UCONN Put Out of Its Misery
The Syracuse Orange put an end to UConn's miserable season (by UConn standards) today, but not before the Huskies did something that I haven't seen them do all year: play a watchable game.
And by that, I mean they scored some points. I don't know if you've been suffering through Calhoun's toughest season in a long while (I live in CT), but the Huskies are an atrocious offensive team. They're young, sure, but young teams can still shoot most of the time. These guys have struggled hitting open looks all year, a big reason why they shoot only 42 percent from the floor. Today, though, Jerome Dyson, a freshman New Englander that Calhoun kept in state - New England is effectively in-state recruiting for Calhoun if you think about the other NE teams - showed signs that he might turn into a real offensive force. He had 12 at the half and finished with 21 while showing polish and poise around the hoop. Along those lines, his most impressive moment of the day came as he controlled the ball under the basket on a fast break, head faked rather than going up quickly, drew the foul and then calmly banked the lay-up home. The play was innocent enough, but more reminiscent of a veteran than a freshman.
Plus, Jeff Adrien, another New Englander, had 10 boards. This is becoming a bit of a trend. Even A.J. Price got in on the action with 11 points and seven assists. With only two upperclassmen on their roster, the Huskies have a chance to be major players in the Big East next year, what with a year more experience and an assuredly solid recruiting class that has become the trademark of Calhoun's tenure. That and the funny John Kennedy accent.
To be clear, I'm not saying the Huskies played great - they lost by 13. In fact, they only really played for about 25 minutes before they decided the NIT sounded just fine. Before next year, someone should buy Hasheem Thabeet John McPhee's book "A Sense of Where You Are," because the kid from Tanzania who has played basketball for just four years clearly doesn't have the sense. Thabeet routinely loses his man on the defensive boards and, on occasion, sets up shop on offense with both heels on the endline. He'll get there, but right now his stats today just about define his overall game: three points, six rebounds, five fouls. Oh, and he fouled out with more than six-and-a-half minutes left.
So they're not there yet, but at least UConn showed the potential to look like UConn.
Last note: I loved - I'll say that again - loved the Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery, Sean McDonough announcing crew on ESPN today. I think McDonough looked at Boeheim and Calhoun and decided that there should be at least one old white guy associated with the game that looked like he was having fun. McDonough's been my favorite announcer ever since he was the play-by-play guy for the Red Sox when I was growing up. Back in those days, he would routinely go off on long tangents and joke sessions with his partner, Jerry Remy, during blowouts or, since it was baseball, nail-biters. The guys in their network's truck used to flash up a banner that read "Inane Banter" during these segments because it had so little to with the Sox. This was in the days of Carl Everett, though, so believe me when I tell you that no one minded. One time, McDonough even called some coach at Syracuse to complain about some acquaintance of his not making the team. This, of course, was dubbed the "Inane Banter Hotline."
McDonough is the best because he seems more into making jokes than calling the game. Like when Raftery said the latest Syracuse zone is "less effective" than those of year's past. McDonough responded, incredulously, that the Orange are third in the country in FG percentage defense. Raftery laughed, realized he was wrong and backpedaled by saying what amounted to didly squat. So McDonough threw him a rope while simultaneously making fun of him, saying that this year's zone is worse than year's past, unstatistically speaking. Better than that though, was the fact that McDonough made another crack well after halftime about this. He never let's stuff go and it's great. Meanwhile, Bilas and Raftery competed to be McDonough's (a.k.a. the cool kid's) buddy. In doing this, the three achieved the desired effect of the viewer essentially listening to guys on a couch talking about ball.
By the way, as I write this, Saint John's is staying close with Marquette. It's almost like they're playing like they're at home. Oh wait.
And by that, I mean they scored some points. I don't know if you've been suffering through Calhoun's toughest season in a long while (I live in CT), but the Huskies are an atrocious offensive team. They're young, sure, but young teams can still shoot most of the time. These guys have struggled hitting open looks all year, a big reason why they shoot only 42 percent from the floor. Today, though, Jerome Dyson, a freshman New Englander that Calhoun kept in state - New England is effectively in-state recruiting for Calhoun if you think about the other NE teams - showed signs that he might turn into a real offensive force. He had 12 at the half and finished with 21 while showing polish and poise around the hoop. Along those lines, his most impressive moment of the day came as he controlled the ball under the basket on a fast break, head faked rather than going up quickly, drew the foul and then calmly banked the lay-up home. The play was innocent enough, but more reminiscent of a veteran than a freshman.
Plus, Jeff Adrien, another New Englander, had 10 boards. This is becoming a bit of a trend. Even A.J. Price got in on the action with 11 points and seven assists. With only two upperclassmen on their roster, the Huskies have a chance to be major players in the Big East next year, what with a year more experience and an assuredly solid recruiting class that has become the trademark of Calhoun's tenure. That and the funny John Kennedy accent.
To be clear, I'm not saying the Huskies played great - they lost by 13. In fact, they only really played for about 25 minutes before they decided the NIT sounded just fine. Before next year, someone should buy Hasheem Thabeet John McPhee's book "A Sense of Where You Are," because the kid from Tanzania who has played basketball for just four years clearly doesn't have the sense. Thabeet routinely loses his man on the defensive boards and, on occasion, sets up shop on offense with both heels on the endline. He'll get there, but right now his stats today just about define his overall game: three points, six rebounds, five fouls. Oh, and he fouled out with more than six-and-a-half minutes left.
So they're not there yet, but at least UConn showed the potential to look like UConn.
Last note: I loved - I'll say that again - loved the Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery, Sean McDonough announcing crew on ESPN today. I think McDonough looked at Boeheim and Calhoun and decided that there should be at least one old white guy associated with the game that looked like he was having fun. McDonough's been my favorite announcer ever since he was the play-by-play guy for the Red Sox when I was growing up. Back in those days, he would routinely go off on long tangents and joke sessions with his partner, Jerry Remy, during blowouts or, since it was baseball, nail-biters. The guys in their network's truck used to flash up a banner that read "Inane Banter" during these segments because it had so little to with the Sox. This was in the days of Carl Everett, though, so believe me when I tell you that no one minded. One time, McDonough even called some coach at Syracuse to complain about some acquaintance of his not making the team. This, of course, was dubbed the "Inane Banter Hotline."
McDonough is the best because he seems more into making jokes than calling the game. Like when Raftery said the latest Syracuse zone is "less effective" than those of year's past. McDonough responded, incredulously, that the Orange are third in the country in FG percentage defense. Raftery laughed, realized he was wrong and backpedaled by saying what amounted to didly squat. So McDonough threw him a rope while simultaneously making fun of him, saying that this year's zone is worse than year's past, unstatistically speaking. Better than that though, was the fact that McDonough made another crack well after halftime about this. He never let's stuff go and it's great. Meanwhile, Bilas and Raftery competed to be McDonough's (a.k.a. the cool kid's) buddy. In doing this, the three achieved the desired effect of the viewer essentially listening to guys on a couch talking about ball.
By the way, as I write this, Saint John's is staying close with Marquette. It's almost like they're playing like they're at home. Oh wait.
Labels: UConn
posted by jcanzo at 9:12 PM
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