My nephew,the honorable and trustworthy Mr. Jeremy Sollinger called me last year to request a private meeting at an undisclosed restuarant in Connecticut. At that meeting, he requested that I admit one Dave Allen and several other UCONN graduates to the site. He swore, sealed by an exchange of blood(thereby putting his place in my inner circle of advisors at risk,SVEICA, that these fellas were HUGE UCONN fans and would be regular, isightful contributors to the site.
For your friends honor and place in SVEICA, plus the quality of the site, I would love to have you guys contribute your opinions to the site.
"You heard it here First"
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
We Just don't have the horses; Pitt 67- UCONN 57
You can analyze this loss any way you want but from my seat two rows behind the Pitt bench it became patently clear to me that the 2009-2010 version of the UCONN Huskies just doesn't have the horses. To wit, we are one guard short, do not have a three point shooter or even a really good jump shooter, and between Majok and Okwandu, we are very weak offensively at Center. That's 3 key players short; This team will have done extremely well if they make it to the Sweet Sixteen and I am not sure that they are not NIT bound this year.
Despite the loss, thanks to Bill Mitchell this reporter was seated two rows behind the Pitt bench. What one cannot see on TV or from further back is the awesome size of these guys and the very fast pace of the game; in addition one gets to pick up both strengths and weaknesses of the players. As far as last night's pounding from the Pitt Panthers on the Huskies home court, the problems with this year's squad were apparent.
Pitt led almost all the way except for the Huskies briefly taking two one point leads with about 6 minutes to go after a stretch of their best run of the game. Pitt's guard oriented, motion offense was impressive affording Ashton Gibbs( 19 pts) and Brad Wanamaker(19 pts) good open looks at the hoop as well as openings to drive the lane. In contrast, UCONN's stagnant half course offense was evident. Essentially, in the half court, Dyson dribbles around looking for opportunities to drive the lane; His excessive dribbling tends to induce the other players to stand around waiting to see what Dyson will do. Pitt defended against this cleverly last night by having their big, strong, Center, Gary Mcghee come out and force Dyson to give up the ball whenever he beat his first man.
The Huskies had one good seven minute run starting mid way through the second half. They increased their defensive intensity and subsequent steals and forced turnovers allowed them to move into their running game. Both Walker and Dyson turned on during this stretch and they came back from 8 down to take a one point lead. Jamie Dixon, the incredibly intense Pitt coach reinserted McGhee into the line up at this point, the pace was slowed and Pitt pulled away to win by 10. The Huskies scoring was led by Stan Robinson with 19, Dyson with 14 and Walker with 10.
Some observations from courtside;
1) Walker is playing scared. He has the goods, but has to relax, start shooting again and learn to play under better control. I would like to see him pull up in the lane more often when he penetrates rather than go air borne with no one open. His development is slower than anticipated but he will still be a very good guard. For his benefit, I hope he stays four years.
2) I know some of you think I am too hard on Stanley Robinson, but sorry folks he just doesn't have what it takes. While clearly he is a better player this year and will be important to whatever the Huskies achieve, he is, at best, a mid to late first round NBA draft choice and I predict by the end of his second season in the NBA he will be waived and no one will pick up his contract. Will probably end up playing in Europe. Why do I say that? He fools people because of his speed for his size and his great ups- he can sky. The essential problem is that he is not a good athlete; his eye-hand coordination is poor resulting in poor hands. Many passes he does not catch cleanly or misses and of most important is that he is a poor shooter. He has very little touch and feel and he will never shoot well. In addition, he moves stiffly and has no 1on1 offensive moves. When he gets the ball down low he just dribbles aimlessly and uses his jumping ability to go over the defender- this will not fly in the NBA and is only semi effective at the college level. Being close to the court I was able to see that he is poorly conditioned indicating poor work habits. He was completely winded in the second half and was gasping for air the entire time. Finally and of most importance he has no heart and when the game is tight he gets passive and does not want the ball. Once again, this happened against Pitt. 15 pts in the first half, but when the chips were on the line in the second half he scored 4 points and he got 1 that is right folks 1 rebound the entire game.
Ater Majok has abililty but is a project- he will not contribute significantly this year but will in the future.
Dyson is a very good player with plenty of heart but he can't shoot. The Huskies made one trey against Pitt and this will kill them in close games down the stretch.
In short, we are short 3 horses and nothing will change that.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve
Despite the loss, thanks to Bill Mitchell this reporter was seated two rows behind the Pitt bench. What one cannot see on TV or from further back is the awesome size of these guys and the very fast pace of the game; in addition one gets to pick up both strengths and weaknesses of the players. As far as last night's pounding from the Pitt Panthers on the Huskies home court, the problems with this year's squad were apparent.
Pitt led almost all the way except for the Huskies briefly taking two one point leads with about 6 minutes to go after a stretch of their best run of the game. Pitt's guard oriented, motion offense was impressive affording Ashton Gibbs( 19 pts) and Brad Wanamaker(19 pts) good open looks at the hoop as well as openings to drive the lane. In contrast, UCONN's stagnant half course offense was evident. Essentially, in the half court, Dyson dribbles around looking for opportunities to drive the lane; His excessive dribbling tends to induce the other players to stand around waiting to see what Dyson will do. Pitt defended against this cleverly last night by having their big, strong, Center, Gary Mcghee come out and force Dyson to give up the ball whenever he beat his first man.
The Huskies had one good seven minute run starting mid way through the second half. They increased their defensive intensity and subsequent steals and forced turnovers allowed them to move into their running game. Both Walker and Dyson turned on during this stretch and they came back from 8 down to take a one point lead. Jamie Dixon, the incredibly intense Pitt coach reinserted McGhee into the line up at this point, the pace was slowed and Pitt pulled away to win by 10. The Huskies scoring was led by Stan Robinson with 19, Dyson with 14 and Walker with 10.
Some observations from courtside;
1) Walker is playing scared. He has the goods, but has to relax, start shooting again and learn to play under better control. I would like to see him pull up in the lane more often when he penetrates rather than go air borne with no one open. His development is slower than anticipated but he will still be a very good guard. For his benefit, I hope he stays four years.
2) I know some of you think I am too hard on Stanley Robinson, but sorry folks he just doesn't have what it takes. While clearly he is a better player this year and will be important to whatever the Huskies achieve, he is, at best, a mid to late first round NBA draft choice and I predict by the end of his second season in the NBA he will be waived and no one will pick up his contract. Will probably end up playing in Europe. Why do I say that? He fools people because of his speed for his size and his great ups- he can sky. The essential problem is that he is not a good athlete; his eye-hand coordination is poor resulting in poor hands. Many passes he does not catch cleanly or misses and of most important is that he is a poor shooter. He has very little touch and feel and he will never shoot well. In addition, he moves stiffly and has no 1on1 offensive moves. When he gets the ball down low he just dribbles aimlessly and uses his jumping ability to go over the defender- this will not fly in the NBA and is only semi effective at the college level. Being close to the court I was able to see that he is poorly conditioned indicating poor work habits. He was completely winded in the second half and was gasping for air the entire time. Finally and of most importance he has no heart and when the game is tight he gets passive and does not want the ball. Once again, this happened against Pitt. 15 pts in the first half, but when the chips were on the line in the second half he scored 4 points and he got 1 that is right folks 1 rebound the entire game.
Ater Majok has abililty but is a project- he will not contribute significantly this year but will in the future.
Dyson is a very good player with plenty of heart but he can't shoot. The Huskies made one trey against Pitt and this will kill them in close games down the stretch.
In short, we are short 3 horses and nothing will change that.
"You Heard it here First"
Steve
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Look for this Reporter behind the UCONN bench as Huskies take on Pitt
Through some clandestine negotiations, Jim Calhoun has arranged for me to be sitting behind the UCONN bench for tomorrow night's Big East battle between the Huskies and the 16th ranked Pitt Panthers. If you tune in to ESPN2 for tomorrow nights 7:00 PM contest, you will know what is happening when you see Calhoun leaning way back, appearing to be listening to someone in the stands. Calhoun's Questions will be relayed back to me by one of the female team managers in hand written notes.
Expect this game to be a dogfight. Pitt always gives the Huskies fits at the Civic Center and this has developed into a great rivalry. Pitt has a guard oriented offense led by Sophomore Ashton Gibbs at 17.5ppg, Bernard Wanamaker, 12 ppg and Gilbert Brown at 10ppg.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve
Expect this game to be a dogfight. Pitt always gives the Huskies fits at the Civic Center and this has developed into a great rivalry. Pitt has a guard oriented offense led by Sophomore Ashton Gibbs at 17.5ppg, Bernard Wanamaker, 12 ppg and Gilbert Brown at 10ppg.
"You Heard it Here First"
Steve
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Mr. Robinson leaves the neighborhood as Huskies blow 19 point lead
In a game of wild momentum swings, UCONN managed to blow a 19 point lead and drop an important Big East encounter to the 12th ranked Georgetown Hoya's. The huskies were at their pressing, fast paced best in the first half and at the break held a 15 point 40-15 lead. Dyson ran the floor well and Robinson had 3 resounding dunks as Georgetown looked lethargic. Throughout the first half Dick Vitale (who I like,) continually praised Robinson and talked about he had arrived and would go high in the NBA draft. I just held my breath thinking, let's see what happens. While I lovd Vitale's enthusiasm, I feel that for the last few seasons he has gotten lazy in his game preparation and just hooks on to one or two ideas.
As the second half unfolded it became apparent early on that Robinson was having one of his classic disappearing acts. He looked tired, his shot selection was horrendous and Georgetown started a spectacular comeback. Inexpicably, Robinson took eight threes, making only two and his three point try practically from the locker room set up Georgetown's tieing the game with 5:21 to go. Vitale commented ignorantly that Calhoun would take Robinson shooting from there every time up court. The Hoya's Junior, Austin Freeman. the best game of his career and killed the Huskies with 33 points, many from downtown. I just cannot understand how the Huskies continually allowed a player who was on fire get free time after time.
While UCONN still led by one with 1:11 to play, a steal and another hoop led to a 72-69 Hoya win.
I continue to be disappointed in the sloppy point guard play of Kemba Walker; too many turnovers and very few really good passes and he continually gets out of control when he penetrates. Please do not try to tell me Stanley Robinson has arrived; once again when the chips were down he was just not home. Once again, the Huskies shot poorly from the line, only 52%. Bright spots were the improving play of Jamal McCoombs-McDaniel and the solid play of Oriakhi and Edwards.
News and Notes
Once again, with Huskies playing poorly Coach Calhoun has approached this reporter through our mutual friend Bill Mitchell. Under the guise of attending this Wednesday's game in the front row with Bill, I will stay after the game to meet with Calhoun at an undisclosed, underground location. Obviously, this reported will have to keep the contents of that meeting confidential since I will be functioning in my other role as a Psychologist.
I am the only person who has noticed the striking facial resemblance between John Thompson III, the current Hoya coach and blog site follower John Walker.
" You heard it Here First"
Steve
As the second half unfolded it became apparent early on that Robinson was having one of his classic disappearing acts. He looked tired, his shot selection was horrendous and Georgetown started a spectacular comeback. Inexpicably, Robinson took eight threes, making only two and his three point try practically from the locker room set up Georgetown's tieing the game with 5:21 to go. Vitale commented ignorantly that Calhoun would take Robinson shooting from there every time up court. The Hoya's Junior, Austin Freeman. the best game of his career and killed the Huskies with 33 points, many from downtown. I just cannot understand how the Huskies continually allowed a player who was on fire get free time after time.
While UCONN still led by one with 1:11 to play, a steal and another hoop led to a 72-69 Hoya win.
I continue to be disappointed in the sloppy point guard play of Kemba Walker; too many turnovers and very few really good passes and he continually gets out of control when he penetrates. Please do not try to tell me Stanley Robinson has arrived; once again when the chips were down he was just not home. Once again, the Huskies shot poorly from the line, only 52%. Bright spots were the improving play of Jamal McCoombs-McDaniel and the solid play of Oriakhi and Edwards.
News and Notes
Once again, with Huskies playing poorly Coach Calhoun has approached this reporter through our mutual friend Bill Mitchell. Under the guise of attending this Wednesday's game in the front row with Bill, I will stay after the game to meet with Calhoun at an undisclosed, underground location. Obviously, this reported will have to keep the contents of that meeting confidential since I will be functioning in my other role as a Psychologist.
I am the only person who has noticed the striking facial resemblance between John Thompson III, the current Hoya coach and blog site follower John Walker.
" You heard it Here First"
Steve
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Jerome Brings it Home; UCONN 71-Seton Hall 63
The UCONN Huskies went into tonight's home contest at Gampel Pavillion ranked 13th in both major polls after splitting two big East contests last week. They bounced back with a home win over Notre Dame after a tough 2 point loss on the road to the Cincinnatti Bearcats. Tonight's 71-63 win over the scrappy Pirates of Seton Hall was much closer than the score indicated. The lead changed hands several times down the stretch before Jerome Dyson took over the final minutes of the game with a spectacular show of rebounding, assists and the trademark Dyson coast to coast trips resulting in buckets off slashing drives. After sitting out much of the first half with foul trouble Dyson ended up leading the Huskies in scoring with 16 points and he added 9 rebounds and 10 assists. By the way, Dyson is the only player in the country averaging more than 20ppg, 5assists/game and 5 rebounds/game.
The Huskies sported their trademark balanced attack; in addition to Dyson's 16, Walker and Edwards added 15, Ariakhi had 12 and Robinson 10. Walked was much more in control at point and there far fewer turnovers tonight. Ariakhi again looked solid and will be the next Husky superstar and Robinson continues his consistent and sometimes spectacular play. On Saturday the Huskies go up against a tough Georgetown Hoya squad at the Verizon center in Washington, D.C. The game will be broadcast at noon on ESPN.
News and Notes- Please welcome to the site Steve Halloran, a friend of Jem Sollinger. Steve grew up in Farmington and was an outstanding HS hoops player. ( He played against Jeff Calhoun, Jim's son) He was a two sport athlete at Middlebury where he played varsity soccer and basketball. He has been a Husky fan since 1986 and we look forward to his insights.
If you haven't already done so please join the blog siteuconnhuskymania.blogspot.com. just sign in and follow the directions. If you already have a gmail account you can sign in with your current username and password.
"you heard it here first"
Steve
The Huskies sported their trademark balanced attack; in addition to Dyson's 16, Walker and Edwards added 15, Ariakhi had 12 and Robinson 10. Walked was much more in control at point and there far fewer turnovers tonight. Ariakhi again looked solid and will be the next Husky superstar and Robinson continues his consistent and sometimes spectacular play. On Saturday the Huskies go up against a tough Georgetown Hoya squad at the Verizon center in Washington, D.C. The game will be broadcast at noon on ESPN.
News and Notes- Please welcome to the site Steve Halloran, a friend of Jem Sollinger. Steve grew up in Farmington and was an outstanding HS hoops player. ( He played against Jeff Calhoun, Jim's son) He was a two sport athlete at Middlebury where he played varsity soccer and basketball. He has been a Husky fan since 1986 and we look forward to his insights.
If you haven't already done so please join the blog siteuconnhuskymania.blogspot.com. just sign in and follow the directions. If you already have a gmail account you can sign in with your current username and password.
"you heard it here first"
Steve
Friday, January 1, 2010
Join my blog site
In the future my posts will be on my newly created blog site which is uconnhuskymania.blogspot.com. All you need to do is click the link I just gave and you will be on the site. If you click on followers, and follow the directions you will be a member and be able to post comments. I would like to ask all those who enjoy the posts and would like to continue to become a follower. I want to thank Peter Eliot for creating and setting up the blog site.
Tomorrow, at the XL center in Hartford the Huskies will try to rebound from Wed. nights loss against the Irish of Notre Dame.
"You heard it here first"
Steve
Tomorrow, at the XL center in Hartford the Huskies will try to rebound from Wed. nights loss against the Irish of Notre Dame.
"You heard it here first"
Steve
Walker's poor play, missed free throws, poor shooting; Cincinatti 71-UCONN 69
Well Husky fans, I wish this were not true but this reporter is already in the running for his third career prescience award. A quote from my first post of the season ; "Of most concern is that this years Huskies shoot poorly both from the field and the charity stripe. For example, in the three point loss to Kentucky Dyson alone missed 10 free throws. Of even greater concern is that the Huskies do not have a reliable 3 point shooter, a critical ingredient in close games that go down to the wire. My one criticism of Walker, who is a great penetrator and defender is that he sometimes makes poor dish offs and there have been too many turn overs."
Countless bonehead plays by Kemba Walker in which he either over penetrated without intent or turned the ball over were extremely costly in a game which the Huskies should have won. Walker's worst play of the game came right after he hit a trey to tie the game at 69. With the Bearcats Vaughn having fouled out, everyone in the house but Walker seemed to know that Cincinnati was going to put the ball in the hands of sensational Freshman, Lance Stephenson and let him take it coast to coast. Dyson picked up Stephenson in the back court and you could see Calhoun desperately trying to get Walker's attention so he could double up on Stephenson to either slow him down or force him to give up the ball. Unfortunately, Walker was too busy grandstanding to the crowd to see Calhoun and trap Stephenson. Dyson could not contain Stephenson alone and he drove the length of the floor and got fouled with .7 seconds to go. He drained both free throws and it was lights out.
The Huskies were also bedeviled by poor shooting from the floor (38%) and from 3 point land (30%) hitting only 4 treys compared to the Bearcats 7, a nine point differential. The Huskies were led by Dyson's 24 points whose sensational, slashing drives to the hoop accounted for 24 points and Robinson's 22. Robinson continues to show signs that he may be a factor in big games this year, but we shall see.
The game was a typical, early season Big East contest; physical with a lot of sloppy and spotty play. Despite all this the Huskies lost by only 2 on the road so I wouldn't read too much into the loss. Majok is definitely a project and will have to improve during the year for the Huskies to contend seriously come March. Walker is becoming more and more concern as I see him repeating mistakes that he should be out growing by now.
A safe and happy New Year to all.
"You heard it first here"
Steve
Countless bonehead plays by Kemba Walker in which he either over penetrated without intent or turned the ball over were extremely costly in a game which the Huskies should have won. Walker's worst play of the game came right after he hit a trey to tie the game at 69. With the Bearcats Vaughn having fouled out, everyone in the house but Walker seemed to know that Cincinnati was going to put the ball in the hands of sensational Freshman, Lance Stephenson and let him take it coast to coast. Dyson picked up Stephenson in the back court and you could see Calhoun desperately trying to get Walker's attention so he could double up on Stephenson to either slow him down or force him to give up the ball. Unfortunately, Walker was too busy grandstanding to the crowd to see Calhoun and trap Stephenson. Dyson could not contain Stephenson alone and he drove the length of the floor and got fouled with .7 seconds to go. He drained both free throws and it was lights out.
The Huskies were also bedeviled by poor shooting from the floor (38%) and from 3 point land (30%) hitting only 4 treys compared to the Bearcats 7, a nine point differential. The Huskies were led by Dyson's 24 points whose sensational, slashing drives to the hoop accounted for 24 points and Robinson's 22. Robinson continues to show signs that he may be a factor in big games this year, but we shall see.
The game was a typical, early season Big East contest; physical with a lot of sloppy and spotty play. Despite all this the Huskies lost by only 2 on the road so I wouldn't read too much into the loss. Majok is definitely a project and will have to improve during the year for the Huskies to contend seriously come March. Walker is becoming more and more concern as I see him repeating mistakes that he should be out growing by now.
A safe and happy New Year to all.
"You heard it first here"
Steve
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
