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March 21, 2008

With March Madness upon us, Bucks.com looked at Milwaukee's roster and saw three NCAA Champions: Jake Voskuhl (Connecticut, 1999), Charlie Bell (Michican State, 2000) and Charlie Villanueva (Connecticut, 2004).

We've taken each of those rosters and asked all of the involved parties (and a few unbiased observers) for their thoughts on those three championship clubs and which they think is the superior group if there were a three-team playoff to determine which team was the best.

Here are the contenders and their record break down:

And here's a look at their season stats and where they ranked among one another:

And as a final measuring point, here's a look at each team's roster from that season:

Now that we’ve broken down all of the teams, here are a few insights from our interested participants that are campaigning for each of their teams:

Charlie Bell (member of the 2000 Michigan State Spartans)

We would win because we were a balanced team. We played defense, we were a strong team and really versatile. Mateen (Cleaves) and I would get into people on defense – we’d have no problem getting after Ben Gordon. Bucks draft pick Andre Hutson would man the middle and give (Emeka) Okafor and Jake Voskuhl problems inside. A.J. Granger was our four and he could shoot it. He was all over the pick and pops.

Plus, who was Charlie Villanueva going to guard? He couldn’t handle anyone from our team in the post. We had an interchangeable team, there’s no way either of those Connecticut squads would be able to stop our team. We just did it all – defense, shooting, running. I don’t see either of those teams giving us a game.

Charlie Villanueva (member of the 2004 Connecticut Huskies)

Look at all of the first-round picks the 2004 Connecticut team had. There shouldn’t be a discussion here  - the other two teams combined probably don’t have as many pro players as my team had.

We were first in points, field goal percentage and three-pointers we were definitely put up the threes with us shooting 40 percent. We had Okafor blocking everything if someone got by us and the top defensive field goal percentage tells me that we were the best defensive team out of this group.

Charlie Bell guarding Ben Gordon? Are you kidding me? I’d make it a point to dunk on Charlie Bell in that game!

As far as I’m concerned, Charlie Bell and his Michigan State group don’t have a good argument and Jake’s team isn’t in the conversation.

Jake Voskuhl (member of the 1999 Connecticut Huskies)

When you look at the quality of the teams that the 1998-99 team had to beat to win the championship and the quality of pros on those teams, neither Charlie Bell nor Charlie Villanueva can say another word.

Charlie B’s team would’ve been our appetizer and Charlie V’s team would’ve been our main course.

So that's what the candidates had to say. We did some exit polling and here are our results:

Royal Ivey

I’m going with Charlie V’s UConn team. They had too many 1st round picks on that team – they shouldn’t have lost any games.

Desmond Mason

I’ll go with Charlie V’s 2004 team.

Brian James

Jake and Charlie Bell’s teams are very close – their numbers are pretty similar in almost every category. But the thing that stands out to me is Jake’s UConn team was 11-0 on the road while Charlie’s Michigan State team was 6-6. That says a lot about your team. I used to watch that Michigan State team a lot – they were fun to watch. But Jake’s club beat Duke for the championship when everyone thought Duke was going to win. That’s not to take anything away from Michigan State club. If these teams were to play each other 10 times, I think they’d each win five times.

Larry Krystkowiak

Out of these three teams I like the 1999 Connecticut team Jake was on. They were 11-0 on the road and 10-0 on neutral sites. It’s really tough to go undefeated on someone else’s floor and they pulled it off.

Bill Peterson

I like the 1999-00 Michigan State team. They were the best group defensively, so I’d have to give them the edge.

Awvee Storey

It has to be the 2004 Connecticut team Charlie Villanueva was on. Without a doubt. There are so many guys on that team who went on to the pros.

Jim Todd

I have to take Charlie Villanueva’s 2004 Connecticut team. They have a lot of talent. Of the three teams they definitely have the most star power.

Ramon Sessions

I’d have to pick the 2004 UConn team.

Bobby Simmons