BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St John's @ Connecticut
January 25, 2006
With the set-up of the new Big East, some worried it would be difficult to create or maintain rivalries, but, every conference needs rivilaries and in the last few months, Norm Roberts and Jim Calhoun seem to be very intent and building one between the Redstorm and Huskies as it has played out in the media. Tonight, they meet up on the court!
Here are some of the pregame articles from around the internet:
No 1. Huskies Welcome red-hot Storm to Town (Danbury News Times)
With Williams Back, Austrie Still on the court (Connecticut Post)
As #1 Team, Huskies Really Target Now (New London Day)
Brown Still Riding See-saw Career (Hartford Courant)
Huskies Face Red Hot Storm (Norwich Bulletin)
St John's Takes Aim at Huskies (Waterbury Republican-American)
Scrappy St John's in Town (Torrington Register-Citizen)
Calhoun, Huskies Ready for St John's...on the court (New Haven Register)
UConn Wary But Enjoying the View (Hartford Courant)
Confident Redstorm Tackle Huskies (Newsday)
Disgruntled Gray Transfers to Iona (Daily News)
Roberts, Calhoun Star in Soap Opera (NY Post)
Storming the Top.
Johnnies on the Spot (NY Post)
To read our preview and see our game prediction, click read more below and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section!
READ OUR PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
With all those pre-game articles to read, not much else really can be said about this one. Connecticut is the newly annointed #1 team in the land and will definitely have a bigger bulls-eye on their back as long as they remain #1. St John's took down undefeated Pittsburgh at home last weekend and now they will try to take down the nation's #1 team on the road, a tall order for thr 15-pt underdogs.
St John's definitely has a style that is very unique in the conference. They are tough, gritty and scrappy and play that way for the entire 40 minutes for coach Norm Roberts. They are not a very good shooting team, but are tough and athletic and will not give you anything.
Connecticut is the skilled and stylish group of potential NBA lottery picks. They prefer a free-flowing style that allows them to get out and run and play in open space. This is the area that the Redstorm will try to take away from the Huskies with thier defense and slow-it-down mentality on offense. They would love for the game to be in the 50's while UConn wants it to be a track meet.
Playing in the road it is much tougher to control tempo and look for Coach Calhoun to be on the officials early trying to get a tightly called game to give Connecticut more space, and playing at home, look for him to get it.
The quickness of Daryll Hill is a weapon that SJU will need to unleash in this game. He will need to engage Marcus Williams in a little bit of one-on-one action to possibly get Williams away from running the team in the near perfect manner he has recently. The UConn front line will have to respect Lamont Hamilton's ability to face up and nail the 3-pt shot, but if he decides it is easier to get shots at the arc than inside, it could be a long night for the Redstorm.
Connecticut has a lot of depth inside and out and it is quality depth. The Redstorm lost a little of their depth this week when Dexter Gray decided to transfer out of the program and move on to Iona, most likely. With a three game winning streak, it is not clear if this could pose a distraction. The Redstorm have clawed their way to 3-2 in the conference and have to be taken seriously, Jim Calhoun will be on his team from start to finish tonight making sure they do.
NBE Blogger Prediction:
Connecticut 75 St John's 58
With the set-up of the new Big East, some worried it would be difficult to create or maintain rivalries, but, every conference needs rivilaries and in the last few months, Norm Roberts and Jim Calhoun seem to be very intent and building one between the Redstorm and Huskies as it has played out in the media. Tonight, they meet up on the court!
Here are some of the pregame articles from around the internet:
No 1. Huskies Welcome red-hot Storm to Town (Danbury News Times)
With Williams Back, Austrie Still on the court (Connecticut Post)
As #1 Team, Huskies Really Target Now (New London Day)
Brown Still Riding See-saw Career (Hartford Courant)
Huskies Face Red Hot Storm (Norwich Bulletin)
St John's Takes Aim at Huskies (Waterbury Republican-American)
Scrappy St John's in Town (Torrington Register-Citizen)
Calhoun, Huskies Ready for St John's...on the court (New Haven Register)
UConn Wary But Enjoying the View (Hartford Courant)
Confident Redstorm Tackle Huskies (Newsday)
Disgruntled Gray Transfers to Iona (Daily News)
Roberts, Calhoun Star in Soap Opera (NY Post)
Storming the Top.
Johnnies on the Spot (NY Post)
To read our preview and see our game prediction, click read more below and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section!
READ OUR PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
With all those pre-game articles to read, not much else really can be said about this one. Connecticut is the newly annointed #1 team in the land and will definitely have a bigger bulls-eye on their back as long as they remain #1. St John's took down undefeated Pittsburgh at home last weekend and now they will try to take down the nation's #1 team on the road, a tall order for thr 15-pt underdogs.
St John's definitely has a style that is very unique in the conference. They are tough, gritty and scrappy and play that way for the entire 40 minutes for coach Norm Roberts. They are not a very good shooting team, but are tough and athletic and will not give you anything.
Connecticut is the skilled and stylish group of potential NBA lottery picks. They prefer a free-flowing style that allows them to get out and run and play in open space. This is the area that the Redstorm will try to take away from the Huskies with thier defense and slow-it-down mentality on offense. They would love for the game to be in the 50's while UConn wants it to be a track meet.
Playing in the road it is much tougher to control tempo and look for Coach Calhoun to be on the officials early trying to get a tightly called game to give Connecticut more space, and playing at home, look for him to get it.
The quickness of Daryll Hill is a weapon that SJU will need to unleash in this game. He will need to engage Marcus Williams in a little bit of one-on-one action to possibly get Williams away from running the team in the near perfect manner he has recently. The UConn front line will have to respect Lamont Hamilton's ability to face up and nail the 3-pt shot, but if he decides it is easier to get shots at the arc than inside, it could be a long night for the Redstorm.
Connecticut has a lot of depth inside and out and it is quality depth. The Redstorm lost a little of their depth this week when Dexter Gray decided to transfer out of the program and move on to Iona, most likely. With a three game winning streak, it is not clear if this could pose a distraction. The Redstorm have clawed their way to 3-2 in the conference and have to be taken seriously, Jim Calhoun will be on his team from start to finish tonight making sure they do.
NBE Blogger Prediction:
Connecticut 75 St John's 58
posted by NBE Blogger @ 8:48 AM
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