UConn GOAT Bracket

[UCFBfan]

The Gampel bracket is stacked.

I was thinking this about the MSG Bracket actually

 

[CTBasketball]

Shabazz has 2 championships, 1st Team All-Big East (2013), 1st Team All-AAC (2014), Bob Cousy Award Winner (2014), Final Four MVP (2014), Consensus 1st Team All-America (2014), AAC POY (2014), and Big East All-Rookie Team (2011).

He’s a one seed. The championships set him a step above Ray, even though he was a better player.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

You can make the argument that he is way overrated as a 6 seed.

No way in hell he should be seeded above Henefeld. Seriously, that's just egregious.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

I think if you're going to weigh college and pro careers equally, Kemba is the GOAT.

Then Ray second. I hate to say it because he is a great, great player, and one of my favorites but other than maybe in Seattle, he was never really a focal point on any team.

Guys may have had better college or pro careers but I think Kemba has the best credentials in both.

 

[Poe]

4 one seeds should be Kemba, Rip, Emeka and Shabazz.

Definitely this. Have to give Bazz the edge over Ray. Ray was great but didn’t deliver a championship.

Also, Kemba and Rip seem to be the unanimous top two players since no one is arguing to bump them off as 1 seeds.

 

[AllAbout5]

How Caron wasn’t on the two seed lines I’ll never find out

 

[SubbaBub]

This is going to have a large recency bias plus a college career vs pro slant and to top it off a championship vs legacy flavor.

All the makings of a good argument. If past versions of this debate are any indication there isn't really a wrong answer.

My predictions vs who I think should win will be different.

Should win:
Kemba
Ray
Emeka
Rip

Will win:
Ray
Kemba
Emeka
Bazz

 

[Burt]

I think if you're going to weigh college and pro careers equally, Kemba is the GOAT.

Then Ray second. I hate to say it because he is a great, great player, and one of my favorites but other than maybe in Seattle, he was never really a focal point on any team.

Guys may have had better college or pro careers but I think Kemba has the best credentials in both.

What about Ray's championship with Boston and becoming the greatest 3 point shooter in NBA history...?

 

[mauconnfan]

Love the names on here. Staak or Boyd?

 

[8893]

If the goal is to determine the Greatest Husky of All Time, I think brackets are not the right way to get there. As @Mano would say, make it a poll, dummy. Take all the #1 and #2 seeds and have people vote among them. Add the #3 seeds if necessary; that's still only 12 options. Anything beyond that is great for seeding discussions/arguments, but really irrelevant to determining the greatest.

Any set of criteria is going to include some intangibles, and certain players are going to suffer from recency bias. Khalid will always be my personal favorite because he was the X-factor, the roux that we needed to make our own special brand of mojo. But no matter how you characterize "Greatest Husky of All Time," if we are talking about embracing everything you would want that to embrace, e.g., winning, grit, representing, etc., I think Kemba wins by a wide margin--all things considered.

 

[lange10]

Who's the most overseeded player in the bracket? I loved Purvis, but an 8 seed? Not sure about that when you consider some of the names ranked lower than him - Marcus, Jerome, DHam, Deandre to name a few.

 

[JimHurley]

Shabazz has 2 championships, 1st Team All-Big East (2013), 1st Team All-AAC (2014), Bob Cousy Award Winner (2014), Final Four MVP (2014), Consensus 1st Team All-America (2014), AAC POY (2014), and Big East All-Rookie Team (2011).

He’s a one seed. The championships set him a step above Ray, even though he was a better player.

You can honestly justify Shabazz as the #1 overall seed. Talent wise he’s probably a 4 or 5 seed, but as far as accomplishments in his time at UConn, he’s right up there.

 

[Poe]

What about Ray's championship with Boston and becoming the greatest 3 point shooter in NBA history...?

What about Ray's championship with Boston and becoming the greatest 3 point shooter in NBA history...?

I’m looking at the bracket from a UConn only perspective, not what they did professionally afterwards.

 

[dannyHAM]

Who's the most overseeded player in the bracket? I loved Purvis, but an 8 seed? Not sure about that when you consider some of the names ranked lower than him - Marcus, Jerome, DHam, Deandre to name a few.

Spot on

 

[JimHurley]

What about Ray's championship with Boston and becoming the greatest 3 point shooter in NBA history...?

I believe if this is being done by UConn, then it’s based solely on the players’ UConn careers.

 

[CallMeBruce]

To be fair, so did Bazz. His pressure and steals are as important as Emeka's blocks and rim protection. Both were able to alter what the offense wanted to do.

Edit...

I'm not saying you're wrong, it's what makes the discussion interesting, once you get past the Sweet 16, a lot of these come down to a coin flip

I love Shabazz, but he had nowhere near the defensive impact that Okafor did. Don't kid yourself.

 

[Tex-Lager93]

I didn't see either play - except in highlights...but the potential Cliff v Corny second round matchup is insane. Legends should meet that early.

 

[CL82]

I love Shabazz, but he had nowhere near the defensive impact that Okafor did. Don't kid yourself.

Tell that to the Harrison brothers. Bazz and Boat took them completely out of their game in the national championship.

 

[JimHurley]

Tell that to the Harrison brothers. Bazz and Boat took them completely out of their game in the national championship.

Add Gary Harris, Keith Appling, and Scottie Wilbekin to that list.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Lots of talk on the top 4 seeds... How about some of these first round matchups

Scott Burrell/Christian Vital
Jeff Adrien/Donny Marshall
AJ Price/Rod Sellers
Taliek Brown/DeAndre Daniels

And plenty more good ones. Tough choices

 

[tzznandrew]

I think if you're going to weigh college and pro careers equally, Kemba is the GOAT.

Then Ray second. I hate to say it because he is a great, great player, and one of my favorites but other than maybe in Seattle, he was never really a focal point on any team.

Guys may have had better college or pro careers but I think Kemba has the best credentials in both.

He was the best player on the Bucks by 2000 and he led them to the ECF in 2001 where they were robbed of losing to the Lakers in the Finals.

 

[the Q]

I think if you're going to weigh college and pro careers equally, Kemba is the GOAT.

Then Ray second. I hate to say it because he is a great, great player, and one of my favorites but other than maybe in Seattle, he was never really a focal point on any team.

Guys may have had better college or pro careers but I think Kemba has the best credentials in both.

The bucks? Are you saying Glenn dog was above him in Milwaukee?

 

[8893]

If the goal is to determine the Greatest Husky of All Time, I think brackets are not the right way to get there. As @Mano would say, make it a poll, dummy. Take all the #1 and #2 seeds and have people vote among them. Add the #3 seeds if necessary; that's still only 12 options. Anything beyond that is great for seeding discussions/arguments, but really irrelevant to determining the greatest.

Any set of criteria is going to include some intangibles, and certain players are going to suffer from recency bias. Khalid will always be my personal favorite because he was the X-factor, the roux that we needed to make our own special brand of mojo. But no matter how you characterize "Greatest Husky of All Time," if we are talking about embracing everything you would want that to embrace, e.g., winning, grit, representing, etc., I think Kemba wins by a wide margin--all things considered.

Testing my hypothesis:

Poll: Greatest Husky of All Time

Men's basketball players only considered. I included all the #1 and #2 seeds from the brackets and listed them in alphabetical order. I was very close to adding Khalid as my personal favorite, but that would have been biased and opened the door to all the #3 seeds, which I don't think is...

the-boneyard.com

 

[the Q]

If the goal is to determine the Greatest Husky of All Time, I think brackets are not the right way to get there. As @Mano would say, make it a poll, dummy. Take all the #1 and #2 seeds and have people vote among them. Add the #3 seeds if necessary; that's still only 12 options. Anything beyond that is great for seeding discussions/arguments, but really irrelevant to determining the greatest.

Any set of criteria is going to include some intangibles, and certain players are going to suffer from recency bias. Khalid will always be my personal favorite because he was the X-factor, the roux that we needed to make our own special brand of mojo. But no matter how you characterize "Greatest Husky of All Time," if we are talking about embracing everything you would want that to embrace, e.g., winning, grit, representing, etc., I think Kemba wins by a wide margin--all things considered.

I’m thinking Okafor.

But again, there aren’t many wrong answers in the top 5-6 players. All have good legitimate cases.

 

[rip7774]

Re: Voting - do you print it out and post it or is there a way to pick them electronically? I've been on twitter and facebook and don't see ability to vote.

I do live in Florida whomever asked that to the other person wondering how to vote.