SUPER BOWL 2012

Greeetings from Knoxville, where tomorrow's UConn-Tennessee game will unfold. Hotel's right next door to the Women's College Basketball Hall of Fame.

In that vein, UConn will be supporting Tennessee's Hall of Fame women's coach Pat Summitt tomorrow by sporting "Back Pat" t-shirts during pregame warm-ups. The t-shirts will read: "I Bleed Blue and White, But Wear Purple to Back Pat."

Summitt, of course, went public with her diagnosis of dementia in late August and has formed a foundation in support of Alzheimer's programs.

“We’re more than happy to support Pat Summitt, whom I’ve been friendly with for a long period of time," Jim Calhoun said.

In other news:

*** Nothing new on Ryan Boatright, who didn't make the trip.

“Obviously we’ll miss him," Calhoun said. "We certainly could use Ryan, but we’ve really pushed Brendan (Allen).”

With that in mind, Calhoun got a kick the other day out of one of the rare e-mails he reads.

“I don’t see many e-mails because I don’t necessarily have a place you can get to me, but I did see one (which said) we should have taken Shabazz out when we got the lead for a little bit of rest," the coach said. "I felt like writing back, ‘You mean, so he could make three 3-pointers in a row from, like, 25 feet with 1:28 to go in the game, because he was so fatigued?’”

Enosch Wolf isn't here, either. He had to take two exams that he missed earlier while suffering from a concussion, but the second exam has yet to be posted, so he was left behind in Storrs.

*** Niels Giffey is back in the starting lineup, replacing DeAndre Daniels.

*** Jeremy Lamb is 3-for-19 on 3-pointers the last four games, and his patented floater so prevalent in last year's title run has been MIA.


Said Calhoun: “Jeremy’s just got to shake out of this, move quicker, come off screens better … They’re gapping him so he can’t drive, they’re muscling him low and on top of screens so he can’t quite get free. He’s got to find a way to get free.”

*** Michael Bradley won't play tomorrow (and maybe the rest of the season), but he'll have about a good amount of fans cheering him and UConn on.

Bradley spent much of his childhood at the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home, about 90 miles down the road in Chattanooga. Lynn Jordan, one of the home's organizers who has developed a close bond with Bradley over the years, will bring about 40 kids currently living at the home to see the game. The tickets were donated to the children's home by a couple from the Knoxville area.

"A lot of our churches around the area do things for us at Christmas," Jordan explained. "Several churches have met Michael and knew him when he was living here. They've kept track of him."

Most of the kids have never met Bradley, but are aware of his story. There is a plaque in Bradley's honor inside the home's gym, and the cottage he lived in still has his picture in it.

Jordan said she was happy that Bradley wound up not having to surrendering his scholarship so that Andre Drummond could play at UConn, but didn't offer any details.

"I think just it worked out that he didn't have to," she said.

Calhoun said Bradley (who fractured his ankle back in the fall) is still noticeably limping in practice.

“There’s a chance that ankle won’t be better for a year," Calhoun said. "He really had extensive surgery, he was out an incredibly long time, so there’s a chance he may not get into a game this year.”

*** UConn is 1-1 all-time against Tennessee, beating the Vols last season at Gampel, 72-61, in a game where Bruce Pearl emerged from his 8-game SEC suspension to coach the non-conference tilt. Pearl, of course, was fired after the season. His opinion is still highly valued by a local sports talk radio show, though (he's a regular guest, apparently).

The Vols are now coached by former Cuonzo Martin, who was heavily recruited by Calhoun in the early-1990's. Martin's final two choices, in fact, came down to Purdue and UConn.

*** This is the second time Tennessee has faced UConn with the Huskies as defending national champs. In a second-round NCAA tournament game on March 19, 2000, the Vols posted a 65-51 win in Birmingham, Ala. Khalid El-Amin was bothered by an ankle injury and held to just one basket.

*** Lucky 13? Tennessee's big home upset over Florida two weeks ago came when the Gators were ranked 13th nationally, as the Huskies are (for now).

*** One more note on Tennessee: I tuned into the Classic Rock radio station on the drive from Nashville to Knoxville (don't ask). Most of the standard fare: Zeppelin, Springsteen, etc., etc. Then came Black Oak Arkansas, a heavy-handed Southern rock band that (I think) was pretty big in the early 70's. You certainly don't hear them on the radio anymore, at last north of the Mason Dixon line.

Their front man was a wild guy named Jim Dandy, whom David Lee Roth has admitted to nicking parts of his act. Roth took it to a much higher, more entertaining level, of course. Unfortunately, Roth's voice now sounds like what Dandy's used to sound like.

And if you don't believe DLR took part of his act from Jim Dandy, watch Black Oak Arkansas's "Jim Dandy to the Rescue.", then watch Van Halen's "So This is Love."

Jim Calhoun didn't name names. He didn't have to.

“I just had a little talk with Kemba about a couple of players he played with, and he said, ‘It doesn’t look like them,'" Calhoun said following UConn's 70-67 loss to Cincinnati. "And that’s exactly how I feel, too ... I like what Kemba said ... 'Those aren’t the same guys I played with. Or at least they didn’t play that way tonight.'”

Specifically, he was referring to Alex Oriakhi and Jeremy Lamb, Walker's former teammates. And though he was never officially a teammate of Andre Drummond's, he may as well have mentioned him, as well.

Oriakhi had just two points, Drummond just four, along with three turnovers as he looked completely out of sort and made too many short interior passes, rather than taking the ball strong to the hole.

"I thought we had a great advantage inside, it didn’t look like that worked out very well," Calhoun said. "We were jumping and throwing one-foot passes inside. That’s very disappointing.

"When you start game the with a 6-10, 280-pound guy, and another guy who’s 6-9, 245 pounds, and they can’t rebound or you can’t throw them the ball … that was our game plan, and it didn’t work out very well for us.”

Lamb finished with 14 points, second only to Shabazz Napier's career-high 27. But Lamb hardly escaped Calhoun's wrath -- including once during a timeout, when the sophomore guard seemed to turn his head and ignore Calhoun's castigation.

What wasn't working for Lamb tonight?

“Total game package might be a good word," Calhoun said. "He’s a guy we want to go to, and he got 12 shots up, which is remarkable he even got that many up. He wasn’t very good.”

Calhoun said Napier "wasn’t great, but I thought he was gutty and competitive ... Roscoe played better the other night, but he worked hard. Niels gave us a pretty good effort."

Otherwise, he didn't have much good to say about anybody. Check that, there was one other player who got a compliment -- Brendan Allen, a walk-on. Allen came into the game a little over seven minutes into the action when Napier left with what appeared to be an injured knee. Allen made the most of his two minutes, scoring on a nice driving layup to give UConn a 15-14 lead before Napier returned.

“Maybe I should play Brandon Allen more minutes," Calhoun said, only half-kiddingly. "At least he had enough guts to take it to the rim, and didn’t look like he was gonna fumble it.”


*** Not to make excuses, but Drummond said yesterday he was battling a bad cold and after the game reported on Twitter that he was "sick as a dog." And certainly, the Huskies miss Ryan Boatright.

“Would Ryan have helped? Clearly," said Calhoun. "We didn’t have Ryan … stuff happens. The guys we had were good enough to win tonight’s game.”

*** Niels Giffey said his last-second, three-quarter court heave "felt good. It felt really good. But, that happens. You can’t win a game with a last shot like that … we had so many chances.”

*** I had a bit of trepidition voting for Cincy for the AP Top 25 on Sunday, but the Bearcats seem to have proven me right. Good, tough team. Seven straight Big East road wins. Very impressive. They've obviously got some size and strength in Yancy Gates, but they're 3-point shooting and ability to force turnovers gives them a whole new dimension.

*** DeAndre Daniels started but went scoreless in six minutes. He was in the gym, shooting and working out, long after the game had ended.

That's all we've got for now ...

I could be way off-base here, so give me a minute.

The Cincy-Xavier brawl back on Dec. 10 has been labeled one of college basketball's ugliest incidents in years. Yancy Gates' right hook to Kenny Frease's face certainly is an ugly lasting image of the whole situation. At 6-9, 260 pounds (at least), Gates is lucky he didn't cause further harm to Frease than just the nasty gash under his left eye.

“It was crazy," Jeremy Lamb recalled. "It was a competitive game and stuff got out of hand. I watched it a couple of times.”

Added Andre Drummond: “I heard one thing led to another and bad things happened. It’s a good thing they cleared that whole thing up.”

Oddly, both players were asked if they believed a similar incident could erupt tomorrow night.

“No, I don’t expect to see us fighting, no," a perplexed Lamb responded.

“We’re just going to go out and play basketball," added Drummond. "We’re not looking to fight anybody. We’re just trying to win the basketball game.”

Gates and numerous others were suspended (rightly so, some perhaps not as long as they should have been). It was an ugly incident that has no place in the game of college basketball.

But here's a question I really would appreciate some help on: Why do we get all up in arms about college basketball kids doing something that happens in NHL games every single night. Every. Single. Night.

In all seriousness, if anyone can answer this one, I'd appreciate it. I honestly can't understand why fighting in hockey is encouraged so much, but I could very well be missing something here.

Anyway, on to UConn:

*** Jim Calhoun wasn't overly happy with practice today, cursing and raising his voice at times. He was happier with Monday's practice, however.

*** Cincy has taken the negative of the Xavier brawl and turned it into a positive. With Gates suspended for six games, the Bearcats converted into a pressing, 3-point gunning team, with very positive results.

“They’re an open team now, they put four outside," said Calhoun. "They were forced into it, and by doing so, when you’re forced into a situation, it turns out to be good for you.”

The Bearcats are 14-4 overall and 4-1 in the Big East, their best start in conference play since joining the league in 2005. Cincinnati has won nine of its last 10 games overall and nine of its last 11 Big East regular season games.

Perhaps most impressively, the Bearcats have won six straight and eight of their last nine Big East road games.

Cincy has won five of its last seven regular-season games against ranked foes.

*** Calhoun on the Big East: "It's a league that makes no sense from 2 to 16 ... There’s a one, far and away, and no clear two as I can see it.”

*** DeAndre Daniels turned his ankle during practice and limped off the floor. After about 10 minutes, he rejoined the action and seemed fine. However, he was helped off the court by trainer James Doran and a teammate afterwards.

Also, Tyler Olander still isn't 100-percent but is better than he was Saturday, when he was limited to six minutes against Notre Dame. Calhoun fully expects him to play tomorrow night.

*** No word on Ryan Boatright, but it appears he won't be playing tomorrow. If Shabazz Napier and/or Jeremy Lamb get into foul trouble, would Calhoun have faith in walk-on Brendan Allen, who hasn't played in a month?

“I do have faith in him," the coach said, "he just hasn’t had the experience yet, so he’s hard to throw in the midst of a game. But if need be, we certainly will.”

*** Former UConn guard Tony Robertson played on the "Green Team" in practice today. He's on campus taking some classes in order to graduate.

Robertson looked pretty smooth burying some 3-pointers (though his defensive intensity was, shall we say, less than stellar).

*** Tomorrow night will be UConn's first game at Gampel since a Dec. 8 bout with Harvard. That's a span of some 41 days and eight games.

Some notes 'n quotes from UConn's 91-61 exhibition game win over CW Post this afternoon:

C.W. Post coach Chris Casey, who spent six years as Norm Roberts' assistant at St. John's:

(On UConn)

“They can score in transition, they can score around the basket, they have guys that can make shots and they defend you – because they’re fundamentally very good defensively, and because their sheer size covers so much ground. And it goes without saying, they’re very well-coached.”

(on Andre Drummond)

“He’s like a colt right now, and with the history of this place, the way they make guys into players, I think he’s going to be very, very good … He’s scratching the surface right now.”

(on his team's strategy of guarding Jeremy Lamb)

“Hope he misses.”

Jim Calhoun

(on DeAndre Daniels)

“He really looked like a complete basketball player. He handled the ball, made a couple of really good passes, he’s going to make shots because he’s a good shooter. And defensively, he really, really was good.”

“He’s got a chance to be a great shooter someday. Right now, he’s not as strong as he needs to be, he doesn’t always get his shot ready … I like the way he put the ball on the deck, a couple of passes. Like I said to Niels (Giffey), ‘I’d get that boot off pretty quick.’”

*** Ah yes, Giffey, who sat out the game with a hyperextended right knee and a bone bruise in his right ankle.

"It's been 3-4 weeks with that bone bruise," Calhoun said. "If it doesn’t start getting better, you’re a little concerned … the knee has improved, but the ankle is kind of about the same. He was not full-go, in fairness to him, in the first exhibition game.”

Calhoun added that the players who dressed and played on Sunday are, most likely, the same who'll dress and play in Friday night's season-opener.

*** Calhoun noted that walk-on Brendan Allen is the team's back-up point guard right now, with Ryan Boatright still dealing with an eligibility issue and Calhoun wanting Lamb to score more playing off the ball.

“Friday night, (if) Shabazz picks up his second foul, Brendan will probably play the rest of the first half … He’s got to refine his dribble, he’s got to pass the ball a little more assertively. But he knows the offense, he’s got a good body, he’s a really good athlete. There’s every reason to believe that he can play at this level.”

“He may be one of our three, four, five best athletes on the team. He can jump, he can run.”

“I’m not trying to say he’s a game-changer or a program-changer, but right now he’s filling in a void.”

Allen's class schedule doesn't always jibe with UConn's practice schedule, meaning he sometimes arrives at practice late.

“It makes me focus immediately," Allen said. "I kind of take it as a good thing. I’m ready to go.”

*** How comfortable are the Huskies with Allen as their backup PG right now? Ask Shabazz Napier, the starting PG:



*** Late in the game, Drummond picked up a loose ball just before midcourt and had a 2-on-0 with Napier. He gave it to Napier, who then threw the ball off the glass for an alley-oop dunk for Drummond.

Admitted Drummond afterwards: “I was actually planning on putting it between my legs, but Shabazz was like, ‘Let me get the assist.’”

It was one of 13 assists for Napier, who added 14 points. Lamb scored 23 points, Drummond went for 16 points and 10 boards, Daniels netted 13 and Tyler Olander 10. Alex Oriakhi had four points and eight rebounds.

"We need Alex to be better than that," said Calhoun. "We just do."

UConn freshman Ryan Boatright will be held out of intercollegiate competition while the school works cooperatively with the NCAA in a review of his eligibility, a review that is not related to academics.

Boatright will continue to practice with the team and may sit on the bench during games, but will not dress or see action while the joint review takes place.

Boatright, an electrifying guard out of Aurora, Ill., is expected to back up Shabazz Napier at point guard this season. Last week, the Huskies welcomed a new walk-on, Brendan Allen of Windsor, on the team, and Allen has been seeing a lot of practice time at the point. Jim Calhoun said he expected to see Allen garner some minutes in the exhibition opener against AIC.

Boatright committed to UConn in October, 2010, after having given West Virginia's Bob Huggins a verbal commitment a couple of weeks earlier. The reason: Jabarie Hinds, another point guard (and UConn target) committed to WVU a couple of days after Boatright had, creating a logjam at the position in Morgantown.

And that wasn't the first time that Boatright seemed poised to attend a school but wound up not doing so. Remember when then-USC coach Tim Floyd created a stir when he recruited a 13-year-old kid out of Aurora, Ill.? That kid was Boatright.

Looks like Andre Drummond may make his debut in a UConn uniform Wednesday night after all.

Drummond, who suffered a mild concussion and broken nose in practice on Friday, has been participating in non-contact drills. He was fitted for a mask and will try it on before the exhibition opener with AIC. If he feels comfortable with it on during UConn's 2:30 p.m. shootaround, he'll likely see some time -- though he won't be in the starting lineup.

Jim Calhoun said tomorrow's starting five will likely be Jeremy Lamb (who has clearly emerged as the team's leader, per the coach), Shabazz Napier (who has shown improvement in practice over the past few days), Alex Oriakhi, freshman DeAndre Daniels and Tyler Olander (who's been "our best overall big guy," according to Calhoun).

Here's my advance on the exhibition opener. A few other notes and quotes from today's availability:

*** Impressive walk-on Brendan Allen should see some significant playing time on Wednesday.

*** Calhoun feels very good about the team's man-to-man defense. The fast break has been better, too, now that Napier has been playing better.

*** Napier said he's been dealing with a sprained left ankle and a left knee injury, but is healthy now.

*** Kemba Walker and Kevin Ollie were complaining about not getting calls during scrimmages in practice. Ollie, apparently, even lobbied for a three-second violation.

"There has never been a call for the gray team," Calhoun said, "and there never will be."

*** When asked about Tony LaRussa's decision to retire as a world champion, Calhoun said, "Smart man." But he went on to stress how he has no desire to retire right now from a job he loves so much.

*** Jeremy Lamb apparently doesn't read his own press clippings. When asked how he felt about being named an AP Preseason First Team All-American, Lamb responded: “I think I heard about it yesterday. I can’t say it’s surprising, but I guess it’s a good accomplishment.”

*** Calhoun scored 27 points for AIC in a game at UConn on Dec. 1, 1964. His most memorable stat from that game?

"Eight stitches from Toby Kimball."

Indeed, Kimball tore down 28 rebounds that night, to go with 30 points in a 98-67 Husky win.

*** Enosch Wolf (right groin) has returned to practice and will be in uniform tomorrow night.

The big news in practice today was Andre Drummond, who suffered a broken nose and mild concussion after a collision with new walk-on Brendan Allen. He'll be fitted for a mask on Monday and wear it for 6-8 weeks.

Drummond checked into the school infirmary on Friday and will stay overnight as a precaution. Seems highly doubtful he'll play in Wednesday's exhibition with AIC.

“We will not rush to have Andre for Wednesday or any target date,” said Jim Calhoun. “We want him ready for the whole year, that's what's important. To rush him back for an exhibition makes no sense if it sets him back. We need him long term more than just Wednesday.”

*** Meanwhile, with Michael Bradley sidelined until at least December with a fractured ankle, and Enosch Wolf now out at least a week with a strained right groin, UConn is woefully thin at the big man position.

But that's the least of their problems right now, according to Calhoun.

“I’m really concerned with our offense," Calhoun said. "We’re turning the ball over, not shooting well. The past few days we’ve shot 39 percent, we’re not making 3’s. Defensively, I actually think we look pretty good … (but) we don’t have an offensive leader.”

He said Jeremy Lamb, Drummond and Alex Oriakhi have been assertive offensively. Beyond that, not so much.

Calhoun seems particularly peeved at Shabazz Napier, who's "not playing particularly well, either emotionally or otherwise," and was replaced in the starting lineup on Friday by frosh Ryan Boatright.

Oriakhi agreed that Napier could be playing better right now.

“I think it’s kind of hard to ask so much from a sophomore, but that’s the role that’s been given to him," Oriakhi said. "They wouldn’t have asked that of him if he wasn’t able to do it. I just think he needs to slow down a little bit. He’s definitely been hitting shots and playing great defense, but he needs to slow down, take his time and be a little patient – especially with the big men, because his passes are hard to catch, and my hands aren’t the best. I tell him he’s got to be patient with me sometimes.”

*** Oh, and don't be mad at Allen, the Windsor resident who played at Windsor High and Bridgeton Academy. He looks athletic and impressive and has seen some time at point guard in practice, even though, "he's not a point guard, but we try to get him into that in case we have injuries," according to Calhoun. "By nature, he’s a very fun, explosive athlete to watch. But he’s not necessarily a structured guy. He probably came to the right place, as opposed to a Princeton-type offense. I don’t think he’d fit in a Princeton-type offense, suffice to say.”

*** My own personal observation from today's practice: frosh DeAndre Daniels boasts a feather-soft shooting touch.

“Every night I’m here around 9 p.m. to try to make my shot better," Daniels said. "I work on it every day.”

He figures he'll be playing the 2 and 3 this year, though with all the frontcourt injuries, expect him to see time at the 4, as well.

Daniels, a southern California native who went to school in Florida last year, frollicked in Thursday night's snow, making snowballs and thoroughly enjoying the experience.

“Enjoy it now," his teammates told him, "because you’re going to hate it in January.”

*** Calhoun referenced West Virginia's move to the Big 12 on Friday.

“Who won that wrestling contest today?" he asked.

"West Virginia," he was told.

“OK, good. I thought they might be able to pin (Louisville) in the third round.”

*** As for the APR stuff, we'll just go to the videotape. It's Jim Calhoun at either his best or, depending on your vantage point, his worst. I might side with the latter: