All time UConn team

[Gurleyman]

College only:

Kemba is interchangeable. Emeka is not. Rip is not. Donyell is not. Ray is somewhat.

Kemba is equal to Chris Smith, or KEA

Ray you have Ben Gordon and Caron Butler

Emeka, Rip and Donyell are the anchors. Emeka and Donyell need no writeup.

Surprised to see Rip left off some teams. What Rip (1st team AA) did to the best team in college basketball when the lights were on was remarkable, yet he was doing it all his career. Clearly our most fearless player, nothing and no one stopped him.

Kemba was awesome his Junior year especially tourney times. Chris and KEA were awesome for a longer period of time.

Ray (our legend) was a great player but so were Ben and Caron, and to say one had a better career than the other will always be debatable.

I agree with Rip - he was getting you 20+ in every postseason game. His Gonzaga performance (shooting 9-for-14 against a box and one) was unreal, scoring 24 on a night when KEA was in la-la land and he had to score (plus he had two dump-down passes to Jake for late lay-ups that were the difference).
Kemba and Ray are locks for the backcourt, in my opinion. Don't think anyone can really touch them. I know they have chinks in their armor (Kemba's sophomore year, no Final Fours for Ray), but the plus side of their ledger trumps anything that anyone else can bring to the table (Kemba's junior year and two Final Fours, Ray's 49-5 Big East record and path to Springfield). Both were No. 2 in National Player of the Year voting as well.

That squeezes Caron out, but as much as I loved seeing him play, I think that's fair. He played one less season, and really didn't turn the corner into star status until late in his sophomore year.

 

[RichZ]

Also, if we were putting together an actual team to play real games, someone has to make room for Ricky Moore, just in case someone on the other team needs to be shut down. We won't have trouble scoring.

Agreed. But I also want Lyman DePriest on the bench for pretty much the same reason. I always figured we'd only need to score once if we had Ricky and Lyman on the court at the same time.

Seriously, this thread really reminds me how many really good and really entertaining players we've had the pleasure of watching over the past quarter century or so.

 

[freescooter]

You sir are old. Bialasuknia?

Well not that old, but I did see him play once and was of an age where the name was great. My father & my uncle took a cousin and I to the UConn-BC NCAA tourney game at URI. Cousy coached BC at the time. I also remember my mother was hosting a shower for her cousin and it my father wanted to get as far away as possible. But look at his stats...He scored 28/game one year when there was no 3-point line. He had 50 one time. If the 3-point line had existed he'd have averaged 40 points a game.

 

[Gurleyman]

Well not that old, but I did see him play once and was of an age where the name was great. My father & my uncle took a cousin and I to the UConn-BC NCAA tourney game at URI. Cousy coached BC at the time. I also remember my mother was hosting a shower for her cousin and it my father wanted to get as far away as possible. But look at his stats...He scored 28/game one year when there was no 3-point line. He had 50 one time. If the 3-point line had existed he'd have averaged 40 points a game.

You do realize that you're claiming he would average 12 three-pointers a game, right? We'll just chalk that one up to a little hyperbole.

 

[Hoophound]

You do realize that you're claiming he would average 12 three-pointers a game, right? We'll just chalk that one up to a little hyperbole.

He really did shoot many, many bombs per game. I have had two previous generations of fans tell me this for years. Freescooter is probably right.

 

[Gurleyman]

Agreed. But I also want Lyman DePriest on the bench for pretty much the same reason. I always figured we'd only need to score once if we had Ricky and Lyman on the court at the same time.

Seriously, this thread really reminds me how many really good and really entertaining players we've had the pleasure of watching over the past quarter century or so.

Good call. Lyman had a part in shutting down 5-9 Dana Barros and 7-1 Shaquille O'Neal in the postseason - not many folks could pull that off.

Well, maybe shutting down is too strong of a description with Shaq, who still got his numbers, but he helped slow him down and we killed them.

 

[Scoe]

I wouldnt put him on the alltime Uconn team but Denham was pretty underrated, he was clutch. He had the game tying shot to send it into OT against well you know who in our Elite 8 game you could argue he got fouled on that shot, then he had the potential GW 3 that would have sent us to the FF that year.

 

[Gurleyman]

He really did shoot many, many bombs per game. I have had two previous generations of fans tell me this for years. Freescooter is probably right.

Only five times in NCAA history has a player made more than 12 three-pointers in a single game (the record is 15, three guys have made 14 and one made 13). I believe Ray holds our school record with nine in a game against Rutgers and our record for a season with about 3.5 per game. Only once has an NCAA player averaged more than 5 a game for a single season - Darrin Fitzgerald of Butler in the very first year they had the rule.

You have to remember - Wes might have shot nothing but deep bombs back in the day, but teams would guard it differently if it was worth three points instead of two.

 

[Inyatkin]

I agree with Rip - he was getting you 20+ in every postseason game. His Gonzaga performance (shooting 9-for-14 against a box and one) was unreal, scoring 24 on a night when KEA was in la-la land and he had to score (plus he had two dump-down passes to Jake for late lay-ups that were the difference).
Kemba and Ray are locks for the backcourt, in my opinion. Don't think anyone can really touch them. I know they have chinks in their armor (Kemba's sophomore year, no Final Fours for Ray), but the plus side of their ledger trumps anything that anyone else can bring to the table (Kemba's junior year and two Final Fours, Ray's 49-5 Big East record and path to Springfield). Both were No. 2 in National Player of the Year voting as well.

That squeezes Caron out, but as much as I loved seeing him play, I think that's fair. He played one less season, and really didn't turn the corner into star status until late in his sophomore year.

Craziest stat in all this -- 49-5. 49-5 in the Big East! That's insane.

 

[rw005]

It's too hard to put an all-time team together because each player has had success in UConn regardless of era, but I'll try . This is more of my own opinion. So criticize on!

PG: Kemba
SG: Rip
SF: Donyell
PF: Emeka
C: Thabeet (gotta have the block-shots)

Bench: Ben, Cliffy, Ray, Art Quimby, AJ, Caron, Voskuhl (leadership)

3 players in case of injury and on roster:
Khalid, Chris Smith, and Rudy

Head coach: Jim Calhoun

3 Assistants:
Kevin Ollie
Corny Thompson
Scott Burrell

Director of Basketball: Ricky Moore
Assistant Director: Rashad

Media and Public Relations: Ed Nelson with Donny
Personal bodyguards of the team: Andre Drummond, Dyson, Adrien

enjoy!

 

[huskies20]

Cliff Robinson is the only one from before 90 that could crack the squad. Other than Chris smith who I have .

CORNY

 

[msgordon]

if were talking actual fit, im taking marcus at point and feeling fine about it. might sound crazy but you dont even really want kemba shooting with rip/ray/donyell/emeka on the floor. leave him open and hes a better spot up 3pt shooter than any of our other pgs and i believe was our best ft shooter ever his jr year. defense would be a little worse but i believe would still be a better unit overall

 

[joober jones]

Give us 12 Mandeldoves and 1 Darius Smith and we'll have a lock on #4

 

[CTBasketball]

I'm sorry, but Taliek Brown and Rashad Anderson do not belong on this team. The fact that you have Taliek starting over Kemba is a joke. Seriously, give me one thing Taliek did better than Kemba.

I chose Taliek because he was a good passer. Marcus Williams would have been a more proper choice, but I do not know why I went with Taliek.

I think Kemba on a team with Ray and Rip would take touches away from them. Rip/Ray were better pure scorers than Kemba. We'd have a better chance of winning with Ray and Rip shooting, than Ray, Rip, and Kemba sharing shots.

 

[Devland]

They played bball at UConn prior to 1990.

How could you have an alltime team without Toby Kimball? He averaged 18.4 points and 17.9 rebounds for his career. He went to a final 8. He led the nation in rebounding.

 

[Kitaman]

How could you have an alltime team without Toby Kimball? He averaged 18.4 points and 17.9 rebounds for his career. He went to a final 8. He led the nation in rebounding.

With instant everything (i.e. internet) many posters forget to, or don't, read the archives. In there you will also find Corny Thompson. It takes work to find them, beyond Google. But we are showing our age. One day even Donyell will be forgotten.

 

[joober jones]

With instant everything (i.e. internet) many posters forget to, or don't, read the archives. In there you will also find Corny Thompson. It takes work to find them, beyond Google. But we are showing our age. One day even Donyell will be forgotten.

Only senility will take away my memories of Donyell. Either that, or it'll exaggerate them and I'll think my convalescent home roommate is Donyell Marshall and I'm Jeff Cybart.

 

[B1GEast]

Well not that old, but I did see him play once and was of an age where the name was great. My father & my uncle took a cousin and I to the UConn-BC NCAA tourney game at URI. Cousy coached BC at the time. I also remember my mother was hosting a shower for her cousin and it my father wanted to get as far away as possible. But look at his stats...He scored 28/game one year when there was no 3-point line. He had 50 one time. If the 3-point line had existed he'd have averaged 40 points a game.

Did you go in the Model T?

 

[Palatine]

Cliff Robinson is the only one from before 90 that could crack the squad. Other than Chris smith who I have .

Kimball was a great college player and would have found a place in the expanded NBA of today.

He did something no one on this year's team can, rebound.

 

[mauconnfan]

Kimball, Wes B, Tony H, Corny, McKay, Thomson, Foster, Thomas, Kelley (another great rebounder from Tuscaloosa) all could be considered and could play today w/o a doubt.....some maybe's include Whelton and Weston..........

 

[jleves]

I haven't taken a shot at this for a while. I'm going with the Calhoun era as I don't really have any idea about the kids before that and even then, the first 5 years or so I didn't follow them rabidly, so I don't know guys like Smith of Cliff. I'm also going at it from a team perspective, not necessarily the 13 best players, but the players you want for a team.

As many have said, the starting 5 are pretty much a lock, but that team has some defensive weakness that needs to be dealt with. So, here is how I go:

PG: Kemba
SG: Ray
SF: Rip
PF: Donyell
C: Emeka

To fix some of the defensive issues and for general toughness, first three off the bench, Moore, Caron, Freeman
You need another real point guard and shooting guard - Khalid, Gordon
Every team needs a sharpshooter to get you back in the game (remember UMass?) - Rashad
It's a little guard and wing heavy, so for depth up front, Villanueva and Jake

That leaves you with the following possibilities by position
PG: Kemba, Khalid, Moore, Gordon
SG: Ray, Gordon, Khalid, Rip
SF: Rip, Caron, Rashad, Ray, Villanueva
PF: Donyell, Freeman, Villanueva, Caron
C: Emeka, Jake, Villanueva

Rocket Team, Kemba, Gordon, Ray, Villanueva, Emeka
Huge Team, Gordon, Rip, Villanueva, Donyell, Jake
3pt Team, Khalid, Gordon, Rashad, Donyell, Villanueva
Defensive Team, Moore, Gordon, Caron, Freeman, Emeka

 

[Deleted member 3149]

I haven't taken a shot at this for a while. I'm going with the Calhoun era as I don't really have any idea about the kids before that and even then, the first 5 years or so I didn't follow them rabidly, so I don't know guys like Smith of Cliff. I'm also going at it from a team perspective, not necessarily the 13 best players, but the players you want for a team.

As many have said, the starting 5 are pretty much a lock, but that team has some defensive weakness that needs to be dealt with. So, here is how I go:

PG: Kemba
SG: Ray
SF: Rip
PF: Donyell
C: Emeka

To fix some of the defensive issues and for general toughness, first three off the bench, Moore, Caron, Freeman
You need another real point guard and shooting guard - Khalid, Gordon
Every team needs a sharpshooter to get you back in the game (remember UMass?) - Rashad
It's a little guard and wing heavy, so for depth up front, Villanueva and Jake

That leaves you with the following possibilities by position
PG: Kemba, Khalid, Moore, Gordon
SG: Ray, Gordon, Khalid, Rip
SF: Rip, Caron, Rashad, Ray, Villanueva
PF: Donyell, Freeman, Villanueva, Caron
C: Emeka, Jake, Villanueva

Rocket Team, Kemba, Gordon, Ray, Villanueva, Emeka
Huge Team, Gordon, Rip, Villanueva, Donyell, Jake
3pt Team, Khalid, Gordon, Rashad, Donyell, Villanueva
Defensive Team, Moore, Gordon, Caron, Freeman, Emeka

Gotta add ray to the 3pt team man

 

[hungry husky]

Where does Johnny Selvie fit into all of this?

 

[mauconnfan]

Where does Johnny Selvie fit into all of this?

Where does he fit? Well it's all his fault we even had this thread..........

 

[Kitaman]

Gotta add ray to the 3pt team man

Chris Smith had some range too. Brain Fair was not bad. John Gwynn gets no love.

Toughness what about Kirk King and 'head bashing' Sellers?

This is like the ESPN discussion every year of who didn't make the All Star team.