Huskies Move into top ten in both Major Polls

As I opined in my last post, the UCONN Huskies were ranked #7 in today's AP Poll and #9 in the ESPN/Coaches Poll on the strength of their spectacular showing in last week's Maui Invitational Tournament. The jump from unranked to seventh in the AP poll was the largest single move up in one week since Kansas jumped from unranked to fourth in 1989 after winning the pre-season NIT. Clearly, the Huskies are far better than all the pundits, including this reporter,predicted in the pre-season. Let's all take a deep breath at this point and address the question of "how high is up for this season's Huskies?"
First and foremost, the two returning starters Kemba Walker and Alex Oriakhi have far exceeded expectations. Walker is leading the country in scoring at 30.0 ppg and his leadership and confidence have been awesome. Oriakhi has elevated his game to potential All- American status; While he doesn't have huge "ups" he is a quick jumper and a ferocious rebounder at both ends of the floor. In addition, he has very soft, sure hands, receives passes well and has a very nice touch in the paint. He is averaging a double/double through the first five contests.
The Five Freshman are far better than believed in the pre-season reports. Shabazz Napier, the 6 foot point guard from Boston is lightening quick, a tremendous penetrator and precociously confident. He clearly can play point taking some of the ball handling burden off Walker. Jeremy Lamb is a versatile two guard who can both shoot and slash to the hoop. Niels Giffey is a 6'6" swingman from Berlin, Germany who has the outstanding all around game that has become typical of the best European imports. Tyler Olander, the 6'9" local product, has impressed with a nice shooting touch and pretty good jumping ability. A big variable at this point is the Huskies most highly touted recruit, Roscoe Smith,a 6'8" small forward from Baltimore. Calhoun likens him to Rudy Gay but feels he is a better shooter. Calhoun believes that "Smith will be a special player for us." So far, he has shown some flashes of his talent and at times has appeared tight and tentative.
In sum, this team has strengths where weaknesses existed last year. The team chemistry looks great and the effort has been all out in every game. There are three or four good perimeter shooters and there are four or five guys who can score when needed. Defensively, this group can be smothering which triggers the signature UCONN transition game. The biggest liability is that the front line is thin and in the tough Big East and the Big Dance, the big men tend to accumulate fouls quickly. In December 7'1" Freshman Enosch Wolfe, from Germany becomes eligible supplying much needed depth up frot.
To date Walker leads the Huskies in scoring at 30.0ppg, followed by Oriakhi at 13.4, Napier at 9.6, Smith at 7.8 and Lamb and Giffey at 5.2. Look for Napier to bump up to about 12 ppg, Smith to 11ppg and Giffey to 9.3 to provide support for Walker and Oriakhi. The next five games are cream puffs with the first Big East contest coming on Dec. 27 at Pittsburgh. Over the next five games there are several things to watch and if they happen we are in for a very interesting season. Look for Napier, Smith and Giffey to bump up their ppg's, Smith to gain confidence and start looking like the Huskies top recruit, Wolfe to add needed help up front. If all these things fall in place we are looking at a possible Elite Eight or even Final four squad.
You can watch the Huskies tomorrow night on SNY at 7:30 against New Hampshire. ON Friday the Huskies take on Maryland-Baltimore county in a 7:00 start, also televised on SNY.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve