UCONN-DELAWARE ST. GAME NOTES
December 1, 2008
By Zach Smart
First off, coming into the Huskies’ 88-58 drubbing of Bryant, I didn’t expect the first-year Division-I Northeast Conference squad to put up a brief fight the way they did.
I also didn’t expect them to torch the nets and ignite each other with a “never-say-die” mentality. It’s a testament to their team harmony.
The reason I hit the pillow and literally went to sleep on the kids from the 413-landscape was because of the clear mismatches the game would present.
The Huskies’ frontline features two monsters in 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet (a walking double-double now that he’s posting 14.2 ppg and 10.8 ppg) and Jeff Adrien, whose guns are illegal even in Mexico (though a mid-range game and more consistency would complement his physical brand of play and hike up his pro stock).
Perusing through the Bryant roster, I saw that they had just one player over the height of 6-8.
Then I looked into the Bryant program and realized that this player, Papa Lo (any relation to Muhammed Lo, the forward on Toledo who was suspended in high school for pulling a Latrell Spreewell and choking his coach?) was a transfer via UMass. Thus, he had to sit this season out due to NCAA transfer rule.
Papa Lo.
Now this name sounds more appropriate for a funky pizza joint. It could also be the name for an under-the-radar rapper, or even a pen name for a pornographic novel writer.
Read More...Click Below!
After delving into Lo’s biography, I realized his defensive prowess is his main plus point. He swatted six shots in a game last year but the Dioburnal native scored just six total points on the season. He beat the total I registered my senior year of high school by two points! And while I may have found the bottom of the net only two times (in 4 attempts), I still scored four times as many points as Deng Deng, the cousin of Chicago Bulls star Loul Deng. Deng, a 6-foot-9 forward/center that was about as raw as sushi on 125th Ave., scored 1 point that year. I know, my penchant for storing some pretty odd, worthless statistics in my memory bank (and keeping them there for way too long) has been noted in the past.
“I thought they did a good job making threes, spreading the threes and running the floor,” said Calhoun of Bryant.
“Teams won’t play us the way Bryant played us.”
Bryant, a great team on the Division-II level, has the chance to make an immediate impact in the Northeast Conference. The NEC has lost much of its luster from last season with the departure of 2007-08 Player of the Year Tony Lee (Robert Morris) and scoring machine DeMario Anderson (Quinnipiac).
As for Delaware State:
-The Hornets are an extremely well-balanced team scoring-wise, with just one player, Donald Johnson (10.6 ppg) averaging in double figures.
-They average just 55 points per game and will try to take UConn out of its groove by playing a low-tempo brand of ball that emphasizes crisp ball movement (kind of like a motion offense). Jim Calhoun noted that this team scored 42 points in four consecutive games, a rare stat. The 1-8 Hornets did this in four straight losses to Dayton, Ohio State, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
-The Huskies’ penchant for playing down to the competition in the early going has been noted at times, and the first half of yesterday’s walloping was indicative of that. Against Bryant, they may have a free pass due to the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam hangover.
-They have yet to defeat a Division-I opponent this season, with their lone win coming at the hands of D-II and in-state foe Wilmington.
-They lost a tight one to D-II Cheyney in the championship game of the Hornet Classic, which they hosted at the start of the season. Johnson dropped 26 in that three-point upset, shooting 7-for-12 from the field.
-The Hornets, after playing perhaps the toughest out-of-conference schedule in school history, lost tight ones to Longwood and Oakland.
-D-State was projected to finish third in the MEAC, a conference that launched Coppin State to the NCAA tournament for the first time last season.
-UConn has walloped MEAC competition these last few seasons
-Will the slowdown offense that D-State runs have any affect on the Huskies?
“We play a lot of good teams in the Big East that play different styles,” said senior guard A.J. Price. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”
By Zach Smart
First off, coming into the Huskies’ 88-58 drubbing of Bryant, I didn’t expect the first-year Division-I Northeast Conference squad to put up a brief fight the way they did.
I also didn’t expect them to torch the nets and ignite each other with a “never-say-die” mentality. It’s a testament to their team harmony.
The reason I hit the pillow and literally went to sleep on the kids from the 413-landscape was because of the clear mismatches the game would present.
The Huskies’ frontline features two monsters in 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet (a walking double-double now that he’s posting 14.2 ppg and 10.8 ppg) and Jeff Adrien, whose guns are illegal even in Mexico (though a mid-range game and more consistency would complement his physical brand of play and hike up his pro stock).
Perusing through the Bryant roster, I saw that they had just one player over the height of 6-8.
Then I looked into the Bryant program and realized that this player, Papa Lo (any relation to Muhammed Lo, the forward on Toledo who was suspended in high school for pulling a Latrell Spreewell and choking his coach?) was a transfer via UMass. Thus, he had to sit this season out due to NCAA transfer rule.
Papa Lo.
Now this name sounds more appropriate for a funky pizza joint. It could also be the name for an under-the-radar rapper, or even a pen name for a pornographic novel writer.
Read More...Click Below!
After delving into Lo’s biography, I realized his defensive prowess is his main plus point. He swatted six shots in a game last year but the Dioburnal native scored just six total points on the season. He beat the total I registered my senior year of high school by two points! And while I may have found the bottom of the net only two times (in 4 attempts), I still scored four times as many points as Deng Deng, the cousin of Chicago Bulls star Loul Deng. Deng, a 6-foot-9 forward/center that was about as raw as sushi on 125th Ave., scored 1 point that year. I know, my penchant for storing some pretty odd, worthless statistics in my memory bank (and keeping them there for way too long) has been noted in the past.
“I thought they did a good job making threes, spreading the threes and running the floor,” said Calhoun of Bryant.
“Teams won’t play us the way Bryant played us.”
Bryant, a great team on the Division-II level, has the chance to make an immediate impact in the Northeast Conference. The NEC has lost much of its luster from last season with the departure of 2007-08 Player of the Year Tony Lee (Robert Morris) and scoring machine DeMario Anderson (Quinnipiac).
As for Delaware State:
-The Hornets are an extremely well-balanced team scoring-wise, with just one player, Donald Johnson (10.6 ppg) averaging in double figures.
-They average just 55 points per game and will try to take UConn out of its groove by playing a low-tempo brand of ball that emphasizes crisp ball movement (kind of like a motion offense). Jim Calhoun noted that this team scored 42 points in four consecutive games, a rare stat. The 1-8 Hornets did this in four straight losses to Dayton, Ohio State, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
-The Huskies’ penchant for playing down to the competition in the early going has been noted at times, and the first half of yesterday’s walloping was indicative of that. Against Bryant, they may have a free pass due to the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam hangover.
-They have yet to defeat a Division-I opponent this season, with their lone win coming at the hands of D-II and in-state foe Wilmington.
-They lost a tight one to D-II Cheyney in the championship game of the Hornet Classic, which they hosted at the start of the season. Johnson dropped 26 in that three-point upset, shooting 7-for-12 from the field.
-The Hornets, after playing perhaps the toughest out-of-conference schedule in school history, lost tight ones to Longwood and Oakland.
-D-State was projected to finish third in the MEAC, a conference that launched Coppin State to the NCAA tournament for the first time last season.
-UConn has walloped MEAC competition these last few seasons
-Will the slowdown offense that D-State runs have any affect on the Huskies?
“We play a lot of good teams in the Big East that play different styles,” said senior guard A.J. Price. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Labels: Connecticut news
posted by NBE Blogger @ 11:29 AM
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