UConn in the NBA April ‘25 | Page 3 | The Boneyard

UConn in the NBA April ‘25

ihatepants said:
I don't think he's getting a rookie whistle anymore. He's top 20 in the entire league in FTA/36min, and top 10 if you go by just guards.
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Over the last month he has taken a ton of FTs, not sure where he ranks but he has pretty consistently been taking 7/8+ per game.
 
husky429 said:
The 23-24 team was better. They were the best UConn team of all time. And the best CBB team in decades. Honestly.
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2003-04 team had Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Charlie V., Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone who all were all NBA Players. They also had a gritty NYC PG in Taliek, Rashard Anderson and Denham Brown. That team probably had more Talent compared to the 2023-24 team. It is close and hard to compare but that 2003-2004 team was really good and destroyed everyone in the tournament besides that talented Duke team they trailed for most of the game. I guess you can say Talent 2003-04 team but results 2023-24 team but the competition was different back then and beating that Duke team was huge. I went to both final fours so I got to see both of those teams up close when they were playing their best.
 
3rdbass said:
2003-04 team had Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Charlie V., Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone who all were all NBA Players. They also had a gritty NYC PG in Taliek, Rashard Anderson and Denham Brown. That team probably had more Talent compared to the 2023-24 team. It is close and hard to compare but that 2003-2004 team was really good and destroyed everyone in the tournament besides that talented Duke team they trailed for most of the game. I guess you can say Talent 2003-04 team but results 2023-24 team but the competition was different back then and beating that Duke team was huge. I went to both final fours so I got to see both of those teams up close when they were playing their best.
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Hard to compare teams 20 years apart to be fair to both. Top end talent was higher on 04, but the ‘24 team’s pieces worked together like no team I have seen, modern era-wise. The depth of bigs on 2004 would have been a problem, though.
 
3rdbass said:
2003-04 team had Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Charlie V., Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone who all were all NBA Players. They also had a gritty NYC PG in Taliek, Rashard Anderson and Denham Brown. That team probably had more Talent compared to the 2023-24 team. It is close and hard to compare but that 2003-2004 team was really good and destroyed everyone in the tournament besides that talented Duke team they trailed for most of the game. I guess you can say Talent 2003-04 team but results 2023-24 team but the competition was different back then and beating that Duke team was huge. I went to both final fours so I got to see both of those teams up close when they were playing their best.
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Saw both too - both had some health issues along the way that maybe stopped them from reaching their A level sooner or more consistently (the 04 team lost Marcus Williams midway through to academics and had to ride with basically no backup guards).

I think ultimately the 2024 clears. The dips of the 2004 team were more significant. Had a home loss. A lopsided neutral site loss. A two game losing streak. Didn’t win the Big East.

From a talent perspective - Emeka and Ben were next level, but Clingan and Spencer aren’t that far behind, and you could argue Spencer’s efficiency made him even better than Ben as a college player. Taliek and Boone were role players who were limited offensively. The 2024 team really had no holes.

Had MW stayed eligible, the pendulum might have swung the other way. But an un-injured Castle who found his groove sooner might have been a completely different beast by the end of the year too.
 
Charlie V. who was a really good NBA player you forgot to talk about and Ben could backup at PG when Taliek went to the bench and was very good penetrating. Ben Gordon in college, obviously Castle has a higher ceiling in the NBA, was better than any of our guards to me and was a top 3 NBA pick. Like I said talent wise 2003-2004 but I will give you 2023-24 could have a slight edge given how they performed the whole season. Tournament it was close though as both played great and had their toughest games in the final four semi-finals. I guess for me the 2003-2004 has a special place in my heart since that was my first UConn final four I went to thought Stephon Castle is my favorite UConn player even though he was here only 1 year.
 
Gurleyman said:
Saw both too - both had some health issues along the way that maybe stopped them from reaching their A level sooner or more consistently (the 04 team lost Marcus Williams midway through to academics and had to ride with basically no backup guards).

I think ultimately the 2024 clears. The dips of the 2004 team were more significant. Had a home loss. A lopsided neutral site loss. A two game losing streak. Didn’t win the Big East.

From a talent perspective - Emeka and Ben were next level, but Clingan and Spencer aren’t that far behind, and you could argue Spencer’s efficiency made him even better than Ben as a college player. Taliek and Boone were role players who were limited offensively. The 2024 team really had no holes.

Had MW stayed eligible, the pendulum might have swung the other way. But an un-injured Castle who found his groove sooner might have been a completely different beast by the end of the year too.
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Both the 2004 team and the 2024 team were excellent and elite teams when looking at a list of all time best college basketball teams. The one thing that doesn't get mentioned enough here is that the 2024 went undefeated at home and that includes games without either Castle or Clingan. The 2024 UConn team blew out most of their opponents in Storrs or Hartford as well as other nearby venues not considered home court such as MSG (7-0 record) as well as Providence (road game at Providence) and Boston (Sweet 16 and Elite 8).
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
Hard to compare teams 20 years apart to be fair to both. Top end talent was higher on 04, but the ‘24 team’s pieces worked together like no team I have seen, modern era-wise. The depth of bigs on 2004 would have been a problem, though.
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Yes, definitely hard to complete. PF spot would be a difficult guard for the 23-24 team.
 
Steph on a heater to start the game today. First quarter stats: 12, 2, 3, 5-5, 2-2

Edit: Clingan off to a good first half with 10-7 but Portland getting crushed.

Edit 2: Clingan had a more than solid 14 and 15 with one block, and Steph cooled off considerably but ended with 16, 4, 10 with only 2 TOs. Both teams got crushed though.
 
Last edited:
caw said:
Steph on a heater to start the game today. First quarter stats: 12, 2, 3, 5-5, 2-2

Edit: Clingan off to a good first half with 10-7 but Portland getting crushed.

Edit 2: Clingan had a more than solid 14 and 15 with one block, and Steph cooled off considerably but ended with 16, 4, 10 with only 2 TOs. Both teams got crushed though.
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Full on tank mode for both. Lol
 
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Gurleyman said:
Saw both too - both had some health issues along the way that maybe stopped them from reaching their A level sooner or more consistently (the 04 team lost Marcus Williams midway through to academics and had to ride with basically no backup guards).

I think ultimately the 2024 clears. The dips of the 2004 team were more significant. Had a home loss. A lopsided neutral site loss. A two game losing streak. Didn’t win the Big East.

From a talent perspective - Emeka and Ben were next level, but Clingan and Spencer aren’t that far behind, and you could argue Spencer’s efficiency made him even better than Ben as a college player. Taliek and Boone were role players who were limited offensively. The 2024 team really had no holes.

Had MW stayed eligible, the pendulum might have swung the other way. But an un-injured Castle who found his groove sooner might have been a completely different beast by the end of the year too.
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Wow. As much as I loved Cam to say he was better than Ben is quite a reach
 
ucp990411 said:
Wow. As much as I loved Cam to say he was better than Ben is quite a reach
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Not at all. I don’t think approaching 50-40-90 with a 3.5 assist to turnover ratio is something that is in the realm of normal. Doubt we’ll see it again.
 
Gurleyman said:
Not at all. I don’t think approaching 50-40-90 with a 3.5 assist to turnover ratio is something that is in the realm of normal. Doubt we’ll see it again.
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Come on man. Ben Gordon broke the record for most points scored in the BET when it was the best conference in the country. Won it without Emeka.

One guy was a superstar player by himself. The other was an amazing cog in a machine.

Cam is amazing, but we set him up to be unnecessarily critiqued when we put him next to icons like Ben who can carry teams by themselves.

Cam is the Kemba Walker of Rashad Andersons lol
 
Gurleyman said:
Saw both too - both had some health issues along the way that maybe stopped them from reaching their A level sooner or more consistently (the 04 team lost Marcus Williams midway through to academics and had to ride with basically no backup guards).

I think ultimately the 2024 clears. The dips of the 2004 team were more significant. Had a home loss. A lopsided neutral site loss. A two game losing streak. Didn’t win the Big East.

From a talent perspective - Emeka and Ben were next level, but Clingan and Spencer aren’t that far behind, and you could argue Spencer’s efficiency made him even better than Ben as a college player. Taliek and Boone were role players who were limited offensively. The 2024 team really had no holes.

Had MW stayed eligible, the pendulum might have swung the other way. But an un-injured Castle who found his groove sooner might have been a completely different beast by the end of the year too.
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Hah losing a player to academics in this day never happening
 
Gurleyman said:
Not at all. I don’t think approaching 50-40-90 with a 3.5 assist to turnover ratio is something that is in the realm of normal. Doubt we’ll see it again.
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I genuinely wonder if some of you watch games. Or if you're just trying to sound clever all the time and end up looking dumb. I just don't get it.

No, Cam is not anywhere close to on Ben Gordon's level. And that's not a slight on Cam, who was a hell of a talent. Ben was just that good.
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
Cam was amazing and agree with the overall sentiment. But Ben was on another level.
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He turned a corner when Emeka was out for the BET. Before that he was frustrating at times. He had the Gentle Ben nickname since he was too passive.

As my original post says, I would give a slight edge to Ben. He had higher usage and was less efficient -but his job was harder than Cam’s. He had to be the sole creator in a backcourt with a non scorer in Taliek and a catch and shoot specialist in Rashad. Cam could pick and choose his spots on when to attack. But Cam did that job as well as anyone’s ever done it, and you can make the case for him having one of the best offensive seasons in our history.
 
Gurleyman said:
Saw both too - both had some health issues along the way that maybe stopped them from reaching their A level sooner or more consistently (the 04 team lost Marcus Williams midway through to academics and had to ride with basically no backup guards).

I think ultimately the 2024 clears. The dips of the 2004 team were more significant. Had a home loss. A lopsided neutral site loss. A two game losing streak. Didn’t win the Big East.

From a talent perspective - Emeka and Ben were next level, but Clingan and Spencer aren’t that far behind, and you could argue Spencer’s efficiency made him even better than Ben as a college player. Taliek and Boone were role players who were limited offensively. The 2024 team really had no holes.

Had MW stayed eligible, the pendulum might have swung the other way. But an un-injured Castle who found his groove sooner might have been a completely different beast by the end of the year too.
Expand ...
The 2004's team dips were all related to Emeka's bad back. If not for that, they win easily.

The Duke game was also heavily impacted by Emeka's 2 fouls in 3 minutes (bogus).
 
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