Traffic Jam in the Big East

Assuming that the Big East will have 8 teams chosen by the NCAA selection Committee, there are seven teams ahead of the Huskies and 4 teams tied with them at 7-8.
Conf Overall

(4) Syracuse Orange 13-2 26-2
(7) Villanova Wildcats 12-3 23-4
(8) West Virginia Mountaineers 10-5 21-6
(12) Pittsburgh Panthers 10-5 21-7
(11) Georgetown Hoyas 9-6 19-7
Marquette Golden Eagles 9-6 18-9
Louisville Cardinals 9-6 18-10
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7-8 18-10
Seton Hall Pirates 7-8 16-10
Connecticut Huskies 7-8 17-11
Cincinnati Bearcats 7-8 16-11
South Florida Bulls 6-9 16-11
St. John's Red Storm 5-10 15-12
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 4-11 14-14
Providence Friars 4-11 12-15
DePaul Blue Demons 1-14 8-19

Of the four teams tied with UCONN, the Huskies have the toughest Strength of Schedule(#1 in the country) and the highest RPI ranking(41), both measures that are highly important to the selection committee. A win on Sunday at 2:00 against Louisville would be a huge plus. This might not get clarified until the Big East tournament is over.

"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Aye Jeromba! UCONN 73-West Virginia 62

In an astounding late season turn around the UCONN Huskies won their third straight Big East contest (2 against nationally ranked top ten teams) with an emphatic 73-62 upset of #7 ranked West Virginia tonight. The Huskies backcourt tandem of Jerome Dyson and the suddenly resurgent Kemba Walker led the way; In his fourth straight sensational showing Walker had 21 points and was 14-17 at the charity stripe. Dyson was his usual slashing and aggressive self and ended up with 17 points. Stanley Robinson who has been playing steadier, if not spectacular ball, had 15 points and 13boards, while Gavin Edwards ( despite getting in foul trouble) turned in his now almost insanely usual performance with 11 points( 3-4 from the field and 5-5 from the free throw line).
The win brings the Huskies to 7-8 in the Big East with three games to go. This win was huge, although the Huskies are still on the bubble. If they go 2-1 the rest of the way they are in but let's hope they do not get tripped up by a poor shooting night.
What does this impressive three game run mean. It sure looks like Kemba Walker has taken some kind of giant leap forward and is playing at a level we have all hoped for and expected all season long. He has cut down on the aimless dribbing and
turn overs, has added pull up jumpers when he drives the lane and is shooting well from the outside, including some treys. As a result he is drawing a lot of fouls and shooting extremely well from the free throw line. Dyson continues to remain the spark plug and heart and soul of the Huskies and Robinson seems to have found a steadier level of play. The unexpected pluses have been the awesome improvement of Gavin Edwards. His inside play is an impeccable combination of pin point passes and a fine shooting touch from close range. He has become very active on defense, often leaving his man to create a trap or help out in the back court. In addition, although Majok is not scoring he has become more confident and active on defense and is creating some havoc.
I may have reactivate my order for the 80" High definition TV that will be installed at the Steep Hill Dome if the Huskies make it to the Sweet Sixteen. On the other hand a couple of bad games could end it pretty quickly. Go Huskies.
" You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Huskies roll over Rutgers 76-58 to remain on the bubble

In a must win game the the UCONN Huskies buried Rutgers 76-58 to remain on the bubble for the eigth bid that will surely go to a Big East team this year. The 18 point spread was the Huskies largest of this roller coaster ride of a season. After three straight losses, the Huskies have come back with three straight Big East wins including Monday's upset of #3 ranked Villanova.
The current resurgence seems to be led by the improved play of Kemba Walker who has cut down the turnovers and begun to hit some three point field goals, the inspired play of Jerome Dyson, and the phone it in 10ppg and 8rpg of Gavin Edwards and vastly imporved foul shooring.
Dyson, once again led the scoring with 20, followed by Walker's 16(14 in the second half) and Edwards with 11. Edwards also led the Huskies with 8 boards as his confidence grows with every game.
The huskies now stand at 6-8 in conference play with four games (all conference tilts) to go. Next week will be key as the Huskies take on #8 ranked West Virginia at home on Monday and the Louisville Cardinal next Sunday. They have lost to both teams earlier in the season; a win over WVU on Monday would put them in tremendous position to salvage a bid to NCAA Tournament.

"You Heard it here first"
Steve

Huskies need win today to stay on the bubble

The UCONN Huskies badly need a win today to remain on the bubble and make a run for an invitation to the "Big Dance." At 4:00 P.M., today they take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in an away game that will be televised on SNY. UCONN goes into today's contest at 15-11(5-8 in the Big East) while Rutgers is 14-12 (4-9 in the Big East).
A win today would put the Huskies at 6-8 in the conference and I believe from there they would need to go 3-1 to reach .500 in conference play, which I believe will get them an invitation. Their final four games are against #8 ranked West Virginia and Louisville at home and Notre Dame and South Florida away. It won't be a cakewalk.
McCoombs-Daniels who made two treys against Villanova will miss today's game because of an ankle sprain sustained in practice this week.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Kemba Keeps Huskies alive in 84-75 upset of Villanova

Last night in Philadelphia, Kemba Walker gave us a glimpse of what might be as he scored a career high 29 points and added 9 rebounds in the Huskies upset of #3 ranked Villanova. In a spectacular showing Walker was 6-10 from the floor and 14-16 from the charity stripe; he led a season best showing by the Huskies who shot 67% from the field and 80% at the free throw line. The rest of the scoring was provided by Dyson with 15 and Robinson and Oriakhi with 10 each. Freshman Alex Oriakhi looked more aggressive on offense last night than he has all season and affirmed my sense that he will be a very good player over time. Defensively, Jerome Dyson did an incredible job on the Wildcats star guard, Scott Reynolds when he held him to only four points in the second half.
At the post-game press conference Coach Jim Calhoun was quoted as follows "We looked like a UConn team tonight," he said. "It was a terrific win for us at a terrific time against a terrific team." While Calhoun is certainly correct how do we assess what last nights win means. A turn-around inspired by Coach Calhoun's return setting up for a table clearing late season run? An indication that Kemba Walker, who has been a disappointment all year has finally come into his own? The fan in me hopes for a "yes" but the reporter says "no"
I think that Villanova is just the type of team that allows UCONN to play their best. Like the Huskies they like to run the floor and last night's contest was played at a very fast pace requiring a minimum of half court sets by UCONN. The Wildcats are a free wheeling offensive team but not known for great defense, particularly inside which allowed Walker and Dyson to drive the lane the entire game at will. All these factors created the oppurtunity for UCONN to shoot a very uncharacteristic 67% from the floor. In their five remaining conference games the Huskies will meet more typically Big East tough defensive squads and I believe their poor shooting will do them in.
Hats off to great Husky fan Dave Allen; I think his "vigil of hope" and refusal to utter a three letter acronym for a post season tournament other than the Big Dance may have influenced last night's outcome. I would like to hear opinions from all my followers about the significance of last night's game.

"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Horror Show at the XL Centre; Cincinnatti 60-UCONN 48

I became a UCONN season ticket holder for the then Civic Center in 1988 and kept my tickets until 2001. During that time span I went to 7-8 games a year and watched as many as I could on TV. From 2002, I have followed the Huskies closely, been to several games a year and watched many on TV. I can say unequivocally that this afternoon's game was the worst performance by a Husky team I have seen in 22 years. Here's what returning coach Jim Calhoun had to say about today's game "I thought it was one of the worst performances I've had here at UConn in 24 years," said Calhoun, who had been sidelined with an undisclosed medical condition since Jan. 19. "I'm really incredibly disappointed by the performance, and I'm embarrassed by it, quite frankly."
This all came against, trust me on this one folks, a very mediocre Cincinnatti team. UCONN left the floor tied at the break in a tilt that was poorly played by both teams The Huskies were led by Stanley (first half) Robinson's 10 points. The pace was slow, exposing the Huskies horrendous half court offense. Walker made poor pass after poor pass and Dyson looked lethargic. Calhoun went right to his weird substituting pattern. Ten seconds into the game Majok, who has shown some promising flashes lately, took a bad shot and was yanked. He ended up playing eight minutes the entire game while the talentless Charled Oakwandu got about 20 minutes. About thirty seconds later Walker made a play Calhoun didn't like and he sat for the next fourteen minutes.
In the second half Robinson decided to order in Chinese Food and didn't score. The Bearcats led by 10-14 points almost all the way as they began to dominate the offensive glass and score many put backs. With 2;34 left to play the Huskies went to their full court press, forced two turnovers and narrowed the gap to six - their best stretch of the game. Why they did not start to press with 10 minutes left is beyond me. They then reverted and Cincinnatti closed it out by twelve. The Huskies were led by Walker with 14, Dyson 13 and Robinson with 10. They shot 35% from the field. I will not further analyze this game because you all know by now what I think- three players short. As I predicted Calhoun's return will have no effect on a very mediocre Husky squad.
News and Notes Speaking of Calhoun, sadly, I have to say that it was obvious to me that he is still quite depressed. He was clearly distracted at times and his body language and facial expression said "depression" I just hope that the people around him have the guts to tell him to get proper help.
I am wondering if any of the UCONN grads have been to any home games this year. Something very strange has happened to the UCONN cheerleaders who were always acrobatic and exciting. This years group does no acrobatics, their routines have been diminshed to simple boring moves. In addition, they have been largely displaced by a "pep" squad: sorry to say it but I think the criteria for the pep squad are to be unattractive and a very clumsy, slow moving dancer. Their routines are ridiculously simplistic and look like they are in slow motion. It moved my friend Ron Corwin, who was at the game with me to say "put a skirt on me and I could do a more exciting routine." In addition, the Husky Mascot no longer runs the floor and does those great headlong dives that excited the crowd but just walks around with his head down. He did seek me out at the half to have his picture taken with me. The place was a porpourri of depressing performances this afternoon.

Calhoun Returns

Coach Jim Calhoun ran yesterday's practice after being cleared to return to full coaching duties for the rest of the season. I will be at the XL Center tomorrow and see Calhoun's dramatic return to the sidelines.
While his presence will give then an energy boost I don't believe it will be enough to overcome this years Huskies fundamental flaws. I don't expect any dramatic runs down the stretch.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

"Good Losses" are for bad teams; Syracuse 72- UCONN 67

Here is a truism in sports; good teams win close games and bad/mediocre teams lose close games. For example look at the Yankees record last year in one run games; it was something over 90%, while the Mets probably lost 80% of their one run games. This is true in any sort you can name.
Having said that, the UCONN Huskies played their hearts out in tonight's 72-67 loss to Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. They overcame a 16 point deficit in the second half with a 14-2 run(which started when the Orange had to put their court leader Andy Rautins on the bench with his fourth foul) and tied the game at 65 on a Jerome Dyson three with less than two minutes to play. At that point Kemba Walker again demonstrated poor decision making when he took and missed a long three point attempt. Syracuse was fouled on the next possession and made 6 free throws in the last two minutes to put the game on ice. A "good loss" with little meaning. The Huskies were ultimately brought down by their poor shooting, 38% from the field and 25% from three point land. Although Dyson was sensational at times, he shot 33% from the field on 7-21 shooting.
Tonight's game was fast paced, exciting, but ultimately revealed the Huskies strengths and shortcomings. Dyson provided some very exciting moments in the paint: at 14:14 of the first half he took a pass inside and made a rim shattering dunk. At 8:28 in the first half Robinson missed a shot, Dyson got the rebound missed his follow-up, got another rebound and made a gyrating score off the glass. Wow! I continue to be disappointed in the attitude and play of Kemba Walker. He did have one stretch where he made two pull up jumpers in a row rather than over penetrate- he needs to do more of this. His decision making and passing continue to be poor. Although blow hard ESPN color man Fran Frischilla lauded Walker's pass to Dyson on a fast break in the second half "It was great the way Walker waited until the last second to deliver the ball to Dyson (who,by the way was wide open) In fact, it was a very poor pass, delivered both too late and too low. As a result Dyson had to bend to get the ball and was already under the hoop- he missed the shot, luckily he was fouled. Passes from great point guards lead the recipient into good shooting position. In addition, what is with all the chest thumping after one good play and the weird smile when he makes a mistake. In my opinion, this is the behavior of someone who is trying to demonstrate to the crowd that mistakes are unusual for him and he just laughs them off; unfortuneately, this usually goes with someone who has trouble seeing his own weaknesses and tries to cover them up- a recipe for slow learning.
Edwards continues his outstanding consistent play. tonight he had what has become a typical Edwards game 12 pts on 50% shooting from the floor. Unfortuneately, Robinson also had a typical game. He scored 14 pts in the first half including some great alley oops. In the second half he ordered out for Pizza and scored two points when it most counted. Majok continues to show some flashes of talent and aggressiveness that I believe will ultimately make him a very good player.

News and Notes- I continue to feel that SNY has far and away the best play by play and color men in College Basketball. I found ESPN's combination of John Saunders and color man Fran Frischilla lacking. Sauders looked like he needed a nap and Frischilla just makes some pretty uninformed comments. For example, " I like Blaney going more to his bench tonight- Beverley, Coombs-McDaniel and Edwards are getting some time. Fran, HELLO, this has been true all year. With the game tied at 65 Robinson fouled Jackson. Frischilla called it a good foul. Are you kidding me? the game was tied and UCONN has a great defense. In addition, that foul put Syracuse in the bonus situation- it could not havae been a worse foul.
Look for me, with my entourage, sitting behind the Cincinnatti bench in this Saturday's tilt against Cincinnatti at the Civic Center.

"You heard it here first"
Steve

Huskies Struggle to Beat last Place DePaul, 64-57

Despite being at home in cozy Gampel Pavillion, where the Huskies have been near unbeatable, they had a hard time putting the Big East Cellar dwelling DePaul blue Demons away 64-57 this past Saturday night. UCONN trailed most of the first half but then their defense stiffened as they came back to take a one point lead at the half. DePaul got off to an early lead by draining threes and shutting down Dyson's drives to the hoop. The Huskies looked awful in the half court offense and Kemba Walker continually allowed himself to get trapped creating turnovers.
In the second half the Husky defense created steals and Dyson was able to make his patented slashing drives to the hoop. Dyson went to the charity stripe 12 times and made 11, the difference in the game.
I saw nothing in this game to brighten my view of the Huskies chances of making the Big Dance. Walker's regression and slow development at this point has to be one of this season's biggest disappointments. In the plus column Gavin Edwards continues his solid and consistent play down low. In what is now a typical game for him in 23 minutes he scored 10 points and had five rebounds. What is clear now is that as Dyson goes, so go the Huskies. Their big wins have come when Dyson is able to drive the lane and put points on the board. The problem is that with all his heart, Dyson is a streaky shooter who has some very poor nights from the floor.
I received two very interesting "comment" posts from followers John Scott and Dave Allen. John, thank you for becoming a follower and for your interesting comment. Dave Allen, always has interesting things to say but I just wonder if they might be slightly influenced by the fact that he is a UCONN grad, die hard Husky Fan, and a Jim Calhoun believer.
Let's start with John's interesting comment. At this point the Huskies have to go 5-3 in their remaining 8 Big East tilts to reach .500 and have a reasonable shot at at a NCAA bid. John is confident this will happen and that one of the wins will come against Syracuse or Villanova. I agree that there could be one upset in the making, if Dyson gets hot, however I do not share John's confidence that they will reach .500 for reasons I have already expained ad infinitum. By the way a .500 record would probably put them in a tie for 8th place in the Big East. There are two precedents for 8 teams from one conference in the tournament; interestingly both times, 2006 and 2008 it was the Big East conference that sent 8 teams to the dance.
John makes a case for UCONN comfortably getting a 5 or 6 seed because he believes that their strength of schedule is #1 in the country and the selection committee does put a lot of value on schedule strength. In fact, in the two most credible strength of schedule rankers, Jeff Sagarin has them 18th and the Pomeroy poll has them 19th. That being said I do think 9-9 is the magic record for the Huskies.
Dave Allen believes that Calhoun's return will turn things around. First, as I pointed out, Calhoun is clearly suffering from Depression and it is not clear when he will return. Secondly, Calhoun is a great motivator but I do not think that he is a particularly good game coach and that his hyper-active, impulsive, anger driven substitution pattern hurts the team. Dave, I also think that motivation is not the issue- as you know I think we are 3 players short and nothing can change that.
Keep the comments rolling in and thanks to Dave and John for posting this week.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Next Stop Basement? Marquette 70-UCONN 68, Louisville 82- UCONN 69

In a disheartening 10 day stretch the UCONN Huskies lost 3 straight Big East games, dropped out of the top 25 in both national polls, fell to 13th out of 16th in the Big East (3-6) and made an NCAA bid a very long shot. All the losses came against lower, mid level Big East teams, which at this point in the season is very telling and in my mind erases the maybe's and ifs- what you see is what you will get in the last leg of the season. With 9 Big East games remaining the Huskies would have to go 6-3 to end up at .500 for the season and get consideration for an NCAA bid; two of the games are against 3rd and 4th nationally ranked Syracuse and Villanova.
Last Sunday, UCONN blew a three point lead with 58 seconds on the clock and lost to Marquette 70-68. Dyson led the Huskies with 18, Walker had 15, and Gavin Edwards turned in another solid performance (9 pts, 14 rebs).
On Monday the Huskies got blown out by an aggressive, 3 point shooting Louisville team 82-69. In a particularly desultory effort the Huskies trailed all the way, several times by 19 points and looked good for one brief stretch in the second half.. Dyson again led with 18, followed by Walker with 15 and Edwards with 13 points. The poor shooting Huskies shot 38% from the field and had 18 turnovers, underscoring season long problems.
At this point in the season it should be obvious to all that the three liabilities I discussed in my first blog of year, short a back up guard, no good jump shooters, and short one banger upfront continue to be the major underlying problem. Coombs-McDaniel has not supplied a much needed 3-point shooter, Donnel Beverley is a weak back up guard and Majok has shown brief flashes of his talent but is too green to contribute this year. Despite his improved play I still feel Stanley Robinson will never live up to his much heralded "potential" and as I predicted will be playing in Europe after one poor season in the NBA.
In sum my loyal followers, I recommend that you get your NIT tickets early if you want to see the Huskies in post-season play.
"You Heard it First Here"
Steve