What was the best UConn Men’s Basketball team that didn’t win a national championship? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

What was the best UConn Men’s Basketball team that didn’t win a national championship?

It's a great debate because there is no clear answer. The one thing that hits you in the head when you dig deep into this debate is just how great Jim Calhoun was, he guided UCONN to 4 titles (yes I am giving him credit for 2014) and there were so many other teams that were so very, very close:

A tipped ball out of bounce in 1990
A free throw in 1994
A Tyus Edny full court buzzer beater in 1995
A faulty Ricky Moore shoulder in 96
One play short in 02
I'll blame Josh Boone getting mono in 05 for the lethargy in 06 because he was never the same after the illness
Dyson's knee in 09
 
M.S.G. said:
'05-'06 was George Mason right?

I think we beat Michigan State with a healthy Dyson in '09 and that championship game with UNC would have been out of this world.. 5 nattys would have cemented our blue blood status.
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To this day I have to say: Bucky fuggin Dent and George fuggin Mason. Just always comes out that way.
 
Chin Diesel said:
No way that UConn team beats UNLV or Arkansas that season.
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Look at the NBA talent that team beat just off the top of my head: Mourning, Mtumbo, Coleman, Owens, Dale Davis, Eldon Campbell.
 
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metsfan2323 said:
It's a great debate because there is no clear answer. The one thing that hits you in the head when you dig deep into this debate is just how great Jim Calhoun was, he guided UCONN to 4 titles (yes I am giving him credit for 2014) and there were so many other teams that were so very, very close:

A tipped ball out of bounce in 1990
A free throw in 1994
A Tyus Edny full court buzzer beater in 1995
A faulty Ricky Moore shoulder in 96
One play short in 02
I'll blame Josh Boone getting mono in 05 for the lethargy in 06 because he was never the same after the illness
Dyson's knee in 09
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This was perfectly said. It’s incredible the amount of talented teams Calhoun, year after year competing for a national championship
 
94 Donyell - Florida
95 Ray Allen - UCLA
02 C Butler - Maryland
06 R Gay - G Mason
08 AJ Price - injury
 
superjohn said:
They weren't beating UNLV.
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Likely true but not a complete given. Our full court press was so amazing, who knows how they would have handled it. Nobody thought we were beating Duke in 99 either.

Crazy thing is it may have been bad for UCONN history to win it all in 1990, no doubt the NBA would have thrown a ton of money at JC if he won it all in 1990 and he was still a young man, it may have been tough to resist.
 
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huskyrob1 said:
Calhoun has always said his best team without a NC was 94, and pretty sure he meant 93-94, Donyell's last season, and Ray was a freshman.
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This is one of multiple examples (someone else pointed this out too) where 1 year difference was needed...sophomore Ray, soph Ben and Mek, a matured Kemba... even think about 05 and 06 with AJ ... we just missed out on a few legendary teams.
 
05 great chance, 06 easily. 09 that was tough final 4 to be honest but another power calhoun team.
 
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huskyrob1 said:
Calhoun has always said his best team without a NC was 94, and pretty sure he meant 93-94, Donyell's last season, and Ray was a freshman.
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93 was my last year on campus, never had a chance to see ray in college
 
ColchVEGAS said:
UConn was #1 when we went to their house and gave it to them. I believe L'ville was top 5 or just outside. Me and a couple friends left a party at Carriage House in the wee hours Sunday morning to drive to L'ville and attend the game. Left immediately following the game to get back for Tuesday classes.
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Kudos to you. That's a long ride round trip. I made the drive with some friends in a rented car for the Derby one year and flew home. The flight home seemed like eternity also but mainly because I had hit Fourth Street Live pretty hard the previous night.
 
1989-1990 was the best by far. But after that I think you could argue vs. 2008-2009 and 1995-1996.

2008-2009 had a lot more weapons on offense in my opinion. A healthy Dyson, Price, Kemba, Thabeet, Adrien, Stanley, and even Austrie could go off for 20+ a night. Defensively that team was better than 1995-1996 as well. I think 2008-2009 was one of our better teams ever.
 
Waquoit said:
A renown coach who played both teams said UConn was better.
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I love the dream team but they lose by 15 to that UNLV team. That team was big, deep and could score at will. We would've had to go up and down with them and we would not have been able to keep up. Our defense was great but that was the one team in that tourney I don't see us beating.
 
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89-90 would have been crushed by UNLV, I think.
93-94 was very good but soft.
94-95 might have been our most explosive offensive team. Donny, Ray, Doron, KO, BFair, Travis... We averaged over 90/gm in the tourney that year.
95-96 was slightly better than 93-94, but maybe even softer. Losing Ricky was an enormous loss, too, as Doron ran out of gas as the only playmaker.
97-98 was a really good team but they would lose to that UNC 9 out of 10 times, I think.
01-02 would have beaten anyone except for Maryland with how they (Caron) were playing.
05-06 man for man was probably our most talented but they just never really clicked for more than 10 minutes or so a game. There was a 'Cuse game, at the Dome, where we started the game on a 10-0 run, gave up a big run, and then ended the half on a 19-0 run. In those two runs we were unreal. Then we would take our foot off the gas and let them back in because we'd get complacent. They are the poster child for underachievers and are the answer here. All that talent and we were lucky to get out of the 1-16 game.
08-09 I think we beat MSU but I'm not sure we beat UNC. I know Dyson was a good player and would have been another scoring option, but we were playing GREAT ball without him and you could argue were better because the ball moved more. Just my opinion.
 
I think it has to be 2009, assuming a healthy Dyson. 6 guys who would get drafted/play in the NBA, Austrie and Edwards were fine collegiate players. Also played in what may have been the best year for the Big East, at least at the top - 3 #1 seeds in the NCAAs. One of the few UConn teams you expected to win every game no matter the opponent or location.
 
I always thought '05-06 had the most talent and figured they would run through the tourney that year.

'89-90 will always be my favorite team but I don't think there was any way they were beating UNLV.
 
Brochacho said:
I think it has to be 2009, assuming a healthy Dyson. 6 guys who would get drafted/play in the NBA, Austrie and Edwards were fine collegiate players. Also played in what may have been the best year for the Big East, at least at the top - 3 #1 seeds in the NCAAs. One of the few UConn teams you expected to win every game no matter the opponent or location.
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Agreed. I remember that dismantling AT Louisville to this day. Louisville ended up the overall #1 seed in the tournament. Beating them 68-51 at their place was that UConn team at their peak. If Dyson doesn't get hurt, they go all the way.
 
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Waquoit said:
They weren't beating Duke in 99 either.
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There's a big difference to me between UConn possibly playing UNLV in '90 and beating dook in '99.

'99 UConn was coming off an E8 appearance the season before and was heading in the Finals against dook on a sustained two year run of excellence. Two McD's AA's in the lineup, consensus first team AA in Rip on the floor. That '99 team could score in the halfcourt, in transition and play great D. '99 was also a much bigger team physically inside.

The sole shortcoming of the Dream Season team was halfcourt offense. That team successfully throughout the year used a great TO advantage to get way more possession per game than their opponents. It's a great characteristic to have as a team but they weren't a great offensive team. You had to be able to score for 40 minutes to stay competitive with UNLV.

I looked at this thread not just as who my favorite UConn teams were, or which ones had the most talent, but more from the "which UConn team was best suited to win compared to the field that season?" line of thinking. Winning a championship often takes some good breaks but also good matchups.
 
CTBasketball said:
1989-1990 was the best by far. But after that I think you could argue vs. 2008-2009 and 1995-1996.

2008-2009 had a lot more weapons on offense in my opinion. A healthy Dyson, Price, Kemba, Thabeet, Adrien, Stanley, and even Austrie could go off for 20+ a night. Defensively that team was better than 1995-1996 as well. I think 2008-2009 was one of our better teams ever.
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I think 1994-1995 was better than 1995-1996. They had to play a red hot UCLA team in Cally.or they win it all.
They lost Donny Marshall , KO, and Brian Fair. Donny was the soul , KO the distributor an another leader and Brian a great shooter.
That team blows out MS.
 
AZHuskiePop said:
I think 1994-1995 was better than 1995-1996. They had to play a red hot UCLA team in Cally.or they win it all.
They lost Donny Marshall , KO, and Brian Fair. Donny was the soul , KO the distributor an another leader and Brian a great shooter.
That team blows out MS.
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Need luck at the right time. 1996 didn’t have it, 1995 didn’t either, 2009 certainly didn’t, 2006 don’t remind me, and 1990 lost to Laettner’s shot.

Honestly all these teams were great and could have won it all. Speaks volumes to how great of a coach Calhoun was. Most schools dream about having these conversations.
 
UNLV spit the bit in 1991 with practically the same team. I still think UConn would have been a tougher matchup for the Rebs than Duke in 90.
 
CTBasketball said:
1989-1990 was the best by far. But after that I think you could argue vs. 2008-2009 and 1995-1996.

2008-2009 had a lot more weapons on offense in my opinion. A healthy Dyson, Price, Kemba, Thabeet, Adrien, Stanley, and even Austrie could go off for 20+ a night. Defensively that team was better than 1995-1996 as well. I think 2008-2009 was one of our better teams ever.
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freshman kemba wasn’t the kemba we know. he was more of slasher with no real outside shot. obviously unc was the team to beat, but hey the final 4 is all about matchups.
 
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