Talented UConn has questions but should rise By NEILL OSTROUT Staff writer It's hard to imagine a group with more potential than this year's UConn men's basketball team. Of course, it's also hard to imagine a team with more question marks than the one ranked No. 2 in the preseason national polls. "We're not even the best team in the league starting off," UConn coach Jim Calhoun admits. "I would hope that we would be the best team." The questions facing Calhoun's team as he prepares for his 23rd year at UConn are evident. - Will center Hasheem Thabeet's on-court play finally match his NBA draft projections? - Will point guard A.J. Price return from offseason knee surgery as the same dominant player he was last season? - Will junior forward Stanley Robinson return in December and will he quickly return to top form? - Will freshman forward Ater Majok arrive in December and will he quickly mesh with his new teammates? - Will junior guard Jerome Dyson once again be a big-time scorer, avoiding the off-court problems and offensive fouls that have occasionally stunted his growth? If the answer to all of these questions is yes, the Huskies may not lose to anyone, including a litany of dangerous foes in the talent-rich Big East. If the answer to all of the questions is no, the Huskies may be hard-pressed to win a single game in the talent-rich Big East. And if, as is most likely, they go something like 4 for 5, it's going to be a wildly entertaining season in Storrs. "We've got at least four or five teams from our league that can get to a Final Four," Calhoun said. "The problem is who catches a bad break? Who catches a couple tough losses? Injuries, all of the things that happen during a season." The Huskies caught a few of the toughest breaks possible last season. Price's collapse in the first round of the NCAA tournament was preceded by the ill-timed suspensions of Dyson and Doug Wiggins. UConn enters the 2008-09 season hoping that it ran over its allotment of speed bumps last year. The regular season begins Friday with a game against Western Carolina and continues with a Monday night tilt against Hartford. The Huskies also have a trip to the Virgin Islands just ahead of them with two or three challenging games there. But the Huskies' season will likely be separated neatly into parts: B.C. and A.D. That would be Before Christmas and After December. Or is that Ater December? Majok is awaiting approval of his Australian high school transcript by the NCAA. Robinson is waiting for UConn's first semester to end so that he can re-enroll. Until Robinson and Majok arrive near the holidays, the Huskies will be using a three-guard lineup. After that, it's anyone's guess how the pieces will fit together. "The things we do early, we won't be doing later," Calhoun said. "Hopefully, by mid-January, this team will mesh." The problems of having too many talented players is one Calhoun doesn't mind. If Majok can't adjust to a new level of play during his first season in Storrs, the Huskies will adjust. If someone like Craig Austrie, of Stanford, is playing too well to allow Robinson back into the starting lineup, it won't necessarily be a bad thing. "Everybody is making a case for themselves without realizing it," Calhoun said of the preseason and pre-conference schedule. "It's important those guys understand that." The Dyson question will probably be answered quickly. His suspension appears to be in the past, but Calhoun wants his on-court play to resemble what it was before the incident. "We've got to get Jerome back to being aggressive," Calhoun said. "I think last year when he got knocked out for those nine games and didn't play, he never got his swagger back." The coach has also asked forward Jeff Adrien to pick up his play, asking the senior to exhibit a little more desire. "I expect him to be more hungry," Calhoun said. "Because of the league we're in, where everybody is good enough to beat you, we're going to have to play hungry every night." Price appears to be playing without pain, but his role may change this season even if his knee is perfect. Although Majok and even Nate Miles probably received more attention, perhaps no incoming Husky is more suited to the program than freshman point guard Kemba Walker. The speedy New Yorker's style and emotion have already changed the team. "The last freshman who brought that -- he's a whole different kind of player -- is Khalid (El-Amin)," Calhoun said. "Khalid brought that kind of enthusiasm. You can't put a price tag on that." It appears Walker will begin the season as Price's backup, but he'll enter the lineup alongside Price many times and allow the senior to slide over to the wing. "He's got that other gear," Price said. "When he comes into the game, you better be prepared to stop the ball early or he can take it all the way to the paint. The speed of the game definitely does pick up." Walker isn't an accomplished shooter and won't likely have any 30-point games. He will, however, help the Huskies as they try to revive a full-court press. "Kemba will have a bad game or two; he's a freshman," Calhoun said. "But he's going to provide a spark. He's going to provide some quickness." UConn actually might not get out of the gate very quickly. Many of these same players were part of a hot start two years ago that fizzled when league play began. UConn might perform something of a reverse this time. "We're not the No. 1 team as we start out," Calhoun said. No, they just have the potential to be No. 1 when the calendar reads 2009 A.D. 1HASH MARKS -- If center Hasheem Thabeet has improved as much as his coach thinks he has, or even as much as he thinks he has, the Huskies are in for a big season. Watch Thabeet's performances early in the season against perimeter-oriented teams like Western Carolina and Hartford, as well as his first few tests against bigger teams. How about a matchup with Miami? The Hurricanes have a 316-pound freshman center. 2MURDERER'S ROW -- Even before the ball drops and it becomes 2009, the Huskies will begin Big East play. With it comes a minefield of talented teams, each of which feels it can make the NCAA tournament and perhaps half of which have designs on an Final Four. 3DECEMBER 20 -- If Stanley Robinson and Ater Majok arrive as scheduled, a Dec. 20 date with Gonzaga will be the first test of the new-look Huskies. Robinson probably won't have much difficulty, but how the freshman from the Sudan via Australia performs on this Seattle stage might be a good indicator. 4TAN LINES -- The Huskies are headed to the Virgin Islands next week for three key games and perhaps a couple early season tests. If they concentrate on basketball and not the sandy beaches, the Huskies could take a major step forward. 5PRESSURE COOKER -- He hints at it nearly every season, but coach Jim Calhoun appears committed to employing full-court pressure on a regular basis. The three-guard lineup he'll use for the first part of the season lends itself to more pressing. So does his one-man shot-blocking machine. -- NEILL OSTROUT |
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment