If anyone thinks the young Uconn Huskies have not missed Jim Calhoun during his three game suspension for recruiting violations, think again: In a stunning defeat ( the game was not nearly as close as the 12 point final differential would indicate) the Huskies sorely missed Calhoun's bench coaching and influence. They were flat, confused by the Seton Hall's 2-3 match up zone and reverted to a lack of movement in the half court offense. Napier and Boatright( in his worst game to date) continually tried to dribble through the zone and lost the ball, creating easy Seton Hall break away's resulting in 13 first half turn overs. The lack of hustle and intensity was shocking as they lost virtually every 50-50 ball and were unable to make the necessary adjustments to get back into the game.
After taking a 12-4 lead, the wheels came off the UConn bus. Seton Hall created many breakaways off steals, particularly by Fuquan Edwin and point guard Jordan Theodore, Herb Pope was effective inside and the Pirates were deadly from three point range. By half-time the Pirates had a 12 point lead and only Jeremy Lamb's 13 points kept it that close.
UConn tried to adjust in the second half by starting with their three guard offense but Napier continued to look completely out of sync (2-12 from the field) and Boatright was tentative and finished with only 4 points. When the three guard attack proved ineffective, Blaney using Giffey, Oriakhi and Smith together on the floor and the Huskies continued to look hapless in the half-court. All in all, a stunning defeat and UConn's worst showing of the season. Lamb led the scoring with 19 and Giffey, in a career high, had 11 in 15 minutes of play.
What significance can we attach to this loss? First and foremost, taking nothing away from Seton Hall and their fine young coach Kevin Willard, I think Calhoun's absense was a huge factor. I just don't think we would have seen the lack of hustle with Calhoun on the bench. In addition, I think that Blaney could just not figure out how to adjust to the Pirates defensive looks and his subbing was baffling. I do not understand why Tyler Olander seems to be getting less and less playing time when he has been one of the most consistent and effective Husky big men this season.
Secondly, in the Big East road upsets are routine and part of the long season; it is just not possible to go through regular season play in a league with five teams in the top 25 (probably 6 after this week) undefeated. It is a long season and last year has to stand as the best possible example of this - March is a lot of games off. In addition, Napier has been struggling with an ankle sprain and he looked like he lacked his usual first step last night.
On the down side, the UConn front court continues to struggle; Drummond is coming on big time but is still a Freshman and can have bad games. Oriakhi has regressed significantly this year, partially because he is losing minutes to Drummond and the 3 guard offense. However, his lack of touch and timing becomes more and more evident to me and I am beginning to believe he has a more limited upside than previously thought. He misses far too many chippies and in the first half an attempt at an interior bounce pass ended up two feet behind a cutting Drummond. To me this was an example of a lack of natural timing and touch.
The significance remains to be seen but you can bet when Calhoun runs practice today the Huskies will have their tongues hanging out before it is over.
Sidenotes: Again, I want to comment on the terrific quality of the Big East Channel broadcasting teams. They are just so much better than the silken voiced, generic announcers on the major networks. They are consistently knowledgeable about the teams and what is happening on the floor. Last night, Mike Gleason did the play by play and Bob Wenzel, former UWV head coach was the color man. His pre-game synopsis was outstanding.
In the past, some of my UConn grad followers have felt I was too critical of Calhoun and did not appreciate him enough. Even a highly decorated, veteran reporter like myself has to be open to learn and change opinions and I have; I really have begun to appreciate Calhoun's ability to motivate and begun to see that he is a terrific game coach.
" You Heard it here First"
Steve
It was a depressing game, but these things need to happen for a team to come together. They just fell to pieces and obviously missed Callhoun badly. Blaney is helpful, but there's only one JC.
ReplyDeleteAmen, pete
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