Archive for February 21st, 2012

UConn On The Bubble: Feb. 21

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy
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We have a new, and unexpected, feature on the blog. Three regular season games and  the Big East tournament remain, but the way things are going, I’d expect UConn to be on the edge of its seat for Selection Sunday.

So, will the Huskies’ bubble burst or will they be popping the bubbly?

Actually, will Alex Oriakhi, the only scholarship player old enough to legally pop the bubbly, be doing so?

Here’s UConn’s tournament resume as of Tuesday:

RECORD: 17-10 (7-8 Big East)

BEST WINS: at Notre Dame, vs. Harvard, vs. Florida State, vs. West Virginia

WORST LOSSES: at Rutgers, at Louisville (by 21), at Seton Hall, at Tennessee

SOS: 1

RPI: 23

REMAINING GAMES: vs. No. 2 Syracuse, at Providence, vs. Pittsburgh

TODAY’S PROJECTIONS:

ESPN — No. 11 seed

CBS — No. 9 seed

Sports Illustrated — No. 10 seed

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:

*ESPN: “Napier’s 3 was the shot of the Huskies’ season. Without it, UConn would have lost the ninth game in its last 13, the eighth in its last 10. With it, UConn’s suddenly shaky at-large profile avoided another ugly ding. Now Connecticut has a chance to turn things around: Syracuse comes to town Saturday. A win there would settle the agonizing over this team’s apparent collapse, not to mention the chance that it could miss the tournament. Is this the start of a turnaround?”

Notes/Quotes from Villanova: “I hit that and I was like ‘Bullseye.’”

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy
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First of all, watch the video.

If you’re a UConn fan (and I suspect you are if you’re on this blog), watch it a few times.

Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier (AP)

The shot was compelling for a few reasons: Shabazz Napier, nursing strained ligament on his right foot, wasn’t supposed to play Monday. He woke up Monday morning and didn’t think he’d be in uniform.

“James (Doran), the trainer, was telling me I was highly doubtful,” Napier said. “And I was telling him ‘Just pop some pills, give me some pills — ibuprofen.  I’ll be alright.’”

In fact, the coaching staff didn’t determine that he’d be ready until “four minutes before the game,” according to UConn associate head coach George Blaney.

Then, of course, there were the comments he made following the team’s 15-point loss to Marquette Saturday.

“Shabazz speaks a lot all the time, so I’m not going to worry about that,” Blaney said . “He’s a competitor, he wants us to do well. Sometimes he talks a little too much, but he’s fine. The team is fine with it. They knew that, in most cases, he was probably right.”

Roscoe Smith said the Huskies “definitely didn’t need that from Shabazz.”

They did, however, need a miracle 3-pointer to keep their season alive.

Some items of note:

* Jeremy Lamb was the star offensively, but UConn’s comeback started on the defensive end. Roscoe Smith was particularly impressive — both on the perimeter and in the paint — and Andre Drummond was “a monster,” Blaney said. He pulled down 11 boards, blocked four shots and altered many more.

Let’s not forget Alex Oriakhi, who played tough, physical and gutsy. Despite foul trouble that limited him to two minutes in the first half, Oriakhi scored seven points, none bigger than a put-back with 22 seconds that forced overtime

* Napier, always an interesting person to interview, commented on his previous comments (awkward, I know): “I probably said too much and you guys (the media) probably led it to a different point. I just want my teammates to go out there and give it their all. Today, they did. I can’t complain. We had a lot of problems today and we stuck with it…hopefully we can do that against Syracuse, because we’re going to have a lot of problems with Syracuse. That’s going to be a tight game.”

If it happens to go in UConn’s favor, the Huskies will have likely played themselves off the bubble. See you there on Saturday.

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