We’ll learn in the coming days or weeks whether or notJim Calhoun decides to return for a 27th year at UConn’s helm. Hardto say right now what his decision will be.
Presuming he does return, however, there’s another stepUConn needs to consider taking: naming a “coach-in-waiting,” like some otherprograms have done (including Syracuse, where longtime assistant Mike Hopkinswill take over whenever Jim Boeheim decides enough’s enough).
UConn is getting killed on the recruiting trail now.Recruits have questions about Calhoun’s health and how long he’ll remain at theschool. Calhoun is the program’s No. 1 selling point, and there isn’t even aclose No. 2 (at least until a practice facility is built). It’s Calhoun who isthe program-builder, the Hall of Famer, the owner of three nationalchampionship rings and – perhaps most importantly to top-notch recruits – who hasput dozens of players in the NBA.
Recruits know Calhoun can’t be here forever. But when heleaves, it would be nice to know that his legacy, so to speak, will be carriedon by another member of the UConn family. Presumably, that’ll be Kevin Ollie,who Calhoun seems to want as his successor. I don’t believe Ollie is ready tobe head coach quite yet, but another two or three years of tutelage and hecould be there. He’s already got tons of credentials on the recruiting trail,and tons of respect from current players.
Personally, I think Glen Miller deserves consideration,as well. But it seems Ollie is the man.
Will either be a better coach than, say, a Shaka Smart orBrad Stevens? Maybe not. But at UConn, I’m not sure Smart, Stevens or anybodycan come in and replicate what Calhoun has done here. He’s one-of-a-kind.Replacing him with a UConn family tree member might be UConn’s best bet.
UConn is said to be considering the coach-in-waitingthing, among many options. Things will finally start getting more concrete oncenew A.D. Warde Manuel arrives. His first day on the job is Monday.
*** One other thing: there’s a lot of speculation whetherAlex Oriakhi is planning to transfer. If UConn is barred from next year’s NCAAtournament, Oriakhi is the only current player who should be able to transferto another school without having to sit out a year, since he’s the team’s lonesenior-to-be.
I don’t know what is going through Alex’s mind right now,but here’s what his mother, Angela, told me a little over a week ago:
“We don’t have any plans of him going anywhere.”
And this: “One thing’s for sure: he loves Coach Calhounto death. Nobody can complain about Coach Calhoun in front of him … he respectsand loves Coach Calhoun.”
Did that change Thursday night? I don’t know, thoughCalhoun was pretty brutal on him. I’ve never sat directly behind UConn’s benchbefore, but that’s where my press seat was for the Iowa State game and, boy,Calhoun is rough.
At one point he screamed at Oriakhi, “Next G-D jump shotby a 6-5 guy, get out of the gym!” Later, he yelled at him, point blank, “Youwanna get out of here, go ahead!”
Not that Oriakhi deserved any praise on Thursday, ofcourse.
There was Roscoe Smith's latest bizarre, unnecessary long heave with 3.7 seconds left in the half. There was Jeremy Lamb's completely unnecessary windmill dunk attempt in the final seconds of the game (aptly, he missed).
But here's the number that sticks out to me, more than ISU's hot early shooting (not a shock), Royce White's early ability to whir by any UConn player who guarded him ("We got caught as being nothing more than a street sign as they went by us a thousand miles an hour in that first 10 minutes," said Jim Calhoun), or anything else: Iowa State outrebounded UConn, 41-24.
“I feel like we wanted it more,” said ISU guard Chris Allen, who led the team with 20 points. “When I say wanted it more, I mean rebounds. We out-rebounded them by almost 20. That’s a great stat line.”
It sure is.
It's not worth dissecting this game too much more than that. Iowa State wanted it more. It was obvious. It sounds like a cliche, but it was true.
So now, we look to the future. Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb could be lottery picks in June. Other players may want to transfer if UConn remains barred from next year's NCAA tournament. And, of course, there's the annual question of whether Calhoun will return.
Here's what everyone had to say after the game (Warning: it's not much).
Drummond: “I’m not worried about that right now. That’s in the future. I’m not really thinking about that right now.”
Lamb: "“I’m not even thinking about that. I was thinking about the game today. I didn’t step up and do the things we needed to do to win.”
Calhoun: “I’m going to get on the plane (today), go home, and do what I usually do, and meet up with the team on Monday. So as far as my own personal thing, I don’t think it has any relevance here, to be honest with you.”
Said Napier, simply: “Some people could leave, some people could stay. I’m not sure.”
I asked him if he thought Drummond should return for another season.
“That’s not my decision," Napier replied. "That’s him, his family, what he believes. That’s all up to him. If he decides to go, I’m behind him 110-percent. Decides to stay, behind him 110-percent.”
Drummond did have this to say, when asked if UConn has enough talent to do some damage next season (provided its eligible for the postseason):
“This team has so much talent, which has blessed it and cursed it at the same time. We have so much talent, sometimes we don’t know what to do it. All we’ve got to do is channel it the right way throughout the off-season, get a feel for each other even more, and I have no doubt in my mind we’ll be back here again.”
Personally, I think there's a sliver of a chance Drummond returns. Doubtful, but I'd say more of a chance Drummond is back than Lamb.
*** It’s just the second time in 18 appearances under Calhoun that UConn has lost its NCAA tourney opener. The only other time was in 2008, when A.J. Price sprained his ACL shortly before halftime and the third-seeded Huskies got popped by San Diego.
*** Calhoun was asked if perhaps his own squad looked ahead to a potential rematch of last year’s Final Four with the top-seeded Wildcats.
“If they did, they made a hell of a mistake,” Calhoun said. “I don’t think they did.”
*** Asked to summarize the season, Lamb simply said: “Ups and downs. That’s all I can say about it. Ups and downs.”
UConn freshman forward DeAndre Daniels can be forgiven if his mind hasn’t totally been on basketball in recent days.
Daniels’ sister, Keirstyn Schumpert, had surgery on Sunday to remove a brain tumor. Doctors were able to remove the tumor and Schumpert is still resting in the hospital but could go home as soon as Thursday, according to Daniels.
He and his family were at the hospital for about seven hours on Sunday.
“It was real tough, just waiting until the doctor came out to tell us what’s going on,” he said.
Daniels added that right now, the right side of his sister’s face is numb, but she is cancer-free.
Schumpert is a standout guard at Manchester High. Daniels wasn’t sure what the surgery could mean for her basketball future.
*** Royce White is a matchup nightmare, but it's starting to feel like people are making him out to be the next Magic Johnson. No doubt, however, he's a big concern for UConn.
"I think the thing he does is he makes you -- you don't want to get polarized on him and get beat," said Jim Calhoun. "He can help facilitate that, so it becomes very difficult. But he's a heck of a basketball player. I was talking to a pro scout today who's seen him four or five times and just said he's got some (Kevin) McHale stuff inside. Right now, I wouldn't consider him a great shooter outside, but he just does things to help his team win."
Andre Drummond, Roscoe Smith and Alex Oriakhi could all see time guarding White.
"Just to give you an idea," Calhoun noted, "this morning at practice, we played four different guys on him -- small, big. We tried different sets trying to figure out which way he'd try to go after us.
Said Drummond: “He’s a big man that dribbles the ball, passes to his open teammate. A lot of focus is on him, because you’re not used to see a 6-8 big bring the ball up the court and run their offense. But we know what we’ve got to do to win this game.”
That means utilize the Huskies’ significant size advantage by rebounding and defending inside.
“If anything, it creates a matchup problem for them,” Drummond added. “(White is) shorter, you’ve got me and Alex down on the post.” For what it's worth, UConn came off very confident today. Not cocky, but definitely confident.
*** And, of course, there's ISU's prowess on 3-pointers -- a bugaboo for UConn defensively most of the season.
“In some of the regular season games, I think we didn’t work as hard to defend the 3 as we could,” said Jeremy Lamb. “We let people get open shots, and they were able to hit a couple, and it gave them confidence to hit more. I think we’ve just really got to be ready to close out, no easy buckets.
In short, the Cyclones can be a matchup problem for UConn.
“They’re attacking two things that, during the year, have reared its ugly head for us,” Calhoun admitted. “We block shots down low very well, but we haven’t taken away the kind of penetration I’d like to see. And, at a particular point in seven or eight games, we were just God-awful (defending the) 3. We’ve worked hard and gotten better at it, but we’re going to be put to the ultimate test.”
*** Win and the Huskies should get the Saturday night date that everybody seems to want: a rematch with Kentucky, the No. 1 overall seed.
"You definitely hear it from the fans, they definitely want to see the UConn-Kentucky matchup," said Oriakhi. "Coach tells us to take it one game at a time. We're just trying to beat Iowa State and then play Saturday. If we win on Saturday, we want to play again."
There were about 8,000 UK fans at the Wildcats' open practice on Wednesday. There were about eight UConn fans.
*** Although UConn and Iowa State have never played each other, the Cyclones have two players who have played against the Huskies.
Chris Allen was a sophomore on the Michigan State team in 2009 that beat UConn in the Final Four. He scored two points in nine minutes off the bench in the Spartans’ 82-73 victory in Detroit. Allen also played on MSU’s Final Four team the following year before transferring to Iowa State. He has played in 14 NCAA tournament games, most by any player in this year’s field.
Also, senior guard Scott Christopherson was a freshman at Marquette in 2008 when the Golden Eagles lost at UConn, 89-73. He transferred to ISU the following season.
In fact, Iowa State has seven transfers on its roster, including ex-Michigan State standout Korie Lucious, who’s red-shirting this season.
“Did I plan on bringing six of them in my first year?” Hoiberg said. “No, it just happened to be a year where a lot of guys were leaving their schools.”
*** Brigham Young arrived in town on Wednesday after rallying from 25 points down to beat Iona the night before. The Cougars will face Marquette on Thursday.
BYU has a UConn tie: first-year BYU assistant coach Mark Pope is the brother-in-law of former UConn director of basketball operations Beau Archibald. Pope, a team captain on the 1996 national-champion Kentucky team, is married to Archibald’s sister, LeeAnne. The couple married in 1999 and has four daughters.
*** Some interesting stuff from John Calipari on how to alleviate the one-and-done situation (something he says he doesn't like) and Calhoun on whether Calipari might move on to the NBA, particularly if he finally wins a national title.
Said Calipari: "Here's what I would say. It starts with you get the NCAA in the room, and you say you give these kids the stipend they deserve. That's one.
Two, the insurance that they have to pay for themselves, which can be upwards of $15,000 per year, $20,000 per year that they have to pay for themselves. They're loaned the money, and then they have to repay it when they come out. The NCAA should pay that to encourage them to stay.
The third thing is families, the NBA, and the NCAA should get together and have a loan program for those families‑‑ we're only talking 30 kids. We're not talking 500 players. We're talking 30 kids that would be eligible for that insurance. They should be able to have a loan. To what level, I don't know.
The last two things are the NBA. And Billy Hunter and I have talked about these. One, if a young man stays more than two years, his contract, his rookie contract should be shorter. And if a young man graduates, his pay scale should be higher when he comes in. Now we encourage these young people. It's about them. You should stay because of the integrity of our school. Unless you're Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, you guys leave and go change the world. But you guys, you stay in school because it's the integrity. It doesn't make sense to me.
My thing is these kids are chasing their dreams just like tennis players and golfers and geniuses and computer geeks and all the others. They're chasing their dreams the same way. And what we've got to do is come together and say, how do we do right by these young people? How do we make sure?
If the NBA says, no, we don't want to shorten their contract, well, then, it's on them. It's not on Billy Hunter, and it's not on the NCAA. If the NCAA says, no, we're not going to pay for this insurance. Those kids should pay for it themselves, disability insurance. Then that's on the NCAA.
But I think there's some things we can do, and hopefully people will come together and say these are simple things that would encourage young people to stay in school.
Let me say this. It's like last year. Brandon Knight. Brandon Knight was a 4.0 student and had 60 college credits after one year. He transferred in 23 honors courses, and he graduated with 60 college credits. That's two years of work in one year. But he was the seventh pick of the draft. How could you tell him to stay?
And Detroit, the Pistons, they love him. They want him to be what their whole organization is about. So it's not academic, and it isn't. It's what is right for these young people."
Say what you want about Calipari, but he makes some very solid points. Too bad it's unlikely the NBA Players Association would ever accept.
And here's what Calhoun had to say about Calipari:
"John at present rate, based upon numbers, is going in the Hall of Fame, assuming he stays in college basketball. And if he keeps‑‑ in 1990, we got beat by Christian Laettner's shot. For the next nine years, we were tortured that we weren't good because we couldn't win a National Championship, and we were good. Ray Allen, Donyell‑‑ we all know there's a lot of good players at UConn. We average 26 wins a year, the whole thing. A lot of final eights, just couldn't get there.
If you stick with it and you smell it enough, you'll get it. So I don't think it's a case of John winning or not winning a National Championship. Can I imagine John going in the NBA or anything else? Yes. Or anything else? Yes. I think John very simply marches‑‑ always has, even when he was a young guy. When he was at Pitt, marches to his own drummer, and I think that John has taken that and obviously done a very good job coaching‑wise and otherwise.
Let's put it this way. Maybe in your own set of mind, would you think it's some sort of standard, because I heard a lot of years until I won a few‑‑ you know, he's on the landscape now. You really don't have to look, find, and come up with a much better coach, quite frankly. I know he has a lot of very good talent. He does a lot with that very good talent.
My point being simply, if he feels that way, what you're talking, that's the difference. I've never had a chance to ask him, nor would I really. It's going to be his choice. He certainly can handle the players, that's one thing. And I've always said that some of our best teams are much more difficult to handle because of talent, and he's done a remarkable job doing that.
I don't think he has to prove anything more in college basketball if he got a very good NBA job, if that's what he'd want to do. I personally don't think he has to prove anything."
UConn is practicing this afternoon at nearby Spalding College and won't be available to the media until 6 p.m. We'll have some blog updates later with UConn stuff.
Iowa State players Chris Allen, Royce White and Scott Christopherson and head coach Fred Hoiberg met with the media this afternoon. Here's some of what they had to say:
The Cyclones have hoisted up 748 3-pointers this season, by far the most of all Big 12 teams. More impressively, they’ve hit 38 percent of them and had three regulars shoot the 3 at a 41-percent rate or better.
Leading the way is Christopherson, a 6-3 senior guard and Marquette transfer who has shot 45 percent from beyond the arc this season.
"We're kind of a unique team because we have the ball in Royce's hands quite a bit more than what I'ds say a normal college team does," Christopherson said. "So we do a lot of different things with dribble hand-offs, and use Royce's abilities to kind of manipulate the defense to get looks for our shooters."
Indeed, White presents a matchup nightmare for virtually any team, UConn included. The 6-8, 270-pound sophomore forward is the only player in the nation to lead his team in scoring (13.1), rebounding (9.2), assists (5.1), steals (1.2) and blocks (0.9). It should also be noted that he leads the Cyclones in turnovers at 3.9 per contest, a product of being the team’s primary facilitator of the ball.
“He’s such a unique kid, as far as how he plays,” said Hoiberg. “We try to simulate Andre Drummond in practice, can’t do it. We don’t have anybody that size. I’m sure they’re tyring to simulate Royce White in practice, and they can’t do it. Nobody that we play can simulate what he does.”
We'll find out later who should get the defensive draw on White. 6-8 Roscoe Smith would be a prime candidate, though he's giving up nearly 70 pounds. Drummond is likely, too, but beware what Allen had to say.
“Not too many bigs can move their feet (well) enough to guard him,” said guard Chris Allen. “Any time he has a 6-foot-10, 260-pound guy (guarding him), it’s not going to be too hard for him to get around him.”
Drummond, of course, is 6-10, 270.
We do know one defensive matchup on the other side: Chris Babb, a 6-5 junior guard, told reporters he'll be guarding Jeremy Lamb. He knows it will be a challenge.
"He's really good at coming off down screens and uses them very well," Babb said. "He doesn't need a lot of space to get off his shot. He's a good scorere and I'm going to do my best." *** Although UConn and Iowa State have never played each other, the Cyclones have two players who have played against the Huskies.
Allen was a sophomore on the Michigan State team in 2009 that beat UConn in the Final Four in Detroit. He scored two points in nine minutes off the bench in the Spartans’ 82-73 victory. Allen also played on MSU’s Final Four team the following year before transferring to Iowa State. He has played in 14 NCAA tournament games, most by any player in this year’s field.
Also, Christopherson was a freshman at Marquette in 2008 when the Golden Eagles lost at UConn, 89-73. He transferred to ISU the following season.
In fact, Iowa State has seven transfers on its roster, including ex-Michigan State standout Korie Lucious, who’s red-shirting this season.
“Did I plan on bringing six of them in my first year?” Hoiberg said. “No, it just happened to be a year where a lot of guys were leaving their schools.”
*** The players were asked if there was an "intimidation factor" facing UConn.
"I mean, Kemba Walker's not coming back, is he?" Christopherson replied. Good line.
*** Hoiberg on Drummond and Lamb as NBA prospects:
"Big time. I think the sky's the limit for those two. Drummond, his size, you don't see any people that can run the floor like him and get off the ground. He's going to be a big-time pro, just because of the size that he has.
As far as Lamb, just a complete guard. He's got the size, he's got the length. He's got the athleticism, and he's a tough kid to stop. We have to mix coverages on him, I think, to try to keep yim off balance a little bit."
Hoiberg is an Ames native who starred at Iowa State in the mid-1990's. He's so popular in town, they call him "The Mayor." He was asked about Jim Calhoun, and why they don't call hyim the mayor of Storrs.
"They should. I'm honored to coach against him. We actually recruit that area out east quite a bit, and I've seen him at a lot of events, and I've gotten to know him. He's a great guy. Hes always a guy that you can ask questions to, and he'll answer them for you." *** UConn was next-to-last in the Big East in 3-point defense, allowing opponents to hit treys at a 34.3 percent rate. Only DePaul (35.4 percent) was worse.
Iowa State not only shoots the 3 well, it also guards it well, holding opponents to 29.8 percent – tops in the Big 12. UConn shot the 3 at 33.1 percent this season, 10th in the Big East.
Greetings from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, where I'll be covering my third game this season (did the UConn men on Feb. 6 -- the Huskies' ugliest loss of the season -- then the women the next night). The third game will be against Iowa State tomorrow around 9:20 p.m. Will there be a fourth against Kentucky (or Western Kentucky!) on Saturday night?
Iowa State will start meeting with the media around noon today -- some players at 12:05 p.m., followed by coach Fred Hoiberg at 12:20 p.m. UConn's players don't meet with us until 6 p.m., followed by Jim Calhoun at 6:15 p.m. and an open practice from 6:40-7:20 p.m., so there will be plenty of time in between.
In the meantime, here's a feature from today's Register on Alex Oriakhi. It's been a tough season for Oriakhi, but it hasn't affected him in the classroom, where he boasted a 3.6 GPA last semester. His mother, Angela, and his coaches and teammates talk about how well Oriakhi has handled his on-court struggles this season. Key quote from his mom: "One thing's for sure: he loves Coach Calhoun to death."
Oriakhi also has some interesting bloodlines: his mother's cousin is essentially the secretary of state of Nigeria.
By now, you probably know: UConn has earned the No. 9 seed in the South Region, and will play No. 8 seed Iowa State in an NCAA tourney "second-round" game on Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
Win -- hardly a given -- and the Huskies will play top-seeded Kentucky. In Kentucky, obviously. Calhoun vs. Calipari, rematch of last year's Final Four. It'll be fun ... if it happens.
But don't book that game just yet. And no, I don't believe Kentucky will lose its game with either Mississippi Valley State or Western Kentucky. The Huskies will have their hands full with the Cyclones, who toss up over 24 3-pointers a game and make 38 percent of them. Iowa State hit 16 treys in a game earlier this season and have hit over 10 in a game 14 times in 31 games.
And, of course, guarding the three-ball has been a bugaboo of UConn's all season.
That said, there's no reason why the Huskies can't win this game. Here's some of what Jim Calhoun & Co. said Sunday at Gampel after learning their NCAA tourney fate:
Calhoun:
"We haven’t played a team that has shot 36 3’s in a game and averages 24 3’s a game. They shoot it at 38 percent, that’s as good as anybody I’ve heard of in quite some time ... We’re going to have to chase them off the 3-point marker ... Obviously, they shoot the heck out of the basketball.”
He noted that UConn will experiment with some smaller lineups, and the four position will be "a tad more flexible for this game."
Said Andre Drummond: "I like running around, chasing people." Calhoun, cont'd: “Would we like to get to Saturday and see Kentucky? Absolutely. But right now, anybody in our camp isn’t thinking about anything but beating a very, very good Iowa State team.”
(Calhoun said he knows ISU coach Fred Hoiberg pretty well, and pointed out that Kevin Ollie was a teammate of Hoiberg's in the NBA).
“My only plans right now are to say hello to Fred and try to get them off the 3-point line," Calhoun said.
Calhoun admitted that UConn needed its come-from-behind, Big East tourney win over West Virginia on Wednesday.
“Deep in my heart, I knew a game we had to win to solidify things. I didn’t want to come in here with a bad stomach.”
Calhoun -- believe it or not -- feels some sympathy for UK coach John Calipari, who probably figured he'd get a better 8-9 opponent as the tourney's top overall seed.
“They protect 1’s always have, always will … then they try to match them up, based upon how good you are. If they’re the best 1, are we the weakest 8-9? Not from what I saw. They may think they’re the team that can handle it the best ... I don't mind being an underdog."
How's Calhoun feeling?
“Tired, but I’m going to be tired for the next month, they tell me. But I wasn’t tired when I saw our name on the board. That gets the adrenaline going.”
UConn suffered its most embarassing loss of the season at Louisville a little over a month ago.
“I wasn’t there … can’t speak to that," Calhoun said with a smile. "It was awful (watching at home). I would have rather been there, really.”
On getting out of the Big East: “Over the years it’s been good for us. Particularly this team, we are not a physical team. The only guy right now who’s been a physical player, Alex Oriakhi, in the past 10 games. We’re not a physical team, and we’re in a very physical league. Personally, I thought that probably should help us.”
Shabazz Napier:
“I feel as though we’ve got a great deal of momentum. That’s a great deal for us. It was great for us to get on that three-game winning streak. To know that we can play with the No. 2 team in the country, that gives us confidence.”
Ryan Boatright:
(asked if getting away from the Big East will be like a breath of fresh air)
“Definitely. I don’t feel like the teams were’ going to be going against are going to be as physical as the Big East is. The Big East is a crazy conference, so to actually see another team that you don’t see that much is kind of like (a breath of) fresh air.”
Drummond, when asked the same question: “The Big East is a very tough conference, one of the toughest in the country. To actually be out of the conference and play some non-conference teams, it’s going to be great.”
It had to be asked. Still, you could see Jim Calhoun readying to pounce as soon as the reporter started asking: “Do you feel like you’ve done enough to make the NCAA tournament?”
“Well, let’s see …” Calhoun began, and what followed was his now daily dissertation on the Huskies’ No. 3 strength of schedule, their 22 games against top-100 RPI teams (and don’t forget tourney-bound UNC-Asheville!), etc., etc.
Bottom line: UConn is in the NCAA tournament. The Huskies may have cinched it with Tuesday’s win over lowly DePaul. If not, Wednesday’s victory over West Virginia likely sealed the deal.
“I’m not going to make a pitch for it,” Calhoun said. “I trust the basketball committee.”
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim not only has the Huskies in – he’s got them going to the Sweet Sixteen, if not further.
“I would be shocked if (the Huskies) don’t win two games in the NCAA tournament at the minimum,” Boeheim said. “At the minimum.”
Entering Thursday, UConn was ranked No. 33 in the RPI and No. 3 in strength of schedule. Both rankings may have raised despite the loss to the Orange, who boast the No. 1 RPI.
Bottom line: the Huskies are likely looking at a No. 9 or 10 seed for the Big Dance.
“I feel confident the way we’ve played the last couple of days in this tournament have pretty much solidified a spot in the tournament,” said Tyler Olander. “If it doesn’t, we’ll go from there, that’s kind of out of our hands.”
Added Calhoun: “I don’t know what else we have to prove that we’re probably one of the top 30 teams in the country. We’re certainly not one of the top 10, 20, but we’re one of the top 30 teams in the country. I don’t make those decisions, but I know who we are. I’ve seen who we’ve beaten.”
Still, Shabazz Napier will be nervous watching the Selection Show on CBS on Sunday.
“I was nervous last year, and I knew we were making it in (after winning the conference tourney),” he said. “I’ll probably be nervous again, that’s just how I am.”
*** Andre Drummond's massive, one-handed putback jam of a Napier missed trey was truly awe-inspiring. It also gave UConn an eight-point lead with 14:02 left, causing Boeheim to burn a timeout.
The Orange clamped down on defense, went ahead for good about 6 ½ minutes later and held on for the 58-55 win over the Huskies – their third win over UConn in the past 26 days.
“Nothing bothers us,” Boeheim said afterwards. “If things were bothering us, we wouldn’t be 31-1.”
Syracuse went ahead for good (48-47) on a Dion Waiters 3-pointer with 5:41 left, led by seven with 26.7 seconds left, then survived a near-miracle UConn comeback.
Napier hit a layup and was fouled with 16.9 ticks remaining, missed the free throws, but Drummond scored on a putback. James Southerland hit a pair of free throws, Drummond countered with a reverse layup with about five seconds left, and the Orange managed a long inbounds pass to run out the clock.
Close but no cigar for a third time meant little to the Huskies.
“That’s our third time playing them, we fell short every time,” Jeremy Lamb pointed out. “First time, OK, we played them (well). Second time, alright … but if you lose again, you can’t get confidence out of that.”
Still, Calhoun – a man who almost never finds satisfaction in a loss – was extremely proud of his team.
“Did we shoot great? No,” he said. “Did we make great decisions? No. Did we play with great heart and great intensity and did we play for us and each other? Without a doubt, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Waiters led all scorers with 18 points. Napier led the Huskies with 15, Drummond had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Lamb netted 10. After surrendering 26 offensive rebounds to West Virginia the day before, UConn outrebounded the Orange, 46-34. Tyler Olander grabbed eight boards.
“We were going to rebound today,” Calhoun said. “Did we have a hard practice to do that? No, we just kind of all collaborated on it last night.”
Last year, of course, behind the heroics of Kemba Walker, UConn won an unprecedented five games in five days to win the tournament championship. The Huskies were hoping for a repeat run, but fatigue – mental, not physical – hindered them. The Hall of Fame coach had returned to coach the team in practice on Friday after missing the previous month on medical leave and undergoing back surgery on Feb. 27.
“Fatigue is the most over-written about thing in sports,” Calhoun said. “Mental fatigue, though, I felt we had a little bit at the end. Emotionally, we’ve been through seven – and we’re going back to Friday – Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh was very emotional and traveling Monday and playing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and they stood up to it all. We came up a little bit short. Once again, I love them and I’m proud of them.”
Personally, I think it's a bit of a blessing for UConn that it lost Thursday. Now, the Huskies have a few days to collect themselves, take a breather before (almost certainly) getting ready for the NCAA tournament. This team was a bit tired, either mentally or physically, and playing another night or two in New York may not have behooved them as much as getting their legs (and minds) back a little.
*** Calhoun took the loss hard, not for himself but for his players.
“I’m really, really anguished in many, many ways because when I arrived last Friday in the gym, not knowing after four weeks what was going to happen, little did I know that I’d find a new team,” he said. “Not that we were bad or anything else before, but just who we were and what we were was different.”
Napier concurred.
“We’re starting to have fun,” the sophomore point guard said. “We’re out there smiling, no matter what. Team chemistry comes from having fun and doing things that friends do. We all finally started having fun when Coach came back because we all started feeling like a big family again.”
*** Olander had four points, four assists and eight rebounds (his highest total since mid-November). Still, he placed blame on himself for the Huskies’ loss.
“I feel I played well until when it mattered,” he said, “then kind of broke down a little bit, and I think maybe cost us the game a little bit with mental mistakes that can’t happen.”
Down the stretch, Syracuse was playing its guards far out on the perimeter to keep Napier and Jeremy Lamb in check. UConn wanted to get the ball to Olander at the high post, where his passing and shooting ability could be a weapon against the Syracuse zone. But apparently, there were some breakdowns at key spots.
“We just didn’t run the play we were supposed to run,” Napier said of one sequence. “We were supposed to run a quick-pick play. We were unable to do that, so I stood out there forever trying to figure out what we were going to run. We were just confused. It’s my fault, I’m the point guard, I’ve got to tell my team this is the play we’re running, especially in those situations. The moment got too big for me, I guess.”
*** Boeheim was asked about the NCAA investigation into reports that Syracuse had allowed players to practice and play with the team in prior years even after having knowledge that they'd flunked school-administered drug tests.
"This was reported five years ago, and we're waiting for them to finish the process," he said.
He later added: "This is a media, this is you people's thing. This doesn't bother our players or our team or me. This is a media thing, period ... I'm much more concerned aobut my wife being mad at me than I am anything else, to tell you the truth."
Then, he quipped: "I think that Manning should really come to the Jets, too."
*** Many of the usual suspects were at the game cheering on UConn: Andrea Walker (Kemba’s mom), Craig Austrie. Donyell Marshall wasn’t there but was obviously watching, as his frequent Tweets would indicate. New UConn athletic director Warde Manuel was in the house, as was Geno Auriemma – a close friend of Jim. That’s Jim Boeheim, it should be noted.
The feeling, apparently, is mutual with Calhoun.
"I love Jim Boeheim like a brother," he said, "and through everything else, includding other things that have gone on, he's done an incredible job coaching his team and being unselfish and giving to each other."
*** UCoonn-Syracuse is like Red Sox-Yankees of '03-04: two teams utterly incapable of playing a nice, normal, tidy game. Today wasn't as crazy as normal, but still pretty entertaining.
Sad that it could soon be a thing of the past.
*** Oh, and I'm not crazy about the Orange in the NCAA tourney. Don't you kinda need that star player who's going to lead you and take over when you need it most? Is Dion Waiters that guy? Maybe. But I'd hardly be shocked if the Cuse is done before the Final Four.
All the New York City pickpockets working their craft a few blocks away in Times Square were upstaged by a kid from Boston on Wednesday afternoon.
Shabazz Napier stole the show – quite literally – in UConn’s latest how-did-that-happen, Big East tournament win at Madison Square Garden. The sophomore point guard went on a personal 9-0 run – paced by a pair of crafty steals – over an 87-second span late in regulation to tie the game, and his teammates survived without him after he fouled out in overtime.
It also essentially clinched a return trip to the NCAA tournament for the defending champions, who are now 20-12 overall.
With less than four minutes left in regulation on Wednesday, however, it appeared the Huskies might not have that chance. The Mountaineers led by nine (63-54) after a Darryl “Truck” Bryant inside bucket with three minutes, 57 seconds left. Napier, however, wasn’t dismayed, and assured his teammates as much at the time.
“I knew we were going to win,” he said. “It’s weird, you just have that instinct, that feeling … I told Alex (Oriakhi), ‘We’re going to win this game.’ I just felt that. When you feel something, you’ve got to go with it.”
Did he ever. Napier canned a 3-pointer, Bryant missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Napier hit a pair of free throws. Then, he swiped a Dominique Rutledge pass near midcourt and cruised in for a finger roll. After a West Virginia timeout, he picked Gary Browne’s pocket off an inbounds pass and again sailed in for a layup, tying the score with 2:10 left.
“One of them, I kind of gambled on,” said Napier. “I just felt like Rutledge was going to be lazy on the pass to Browne, and I just went for it and stole it. And one time, Browne thought I was going to stay with Bryant, and I just came from behind and stole it. Sometimes, you’ve got to take those risks and hope for the best.”
Browne countered with a lane jumper, but UConn got the ball up the floor quickly and Drummond ank a short baseline jumper. Browne turned the tables on Napier by stealing the ball form him near midcourt with 42.2 seconds left, but Andre Drummond blocked a Rutledge shot, Napier missed an 18-footer at the buzzer, and it was on to overtime.
Napier scored the first points of the extra period with a pair of free throws, but wound up picking his fourth and fifth fouls in the span of 24 seconds. Bryant hit a pair of freebies to tie it, but Lamb canned his wing trey to put the Huskies ahead for good.
“I knew we needed a score,” Lamb said, “and in the game (Tuesday), Coach told me to shoot and I didn’t take a shot. Coach was just saying, “I want you shooting the ball.’ So today, they ran a play for me, set great screens, and I was able to get wide open. I had a little time to set my feet and I just shot it with confidence, and thank God it went in.”
It wasn’t over yet, as Ryan Boatright missed three straight free throws within the final 33 seconds. But he finally hit the fourth with 19.2 seconds left, and West Virginia couldn’t score again.
"Boat is always there for us," said Napier. "Go back to the first game he came and knocked down three free throws we needed (to beat) Florida State. That's what he gives you, he gives you a lot of heart no matter what."
The Mountaineers missed all 11 of their field goal attempts in overtime.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our kids,” said coach Jim Calhoun. “I think for a team that obviously has had its ups and downs – no coach, no Boatright, all the various things that have happened to us – those are things that happen and they happen to other teams. But I can only judge my family, my guys, and my guys have come back, won three in a row, and I truly believe that a coach couldn’t be prouder.”
Napier scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half and overtime. Lamb added 22 – 12 in the first 12 minutes of play – and Boatright had 10 off the bench. Napier also had six assists, four turnovers and three blocks (!).
*** UConn-Syracuse. Madison Square Garden. Big East tournament. Doesn’t get much better than that, does it?
Not in recent years, anyway.
The last four times these two powerhouse rivals have met in the Big East tournament, three have been decided in overtime. Among those, of course, was the classic six-overtime battle in 2009 eventually won in the wee hours of the morning by the Orange, 127-117.
More recently, Syracuse has beaten the Huskies twice over the last month, pulling away in the final minutes at the Carrier Dome for an 85-67 win on Feb. 11, then eking out a 71-69 triumph two weeks later in Storrs. Calhoun was on medical leave and not on the sidelines for either game, but he’ll be there for Thursday’s noon quarterfinal-round battle.
“We’re playing, in my opinion – along with Kentucky – the best team in the country (Thursday),” he said after UConn’s 71-67, second-round win over West Virginia.
The old adage says it’s hard for a good team to beat another good team three times in a row. Throw in the fact that the second-ranked Orange are a sure-shot No. 1 NCAA tourney seed with nothing to play for, while the Huskies have momentum, and it’s understandable why Drummond promised: “It’s going to be hard for (Syracuse), I can tell you that now. We’re going to come out with fire.”
Added Lamb: “We’ve just got to come out strong. When we played them at home, we didn’t start off (well). We’ve got to come out as hard as we can.”
*** Despite the victory, UConn had to be concerned about its rebounding – or lack thereof – on Wednesday. The Huskies were outrebounded, 47-31. Worse, they allowed a whopping 26 offensive boards to the Mountaineers.
Strangely, Calhoun wasn’t overly concerned.
“You also remember that six or seven of (the offensive boards) are blocked shots,” he pointed out. “They seemed to get every blocked shot that we had. Not that it’s misleading, but we played defense a little bit different than maybe some other teams, and down the stretch it did help since we blocked two of their layups.”
Calhoun was particularly happy with the defensive play late in the game of Drummond, who blocked Dominique Rutledge’s potential game-winner in the final seconds of regulation.
Drummond also locked down WVU star Kevin Jones late in the game. Jones dominated much of the game from both the inside and outside and finished with 25 points. However, following a pair of free throws with 6:17 left in regulation, he didn’t score again.
“It took me longer than it should have,” Drummond confessed. “I should’ve realized that earlier (and said), ‘Alright, today’s not an offensive game for you, Dre, so you just need to lock up on defense to make sure no one scores.’ It took me until the last 10 minutes to realize, we’re going to lose this game if I don’t lock this kid Jones up. Coach told me, final play, play him hard or he’s going to sub me out and I’m not going to play. So I looked at him and said, ‘Alright, he’s not scoring anymore.’”
Said Calhoun: “With 10 minutes to go, he grew up a little bit and played a hell of a player and did a wonderful job.”
*** The Mountaineers are moving to the Big 12 next season, so Wednesday’s loss was their final appearance in the Big East tournament.
“It’s sad in many, many ways,” said Calhoun. “I’m going to miss them greatly. I’m going to miss Bobby (Huggins, WVU’s coach), going got miss the competitiveness … (Huggins) is heading on his way to being a Hall of Fame coach. I don’t think this league needs to be losing Hall of Fame coaches.”
Said Huggins: “Well, it’s been a good run. We’ve enjoyed it, most of it anyway. I mean, there’s nothing like coming to the Garden to play in the tournament.”
West Virginia finishes 12-15 all-time in Big East tourney games, winning the title in 2010 and reaching the finals twice.
The Big East announced on Wednesday that Temple will officially be joining the conference, for football only in 2012 and all other sports in 2013.
“I always thought Temple would be a great addition, being in Philadelphia,” Calhoun said. “They’ve got a tremendous coach, it’s a great city for basketball.”
Calhoun couldn't resist a chance to needle longtime rival Rick Pitino, who has been publicly campaigning for the Owls to join the Big East for a while now.
"I can't get a word in edgewise with Rick praising Temple," Calhoun quipped. "That's not against Rick. I don't Twitter or Tweet or any of those things. You know what I'm talking about."
*** Lamb has hit double figures in all seven of his career Big East tourney games.
*** UConn has won 13 straight postseason games and seven straight in the Big East tourney, tying Georgetown for third-longest winning streak in the event's history.
Jim Calhoun needed a cane to walk around for several days before his back surgery a little over a week ago, but that had to end once he returned to the bench.
“I can’t walk with a cane on the sidelines, because two officials might get hit,” he quipped after Tuesday’s 81-67 win over DePaul.
Cane or no can, Calhoun’s presence has certainly given UConn a lift the last two games – at just the right time.
“Having him there on the sidelines is great,” said freshman center Andre Drummond. “Just hearing his voice brings us a joy, even though he screams a lot.”
Added Alex Oriakhi: “He puts a fire in our belly. We know Coach Calhoun is no slacker out there, so we’ve got to go out and play with a sense of urgency.”
Calhoun didn’t accompany the team on its bus ride to New York after practice on Monday, instead coming down on his own. But that’s what he normally does, and had nothing to do with his back and being on a bus for three hours.
He opened up a little more about his surgery, how he feels right now and what he must do to keep feeling better.
“The pain is a different kind of pain, it’s a muscular pain,” Calhoun said. “Thank God it’s no longer a nerve pain … To alleviate that pain was incredible. It took us three weeks to find the right solution, which wasn’t to put rods and fibers and fuses and all that stuff. We had a 3 ½-hour procedure that was pretty intricate ut not transforming in the sense that it’s a hole in my back and it’s sore, but nothing like a win or two wins now to make that (better).
“But without question, I will definitely try to get more rest than I normally do.”
*** Believe it or not, there was a time not long ago when UConn couldn’t win a Big East tournament game.
From their four-point loss to Syracuse in 2005 to an embarrassing beatdown at the hands of St. John’s in 2010 – and with a certain six-overtime loss in between – the Huskies lost six straight conference tournament games.
Then came last year’s unprecedented five-wins-in-five-days run. Suddenly, the Huskies can’t lose at Madison Square Garden in March.
UConn has now won six straight Big East tournament games, the fourth-best streak in the event’s history. Ir has also won 12 consecutive postseason games overall.
“When we get into tournaments, obviously it’s a new season,” said Jeremy Lamb, who popped in a game-high 25 points. “All year we’ve been finding ourselves and everybody on the team has been stepping up. We’ve been preparing all year for this time. Now that it’s here, we just want to give it all we’ve got and don’t look back.”
*** Drummond finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks in his Madison Square Garden debut.
“It’s been great, a dream come true,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play here.”
Drummond has also been displaying some improved low-post moves lately, including a few nifty spin moves for hoops on Tuesday.
“I’ve been working on that a lot, just trying to get myself better with my back to the basket, because I’m more of a face-up person,” he said. “Getting the basic spin move and trying to finish on somebody, I’ve been working a lot on that move.”
He even unveiled a nifty behind-the-back crossover in the lane, something not seen prior to Tuesday.
“I can’t show ‘em all, can’t show ‘em everything,” he quipped.
The lowlight: Drummond missed all six of his free throw attempts. He is now 4-for-26 from the charity stripe in his last seven games.
*** Less than five minutes into the game, Oriakhi was hit with a flagrant technical foul after shoving 5-foot-11 guard Worrell Clahar on the low post.
“I just got hit in my mouth and I reacted,” he said. “When anybody gets hit in the face, you just react. It was a dumb mistake on my part, but you’ve got to learn from it.”
Indeed, he did learn his lesson in the second half: “I got hit again (by Cleveland Melvin) but I just kept calm.”
*** Ryan Boatright, who hails from suburban Chicago (Aurora, Ill.), didn’t play well in his first bout against his hometown team a few weeks ago, shooting 1-for-9 with five turnovers. He rebounded on Tuesday, though, with 19 points and seven assists.
“The first time we played them, I felt like I pressed a little too much and just missed a lot of easy shots and (had) a lot of careless turnovers,” he confessed. “Coach talked to me more, said I didn’t play very well the first time but said at practice, ‘You’re going to have a great game.’”
*** Lamb’s layup with seven seconds left in the opening half made him the 46th player in UConn history to go over the 1,000-point mark for his career. He has also scored in double figures in all six of his Big East tourney games.
*** Calhoun has now won 34 Big East tourney games, passing John Thompson for sole possession of second place on the all-time list.
*** The win may also have punched the Huskies’ ticket to the NCAA tournament.
“We played, I believe, the most difficult schedule in the country, if not the second most difficult,” Calhoun pointed out. “Secondly, we played the most difficult schedule in the Big East. And third, only three teams in the country – Villanova, Vanderbilt and Connecticut – played 21 top-100 teams. So out of 31 games, we had 10 breathers. And who are those breathers? UNC-Asheville? Oh, by the way, they’re in the tournament, and I can keep on going.”
Still, it might behoove them to beat West Virginia (19-12) this afternoon to remove all doubt.
*** Caron Butler was in the house, and paid a visit to the UConn locker room after the game.
*** I’m not sure what this Calhoun quote means: “Someone said I only have two years left on my extension. I don’t know if I can make two more minutes. For them to think, I’m grateful about that. I don’t know if I have two more years in my contract, now it’s like I’m calling the shots. Someone better pay me for two more years. That’s what I’m saying.”
OK.
He did, however, thank (most) of the media for respecting his privacy during his medical leave and covering the process the right way. Hey, I only called him at home once.
*** Oh, and speaking of me, I predicted UConn would win the game, 82-68. You can check it on Twitter (@DaveBorges).
Depending on who you listen to, UConn is either solidly in the NCAA tournament already, win or lose to DePaul tomorrow, or in need of two, maybe three wins in this week's Big East tourney to punch its ticket. Or somewhere in between.
George Blaney sides with the former.
“I would be really, really disappointed if we’re not in the NCAA already," he said at practice Monday. "I don’t see how we’re not. But I would always rather not leave it up to anybody in a committee room. I’d like to have it done where there isn’t any question.”
Jim Calhoun pointed out: “We had some good wins this year, no doubt. Looking back on it, Florida State was a very good win. We beat some good people. When you play the No. 2 schedule in the country – give us the No. 20 schedule. So now we’ve got, what, 23 wins?”
Of course, Blaney and Calhoun are a bit biased. Let's put it this way: if the Huskies lose to 16th seed DePaul (12-18, 3-15 Big East) on Tuesday, they will be sweating it out on Selection Sunday. Big time.
Calhoun missed practice Sunday but was back on Monday, looking and feeling pretty good. He said that on Sunday, after making his return to the sidelines the day before just four days after back surgerh, he felt "tired. But that’s to be expected. Going through the process, that’s the way it’ll be. But I’m trying to time everything right so that I’ll be there tomorrow at noon.”
But he noted that his own fatigue isn't that big a deal for UConn moving forward.
“Me, personally. It’s not important, really. I thought Jeremy (Lamb) played very fatigued in the second half (Sunday). It’s more important if Jeremy’s fatigued.”
Then he quipped: “Somebody said, ‘It’ll be great to have you there. I said, no, it’d be better if Kemba was there.”
Calhoun said that for about two weeks prior to surgery, he was extremely limited physically -- walking with a cane for a time -- so it's really been about three weeks without doing much.
"(Sunday) I walked couple of miles, probably did a little too much. But more importantly, (I'm just) trying to recapture my body a little bit. Once we get to gametime, I’ll be fine.”
Could he handle three, four (or dare we say, five) games in five days again?
“I’d love it. Give me a chance.”
Andre Drummond said of his coach: “That’s the toughest person I’ve met in my whole life, by far. Besides my mother, he’s up there.”
*** Calhoun said he watched a lot of basketball during his monthlong medical leave -- with the volume turned off. “I didn’t hear a lot of basketball. A lot of people saying, ‘I’m sorry about what I said on TV.’ Doesn’t make any difference.”
*** Shabazz Napier sat down a few seats away from Calhoun during Monday's media availability and asked the coach, "Did you see what Rondo did yesterday?"
Calhoun nodded, but quickly added: “He had two against us. When we played him in the NCAA tournament (in 2006)."
*** As always, Napier was as blunt as ever when assessing his team.
“I see a lot of greatness, a lot of players destined for a lot of extraordinary things," he said. "But one thing I don’t see is leadership. And, 100-percent chemistry. But that Pittsburgh game, that’s what it was – leadership from the coach, 100-percent chemistry from everybody. That’s what I wanted to see, and that’s what I saw in that game. I hope we’ll take that win and keep moving forward for the DePaul game.”
*** Although he grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y., moved to Middletown about 10 years ago and has toured the country in AAU ball, Drummond has never played a game in Madison Square Gardn. Been to a few Knicks games, but never played there. Obviously, he's excited for Tuesday.
Is he a Knicks fan?
“Eh, I wouldn’t say that. I’m not really a fan of any team, I just watch basketball.”
Drummond was also asked how he felt about earning Big East all-rookie honors.
“It’s just another step for me to work hard to get to first team Big East," he replied. "I’m just going to use that as a stepping stone to work hard, each and every day, to get National Player of the Year or something bigger than that.”
Sometimes, listening to the big guy talk, it really does sound like he might be back for at least another season at UConn. You never know.
Roscoe Smith had 14 points and seven rebounds on Saturday, but perhaps his most important statistic didn’t show up on the postgame score sheet: one charge.
In fact, the charge Smith picked up on Pitt’s J.R. Moore with 1 minute, 33 seconds left appears to be the first taken by any UConn player this season. Seriously.
“First charge we’ve taken in six months, I think,” associate head coach George Blaney quipped after UConn's 74-65 win over Pitt. He wasn’t kidding.
“We’ve been trying to get a charge out of anybody this whole season,” added point guard Shabazz Napier. “We (would) tell each other, ‘First one to get a charge, I kid you not it’s going to be big.’ And he got that charge and I couldn’t help my emotions but to jump on him and grab him and tell him, ‘You did it! You got that first charge!’ That was a big moment, a big key because we needed that stop to prevail.”
Indeed, the Panthers – particularly Moore – had been driving to the hole incessantly throughout the second half, turning a 15-point deficit into, at one point, a one-point lead. UConn led 63-61 when Smith took the key charge on Moore.
“It felt good,” Smith said. “They normally hurt, but I didn’t feel any pain. Everybody was very happy. We were kind of competing to get the first one. It was right there for me, I just stepped right in there and took it.”
Napier hit a 3-pointer on UConn’s ensuing possession, and the Huskies never looked back en route to a 72-65 win.
“That’s what you have to do, if people are driving the ball that hard,” Blaney said of Smith’s charge. “They’ve got five or six guys that can put it on the deck and put it to the rim. That remains the most difficult thing to defend in the game, the dribble-drive. To be able to step in and take the charge is very important.”
Smith has now scored in double figures in three straight games as his playing time – and confidence – increases more and more.
“He got a lot of consistent minutes last year, but he was a freshman,” Blaney pointed out. “You expect more out of a sophomore. He still was making mistakes early in the year. He’s getting saner with the ball, not turning it over.”
Added Andre Drummond: “I’m proud of that kid, man. Seriously. He played really well today.”
*** The Huskies were energized by Jim Calhoun's return to the sidelines.
“To have him on the sideline,” Napier said, “words can’t explain what he means for this team.”
Said Jeremy Lamb: "He was fresh out of surgery and still he came to coach us and gave it his all. It meant a lot, so we wanted to play hard for him."
Added Blaney: “It’s why he’s in the Hall of Fame, it’s why he understands a team, how to motivate a team. They were practically crying in the locker room, because he told them he loved them, and that’s why he came back.”
Blaney handled postgame press conference responsibilities as Calhoun, just five days removed from lower back surgery, was simply too exhausted (and emotional) to do so.
While not as active on the sidelines as usual, Calhoun was certainly animated at times – yelling at officials several times, and his players at others. Drummond knew the 26th-year, Hall of Fame head man was truly back when he heard him scream his name after Drummond took an ill-advised baseline jumper midway through the latter half.
“Oh, there he is,” Drummond thought at the time.
Calhoun’s surgeon was at the game, and afterwards told him he was concerned “when you were running up and down the sidelines,” according to Blaney.
“He was clear-headed, emotional when he had to be,” Blaney said of Calhoun. “To me, the only thing he did different was we put a chair out for him to sit in during timeouts … He is exhausted right now. The game’s exhausting, anyway, but to be coming off of surgery, that really can get you.”
But Calhoun told his players on Friday that he’d do anything he could to be there for them, and he came through.
“Coach Calhoun brought a lot of motivation, a lot of energy,” said Smith. “We definitely could feel it out there. It was electrifying when he first walked into practice. He definitely gave us that extra push we needed.”
Added Drummond: “It was great seeing him on the sideline. It gave us that extra spark, knowing that he was out there. Just hearing his voice again, it makes you play that much harder.”
Drummond, of course, had predicted Calhoun's return the day before.
“Should’ve listened to me the first time," he quipped. "I never doubted it.”
*** Barring a possible NIT game, Saturday was the final game at Gampel in the careers of walk-ons Kyle Bailey, Ben Stewart and P.J. Cochrane. All three, along with four senior team managers, were honored in a pregame ceremony, with Jim Calhoun presenting them gifts at midcourt.
Calhoun walked out from the locker room for the ceremony about 15 minutes before the opening tap, to a large, standing ovation from the assembled crowd. It was his first public appearance as UConn’s head coach since a Feb. 1 loss at Georgetown, and his first appearance at a UConn home game since a Jan. 29 loss to Notre Dame in Hartford.
*** Among the visiting recruits at Gampel Saturday was Sam Cassell, Jr., a Class of 2012 guard out of Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., and the son of the longtime NBA star.
*** Napier led UConn with 23 points in what Blaney called “one of his best games of the year.” Lamb added 14 points, Alex Oriakhi had eight and Drummond seven to go with four blocks (all in the first half). Moore led Pitt with 16 of the bench.
*** As of right now, there's still a remote chance of UConn being the No. 9 seed for next week's Big East tourney and playing Tuesday at noon. DePaul would have to beat Seton Hall tonight at 6 for there to be any chance of that happening.
More likely, the Huskies will be the 10th seed and play Tuesday at 7. They can't finish as the eighth seed.
Bedecked in a jacket and tie, Jim Calhoun was sitting on the UConn bench around 9:45 a.m., sharing a laugh with assistants George Blaney and Kevin Ollie. He went back in the locker room, as usual, while the Huskies ran through some pregame sets with Blaney and Ollie.
Will Calhoun's return spark the Huskies to an absolute must win? We'll see.
The familiar figure was back at Gampel Pavilion Friday afternoon: arms crossed, furrowed brow, that characteristic, bow-legged gait, raising his voice at his players a few times.
For the first time in nearly a month, Jim Calhoun was back at UConn’s practice.
Calhoun, on medical leave with spinal stenosis for nearly a month, returned to help his team prepare for Saturday’s regular season-ending bout with Pittsburgh – against his doctor’s orders.
“I just couldn’t stay home any longer,” Calhoun, appearing a bit weary, his voice hoarse, said. “I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was going to come in (Thursday), but physically I just couldn’t do it. More fatigue than anything else.”
But the 26th-year Hall of Fame head coach still isn’t sure if he’ll be on the sidelines for today’s noon bout with Pitt.
“I’ll see how I feel (Saturday) when I get up, to see if I can get to the game,” he said. “It’s not a mystery thing, I just that I want to feel that I can give my kids my best at noon (Saturday).”
If he can’t, Calhoun expects to return to practice on Sunday and feels he’ll be able to coach the team in next week’s Big East tournament, which will likely begin on Tuesday for the Huskies.
But after seeing his head coach return to practice just four days after surgery, freshman center Andre Drummond is confident Calhoun will be coaching the team on Saturday.
“He will be back,” Drummond said. “There’s no doubt in my mind he’ll be back on the bench (Saturday).”
Calhoun went on medical leave on Feb. 3 to deal with spinal stenosis, a lower back condition, and has missed UConn’s last eight games. He had surgery on Monday morning at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and returned to his Pomfret home the following day.
The Huskies have gone 3-5 since Calhoun went on medical leave. He also missed three games to start the Big East season on NCAA suspension. UConn went 2-1 in those games.
Associate head coach George Blaney has piloted the Huskies through the 11 games Calhoun has missed this season.
“You could see it in their eyes, they were happy to see him,” Blaney said of the players on Friday. “Shabazz (Napier) and Andre, in particular, came over and gave him a big hug and welcomed him back. That was great to see.”
Added Drummond: “That’s a dedicated man right there. He doesn’t quit.”
“I didn’t know he was here, then I saw him, I looked again and ran over to him to see how he was doing.”
The familiar, bow-legged gait, arms folded, furrowed brow, whistle around his neck -- he's baaaack!!!
Jim Calhoun is currently overseeing UConn's practice at Gampel Pavilion. No decision has been made if he'll coach tomorrow's game with Pitt -- or even if he'll stay until the end of practice (around 3 p.m.).
We'll update you later ...
Calhoun has missed UConn’s last eight games due to spinal stenosis, a painful lower back condition. He had surgery on Monday morning at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and returned to his Pomfret home the following day.
The Huskies have gone 3-5 since Calhoun went on medical leave. He also missed three games to start the Big East season on NCAA suspension. UConn went 2-1 in those games.
Just talked to Andre LaFleur, the former UConn assistant coach who left last April to join Ed Cooley's staff at Providence as associate head coach. Contrary to popular belief, LaFleur says he didn't leave UConn because he felt he had been passed over by Kevin Ollie on the UConn coaching depth chart. It all came about at last year's Final Four in Houston, when he sat down with Cooley shortly after Cooley had left Fairfield to become PC's new head coach.
"It wasn't something I was even thinking about," LaFleur said. "I was trying to position myself for a few head coaching jobs, and I talked to Ed to see if I could get in the mix for (the Fairfield) job. He told me they wanted to go with a sitting head coach, and Ed and I just started talking from there."
LaFleur left UConn shortly after the Huskies' national championship game over Butler. In fact, he missed the championship parade in Hartford as he readied to take over his new position.
"I was thinking maybe it was time for a change, for different responsibilities," LaFleur said. "I had been at UConn for a while."
Although Jim Calhoun didn't appear very happy about LaFleur's departure the day of the parade, LaFleur insists that Calhoun "understood."
"It should be the goal of every assistant coach to do your job somewhere and one day, have the opportunity to run your own program," LaFleur said. "This seemed like an opportunity to do that someday."
Popular opinion was that LaFleur felt eclipsed by Ollie, the first-year assistant coach who drew raves for his recruiting and inspirational leadership with last year's team. LaFleur insists that's not the case.
"I never felt eclipsed or pushed out by anybody," he said. "I learned a lot from Kevin and from Glen Miller (who took over LaFleur's assistant job). On the court, Kevin brought a lot to the table with drills and practice things from his NBA experience. And I thought Glen was one of the best X's and O's guys ever as a UConn assistant coach."
LaFleur said he still has the same type of recruiting responsibilities as he did at UConn, but now has a lot more responsibilities on the court, with scouting, game preparation, etc.
"For one game, 40 minutes, we'll be trying to beat them," he said. "The atmosphere is going to be tremendous. Historically, UConn at Providence has not been an easy out."
But he added that he still hasn't counted UConn out for this season just yet.
"I still think they're capable of catching fire," he said. "There's too much talent there."
Jim Calhoun underwent successful surgery Monday morning to address foraminal spinal stenosis, a lower back condition which has forced him to take an extended medical leave of absence.
The procedure, performed at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, removed a large extruded disk fragment that was pressing on the spinal nerve and decompressed the area around the nerve. The surgery took approximately two hours and doctors expect the Hall of Fame coach to make a full recovery. He will remain hospitalized overnight and is expected to be released on Tuesday.
“I am very fortunate to have been treated by three of the very best surgeons,” Calhoun said. “My heartfelt thanks to them and the entire Beth Israel community, who have made every effort to ensure my stay is as comfortable as possible.
“Lastly, thank you to the people across Connecticut and beyond who have reached out to offer their support. It means a great deal.”
Calhoun is expected to recuperate at home after his release from the hospital, where his recovery will be monitored by his personal physician. His coaching status will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
UConn will play its final two games of the regular season Tuesday night at Providence and Saturday at home against Pittsburgh, then will participate in the BIG EAST Championship next week at Madison Square Garden.
The first annual Jim Calhoun CardioRaiser – Workout for Autism Speaks, presented by Farmington Bank, was held Sunday at Cardio Express in Manchester and Southington. Coach Calhoun was unable to attend due to a back problem requiring surgery. Coach Kevin Ollie and President and CEO of Farmington Bank stood in for him.
Hundreds of participants chose from a variety of cardio activities including Zumba, spinning, running or walking on treadmills, stair climbing, elliptical training, or riding a stationary bike. It is expected the event will raise $100,000 for autism.
“I am deeply committed to the cause of helping families confronting the many challenges of autism. It is my hope that this annual event will bring Connecticut families together to raise dollars so important to all those facing this complex neurobiological disorder. I am extremely grateful for all of the community support we have received thus far – presenting sponsor Farmington Bank, Cardio Express, The River 105.9, Country 92.5 and Panera Bread," said Coach Calhoun.
The dollars raised will go to the Connecticut Chapter of Autism Speaks and be used to fund global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raise public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bring hope and help to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder here in Connecticut.
Recruits know Calhoun can’t be here forever. But when heleaves, it would be nice to know that his legacy, so to speak, will be carriedon by another member of the UConn family. Presumably, that’ll be Kevin Ollie,who Calhoun seems to want as his successor. I don’t believe Ollie is ready tobe head coach quite yet, but another two or three years of tutelage and hecould be there. He’s already got tons of credentials on the recruiting trail,and tons of respect from current players.
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