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Geno has long been a proponent of widening the lane and moving the 3-point line back. Maybe he would like to see the free throw line moved back as well. The only weakness the Huskies have shown in winning their first six games by an average of 40.8 points has been their inability to make consistently make free throws.
They were an abysmal 8-for-24 Thursday against BYU. Yet, they still scored 80 points for the fourth time this season and shot at least 52 percent from the field for the fifth time. Of course, Geno voiced his point to the Huskies in the locker room following the game.
“I’ve never had a team go 8-for-24 before,’’ Geno said. “That’s hard to do. If you try to miss on purpose you’d make more than eight. Wouldn’t you? I think so. I told Maya, when the ref gives you the ball from now on say, `Mr. Referee or Ms. Referee, I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to shoot this 15-footer. But would you mind if I step behind the 3-point line and took a 3-pointer because Coach told me my chances of making the 3 are much greater than me making a free throw. So do you think it would be possible for me to do that?’ I told her to check with the ref next time.’’
Tina Charles said Geno told the team that there is “a magnetic force that’s going through us, and that’s the reason why we can’t make the free throws.’’ Whatever it is, it’s bizarre.
The Huskies are shooting 57.0 percent (53-of-93) from the free throw line. That’s good for last in the Big East. But, hey, they’re playing outstanding free throw shooting defense. Opponents are shooting only 47.5 percent (28-of-59) from the stripe. And BYU increased that percentage by making 5 of 10 Thursday. Now that’s really pathetic.
Meanwhile, UConn leads the Big East in field goal shooting at 52.9 percent and is third in 3-point shooting at 37.1. So maybe Geno has a point. Let the Huskies move back from the standard free throw line. Maybe they like having a defender in their face rather than an open look at the basket with idle players standing on either side of them.
“We were 8-for-24, 33 percent,’’ Mel Thomas said. “That’s pretty bad. He just said that’s a lack of maturity. It’s not like people can’t shoot free throws. He said we just have to be more focused.’’
Right now, the issue of poor free throw shooting is light-hearted. But it won’t be a laughing matter if it costs the Huskies dearly in the NCAA tournament in March or April.

Rich

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The Huskies just returned from a championship trip to St. Thomas. They defeated a pair of Top 10 teams – then-No. 4 Stanford and then-No. 9 Duke – in a span of three games. Throwing Old Dominion in there, they won by an average of 27 points and allowed an average of 48.3 points.
So how did Geno Auriemma celebrate with his team when they reconvened Tuesday? Dining cake and ice cream? Pizza? Watching the highlights of the Paradise Jam together? How about none of he above.
Oh, they watched tape all right. But it had nothing to do with the impressive stretches that established the Huskies as a major contender to win the national championship. The tape Geno put together featured all of the negative aspects of their performance.
Mel Thomas said they watched it for about a half-hour. During that time Geno found it fitting to rewind some of the more glaring errors committed by the Huskies.
“We came back and were all excited we won,’’ Mel said. “And then he makes a highlight tape basically of the most terrible plays that happened in the Paradise Jam. So we sat there and watched all of them. It made us realize that we still have a long way to go if we look like that sometimes. So he definitely keeps us pretty level-headed.’’
Would you honestly have expected anything else from the Hall of Fame coach? This is just Geno’s way of not allowing his players to get too comfortable or begin looking too far into the future. He is their most difficult opponent, whether it’s in practice or in games (He tested their resolve today by not giving them a break at practice). He will always be. And that’s why he and the Huskies have been so successful.
So, what kind of tape do you think will be shown in the days following tomorrow’s game against BYU?
“When we watch film we’re not watching highlight films,’’ Geno said. “So we didn’t come back and put a highlight film on of our trip. They can do that on their own time. What we showed them was these are the areas that have to get taken care of starting right now. In 120 minutes of basketball, I thought we played 90 to 100 really good minutes of basketball and we really played 20 minutes of basketball that I don’t like to see. But as coaches there said … we are a little further along than other teams at this stage.’’

Rich

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The day could not have started off any worse for the Huskies Monday.
Just hours after winning the Paradise Jam championship late Sunday night, they began their journey back to Storrs with a 5 a.m. shuttle to the airport. Other than being a little weary-eyed due to a lack of sleep everything seemed to be going just fine. But what transpired at the airport fits firmly in the “I’m having a bad day’’ column of life.
It seems that a representative from World Tech Travel in New Haven, a company I’m told UConn has been doing business with for some time now, booked the trip and forgot to ticket every member of UConn’s party for a return flight.
They all had reservations, as they discovered when they attempted to check in as a group. What they didn’t know is that only the coaching staff, the support staff, the team managers and Lorin Dixon had tickets to fly home. The issue regarding the rest of the team had to be worked out, starting shortly before 6 a.m. The clock began to tick and before you know it the unticketed players, along with Geno and tireless program aide Sarah Darras, missed their scheduled 6:41 a.m. flight to San Juan.
The problem was eventually worked out. Most of the team made it on the 7:31 a.m. flight to San Juan and caught their regularly scheduled 10:05 a.m. flight to JFK. But Maya Moore, Brittany Hunter, Mel Thomas, Ketia Swanier, Tahirah Williams, Kaili McLaren, Sarah and Geno were stuck behind. They did not leave St. Thomas until around 1:30 p.m. and weren’t scheduled to arrive at JFK until 4:30 p.m.
Needless to say, they were none too pleased about the mindless snafu, especially the fact that it caused Sarah to be separated from her husband and two young children who made the trip.
Arrangements were made to have a separate vehicle to pick up the rest of the Huskies’ party in New York. It is not yet known whether arrangements for future travel will be made through World Tech Travel. My guess is that if there are any local travel agents looking for a piece of UConn’s lucrative pie now would be as good of a time as any to send in your bids.

By the way, just give Maya the Big East Freshman of the Year award now and don’t waste time asking the coaches to vote. She was named the Freshman of the Week for the second straight week Monday in the aftermath of being named the MVP of the Paradise Jam. Maya averaged 13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 23.3 minutes in wins over Stanford, Old Dominion and Duke.

Rich

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It seems that Superwoman is human after all. Well, almost human. Let’s not get too carried away now in the Land of Rum. Super freshman Maya Moore had scored at least 19 points in the first three games, rendering opponents helpless when it came to trying to stop her. She let Old Dominion off the hook by finishing with only 10 in Friday’s brilliant 43-point rout.
The fact that she only scored 10 points says nothing about her having an off-night offensively. It says everything about her versatility. She scored when she had the opportunities, making 5 of her 6 shots. (She had been averaging 15 shots through the first three games.) But she ripped up the stat sheet in every other category in assembling another head-spinning performance in 22 minutes.
Maya’s final line Friday looked like this: 10 points, four rebounds, a game/season-high six assists, a game-high three steals, one block and just two turnovers. Superwoman Lives.
“Maya Moore, obviously, is a big factor even when she’s not scoring a lot of points,’’ UConn’s relaxed head coach Geno Auriemma said. “How many times she’s able to tip a ball. How many times she’s able to pass a ball. Just a lot of things that she does.’’
A lot things that makes the Huskies a very dangerous team. One that has a many weapons, with none being more potent than Maya. Just think what she’s going to be doing in March when her experience begins to approach her out-of-this-world talent level.
Aside from Maya’s all-around effort and another rugged effort by Brittany Hunter (8 points, 7 rebounds in 10 minutes) in a starting role Friday, Kaili McLaren played significant minutes off the bench. Yes, the same Kaili McLaren who did not get off the bench against No. 4 Stanford Thursday.
Kaili finished with six points, two rebounds and three assists in tying a season-high with 18 minutes. And she had only had one turnover. She was aggressive offensively and she continued to display he deft passing ability.
This was a big step toward both solidifying her confidence and solidifying Geno’s confidence in her.
“I thought Kaili was great in the second half,’’ Geno said. “She gave us a lot of minutes that were really productive. She’s just such a terrific passer and I think people got a chance to see that (Friday).’’
One of the burning questions right now is where is the Charde Houston that was so strong in so many areas last season? She did not enter the game until there was 7:53 left in the first half Friday and left for good with 4:59 left in the half. In between, she had one rebound, one steal and three turnovers.
It looks as if Geno is fond of starting Brittany. Where does that leave Charde? Stay tuned.

Two more days until I’ll be back to diaper duty.

Rich

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First-year Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie (The `P’ Stands for Palumbo) seemed to a little caught off guard when she was asked about the upcoming home-and-home series with UConn in the aftermath of Thursday’s victory over No. 22 Purdue. But it didn’t take her long to rebound and flash some of that spicy Italian personality.
“Tell Geno he needs to talk to Joanne before he opens his mouth,’’ McCallie said with a laugh. “I like to tease him. Doesn’t he get into all sorts of trouble with coaches … Yeah, I’m sure something’s in the works. Yes, I talked to our administrators. I’ve got to razz a fellow paisano.’’
The deal has not yet been finalized. But the Duke athletic department currently has a signed contract in its possession that would seal a two-year deal starting in 2009-10.
The Huskies and Blue Devils have not met since a home-and-home deal expired in 2004. The departure of former head coach Gail Goestenkors to Texas this season opened up an avenue for the series to return.
“I think you always want to play the great programs,’’ McCallie said. “To be a great program, you want to not only be successful but you want to continually play good teams. Obviously, Connecticut … They’re five (national championships) up on us right now. So they’re pretty good.’’
If both teams win their respective games tonight at the Paradise Jam that would set up a championship bout between UConn and Duke Sunday night. McCallie has not coached against Geno since Michigan State hammered the Huskies 67-51 at the Hartford Civic Center Dec. 29, 2004. It was their worst loss at home since a 75-59 loss to Miami Feb. 21, 1992 and it gave them three losses that early in the season for the first time since the 1991-92 season.
That was a one-game deal that was not renewed. McCallie also took time Thursday to jokingly deliver a shot at Auriemma for the lack of a return game.
“You know me from Michigan State, we scheduled UConn and they wouldn’t return last time I checked on that particular (contract),’’ she said. “So I told them to make sure we get the contract written both ways.’’

On the side of the absurd … The Huskies picked up their first loss of the season last night when Geno was shutout by the hotel bar last prior to his return from the game. When his right-hand woman Sarah Darras called the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star to ask if they could keep the bar open past it’s midnight closing time she was told, `no.’ Why? Because they had already reached their quota for the day and didn’t feel the need to stay open any longer. That’s just absolutely brutal hospitality if you ask me.

Belated Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you all.

Rich

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The Huskies were scavengers Tuesday. Scavenger Hunters that is. And none were better than the team of associate head coach Chris Dailey, Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore and Mel Thomas. They called themselves the “ V.I.p’s and Renee said it took them about 75 minutes to accumulate 394 points out of a possible 400 to win the event.
Renee was quite proud of the win after practice Wednesday. The teams had to find various things related to the history and tradition of St. Thomas, such as something with a Virgin Island flag on it, among the detailed list of items and questions in a four-page packet.
The scavenger hunt was part of what has been, and what will continue to be, an exciting week for the Huskies in the Virgin Islands. Tonight, they will take a cable car ride to a tournament dinner/party, and Saturday they will take part in a catamaran/scuba diving excursion before having a Thanksgiving-style dinner at the hotel.
“You just sit and you’ve got to think like, `I’m in the Virgin Islands right now for free. I’m here playing basketball. I’m here with my friends,’’’ Renee said. “That’s just not something most people get to do. Even if they can go they won’t be able to have like 12 of their best friends come with them. It’s just a great opportunity I think. And then we’re also going to be playing against good teams, and I feel like we haven’t played in about two months so we’re all dying to actually get out here and play.’’

Rich

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Geno Auriemma has been working with athletic director Jeff Hathaway in an attempt to further strengthen the schedule since Hathaway’s return to UConn in 2003-04. The recent additions of North Carolina, LSU and Purdue have helped. But the four-year deal reached with Oklahoma, which will begin next season in Connecticut, and the current two-year deals in the works with Stanford and Duke will greatly add weight to the regular season slate.
A team spokesman said Wednesday that the home-and-home deals with both Stanford and Duke will begin in the 2009-10 season. All that remains is for each school to return a signed contract to UConn. Remember, Tennessee had a signed contarct too.
The Huskies have tried recently to reach an agreement with Maryland. The Terrapins would not oblige.
“There’s certain games you want to play, especially against the best teams,’’ Auriemma said. “But it’s reciprocal. The other team’s got to want to play as well, and (Stanford coach) Tara (VanDerveer) and I have been talking about that for a long time about getting that series back. So I’m glad that’s it’s going to happen. The same thing with Duke. We’ve had a great series so far with Carolina and I thought the two games we played with Duke were great. And I’m happy we’re going to re-institute that.’’
The Huskies will meet Stanford tomorrow night at the Paradise Jam. It will be the first meeting between the teams since Dec. 21, 1997. UConn has not played Duke since a home-and-home deal expired in 2004.
Auriemma said there was no apparent reason why the series with Duke was discontinued. But it’s seems to be more than just a coincidence that it has been renewed now that Joanne P. McCallie has replaced Gail Goestenkors as head coach.
“Nobody gives you any feedback because it’s not me speaking to anybody so I don’t know firsthand,’’ Auriemma said. “People in our administration … they’ll contact another school and say, `we’re going to keep playing them. We’re going to start playing them.’ And they’ll come back and say they’re not interested. You’re not going to get, generally, the reasons why. It’s just they’re not interested. So once somebody’s not interested you’re not going to say, `well, why not?’ If they say no, they say no. That’s all there is to it. So you just keep going after the people that are going to say `yes.’’’

Brittany Hunter will be a game-time decision tomorrow, according to Geno. She practiced Tuesday and this morning.
But as has been the case throughout her career, the fact that Hunter was able to practice the past two days means little when it comes to the unpredictability of her surgically repaired right knee. She looked fine at shootaround Nov. 14, but then felt pain in her knee running during warm-ups and was unable to play against Holy Cross.
“Their post game is really strong right now so we’re going to need Brittany because she has a really good defensive presence,’’ Renee Montgomery said. “Even if she’s not making plays on offense her size and ability to defend really affects people on offense. So we’re definitely going to need her.’’

It looks like Geno will get his first round of golf in today. It hasn’t rained yet.

Rich

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Initially, it looks like I picked a great day to get out Connecticut. I was about to dive into my three-hour layover in San Juan when my wife notified me that there was more than an inch of snow and sleet at home. But just when I thought I had dodged a bullet, a violent storm in St. Thomas later forced us to delay our descent and had us circling for more than 30 minutes. So, aside from the 30-plus degree temperature differential, I guess it’s a wash.
Here are some of the things I noticed while sitting on the shuttle to the hotel: Driving on the left side of the road is an interesting concept. So is charging $3.83 for regular unleaded gasoline and 3.90 for super unleaded. And, how about $20 for a Cesar salad at the hotel? (No, the wait staff does not feed you or wipe your mouth when you’re done). I guess I’ll be dining on croutons and water the rest of the week.
The Huskies were returning from an excursion at roughly 4:30 EST before they headed off to the Old Stone Farmhouse Restaurant for dinner. The eatery is located at the Mahogany Run Golf Course. Does that mean Geno had dinner, dessert and then worked in a quick nine holes?
As far as basketball news, Brittany Hunter practiced today – for what it’s worth. Her right knee has always been a day-to-day situation, as we again realized when she did not play against Holy Cross despite participating in shootaround earlier that day. The hope is that she will be a go Thursday against Stanford and its 6-foot-4 duo of Jayne Appel and Kayla Pedersen.
I’ll be heading over to practice tomorrow morning so I’ll pass along any news – good, bad or otherwise – that comes up.

Rich