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
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
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
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
Monday, January 24, 2011
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.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
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
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
Saturday, January 15, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
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
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
Sunday, January 9, 2011
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
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
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