Huskies start the American Athletic Conference season 0-2...time to panic???
We are Connecticut, we won three national championships and tons of Big East Conference championships, and we are 0-2 in the American - WTF?
Going into the season and looking at the schedule, I truly believed that this Connecticut men's basketball team would enter a tough two game conference stretch in mid-January that would determine if this team would be a contender for the National Title. The American Athletic Conference early two-game Texas road trip would be a breeze as would be the entire non-conference schedule. Albeit, there would be some tests - Maryland, Indiana, Florida, Stanford, Washington, Harvard - but this experienced Huskies squad would pass with flying colors and head into the showdowns with Memphis and Louisville undefeated - delusional UConn fan speaking. After some close calls and lucky breaks against Maryland in Brooklyn, Indiana in NYC, and Florida in Storrs, I truly thought this team would go into the exam break thinking they were lucky to be undefeated and had the confidence to step-up their game and head into the remaining part of their non-conference schedule and start their new conference schedule as a top 10 team and contender for the National Title. Boy was I wrong.
I never thought that the Huskies would be coming back from this Texas road trip losers of two straight conference road games in the likes of Houston and Dallas - Texas has been kind to Connecticut in the past - forgiveness of a Roscoe Smith SportsCenter Not So Top Ten play in Austin for a win in 2011 and the 2004 and 2011 National Championships in San Antonio and Houston, respectfully. Now UConn comes back to Gampel Pavilion - losers of three of five games - to play against a very good Harvard team looking for a quality win to boast their RPI come March on Wednesday night and another conference game with Central Florida - yes a UCF team they have struggled with in the recent past - on Saturday evening. The Huskies can ill afford to lose either game as they head into heavyweight bouts with Memphis and Louisville the following week.
Being a season ticket holder the past few seasons, I have watched many inferior opponents play UConn in November and December and I as many fans see the weaknesses and worried about the product I was watching. Four years ago, you saw the letdown and the NIT invite happening before January hit. Three years ago, great games and then lots of question marks and never thought a national title would be possible, but that was all Kemba Walker. Two years ago and last season, playing to the level of the competition and being happy with mediocre results. Does the UConn hoard, I mean journalists, see it? Do they bother to ask the coaching staff or the players about it? I know Glenn Miller has spoken about it during many post-game interviews on IMG radio but is there any follow up.
One major weakness is that the players do not take their opponents seriously and play to the level of their competition and the lack of effort on the court. THEY NEED TO LEARN THE WORD R-E-S-P-E-C-T WHEN ON THE COURT! Besides the Detroit game in November and DePaul last January, when was the last time UConn blown out a weak opponent or just dominated teams? This has been the problem the last few years - in the American Athletic Conference you can't finish .500 and compete for the NCAA Championship - you can't turn it on and off anymore, this isn't the Big East circa 2011. There are good losses, but not in this conference except for Louisville or Cincinnati. You need to get all the wins you can get and you definitely need to protect your homecourt.
Another weakness - and there are many here - the low post game, set plays, rebounding, defensive sets, shot selection. (When was the last time UConn run a offensive set - 1999 with Richard Hamilton running that circle play?) The Huskies are too reliant on Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright. Defenses are sticking on Niels Giffey like glue from the three point arc, the team is too reliant on the three. Lasan Kromah is a really good, solid player who helps the team off the bench. Where is DeAndre Daniels and Omar Calhoun? Post play - Brimah needs to learn to play defense with his feet and not try to block every shot, Phil Nolan needs to get healthy - yes he was sick the past week and gets a pass, and Olander needs to be the guy who played defense and contributed offensively during the 2011 national championship run. A couple of passes and running a set play would not hurt, its better than taking an ill-advised three on the first pass with no one in rebounding position.
Honestly Husky fans - is this team better than it was in late October during their first exhibition game?
Finally, I think this may be treasonous but - everyone praises Kevin Ollie on such a great coaching job he did last season. However, we are experiencing coaching growing pains and that is a major weakness. I know Ollie has played for some of the best coaches in the NBA, mentored many young NBA rookies and he was Jim Calhoun's man to take over the program - but does he have enough experience? Does he know what to do in the right situation? Is this a legit question or is this something that we have to deal with? He has two former head coaches as assistants, the entire coaching staff are UConn guys. He does have Jim Calhoun available to him. He is a young, inexperienced coach and I want this man to do well, and win many conference and national championships. He is a great cheerleader for the University and the program, but do the players respect him as the head coach? Does Omar Calhoun understand why he was benched? Honestly, I think more players should be benched - lip service is one thing, but actions speak louder than words. Jim Calhoun would have made a statement with a midnight practice after the Stanford loss. A lot of the issues mentioned above land directly on Ollie's lap.
I want to see what Ollie does on Wednesday night and beyond and if players understand the urgency of the matter.
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Thank you ESPNU for the excuse of the travel and days away from Storrs for the recent UConn struggles. UConn is a distant neighbor in this revamp Big East Conference - I mean rebranded American Athletic Conference or whatever. Every conference game except Rutgers and maybe Temple is a flight. This is something all the UConn teams need to get use to. SNY tried to use the same excuse for the UConn women today - but they still won by 41. Was this a UConn Athletics Communication talking point today?
The travel sucks. This is the only conference that wants UConn and clearly this is the conference the UConn administration wants to be apart of. So this is something everyone will have to deal with for seasons to come - hell if the Huskies are invited to the Big Ten, ACC or the Big XII - travel will still be an issue - maybe not so much in the new ACC.
Speaking of the ACC - here is some food for thought and some revisionist conference realignment news, from speaking to an official within the UConn athletic department a year ago - from my understanding - UConn is an ACC-type school however turned down an invite to join the ACC in order to keep Big East Conference together. Talk about getting screwed in the end for being loyal.
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Back to basketball...
So I am not going to panic and neither should Huskies fans. It is only early January. UConn has 17 games left - 10 home games - six in Storrs including the next three. They still have home and away games against Louisville, Memphis and Cincinnati - Houston and SMU get to visit Gampel when the students are back in session. It all starts with Harvard on Wednesday night. If the Huskies can be the team that they are capable of being and if Shabazz and Boat play like the best backcourt in the country and if there is some life out of DeAndre Daniels, Omar Calhoun, and the frontcourt - then we are talking 14-3 in their final 17 regular season games or better. OK, that's a lot of ifs. However, I am sure Ollie can fix this sinking ship - if not it is NIT bound.
Thoughts - comments, concerns, questions, answers to my questions, think I am panicking or have no clue what I am talking about or think my conference realignment story is BS - comment below, email me at backinstorrs@gmail.com, or tweet me @backinstorrs. Love to hear your thoughts.
Go Huskies!
Brian
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