Archive for November 17th, 2012

Notes/Quotes from the Marriott: “We didn’t really know what we were going to get from Enosch”

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I’m camped out in the Marriott Lobby today to preview UConn versus Quinnipiac (Sunday, 9 pm). Plenty of intriguing storylines here: Kevin Ollie coaches against Tom Moore, a former UConn assistant, and Scott Burrell, his former college teammate. And, oh yeah, a berth in the Paradise Jam championship is on the line.

Some tidbits from today:

Tyler Olander (AP)

*Tyler Olander, who played nine minutes in Friday’s win, on Enosch Wolf’s performance: “We didn’t really know what we were gonna get from Enosch in a situation like that but he came in and produced. He dominated.”

*Ryan Boatright on UConn’s 3-0 start: “We always thought we could be a great team. We feel like we’ve opened our eyes to a lot of other people.”

*Kevin Ollie on UConn’s rebounding struggles: “It always concerns me…we’ve got to end possessions with a rebound, and that allows us to push the ball. We’ve got two great guards, we’ve got wings that can run, we’ve got DeAndre at the four or the three who can run and beat any player down the court.”

*Kevin Ollie on matchup with Tom Moore, Scott Burrell: “I just want to coach the game. I’m not worrying about who’s on the other side. I’m worrying about my team…that’s the only way I can do it, there are distractions all over the place. Contracts, this, that. I can’t control it.  I can’t control what Quinnipiac is doing in their practice. I can’t control Scott. I can’t control coach Moore.”

Scott Burrell on Ollie’s job: “He’s composed. He’s winning. They’re down some chips and they’re still winning, so you have to tip your hat to that. Theyr’e down two scholarships and his guys are competing hard every night.”

Quinnipiac knocks off Iona, faces UConn in semifinals

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Former UConn assistant Tom Moore, once thought to be the successor for Jim Calhoun, gets a date with the Huskies in Sunday’s semifinal.

Moore’s Quinnipiac Bobcats defeated Iona, 98-92, in a wild overtime game that saw Gaels guard Lamont “MoMo” Jones score 40 points and hit a game-tying 3-pointer to force the extra session.

But Iona, loaded in the backcourt, couldn’t hang with Quinnipiac up front. Forward Ike Azotam, a former AAU teammate of Shabazz Napier’s, led the Bobcats with 21 points and 10 boards.

I’ll have more on the UConn/Quinnipiac (Sunday, 9 p.m.) on the blog and in the paper tomorrow. For now, some quotes from Moore:

*”It’s a great opportunity for Quinnipiac to be playing a team as storied as UConn, both nationally and in-state. It has huge implications for our alumni, students and fans. They obviously have years and years of living in Connecticut and hearing about UConn. It’s nothing but respect and good feelings towards them. It’s a great opportunity for us, as our program grows. We sort of treat this trip as a chance for us to grow our name nationally a little bit and I think playing on national TV against a team like this will help that…All that stuff sounds great, but now the task is on us to play well when we play them.”

*This will be the second time Moore faces UConn. He faced UConn in 2007 — his first season at the helm — and left the XL Center with an 82-49 defeat.

“It was a real awkward feeling playing coach Calhoun and playing all the kids that I had recruited,” Moore said. “We felt more comfortable not continuing the series at that point. Maybe some day in the future, it will continue. I’m not sure.”

Notes/Quotes from Wake Forest: “Today was just a weird day”

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Two bizarre things happened Friday night: Shabazz Napier scored 10 points in just over two minutes and Enosch Wolf scored 12 points in a game.

Shabazz Napier (AP)

Above all, the takeaway from Friday was that Enosch Wolf (12 points, six rebounds) can give UConn some solid production on both ends, which much be a huge relief for Kevin Ollie.

“We don’t have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar coming around the corner,” Ollie said. “One night it’s going to be Tyler, one night it’s going to be Enosch, one night it’s going to be Phil (Nolan), one night it’s going to be Leon (Tolksdorf).”

So far, neither Nolan nor Tolksdorf has proved capable. Wolf, however, has shown enough to earn a spot in the rotation. Maybe Tyler Olander won’t have to play 35 minutes after all.

As for Shabazz Napier…what is there to say? The junior went scoreless for 20 minutes against Vermont, then took 30 minutes to score his first bucket versus Wake Forest. He ended up with 16 points in the final 10 minutes.

“I have no clue,” Napier said. “Today was just a weird day.”

Some notes from Friday:

*Kevin Ollie wrote “Found a Way” on the whiteboard before the game. Behind one unlikely hero, Enosch Wolf, and a  scoring outburst from an otherwise silent Shabazz Napier, the Huskies are now 3-0.

*The highlight box from tonight. Ryan Boatright, who led the Huskies in points (16), rebounds (7) and assists (5), gets the gameball.

*UConn got beat on the glass again, 32-27. Eventually, they’ll lose a game because of the backboards. It just hasn’t happened yet.

“Call us the New York Knicks,” Ollie said. “They’re getting outrebounded and they’re winning every game.” (Actually, tonight they lost, but you get the point).

*Beating a dead horse here, but I liked the energy from R.J. Evans and Niels Giffey. I should probably just start copy-and-pasting that into every post-game blog post.

Photo Gallery: UConn at the Paradise Jam

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