overwhelm them everywhere else

 

[Chin Diesel]

Brown-Spencer
Gordon-Castle/Diarra
Anderson/Brown-Newton
Villanueva/Boone-Karaban/Stewart
Okafor/Boone-Clingan/Johnson

There's some real good match ups here.

Castle takes Gordon on D, but Taliek takes on Newton. Spencer probably covers Brown but Rashad and Denham have either Newton or Spencer covering them.

Villanueva and Karaban is a great match up. Charlie can shoot over Karaban both on perimeter and in the post. Karaban runs Charlie around the perimeter all day.

Clingan and Okafor is a great match up and if they can cancel each other's offense out, it's advantage '24. UConn 2024 won a bunch with Clingan scoring 8-12 points. UConn 2004 needed Okafor scoring 15+.

'04 struggled with Okafor out with back problems during regular season; 2024 did better with Clingan and Castle injured.

I can listen to 5-5 or 6-4 either way, but anyone thinking one side is winning 7 or 8 against the other is wearing tainted glasses.

'04 at its best was as lethal as 2024. The '04 E8 match up against Bama was a seal clubbing of the highest order. Of course, 2024 clubbed Bama in the FF.

 

[superjohn]

The pic definitely makes a good point but a bit unfair bc Emeka is probably 20-30lbs of muscle down from his playing weight at this point. I believe Emeka averaged twice as many blocks per game as Clingan at Uconn. His feel for when to leave his feet was impeccable- I remember a video of lebron asking carmelo how he got his shot off against Emeka around that era

I never thought I would see another defensive player like Okafor at UConn but I think Clingan was even more impactful than Mek on defense. The block totals are low because nobody would even attempt to score on Clingan. If they got down there they would see the wall and then back it out.

I'm not taking anything away from Okafor, he was brilliant and clearly the better all around player than Clingan because of his offense and rebounding but Clingan has multiple NBA defensive player of the year potential IMO.

 

[huskyfever34]

Can we agree the '04 team would have dominated purdue, which was easily the second best team in the country?

to keep up with this year's offense the '04 team would have to maximize shooting by starting gordon / anderson / denham / charlie / okafor. with taliek and boone off the bench. i think gordon and anderson matchup well w/ newton and spencer, denham matches up reallly well w/ castle. charlie would be a tough cover for karaban. and obviously okafor against clingan would be epic. i'd use taliek in a diarra role off the bench. boone would have abused samson.

i think it would be really close if okafor could get clingan into foul trouble. in a 7 game series '24 wins 4-3. '24s elite passing ability would be the difference.

This is a great take. Calhoun would have to adjust the lineup to have enough spacing and shooting. He would definitely need some prep time to make up for the passage of 20yrs! What a dream matchup that would be