reclegend22;664363 wrote:I'm bored (clearly) while watching the Lakers, so read if you want. Don't otherwise. Haha.
If I had to rank the truly great, most remarkable teams of the last 10 years, that list would consist of 2001 Duke, 2002 Maryland, 2005 North Carolina and 2008 Kansas. Greatness shares rare company, and I believe only four teams since the beginning of 2000 are even worthy of consideration. Perhaps fewer. But, in order to make a list, there must be a list, so here are my choices and a brief explanation of those teams' highlights. (UConn of 2004 and Florida of 2007 were loaded with record NBA talent and each won national titles, but UConn lost six games and Florida five, including a 1-3 stretch for the Gators to end the regular season. That leaves these two teams on the outside looking in.)
Maryland - After a visit to the Final Four in 2001, the 2002 Terrapins finished 15-1 in the ACC and 32-4 overall on their way to a national championship. Led by First Team All-American Juan Dixon, Maryland featured four NBA players on its roster (Steve Blake, Chris Wilcox, Lonny Baxter and Dixon). This was a great basketball team, one of the best in ACC history.
Duke - The Blue Devils' top two players, Shane Battier and Jason Williams, were both national player of the year award winners in 2001 (Battier the Naismith, Wooden and Rupp, and Williams the NABC. In addition to future NBA members Chris Duhon, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer, Duke began the season ranked No. 1, finished 35-4 with ACC and national titles and featured five guys who would go on to play in the League. Not only did Duke win the national championship despite losing its anchor big man, Carlos Boozer, to a broken foot a week before the regular season concluded (Boozer eventually returned in the Final Four), the Blue Devils did so by beating Arizona, the pre-season No. 2 team in the land that was comprised of future NBA players Gilbert Arenas, Jason Gardner, Richard Jefferson, Loren Woods and Luke Walton, in the championship game. This, in my view, is the most talented and prominent team of the last decade.
North Carolina - Finishing 33-4 overall and 14-2 in the ACC, the 2005 national champion Tar Heels featured Raymond Felton, Sean May, Rashad McCants, Marvin Williams, David Noel and Reyshawn Terry, all of whom would go on to be drafted into the NBA. North Carolina began the season ranked No. 1, lost early to Santa Clara with Raymond Felton sidelined, which caused UNC to fall behind Illinois in the polls for most of the remainder of the year, and then reclaimed the country's top spot by defeating that powerful 37-1 Illinois team in the national final.
Kansas - On their way to the 2008 national title, the Jayhawks won the most games of any NCAA champion in history (37 wins versus 3 losses), won a Big XII title and featured five players that would be drafted into the NBA that summer (Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Darnell Jackson, Darrell Arthur and Sasha Kaun). Kansas stormed through the preseason national No. 1 and overall top seed, North Carolina, in the national semi-finals with an 84-66 victory, beginning the contest with a 40 to 12 lead. It wasn't a Final Four game. It was basketball's version of an execution. All of the above is enough to give this Kansas squad the nod of great.
*Generally, in order to be considered great, I think it is a requirement for a team not only to take care of business in March by winning NCAA Tournament hardware, but also by winning its conference hardware. There are two exceptions to my list above, those being Maryland and North Carolina, which both fell short of Duke in the ACC during their respective national title-winning seasons.
I think this list needs 2007 Florida. Back to back champs, great college players, and some very good NBA players. Was just a great team
