g_smith
made my username before I noticed the UConn theme
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2011
- Messages
- 375
- Reaction Score
- 866
Let's all get out a glass of water and take a reality pill.
Here is a summary of the problems/obstacles the program has faced the past 4 years. Here is why we should not be angry right now.
1.) APR sanctions - first off, this limited our number of scholarship players for a few years. I don't know these terms exactly but the original APR sanctions, but under Calhoun, these original sanctions prevented us from having a full roster of scholarships (including the year Drummond was here, 2011-2012).
2.) APR sanctions PART 2 - we were not allowed in the tournament last year - not only did this force us to lose Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith, and Michael Bradley, but the uncertainty of this significantly altered the team and affected recruiting.
3.) Speaking of recruiting, Calhoun's health during the 2011-12 year where he missed a bunch of games, leading right up to the start of the 12-13 season was a huge uncertainty for recruits. I would bet we lost recruits all over during this time.
4.) Boatright faced sanctions on & off at the start of the 2011-12 season leaving us at a point where we were playing Brendan Allen on the floor. That's right, a year after a national championship, we were playing a walk-on point guard. That shows how much we were hurting even before we lost AO, RS, and MB.
5.) CONFERENCE RE-ALIGNMENT - wow. This is a huge category. Think of all the woes conference re-alignment has caused us. Recruiting definitely and a little bit our sanity. I know for sure some of my happiness with the sport. This is not over and we are still looking forward hoping for the B1G.
6.) Kevin Ollie has been our head coach for only 2 years and look what he has done already. But he is still a very young coach.
6.) And for the grand finale, we lost Wolf last year, with his domestic dispute (which at least in my opinion was actually not that severe), but damage done, we lost a big man when we definitely could not much afford to do so.
All of that considered, we finished with a record of 27-7 total and 12-6 in the conference which had 5 ranked teams, us included. That is impressive!!
I think a lot of us are starstruck and lost when we think of the state of the program. Without Kemba Walker, this team would be without a NC for almost 10 years. We would be even more in a state of disarray than we currently are. Without Kemba's never-before-done fight for a national championship, we are likely a mess. But he left us one man who could carry us through these times, though, and that man is Shabazz Napier.
Without Shabazz, not only are we a mess, we are off the map. We are a mid-major NIT joke at best. He is the Godsend to this program at a time we could not need it more. Shabazz has gifted us the chance to stay relevant in the coming years. He built the bridge to our future.
In that future comes the basketball development center and hope for the B1g. We all hope Bob Diaco, we can all hope that he can carry our football team out of irrelevance. We know Kevin Ollie works tirelessly towards his building of the program. But without Shabazz, this is not possible. We should really appreciate this kid for everything he has done and let's really hope for his success in the draft. As it stands now, even with no tournament wins whatsoever, his massive impact has been made here and it will be felt for years for come.
Here is a summary of the problems/obstacles the program has faced the past 4 years. Here is why we should not be angry right now.
1.) APR sanctions - first off, this limited our number of scholarship players for a few years. I don't know these terms exactly but the original APR sanctions, but under Calhoun, these original sanctions prevented us from having a full roster of scholarships (including the year Drummond was here, 2011-2012).
2.) APR sanctions PART 2 - we were not allowed in the tournament last year - not only did this force us to lose Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith, and Michael Bradley, but the uncertainty of this significantly altered the team and affected recruiting.
3.) Speaking of recruiting, Calhoun's health during the 2011-12 year where he missed a bunch of games, leading right up to the start of the 12-13 season was a huge uncertainty for recruits. I would bet we lost recruits all over during this time.
4.) Boatright faced sanctions on & off at the start of the 2011-12 season leaving us at a point where we were playing Brendan Allen on the floor. That's right, a year after a national championship, we were playing a walk-on point guard. That shows how much we were hurting even before we lost AO, RS, and MB.
5.) CONFERENCE RE-ALIGNMENT - wow. This is a huge category. Think of all the woes conference re-alignment has caused us. Recruiting definitely and a little bit our sanity. I know for sure some of my happiness with the sport. This is not over and we are still looking forward hoping for the B1G.
6.) Kevin Ollie has been our head coach for only 2 years and look what he has done already. But he is still a very young coach.
6.) And for the grand finale, we lost Wolf last year, with his domestic dispute (which at least in my opinion was actually not that severe), but damage done, we lost a big man when we definitely could not much afford to do so.
All of that considered, we finished with a record of 27-7 total and 12-6 in the conference which had 5 ranked teams, us included. That is impressive!!
I think a lot of us are starstruck and lost when we think of the state of the program. Without Kemba Walker, this team would be without a NC for almost 10 years. We would be even more in a state of disarray than we currently are. Without Kemba's never-before-done fight for a national championship, we are likely a mess. But he left us one man who could carry us through these times, though, and that man is Shabazz Napier.
Without Shabazz, not only are we a mess, we are off the map. We are a mid-major NIT joke at best. He is the Godsend to this program at a time we could not need it more. Shabazz has gifted us the chance to stay relevant in the coming years. He built the bridge to our future.
In that future comes the basketball development center and hope for the B1g. We all hope Bob Diaco, we can all hope that he can carry our football team out of irrelevance. We know Kevin Ollie works tirelessly towards his building of the program. But without Shabazz, this is not possible. We should really appreciate this kid for everything he has done and let's really hope for his success in the draft. As it stands now, even with no tournament wins whatsoever, his massive impact has been made here and it will be felt for years for come.
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