Thoughts Before Buffalo
By Zach Smart
Following a 30-point win over a Delaware State team (well, every player except Donald Johnson, who was smoking) that couldn’t throw the ball into the Wide Sargasso Sea and shot the rock like they were blindfolded at a strip club, the Huskies travel to the freezing-cold confines of the University of Buffalo Thursday night.
Rather than inviting Buffalo up to Gampel or the XL center for a guarantee game, the UConn will trek to the Alumni Arena, uncharted territory for the No.2 Huskies.
While college basketball odds will certainly be stacked against the Buffalo Bulls, the Huskies will not be the first highly rated Big East squad to venture into Alumni Arena. Two seasons ago, Aaron Gray and a top 5 Pitt squad made the trek and UB took the mighty Panthers to the wire in a 70-67 loss nearly two years to the day.
Last season, the Huskies faced Buffalo at Storrs, bouncing back from a lackluster 69-65 win over Morgan State by rolling to a convincing 82-57 thrashing.
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This was during the regional round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic, benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. The Huskies got 24 points from A.J Price and an exhilarating, momentum-changing performance from exiled Husky Stanley “Sticks” Robinson that night.
Robinson, who will likely be back in 2009, finished with 10 points, 13 caroms, and six swats that night.
It was certainly a redemption night for the wiry, freakishly athletic Alabama native, as Robinson re-wrote the script following a zero-point, five-turnover disaster the previous night. He was treated to a traditional, inevitable verbal whipping from Jim Calhoun following the Morgan State game and the UConn coach admittedly went from embarrassed to awestruck after his show against Buffalo. In the post-game interview, Calhoun compared Robinson’s wowing athletic ability to the likes of UConn products Scottie Burrell and Rudy Gay.
UConn posted a whopping 15 blocked shots that night, and “Sticks,” the feast-or-famine swingman, kept Buffalo out of the key.
That was then. Now is now. A lot has changed since that brisk November night in Connecticut.
-The manpower has never been in short supply at UConn. Calhoun’s penchant for getting super-sized bigs that can patrol the paint to sign with Connecticut has proved profitable. The Huskies have arguably the most formidable frontline in the country in 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien. Both players can agitate, affect, and alter the trajectory of shots.
The Huskies have some depth up front, but no oceanic, Hudson River depth. Gavin Edwards turned in a career night against Delaware State Monday, erupting for 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting. His coming out party could jack up the 6-foot-9 forward’s minutes in a non-conference game of this type. Calhoun’s other 7-foot Godzilla-sized centers, Jonathon Mandeldove and Charles Okwandu, have played sparingly. Both players are a work-in-progress and have looked greener than a weed plantation.
-Kemba Walker is rapidly ascending into a new zip code. The highly-touted freshman has established himself as one of the best point guards in the Big East and the gem of this year’s recruiting class. He’s panned out as a presence in the running game but doesn’t whip passes the way Marcus Williams did. In Calhoun’s eyes, however, he has not played to his level in the past two days. Price, on the other hand, is nowhere near the player he was last year, when he mushroomed into Player of the Year candidate. Price is averaging 8.5 points per, hitting his shots at an inadequate 18-for-51 clip (35 percent), including 11-for-29 from beyond the arc. Price has hit just 4-of-11 from the charity stripe, as the Huskies’ free throw shooting woes continue.
Buffalo jumped out to a 2-0 start on the season before suffering back-to-back losses to Evansville and geographic rival Niagara. In the heartbreaking 64-61 loss to Niagara, scoring engine Tyrone Lewis scored a game-high 23 points. Rob Garrison, the former UConn guard who transferred after being buried on the bench, added nine points. Buffalo resuscitated itself by stamping an 83-73 win on Temple. The Bulls (3-2) have well-balanced scoring, led by Rodney Harrison’s 17 points per. Harrison has displayed his full offensive repertoire this season, attacking the rim, getting the mid-range game going, and dialing in from downtown. Beyond go-to-go Harrison, guard-forward Greg Gamble is averaging 14 points and six boards per. Andy Robinson (10.5 ppg) and Calvin Betts, who dropped 18 points and pulled down seven boards in the win over Temple. The Bulls have augmented their bench depth over the years. Senior shooter Sean Smiley, who struggled in last year’s meeting at UConn (and easily became a target for the UConn fan base), can light it up off the knot.
Following a 30-point win over a Delaware State team (well, every player except Donald Johnson, who was smoking) that couldn’t throw the ball into the Wide Sargasso Sea and shot the rock like they were blindfolded at a strip club, the Huskies travel to the freezing-cold confines of the University of Buffalo Thursday night.
Rather than inviting Buffalo up to Gampel or the XL center for a guarantee game, the UConn will trek to the Alumni Arena, uncharted territory for the No.2 Huskies.
While college basketball odds will certainly be stacked against the Buffalo Bulls, the Huskies will not be the first highly rated Big East squad to venture into Alumni Arena. Two seasons ago, Aaron Gray and a top 5 Pitt squad made the trek and UB took the mighty Panthers to the wire in a 70-67 loss nearly two years to the day.
Last season, the Huskies faced Buffalo at Storrs, bouncing back from a lackluster 69-65 win over Morgan State by rolling to a convincing 82-57 thrashing.
Read More...Click Below!
This was during the regional round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic, benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. The Huskies got 24 points from A.J Price and an exhilarating, momentum-changing performance from exiled Husky Stanley “Sticks” Robinson that night.
Robinson, who will likely be back in 2009, finished with 10 points, 13 caroms, and six swats that night.
It was certainly a redemption night for the wiry, freakishly athletic Alabama native, as Robinson re-wrote the script following a zero-point, five-turnover disaster the previous night. He was treated to a traditional, inevitable verbal whipping from Jim Calhoun following the Morgan State game and the UConn coach admittedly went from embarrassed to awestruck after his show against Buffalo. In the post-game interview, Calhoun compared Robinson’s wowing athletic ability to the likes of UConn products Scottie Burrell and Rudy Gay.
UConn posted a whopping 15 blocked shots that night, and “Sticks,” the feast-or-famine swingman, kept Buffalo out of the key.
That was then. Now is now. A lot has changed since that brisk November night in Connecticut.
-The manpower has never been in short supply at UConn. Calhoun’s penchant for getting super-sized bigs that can patrol the paint to sign with Connecticut has proved profitable. The Huskies have arguably the most formidable frontline in the country in 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien. Both players can agitate, affect, and alter the trajectory of shots.
The Huskies have some depth up front, but no oceanic, Hudson River depth. Gavin Edwards turned in a career night against Delaware State Monday, erupting for 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting. His coming out party could jack up the 6-foot-9 forward’s minutes in a non-conference game of this type. Calhoun’s other 7-foot Godzilla-sized centers, Jonathon Mandeldove and Charles Okwandu, have played sparingly. Both players are a work-in-progress and have looked greener than a weed plantation.
-Kemba Walker is rapidly ascending into a new zip code. The highly-touted freshman has established himself as one of the best point guards in the Big East and the gem of this year’s recruiting class. He’s panned out as a presence in the running game but doesn’t whip passes the way Marcus Williams did. In Calhoun’s eyes, however, he has not played to his level in the past two days. Price, on the other hand, is nowhere near the player he was last year, when he mushroomed into Player of the Year candidate. Price is averaging 8.5 points per, hitting his shots at an inadequate 18-for-51 clip (35 percent), including 11-for-29 from beyond the arc. Price has hit just 4-of-11 from the charity stripe, as the Huskies’ free throw shooting woes continue.
Buffalo jumped out to a 2-0 start on the season before suffering back-to-back losses to Evansville and geographic rival Niagara. In the heartbreaking 64-61 loss to Niagara, scoring engine Tyrone Lewis scored a game-high 23 points. Rob Garrison, the former UConn guard who transferred after being buried on the bench, added nine points. Buffalo resuscitated itself by stamping an 83-73 win on Temple. The Bulls (3-2) have well-balanced scoring, led by Rodney Harrison’s 17 points per. Harrison has displayed his full offensive repertoire this season, attacking the rim, getting the mid-range game going, and dialing in from downtown. Beyond go-to-go Harrison, guard-forward Greg Gamble is averaging 14 points and six boards per. Andy Robinson (10.5 ppg) and Calvin Betts, who dropped 18 points and pulled down seven boards in the win over Temple. The Bulls have augmented their bench depth over the years. Senior shooter Sean Smiley, who struggled in last year’s meeting at UConn (and easily became a target for the UConn fan base), can light it up off the knot.
Labels: Connecticut news
posted by NBE Blogger @ 10:26 AM
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