My last post, now about three weeks ago, discussed the schizophrenic UConn Huskies men's hoop team. (The UConn women, OTOH, aren't schizophrenic, they're euphoric.) In the interim since that post I've been swamped with work and other responsibilities, and spent school vacation week in a location with no internet access. Once back, it's been busy again, and I've had a tough time diving in to writing the blog. But I've been hoping that the fog would lift, both on my writing and my hoop team, and that the Huskies would start to, finally, live up to expectations.
No. Such. Luck.They got smoked in round one of the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden this afternoon, by 21 points against a so-so St. Johns team. The difference was that St. Johns played like they wanted to play, and wanted to win. UConn played as if they were tired of playing.
This year's team had a myriad of problems. For example: porous defense that allowed dribble drives at will, today being a prime example; sketchy rebounding, which caused them to give up big offensive boards at inopportune times; poor outside shooting, with not a single shooter capable of commanding attention from the defense; a poor post game, with no one in the low block who seemed to have a "go-to" move, much less command a double team; senior leaders, one of whom couldn't find his own shot and one of whom could only find his own shot; a short bench that the head coach declined to develop.
It starts with defense, though, and the '09-'10 Huskies couldn't stop dribble penetration, didn't make the right help rotations, gave up offensive boards in bunches, and failed to force turnovers even against mediocre competition. But it finishes with offense, and with no perimeter shooters commanding attention the opponents were free to help with impunity. The lane gets clogged, and their own dribble penetration can be negated. Add this to inability to protect the ball (Turnovers 'R Us?) and you get the picture.
What's the prospect for the future? Some of it depends on 67 year old Jim Calhoun's willingness to rebuild next year. Retirement's probably a lot more attractive today. Some of it depends on recruiting, and they're in the running for one or two uncommitted McDonald's All-Americans. Some of it is coaching, getting the players to work on what they need. Like shooting. Some of it is getting the second line players to push the front liners by playing like front liners. There are some reasonable building blocks in place.
And some of it is motivational, getting players to play hard for 40 minutes consistently. That was absent all too often this year, particularly today.
By the way, later this week I'll be attending my 20th consecutive Big East tournament. I'll be rooting for Syracuse, where my brother attended college, in the absence of the Huskies.
