We were essentially unbeatable with a healthy Clingan in 2024 and a healthy Emeka in 2004.

[Scoe]

Honestly no one came within double digits barring health and no foul trouble, every loss if I can remember had these guys in street clothes or coming out of the game.

Going back to 2004 I remember every pundit in the media said with Emeka no one is beating us, even Jim Boeheim said with a healthy Emeka no one is coming close to beating UConn.

This past season 2024, 2 of the 3 loses Clingan came out of the game early and the other team dominated us on the road, the KU loss no one played well except Tristen Newton, and also no Steph and a hobbled Cam Spencer.

Not saying we definetly go undefeated in both of those seasons but we see how close to unbeatable we really were when Emeka and Clingan were both on the court.

 

[uh-no]

creighton?

 

[TheHorde]

Honestly no one came within double digits barring health and no foul trouble, every loss if I can remember had these guys in street clothes or coming out of the game.

Going back to 2004 I remember every pundit in the media said with Emeka no one is beating us, I even Jim Boeheim said with a healthy Emeka no one is coming close to beating UConn.

This past season 2024, 2 of the 3 loses Clingan came out of the game early and the other team dominated us on the road, the KU loss no one played well except Tristen Newton, and also no Steph and a hobbled Cam Spencer.

Not saying we definetly go undefeated in both of those seasons but we see how close to unbeatable we really were when Emeka and Clingan were both on the court.

The 1999 squad I believe only lost 2 games and the loss to Syracuse happened with Rip and Jake hurt and unavailable that game.

 

[Scoe]

I must add we did not lose a game without Clingan, that’s how freaking good we were and it was kind of a break in our schedule. Not sure what our record was without Emeka.

 

[Scoe]

creighton?

A game where Clingan come out early with foul trouble, then Creighton went on a furious run, it had Hurley bring DC back into the game in 1st half so we wouldn’t be down 20 plus, actually made it somewhat interesting in 2nd half, that just further states my point. Yes could’ve should’ve would’ve and Creighton deserved that win.

 

[Scoe]

The 1999 squad I believe only lost 2 games and the loss to Syracuse happened with Rip and Jake hurt and unavailable that game.

Yes and Jakes value on that team was so underrated, in the Miami game we were up double digits early.

 

[AdamaNation]

Honestly no one came within double digits barring health and no foul trouble, every loss if I can remember had these guys in street clothes or coming out of the game.

Going back to 2004 I remember every pundit in the media said with Emeka no one is beating us, even Jim Boeheim said with a healthy Emeka no one is coming close to beating UConn.

This past season 2024, 2 of the 3 loses Clingan came out of the game early and the other team dominated us on the road, the KU loss no one played well except Tristen Newton, and also no Steph and a hobbled Cam Spencer.

Not saying we definetly go undefeated in both of those seasons but we see how close to unbeatable we really were when Emeka and Clingan were both on the court.

I think aside from a 3peat a number 1 pick and running the table are actual goals for the program right now.

 

[UC0NN]

24 team - Ways to beat this team, get Clingan in foul trouble, hope they miss open 3s.

04 team - Hard to compare eras bc the game was played differently. But basically key to beating them is stopping Ben Gordon. Boone and Taliek are not going to score. Mek is going to get his either way. CV and Marcus were freshman that showed flashes. Denham was a solid all around player. Anderson was a specialist, albeit one of the best in the country.

04 team was a bit inconsistent. Sure Mek had back trouble, but they are so loaded they still should not have had 6 losses. That is how talented this team was. Without question the most talented roster in Uconn history.

 

[UC0NN]

It is also hard to compare the 99 team head to head bc it was a different era. You could never have 3 non 3 point shooters in your starting lineup, Ricky, Freeman, and Jake. Granted, 3 great defenders. Team had 2 losses, both injury related. And they beat the great Duke team in the finals.

 

[uh-no]

A game where Clingan come out early with foul trouble, then Creighton went on a furious run, it had Hurley bring DC back into the game in 1st half so we wouldn’t be down 20 plus, actually made it somewhat interesting in 2nd half, that just further states my point. Yes could’ve should’ve would’ve and Creighton deserved that win.

clingan played 26 minutes and finished with 3pf. We were outscored (-5) even when he was on the floor.

 

[Scoe]

clingan played 26 minutes and finished with 3pf. We were outscored (-5) even when he was on the floor.

Look Creighton deserved to win that game no question. Now Clingan came out of that game with 2 fouls and Uconn winning, then Creighton went on a furious run, and they didn’t stop shooting the lights out even when we creeped back in it, Clingan did not play well

I’m pretty sure the early fouls effected his play mentally. The game was over when he came out of that game. You said we were outscored (-5) when he was on the floor now how much were we outscored with Clingan on the bench.

 

[uh-no]

Look Creighton deserved to win that game no question. Now Clingan came out of that game with 2 fouls and Uconn winning, then Creighton went on a furious run, and they didn’t stop shooting the lights out even when we creeped back in it, Clingan did not play well

I’m pretty sure the early fouls effected his play mentally. The game was over when he came out of that game. You said we were outscored (-5) when he was on the floor now how much were we outscored with Clingan on the bench.

we were outscored with clingan. we were not "unbeatable" with him. the fact that we stunk it up even more without him is irrelevant, becasue we couldn't do much even WITH him, which was your argument.

 

[Scoe]

we were outscored with clingan. we were not "unbeatable" with him. the fact that we stunk it up even more without him is irrelevant, becasue we couldn't do much even WITH him, which was your argument.

I said essentially unbeatable not unbeatable, he came out of the game when we were winning, started game up 11-2. I did say they deserved to win that game.

 

[UC0NN]

Creighton deserved to win that home game. They blasted us on offense and defense and outhustled us. They got some clean looks too, quite a few of them.

 

[Scoe]

Creighton deserved to win that home game. They blasted us on offense and defense and outhustled us. They got some clean looks too, quite a few of them.

I’m not one to say losing that game helped us but that game definetly helped us going forward.

 

[uconndogs]

Emeka was dominant from the moment he stepped on the floor as a freshman. His combination of length and athleticism was exceptional. He instantly made the defense significantly better. Clingan had much the same impact. These recent teams used Clingan (and Johnson) to defend the three exceptionally well. Hats off to Hurley to putting that strategy and culture together. That is one of the key reasons why UCONN was so dominant these last two seasons. It was just very hard to get good looks at the three point line and when you broke that defense down you had to contend with exceptional defense at the rim.

 

[ctchamps]

I said essentially unbeatable not unbeatable, he came out of the game when we were winning, started game up 11-2. I did say they deserved to win that game.

Yes you did.

Clingan’s early foul trouble resulted in our players trying to help Samson against Kalkbrenner. That opened up the perimeter. Creighton was a very good 3pt shooting team but in this game they were unconscious. It was Ashford’s best game of the season. The psychological aspect of the game cannot be overstated.

The crowd, the momentum change, the psychological confidence boost, all came together the moment Donovan went to the bench. Maybe it would have happened later in the game if he didn’t get into early foul trouble but that is speculation.

What might be said is that this game may have played a role in how we chose to play Purdue. Lesson was learned from the Creighton experience.

Your OP was very interesting. Enjoyed reading it. There are always individuals who focus on something contentious and completely disregard the remaining body of work. Or ignore the modifier such as your use of “essentially” in this case because of some agenda driven need of their own.

 

[CL82]

creighton?

No one remembers Creighton.

 

[ctchamps]

No one remembers Creighton.

uh-no!!

 

[Mike Honcho]

Early on in the Calhoun years, fans used to deride the team by likening it to a donut - e.g. no center. How far we've come.

 

[Scoe]

It is also hard to compare the 99 team head to head bc it was a different era. You could never have 3 non 3 point shooters in your starting lineup, Ricky, Freeman, and Jake. Granted, 3 great defenders. Team had 2 losses, both injury related. And they beat the great Duke team in the finals.

Ricky could shoot 3s, off the bench Jones, Harrison and Mouring could shoot them they just didn’t do it very often. I bet if Albert Mouring played in today’s era he averages 15-20 ppg, I believe he averaged 28-30 in I think it was the USBL, if I had to take a guess the 3 pt shot in that league was much more prevelant.

 

[ucp990411]

Yes and Jakes value on that team was so underrated, in the Miami game we were up double digits early.

Hopefully Reed is a Jake type center. Jake is one of my all time favorites

 

[DrZzzz]

The 1999 squad I believe only lost 2 games and the loss to Syracuse happened with Rip and Jake hurt and unavailable that game.

This. Such a joke that the 1999 Duke team is considered one of the greatest teams of all time because they won 32 in a row.

Yeah? IMO Uconn would have gone undefeated barring injuries. More important. They beat this supposed all-time great team.

So the 1999 Huskies are among the all time great college teams. True college basketball gestalt.

 

[Scoe]

24 team - Ways to beat this team, get Clingan in foul trouble, hope they miss open 3s.

04 team - Hard to compare eras bc the game was played differently. But basically key to beating them is stopping Ben Gordon. Boone and Taliek are not going to score. Mek is going to get his either way. CV and Marcus were freshman that showed flashes. Denham was a solid all around player. Anderson was a specialist, albeit one of the best in the country.

04 team was a bit inconsistent. Sure Mek had back trouble, but they are so loaded they still should not have had 6 losses. That is how talented this team was. Without question the most talented roster in Uconn history.

Come to think of it, there are some parallels from the 2004 team and 2023 team. Frustrating loses, when clicking had amazing spurtability. Playing our A game no one was beating us. Sanogo with the 3 pt shot was practically unguardable and he got rest and you had Clingan off the bench.

Think the difference from 2004 was Calhoun was already an established HOF coach, we all said we will be fine at least I did, last year 2023 Hurley was already established HC but still had to prove he could win in March with UConn. The feeling that year was ok we have to get to the sweet 16, in our heads though we were all thinking no reason we shouldn’t win it all.

 

[UC0NN]

This. Such a joke that the 1999 Duke team is considered one of the greatest teams of all time because they won 32 in a row.

Yeah? IMO Uconn would have gone undefeated barring injuries. More important. They beat this supposed all-time great team.

So the 1999 Huskies are among the all time great college teams. True college basketball gestalt.

The hottest team wins the tournament like 11 & 14 Uconn.

The most talented teams have the highest ceilings when they play their A games, 04 Uconn.

The greatest team is the entire season body of work. 99 Duke and 99 Uconn are 2 if the top 3 teams in the past 25 years, they happened to play at the same time. I've seen 99 Uconn ranked #1 on these lists. 99 Duke was blowing teams out the way that 24 Uconn did. Their loss in the tournament, against a 2 loss all time great Uconn team.