Behind AJ, Huskies Pass Gonzaga Price Checkpoint
By Zach Smart
I’d say it’s about as certain as berth and death.
During one defining moment, in the aftermath of the UConn Huskies’ 2008-09 campaign—the final ride on A.J. Price’s rollercoaster collegiate career—a student-pupil meeting between Price and Jim Calhoun will extract some emotional overtone. The one-on-one meeting I’m envisioning is similar to the one between William Gates and coach Pingatore in Hoop Dreams.
Price, who Calhoun once pegged as the best player to ever pen with UConn—the NBA breeding house that actively hounded Price while his game took off at Amityville High (N.Y.)— will know that he gave a valiant effort to make up for lost time.
What type of memorable sendoff will Price give Calhoun and the Huskies? What PRICE-less words of advice will Calhoun heap on his point guard, whose individual resilience and resolve over the past five years scream “storybook ending?”
It is all about as predictable as disease, death, and Britney Spears’ next mythic meltdown.
So, there was Price on Dec. 20, rising to the occasion during UConn’s first true barometer game.
Price, whose outside shooting struggled during UConn’s first nine victories, canned a three with eighth seconds remaining in regulation, sending a dizzying game into overtime.
Read More...Click 'Read rest of Article' Below!!!
-
UConn ended up avenging last year’s loss with an 88-83 triumph before 16,763 in Seattle, Wash. He dropped 24 points and doled out 10 assists, toughening up during a superb second-half sword fight that featured ties and lead changes.
That’s Price making up for lost time.
Price spent his freshman season facing near-fatal darkness and his sophomore year sulking in his own boneheaded blunder.
The skeptics began to surface. The doubters said Price was done for good. Most just wondered what a kid born to two loving parents and raised well under superstar Ivy League father, Tony Price, was doing stealing laptop computers.
Price’s redshirt sophomore year was spent fending off the inevitable rust two years away from the game instigates. He tried to find his voice on a house thoroughly cleansed from the Final Four run a year before, a house featuring nine freshman and three sophomores. It never happened, and UConn labored through a trying 17-14 season. For the first time in recent memory, there was no post-season.
Then came Price’s junior season, when he restored the program’s credibility and helped catapult them back into the national picture. It ended in upsetting, dramatic fashion. Price suffered an injury that’s limited him, and the Huskies suffered a first round NCAA tournament upset.
In that 2007-08 season Price made the transition from pop tart puppy to potent pit bull. He hastened UConn’s already souped-up, hellfire offense and played with extra juice.
Maybe that was Price making up for lost time.
He was the guy leading the runways for UConn, the guy who the Huskies looked to in crunch time, the guy that was often lauded by his coach at the end of pivotal victories.
And UConn had a lot of them last year, defeating eventual Big East champion Pitt, West Virginia, and Marquette and scoring signature wins over Indiana and Georgetown.
Price made up for his spindly frame by being a cerebral player with in an insatiable thirst for victory.
He knifed through defenses, barreled his way to the bucket, and stuck pull-up jumpers. He became an area code outside shooter, played with a New York savvy, and answered the call when his teammates needed him to.
Price fell into the role of quarterback, lobbing passes that guys like Jeff Adrien, Hasheem Thabeet, and Jerome Dyson launched themselves into the sky for and slammed home.
He penetrated the gut of the defense, found the open man and snaked along the baseline. These antics, of course, increase the NCAA college basketball odds of a tournament berth.
Simply put, the kid who was once so close to the edge he was nearly balancing his Nikes on a piece of dental floss was worth the Price of admission.
He needs to bring that sense of urgency, playing every game as if it’s his last, into Big East play this season.
While the Gonzaga victory proved the Huskies are no joke, Price will need that attitude as the Big East slate begins Dec. 29 against Georgetown.
After all, if Price’s seesaw career has taught him anything, it’s that nothing is guaranteed and you never know when you’re career can come to an abrupt end.
Calhoun, Connecticut’s Hall of Fame and cancer-surviving game general, reiterated this point before. In a speech to his team, Calhoun said he still gets butterflies before playing Bryant College, who UConn trounced.
No question, a meeting between the coach-and-player will emerge before Price’s departure from Storrs. How the Huskies end the season, whether it’s hoisting a trophy or exiting early, is partly up to Price.
After health and legal issues nearly took him out the game, Price looks to make up for lost time yet again.
I’d say it’s about as certain as berth and death.
During one defining moment, in the aftermath of the UConn Huskies’ 2008-09 campaign—the final ride on A.J. Price’s rollercoaster collegiate career—a student-pupil meeting between Price and Jim Calhoun will extract some emotional overtone. The one-on-one meeting I’m envisioning is similar to the one between William Gates and coach Pingatore in Hoop Dreams.
Price, who Calhoun once pegged as the best player to ever pen with UConn—the NBA breeding house that actively hounded Price while his game took off at Amityville High (N.Y.)— will know that he gave a valiant effort to make up for lost time.
What type of memorable sendoff will Price give Calhoun and the Huskies? What PRICE-less words of advice will Calhoun heap on his point guard, whose individual resilience and resolve over the past five years scream “storybook ending?”
It is all about as predictable as disease, death, and Britney Spears’ next mythic meltdown.
So, there was Price on Dec. 20, rising to the occasion during UConn’s first true barometer game.
Price, whose outside shooting struggled during UConn’s first nine victories, canned a three with eighth seconds remaining in regulation, sending a dizzying game into overtime.
Read More...Click 'Read rest of Article' Below!!!
-
UConn ended up avenging last year’s loss with an 88-83 triumph before 16,763 in Seattle, Wash. He dropped 24 points and doled out 10 assists, toughening up during a superb second-half sword fight that featured ties and lead changes.
That’s Price making up for lost time.
Price spent his freshman season facing near-fatal darkness and his sophomore year sulking in his own boneheaded blunder.
The skeptics began to surface. The doubters said Price was done for good. Most just wondered what a kid born to two loving parents and raised well under superstar Ivy League father, Tony Price, was doing stealing laptop computers.
Price’s redshirt sophomore year was spent fending off the inevitable rust two years away from the game instigates. He tried to find his voice on a house thoroughly cleansed from the Final Four run a year before, a house featuring nine freshman and three sophomores. It never happened, and UConn labored through a trying 17-14 season. For the first time in recent memory, there was no post-season.
Then came Price’s junior season, when he restored the program’s credibility and helped catapult them back into the national picture. It ended in upsetting, dramatic fashion. Price suffered an injury that’s limited him, and the Huskies suffered a first round NCAA tournament upset.
In that 2007-08 season Price made the transition from pop tart puppy to potent pit bull. He hastened UConn’s already souped-up, hellfire offense and played with extra juice.
Maybe that was Price making up for lost time.
He was the guy leading the runways for UConn, the guy who the Huskies looked to in crunch time, the guy that was often lauded by his coach at the end of pivotal victories.
And UConn had a lot of them last year, defeating eventual Big East champion Pitt, West Virginia, and Marquette and scoring signature wins over Indiana and Georgetown.
Price made up for his spindly frame by being a cerebral player with in an insatiable thirst for victory.
He knifed through defenses, barreled his way to the bucket, and stuck pull-up jumpers. He became an area code outside shooter, played with a New York savvy, and answered the call when his teammates needed him to.
Price fell into the role of quarterback, lobbing passes that guys like Jeff Adrien, Hasheem Thabeet, and Jerome Dyson launched themselves into the sky for and slammed home.
He penetrated the gut of the defense, found the open man and snaked along the baseline. These antics, of course, increase the NCAA college basketball odds of a tournament berth.
Simply put, the kid who was once so close to the edge he was nearly balancing his Nikes on a piece of dental floss was worth the Price of admission.
He needs to bring that sense of urgency, playing every game as if it’s his last, into Big East play this season.
While the Gonzaga victory proved the Huskies are no joke, Price will need that attitude as the Big East slate begins Dec. 29 against Georgetown.
After all, if Price’s seesaw career has taught him anything, it’s that nothing is guaranteed and you never know when you’re career can come to an abrupt end.
Calhoun, Connecticut’s Hall of Fame and cancer-surviving game general, reiterated this point before. In a speech to his team, Calhoun said he still gets butterflies before playing Bryant College, who UConn trounced.
No question, a meeting between the coach-and-player will emerge before Price’s departure from Storrs. How the Huskies end the season, whether it’s hoisting a trophy or exiting early, is partly up to Price.
After health and legal issues nearly took him out the game, Price looks to make up for lost time yet again.
Labels: Connecticut news
posted by NBE Blogger @ 10:00 PM
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