Some Final Thoughts on "The Improbable Year"

Jerusalem, Israel, April 2,2011 - 2:15 A.M.
A man leaves the Citadel Hotel and walks out into the warm Israeli night; he seems to be in a hurry. CIA, Moussad, 007? No it is a 65 year old American Psychologist named Steve Eliot who is headed for "Mike's Place", the only bar or hotel in Jerusalem that has the TV station covering the Final Four. Eliot approaches the bar to find about 100 American and Israeli college students outside drinking and partying. He goes inside and asks if the Final Four is on. The owner guides him downstairs to a bar where there is a television with the Butler-VCU game on;no one else is watching. Eliot sits at the bar and becomes engaged in conversation with the bar tender who convinces him to start drinking shots of 25 year old special reserve Bourbon. The bar tender is a young, interesting Israeli and between the bourbon shots and the conversation Eliot is half watching the Butler game and not noticing that by 4:00 he is the only patron left in the bar. As UCONN and Kentucky take the floor the owner comes over to Eliot and tells him he is closing the bar because there is no one else is there. Eliot's attempt to pay "whatever it takes" to keep the bar open is rebuffed and he leaves Mikes and frantically walks back to his hotel hoping to get the game on live computer feed which he does.
Monday night, Eliot is at a hotel on the Dead Sea. At 4:00 A.M. he goes to the totally darkened lobby and watches the Championship game on live computer feed. As time winds down Eliot is elated but also wishing he was watching the game with a group of his followers. At 7:00 A.M., he stumbles back to his room for an hours sleep before the guide picks he and his wife up at 9:00.
How can we explain what some people might think is insane behavior on the part of Eliot, by all acoounts a very reasonable man,professionally successful with a lovely wife and family. Simple, Eliot is a FAN, and a true fan will go to any length to watch their team play a critical game.
As I sat down to write my final blog of this amazing season I realized it would be superfluous to write a lengthy analysis of the the Huskies amazing run. Two weeks ago, I read an interesting Op Ed. piece in the NY Times by David Brooks. In this era of incredible technological advances and neuroscientic study of behavior, Brooks made the point that rationality and science does not sufficiently explain certain behavior. Specifically, we can now study with accuracy the electrical and neuro-chemical activity in the brain that accompanies certain thoughts, feelings and behaviors; however, as Brooks so aptly points out this still doesn't explain "MacBeth." The same goes for the Huskies winning the National Championship; I could analyze it from every angle but it is still not an adequate explanation for the magical run to the championship. Instead, I will just give some random thoughts which I think are pieces but not the inexplicable whole.
- Kemba Walker is even better than anyone, except perhaps Jim Calhoun, thought.-
- Although neither player could be described as lights out players both Roscoe Smith and Charles Oakwandu improved significantly, particularly on defense, as the season progessed. In the "Big Dance" the Huskies interior defense became virtually impenetrable.
- This was Calhoun's best defensive team in a long time- blowhard Clark Kellogg notwithstanding, shutting down Butler's offense was an incredible accomplishment.
- Why didn't Arizona, Kentucky, or Butler alternate match up zones with their man to man defenses. This baffled me because match up zones accounted for at least 6 of the Huskies league losses and Walker simple cannot be stopped one on one. The Huskies were an incredible 22-0 in non-conference play.
- Calhoun will not retire. He has a good nucleus and still loves to coach. He reminds me of Jimmy Connors who continued to play to the ripe old tennis age of 39 because he just loved the game- he did not have to win to enjoy himself. I think, despite Calhoun's great record, the same goes for him. He loves the relationship with his players and still loves to compete.
Personally, I consider this a good year as we added 5 or 6 new enthusiastic and knowledgeable fans to the blog. I started the season unsure if I could continue but got swept up in the excitement of this Husky team. How will they be next year? Who knows as they do not have a highly rated recruiting class. I do believe, however, that somewhere there is someone in a gym, alone, at midnight, shooting jumpers who Calhoun will find.
Until next year remember "You Heard it Here First"
Steve

FINAL FOUR!!!!! UCONN 65 - Arizona 63

Carried by their poise, grit, intense man to man defense,and another sensational offensive showing by Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb, the UCONN Huskies continued their most improbable season in Jim Calhoun's Hall of Fame career. This will be the Huskies fourth trip to the Final Four and their second in three seasons, this one following their worst season in Calhoun's tenure. The Huskies started the season under the cloud of an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations and in what everyone thought would be a rebuilding year; their roster included 7 Freshmen and in the early part of the season this group did not look like an outstanidng crop. The Huskies season was marked by ups and downs but slowly but surely Freshmen Roscoe Smith, Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb and Sophomore Jamaal Combs-Mcdaniels began to develop confidence and experience. After an early season high of a #4 national ranking the Huskies slowly slipped, lost four of their last five games and finished ninth at 9-9 in the Big East. They looked like they were headed for a quick ticket home in the Big Dance, however, not unnoticed was the emergence in the latter part of the season of Jeremy Lamb from a "diaper dandy" to a "PTPer" (in Dick Vitalespeak a prime time player). In addition, Roscoe Smith, although disappointing on offense, became a very good defender and defensive rebounder. Shabazz Napier, confident from the start, cut down on his turnrovers and was a reliable sometimes sensational point guard who could give Walker much needed minutes off the point. The constant was the sensational Kemba Walker, who both carried and helped develop the team simiultaneously.
Improbably, the young Huskies seemed to gel before our eyes as they won five games in five nights to win the Big East championship and added 3 more convincing wins going into last nights elite eight tilt against Arizona. This reporter had just settled into the press box, after rushing home from a professional commitment in New Haven only to watch Arizona open an 11-3 lead, led by fierce offensive rebounding and the play of their outstanding swingman, Derrick Williams.
The Huskies started to settle down and play their way into the game when the Wildcats Williams committed his second personal foul with the score 18-10. As Williams sat for 7 minutes Walker heated up and the Huskies went on 12-2 run to open up a 22-20 lead. Williams re-entered the game and quickly committed his third personal with 5:22 in first half. The Huskies went to the locker room with what looked like a comfortable 32-25 lead as Walker hit a three just before the buzzer.
With Williams back on the floor for the second half Arizona went on a 12-1 run to take back the lead at 37-36. The Huskies fought back after a Napier three they had what looked like an insurmountable 51-40 advantage with 10 minutes to go. In this fierce see-saw battle the Wildcats fought back once again and with 6;36 to go opened up a 55-52 lead. At this point Jeremy Lamb took over and moving incessantly without the ball, a la Rip Hamilton, freed himself for two baseline jumpers. Walker added a 15 fooot jumper and then Lamb made a cat-quick steal followed by a coast to coast (S)Lamb dunk to put the Huskies up 62-65. A Walker step back jumper with 1:17 left resulting in a 65-60 Husky lead looked like the last nail in the coffin. However, Williams hit a three, Shabazz missed a jumper and Arizona had the ball with 14.3 seconds left, down 65-63. Surprisingly, instead of working the ball inside Williams missed a long three, Arizona got the rebound and with 3 seconds left Horne missed an open three and the Huskies were in the Final Four.
Walker, again led the scoring with 20 hard earned points while Lamb added 19, 12 of which came at key moments in the second half. Napier played a solid 30 minutes and had ten points, including two treys while Oriakhi added 7 points and 6 rebounds.
UCONN will play the winner of the North Carolina-Kentucky East Regional final next Saturday night.In what my son Pete told me on the phone last night was the "worst timed vacation in history" I will be in Israel during the Final four. He suggested that "next time I plan a vacation, I might look at the NCAA basketball schedule". It is unlikely that I will be posting blogs but regardless of the outcome I will write one more wrap up blog about the "improbable season" The Huskies will have to step it up one more notch when they meet either Kentucky or North Carolina in the semi-finals with the likelihood of Kansas waiting in the finals on the other side of the draw. Can they do it? In this most "improbable season" who the heck knows. I assure everuone, I will find a TV in the middle of Israeli night and will be watching these games but will be counting on my followers to root in the Huskies.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve
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Walker and Lamb lead Huskies into Elite Eight

The improbable season continues as offensive fireworks from Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb sparked UCONN's eighth consecutive win, this time over San Diego State 74-67. The win procured the Huskies a spot in the elite eight for the 10th time in their history. Walker was unstoppable as he scored 36 points on 12-25 shooting from the field including 4-8 from three point land. Lamb continued his red hot shooting from the floor as he hit 7-9 field goal attempts including three clutch treys for 24 points.
Both teams looked tight for the first four minutes of the game as Walker missed his first three shots, although he was getting good looks. At this point the Aztecs Kahwi Leonard picked up this second personal foul and Coach Steve Fischer sat him out for 7 minutes. When big man Malcolm Thomas also went to the bench with two fouls the Huskies had a great opportunity which they squandered with coninued cold shooting, including Walker's fourth straight miss. At 10:31 of the first half Shabazz Napier hit Walker with a beautiful back door pass and Walker layed it in to get off the schneid- he never looked back from there. Leonard came back in for the Aztecs but as walker started draining shots from all over the court the Huskies pulled away for a seven point half time lead. Of significance was that Oriakhi and Smith were controlling the defensive boards and consistently limiting the Aztecs to one shot. In addition, yet another team was letting Walker prove that he cannot be guarded one on one in a man defense.
San Diego State started the second half strongly and led 55-51 with about eight minutes left to play. At that point Walker just took the game over and scored 12 straight Husky points. Coming down the stretch he and Lamb scored the last 24 Husky points between them as UCONN pulled away for an emphatic 74-67 win.
The Huskies will take on a fast improving Arizona team who blew out the Region's #1 seed in the other West region sweet sixteen contest. Although Walker and Lamb were sensational, I still remained concerned that the Huskies aren't getting a bit more scoring from their big men and better balance on offense. On the other hand we might just be seeing a great, great college player carrying his team on his back and that is just how it will be.
"You heard it here first"
Steve

UCONN takes on San Diego State in Sweet Sixteen

The UCONN Huskies, ranked 3rd in the Western region will take on the San Diego State Aztecs ranked second in the region on Thursday night with coverage starting at 7:15 on CBS. The Huskies will go into the contest with a seven game winning streak and an overall record of 28-9, while the Aztecs are 34-2. This is the sixth NCAA tourney appearance for the Aztecs and the first time they have advanced out of the first round. Make no mistake about it, the Aztecs are for real; They have an RPI ranking of #3 in the country and a big,fast, athletic team.
This is a very good match up of two teams that are similar in some respects and very different in others. Both teams are tough defensively; the Aztecs are 6th in the nation in points allowed per game, 58.8 while the Huskies only give up 66.4. The aztecs opponents shoot 39.3% from the field while the Huskies opponents shoot 39.3.
While both teams are athletic and fast the Huskies rely on their backcourt for most of their scoring(Walker and Lamb) while four of the five top scorers for the Aztecs are front court players. UCONN is led by Kemba Walker at 23.3 ppg while San Diego State's top scorer is 6'7" Sophomore swingman Kahwi Leonared at 15.3 ppg.
The aztecs have three other players averaging in double figures including Senior Guard D.J Gay at 11.0, 6'9" Malcolm Thomas at 11.4, and 6'8" Bill White at 10.1.
Most of the pundits are predicting that San Diego State will win. I expect a very close, down to the wire contest in a low scoring game. (both teams in the 60's)
To me there are two keys in this game. The UCONN big men have to play an outstanding defensive game and force the Aztecs to shoot more from the outside than they like to do. They must control the defensive boards and stay out of foul trouble, particularly Oriakhi who tends to commit careless fouls and cry to the refs. The whining has to stop before he gets hit with a costly technical or quickly picks up two fouls and has to go to the bench for long stretches.
On offense, the Huskies have to get some points from their big men. If Oriakhi and Smith do not contribute offensively the Huskies will be in trouble. I look for Walker to have a good game and score 24 or more points. The Huskies need at least 12 from Lamb and another good game from JCM. Despite what most pundits are saying I am picking the Huskies by 3 points.
Since I will be flying back from pre-game scouting and will not get home until 7:00 on Thursday the Steep Hill Dome will not be open for this game. If the Huskies win and play in the Elite Eight on Sat. I will be importing a 50" HD screen for the game and everyone will be invited.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

How Sweet(Sixteen) it is! UCONN 69-Cincinatti 58

In workman like fashion the UCONN Huskies knocked off the pesky Cincinatti Bearcats tonight 69-58 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen against San Diego State. Surprisingly, Bearcat coach Nick Cronin started and stayed in a man to man defense with no double teaming of Walker for 17 minutes of the first half. The Huskies looked a little tight for the first 10 minutes but then Walker started draining good shots and Lamb hit some clutch threes to give the Huskies a 36-28 half time lead. Three minutes before the break Cronin moved the Bearcats into a trapping zone and cut some points off the lead before the break.
Cincinatti stayed in the zone for most of the second half and it took the Huskies a good 9 minutes to solve it. During this time they turned the ball over several times and Cincy took the lead.UCONN finally solved the zone by finding JCM at the foul line where he made some nice dishes and hit a couple of 15 ft. jumpers. A good Husky run created a 8-10 point lead which they never relinquished. In the last four minutes of the game Cincinatti fouled UCONN every time up the court and Walker piled up points on a perect 14-14 from the foul line to finish with 33. Lamb was consistent and kept up this incredibly high shooing percentage- tonight he was 5-7 with two threes to finish with 13 points. JCM in a fine all around performace added 10.
I was concerned that Oriakhi did not score tonight and Smith had only 2 points after two break out performances. As the Huskies move on they will need points from their front line against the better teams.
There was a good crowd at the Steep Hill dome tonight as the Bucknell Bison himself, Mike Davis, showed up after having driven directly from the Verizon center in Washington D.C. to the Steep Hill Dome, stopping only to pick up his wife Suzanne. Alan And Marilyn Goldberg were there, with Marilyn looking a bit bleary eyed from having watched every game on today. What a Fan!
As most of you know by now I am a very modest man who eschews the spotlight. However, Alan Hopkins from the NSW awards committee insisted I include a quote from a blog I wrote two weeks before the regular season ended. "I would imagine that the Pittsburgh fans ( some of whom read this blog) have high hopes this year. Sadly, the Panthers will eat their annual Big Dance apple and it will get stuck in their throats. The choking sound will reverberate all the way to Weston, Ct."
"You Heard it Here First"

UCONN plays Cincinnati tomorrow night at 9:40

The UCONN Huskies take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in round 2 of the Big Dance tomorrow night at 9:40. The Huskies defeated the Bearcats in Big East regular season play 67- 58 on February 27. The Bearcats have a very balanced attack with five players averaging between 8.1 and 11.8 ppg. Their leading scorer and rebounder is 6'7" Forward Yancy Gates who is scoring at an 11.8 ppg clip followed by Guard Dion Dixon at 11.6. No Big East opponent can be taken for granted but I am looking for the red hot Huskies to continue their fine play and win by at least 8 points.
The Steep Hill Dome at 27 Steep Hill Road will officially open doors tomorrow night at 9:00 P.M.when this reporter will lead a televised pre-game analysis along with Lou Carnesecca and Billy Packer. All who who receive my UCONN e-mails are invited along with spouses and SO's. Please RSVP to me at steliot@aol.com. if you plan on coming.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Huskies cruise past Bucknell in 1st round 81-52

The UCONN Huskies were simply too big, too fast and too athletic for a game but overmatched Bucknell Bison five. The Huskies controlled the tempo, boards and both ends of the court in a 81-52 blowout in the first round of the Big Dance at the Verizon center.
Bucknell could never get into an offensive rhythm as they were forced to rush shots all night by the quicker Huskies. On offense UCONN ran their sets at will and it was obvious that Kemba Walker decided early in the contest that this was a night to further develop his Freshmen teammates. Walker passed up at least 10 shots he would ordinarily take and probably make to pass off to Lamb, Smith and Olander. This paid off handsomely as Lamb continued to play like Walker's first lieutenant and scored 16 points on 6-9 shooting including 3 from downtown. Roscoe Smith had his second big game in a row, scored 17 points and had 7 rebounds, and is beginning to look like the recruit who was rated the 20th best in the nation pre-season. Tyler Olander clearly has some talent and is playing with a growing poise and Oriakhi had another good game with 9 points and 12 rebounds. Walker had the quitest 18 points, 8rebounds and 12 assists you'll ever see- the sure sign of a superstar.
Smith and Olander are coming on at just the right time. On Saturday, the Huskies will play the winner of Cincinnati to be played later tonight. The Steep Hill Dome will be officially open and hope some of you will attend.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Bracketology

Every year at this time I get many requests from my followers and also some less savory types for my opinions about various games as people compete in pools; Many people ask me to post my own bracket predictions or make suggestions for upsets. I hope you all understand that, by law, I have to refuse these requests. So this does not seem arbitrary, let me explain the reason.
The National Sports Writer's Association (NSWA) has been empowered by congress to monitor illegal gambling practices in sports. Their function is analagous to the SEC in the finalcial world. As part of this process they monitor all blogs in every major sport and identify those bloggers in each sport whose information is so accurate and of a quality that if applied to betting would be akin to "inside information" in the financial world. In College Basketball there are five bloggers from all over the country who are on that list including this reporter.
Consequently, if I did offer my opinion it would be akin to giving inside information punishable by loss of blog license, fines( up to $250,000.00 and at the judges discretion up to a 60 jail sentence.
I am sure you can all understand why I am constrained. Good luck with your bracketology and enjoy the Big Dance.
"You heard it here First"
Steve

BIG EAST CHAMPS!

Running on fumes and heart in the second half the UCONN Huskies completed one of the most improbable feats in College Basket history last night when they beat the Louisville Cardinals 69-66 for their fifth win in five nights. Because of the expanded Big East Tournament format (all 16 teams were in) and their 9th place finish in the conference UCONN did not receive a bye and had to play in every round. Their last three opponents, on the other hand, finished in the top four in the Conference and received double byes; this meant that they did not start play until the third round. Uconn's(9th in the conference and #21 Nationallly) five game run included wins over Depaul, Georgetown (3rd in the conference #22 nationally, Syracuse(4th in the conference and #11 nationally) Pitt (1st in the conference and #3 Nationally and red hot Louisville(3rd in the conference and #11 Nationally). During the regular season UCONN had lost to Syracuse, Pitt and Louisville twice.
Louisville dictated a frenetic pace in the first half and UCONN, miraculously did not look tired, and ran as well as the Cardinals and shot nearly 60% from the field. Walker started smoothly and had 10 points when he had to go to the bench with slightly less than eight minutes to play when he received his second foul. In the last eight minutes of the first half Louisville cut the lead to six and the teams went into the locker room with UCONN up 38-36.
During the half-time break, when the initial adrenaline rush subsided the Huskies started to feel the toll of five games in five nights. Louisville came out quickly and took the lead as sweet shooting Preston Knowles began drainng threes for the Cardinals. UCONN hung tough but Walker and Lamb began to look absolutely exhausted; both players were bent over tugging their shorts during any play stoppage and Lamb started turning the ball over. Walker was having trouble getting shots and resting during some offensive sets. Fortuneately Roscoe Smith, who had been shooting poorly all year chose this game to have his coming out party and hit three timely jumpers including a trey to help the Huskies regain the lead. The exhaustion level clearly effected the shooting as the Huskies field goal percentage dropped below 40% in the second half. Play was ragged as both teams tired down the stretch.
With 33 seconds left on the clock the Huskies trailed by one when Kemba Walker drove the lane and dished off to a wide open Jeremy Lamb who converted the lay up to put the Huskies up 65-64. Walker stole the in-bounds pass and was immediately fouled; he drained both and the Huskies led 67-64 with about 8 seconds left. On the ensuing possession Walker fouled the Cardinals Marra on a 3 point shot. He made two, Napier got the rebound and was fouled with 3.6 seconds left on the clock. He made two from the charity stripe and the Cardinals Preston Knowles then missed a three point shot at the buzzer for the 69-66 final.
Rather than try to think of even more adjectives to describe Walker's MVP performance let's just look at his statistics. He played 190 of 205 minutes,and he scored 130 points (26.0ppg) shattering the Big East Tournament record by 46. What a performace!
In the final game, Jeremy Lamb who I now consider a star scored 13 and had 7 big rebounds, Roscoe Smith had 12 and the resurgent Alex Oriakhi had 10 points and 8 rebounds while he averaged a double-double for the tournament.
Most encouraging was the improved half court offense against the zone, the continuing development of the Freshmen and sophomores and the very positive team chemistry. This is a different team than the one that started this tournament as many disparate factors have come together. So where are the Huskies headed in the Big Dance. Based on this amazing week the Huskies will get a #3 or a#2 seed. Remember a Steve Eliot truism; teams that are hot at the end of the season go deep in the NCAA Tournament and that in both Husky National Championship years, 1999 and 2003, they also won the Big East Tournament. I am predicting that the Huskies will go at least to the Elite Eight with a very good chance of going to the final four. After that it's a crap shoot but the sky's the limit.
In all my years of following Husky Basketball I have to say that this was Jim Calhoun's best coaching job. He obviously bonded with his young Huskies and helped foster the develoment of Lamb, Napier, Smith, Olander, Oriakhi and Combs-Mcdaniel.
"you Heard it here here first"
Steve

Walker Delights, Excites and Ignites UCONN in 76-71 OT win over Syracuse

Not even Walt "Clyde" Frazier could string together enough alliterative adjectives to describe the sensational play of Kemba Walker in Tonight's 76-71 Overtime win over Syracuse tonight at in the Big East Tourney Semi-Finals. Walker, in far and away, his best game of the season had all his awesome skills on display as he led the Huskies in scoring (33 pts),rebounding(12) and assists with 6. Walker has the straight ahead speed of a sprinter, the lateral quickness of a great halfback a la Barry Sanders and the ball and shooting skills of the great Bill Sharman of the Boston Celtics. Countless times tonight Walker beat everyone on the floor to go coast to coast and score on twisting, slicing drives. When he drove the lane his ability to move laterally away from defenders and either pull up or go all the way to the hoop was amazing. In addition, he had 12 timely rebounds including the last one in a crowd with 13 seconds left to seal the game.
Not only was this Walker's best game of the year but it was also the young Huskies most impressive win. Unable to beat 2-3 match up zones all year, tonight they beat the best. Finally, Calhoun changed the way they attacked the zone. From the opening whistle there was virtually no dribbling in the half court sets by Walker and Napier and and either Lamb, Oriakhi, JCM or Troy Olander (in a break out game) moved to the foul line took a pass from one of the guards and either turned and shot or passed down low or kicked out to an open guard. All night they were poised, had very good ball movement and got open shots against the Orange zone. Olander was particularly impressive, confident and continually made good passes to break the zone. Oriakhi, when in the middle hit several 15 foot jumpers and was ferocious off the boards and Lamb darted in and out of the middle either popping from the outside or hitting his trademark floaters. It was Lamb who put the Huskies up by three with time waning in overtime with a spectacular running floater.
This was a tough, exciting well played Big East contest. Neither team shot particularly well in the first half and the Huskies went to the locker room with a one point advantage. Walker and crew were drawing fouls while on defense they committed very few so ultimately the difference was in the Huskies 16 point advantage from the free throw stripe. With only 58 seconds left in regulation play, the Huskies led by 5 and it was impressive to see how calm the oft criticized Jim Boeheim remained as he started to effectively using trapping zones and the game was forced into OT. Incredibly Walker and Lamb seemed stronger in the OT than the Orange despite playing their fourth game in four nights. In addition to Walker's 33 points, Oriakhi added 15 and Lamb had 11. Olander added 7 and if he can continue this level of play in the big dance the huskies have finally found a versatile, good passer who can also score up front.
The Huskies will play the winner of Notre Dame-Louisville tomorrow night for the Big East Championship. Just five days ago this reporter was despondent and convinced the Huskies had come as far as they could and would go out early in both the Big East and Big Dance. Whether or not the Huskies pull off a miracle tomorrow night and win their fifth Big East game in five nights, they are entering the NCAA Tournament a different and a hot team. Remember my truism. Hot teams down the stretch go far in the Big Dance; lest you fear that if the Huskies win again tomorrow night they can't possibly keep it up in the NCAA's remember that in the two UCONN National championship years they also won the Big east Tournament.
On a humorous note, early in the season follower Pete Eliot posted a comment that Neils Giffey had made a very bad mistake when he told the broadcasters that the correct pronunciation of his name was Gif 'fay not Giffey. Pete predicted that this would be his downfall and in fact he has played poorly since then. Amazingly Bill Raftery and Jay Bilas had a five minute conversation about the correction of pronumciation and Raftery opined that Giffey was playing better before the change.
Well batten down the hatches for tomorrow night and the Big Dance. If Olander, JCM and Oriakhi play at a high level (we know that Lamb and Napier will) there is now no telling how far the red hot Huskies can go.

"you heard it here first"
Steve

Kembaya, its a (S)Lamb Dunk! UCONN 76-74

Led by Kemba Walker's 24 and Jeremy Lamb's 17 points the UCONN Huskies advanced to the semi-finals of the Big East Tournament with a thrilling upset win over Pitt. Down about 10 points with 8 minutes left in the first half the Huskies went on a 10-2run keyed by their defense to close the gap to one at the half.
They again fell behind in the second half but led by a rejuvenated Alex Oriaki(`2 points the game was tied with 38 seconds left to play and the ball in UConn's hands. Walker drove the land and missed a pull-up jumper but JCM took the rebound in traffic and alertly called time out with about 18 seconds left on the clock. Surprisingly, Pitt stayed in their man to man and instead of double teaming Walker they were switching when he drove the lane. On the last possession he forced a switch which left Pitt's power Center Andy McGhee on Kemba one on one. Mcghee was no match for the lightening quick Walker who dribbled right at MCghee then jumped back and drained a jump shot one second before the buzzer.
Lamb and Napier continued to play very well and Oriakhi came out of his slumber. Lamb is emerging as a real star and had several spectacular hoops today. this team can break your heart and then surprise and delight. Who knows where it's going.
"You Hear it Here First"
Steve

Huskies at Sea Level; Notre Dame 70-UCONN 67

The UCONN men's basketball team ended their regular season play by dropping a home game to Notre Dame 70-67. Kemba Walker scored 34 points on 11-22 shooting from the field and 10-10 from the charity stripe. No other Husky scored in double figures and the Husky "Big" (size only) of Oriakhi, Smith and Oakwondo scored a combined total of 8 points. Anything else I could say about this game would be a repeat of my last several blogs. Walker had a better game because the Fighing Irish inexplicably stayed in a man to man defense until the last 3 minutes when they finally went into a 2-3 zone and secured the win. Walker is far more effective against a man defense and reallly cannot be stopped one on one.
The Huskies finished the season 21-9 and 9-9 and tied for 9th in the Big East. They fell in the lastest polls to 19th in the Coaches Poll, 21 in the AP poll and 23 in the RPI. They did not have a player other than Walker who averaged in double figures.
They open their Big East Tourney tomorrow at Noon against the hapless DePaul Blue Demons.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Water Seeks it's Own Level; West Virginia 67-59

Does this sound familiar? UCONN loses by eight to a Big East opponent in a desultory performance. Their offense is stifled by a tough man to man defense with double and triple teams on Walker when he gets the ball alternated with a match up zone.
- Walker leads the team in scoring but is 8-23(34%) from the floor and takes many poor shots.
- Only one Freshman has a good game (Napier) and other than Walker and Napier no Husky scores more than five points
- The Husky big men (Oriakhi, Oakwondo, Olander, and Smith)score a total of 4 points.
- Oriakhi is horrendous on offense and does not score.
- Smith is scoreless and is beginning to look like a bust
- The Husky offense is helpless against the match-up zone and instead of putting JCM at the foul line the guards dribble aimlessly in circles looking for seams that don't exist.
- Calhoun yanks Giffey and then JCM in less than one minute of play each at their first mistake.

At some point in a season one has to give up the idea that there continues to be a lot of room for improvement and accept that what you see is what you get. And what we saw last night at The West Virginia University Coliseum was, in essence, this years version of the Huskies. One reliable scorer who has regressed as the year has gone on; Kemba has to take some responsibility for his aimless dribbling and forced shots. Five Freshman, each who have shown flashes of talent but none of whom are consistent with the possible exception of Napier; their development is impeded by Calhoun's policy of yanking players after one mistake which I believe is demoralizing. Virtually no inside scoring presence and a very disappointing Alex Oriakhi. A team that is poorly coached in their half court sets and are clueless against match up zones. The result was a 67-59 loss to a characteristically fierce Bob Huggins team. There is no more that can said about last night other than the pre-season pollsters who picked the Huskies 10th in the Big East were actually on target.
What's left? The Huskies end their season at home on Saturday against a red hot Notre Dame team. Win or lose the Huskies are going to the Big Dance, even though they could finish as low as 10th in the Big East if the lose on Saturday. If that is the case the Big East will probably get a record 9 bids and the Huskies will make it based on several key wins and a good strength of schedule. I don't see them winning more than one game, if that, in the Big East tournament and they would have to get red hot to make it past the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.
I would imagine that the Pittsburgh fans ( some of whom read this blog) have high hopes this year. Sadly, the Panthers will eat their annual Big Dance apple and it will get stuck in their throats. The choking sound will reverberate all the way to Weston, Ct.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Calhoun rumored to have Read my Blog; UCONN 67-Cincinnati 59

Anyone who read my particularly insightful blog about Thursday night's loss to Marquette and then watched today's workmanlike Husky win over Cincinnati would have to believe the rumors in today's issue of a well know Connectict newspaper. It was reported from an undisclosed source that when Calhoun returned to Campus to re-join the team he requested a copy of my blog from Thursday. I can't be sure myself but he certainly incorporated my main suggestions from the get-go.
As I implored, Calhoun had either Lamb or Napier at the point the entire game, with Walker on the wing;this allowed Walker to preserve energy and prevented him from over dribbling. Both Frosh were very effective; Lamb played 38 minutes and had 17 points on 7-10 from the field, including 3-4 from 3 point land. Napier played 26 minutes as opposed to 11 against Marquette and scored 11 points in addition to running the offense well. I also made a very strong case that Calhoun had to commit totally to incorporating his Freshman into the offense if this team did not want an early trip home to Storrs. In fact, Walker took a season low 11 shots but made 5; his shot selection was better, he did not force the action and as a result Lamb, Napier, and Smith ( who had his best offensive showing of the campaign) got more shots. This resulted in better point distribution with Walker plus Lamb, Napier and Smith in Double figures. JCM also got more time on the floor and had a fairly quiet scoring night but played his usual effective all court game. Since Smith was hot, hit 3 treys and scored 11 JCM did not have a lot of minutes.
The Huskies were in control from start to finish and went home with a 67-59 win.
tonights win gives the Huskies a 9-7 conference record and with two to play the worst case scenario is a .500 record which makes them a lock for a dance card because of the quality wins early in the year and their strength of schedule. Their remaining games are Wednesday at West Virginia and Saturday at home against Notre Dame. These games are very important since if the Huskies run the table they will get a one round bye in the Big East Tournament. Of note is that both years the Huskies won the National Championship, 1999 and 2003, they also won the Big East Tournament. One would think that winning the conference tournament might be draining but this points to one of Steve Eliot's truisms. Teams that are hot and playing well at the end of the season do well in the Big Dance;conversely teams that are playing badly down the stretch do not turn it around in the NCAA's. For all you bracketologists entering pools put your money on teams that are hot in the stretch.
I think a great dark horse for the final four this year is Louisville. they continued their hot play today when they upset Pitt.
One last observation. I would say that Alex Oriakhi has been inconsistent and disappointing this year. I have concluded that his upside is much more limited than most people had hoped. Here is the reason; He is a slow jumper. By that I mean he is slow to get off the floor and as a result has a lot of shots blocked or deflected and misses opportunities for put-backs. he reminds me a lot of Jeff Adrien who had the same problem and was not drafted( although he just got a 10 day trial with I forget who) Oriakhi's slow jumping was evident at 16:00 of the first half when he was far ahead of the field and took a full court pass from Lamb. By the time he got off the ground for what should have been an easy dunk the shot was blocked.

"You Heard it here First"
steve

We Wuz Outcoached: Marquette 76- UCONN 67 in OT

It pains me to write this but the blame for a disastrous loss in a game that UCONN had in the bag with 3 minutes to go rests squarely on the shoulders of Associate Head Coach George Blaney.(Blaney had the helm because Jim Calhoun was attending a family funeral) My great respect for Blaney goes back to my adolescense when I frequently went to Madison Square Garden to watch college double headers in which Blaney coached at Holy Cross and then Seton Hall, both national powers in the 50's. I always and still do admire Blaney's technical knowledge and patient, encouraging approach to his players. Having said all that, I think that Blaney was not comfortable in the role of head honcho creating judgment impairing anxiety; in addition, he did not have sufficient sense of authority to stand up to Kemba Walker and insist that he stop trying to single handedly dribble through the Marquette defense at crunch time.
I had barely settled into my seat, two rows behind the UCONN, bench, when UCONN got off to a hot start and an 11-3 leaad. I liked Blaney's initial moves; he started JCM and had Lamb handling the ball up top with Walker on the wing leading to good ball distribution and four quick points by Walker on good shots. Oriakhi came out energized and was banging the offensive boards. Suddenly the Huskies went cold and scored 12 points in the last 16 minutes of the first half to fall behind 34-23 at the break. As the cold spell continued, UCONN reverted more and more to Walker trying to beat a 2-3 zone by driving the lane. JCM had started the game 2-5 and Blaney pulled him; I could not understand why Blaney stood by watching a now too familiar disaster unfold; Walker dribbled too much,tried to drive the lane when he was triple teamed, the big men stood motionless,Kemba took poor shots and was 30% from the field. Finally, Blaney read my mind, put JCM at the foul line and he hit a quick hoop against the zone- too little too late as the Huskies went into the locker room down 11 at the half.
At the beginning of the second half, Blaney had made some good adjustments. He put Walker back on the wing, brought in Napier, the defense stiffened and the Huskies went on a 20-4 run to turn an 11 point deficit into a 5 point lead. Napier made some beautiful dish offs in transition leading to (S)Lamb dunks. Giffey was having a break out game, passing well and finishing with a season high 9 points. Unfortuneately, Blaney seemed to freeze and in my opinion completely under utilized the bench. JCM virtually sat the entire second half and and Napier played 11 minutes. Walker ended up playing 43 minutes; combined with his over handling of the ball he was completely out of gas with two minutes left in regulation time. I don't know if it was evident on TV but from court side it was clear he could barely stand-up and Blaney did not rest him and give Napier more time.
As the game came down to the last three minutes, the Huskies still led by about 3 yet completely reverted to Walker dribbling to try to beat the zone on every possession. In the last 3 minutes of the game Walker got trapped twice and lost the ball and missed three forced shots. Of the Huskies last 9 shots Walker took seven and yet Blaney just could not bring himself to insist that Walker give up the ball.
The Huskies last shot in regulation time was an absurd off balance drive off the dribble; Walker never looked up to try to find an open man. In overtime, the same pattern continued and Marquette pulled away for a 7 point win.
Although Walker ended up with 27, he was 10-27 from the floor with at least 6 turn overs. Oriakhi finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds in a very good effort and Giffey broke out with 9 points. Roscoe Smith continues to disappoint. He had 4 points on 1-8 shooting from the floor but Blaney had him on the floor for 27 minutes while JCM only played 19 minutes; inexplicable and unexcusable.
The Huskies fell to 8-7 in the Big East with Cincinnati and West Virginia away and Notre Dame at home remaining in the Big East regular season. The Huskies only need to win one of the three to finish at .500 in the conference and secure an NCAA bid. But let's say the worst happens and they lose the last three and end up 8-10 in conference play. I have to believe that they would be very much on the bubble and might lose their Dance Card. Let's take a look at the current Big East standings.

) Pittsburgh Panthers 13-2 25-3
(9) Notre Dame Fighting Irish 11-4 22-5
(16) Louisville Cardinals 10-5 21-7
(23) St. John's Red Storm 10-5 18-9
(17) Syracuse Orange 10-6 23-6
(11) Georgetown Hoyas 10-6 21-7
Cincinnati Bearcats 9-6 22-6
(15) Villanova Wildcats 9-6 21-7
(14) Connecticut Huskies 8-7 20-7
West Virginia Mountaineers 8-7 17-10
Marquette Golden Eagles 8-7 17-11
Seton Hall Pirates 5-10 11-16
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 4-11 13-14
Providence Friars 3-12 14-14
South Florida Bulls 2-13 8-20
DePaul Blue Demons 1-14 7-20
an 8-10 record would put them 11th in the conference and certainly put things in jeopardy. I think that if this team has any chance in the Post-season the Husky brain trust has to give up the almost delusional wish that Walker will suddenly return to early season form, drive the lane at will and score 30ppg. The incredibly smart group of Big East coaches watched Jim boeheim's Orangemen shut down Walker and the Huskies on Feb.2 with a match up 2-3 zone. Every team (except Georgetown) since then has successfully employed the same strategy. Calhoun has to insist that Walker stop dribbling against the zone, alternate Lamb and Napier at the point, and use JCM at the foul line against these zones. He has to commit to this and not revert to "give the ball to Kemba and pray" when the game gets close at crunch time. Calhoun and Blaney are in love with Walker but if they don't commit 100% to these changes it is going to be an early trip home to Storrs for this year's Huskies.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Cardinals stifle Walker and rout Huskies 71-58

The Louisville Cardinals used a swarming match-up zone to render Kemba Walker ineffective and led by Sophomore guard Peyton Siva's 15 points they routed the UCONN Huskies last night, 71-58. Yet another, fast, tough, well coached Big East team had 3 men surrounding Walker every time he had the ball forcing him into bad shots and a poor shooting night. (3-10 from the field) Walker scored 5 points in the first half, forced shots and was not finding open men. Most of his 16 points came from the charity stripe after the game was out of reach.
Down by nine at the half, the Huskies started the second period with a 9-0 run to tie the score on 3 treys in a row; however, they ran out of steam, JCM got his third foul and went to the bench and the rout was on. On offense for Louisville, Peyton Siva drove the lane at will and either scored or dished off to big men inside for easy lay-ups. For the Huskies Walker and JCM both finished with 16 points, however Walker shot poorly and JCM was 6-8 from the floor. Oriakhi played well with 13 hard earned points but Smith continues to disappoint and Lamb had an off night and didn't score.
The Huskies continue to have fits against good match up zones. I still feel there is not enough motion in their half court sets and as you all know I do not like Calhoun's substituting patterns. He reacts with anger to the slightest mistake and is constantly yanking players in and out. I thought one particularly destructive move came in the first half. JCM entered the game with about five minutes gone and played a sensational 10 minutes scoring 11 points and snaring 5 rebounds. Again, he found open spots, shot well and was always around the ball. When he picked up his third foul, Calhoun appropriately took him out and put in Niels Giffey. Giffey looked more confident than usual, seemed into the flow and without hesitation hit a nice three. About thirty seconds later he made a defensive mistake and Calhoun yanked him; he came back late in the second half and played poorly. Here you have a Freshman with a lot of potential who has played poorly all year. He looks confident for the first time this season and "bam" he gets yanked; you could almost hear his balloon deflating as he skulked back to the bench.
I thought that ESPN's "remind me what teams are playing again" announcing team of Brent "Oh, you want to know the names of the players?" Musberger and the pedantic, self absorbed Bob "over-inflated bag of hot air" Knight detracted from the game. Musberger spent most of the evening reverentially calling Knight "Coach" and as usual knew little about the action on the floor. Knight's time has past; his color commentary is canned and he was clearly unfamiliar with the teams. For example, one minute into the game he expressed surprise that Louisville was in a zone defense. "Hello" that is how they beat UCONN last time they played and the way Big East teams have stopped Walker and the Huskies. About one minute later, he said that Louisville would have trouble matching UCONN's inside scoring pressure. The Huskies have no inside presence, one of their most glaring weaknesses and, in fact, Louisville's freshman Center, Gorgui Dieng, dominated the paint, scored 13 points and led the game in rebounds. Third, when JCM entered the game he immediately scored 4 points and next time down got open inside for a lay-up. Knight's comment was a UCONN player got open inside. He did not know it was JCM and was not familiar with the story line on him over the last three games. Get these guys off the air.
Next week, the Huskies play Marquette at the Civic Center on Thursday (which this reporter will cover from courtside) and Cincinatti away on Sunday. The huskies need to win both these games before their two tough final Big East tilts against West Virginia and Notre Dame.

"You Heard it here First"
Steve

JAMAALEMBA! HUSKIES IN HUGE WIN OVER GEORGETOWN

In an electric atmosphere at the Hartford Civic the UCONN Huskies led by Kemba Walker in early season form and a second straight sensational effort by Jamaal Combs-McDaniel( who shall heretofore be known as JCM) ended an eight game win streak by the ninth ranked Georgetown Hoyas, 78-70. The intensity level in this game felt like a post-season contest and both teams played at a high level throughout. Kemba Walker put together his best game in a while and shot well, dished off crisp passes and drove the hoop with his old verve and energy. Early in the second half he made one of the most heads up hoops I have ever seen;he drove the lane in traffic then passed to himself by shooting the ball too hard above the rim and took the clean rebound for a lay-up-unreal. Combs-Mcdaniel followed Sunday's career high with 23 points on 7-10 shooting from the field. He also ran the floor well and added some nice defensive boards. Oriakhi had one of his good games with 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Well this reporter must concede that just last week I felt the Huskies had come as far as they could with this group, but if JCM continues to play with the confidence he has shown in the last two games the stakes are raised for this crew. JCM has great size, 6'7" and agility for a man this big. His release is quick and he just might be the highly touted "lights out" shooter Calhoun thought he had recruited last year. My hat is off to blog follower Pete Eliot who felt JCM's 25 against Providence represented a break out game and the Huskies had found another scorer for the late season push. I thought it is interesting that Walker seems to be making the adjustment to the smothering defenses stacked against him in the Big East. In the half-court he has stopped forcing shots and is making uncanny passes but in the open court it looks like he has regained his early season aggressiveness and tonight used his blinding speed to go coast to coast or hit his step-back jumper.
Friday night the Huskies go on the road to try to avenge a double overtime loss to Louisville. Two observations from tonight. My advice to Alex Oriakhi- stop complaining to the refs about every careless foul you commit- make less careless fouls and just play harder. Second, I suspect that Jon Walker has a job moonlighting under the alias Randy Katz the savvy SNY interview man. If Katz is not really Walker than he is his dopelganger.
"You Heard it here first"
Steve

Huskies Roll over Providence; two tough Big East tilts this week

In a Sunday evening contest at Gampel Pavillion, the UCONN Huskies parlayed a well played second half into a 75-57 route over the Providence Friars. UCONN led 33-30 after a hard fought first half but switched into high gear in the second period to win by 18. Jamaal Combs-McDaniel led the Huskies with 25 points, his career high, Walker added 22 on 7-10 shooting from the field and Charles Okwandu had 11 boards and 4 blocked shots. Since Providence is 13th in the Big East right now it is hard to read too much significance into this win. The Huskies will be sorely tested this week as they take on Georgetown on Wed.night at the Civic Centre then play Louisville away on Friday night.
Kemba Walker returned to form on 7-10 shooting largely due to letting the game come to him more instead of forcing shots. As a result, he took fewer but better shots and gave up trying to drive the lane when he is triple teamed. He also made several beautiful passes to open men underneath. As the Huskies go down the stretch they only have three players who are performing consistently; Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, and Shabazz Napier. You never know what you will get from Oriakhi, Smith, Okwondu and Combs Mcdaniel. So Combs-McDaniel has a career high 25 on Sunday but might just as well score 2 points against Georgetown.
The win coupled with UCONN's loss last Thursday to St. Johns dropped down to #13 in the AP Poll. A big week coming up.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

The Wheels are Coming off the Bus; St.John's 89-UCONN 72

In their worst showing of the season tonight at Madison Square Garden UCONN was literally run off the court by the St. John's Red Storm. The Johnnies scored 28 fast break points to the Huskies 0( that's right, 0), shredded their interior defense as they drove at will, and shut down Kemba Walker and the UCONN offense.
As the season progresses the UCONN weaknesses are becoming glaring to the tough well coached Big East squads and they seem to be in reverse. This team just has no inside presence; as a result, they cannot break a zone and are completely dependent on the Guards for points. Opponents are taking their cue from Syracuse and playing 2-3 zone defenses; when Walker gets the ball he is immediately surrounded by three defenders and the lane has been taken away. He is forcing bad shots and had another terrible night from the floor, 4-16. The problem starts up front and there are no adjustments that can be made for lack of talent. Not much more to say about tonight's fiasco.
Don't be fooled by Roscoe Smith's 16 points tonight. Most of them came when the came was out of reach and were meaningless- he doesn't score under pressure.
I am just not sure where it goes from here. The Huskies play always tough Providence at Gampel on Sunday.
You Heard it here first
Steve

Huskies drop two in a row; this reporter away on assignment

I apologize for the lack of write-ups of the last two games but this reporter is away on special assignment at an undisclosed location for a non-sports related assignment. Enough said? As a result, I was unable to see either game in its entirety but saw snippets and spoke to some followers.
The Huskies lost a double overtime contest to Louisville by one point then were beaten, at home by Syracuse.On Monday, the Huskies were still #6 and #7 in both major polls but the loss to Syracuse might drop them out of the top 10. While I will not go into detail for each game I will make some mid-season observations.
First off, this team has already far exceeded expectations on the strength of Walker's indivdual play, very good defense and hustle, and the outstanding play of two of the five Freshmen (Lamb and Napier) On the downside, Walker is being shut down by tough Big East defenses which are double and triple teaming him when he has the ball. Roscoe Smith has been very inconsistent, flashes of real ability mixed with poor shooting and Wednesday's disappearing act against Syracuse (0 points).I am beginning to feel that Alex Oriakhi's upside was over rated in the early season. He is very inconsistent and has games where he seems inexplicably passive; he just doesn't have strong offensive instincts and he is a poor shooter. Finally, the Huskies are just very thin up front and are getting little scoring in the paint. The lack of a big man who can shoot and score killed them against Syracuse's vaunted 2-3 zone. One way to beat this zone comes off a first or second pass to a big man at the foul line. You need someone who can turn and shoot ( an easy 15 footer) or drive to the hoop. Lacking this, the Orange dropped off either Oriakhi or Oakwondo when they got the ball at the foul line and continued to smother outlet passes to Walker, Lamb or Napier.
I think the Huskies will remain an exciting, hustling, but inconsistent team for the rest of the season. They will definitely go to the Big Dance and I think move into the Sweet 16. From there, it is anyone's guess- If Oriakhi plays like he did in Hawaii and Walker gets hot they could go to the Final Four, but it is a long shot.
I don't think they have a real chance at the National Title because they are just too thin up front.
"YOU Heard it here First"
Steve

Lamb and Napier lead UCONN past Marquette, 76-68

In a game marked by huge lead changes, big runs and periods of wild play, UCONN prevailed over the Marquette Golden Eagles last night in Milwaukee, 76-68. The win was UCONN's sixth straight( third straight on the road) and moved them into third place in the Big East at 5-2. Some thought it was the Wisconsin air that made the vaunted Husky defense look like Swiss Cheese for the first 12 minutes of the second half but I attribute it to the fact that UCONN's cerebral and calm Associate Head Coach, George Blaney, did not make the trip(which I immediately noticed) with the team due to "personal reasons". Since Neither Justin Kutscher or Dickie Simpkins, the two fine SNY broadcasters nor anyone on the SNY half time crew( which includes two ex Big East Coaches, Tim Welsh and Norm Roberts)noticed that Blaney was missing, I had to put in a call to Husky Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway to get the explanation. I mention this (of course, not to toot my own horn) but because I believe that Blaney is a much better x's and o's guy than Calhoun and is often responsible for important in game adjustments.
The first half was a see saw-see affair as Marquette's Dennis Johnson-Odom, who has a beautiful shooting stroke, was draining shots from all over and the Golden Eagle defense was all over Kemba Walker. Jeremy Lamb (or J-Lamb, as Walker referred to him in the Hartford Courant) was on his way to his career best game and Roscoe Smith picked up the slack. The Huskies put on a nice run before the break, Walker dropped a couple of shots and UCONN went into the locker room ahead 38-31 in what looked like a convincing lead.
In the first 12 minutes of the second half UCONN looked as bad as they have all season as Marquette turned a 7 point deficit into a five point lead(a 12 point swing) with 8 minutes to go. The pace was fast and wild, the Huskies repeatedly threw the ball away or lost it off the dribble and the Golden Eagles had several coast to coast scores with Oriakhi on the bench for a good stretch with foul trouble. I believe that had Blaney been in his characteristic spot sitting next to Calhoun on the bench he would have been much faster than Calhoun at making the needed adjustment. Finally, with eight minutes left Calhoun called a time-out and had the Huskies slow down the game. They stopped running the court wildly, re-set their half court offense every time down the floor and immediately went on a 13-0 run led by outstanding point guard play and ball distribution by Shabazz Napier. Walker started getting better shots and scored 10 points in the second half to finish with 15, Lamb had a career high of 24, including 3 treys and 9-14 shooting from the field and Smith and Lamb added 11 points each to put four Huskies in double figures. With two minutes left to play the Huskies led 68-60 and closed it out at 76-68.
For the third game in a row Walker was guarded tenaciously, denied the ball or double and triple teamed once he had it in his hands resulting in a poor shooting game with few points in the first half. The Huskies have tried to free Walker by running him around single and double screens but I believe the problem is that he starts to get tight,his legs get tired, his shot selection deteriorates and he is taking many shots moving away from the hoop and off balance after coming off a screen. When UCONN started their 13-0 run late in the second half with Napier at the point, Shabazz put the ball in Walker's hands several times at the top of the key before running screens. Walker is a more effective scorer when he starts with the ball and is moving towards the hoop; he seems to find the seams hit short pull up jumpers or draw shooting fouls with pump fakes. While the better ball distribution has helped the all important progress of Lamb, Napier, and Smith, I think the Huskies would do well to make a small adjustment early in their games to stop the trend of Walker getting off so poorly in the first 10 minutes of the game. I would give the ball to Walker at the top of the key several times early in the game and let him do his thing, mixed in with him running screens. I think this might be an antidote to his poor starts.
While those of you who have faithfully followed my blog for three years know that I am modest man and eschew the spotlight or self promotion, so it is with some hesitancy and embarassment that I include the following. After my Editor-in-chief read this blog before I posted it he was so impressed that I was the only sports reporter who noticed and commented on Blaney's absence that he insisted that I include his comments in this post. " Steve", he said, " Once again it is clear that there is a very good reason that the tag line for your blog is
"You heard it here first"
Steve

Huskies take on Marquette tonight

Our #5 ranked UCONN Huskies take on the Marquette Golden Eagles tonight (13-7,4-3 in the Big East) at 9:00 PM; the game will be televised on SNY. Marquette is a mid-level Big East team and their leading scorers are 6'2" Junior guard Darius Johnson-Odom (16.4ppg) and 6'7" Senior swingman Jimmy Butler (15.2ppg) While the Huskies should not have too much trouble tonight no Big East away game should be taken for granted.
In a big upset last night Notre Dame knocked off #2 ranked Pitt, creating an opportunity for the Huskies to move up further in the rankings this week.
"You Heard it here first"
Steve

Huskies 5th in both Major Polls

On the strength of wins over Villanova and Tennessee last week UCONN moved up to #5 om both the AP and Coaches polls. The Huskies moved up past 'Nova, Syracuse and Kansas.

UCONN bests Tennessee 72-61 for fifth straight win; four Huskies score in double figures

In their most impressive win of the season the UCONN Huskies bested the pesky Tennessee Vols yesterday in a nationally televised contest at the Hartford Civic Center. Although the Vols were unranked, they started the season off 6-0 with wins over Pitt and Villanova and were ranked as high as #9 in the AP poll. However, their head coach, Bruce Pearl was given an 8 conference game suspension for lying to the NCAA about having had recruits to his house to a BB-que. The Vols have lost the bulk of their games when Pearl is not on the bench and have dropped out of the top 25despite having a good deal of talent, which was on display yesterday. The Vols led for most of the first half and held Kemba Walker scoreless for 15 minutes. The Huskies upped their defensive intensity and tied the game at 24 with about four minutes left in the period. Kemba came alive and hit a beautiful trey at the buzzer that gave the Huskies a 32-31 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Huskies looked better than they have all season with several very encouraging trends beginning to emerge. First and foremost, the four players in double figures reflected not only the development of Oriakhi, Lamb and Smith but Walker's growing trust in his teammates. As I had said earlier in the season when everyone knew the scoring and ball needed to be more evenly distributed you couldn't just turn on a switch and make it happen. Slowly but surely there is a synergistic interplay of Walker distributing the ball more and the aforementioned players gaining confidence and beginning to show consistency and flashes of outstanding play. Oriakhi, scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds for his fourth double/double during the win streak; he is developing a nice left-handed hook down low and becoming more aggresive on offense. Lamb was the co-scoring leader along with Walker yesterday with 16 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, his third straight game in double figures. Smith had 12 on four deft three pointers and is beginning to look like the highly touted recruit we heard about pre-season. Napier made some Freshman type turnovers yesterday but continues to add tremendous defensive and up tempo spark when he is on the floor.
Two surprises have been the improved play of Seniors Donnell Beverley and Charles Oakwondo. Although Beverley sees only 5-10 minutes a game he seems to be able to calm the team down if the offense is going astray and put a few points on the board. Oakwando is an example of what one has to say is a Calhoun coaching trademark. Oakwando is the fourth big man in the last nine years who has looked utterly hapless his first three years and then made major contributions in their Senior years. The same thing could be said of Hilton Armstrong, Gavin Edwards, and Hasheem thabeet. Oakwondo, in only 6 solid minutes yesterday, scored 6 points and had 5 rebounds and has started to be a contributor. Calhoun's rotation is tightening and taking shape. Walker rarely comes off the floor and Smith and Oriakhi played 35 and 33 minutes yesterday. Lamb was on the floor for 23 minutes and Napier for 21. The remaining minutes were split between Olander, Coombs-Mcdaniel, Oakwando and Beverley all playing less than 10 minutes.
This was an interesting week of January play in the NCAA. Upsets abounded as all the teams are playing mostly tough conference games. The week started with #8 ranked UCONN beating #7 ranked Villanova. Yesterday, Villanova beat #3 and previously unbeaten in the Big East Syracuse and #10 Texas knocked off #2 undefeated Kansas. The Huskies had already beaten "Nova and Texas. It will be interesting to see how the pollsters treat these results but I expect the Huskies to move to #6 or 5 in the polls. More importantly, at this point in the season, unlike their earlier week at #4, I believe they now belong among the top five teams in the country.

"You Heard it Here First"
Steve

Huskies knock off "Nova on last second Walker Shot

MLK day started on a good note for the UCONN Huskies as they moved up to #8 in both National Polls (which come out with updated rankings every Monday)prior to taking on the Villanova Wildcats in an afternoon holiday tilt at Gampel Pavillion. The 'Cats came into today's contest 4-0 in the Big East and 16-1 overall; perhaps it was the unusual 3:30 afternoon game time that accounted for sluggish play and poor shooting in the first half which ended with Villanova up 22-21.
Things heated up in the second half as the pace and shooting percentages picked up and Nova held a 3 point lead with 7'30 seconds left to play as UCONN was turning up their defensive intensity and looking like some of the best Husky defensive teams in the Calhoun era. An old-fashioned "Husky run" culminated in a 5 point UCONN lead with several minutes left to play but the the "cats, led by Corey Fisher, scratched back to tie the game at 59 with 22 seconds on the clock. Although the Villanova trapping defense had forced Walker into 6-17 shooting up to this point in the game, he had scored five points in a row, including a trey to keep the game tied. It is becoming apparent that in the waning seconds of a close game you can throw out what Walker has done until then and you want the best clutch shooter in the country to take the last shot. Savvy Freshman point guard Shabazz Napier got the ball to Walker at the top of the key with about 10 seconds left. Walker, with his incredibly fast first step, blew past two defenders, fended off a third with his strength and put up a floater from 8 feet over the outstretched hands of a Nova big man. It was "nothing but net" with 2.5 seconds on the clock and a last second Nova desperation heave went wide as the Huskies upped their Big East record to 4-2.
This was a big time win and prompted a discussion on the post game show about whether the Huskies were a legitimated title contender in the Big Dance. In my opinion, still too early to tell but there is no question that this UCONN team is developing nicely and belongs in the top ten in the nation.

This was, far and away, Freshman Jeremy Lamb's best game as he scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, added 8 boards and held Nova's high scorer, Corey Stokes to 3 points. He is starting to look like the much needed third consistent scorer for UCONN. Alex Oriakhi had another strong double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds and Kemba led the scoring with 24. Napier, again was terrific in 20 minutes at the point and really triggered the 14-2 Husky run with his quickness on defense.
Husky fans, I can't help but admit that images of a trip to the Final Four are starting to dance in my head- you have to love the way Calhoun and Blaney are bringing this team along.
"You Heard it Here first"
Steve

Huskies romp over Depaul 82-62

As expected, the UCONN huskies blew out a very weak Depaul team 82-62 in a rare Big East laugher. Kemba Walker led the way with his Big East career high of 31 points followed by Jeremy Lamb with 13 and Alex Oriakhi with 11.

The most interesting aspect of today's game is that Coach Jim Calhoun has still not settled on his rotation. Walker, Oriakhi and Freshman Roscoe Smith have established themselves as starters but Calhoun used a very different rotation than in Tuesday's win at Rutgers. It is my impression that he believes that his best back court combo as starters is Walker and Lamb. It is obvious now that Lamb saw very few minutes in the prior two games because Calhoun was sending a message that the talented Freshman needed to get more aggressive. Lamb got the message and exploited the weak Blue Demon defense for 13 points. I think that Calhoun would rather use Napier off the bench because he is one of those players who can instantaneously up the energy level of a team. Giffey continues to show little and I think Calhoun feels that if Olander can cut down on the careless fouls he is his best bet down low. The improving Combs-Mcdaniel will get time up front and Donnell Beverley continues to add some solid minutes at point.
I have to partially rescind my comments about SNY's broadcast teams. Todays duo was horrible, particularly ex Villanova star John Celestan. He called Calhoun Jim boeheim twice and referred to Jeremy Lamb as one of the best shooters on the team.
The huskies have a tougher go next week with #7 ranked Villanova away on Monday, then Tennessee at home on Saturday in a nationally broadcast game.
I think this weeks wins will essentially not effect the Huskies in the polls; my guess is that they will move up from #10 to #9 ahead of Notre Dame in the AP poll as the Irish got badly beat by unranked Marquette on Monday.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Oriakhi,Napier spark solid 67-53 win over Rutgers

In a contest that featured several encouraging developments the UCONN Huskies keyed off a 12-0 run to start the second half to spark a 67-53 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. As he has in every game this season, Kemba Walker led the Huskies with 18 points (7-15 from the field) followed by another strong performance by Alex Oriakhi who had 17 pts and 12 rebounds. Shabazz Napier scored 4 points but in 26 minutes at the point he ran the offense well, distributed the ball beautifully and disrupted Rutger's offense with his stifling defensive play. Roscoe Smith chipped in with 9 and the improving Donnell Beverley contributed 7 points in 8 minutes of play.
It was clear from the outset that the husky brain trust stressed more shot distribution and this was the first game where it was well executed. The most effective mix of players seems to be shaping up and was apparent in the second half. The Huskies are at their best with Napier at point, Walker at two guard, and Smith, Giffey and Combs Mcdaniel splitting the bulk of the time at Forward, with Oriakhi at center. Beverley seems to be developing into an effective second point guard and this enables Walker to play off the ball most of the game. Tonight, Kemba was not pressing on offense, looked more relaxed and took far better and fewer shots than he has since Maui. Interesting, Jamaal Combs-Mcdaniel was touted as an excellent three point shooter in last season's pre-season prognostications. He had a poor year as a Freshman, but Calhoun has been encouraging him to use his size, 6'7" and mobility to go to the hoop more this year. Tonight he had several nice drives and also added two treys- he could be a tremendous asset if he continues to develop. Finally, I just love Shabazz Napier- he gets the ball upcourt quickly in UCONN's vaunted transition game and is becoming stingier and smarter distributing the ball- In the words of the great Dickie V, Shabazz has gone from a diaper dandy to a PTPer in half a season.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve

Tough Loss, Good Win; ???????

In a very tough week, UCONN dropped a road contest to #14 ranked Notre Dame, and then eked out an overtime 81-80 victory, again on the road against #12 ranked Texas. I came away from a puzzling week with the same conclusion that I did after the loss to PITT; it is still too early in the season to predict how far this version of the Huskies will go.
One thing that the 73-70 loss to Notre Dame showed in spades; the Big East is one tough conference. Notre Dame, to me, is typical of the
eightBig East teams ranked in the top 25. They have a great coach (Mike Brey), do not necessarily have a superstar, play terrific defense and team ball. The Irish put a very dogged John Hansbrough on Walker and Kemba had a very difficult time getting good shots. Although he ended up with 22 points he had to go 8-23 from the field to get there. Once again Shabazz Napier was the only other Husky to step up and scored 18 points as well as another strong defensive performance. the UCONN front line produced virtually nothing and Alex Oriakhi did not score a point! Only UCONN's tenacious defense kept the final score this close as the Huskies record dropped to 1-2 in the Big East.
Against Texas, the Huskies came out looking more determined from the start and Oriakhi looked like someone lit a fire under his bed. He was a force off the boards and ended up with 11 points and 21 rebounds. In a better distribution of scoring four Huskies hit double figures led by Walker's 19, Napier's 15, Smith's 13 and Oriakhi's 11. In 18 minutes of solid play Senior Guard Donnell Beverley had 8 points and filled in nicely at the point. Calhoun was obvously upset with freshman Jeremy Lamb who saw eight minutes of playing time.

Again, Walker was hounded on defense, pressed for shots and was an abysmal 8-27 from the floor, although he came alive in the OT and scored 7 points in the extra period including the game winner. Again, the Husky defense was the constant that enabled UCONN to push this game into overtime. The split of two very tough road games only cost the Huskies one spot in both Major polls and they were ranked #10 in this mornings AP Poll and #9 in the coaches poll. In the RPI index they are #6 in the country.
So, where are we? Given the Huskies strength of schedule and wins against highly ranked teams a .500 record in the tough Big East will easily get them a Dance Card. It is obvious to everyone that other players have to contribute more offensively for Walker to step back, take fewer and better shots and have better point distribution. This is not as simple as just telling Walker to distribute the ball more; as Pete Eliot pointed out it is hard to just turn it up and down at will and Walker maybe giving something up in his attempts to look for teammates more. Good point, but in my opinion one piece of the puzzle. Walker has to have more confidence in his teammates to take fewer shots and so far he doesn't nor does he have reason to. UCONN's half courts sets are completely Guard oriented; You rarely see the Huskies make their first pass inside so there are no kick out passes to Walker for open treys. IN addition, the ball movement is almost completely around the perimeter and most of the screens that are set are designed to free up Walker for jump shots. Compare this to the motion offenses of teams like Pitt, Notre Dame, Cincinatti, etc where any number of good shooters are freed up by screens.
Of course, the final factor is the disappointing play of the Freshman and particularly Sophomore Alex Oriakhi who has been a mystery since Hawaii. He has become a non-factor on offense and has been consistently beaten off the boards. I think that this is due, in part, to a lack of confidence but also I have concluded that Oriakhi did not work hard enough on his 10-15 ft. jump shot this summer; his hands are soft enough to become a pretty good short range shooter and until he does he will continue to be inconsistent. I have also concluded that Jeremy Lamb can't shoot. He is talented but his jump shooting mechanics are terrible and have to be reconfigured for him to be a better jump shooter- this will not happen during the season so I also think his contributions will be inconsistent. Roscoe Smith is starting to show flashes of exciting play and he scored 11 and 13 points respectively last week. He is also a poor jump shooter, but I think over time will develop a good short range jump shot, but not this year. I think the Huskies will have to settle for about 11 ppg from him on put-backs and fast breaks, until next year. The Frosh who is already a PTPer is Shabazz Napier. He scored 18 and 15 points last week and his defense is sensational- a huge plus. Niels Giffey has all but moved back to Berlin and Olander and Oakwando remain spotty.
One of the most puzzling aspects of Calhoun's coaching this year is why he has not used the full court press at all. This is a terrific defensive team and definitely have the personnel to use the press in short spurts to create runs. I don't get it! In the grueling Big East the Huskies will be at least 3 games over .500 and go to the tourney; how far, again still too early to tell.

"You Heard it here First"
Steve