Blaney on the Big East teleconference

Thursday, January 5, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy

George Blaney filled in for Jim Calhoun on the weekly Big East teleconference today. The Huskies were on their way to practice for the first time since Calhoun returned from his NCAA suspension. UConn did not practice Wednesday following it’s blowout loss to Seton Hall.

A few quick words from Blaney:

* “Seton Hall gave us a whole lot of problems with how aggressively they played us. We didn’t shoot the ball well, and Seton Hall played great.”

* “For some reason, everyone thinks that we’re an old team. We play three freshman and a lot of sophomores. We’re as young as anybody in the league. And I think that’s absolutely true — you don’t know what you’re going to get night-to-night.”

* “We know what (Calhoun’s) message is going to be. It’s going to be ‘defend,’ it’s going to be ‘run,’ it’s going to be ‘compete’ and it’s going to be ‘rebound.’”

* “Anytime you go into the RAC, you’re going to have a problem.”

UConn squares off against Rutgers Saturday at 8 p.m. at the aforementioned RAC.

Categories: Uncategorized

Grading the Huskies vs. Seton Hall

Wednesday, January 4, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy

On the drive to Newark yesterday, I had this brilliant idea: Grade UConn on its performance after each game.

Simple enough, but still a fun little feature.

Professors never like handing out F’s on the first exam, and I’m no different. Unfortunately, UConn doesn’t deserve anything better than a failing grade for its effort versus Seton Hall.

A good friend of mine texted me during the game and summed it up perfectly: “They’re playing like they only met five minutes before the tip.”

Seriously.

UConn was discombobulated and pretty much overwhelmed by The Hall.

Want proof?

Let’s run through a checklist of basketball’s basic elements:

George Blaney (AP)

Ball protection: UConn turned the ball over 13 times (13!!!) in the first half. And that’s the main reason the Huskies trailed 35-22 heading into the locker room. Turnovers morphed into Seton Hall fast break points, and soon, an early UConn lead became a double-figure deficit.

Rebounding: The Huskies surrendered nine offensive boards to SHU in the first half, which equated to nine second-chance points. UConn had zero.

Shooting: Aside from Jeremy Lamb (7-for-14), the Huskies were miserable 13-for-43 from the field.

Balance: UConn never established a low-block presence — Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi combined to take just seven shots — and oftentimes had two guys on the high post.

“We wound up taking a lot of shots at the end of the clock and it was very stagnant,” Blaney said. “I just couldn’t get them out of it, so I’m not happy with my performance, either.”

Defense: UConn didn’t close out on 3-point shooters, something it’s struggled with at times this season. SHU point guard Jordan Theodore scored all 19 of his in the second half and hit a trio of 3-pointers that really opened things up.

The Little Things: No stats for this, but Lamb said “They made more hustle plays at some points in the game.”

Intangibles: Outside of the first few minutes, UConn never looked completely composed. The Huskies were on the opposite end of a blowout for the first time this year, and they failed to draw any closer than nine points.

That big UConn run we all expected — the oop to Drummond, the three by Napier, another three by Lamb — just never came.

So, chalk it up as a bad game on the road in the Big East. UConn gets an F. By no means, though, is it a reason to hit the panic button. This is still one of the most talented teams in the nation.

It just has some work to do.

Categories: General

Notes/Quotes from Seton Hall: “We had Victor Cruz in the locker room”

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy

Want an indication of how far Seton Hall has come?

Victor Cruz (AP)

“We had Victor Cruz in the locker room,” Pirates coach Kevin Willard said with a laugh. “He wasn’t at MSG watching (the Knicks).”

“Everybody says ‘You gotta be happy about this one.’ Well, I just met Victor Cruz. I’m more happy about that,” he jokingly continued.

Cruz, a native of Paterson, N.J., received a huge cheer after it was announced that he was courtside.

With a win against Providence on Saturday, Seton Hall (13-2) likely assures itself a spot in the Top 25.

Expect UConn to take a tumble after its worst loss of the year (at least the Huskies played well for half of the UCF game).

Read the full game story here.

Some other quick notes:

* Seton Hall snapped an 11-game losing streak versus UConn. Prior to Tuesday’s victory, the Hall had lost 25 of 27 to the Huskies.

* UConn turned the ball over on nearly 40 percent of its first half possessions. There were plenty of other issues, too. The Huskies couldn’t keep Seton Hall off the offensive glass, they couldn’t stop SHU’s transition and they couldn’t get the ball inside.

“They made more hustle plays at some points in the game,” said UConn shooting guard Jeremy Lamb. “They played hard, they made shots and played good defense.”

*According to Willard, Seton Hall played seven possessions of man-to-man the whole game. He threw out another interesting stat: Apparently, the Pirates aim for 40 deflections per game. Against UConn, he said they had 39.

* Obviously, the jokes weren’t exactly flying on the UConn side, but I have to hand it to Willard. He’s the funniest coach I’ve come across so far.

Here’s a quick exchange during the press conference:

Q: “In your wildest dreams, did you ever think you’d be emptying the bench against UConn?”

A: “Yeah, just the other way around…kind of like I did against Syracuse (in a 75-49 loss).”

O.K, maybe it sounded funnier in person. Trust me, the guy’s a riot.

* Willard on the whole Drummond/Herb Pope thing: “That was one of the stupidest things I’ve read. Andre Drummond…why would he know who Herb Pope was? He probably knew who No. 15 was. He probably doesn’t know the name. That’s how we do it — stop No. 2, stop No. 14. If I told Freddie Wilson to stop Vincent Council, he’d be like ‘Who the heck is that?’ It doesn’t mean they don’t watch film. You play so many games against so many great players — it’s just one of those things.”

Categories: Uncategorized

Live coverage: UConn at Seton Hall

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 by:Ben Doody

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=3960f1db75" >UConn at Seton Hall</a>

Categories: General

Notes/Quotes: January 2nd

Monday, January 2, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy

Don’t know much about Seton Hall?

You’re not alone.

Andre Drummond said he heard the name “Herb Pope” for the first time during today’s practice.

“I don’t even know who that is,” Drummond said. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful. They said the name to me in practice and I was like ‘Wait, who’s Herb Pope?’”

“I haven’t watched Seton Hall so I wouldn’t know who’s on their team or anything like that,” Drummond added.

According to UConn associate head coach George Blaney, Pope is playing like a Big East first teamer right now. Pope, a 6-foot-8, 236-pound forward, is averaging 18.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Last season, he averaged just 9.8 points per contest.

* Roscoe Smith (wrist) looked fine in practice. He only played four minutes in Saturday’s win over St. John’s, but should see more time versus Seton Hall tomorrow.

Roscoe Smith (AP)

“Roscoe is pretty good,” Blaney said .” (The wrist) is sore, he’s got it taped, but he’s pretty good. He’s practiced really well and he’ll be ready to go.”

* UConn jumped one spot in each poll to No. 8.

* Blaney stressed the importance of starting out strong, something UConn hasn’t done consistently this season.

“What I told Ryan Boatright was that the guy up in section 326 has got to know that you’re happy being here, so he keeps laughing at me,” he said. ” But I mean that. I think you have to show the other team, you have to show the referees, you have to show the coaches, you have to show everybody that you’re ready to play.”

* This will be Blaney’s final game filling in for Jim Calhoun. He’ll return to the team on Wednesday, Jan. 4 and resume all coaching duties.

Categories: General

Top UConn Moments of ’11: No. 1

Monday, January 2, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy

Not much to argue here.

The sound of that final buzzer on April 4 is indeed the most memorable UConn moment of 2011.

Kemba Walker (Getty Images)

It’ s nothing you haven’t already heard: UConn was never supposed to be there. Heck, the Huskies were considered a fringe NCAA tournament team — picked 10th in their own league — before the season started.

The national championship game, a 53-41 victory over Butler, will be remembered (at least on a national level) for the Bulldogs’ 12-for-64 shooting performance from the field.

But here in Connecticut, it will be remembered for the image to the left. Kemba Walker — all 172 pounds of him — carried the Huskies on his back for 11 straight games in the most improbable national championship run in recent history.

When the Huskies returned to Storrs, Walker was reduced to tears as his No. 15 jersey was unveiled on the Huskies of Honor wall in Gampel Pavilion. Watch the video.

And this video. And this one, too.

Happy New Year everyone.

Top 11 UConn Moments of ’11

11. UConn beats Texas in overtime, Roscoe Smith’s fullcourt heave and Kemba’s prayer from 35 feet

10. MLB Draft, Springer and Barnes go in first round

9. Drummond’s decision

8. The Fiesta Bowl

7. Maya inks Jordan Deal

6. Horne’s 3-pointer misfires, UConn advances to Final Four

5. Moore hits 3,000-point mark

4. Gary McGhee takes a spill

3. Notre Dame ends UConn’s title quest

2. Edsall bolts for Maryland

1. National Champs again

Categories: Uncategorized

Top UConn Moments ’11: No. 2

Sunday, January 1, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy

In case you’re wondering, the WordArt above is supposed to resemble Maryland’s uniforms.

Close enough.

It’s been a full year since UConn got demolished by Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, and it’s been 364 days since Edsall boarded a plane to Maryland and took the head coaching job without informing his team in person.

The move was a monumental moment for a few reasons: Edsall always preached doing things the right way. The manner in which he left — he told his team via telephone wasn’t “right,” especially because he made Jordan Todman get up in front of his teammates after the Fiesta Bowl and announce that he was going to enter the NFL Draft.

Some players were bitter about Edsall’s departure — and rightfully so.

But, if you look a the big picture, Edsall’s poor judgment in his final day as UConn’s coach doesn’t override the fact that the Huskies are relevant because of him.

Randy Edsall (AP)

Say what you will about his personality or ability to recruit elite talent , Randy Edsall took over a Division I-AA program and earned a BCS Bowl berth in a little more than a decade. The Huskies went from playing in Memorial Stadium (and its concrete bleachers) to playing at the University of Phoenix Stadium in front of 67,232 fans.

When introduced as the new Maryland coach on Jan. 3, Edsall called it his “dream job.”

So far, though, it’s been an absolute nightmare. The Terps went 2-10 in his Edsall’s first season. One of those wins was against Towson and, in one of those losses, Maryland held a 41-14 lead in the third quarter. Players anonymously spoke to The Washington Post and expressed their discontent. And Post columnist John Feinstein ripped Edsall in this late-November column.

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Edsall.

Top 11 UConn Moments of ’11

11. UConn beats Texas in overtime, Roscoe Smith’s fullcourt heave and Kemba’s prayer from 35 feet

10. MLB Draft, Springer and Barnes go in first round

9. Drummond’s decision

8. The Fiesta Bowl

7. Maya inks Jordan Deal

6. Horne’s 3-pointer misfires, UConn advances to Final Four

5. Moore hits 3,000-point mark

4. Gary McGhee takes a spill

3. Notre Dame ends UConn’s title quest

2. Edsall bolts for Maryland

1. ???

Categories: General

Top UConn Moments of ’11: No. 3

Sunday, January 1, 2012 by:Kevin Duffy

There’s an old adage in sports: It’s hard to beat a team three times.

At least that’s what my dad says.

Notre Dame lost to UConn twice in the regular season and again in the Big East championship game. The Irish and Huskies met for a fourth time in the 2011 Final Four, and Skylar Diggins and ND finally figured it out.

Skylar Diggins (AP)

Diggins, a sophomore, poured in 28 points as UConn’s quest for a third straight National Championship came to an unexpected halt on April 4. It was the Huskies third loss in the past two years.

It was also the final game for Maya Moore, arguably the best women’s college basketball player of all-time. Moore received an ovation as she exited the game — a 72-63 loss — with 36 points.

Moore went 150-4 in her career.

“It’s never easy when you don’t win your last game, because that is kind of the thing that you remember going out on,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “I know how difficult it is for Maya and for Lorin (Dixon). I just wanted to remind them in the locker room that when they were freshmen the same thing happened to them. They ended with the same outcome, but what happened in between is something that only the really, really fortunate can ever experience.”

Top 11 UConn Moments of ’11

11. UConn beats Texas in overtime, Roscoe Smith’s fullcourt heave and Kemba’s prayer from 35 feet

10. MLB Draft, Springer and Barnes go in first round

9. Drummond’s decision

8. The Fiesta Bowl

7. Maya inks Jordan Deal

6. Horne’s 3-pointer misfires, UConn advances to Final Four

5. Moore hits 3,000-point mark

4. Gary McGhee takes a spill

3. Notre Dame ends UConn’s title quest

2. ??

Categories: General