Huskies Interior Defense Collapses in baffling 81-66 loss to Providence

Yes, the Huskies suffered a let-down after their big win over Texas against a tough Big East opponent on the road on Wednesday, however, this baffling collapse can best be explained by a total breakdown of the interior defense in the second half. Providence out rebounded UCONN 53-38 and 24-12 off the offensive glass. In the post-game interview Associate head coach George Blaney observed that the Friar's plethora of three point shooters forced the Husky back court to pick them up behind the three point arc. This allowed the Providence guards to penetrate at will in the second half causing the Husky big men to come out early, leaving open lanes for the Friar front court to crash the boards for put backs. In my mind the Huskies inconsistency keeps coming back to something I said in my very first blog this year; we are three players short, a banger inside, a reliable three point shooter ( Dyson was 4-13 on treys) and a good back up guard. With Dyson playing poorly after Saturday's career best game, Blaney had no one to put in to pick things up. With Majok completely ineffective on Wednesday, again, Blaney was left a man short up front.
This game had a very strange rhythm; UCONN started off looking good and took a 29-19 lead 14 minutes into the first half. Providence started draining threes and left the court up 36-35 at the break. With 9:16 in the game the Huskies led 58-55 and looked like they were about to take control when Providence posted 14 unanswered parts as part of a 20-3 run to salt things away. During this stretch they just ate the Huskies alive off the offensive boards.
Mid-season road loss to a tough Big East opponent or an indication that the fundamental shortcomings of this team limit their upside? Let's hear some opinions.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Huskies #19 in both polls; this reporter on short list for two major awards

On the strength of last weeks two wins both polls, ESPN/Coaches and the
AP Poll, the Huskies moved up to #19 in both. If you read last nights write up of the Texas game you know that is exactly what this reporter predicted
I received another call from the National Sportwriter's Assn. last night informing me that I am now on the short list for their two major awards for the 2009/2010 season. I have been asked to plan to be at the final Four for the awards presentation.
This week the Huskies take on Providence, away, on Wednesday night and Marquette at home on Saturday. These are two unranked but perenially tough Big East Squads; if the Huskies are headed the way we hope they should win both.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Jerome Roars, Stanley Soars as Huskies Topple #1 ranked Texas 88-74

In a scintillating display of "HUSKY BASKETBALL", UCONN overcame an eight point first half deficit with a thrilling second half display of pressing defense, countless steals, fast break points, and thunerderous dunks. Dyson and Walker applied intense defensive pressure and cut their own turnovers from 16 in the first half to three in the second. The Huskies had runs of 15-0, and 26-6 ,and outscored the Longhorns by 22 in the second half leading to a decisive 88-74 upset win. I can't remember the last time I was this excited by the Huskies play. The win will certainly move the Huskies back into the top 25 in both polls, possibly as high as #19.
An uninspiring first half, with 16 turnovers (6 by Walker) ended with the Longhorns up by eight. They came at UCONN in waves using 12 players (9 scored) and were pounding the boards on the offensive end. Nothing that happened in the first half suggested what was to come. At the end of the first half I was disheartened by what seemed like a regression to too much dribbling by the Husky backcourt and too many turnovers. I would love to have heard what Temporary Head Coach George Blaney said at the half to help turn things around, but the over dribbling stopped, the first passes started going inside with nice kick outs as Dyson drained 4 shots from three point land. Dyson ended up with a career high of 32 points, Walker had 19 with 10 assists and Robinson scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds. Edwards added 11 points and Ater Majok played 31 very effective minutes, scored 5 points, had 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
Once again Blaney's calm demeanor seemed effective for the Huskies. Interestingly, he used a tight 6 man rotation, did not yank players in and out at every mistake and used Ater Majok for 31 minutes. There were so many positives in this game that we can only hope this is a real turn around rather than two good games in a row. To begin with, Dyson played at "superstar" level in this game, meaning he showed the ability to take over the game at a crucial times to insure the win. He has shown signs many times this year of jumping a level to "Superstar" so let's hope this is a permanent change. Walker showed the qualities that have led many people to think he will end up as a top five in the country point guard. His defensive quickness is amazing and when on his game he triggers the Huskies ability to push the offense up court before the defense can set-up. I have never seen Robinson come out from the opening tap so clearly ready to play. He was sensational in the first half, keeping the Huskies within striking distance. Two plays, one in each half, made me begin to reassess my concerns about his hands and athleticism. The plays were identical. Robinson started from behind the 3 point arc on the weak side; he cut hard under the basket to the strong side, went up for a pass and when he caught the ball he turned sharply 180 degress in midair resulting in layups. Wow!
The play of Gavin Edwards and Ater Majok was very encouraging. Edwards was very steady in 23 minutes, scored 11 on 3-4 shooting, presented himself well for passes down low and seems to have a good feel for finding the perimeter players in good shooting position. Majok is beginning to look like he could be a major contributor this season. In addition to his stats, he looked more comfortable on the court, fought hard for loose balls and was relentless on the offensive boards; dispite his thin frame he is a very tough customer.
If the improvement the Huskies have manifested in the last two games stick, this team may surprise some people come March. I just may order that 50" HDTV to set up at the SteepHill dome.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

News and notes I think that Verne Lundquist may have taken "laughing gas" before Saturday's telecast. How many times did he guffaw at the bland, inane observations of Clark Kellogg. There is a rumor that on his way up to Gampel Pavillion he stopped for a "Orthodontic consultation" at the offices of highly regarded orthodontist Dr. Joel Beaman. When I called Beaman and asked him about it by phone he sent me what looked like a computer enhanced photo of a Jack Crevalle that he claims he caught surf casting in Florida on Saturday.

Big East quiz

Do you know the team names for the 16 big East teams, i.e. Kentucky Wildcats, or Michigan Wolverines. Winner receives a prize- answers can only be submitted on blog site. Winner receives a "You Heard it here First" souvenir.
Steve





Cincinnati
Connecticut
DePaul Blue
Georgetown
Louisville
Marquette
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Providence
Rutgers
Seton Hall
South Florida
St. John's
Syracuse
Villanova
West Virginia

By George he's got it! UCONN 75-St. John's 59

In tonights tilt at the Hartford-XL Center, with encouraging performances by the Big Three(Dyson, Walker and Robinson), the UCONN Huskies snapped a three game losing streak with a decisive 75-59 win over St. John's. In Coach Jim Calhoun's absence, due to an undisclosed medical issue, Associate Head Coach George Blaney put his stamp on the Huskies improved half-court offense evident in tonight's win. Blaney had clearly put two distinct changes in place; there was dramatically less dribbling by Walker and Dyson as both gave the ball up more frequently resulting in better passing around the perimeter. In addtion, both guards regularly made their first pass inside resulting in some nice opportunities for the big men up front, as well as some nice kick outs to the perimeter shooters. Dyson, Walker and Robinson all benefitted and were able to launch three pointers while square to the hoop. Each connected twice from three point land for a total of six three pointers, a huge improvement. Clearly Blaney had also instructed his guards to look more for Edwards inside; ironically, Edwards who has been the Huskies most consistent player all year seemed tight as a result and had a mediocre game. Nevertheless, I think continuing looks to Edwards inside will pay dividents; he has some nice inside moves and his kick out passes seem to find the perimeter shooters in good positions to spot up.
The improved half-court play resulted in some really nice plays. Early in the game Edwards found Coombs-Mcdaniel in the corner for a trey; at 4:14 of the first half Okwandu scored on a beautiful pick and roll and with 8:09 left in the game Dyson found Robby under the hoop with a beautiful look away pass and "Sticks" finished it with a dunk. Could the 91% shooting at the charity stripe resulted from a more relaxed squad under Blaney's less volatile sideline style?
The offense was led by Dyson with 21, Robinson with 18 points and 9 rebounds and Walker with 17 points and 6 assists. This Saturday the Huskies take on the #1 ranked team in the country, Texas in a non-conference game at the Gampel Pavillion. Tonights win brought the Huskies to 3-3 in league play; with their difficult strength of schedule a .500 Big East record will get them a "Dance Card" in March.

news and notes Did anyone notice the frequent references by the announcers and half time broadcast team to Calhoun's "stress", strenghtening my feeling that Calhoun is depressed.
Speaking of broadcast teams I thought that the SNY team of play by play man Bob Picozzi and color men Bob Wenzel(former coach at UWV and Rutgers), and Andy Katz did a really fine job. Picozzi is succinct and to the point and at breaks in the action
asked excellent questions leading to incisive, knowledgeable and informative comments by both Wenzel and Katz.
Well, the sun will shine tomorrow in Huskyland as things may be looking up.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Expect a Husky win tonight

Despite the fact that the St.John Redmen (12-5 overall, 2-3 in the Big East) are an improving team( last two games wins over Cincinnatti and Depaul) I expect a decisive UCONN win tonight.
I think they will be extra motivated for several reasons. First the "win one for the Gipper " syndrome for Calhoun. Paradoxically, I think they will also be motivated that they can win without him. Finally, my very inside sources tell me that many of the players like the steadier, more even tempered George Blaney to the explosive Calhoun. Tune in at 7:00 PM tonight on SNY
"you heard it here first"
Steve

Is Calhoun in a Depression?

University representatives quoted Coach Calhoun's Doctors this morning. In effect, he is not dealing with any issues related to past medical issues. Of course, this could mean a new medical issue has emerged, however, I was struck by his statement after the loss to Pitt. Calhoun was quoted as saying " I am not used to coming down the stretch of a close game and not have my team take control. It is very hard for me." That statement combined with my observation is that he seemed subdued in the last two games.
He certainly has many personality traits when combined with certain stresses could cause a Depression. He has a tremedous amount of internally generated pressure to win,he is very demanding of himself, and he is a very angry man.(evident when you see him argue with refs on every call or rip into one of his players when they make a mistake) If someone like this turns their anger of themselves because they feel they are not living up you have the seeds of a Depression. If UCONN explains the leave as due to "stress" that is code of Depression.
"You heard it here first"
Steve

Calhoun to take medical leave of absence as of Today

In a startling and concerning development UCONN AD Jeff Hathaway announced that Coach Jim Calhoun will take a medical leave of absence of undetermined length effective immediately. No information was given about the reason for the leave. The very capable Associate Head Coach George Blaney will take over the position.
When I was at courtside last week and again Sunday watching the game with my son Andy, I remarked that Calhoun seemed subdued. Let's hope this is not a serious cancer recurrence; Let's all send our thought's and best wishes to Coach Calhoun for a speedy and complete recovery.

"You Heard it here first"
Steve

Ka-Boom! The sound of the Huskies dropping in the polls

In the new rankings which come out every Monday,UCONN dropped out of the top 25 in the AP poll and fell to #21 in the USA/Coaches poll. This week the Huskies take on ST. John's on Wednesday at the civic center and #1 ranked Texas on Saturday at Gampel Pavillion. Wednesday evenings game starts at 7:00 PM and will be televised on SNY; Saturdays game will be aired nationally on CBS at 4:00 PM.
Speaking of CBS don't you think they can do better for their National telecasts than the announcing duo of Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg. Lundquist, who has been a fine play by play guy his whole career sounds like he should think about hanging up his mike; He sounded tired and although he still made some insightful comments he did not have the energy to disagree with Kellogg's inane and uninformed comments. Kellogg reminds me of to of my least favorite sports play by play guys of all time; Joe Garagiola and Tim McCarver. Like the duo of former St. Louis Cardinal Catchers, Kellogg focuses endlessly on one point and beats it to death. I do not like the extraneous chatter and the plethora of minute, incorrect and repetitively stated points. A good example is when, with about one minute to go and UCONN down by five, Walker dribbled at the top of the key for about 10 seconds.Lundquist emphatically and correctly said "he's using too much time". When he then got fouled Kellogg said "maybe not"; the fact that he got fouled had nothing to do with the fact that he used up 12 precious and unnecessary seconds on the clock.
Thanks to the 13 fans who have signed up to be "followers of the blog"
"You heard it here first"
Steve

Oy Vay, One Trey; Michigan 68- UCONN 63

In their most desultory performance of the season the UCONN Huskies suffered their third straight loss for the first time since the end of the 2006 season, 68-63 to the unranked Michigan Wolverines. All their glaring weaknesses conspired to turn a tie game with 1:30 left to play into a six point loss. Lack of depth up front, a stultifying half court offense, poor shooting both at the charity stripe(62%) and three point land (1-11), and poor ball handling added up to this damaging loss which will likely drop the Huskies out of the top 25 in both polls.
The teams played evenly for the first three minutes until Jerome Dyson picked up his second foul and sat out the remaining 17 minutes of the first half. Without Dyson the Huskies looked lost as the Wolverines ran their disciplined motion offense and began draining threes. The teams left the floor with Michigan up nine.
One minute into the second half Manny Harris ( the Wolverines leading scorer) missed a jump shot and it came down, uncontested, into the hands of Stanley Robinson. Robinson allowed the ball to slip through his hands; the Wolverines picked up the loose ball and a lay up gave them an 11 point lead, the largest margin of the game. With Dyson and Walker pushing the offense, the Huskies went on a 16-5 run to even the score. Gavin Edwards also looked impressive during the run and ended up 6-7 from the floor with 14 points. Edwards has become a sure handed, consistent contributor up front and it is clear that the Huskies need to get him the ball more often inside. The score see-sawed to a tie with 1:30 left to play. The remainder of the game made the stomachs of all real Husky fans churn. At 1:30 to play Michigan hit a three pointer; with no reliable three point shooters, a game which should have been a one possession contest turned into a two possession game for the Huskies. This created more pressure on Walker ( 2 assists from our point guard) and Dyson to drive the lane for hoops. Dyson went into his dribbling act and lost the ball leading to a Michigan score off a fast break and a 5 point lead Sure enough, with 1:18 on the clock, Walker dribbled away 15 seconds before he committed another turn over. Miraculously, the Huskies remained in the game and Dyson was fouled-yup he missed both shots. On UCONN;s ensuing possession Robinson was fouled and threw up an air ball on his first free throw and made the second. Michigan closed it out by five.
Walker led the Huskies with 15, followed by the improving Edwards with 14 and Dyson with 13. If you re-read my very first report of the season it is all there. It pains me to have to be so critical of the Huskies who I root for passionately but in my role as reporter I cannot let this interfere with my objectivity. When I won my unprecedented third SOTY( ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and National Sports writer Associations "Sportswriter of the year Award" in 2008, the presenter George Vecsey cited my ability to remain objective as a writer and passionate as a fan as one the qualities he most admired in me. It is not easy to balance the two.

News and Notes; I would like to welcome Jason Haymond to the blog site. Jason is a graduate of Hall High school in Hartford and the University of Michigan where he gained notoriety for surviving an entire semester without the benefit of a bed. His good friend Andy Eliot described his athletic pedigree as follows.
"I'd like to introduce a new Husky fan to the blog -- Jason Haymond. Jason is a native of West Hartford CT and an avid Husky fan. In terms of his athletic history, Haymond was a standout lacrosse player at Hall High School (though it is reported that he has not exercised in any capacity since 1996). In terms of his basketball skills, he is known for having good court sense, but poor ball handling skills and an extremely awkward set shot."
sounds to me like the Huskies could use him.
"You heard it here First"
Steve

Hey Solly, where are the UCONN alum?

My nephew,the honorable and trustworthy Mr. Jeremy Sollinger called me last year to request a private meeting at an undisclosed restuarant in Connecticut. At that meeting, he requested that I admit one Dave Allen and several other UCONN graduates to the site. He swore, sealed by an exchange of blood(thereby putting his place in my inner circle of advisors at risk,SVEICA, that these fellas were HUGE UCONN fans and would be regular, isightful contributors to the site.
For your friends honor and place in SVEICA, plus the quality of the site, I would love to have you guys contribute your opinions to the site.
"You heard it here First"

We Just don't have the horses; Pitt 67- UCONN 57

You can analyze this loss any way you want but from my seat two rows behind the Pitt bench it became patently clear to me that the 2009-2010 version of the UCONN Huskies just doesn't have the horses. To wit, we are one guard short, do not have a three point shooter or even a really good jump shooter, and between Majok and Okwandu, we are very weak offensively at Center. That's 3 key players short; This team will have done extremely well if they make it to the Sweet Sixteen and I am not sure that they are not NIT bound this year.
Despite the loss, thanks to Bill Mitchell this reporter was seated two rows behind the Pitt bench. What one cannot see on TV or from further back is the awesome size of these guys and the very fast pace of the game; in addition one gets to pick up both strengths and weaknesses of the players. As far as last night's pounding from the Pitt Panthers on the Huskies home court, the problems with this year's squad were apparent.
Pitt led almost all the way except for the Huskies briefly taking two one point leads with about 6 minutes to go after a stretch of their best run of the game. Pitt's guard oriented, motion offense was impressive affording Ashton Gibbs( 19 pts) and Brad Wanamaker(19 pts) good open looks at the hoop as well as openings to drive the lane. In contrast, UCONN's stagnant half course offense was evident. Essentially, in the half court, Dyson dribbles around looking for opportunities to drive the lane; His excessive dribbling tends to induce the other players to stand around waiting to see what Dyson will do. Pitt defended against this cleverly last night by having their big, strong, Center, Gary Mcghee come out and force Dyson to give up the ball whenever he beat his first man.
The Huskies had one good seven minute run starting mid way through the second half. They increased their defensive intensity and subsequent steals and forced turnovers allowed them to move into their running game. Both Walker and Dyson turned on during this stretch and they came back from 8 down to take a one point lead. Jamie Dixon, the incredibly intense Pitt coach reinserted McGhee into the line up at this point, the pace was slowed and Pitt pulled away to win by 10. The Huskies scoring was led by Stan Robinson with 19, Dyson with 14 and Walker with 10.
Some observations from courtside;

1) Walker is playing scared. He has the goods, but has to relax, start shooting again and learn to play under better control. I would like to see him pull up in the lane more often when he penetrates rather than go air borne with no one open. His development is slower than anticipated but he will still be a very good guard. For his benefit, I hope he stays four years.

2) I know some of you think I am too hard on Stanley Robinson, but sorry folks he just doesn't have what it takes. While clearly he is a better player this year and will be important to whatever the Huskies achieve, he is, at best, a mid to late first round NBA draft choice and I predict by the end of his second season in the NBA he will be waived and no one will pick up his contract. Will probably end up playing in Europe. Why do I say that? He fools people because of his speed for his size and his great ups- he can sky. The essential problem is that he is not a good athlete; his eye-hand coordination is poor resulting in poor hands. Many passes he does not catch cleanly or misses and of most important is that he is a poor shooter. He has very little touch and feel and he will never shoot well. In addition, he moves stiffly and has no 1on1 offensive moves. When he gets the ball down low he just dribbles aimlessly and uses his jumping ability to go over the defender- this will not fly in the NBA and is only semi effective at the college level. Being close to the court I was able to see that he is poorly conditioned indicating poor work habits. He was completely winded in the second half and was gasping for air the entire time. Finally and of most importance he has no heart and when the game is tight he gets passive and does not want the ball. Once again, this happened against Pitt. 15 pts in the first half, but when the chips were on the line in the second half he scored 4 points and he got 1 that is right folks 1 rebound the entire game.
Ater Majok has abililty but is a project- he will not contribute significantly this year but will in the future.
Dyson is a very good player with plenty of heart but he can't shoot. The Huskies made one trey against Pitt and this will kill them in close games down the stretch.
In short, we are short 3 horses and nothing will change that.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Look for this Reporter behind the UCONN bench as Huskies take on Pitt

Through some clandestine negotiations, Jim Calhoun has arranged for me to be sitting behind the UCONN bench for tomorrow night's Big East battle between the Huskies and the 16th ranked Pitt Panthers. If you tune in to ESPN2 for tomorrow nights 7:00 PM contest, you will know what is happening when you see Calhoun leaning way back, appearing to be listening to someone in the stands. Calhoun's Questions will be relayed back to me by one of the female team managers in hand written notes.
Expect this game to be a dogfight. Pitt always gives the Huskies fits at the Civic Center and this has developed into a great rivalry. Pitt has a guard oriented offense led by Sophomore Ashton Gibbs at 17.5ppg, Bernard Wanamaker, 12 ppg and Gilbert Brown at 10ppg.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Mr. Robinson leaves the neighborhood as Huskies blow 19 point lead

In a game of wild momentum swings, UCONN managed to blow a 19 point lead and drop an important Big East encounter to the 12th ranked Georgetown Hoya's. The huskies were at their pressing, fast paced best in the first half and at the break held a 15 point 40-15 lead. Dyson ran the floor well and Robinson had 3 resounding dunks as Georgetown looked lethargic. Throughout the first half Dick Vitale (who I like,) continually praised Robinson and talked about he had arrived and would go high in the NBA draft. I just held my breath thinking, let's see what happens. While I lovd Vitale's enthusiasm, I feel that for the last few seasons he has gotten lazy in his game preparation and just hooks on to one or two ideas.
As the second half unfolded it became apparent early on that Robinson was having one of his classic disappearing acts. He looked tired, his shot selection was horrendous and Georgetown started a spectacular comeback. Inexpicably, Robinson took eight threes, making only two and his three point try practically from the locker room set up Georgetown's tieing the game with 5:21 to go. Vitale commented ignorantly that Calhoun would take Robinson shooting from there every time up court. The Hoya's Junior, Austin Freeman. the best game of his career and killed the Huskies with 33 points, many from downtown. I just cannot understand how the Huskies continually allowed a player who was on fire get free time after time.
While UCONN still led by one with 1:11 to play, a steal and another hoop led to a 72-69 Hoya win.
I continue to be disappointed in the sloppy point guard play of Kemba Walker; too many turnovers and very few really good passes and he continually gets out of control when he penetrates. Please do not try to tell me Stanley Robinson has arrived; once again when the chips were down he was just not home. Once again, the Huskies shot poorly from the line, only 52%. Bright spots were the improving play of Jamal McCoombs-McDaniel and the solid play of Oriakhi and Edwards.

News and Notes

Once again, with Huskies playing poorly Coach Calhoun has approached this reporter through our mutual friend Bill Mitchell. Under the guise of attending this Wednesday's game in the front row with Bill, I will stay after the game to meet with Calhoun at an undisclosed, underground location. Obviously, this reported will have to keep the contents of that meeting confidential since I will be functioning in my other role as a Psychologist.
I am the only person who has noticed the striking facial resemblance between John Thompson III, the current Hoya coach and blog site follower John Walker.

" You heard it Here First"
Steve

Jerome Brings it Home; UCONN 71-Seton Hall 63

The UCONN Huskies went into tonight's home contest at Gampel Pavillion ranked 13th in both major polls after splitting two big East contests last week. They bounced back with a home win over Notre Dame after a tough 2 point loss on the road to the Cincinnatti Bearcats. Tonight's 71-63 win over the scrappy Pirates of Seton Hall was much closer than the score indicated. The lead changed hands several times down the stretch before Jerome Dyson took over the final minutes of the game with a spectacular show of rebounding, assists and the trademark Dyson coast to coast trips resulting in buckets off slashing drives. After sitting out much of the first half with foul trouble Dyson ended up leading the Huskies in scoring with 16 points and he added 9 rebounds and 10 assists. By the way, Dyson is the only player in the country averaging more than 20ppg, 5assists/game and 5 rebounds/game.
The Huskies sported their trademark balanced attack; in addition to Dyson's 16, Walker and Edwards added 15, Ariakhi had 12 and Robinson 10. Walked was much more in control at point and there far fewer turnovers tonight. Ariakhi again looked solid and will be the next Husky superstar and Robinson continues his consistent and sometimes spectacular play. On Saturday the Huskies go up against a tough Georgetown Hoya squad at the Verizon center in Washington, D.C. The game will be broadcast at noon on ESPN.

News and Notes- Please welcome to the site Steve Halloran, a friend of Jem Sollinger. Steve grew up in Farmington and was an outstanding HS hoops player. ( He played against Jeff Calhoun, Jim's son) He was a two sport athlete at Middlebury where he played varsity soccer and basketball. He has been a Husky fan since 1986 and we look forward to his insights.
If you haven't already done so please join the blog siteuconnhuskymania.blogspot.com. just sign in and follow the directions. If you already have a gmail account you can sign in with your current username and password.

"you heard it here first"
Steve

Join my blog site

In the future my posts will be on my newly created blog site which is uconnhuskymania.blogspot.com. All you need to do is click the link I just gave and you will be on the site. If you click on followers, and follow the directions you will be a member and be able to post comments. I would like to ask all those who enjoy the posts and would like to continue to become a follower. I want to thank Peter Eliot for creating and setting up the blog site.
Tomorrow, at the XL center in Hartford the Huskies will try to rebound from Wed. nights loss against the Irish of Notre Dame.
"You heard it here first"
Steve

Walker's poor play, missed free throws, poor shooting; Cincinatti 71-UCONN 69

Well Husky fans, I wish this were not true but this reporter is already in the running for his third career prescience award. A quote from my first post of the season ; "Of most concern is 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. 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."
Countless bonehead plays by Kemba Walker in which he either over penetrated without intent or turned the ball over were extremely costly in a game which the Huskies should have won. Walker's worst play of the game came right after he hit a trey to tie the game at 69. With the Bearcats Vaughn having fouled out, everyone in the house but Walker seemed to know that Cincinnati was going to put the ball in the hands of sensational Freshman, Lance Stephenson and let him take it coast to coast. Dyson picked up Stephenson in the back court and you could see Calhoun desperately trying to get Walker's attention so he could double up on Stephenson to either slow him down or force him to give up the ball. Unfortunately, Walker was too busy grandstanding to the crowd to see Calhoun and trap Stephenson. Dyson could not contain Stephenson alone and he drove the length of the floor and got fouled with .7 seconds to go. He drained both free throws and it was lights out.
The Huskies were also bedeviled by poor shooting from the floor (38%) and from 3 point land (30%) hitting only 4 treys compared to the Bearcats 7, a nine point differential. The Huskies were led by Dyson's 24 points whose sensational, slashing drives to the hoop accounted for 24 points and Robinson's 22. Robinson continues to show signs that he may be a factor in big games this year, but we shall see.
The game was a typical, early season Big East contest; physical with a lot of sloppy and spotty play. Despite all this the Huskies lost by only 2 on the road so I wouldn't read too much into the loss. Majok is definitely a project and will have to improve during the year for the Huskies to contend seriously come March. Walker is becoming more and more concern as I see him repeating mistakes that he should be out growing by now.
A safe and happy New Year to all.
"You heard it first here"
Steve