Penny Hardaway: "We're going to win a national championship" | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Penny Hardaway: "We're going to win a national championship"

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Someone needs to introduce Penny the the word Doomed.

He essentially has a modern Kentucky all freshman team. They will struggle at times and then possibly gel for a run in the tournament. But the same reason I almost never think Kentucky will win a championship applies here as well. Young teams rarely do. They don’t have as much young talent as Duke had last year and that team fell short.
Calipari also has depth to his rosters because he gets those type of classes almost every year, and he’s a great defensive coach who has been doing this for a long time. Penny is largely unproven, lost almost all of his team’s production in last year’s graduating class, and doesn’t have great depth as a result. On paper they should finish 1st or 2nd in the conference, but a deep tournament run would surprise me.
 

ctchamps

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The truth is... we should all LOVE this :D

For anyone who has not been paying attention, since forming the conglomeration of mostly ill-fitted conference mates (for us) we have been out wandering in a wasteland on so many levels, particularly when it comes to being able to lather up a deep-in-our-souls hatred for someone... anyone.

We have had to mostly manufacture it... and that has SUCKED. And frankly, it has not worked much.

We have hated on Kentucky (John Calipari) and Duke (Coach K) by far more than anyone else, and certainly anyone in our conferece, over the last 5 years... and we rarely even play either of them. It's just not the same. Sure, we pick on the nose picker and Syracuse as well, but it is just not the same when the "highlight" of our year has come in December! And sorry, but Cincinnati, even with that little Napoleonic head coach Cronin, did not rise up to that level with any consistency, either.

I, as well as many of you, have been around long enough to remember what it was like to really HATE a team and their coach... Georgetown/John Thompson, St. John's and Louie Carnesecca, Syracuse/Boeheim, Villanova and Rollie and then Pittsburgh with Ben Howland and then Jamie Dixon. We respected them, sure (at least for the most part)... but we HATED them. We REVELED in those moments when we beat them. Particularly in the moments that produced the highest stakes. Those are some of the games that stand near the pinnacle of best games we have ever been involved in.

Now, we have a guy who is a chip off that old block... big ego and all! And he brought in a recruiting class that even surpasses Calipari and Coach K, atleast for this year.

So, I think Penny's boastfulness is wonderful... two AAC conference contests to actually circle on our calendar. What a novel concept. Thanks Penny!... and thanks to Coach Hurley and the entire coaching staff, too, as they rebuild our program back towards what we were like in our glory days.
It's a positive for UConn only if UConn has a good season this year because it will make college bb fans pay more attention to the AAC. Could help with UConn's recruiting next year if we do well.

It can help the AAC in the future, but that isn't our future.
 
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He should probably first worry about winning a conference tourney or championship.
 

pj

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In the arc of CBB history, guys like Penny Hardaway don’t win the NC. You have to grind your way through HS & 10-15 years of major college ball. There is a Kevin Ollie reference here.

Jim Calhoun or Chris Beard. Bobby Knight & Jerry Tarkanian & K & Izzo & even Gary Williams have more credibility. Guys who win NCs aren’t flukes. Which gets us back to Kevin: he was brilliant for a 6 game ride PLUS the BE. But only a crusty old gym rat understands the 100 other things you need to be to be a Solid Championship Program. I like he said this. And I bet we could hear Calhoun saying it loudly in our locker room. Occasionally. But I say he is yet unaware of the bumps on the road.

Wait, you are using Kevin Ollie to show that an inexperienced coach can't win a national championship?

I hope Penny does win it. I think his chances are about 1% or less, but I'd like to see college basketball get shaken up, and P5 conferences motivated to stop the $ and cheating.
 

RichZ

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I can recall an inexperienced head coach saying, "We're gonna win this game," before rejoining his team in the locker room for halftime in an NCAA game against Villanova. Earlier in the season, he had his team visit the TX site where the Final Four would be played.
Totally different to say it on the eve of the game, after scouting the opponent's tendencies and identifying weaknesses that no-one had previously exploited, than to say it to a reporter(s) before your players have ever competed on a basketball court as a team before, and you have no idea who you'll have to beat to do it.

Then again, JC did start scouting Duke early on, preparing to kick their collective behinds in the tourney, so there's that...
 
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Hans Sprungfeld

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Totally different to say it on the eve of the game, after scouting the opponent's tendencies and identifying weaknesses that no-one had previously exploited, than to say it to a reporter(s) before your players have ever competed on a basketball court as a team before, and you have no idea who you'll have to beat to do it.

Then again, JC did start scouting Duke early on, preparing to kick their collective behinds in the tourney, so there's that...
Just having fun.

At the time, I totally loved the halftime line, and all that followed through Emmert's presentation of the trophy.
 
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Wait, you are using Kevin Ollie to show that an inexperienced coach can't win a national championship?

I hope Penny does win it. I think his chances are about 1% or less, but I'd like to see college basketball get shaken up, and P5 conferences motivated to stop the $ and cheating.


I don’t think Memphis winning the national title will teach anyone anything about stopping $ and cheating. I think it will do just the opposite.

No chance the guy recruiting in a private jet and ballsy enough to post it on Instagram is going to be the poster boy for doing things the right way.
 

whaler11

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Wait, you are using Kevin Ollie to show that an inexperienced coach can't win a national championship?

I hope Penny does win it. I think his chances are about 1% or less, but I'd like to see college basketball get shaken up, and P5 conferences motivated to stop the $ and cheating.

so the P5 might be motivated to m stop cheating if Memphis State wins.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
 
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Not sure he wins this year but if he keeps recruiting and doesn’t burn out they will compete for 1 long before we do.
 

UConn_Top_Dog

"Your school wins games... WE WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!"
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Why the hell isn’t Coach Hurley saying the same thing??? I’m done! Our coach is displaying the AAC championship trophy at practice instead of our national titles!!! How much lower can our expectations get??? This is a disgrace!
 
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This quote shows how much of a rookie Penny is at this. Not even the greats would ever guarantee a national title at the beginning of a season. It shows a lack of appreciation for what it actually takes to achieve that. You have to be better than great, you have to be a little lucky as well. But of course a coach who’s never coached an NCAA tournament game wouldn’t know such a thing. He’s going to be humbled very quickly. I would love for The Fighting Hurley’s to be the ones to do it.
 

nelsonmuntz

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I think guaranteeing a national championship is silly, but I don't get why people are rooting against Hardaway.
 
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Cool, he just provided locker room ammo for every opponent this year. I am sure Wichita, Cincy, Houston, Oregon, Tennessee, Georgia, etc. will be primed and ready to take down this young team and what seems like their arrogant new coach. Lets see if he can back up his words, the aforementioned teams and more are eager to see it.

Mark your calendars, 121 days and 22 hours from now....
I get what you’re saying but you’d love what the coach is saying if it was Hurley. At least I would. He’s confident in his team and sees something special. Great for them. We just gotta focus on ourselves and when ready go to battle.
 

ctchamps

We are UConn!! 4>1 But 5>>>>1 is even better!
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I get what you’re saying but you’d love what the coach is saying if it was Hurley. At least I would. He’s confident in his team and sees something special. Great for them. We just gotta focus on ourselves and when ready go to battle.
Your wish is my command:

Hype for this has built up since the very beginning of 2019, when Akok enrolled for spring semester to get a head start on acclimating to the team and the college game. Gaffney and Bouknight have the potential to be the Huskies’ next great backcourt, and Springs was a late addition to the class, but seems loaded with potential. And while latter slid under the radar for a lot of fans, Hurley is excited about his potential while in Storrs.
“He’s just such a quality addition. Probably of the guys, him and RJ [Cole] probably got the least amount of fanfare. Those guys will be integral parts to hopefully a championship,” Hurley said of Springs.


A Coach who Recognizes National Championship U (as opposed to helms trophy u.)
 

RichZ

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The more I think about this, the more I think it may be a stroke of genius.
It will have the desired effect on his team, showing that he has unbridled confidence in them.
Come the day, if by some miracle they actually do win it, he's a basketball god.
And if they aren't even in the picture at season's end? No one will remember anyway.
 
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If they win it all they’ll have to return the trophy. This is a program in the express lane to sanctions.
 
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I think guaranteeing a national championship is silly, but I don't get why people are rooting against Hardaway.
I have no issue with Memphis and Penny. I'll root against them when I deem appropriate, like any other non-UConn program, but without the vitriol I have towards programs that have a tradition with UConn and/or where I know grads.

I think there are a number of reasons people root against Hardaway. 1) Memphis is a bad commuter school academically, so they can't be good at basketball unless they are cheating; 2) Penny has no college/pro head coach experience (and ties to AAU), so he's going to flame out like our inexperienced guy (and he must be cheating); 3) Penny is killing it at recruiting to the AAC, so he must be cheating; 4) Penny isn't coaching at UConn, so he must be cheating (and all of our coaches are saints... except KO of course). I think I got most of the reasons.
 
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Wait, you are using Kevin Ollie to show that an inexperienced coach can't win a national championship?

I hope Penny does win it. I think his chances are about 1% or less, but I'd like to see college basketball get shaken up, and P5 conferences motivated to stop the $ and cheating.
Stopping $ and cheating isn't happening. It's only getting worse and it has nothing to do with Hardaway or Memphis. It will be because of the California ruling. Now agents will be more involved with college basketball. Not necessarily within the rules. Where there's money there will be agents sniffing.
 

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