Is UCONN this good??
- Thread starter HallGuy23
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No , they’re not good at all. It’s all a mirage. Those guys a faking it!
I believe an argument can be made that this two year cycle with about 9 or 10 core guys is as dominant on the college level at Kentucky from 96 to 98. Now Kentucky had more 1st round pros but over the last two seasons this uconn side is most adaptive since that group. They can dominate you on defense, boards, run up and down, secondary offense, set offense, playing inside out, interchangible parts. Spencer and Karaban very willing passers.
No they really are good. Its just that Illinois has never seen a team play like that in the Big 10 before.
Lol at the guy (forgot his name, basketball writer) who said on twitter UConn hasn't played a team with Illinois' toughness yet.
They remind me of 2020-2021 Baylor. That team seems to be forgotten already, they were 28-2 overall and clearly the best team in college basketball that year. A juggernaut.
They remind me of 2020-2021 Baylor. That team seems to be forgotten already, they were 28-2 overall and clearly the best team in college basketball that year. A juggernaut.
They played us twice; so they have seen serious toughness.
Well, once they saw our toughness.
They are this good, but college basketball at large is weaker than it has ever been, which makes UConn even better. This is a team that only has one loss out of conference play in two calendar years, and that loss was by four points at one of the toughest places to play, with a key player injured.
A lot of people don't realize what they're dealing with. Illinois, specifically Hawkins and Underwood (watch their on-court interview after the Sweet 16 when asked about UConn), had no idea either. This is a juggernaut.
A lot of people don't realize what they're dealing with. Illinois, specifically Hawkins and Underwood (watch their on-court interview after the Sweet 16 when asked about UConn), had no idea either. This is a juggernaut.
They have lead each of their four games by 30 points at one point. That is just unbelieveable.
Hurley saw that tweet and used it to motivate the team. He talked about it in the post game presser. He spent a lot of time talking about how the Big East is one of the best basketball conferences in the country and how we should've gotten six teams in.
Does anyone remember that Pitt fan that used to comment on our threads back in 2018, arguing that Jeff Capel was the better hire for Pitt than Hurley? All of the fans here argued Hurley was the better hire, but nobody could have predicted he would be THIS good.
Here are the stats that just blew my mind. In the Northwestern and Illinois tournament games, UConn shot a combined 6 for 39 from 3. They were 3 for 22 against Northwestern (13.6%) and 3 for 17 against the Illini (17.6%). Yet, they still beat Northwestern by 17, and beat the Illini by 25. That’s crazy.
They are a very good basketball team. But what makes them dominant is Clingan. Clingan is a game changer on both ends of the floor. He changes what the opponent does offensively. Even if he doesn’t block the shot, he rushes the offensive player’s shots and alters it.
In my opinion, last year’s UConn team was better and deeper than this years team. Quite frankly it appears to be a matchup with the behemoths. UConn v Purdue. But first, Alabama’s speed and ability to hit threes could be a problem match up for UConn. If they can’t hit the three, it will be another blow out. But there is potential there.
In my opinion, last year’s UConn team was better and deeper than this years team. Quite frankly it appears to be a matchup with the behemoths. UConn v Purdue. But first, Alabama’s speed and ability to hit threes could be a problem match up for UConn. If they can’t hit the three, it will be another blow out. But there is potential there.
Hurley also referenced others saying that the Huskies hadn’t seen a physical team like Illinois.
“Statements like that are just asinine,” Hurley said. “You’re going against beasts and monsters every night in the Big East, and the Big East prepared us for teams like Illinois.”
nypost.com
“Statements like that are just asinine,” Hurley said. “You’re going against beasts and monsters every night in the Big East, and the Big East prepared us for teams like Illinois.”
Dan Hurley, UConn fueled by ‘asinine’ March Madness social media posts
A lot, according to Dan Hurley, was said and written about on social media between the Sweet 16 results and Saturday night’s Elite Eight matchup between top-seeded Connecticut and No. 3 Illinois. H…
nypost.com
I think you’re shortchanging the overall roster and Hurley’s coaching. UConn was as dominant last year and Clingan only logged 13 minutes a game.
The thing that strikes me is their OOC record over the last three years (one without Clingan) and how dominant they have been.
This is the first time I'm posting in several years and it's only to point out something that possibly others here might not be as much aware of.
Looking at the way Connecticut has been playing for at least the past couple of seasons, I am very much reminded of how Bob Hurley's St. Anthony high school teams played for the several decades that he coached there. And IMHO it's no coincidence.
I'm guessing that Dan is in large part modelling his program's offensive and defensive tactics, strategy and even recruiting priorities after his father's. Because the players that Dan has been recruiting also seem to me to share a similar combination of athletic ability and basketball smarts. And IMHO, this is likely the primary reason why they've been do dominant.
St. Anthony was just as dominant during Bob's coaching career, doing to other highly rated and successful high school programs what Connecticut has been doing, and in St. Anthony's case they did it over the course of about three decades. It's why I laughed a little when one of the post-game analysts commented that they're going to have to start using the term 'UConn-style basketball' going forward. To me, it's more like St. Anthony or Bob Hurley style. And this is coming from someone who was more of a St. Anthony 'hater' back in the day, precisely because of how dominant they were.
Looking at the way Connecticut has been playing for at least the past couple of seasons, I am very much reminded of how Bob Hurley's St. Anthony high school teams played for the several decades that he coached there. And IMHO it's no coincidence.
I'm guessing that Dan is in large part modelling his program's offensive and defensive tactics, strategy and even recruiting priorities after his father's. Because the players that Dan has been recruiting also seem to me to share a similar combination of athletic ability and basketball smarts. And IMHO, this is likely the primary reason why they've been do dominant.
St. Anthony was just as dominant during Bob's coaching career, doing to other highly rated and successful high school programs what Connecticut has been doing, and in St. Anthony's case they did it over the course of about three decades. It's why I laughed a little when one of the post-game analysts commented that they're going to have to start using the term 'UConn-style basketball' going forward. To me, it's more like St. Anthony or Bob Hurley style. And this is coming from someone who was more of a St. Anthony 'hater' back in the day, precisely because of how dominant they were.
What’s amazing is that Illinois is a really, really good team that, if they were in another region, they would probably be in the Final Four. To lap any D1 team with a 30-0 run is an accomplishment. To do it against this Illinois team in the Elite 8 is simply remarkable.
Tremendous team. The article about Danny leaning into analytics, and hiring Luke Murray, to fix his offense was excellent. Tons of respect for a coach who, although already very good, has enough humility to recognize his weaknesses and seek out help to correct them.
They must be that good cuz we only beat them by 15! 😃
I think it all points back to Danny’s personal journey. His openness from the peace he’s found in who he is has made him an elite coach who is already building his own legendary career at only 51 years old.
Yes they are that good and Danny has done an outstanding job coaching this team. I’d like to know how much NIL money has been allocated to the players on his team. Since basketball is king at UConn not football I would expect the numbers are substantial and that will allow Danny to recruit the highly rated players and keep UConn a top 10 team going forward.
I think another interesting question is, does UCONN become UCONN again and go on this two-year tear if they’re still stuck in the American Athletic Conference? My simple response is “hell no.”
It’s important, in any industry really, to know what you don’t know and surround yourself with people that do.
You think? Sanogo, Hawkins and Jackson was on last year's team. Only significant addition is Castle and Cam Spencer. Talent wise its last year's team. They beat every team by at least 13 points. This year's team may beat teams at a higher clip but the field is weaker as well.
That and the fact that the athletic department got a very fast start when the NIL landscape was developing. That put us ahead of the curve.
They are really good. Watching them yesterday I really was wondering how we beat them. No knock on our team. We deserved to win that game. We outplayed them on that night. And we turned a 10 point deficit into a 6 point lead WITH Clingan in the game. Maybe we were better than anyone gave us credit for.
I think you were. I've said here a few times that you were definitely good enough to get out of the first weekend of the tournament and who knows what could've happened with a little bit of luck and good matchups.
In my opinion Connecticut was not mentally prepared for it the level of aggressive guard play on both sides of the ball that Seton Hall threw at us. You punched us in the mouth, and we never recovered, at least in that game.
You hear other leagues talking about how tough their conferences are and how it prepares them for the tournament. They have no idea how tough the big east is and somehow think the fact that they play football makes them a better basketball team than the bulk of our conference. As Hurley said in his presser, iron sharpens iron.
I think you had the potential to surprise some teams. It's a shame that the committee took that away from you; a shame that the big east supposed representative to the selection committee allowed it to happen; and a shame that our commissioner was apologetic about it rather than being outraged. All you can do at this point is win the NIT. So far, so good.
I hope you can keep the bulk of the team together, get some good additions and make a good run next year so you can get the shot that was taken from you this year. (And by the bulk of the team, I mean everybody except Richmond. You know why.)
CL, it is good to have guys on the board who have another teams perspective. Competitive but respectful. It is appreciated. Regarding the selection committee. I think the problem is not just the committee but the metrics. The Net makes no sense. Kenpom has always been a little dicey. I am a statistician by trade. Basketball is a momentum game. The weighting of the beginning of the season does not make sense as the season progresses. If N.C. State hadn’t won the ACC they wouldn’t have been selected. Now they are giant killers. They manhandled Duke last night. UConn may be the best “team” in NCAA history. Not a group of individuals, but a team in the true sense of the word. I give that credit to Danny. They may have actually had better players last year, but the are a much better team this year. We caught them and Richmond is a thorn in your side. But except for the Celtics I am not sure any “team” can catch them right now. Interesting to see the matchup if they end up playing Purdue. Eady may offset Clingnan, but the rest of Purdue can’t touch UConn as a team.
Absolutely. Last year's team entered the tournament as a 4 seed with a 25-8 record. This year's was dominant all year, entering as the #1 overall seed and 31-3. Clingan has seamlessly taken over for Sanogo and actually makes them better defensively. Newton, Karaban, and Diarra have all improved year over year. Spencer gives them what they had in Hawkins' shooting ability and is way better than Calcaterra.
Their defense overall is really good, just as it was last year, but the offense is significantly improved.
Anyone can have a bad game but UConn has so many options.
They’ve won these games by 39, 17, 30, and 25 despite shooting 25/89 (.281) from 3.
My high school team played St Anthony’s in an annual series for decades so I watched them play a good deal. As a manager I had a front row seat to a lot of it (or a high perch for game film) and I agree 1000% with this statement. The more I watch UConn especially over the past two years I see a lot of similarities with Bob Sr’s teams style in Danny’s UConn teams. The way that they can beat you so many different ways it’s like pick your poison. UConn looks to be a level above every team outside the Big East much like the old man’s teams used to bulldoze Non Public B every year.
Everyone wondered who would take Jay's place as the face of the conference....well that's been answered. I do like the way Dan promotes the conference but with his own style.
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