UConn and Other Ramblings, Part I
First thing's first, and that is Brian's Etkin's joke of an article in today's Times Union. Go online and read it yourself, because I'm not linking it here.
My biggest problem with Etkin's article is the fact that his questions are nothing more than attempts to disparage the university and its students. Would he ask the same sort of questions to RPI or Union students if their hockey teams were in the NCAA's? Of course not.
Uh, Mr. Etkin, 5 teams are in the Final Four and Levi Levine, Sr. is Brian Lillis's dad. Those questions have absolutely nothing to do with the UA basketball team.
I know, he's ony trying to be funny.
Mr. Etkin, be a journalist and not a jerk.
I just filled out my bracket and boy, do I need a shower. I wanted to pick the Danes so badly, but I couldn't. If its any consolation, I think we'll cover. Actually, that's no consolation at all.
Speaking of which, I love that the line has come down on the game-- it opened at 23.5 and now sits at 22.5. America is doing their homework, for once.
For the record, my Final Four is UConn, Villanova, Marquette, Texas. Villanova meets Texas and Villanova wins. In case you can't tell, I have a pretty strong Big East bias. I also have Georgetown in my Elite 8 and WVU in my Sweet 16.
As a general rule, take Dogs in the first round and favorites in the second.
On to UConn and Huskie Nation...
I have heard from a pretty good source that Calhoun is using the "Albany doesn't think you're a big deal" motivation speech for this one. If he is, all I can say is "wow." Coach Calhoun pulling out all the stops for his first-round matchup v. Albany. Maybe Jimmy's just a little more worried than I thought...
UConn's frontcourt:
Hilton Armstrong 6'11"
Rebecca Lobo 6'10"
Rudy Gay 6'9"
Ed Nelson 6'8"
Denham Brown 6'6"
I believe UConn starts Boone, Armstrong, Gay and Brown, along with Williams.
Ours:
Zo 7'1"
Brent 6'8"
Connelly 6'8" (220)
Covinton 6'7"
Levi 6'6"
The question becomes, who do we start? Go small and try to force them into some turnovers. If we do so and start our normal 5, who covers Gay? Brian or Lucious, and either way, that is a problem.
After beating Louisville and Pitt back in January, the St. John's basketball team headed to Storrs to play UConn. St. John's was able to make a game of it, with UConn pulling away at the end and eventaully winning 66-50. Granted, I caught only the last 6 minutes of the game, as I had class that evening, but St. John's was within 5 at that point.
UConn had 16 blocks in that game, and they will probably put up similar numbers in this one. Despite their number of blocked shots, St. John's was able to test UConn physically, and that might be our only hope here. I've watched St. John's play a lot of basketball this year. Yes, the Big East is a physical conference, but St. John's roster isn't loaded with bruisers. I actually think this UAlbany team compares very favorably with this year's St. John's team. They may be a bit more athletic, but we definitely shoot much better from the perimeter.
Per some of Calhoun's comments below after the St. John's game, we're going to need to get some quality minutes out of Levi and Covington (especially) in this one. Actually, I think Covington may relish this type of game, as we might see some refs that will let him play. I also like how Jason had 7 rebounds in 16 minutes in the UVM game. Mr. Siggers' athleticism and ability to create will also be important to keep us in this one.
Despite our tendency to run, I don't think that necessarily behooves us here. As coach said on TV, UConn is going to try to throw a knockout punch in the first 8 minutes of the game. How will we weather that storm? I'm not sure, but slowing it down and knocking down some open shots on the perimeter will help make it a bit closer.
Below are some of Calhoun's quotes from after the St. John's game form which we might learn something about how to play against them:
"...They took us out of our offense early, played us very physical and did not allow us to get into a flow. Our kids had to make some decisions because we’re not a “go by” team – by that I mean we don’t necessarily beat you off the bounce. We basically try to beat you by setting screens, passing the basketball, etc. And St. John’s did a good job of doing that."
"In the second half….the game became much more physical than I would like to have seen. It reminded me of a Big East game, probably back in the early ‘90s."
"Our kids have got to be prepared for any type of basketball. If a team is going to put ball pressure on us, which St. John’s did a great job of, we have to do a better job. They did a great job with the flat screen, which gave them a great deal of penetration."
"The good news is that we had the kind of people that can block shots, so we blocked 16 shots when they came down the middle. That, obviously, was very positive."
"I think we as a team played OK. I think St. John’s disrupted us for most of the evening.."
Hopefully we can find a way to disrupt UConn as did St. John's and make it interesting, or maybe, just maybe, something more.
My biggest problem with Etkin's article is the fact that his questions are nothing more than attempts to disparage the university and its students. Would he ask the same sort of questions to RPI or Union students if their hockey teams were in the NCAA's? Of course not.
Uh, Mr. Etkin, 5 teams are in the Final Four and Levi Levine, Sr. is Brian Lillis's dad. Those questions have absolutely nothing to do with the UA basketball team.
I know, he's ony trying to be funny.
Mr. Etkin, be a journalist and not a jerk.
I just filled out my bracket and boy, do I need a shower. I wanted to pick the Danes so badly, but I couldn't. If its any consolation, I think we'll cover. Actually, that's no consolation at all.
Speaking of which, I love that the line has come down on the game-- it opened at 23.5 and now sits at 22.5. America is doing their homework, for once.
For the record, my Final Four is UConn, Villanova, Marquette, Texas. Villanova meets Texas and Villanova wins. In case you can't tell, I have a pretty strong Big East bias. I also have Georgetown in my Elite 8 and WVU in my Sweet 16.
As a general rule, take Dogs in the first round and favorites in the second.
On to UConn and Huskie Nation...
I have heard from a pretty good source that Calhoun is using the "Albany doesn't think you're a big deal" motivation speech for this one. If he is, all I can say is "wow." Coach Calhoun pulling out all the stops for his first-round matchup v. Albany. Maybe Jimmy's just a little more worried than I thought...
UConn's frontcourt:
Hilton Armstrong 6'11"
Rebecca Lobo 6'10"
Rudy Gay 6'9"
Ed Nelson 6'8"
Denham Brown 6'6"
I believe UConn starts Boone, Armstrong, Gay and Brown, along with Williams.
Ours:
Zo 7'1"
Brent 6'8"
Connelly 6'8" (220)
Covinton 6'7"
Levi 6'6"
The question becomes, who do we start? Go small and try to force them into some turnovers. If we do so and start our normal 5, who covers Gay? Brian or Lucious, and either way, that is a problem.
After beating Louisville and Pitt back in January, the St. John's basketball team headed to Storrs to play UConn. St. John's was able to make a game of it, with UConn pulling away at the end and eventaully winning 66-50. Granted, I caught only the last 6 minutes of the game, as I had class that evening, but St. John's was within 5 at that point.
UConn had 16 blocks in that game, and they will probably put up similar numbers in this one. Despite their number of blocked shots, St. John's was able to test UConn physically, and that might be our only hope here. I've watched St. John's play a lot of basketball this year. Yes, the Big East is a physical conference, but St. John's roster isn't loaded with bruisers. I actually think this UAlbany team compares very favorably with this year's St. John's team. They may be a bit more athletic, but we definitely shoot much better from the perimeter.
Per some of Calhoun's comments below after the St. John's game, we're going to need to get some quality minutes out of Levi and Covington (especially) in this one. Actually, I think Covington may relish this type of game, as we might see some refs that will let him play. I also like how Jason had 7 rebounds in 16 minutes in the UVM game. Mr. Siggers' athleticism and ability to create will also be important to keep us in this one.
Despite our tendency to run, I don't think that necessarily behooves us here. As coach said on TV, UConn is going to try to throw a knockout punch in the first 8 minutes of the game. How will we weather that storm? I'm not sure, but slowing it down and knocking down some open shots on the perimeter will help make it a bit closer.
Below are some of Calhoun's quotes from after the St. John's game form which we might learn something about how to play against them:
"...They took us out of our offense early, played us very physical and did not allow us to get into a flow. Our kids had to make some decisions because we’re not a “go by” team – by that I mean we don’t necessarily beat you off the bounce. We basically try to beat you by setting screens, passing the basketball, etc. And St. John’s did a good job of doing that."
"In the second half….the game became much more physical than I would like to have seen. It reminded me of a Big East game, probably back in the early ‘90s."
"Our kids have got to be prepared for any type of basketball. If a team is going to put ball pressure on us, which St. John’s did a great job of, we have to do a better job. They did a great job with the flat screen, which gave them a great deal of penetration."
"The good news is that we had the kind of people that can block shots, so we blocked 16 shots when they came down the middle. That, obviously, was very positive."
"I think we as a team played OK. I think St. John’s disrupted us for most of the evening.."
Hopefully we can find a way to disrupt UConn as did St. John's and make it interesting, or maybe, just maybe, something more.
posted by L3K at 6:30 AM
1 Comments:
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