this team = 2001 championship team?

[astoria26]

Been thinking about it for awhile, but how eerie are the similarities of this year’s team to the 2001 title team?

1. Another poster noted this, but on the exact same day, we go down by 9 at halftime to Maryland at home (Coach K probably threw that technical in there to make sure of the score, right?), but needed no miracle in 54 seconds to push it into OT and win – we won outright.

2. In both years: we win the Maui championship. A tall, skilled blond kid from Oregon wins tournament MVP.

3. We lose a heartbreaker in December to a ranked team – by 1 – the first December loss this decade since Stanford in 2001.

4. We have a senior who steps up big with leadership and iron will (Battier, Nelson), a sophomore super-athlete who can drive into traffic or pull up for the jumper all day long (JayWill, G), a long, versatile small forward who can play all 5 positions – and loves to stroke it from deep (Dunleavy, Singler), and a freshman jet who plays pivotal minutes (Duhon, Nolan).

All we’re missing is Carlos Boozer. Well, Josh bailed, so maybe we can have a Boozer by committee (Boozer, Z + LT + Scheyer’s nose for boards + McClure). Let’s see how this all works out! :)

[shadowfax336]

but lets wait till the UNC game before we start talking about National Championships k?
lets see what happens against an elite team

[bcato]

I thought we plyed in Maui the year after we won the championship (2001) not the championship season.

[MrBisonDevil]

I thought we plyed in Maui the year after we won the championship (2001) not the championship season.

2001 = Preseason NIT Champ, Reg Season Champ, ACC Tourney Champ & NCAA Champ. I remember hearing K talk about "4 championships".

Maui was Nov 01 (01-02 season).

[wilson]

I know we won the Preseason NIT in 2000 (the 2000-01 season), but I don't think we played in Maui that year. Isn't it against the rules to play in two such season-opening tournaments?

Edit: According to the official media guide, we indeed won the Preseason NIT and did not play in the Maui Invitational that year. We did play in the 2001 Maui Invitational (and win it), but that was part of the 2001-02 season, not the 2000-01 championship campaign.

[jzp5079]

I once saw a butterbean that looked like a frog

[astoria26]

ok, my bad - in both years they won the preseason tournament they were in - how's that? And I'm not saying they're going to win the championship - I just thought there were some pretty cool similarities.

[hurleyfor3]

Man, I'm not thinking about this until we get past the Sweet 16. I ain't gettin' fooled again.

[Cameron]

Man, I'm not thinking about this until we get past the Sweet 16. I ain't gettin' fooled again.

I'm with you on that. I have been to the point of tears and heartbreak way too many times since 2001 to come to any such conclusion in my head.

I am scared of our Sweet 16 matchup right now, and it may never even be an actual game for us. That might sound really insecure, but after Indiana and Michigan State and LSU, I now need Xanax for regional semis and beyond.

[MikeS]

while i love this team Carlos Boozer was probably the fourth best player on that team behind battier, jaywill, and Dunleavy and Boozer would be this team's best player. That said we could still win it all.

[2001dukechamps]

Uh, I don't know about that...lets wait until the ACC tourny is over to compare this team to the best team of the decade.