UConn Men's Basketball Accomplishments...

[August_West]

I'm not sure I would place too much weight in that. While it does sound nice (and winning it all five times is no small feat) this is to some extent rewarding us for the years we didn't get there.

Were we better off than Duke in 1990? Were we better off than Florida (1994), Mississippi State (1996), UNC (1998) or Mason (2006) for falling short in seasons we could have made it?

If in any one of those years, if we could somewhat rewrite history and give ourselves one or two more wins before that season ended without a title how many would say "no, I'd rather lose where we did to preserve our final four record"?

While I'm at it, would we have been better off if we lost to Missouri in 2009?

In 1990, yes we were better off than Duke.

UNLV wouldve smoked us. No thanks.

94 and 96 we wouldve won the title and been 14-1 so those hurt

 

[CL82]

We lead the world in bringing agony on Syracuse fans.

Best message board pizza thread.

And as our North Carolina friends are fond of pointing out, have been responsible for keeping Duke and Kentucky from accumulating more national championships.

 

[uconngb]

I'm not sure I would place too much weight in that. While it does sound nice (and winning it all five times is no small feat) this is to some extent rewarding us for the years we didn't get there.

Were we better off than Duke in 1990? Were we better off than Florida (1994), Mississippi State (1996), UNC (1998) or Mason (2006) for falling short in seasons we could have made it?

If in any one of those years, if we could somewhat rewrite history and give ourselves one or two more wins before that season ended without a title how many would say "no, I'd rather lose where we did to preserve our final four record"?

While I'm at it, would we have been better off if we lost to Missouri in 2009?

Record IN the final four is what I’m talking about. Do you realize how outrageous it is to be 10-1 in the FF and 5-0 in Champ games???? % wise that has to be a record (obv being unbeaten in champ games can’t be exceeded but we have a LARGE sample size).

 

[Sick Puppy]

Record IN the final four is what I’m talking about. Do you realize how outrageous it is to be 10-1 in the FF and 5-0 in Champ games???? % wise that has to be a record (obv being unbeaten in champ games can’t be exceeded but we have a LARGE sample size).

JC took the pups to the Promised Land of the FF four times and won THREE. That's insane. I'm too lazy to check all the coaches, but pretty sure only Wooden has a better record. Most are not even close, in fact only a couple have winning records in the Championship Game (Calhoun, Knight, Wooden, who else?).

 

[Sick Puppy]

Obviously not counting one-timers, but put Ollie and Hurley in if you wish.

 

[superjohn]

JC took the pups to the Promised Land of the FF four times and won THREE. That's insane. I'm too lazy to check all the coaches, but pretty sure only Wooden has a better record. Most are not even close, in fact only a couple have winning records in the Championship Game (Calhoun, Knight, Wooden, who else?).

The one final 4 we lost was to Michigan State 1 hour from their campus.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Record IN the final four is what I’m talking about. Do you realize how outrageous it is to be 10-1 in the FF and 5-0 in Champ games???? % wise that has to be a record (obv being unbeaten in champ games can’t be exceeded but we have a LARGE sample size).

So would we be even better off if we lost to Missouri in 2009?

 

[ThetaZoo]

NIT Championship in 88
NCs in 99, 04, 11, 14, and 23
Knocked Shaq out of the NCAA Tourney
Had the #2 and #3 picks in the same draft...

Keep this going, the overall list will be insane.

Only team to beat Rhody in a slow down game in 1970.

 

[Chin Diesel]

In 1990, yes we were better off than Duke.

UNLV wouldve smoked us. No thanks.

94 and 96 we wouldve won the title and been 14-1 so those hurt

One of your observations is going to trigger a certain someone on this board with a canned response to your observation.

 

[businesslawyer]

Besides Melo, it's hard to think of non-uconn players who basically carried a team through the tourney on their way to a ring. Kemba and Bazz are hard to beat for tourney superstars.

Danny Manning.

 

[uconngb]

So would we be even better off if we lost to Missouri in 2009?

What?? What the hell Point are you trying to make?? Are you the same guy that said 15-1 is a better % than 14-0? Cuz that would make a lot of sense.

 

[CL82]

Undefeated in NCAA Championship Games.

View attachment 87980

Really no point in going if you're not going to win the whole thing.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

What?? What the hell Point are you trying to make?? Are you the same guy that said 15-1 is a better % than 14-0? Cuz that would make a lot of sense.

The point is this, if we had lost in the regional finals to Missouri in 2009 we would be 10-0 in the final four. I really need you to walk me through why that wouldn't have been a better outcome for us as the basis of your argument includes the fact that every year where we fell short while having a team capable of making the final four gave us a better overall final four winning percentage by losing earlier than the final four.

No, I am not the guy who claimed 15-1 is a better %. But that guy didn't say that either, he claimed each was equal in terms of accomplishment, not percentage.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Did all of the above with minimal respect and still maintain a massive chip on our shoulder

#'ships'n'chips

Only program to win both men’s and women’s titles in the same year - and doing it TWICE.

"Mods, please move this to the Women's board."

Undefeated in NCAA Championship Games.

View attachment 87980

So fresh that somebody edited things up to reflect 5 appearances and Georgetown's 9th place status, but so exciting that it resulted in a careless error to not show UConn in 8th place.

Also noted...

Denham Brown who scored 111 points in a high school game, and Hilton Armstrong who was exactly 1 Hilton Unit played on the same team.

From 1991-1994, the team had 2 players named Don[...] Marshall.

2002-03 roster had 3 players named Brown: Justin, Taliek, and Denham.

Between 3 players, this year's team had 2 Andres and 2 Johnsons.

 

[McLovin]

10 straight conference regular season championships (Yankee conference) is behind only Kansas (14), UCLA (12) and Gonzaga (11 - twice) for longest streaks of all time.

7 Big East tournament titles, is second all time despite not being in the league for nearly a decade.

5 straight wins in 5 straight days has never been done before or since 2011 BET, including 4 straight wins in 4 days vs ranked opponents.

 

[Palatine]

5 straight wins in 5 straight days has never been done before or since 2011 BET, including 4 straight wins in 4 days vs ranked opponents.

Has 5 wins in 5 days been done in any other conference tournament by any other team?

 

[Sick Puppy]

10 straight conference regular season championships (Yankee conference) is behind only Kansas (14), UCLA (12) and Gonzaga (11 - twice) for longest streaks of all time.

7 Big East tournament titles, is second all time despite not being in the league for nearly a decade.

5 straight wins in 5 straight days has never been done before or since 2011 BET, including 4 straight wins in 4 days vs ranked opponents.

Are we in the running for most regular season conference championships?

 

[McLovin]

Are we in the running for most regular season conference championships?

Tied with Georgetown with 10 for a second behind only Nova with 11 (and Nova won 6 of those while we were in the AAC)…

 

[Sick Puppy]

Tied with Georgetown with 10 for a second behind only Nova with 11 (and Nova won 6 of those while we were in the AAC)…

So if you count the Yankee Conference, we mop the floor with everyone?

 

[Rocktheworld]

The championships with three different coaches (in three different conferences?) has only been done by us and UK since the tournament got fair in 1975. That’s the biggest feather in our cap. Next is the 5 championships. Then it’s the winning percentage in NC games. Then it’s final fours. Then the conference championships.

 

[Scoe]

J e s u s Shuttlesworth played here.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

In 1990, yes we were better off than Duke.

UNLV wouldve smoked us. No thanks.

94 and 96 we wouldve won the title and been 14-1 so those hurt

That UNLV team was special and probably would have beaten us but just getting to the FF was a dream come true for us long time fans losing it to a great team I could have lived with .
10-1 in FF is an incredible achievement as is 5-0 in finals
If we get there enough we will eventually lose but I’ll trade a loss for number 6

 

[jleves]

That UNLV team was special and probably would have beaten us but just getting to the FF was a dream come true for us long time fans losing it to a great team I could have lived with .
10-1 in FF is an incredible achievement as is 5-0 in finals
If we get there enough we will eventually lose but I’ll trade a loss for number 6

Funny thing about the 90 UNLV team, when I was doing the metrics for the seed math thread, the UNLV team has the easiest path ever and faced the worst top 4 teams of anyone. Their fourth best victory was over an 11 seed. While they rolled pretty much everyone else, they had a two point victory over the 12 seed (Ball State) in the third round.

 

[Palatine]

UNC sainted coach Dean Smith got to 8 final fours and won 2.

 

[Billy Jack]

UNC sainted coach Dean Smith got to 8 final fours and won 2.

Yeah, the knock on Smith for a long time was that he couldn’t win “the big one”. He was like Tom Izzo in that respect. UNC fans got teased a lot but were too often left falling short.

Just for the record, Smith got UNC to 11 final fours.

 

[Scrutineer]

Yeah, the knock on Smith for a long time was that he couldn’t win “the big one”. He was like Tom Izzo in that respect. UNC fans got teased a lot but were too often left falling short.

Just for the record, Smith got UNC to 11 final fours.

Isn't Smith the first coach at uNC to win a championship during the Afro Studies program fraud era?

 

[Billy Jack]

Isn't Smith the first coach at uNC to win a championship during the Afro Studies program fraud era?

No, neither of Smith’s national championship teams were during that era, which reportedly began with the 1993-94 academic year. Rashad McCants from the 2005 championship team, coached by Roy Williams, was tied to that scandal.

 

[Billy Jack]

If we get to 17 we will be 32-1

Hahaha.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Funny thing about the 90 UNLV team, when I was doing the metrics for the seed math thread, the UNLV team has the easiest path ever and faced the worst top 4 teams of anyone. Their fourth best victory was over an 11 seed. While they rolled pretty much everyone else, they had a two point victory over the 12 seed (Ball State) in the third round.

The key to UConn success that year was our ability to pressure the ball .
We simply did not have a very imposing inside game. In retrospect what JC could come up with would have been interesting
Georgetown had a front line with two NBA superstars and we beat them 2/3 . So you never know until you play the game .
We probably matched up with them a little better than Duke did that year . Hurley ( Bobby) as a freshman was a better offensive guard than defender at that stage.