UConn sports

Let’s start with the game. That’s the important part.

UConn beat South Florida 64-50 on Saturday in Hartford

– USF was able to hang around for quite a while because it slowed the game and played pretty tough defense.

“I thought we did some things really well today,” USF coach Stan Heath said. “I thought we were able to manage the clock and control the tempo, pick and choose some spots to try and attack them.”

Still UConn managed to rebound from the loss to Pitt with its 25th victory.

“It was a hard bounce-back game given the pace of the game,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.

– Hasheem Thabeet was much better than he was against Pittsburgh Monday night, though the opponent certainly had a lot to do with that.

– The pace was something Calhoun hopes he doesn’t see again, though he probably will.

“The pace of the game and the tempo of the game was the single most important thing,” Calhoun said. “We’re going to see that at times.

“I don’t know how much more we’re going to see it. Marquette certainly not. Probably not with…Notre Dame put up 104 today. And Pittsburgh…we’ve ordered the shoulder pads and helmets.”

Good one.

– Heath wasn’t so sure the Huskies were off their game. Maybe his team had something to do with the relatively close score.

“Maybe they let down but I have to imagine that after they lost to Pittsburgh, that Jim was up some behind and they’d be really ready to go and fired up,” Heath said. “You’d have to ask them but I doubt if they had a letdown after having the loss against Pittsburgh.”

– Depth is going to be an issue sooner or later. UConn played basically six players Saturday. Gavin Edwards played four minutes and Scottie Haralson two.

“Gavin’s got to give us more when he comes in,” Calhoun said.

The coach also says he WANTS to play more people but sometimes won’t let himself pull the trigger.

“We’ve fooled with Jon (Mandeldove). We’ve done some things with Donnell (Beverly) in practice,” Calhoun said. “I probably have to have the courage or desperation or foul problems to use them. We haven’t got to that point yet.”

Haralson saw what may have been the first significant action of his career, missing his only shot (a three).

“It wasn’t the one he missed, it was the two he passed on that was the reason I pulled him out,” Calhoun said.

– G Craig Austrie has to play better, it seems. Calhoun said as much Saturday.

“I’m not taking Craig off the hook,” Calhoun said. “I want more from Craig. Craig’s much better than the way he’s playing.”

Austrie had seven points and four assists against USF.

“Defensively he’s fine. Ball handling-wise he’s fine,” Calhoun said. “But he’s a better offensive player. We’re seeing more in practice than we see in games. He hasn’t had to do it on this team,” Calhoun said. “Now he HAS to do it on this team for us to win.”

– OK, now onto the B.S. after the game.

Ken Krayeske, a kind of journalist and political activist, hounded Calhoun during his post game press conference about his salary.

Krayeske questioned the coach’s salary given the state’s fiscal situation.

“Coach, considering that you’re the highest paid state employee and there’s a $2 billion budget deficit, do you think…

At this point I think Calhoun believed Krayeske to be a credible journalist and was being playful.

“Not a dime back,” Calhoun joked.

It then became clear that Krayeske didn’t really want an answer to his question. He wanted to make a scene. That’s what he does, really.

“Don’t you think $1.6 million is enough?” Krayeske said.

Calhoun then had another funny retort.

“I make a lot more than that,” Calhoun said.

The coach offered to speak to Krayeske after the formal press conference was over but he declined (shocker there). He’s obviously not looking to write a story, he wants to make news by himself.

Krayeske then tried to hammer the coach on his endorsement contracts.

“What is the deal with Comcast worth?” Krayeske said.

At this point Calhoun was getting fed up (who could blame him, really) and the exchange became a little heated.

“You’re not really that stupid, are you?” Calhoun said.

“Yeah, I am,” Krayeske said.

“My best advice to you?” Calhoun said. “Shut up.”

“Thank you. Appreciate it. That’s very polite of you,” Krayeske said.

This is where it gets funny. Krayeske has been rude and antagonizing for the last two minutes and now he’s feeling hurt because the coach wasn’t polite to him? Good one.

Krayeske then takes a shot at the assembled scribes like myself who haven’t asked questions like these.

“If these guys covered this stuff I wouldn’t have to do it,” Krayeske said.

At this point I could have decked the guy but I digress.

The coach then got angry and fired back a bit.

“We bring in $12 million to the university, nothing to do with state funds,” Calhoun said.

“Get some facts and come back and see me!” Calhoun said. “Don’t throw out salaries or other things.”

If you don’t know who Krayeske is, good for you. He’s best known for getting arrested while covering Gov. Jodi Rell’s inaugural parade Jan. 3, 2007. He was charged with breach of peace and interfering with an officer, though the charges were later dropped.

If you want to know more about Krayeske Ken Dixon has a good read on the guy.

Now simply asking Calhoun about his salary especially in this day and age is fine. If that’s all Krayeske wanted to do, fine. This was obviously about more than that.

I can do my job just fine, thank you Ken. How are you doing with yours?

This is a line from his hard-hitting UConn story on his website:

“Everyone thought former athletic director Dom Perno was nuts to strive to have UConn jump from Division I-AA to Division I-A.”

Try and figure out what’s wrong with that sentence before you question my credentials.

- Neill