Article on ACC and a bunch of historical facts. Duke 99 was maybe best ever.

[Husky25]

This is going to sound like I'm knocking our 99 team, and I'm not. That was and will always be the best sports moment of my life.
But we shot 53 percent that day, Duke 41 percent, and we won by one possession. Of course our defense played a huge role, and Hamilton had the best game of his life on the biggest stage. Not taking anything away from our win.
But if we played each other 10 times those numbers would shift, and not in our favor.
Obviously we didn't have to play 10 times, we played once and we won and it was great. But that Duke team was thought of as great for a simple reason -- it was great. We were better that day, and that's all we needed to be.

Langdon was Duke's top scorer that day, but he is also a one trick pony. UConn could penetrate and dish, or El Amin would launch a whiny floater from 10 feet. Brand was listed a 6'-9", but was probably 6'-6 or 7". UConn was really a bad matchup for Duke, but I'm ecstatic it played out the way it did...except for one thing...The 2 30s of Red Dog per Final 4 game were a bad idea in hindsight. Why did I ever drink that stuff?

 

[Fishy]

UConn lost one game that year at full strength - a two-point loss to a top ten Miami team.

Duke lost two. Once to Cincinnati and once to, well, us.

They beat Michigan State twice that season, both times by six points. Our game with MSU was over by halftime. They went to OT to beat SJU - we beat SJU on the same floor by six and then by 21.

None of that is really conclusive, but it certainly points to Connecticut not being some Cinderella who was just lucky to be there - we won a conference with two other top ten teams in it. UConn beat three top 25 teams fairly convincingly before even getting to Duke.

As for the contention that this was some sort of flukey statistical game....bullcrap. Hamilton was only 10-22. UConn hit just 10 of 18 free throws and converted just three three-point shots. Duke had an 11 point advantage at the free throw line.

The entire world thought UConn would have to slow the pace to stay in the game with Duke. The reality was that UConn was faster and stronger than Duke - Duke was a terrific team, but they struggled with that all night long.

If we play them 100 times, they would not be any faster or stronger.

 

[SubbaBub]

2008-09 Tar Heels are in that conversation. I remember thinking that they were the best team in the country and the ranking after them should start at #6. 7 ACC teams made the Tourney that year.

 

[SubbaBub]

UConn lost one game that year at full strength - a two-point loss to a top ten Miami team.

Duke lost two. Once to Cincinnati and once to, well, us.

They beat Michigan State twice that season, both times by six points. Our game with MSU was over by halftime. They went to OT to beat SJU - we beat SJU on the same floor by six and then by 21.

None of that is really conclusive, but it certainly points to Connecticut not being some Cinderella who was just lucky to be there - we won a conference with two other top ten teams in it. UConn beat three top 25 teams fairly convincingly before even getting to Duke.

As for the contention that this was some sort of flukey statistical game....bullcrap. Hamilton was only 10-22. UConn hit just 10 of 18 free throws and converted just three three-point shots. Duke had an 11 point advantage at the free throw line.

The entire world thought UConn would have to slow the pace to stay in the game with Duke. The reality was that UConn was faster and stronger than Duke - Duke was a terrific team, but they struggled with that all night long.

If we play them 100 times, they would not be any faster or stronger.

Amen. The ACC/Duke propaganda has been lethal over the past two decades.

FWIW, the 99 team was not Duke's best team.

 

[uconndogs]

The entire world thought UConn would have to slow the pace to stay in the game with Duke. The reality was that UConn was faster and stronger than Duke - Duke was a terrific team, but they struggled with that all night long.

Moore took Langdon (I think) twice off the dribble to start that game. That kid could was stuck in cement. Khalid was as fast as anybody with the ball and Moore, Rip and Freeman ran the floor as well as anybody in the country. At the time I did not believe UCONN should be a favorite, but I certainly knew we were faster.

 

[Henry]

I'm so sick of this. UCONN and Duke each spent about half the '99 season at #1.

Last I checked, great teams usually win championships. If the ACC wants to get all misty about a runner-up, that's their business.

Good point. Who remembers the 2001 Seattle Mariners? Most AL wins. Yeah? So what?!

 

[Inyatkin]

No one has really argued UConn was some Cinderella team, or didn't belong.
I guess just I don't get this idea that acknowledging how good Duke was takes away from what we did. You think Duke fans look back on that UNLV team they knocked off and nitpick about it? They probably revel in the fact that it was one of the best teams anyone had seen, yet their guys put together a perfect game plan and beat them head-on.
Just like we did to them eight years later. The fact that they were so good makes our win that much sweeter.

 

[nomar]

No one has really argued UConn was some Cinderella team, or didn't belong.
I guess just I don't get this idea that acknowledging how good Duke was takes away from what we did. You think Duke fans look back on that UNLV team they knocked off and nitpick about it? They probably revel in the fact that it was one of the best teams anyone had seen, yet their guys put together a perfect game plan and beat them head-on.
Just like we did to them eight years later. The fact that they were so good makes our win that much sweeter.

Yeah, while we were oddly a 9-point underdog, you wouldn't find a single person on earth today who would call that a big upset. Even Duke fans. We had a great team.

On another topic discussed in this thread, I mentioned before K not going to his bench. By that I mostly meant Maggette, who was the most athletic player on either team. I've always been of the mind that K simply didn't trust him. Maybe Maggette hadn't hugged him enough by that point. But for whatever reason, K just didn't trust him in a big spot. Bad move.

 

[Excalibur]

Yeah, while we were oddly a 9-point underdog, you wouldn't find a single person on earth today who would call that a big upset. Even Duke fans. We had a great team.

I think that, at the time, the world thought that Duke was a historically great (UNLV 1990-esque) team, based on their having blown everyone out in conference play. They hadn't processed how bad the ACC was in 1999.

 

[tzznandrew]

No one has really argued UConn was some Cinderella team, or didn't belong.
I guess just I don't get this idea that acknowledging how good Duke was takes away from what we did. You think Duke fans look back on that UNLV team they knocked off and nitpick about it? They probably revel in the fact that it was one of the best teams anyone had seen, yet their guys put together a perfect game plan and beat them head-on.
Just like we did to them eight years later. The fact that they were so good makes our win that much sweeter.

They were absolutely great. But UConn was better. I think there's this idea--and you yourself suggested this something like this, if not the specifics--that, if the teams played an NBA Finals type series, Duke would win in 5 or 6 games. The pushback is that UConn was better: not just on that day, but really, actually better, and would win a best of seven series.

Everyone agrees that the Celtics and Lakers of the 1980s were great. But in the years the Celtics won (1984), they were the better team. And vice-versa (85, 87).

 

[Inyatkin]

They were absolutely great. But UConn was better. I think there's this idea--and you yourself suggested this something like this, if not the specifics--that, if the teams played an NBA Finals type series, Duke would win in 5 or 6 games. The pushback is that UConn was better: not just on that day, but really, actually better, and would win a best of seven series.

Everyone agrees that the Celtics and Lakers of the 1980s were great. But in the years the Celtics won (1984), they were the better team. And vice-versa (85, 87).

I guess. But I would argue it doesn't matter. They don't play a series, and it doesn't matter who's better on paper. And I don't think believing Duke would win a seven-game series (and I'm not even sure I do, though I guess I give the idea more credence than most around here) takes away at all from what UConn did that day.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm so sick of this. UCONN and Duke each spent about half the '99 season at #1.

Last I checked, great teams usually win championships. If the ACC wants to get all misty about a runner-up, that's their business.

From what I understand there's a banner hanging from the ceiling at Cameron signifying that team (and their regular season). That move is absolutely Syracuse-esque!

 

[CL82]

Voskuhl was the goalie as well. He didn't have the volumes of blocked shots to which UConn fans became accustomed, but his straight up and down defensive posture still affected a lot of shots.

His contribution to that team is probably the most underrated. Not only was he defensively solid but he was great about getting position, rebounding and starting the break. Jake would be a huge upgrade on this year's team, particularly before Brimah's recent emergence. Can you imagine Bazz and Boat releasing and being hit with passes ahead of the pack at mid-court?

That said, I think Brimah will be something special before he's done at UConn.

 

[CL82]

Yeah, while we were oddly a 9-point underdog, you wouldn't find a single person on earth today who would call that a big upset. Even Duke fans. We had a great team.

On another topic discussed in this thread, I mentioned before K not going to his bench. By that I mostly meant Maggette, who was the most athletic player on either team. I've always been of the mind that K simply didn't trust him. Maybe Maggette hadn't hugged him enough by that point. But for whatever reason, K just didn't trust him in a big spot. Bad move.

IIRC Moore embarrassed him on a couple of plays. That may have played into it. Not that Moore couldn't have made anyone look bad. He may have been our best defensive guard, ever.

 

[Gurleyman]

We had some things go our way, perhaps. Ricky's unexpected scoring outburst, Wane's fallaway over a double team, officials ignoring Battier's flops, etc. But Khalid was in foul trouble and had six turnovers. Ricky played the whole first half (due to Khalid getting two fouls) at an insane energy level and was gassed, resulting in 7 Langdon points in the final minute of the first half when Ricky didn't get out there like he normally does.

We also played absolutely terrible basketball from the 8 minute mark to the 4 minute mark of the second half - turnovers, forced shots, etc. We lost our minds from the excitement. Duke didn't take advantage, so when we settled back down, we were still tied, and Rip's 3 gave us a working lead down the stretch. We got our big buckets late out of plays or designed sets - Rip coming off baseline screens, Khalid forcing mismatch with Brand. Their only big bucket late was a scramble off an offensive rebound.