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
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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
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
Thursday, February 10, 2011
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
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
Friday, February 4, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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
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
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