Better than expected

With only one more game (Iona,,) left before UCONN opens their Big East Schedule against Cincinnatti(next Wednesday) it is a good time to assess the Huskies Pre-Conference performance and make some tentative early season predictions. I want to make some general comments first, however. I would like to have much greater participation from subscribers to my "blog site." This is not a "put down" site a la Mike Francesa, who I cannot stand. All observations, comments, opinions, especially when they differ from my own are welcome and will be respectfully treated; and Now, to the Huskies.
The Huskies were ranked 13thth and 14 in the AP and Coaches pre-season polls respectively, despite losing A.J. Price and Hasheem Thabeet to the NBA draft, and Jeff Adrien to graduation. (he is playing in Europe.) Frankly, I thought the pre-season rankings were high. Including Tuesday night's 71-55 win over Maine,the Huskies are 8-2. Early in the season UCONN, looked disorganized against lesser opponents with far too many turnovers but managed to win some close games. The two losses to Duke (ranked #7) and Kentucky (ranked #3, and undefeated to date) were very encouraging,as the games were close and the Huskies definitely did not look out-classed. Against Kentucky UCONN had a 1 point lead with 1:12 to go but John Wall, Kentucky's sensational Freshman took over and the Huskies lost by three. Both these losses came before the highly touted 6'11" Freshman, Ater Majok was eligible to suit up leaving UCONN very thin in the frontcourt. As we go to press, UCONN is currently ranked #11 in both polls.
Let's take a look at the Huskies rotation, team leaders and give some subjective impressions. With the recent addition of the highly touted 6'11" Freshman Ater Majok, the Huskies start Sophomore Kemba Walker at point and two guard Senior Jerome Dyson, in my opinion one of the best backcoourts in the country. Up front, Senior Stanley Robinson is at small forward and impressive Freshman Alex Oriakhi is at Power forward. Majok will start at Center leaving the much improved Gavin Edwards as a versatile 6th man who can play Forward and Center. Charles Okwandu, the 6'11", skillless Center will be used sparingly to give up fouls in games where the front line gets in foul trouble. Calhoun has been giving Jr. Guard Donnell Beverlely 10 minutes of playing time per game and 6' 7" Freshman Small forward Jamal McCoombs- McDaniel the same in his attempt to expand to a 8 man rotation. Berverley looks to be developing into an adequate back up guard, while McCoombs-McDaniel is showing signs of becoming a much needed reliable 3 point shooter. In the early going, Calhoun will rely on a tight 6 man rotation and hopefully be able to expand to 8.
The scoring picture is typical of a Calhoun team; four players averaging in double figures who can step up when needed(with the exception of Robinson). Dyson leads the team averaging 20.1 ppg followed by Robinson (15.8ppg), Walker (13.2), Edwards (10.9), and Oriakhi (5.2). Walker leads the team with 6.3 assists per game, followed by Dyson at 4.5 assists per game. Oriakhi is the team leader in rebounds at 9.0 followed by Robinson at 7.6rpg and Dyson at 5.5 ppg. Amazingly, UCONN has led the nation in blocked shots for eight straight seasons and is leading again this year paced by Edwards with 38 and Oriakhi with 23.
This years version of the Huskies has more potential than I had originally thought which is testimony to Calhoun's ability to see and develop talent in players that are not necessarily highly touted. Edwards is a good example of a player who showed little as a Freshman and Sophomore and now looks like a second round NBA draft pick. Oriakhi, also not highly touted, will be a super star at UCONN and contribute heavily this year. The big pluses to date are Edwards improved play, Freshman Oriakhi is ready to roll, Dyson looks fully rcovered from last years season ending ACL injury and the fact that this years personnel fits well with Calhoun's up tempo offense and trapping, pressing defense. Of most concern is that this that this years Huskies shoot poorly both from the field and the charity stripe. For example, in the three point loss to Kentucky Dyson alone missed 10 free throws. Of even greater concern is that the Huskies do not have a reliable 3 point shooter, a critical ingredient in close games that go down to the wire. McCoobs-McDaniels has shown flashes of developing a reliable stroke from 3 point land. My one criticism of Walker, who is a great penetrator and defender is that he sometimes makes poor dish offs and there have been too many turn overs, although I do think this improve over time.
What is the bottom line? If Majok turns out to be the player he looked like in only his second game (good rebounder, defensive force, and some nice offensive moves) and McCoombs-McDaniel develops into a reliable 3 point shooter ( I am not even going to talk about Robinson finally contributing in big games I am so disgusted with his lack of heart) then this team could be a long shot to make the Final Four. If one or none of the aforementioned variables come to pass then I think this team will hover around a #16 ranking and go no further than the Sweet Sixteen. Let me see those reactions rolling in, particularly from you knowledgeable UCONN graduates.

On a final note, after this post, I will be converting to an actual blog site- instructions to follow.
"You Heard it here first"
Steve