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Tournament Finish?

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Buckeye513 said:
March of 2004. National champions. Emeka Okafor, who led one of the best front courts in UConn history, voted Most Outstanding Player in the 2004 tournament.
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While Okafor was a stud, that Team had great great great guard play with Gordan, Anderson, and Brown.

Here is a writeup on their tourney run. Okafor battled injuries throught he big east tourney and into the first couple rounds of the tourney so as Otis said that it took both of front court and backcourt to win the championship.

If you want an example of Guards leading the way look at Cuse's title lead by Melo and Gmac.

UConn’s second trip to Madison Square Garden proved to be much better than their first. Forced to play without the injured Okafor in the first two games of the tournament, Ben Gordon emerged as the star Calhoun had been prodding for three years. During those two games Gordon and company learned how to play without Okafor. They beat Notre Dame and Villanova without their star center, setting up a final classic showdown against nemesis Pittsburgh. Okafor rejoined his troops for this contest. Along with Gordon and Anderson he led UConn to the Big East Championship with a gritty come from behind victory. Gordon finished the tournament with a record 81 points and tournament MVP honors. The win also helped secure the Huskies a number two seed in the “Phoenix” region. If UConn was to advance to their second Final Four, it would take place at the same venue that the 1999 team traveled through.
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UConn’s first opponent, 15th seeded Vermont got off to a quick 7-0 lead over UConn, but there would be no storybook ending for the Catamounts. UConn easily dismissed their northern neighbor and just as convincingly beat up on old friend Dave Leitao’s DePaul squad. Both victories were by 17 points. The Huskies wasted little time deflating the balloon of their next opponent, Vanderbilt, in the Sweet Sixteen. A fiery Alabama team awaited UConn in the regional final after upsetting number one seed Stanford and defending champion Syracuse.


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Alabama ran into a UConn team that was running on all cylinders. The Huskies played their finest half of the season in the Elite Eight and raced out to a 53-29 half time lead. Ben Gordon had his most dominant game of the tournament and again made up for the absence of Okafor who suffered another injury, this time a shoulder injury. Gordon scored 36 points against the Tide and Rashad Anderson added a career high 28 to make Alabama crimson red. The Huskies were heading back to San Antonio, the same place where their season ended a year before. This time, they had the chance to leave San Antonio as champions.

The Final Four was set with a juicy UConn vs. Duke matchup as the nightcap, after a Georgia Tech victory against Oklahoma State in the semifinal. Duke was looking to avenge its 1999 title loss to the Huskies, but even as the higher seed was labeled the underdog this time around. UConn stormed out to an early 15-4 lead and appeared well on their way to yet another blowout victory. UConn was not playing Alabama or Vermont however and Duke would not get blown out. The Dukies clawed back and took control of the game for the majority of the forty minutes. A loose whistle put both teams in foul trouble limiting Okafor to four first half minutes and eventually fouling out both of Duke’s big men. With a 75-67 cushion and three minutes to play Duke appeared to have the game won. Rashad Anderson and Okafor had different ideas and spearheaded one of the NCAA tournament’s finest comeback victories. An Anderson three cut the lead to five, and Okafor’s inside dominance against backup center Nick Horvath proved to be too much for Duke. An Okafor put back of his own miss propelled UConn to a 76-75 lead with less than 30 seconds to play. Anderson and Okafor then iced the game with free throws capping off an amazing 12-0 run. Duke’s Chris Duhon hit a desperation three off glass that trimmed the victory margin to one point. The one point victory may have foiled bets across America, but did not foil UConn’s celebration and victory. On Monday night the Huskies would have a chance to avenge their largest defeat of the season and more importantly win a national championship.

The UConn team that lost to Georgia Tech in late November did not resemble the team that came to play in the championship game. A healthy Okafor combined with a more aggressive Ben Gordon and red hot Rashad Anderson would be far too much for Tech to handle on this night. After seesawing early in the contest, UConn took control midway through the first half of the game and never looked back. An Anderson buzzer beating jump shoot put the Huskies ahead at the half 41-26. UConn built on this momentum and their lead blossomed to an impressive 25 point cushion midway through the second half. Tech cut at the lead late with a flurry of threes, but the Huskies were never in jeopardy of losing the ball game. The final score was 82-73, which was not even indicative of UConn’s dominance. Okafor was not to be denied playing time in this contest and finished with game bests of 24 points and 15 rebounds. He left San Antonio with a championship and Most Outstanding Player Honors.

UConn’s second national championship in six years put them in the same class as Duke and Kentucky as the only schools to win multiple championships over the past 15 years. Although Coach Calhoun barely missed being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he joined an elite group of coaches by winning his second national championship, and cemented his place in the Hall at a later time. Calhoun’s team also became the first preseason number one to finish first since Kentucky won in 1996. Calhoun helped mold a talented group of players into a unified team that gelled in time to win 14 of their last 15 games. Connecticut fans will always remember the Alamo, and the 2004 National Championship will promise to forever remember the Huskies.
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When it comes to tournament time leadership and free throws are more important than athleticism in my opinion. Teams that have that leadership are always in position to win the game at the end. Teams that are piss-poor free throw shooting teams will never beat Duke or Michigan State in the tournament. The officiating is usually very good come tournament time and the games will be called fairly closely. Free throws can win it or lose it. Now if a team shoots 75% from 3 point range that game, all bets are off!
 
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but they relied heavily on warrick at the 4, and at 6-7/6-8 melo fits into a similar mold of the msu teams i mentioned. though hes not a post up player, he did his fair share of turn around shots in the mid/short range. they also had a decent center, and iirc pace and forth both had real nice games.

you guys are gonna have to dig deep to not find a team who didnt have legit size and perimeter play...
 
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There's no way the Gonzagas of the 2000's or the Pepperdines and San Francisco's can pull off the upsets come tournament time without some fantastic shooting though. Also no way Marquette even makes noise in the tournament without Dwane Wades outstanding performance. Most of these done by guard play for what its worth.
 
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Buckeye513 said:
Reddick
Boone
Ager when he decides to show up

Shaq or Wade?
Duncan or Parker?
Garnett or Szczerbiak?

Killingsworth had 21 points and 17 rebounds. He did more than "a whole lot."
Can't. I was 9.
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Rudy Gay could easily be an all american he is a stud.

Can't compare to Shaq b/c no one is on the same level as shaq.

Parker/Ginobli or Duncan? I think that is a tough one, but Parker and Ginobli don't get near the respect they deserve b/c the do what they do very quietly.

What has Garnett done to lead his team anywhere. It is b/c he has no guard play to go along with his play.

I will give you a great great example if you are talking nba.

Jordan/Pippen. quick name the centers of the championship teams.
 
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crazybuckfan40 said:
While Okafor was a stud, that Team had great great great guard play with Gordan, Anderson, and Brown.
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I never said they didn't, but Okafor led the way. Boone and Villanueva contributed inside also.

I'm not saying that a center can do it all by himself, I'm saying that guards can't carry a team to championship by themselves. Teams like the Syracuse team from a couple years ago don't pop up very often.
 
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we were talking championship caliber teams, not the zags of the late 90s

now were drifting to the nba, weinington, cartwright, longley etc. but throw in hellacious rodman, maybe the best rebounder of the last 20 years. the bulls had 4 6-6+ players on the floor in an era that didnt have the height of today, hell look at barkley.

but i must sleep, good stuff as always 40
 
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Buckeye513 said:
I never said they didn't, but Okafor led the way. Boone and Villanueva contributed inside also.

I'm not saying that a center can do it all by himself, I'm saying that guards can't carry a team to championship by themselves. Teams like the Syracuse team from a couple years ago don't pop up very often.
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that 03 cuse team started 3 guys 6-8+ is that not a big college team to you?
 
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Actually I cant name one center that was worth a crap on Kentuckys championship teams in the 90's. Padgett? Who else? I can name Ron Mercer and Rex Chapman that put their teams on their backs. Who can name anyone off of Indiana's championship team besides Steve Alford and .......hell I can't even remember the guard who won the damn thing. But no centers do I remember.
 
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