Is there any doubt this UCONN team is the worst champion of all time?

[Sparlimb]

This game was awful. Worst championship game I've ever seen. The tournament was wildly fun, but clearly didn't have one great team in it. The winner took 10th in their conference this year. I can't believe it was such a bad year. I'm not sure any of the players in tonight's game have NBA potential. Maybe Walker for UCONN, but he's really short and doesn't defend. A disappointing end to a fun tourney.

Maybe the frozen four will have some better action this next weekend.

 

[Go4]

don't forget that a few weeks ago calhoun and uconn were sanctioned for cheating. what a joke.

 

[centerofmn]

This game was awful. Worst championship game I've ever seen. The tournament was wildly fun, but clearly didn't have one great team in it. The winner took 10th in their conference this year. I can't believe it was such a bad year. I'm not sure any of the players in tonight's game have NBA potential. Maybe Walker for UCONN, but he's really short and doesn't defend. A disappointing end to a fun tourney.

Maybe the frozen four will have some better action this next weekend.

This UConn team beat some of the best teams in the country while winning the Big East tournament. They also beat a very talented Kentucky team to reach the finals. There is no way you can support the statement that they are the worst champions ever.

And Kemba is definitely a lottery pick this year. Some of the UConn freshman might not be far behind him in a couple of years.

 

[coolhandgopher]

While tonight was ugly and you can point to UConn's overall record to say they weren't that good, the games I watched them play against Arizona (a near classic) and Kentucky showcased some pretty good talent and great defense. They did win the Maui Invitational, the Big East tournament, and of course the NCAA title so they're not without talent and skill, but they were a very young team-of the eight players I saw get time in these last three games, five were freshman, along with one sophomore, one junior, and one senior (who played quite sparingly).

I've already spoken to Lamb's pro potential in another thread, Walker will be a first round pick and it wouldn't surprise me if Oriakhi makes it into the first round if he sticks around to his senior year (say what you will about Calhoun, but is there another college coach that develops big men the man he does?) For Butler, Mack was shut down (by Lamb), but he'll likely be a first round pick too, early second at worst it seems.

I think the biggest thing about this season's tournament disappointing end was having the two "Cinderellas" facing each other on one side of the Final Four. We've seen mediocre teams win four games before (George Mason, LSU in '86, Wisconsin w/Vershaw, Providence, as examples) but their runs always ended in the semifinal round-the quality of opponents and time to prepare was just too much at that point. This year, Butler slipped through because they just needed to get past VCU.

 

[Sparlimb]

This UConn team beat some of the best teams in the country while winning the Big East tournament. They also beat a very talented Kentucky team to reach the finals. There is no way you can support the statement that they are the worst champions ever.

And Kemba is definitely a lottery pick this year. Some of the UConn freshman might not be far behind him in a couple of years.

10th in their conference? Yeah they beat other teams, because no one was good this year. I can't think of any former champ that wouldn't be heavy favorites to beat this team. Being the best team this year is kind of like being the skinniest guy at the fat guy conference. Not saying much...

 

[EG#9]

I thought the championship game was awful, but that does not take away from UConn's amazing run of 5 game in 5 days in the Big East tournament followed by winning the NCAA title. My major disappointment from tonight was not seeing Walker go off for a big number on the biggest stage. The kid had a great year and it would have been an exclamation point on his season to have a great championship game.

I kind of understand where Sparlimb is coming from because as I watched the game tonight I wondered just how many teams would have beat either Butler or UConn with the way they were playing?

 

[gopherfan3]

I'm not so sure that this years UConn squad wouldn't beat Dukes championship team last season. UConn has played lock down defense, especially on the perimeter which is where guys like Scheyer thrived. The play making ability of Kemba is something any team would struggle to defend. Throw in Lamb and you get 2 guys that can get their own shot. Napier also played terrific coming off the bench and playing like an upperclassmen. same can be said about Oriahki. I just have a feeling UConn would be too athletic for that Duke squad.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

So what if Butler's offense had shown up, played one of their better games and pushed UConn to two OT's? Me thinks the critics would be silent.

Butler was horrible on offense but that should not detract from what UConn accomplished.

 

[coolhandgopher]

I was also thinking a bit about this point this morning. . .take a look at the '83 NC State, '86 Villanova, '88 Kansas rosters. . .outside of Danny Manning, who carried the Jayhawks, not much marquee talent on any of those squads. Of course, neither UConn nor Kemba Walker had a transcendent night last night like Manning did against Oklahoma or Villanova or NC State had as a team on championship night. I think history will make these UConn Huskies look better than they did on the TV screen last night, especially when you take in the full picture of their season and the future ahead for UConn's young players.

 

[Sparlimb]

That Danny Manning Kansas team may not have had any other great players on it, but they did beat one of the best runner-up teams of all time. Oklahoma was loaded with NBA talent that year and a heavy favorite to win the championship. I think that Oklahoma team could have beat either Butler or UCONN's team this year by 30 points. Yes, it is all conjecture and UCONN has nothing to apologize for. They did accomplish some amazing things along the way, especially the big east tourney. I still think they aren't that good, but not that good was enough this year...

 

[Sparlimb]

From Hooopsworld:

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=19341


Didn't Look Like Pros Last Night: Congratulations to the University of Connecticut, their players, coaches and fans on winning the 2011 Men's National Championship in college basketball.

UCONN's Kemba Walker did win the Most Outstanding Player award, but like everyone who took the floor last night in Houston… he was far from outstanding.

As any coach in the country will tell you, a win is a win no matter how ugly, but on the biggest stage some of these players have ever played on, several players came up dreadfully short and did very little to help themselves on the NBA stage.

Kemba Walker is still a Top 10 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, but was 5-of-19 from the field with no assists for 16 points. A far cry from the 23.5 points and 4.5 assist average Walker had coming into the game last night.

Walker's teammate Jeremy Lamb, who has been a tournament darling, owned the 2nd half, scoring the bulk of his 12 points in the second half. Lamb, a lanky 6'5 wing player with an impressive seven plus foot wingspan, looked out of his league in the first half and really proved that coming into the NBA this year may be a huge reach, but as they say, you go while your name is hot, and Lamb's name is extremely hot this year.

Butler's Shelvin Mack was terrible last night, as was the entire Butler team. But Mack, who was supposed to be the unquestioned leader, looked anything but that versus a tough UCONN defense.

Mack was a dreadful 4-for-15 from the field, with all four of his made shots coming from the three-point line. Mack who averaged 3.4 assists per game was only able to record one assist last night.

Butler big man Matt Howard was equally bad, going 1-for-13 from the field and was an absolute non-factor in the paint.

Throughout the game, the contest was lauded as the worst offensive showing in the modern era, with the Butler Bulldogs shooting a record low 18.8% from the field for the game, while attempting 33 three-point shots, which more than half of the team's combined offensive attempts.

While last night's game produced a NCAA champion, it may have tossed more doubt on the players who played and how effective they can be at the next level.

It clearly was not a good night of basketball.