SEEN, HEARD & NOTED IN STORRS

by Zach Smart


Hasheem Thabeet’s confidence has suddenly become cockiness. While this
rugged mentality is norm for the UConn big man, some of Thabeet’s
colorful antics were off the wall on Wednesday.

Thabeet swatted and plucked seven shots while he altered, influenced,
and changed the trajectory of countless others during UConn’s 63-49
victory over rival Syracuse.

He gave several players his trademark stare down after blocking their
shot. During one sequence, Thabeet blocked a Jonny Flynn shot attempt
that triggered a fast break.

Thabeet once again applied the staredown at Flynn, jogging down the
court while a frustrated Flynn trailed him. Thabeet jolted in front of
Flynn and whipped his hand behind his back, as if to give Flynn a
sarcastic high five, and Flynn batted it away.

Read More...Click Below!


Prior to the game, the UConn fans treated Thabeet to chants of “One
More Year!”

Thabeet, whose name is littered on NBA mock drafts as a consensus
top-five pick, probably won’t meet the wishes of his loyal fan base.
While his larger-than-life presence and nose for the ball has already
elicited a whirlpool of drool from NBA scouts, Thabeet is far from
ready.

He still needs to develop refined, back to the basket moves and kick
the habit of putting the ball down in the paint. He could be as good as
anyone in the country if he just goes up strong and avoids putting the
ball down.

During the first half, when UConn had trouble with Syracuse’s patented,
traditional zone, Thabeet didn’t post anyone up or establish himself
offensively. If he could float freely along the baseline and work off
of Adrien via picks, he would be much more of a scoring threat.
Instead, he was parked on the blocks and a non-factor offensively. Guys
like Amare Stoudemire and Tim Duncan will be playing with house money
if they are matched up with Thabeet.

Let’s not forget, he hasn’t been playing organized basketball for that
long. He doesn’t have the skill set that guys that lived on AAU,
constant skill development camps, and coaching clinics galore have
developed over time.

Still, if Thabeet is to live up to his high draft stock and pan out at
the next level, he must become more assertive offensively.
Defensively, you can’t ask for anything more from the 7-foot-3
behemoth. He’s been playing above the law and challenging every shot,
making life hectic around the key and in the paint. Offensively, you
need more post moves and production out of the Tanzania native.

Harris And Calhoun Exchange Words: After Paul Harris’ fastbreak
coast-to-coast dunk knotted it up at 35 with 16:51 remaining, he
touched the ball and was charged with a delay of game warning. Running
down the other side of the floor, Calhoun made a comment to the former
Notre Dame Prep forward. Harris quickly retorted, and referee Jim Burr
got involved by stopping the game. After chatting with Boeheim for a
few minutes, while a rowdy crowd pegged the Syracuse bench—prime
targets Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf, mostly—with insults, Burr got
the game going again.

Both coaches wrote the incident off as nothing.

“Paul Harris, who I’ve known since he was a freshman in high school ...
he and I were joking during the game," explained Calhoun. "He said
something, I said something back. Just kidding with him and then Jimmy
Burr came into the situation. I have great respect for Paul. He’s a
terrific competitor."

According to Boeheim, Harris said something on the lines of “I’m
getting going.”

“To me, it was nothing,” said Boeheim. I don’t know what it was. It was
nothing of importance.”

Harris, who hung 24 points on UConn during last year’s rivalry week
meeting, was held to just five points on 2-for-8 shooting. Harris’
numbers have dwindled. Last year, both Harris and Flynn were a
veritable batman and robin. This, mostly because scoring threats of
Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins sidelined with injuries.

Gone Camping: UConn fans took in the recent good weather by camping
outside the Gampel Pavilion the night before the rivalry week feud. Two hours prior to the game, a line longer than the modern-day unemployment line formed outside of the arena. Huskies fans were decked in team attire and held up giant “No.1” signs. As a college student, class should be the No.1 priority, right? But when the school is No.1 in the nation, distractions tend to crack the surface.