Spring Break
Best college basketball team of the past decade?
Kevin Duffy and Max Jabbonsky
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Sports
2008-09 North Carolina Tar Heels
The 2009 North Carolina Tar Heels are the best college basketball team we've seen in the past decade--and that's saying a lot, because there have been some pretty incredible teams in that time.
The 'Heels had absolutely no weaknesses, and the four losses they suffered were merely due to lack of focus. After steamrolling to the National Championship and winning six tournament games by an average of 20.8 points per game, there's no doubt this team could have gone undefeated.
2005-06 UConn Huskies
Before three-time All-Big East selection Jeff Adrien was eating weights and beating up Chuck Norris, he was buried on the bench. Before Craig Austrie was hitting game-winning shots and icing victories with last-second free throws, he was seen as a liability on the court.
That was not due to any fault of theirs, but because they played on the best men's college basketball team of the past decade: the 2006 Connecticut Huskies.
Kevin: Your argument is ridiculous. UConn didn't win the National Championship in 2006. The Huskies didn't even make the Final Four. They lost to George Mason. Let's allow that to sink in: George. Mason. I don't care how talented UConn was, if it was the best team in 2006 - let alone that decade - it would have focused (like North Carolina did in this year's NCAA Tournament) and gotten the job done.
Max: I couldn't help but notice your dual-use of the word "focus." First, you disregarded North Carolina's losses due to a supposed "lack of focus," then berated the Huskies for the same problem. During the 2006 season, senior swingman Rashad Anderson said "Even if something is not going right, we still feel like we can win the game." That quickly became a team-wide slogan. The Huskies' talent - from NBA star Rudy Gay to Finland Basketball League star Ed Nelson - was so tremendous that they realized, frankly, they didn't need to try. What other team in the past decade can say that?
The 2009 North Carolina Tar Heels are the best college basketball team we've seen in the past decade--and that's saying a lot, because there have been some pretty incredible teams in that time.
The 'Heels had absolutely no weaknesses, and the four losses they suffered were merely due to lack of focus. After steamrolling to the National Championship and winning six tournament games by an average of 20.8 points per game, there's no doubt this team could have gone undefeated.
2005-06 UConn Huskies
Before three-time All-Big East selection Jeff Adrien was eating weights and beating up Chuck Norris, he was buried on the bench. Before Craig Austrie was hitting game-winning shots and icing victories with last-second free throws, he was seen as a liability on the court.
That was not due to any fault of theirs, but because they played on the best men's college basketball team of the past decade: the 2006 Connecticut Huskies.
Kevin: Your argument is ridiculous. UConn didn't win the National Championship in 2006. The Huskies didn't even make the Final Four. They lost to George Mason. Let's allow that to sink in: George. Mason. I don't care how talented UConn was, if it was the best team in 2006 - let alone that decade - it would have focused (like North Carolina did in this year's NCAA Tournament) and gotten the job done.
Max: I couldn't help but notice your dual-use of the word "focus." First, you disregarded North Carolina's losses due to a supposed "lack of focus," then berated the Huskies for the same problem. During the 2006 season, senior swingman Rashad Anderson said "Even if something is not going right, we still feel like we can win the game." That quickly became a team-wide slogan. The Huskies' talent - from NBA star Rudy Gay to Finland Basketball League star Ed Nelson - was so tremendous that they realized, frankly, they didn't need to try. What other team in the past decade can say that?
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