Player and Rookie of the Week [week of 1/28 - 2/3]

Player of the Week:

Shabazz Napier

While the Huskies were out-rebounded by 28 against Providence on Thursday night, they shot just well enough from the floor to force overtime and eventually emerge victorious. Napier finished the game with 18 points, but it was his 10 in overtime the propelled the Huskies to the road victory. Shabazz then followed up that overtime performance with another stellar overtime performance Sunday afternoon home against South Florida. He had 11 points in the extra frame, and finished with a game high 24 as UConn was able to hold off the Bulls for a 69-64 win. The Huskies have one of the most talented back courts in the country (Napier, Ryan Boatright and Omar Calhoun) that possesses blazing speed, smooth handles, slick passing and shooters that can get red hot at a flip of the switch, which is put it on display night after night with Napier leading the way.

Rookie of the Week:

Cameron Biedscheid

Biedscheid came off the bench and dropped a career high 18 points against Villanova on Wednesday night. But it was the second half in which he did all his damage. He scored 15 of his 18 points in the final 20 minutes, which included four 3-pointers (he had five total in the game). His four 3s came in a flurry with Jerian Grant to put the Irish ahead, a lead they never surrendered. The Irish ran their signature ‘burn offense’ in which they cycled the ball to perfection and displayed excellent patience to wait for an open shot, with Biedscheid being the beneficiary on multiple occasions. Biedscheid also contributed seven points off the bench to help Notre Dame stave off an embarrassing loss at DePaul on Saturday afternoon.

Twitter:  @soupTOOnuts

Recapping the Jimmy V Classic

By:  Shane McCarthy

The Jimmy V Classic has been a yearly staple in New York City since 1995.  Each year it consists of two games played in a double header format, almost always consisting of four upper-echelon teams.  It’s great basketball for a great cause. 

Texas 41, Georgetown 64: The Hoyas were coming off one of the ugliest games in the history of the sport, a 37-36 victory over Tennessee on Friday night.  While the same stingy defense showed up again, thankfully their skunk of an offense didn’t.    Texas has displayed its struggles on the offensive end since the start of the season, and Georgetown ended up being an awful matchup for them (it took the Longhorns over four minutes to score their first points).  The Hoyas forced a whopping 21 turnovers, many of which led to uncontested easy baskets in transition. 

In the end Georgetown only surrendered an impressive 41 points, but it was the 64 they scored on the offensive end that was welcomed.  Three players finished in double figures, led by Otto Porter who had 14.  Porter hit many difficult shots, namely multiple turnaround fade-aways that were impossible to defend.  He’s clearly a great player, but it’s Georgetown’s disciplined nature on both ends of the floor that makes this team as good as they are.  I’d only expect this team to get better.

Connecticut 65, NC State 69:  The story for UConn all year is going to be their lack of size.  Their guard play is outstanding.  You can’t ask for much more in the back court than Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright and Omar Calhoun.  Napier should probably shoot more, while Boatright needs to play a bit smarter, but this trio isn’t the problem.  The Huskies have no inside presence and will consistently get out-muscled down low against teams with formidable big men.   

That’s what NC State did on Tuesday night.  They pounded the ball down low from the very start of the game, and even though it was close throughout, it paid off at the end.  C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell finished with double doubles for the Wolfpack as they relentlessly got the ball into the paint for easy buckets or tip-ins.  While NC State never enjoyed a large lead, they maintained their slim advantage down the stretch while UConn went cold and got sloppy.  UConn lead 20-9 early making five three pointers during that run, but it proved unsustainable on this night.  The Huskies will win a fair share of games this year, but if they are going to beat high-level competition it will be because of lights-out shooting.  

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

UConn Cracks the AP Top-25 - Overreaction?

By:  Shane McCarthy

UConn did not receive a single vote for the preseason AP Top-25. They lost two players that ended up being lottery picks, three others transferred out of the program and their hall of fame head coach retired a month before the season. Now they play one game, beat a top-25 team and become the 23^rd best team in the nation?

I’ll be rooting for the Huskies all season and pulling for Kevin Ollie to get a long-term extension. Both would be great stories. But as of right now, cracking the AP Top-25 seems to be a bit of an overreaction. Here’s why:

• The game was played on a different continent in a different time zone. While both teams had to make the same trip and play under the same circumstances, who knows how travel and fatigue affected each.
Michigan St. went through long spurts of not playing defense whatsoever. UConn was getting both easy buckets in transition and wide-open looks at will.


When Michigan St. did get their act together on the defensive end, they shut down UConn with ease and quickly gained momentum. They seemingly closed a 20 point deficit at the end of the first half in about five minutes.


And it was UConn’s lack of size that made it easy to shut them down. No question they have some of the most talented guards in the country, but their lack of size is going to be a serious hindrance gong forward. You are not going to emerge victorious on most nights when getting out-rebounded 38-25.


And finally, this was the first game of the season for each team. Just as we shouldn’t overreact about UConn’s win, we shouldn’t overreact about Michigan St.’s loss. It’s a long season, let’s let them play a few games.

UConn is playing this season for themselves and their pride, as there is no post-season this year. But that’s the mentality all teams should have. One game at a time, all about the team. You can tell this team was fired up for their first game and wanted to get Coach Ollie his first win - which was great, and much deserved. And I don’t want to take anything away from them because Napier, Boatright and Calhoun looked great, but I’m just saying – let’s see a few games first.

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

Big East Preview: #12 Connecticut Huskies

Previewing all 15 teams in the Big East from #15 to #1

By:  Shane McCarthy

After going through a season in turmoil, the Huskies are prepping to start the 2012-13 season without their Hall of Fame head coach and four starters from a year ago.  The sense of déjà vu mid-season seems likely.

Who’s Back:

Shabazz Napier –G– Junior – 35 Min, 13.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 5.8 apg

Ryan Boatright –G– Soph – 30.1 Min, 10.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.0 apg

Tyler Olander –F– Junior – 17.6 Min, 4.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.2 apg

DeAndre Daniels –F– Soph – 12.1 Min, 3.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.5 apg

Niels Giffey –F– Junior – 11.7 Min, 2.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.4 apg

Enosch Wolf –C– Junior – 1.3 Min, 0.3 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.0 apg

Incoming Recruits:

Omar Calhoun – [Shooting Guard] – 6 foot 5, 195

ESPN’s 32^nd ranked player and 7^th ranked Shooting Guard

Rivals.com’s 39^th ranked player and 10^th ranked Shooting Guard

Phillip Nolan – [Power Forward] – 6 foot 9, 210

ESPN’s 23^rd ranked Power Forward

Rivals.com’s 118^th ranked player and 21^st ranked Center

Leon Tolksdorf – [Small Forward] – 6 foot 8, 220 

Incoming Transfers:

R.J. Evans – [Shooting Guard] – 6 foot 3, 210

R.J., a transfer from Holy Cross, will have one year of eligibility as he will be a graduate student at UConn.  He was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year for the 2008-09 season and averaged 12.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg during his career at Holy Cross.

Who’s Out:  Jeremy Lamb, Andre Drummond, Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith

Overview:

When it comes to sports, I had always been of the view that talent will prevail no matter the circumstances.  I stuck with UConn last year given the fact that their front and back court was better than almost every team they played on a game to game basis. 

I’m also an avid NFL fan, and didn’t think much of the Saints going to a second interim coach being a huge detriment.  I mean they were still going to roll out Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham and a plethora of other stars to run up the scoreboard on Sundays. 

But UConn ended up being very average last year as they suffered through a roller coaster season, barely snuck into the NCAA Tournament, and quickly exited after being handled with ease by Iowa St. 

The Saints are also enduring a disastrous season compared to the juggernaut they have been in recent years. 

With those two most recent examples, I am finding it difficult to be bullish on the Huskies for the 2012-13 season.

They lost their legendary coach to retirement, two starters to the lottery and two starters who transferred.  I acknowledge that they still have a talented back court with Napier, Boatright and Calhoun, but they have little to no talent in the front court. 

This is without mentioning the fact that they are not even eligible for postseason play of any sort.  A team in turmoil with nothing to play for?  I hope this team shows up on a nightly basis to play for pride, their school and their teammates, but the motivation factor worries me. 

At this point there is no way of knowing how good of a coach Kevin Ollie will be.  I hope he picks up right where Calhoun left off, and that the Huskies remain a powerhouse of the Big East.  But last year they were 3-5 with Calhoun away from the team and will be depending mightily on their guards to win games. 

It’s difficult to be overly optimistic about UConn when they are essentially starting from scratch with so many changes from last year.  I want to believe that talent and tradition will prevail, but that thinking has burned me recently.  

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

Quick Recap of Connecticut at Villanova

Shabazz's 3 gave UConn the victory

Shabazz Napier backs up his talk  

By Shane McCarthy on February 20, 2012

After calling out his team for lacking heart and giving up after UConn’s loss to Marquette over the weekend, it was only right for Shabazz Napier to back-up that talk the next time the Huskies took the floor.  And back-up that talk is exactly what Napier did by hitting the game winning shot, an on-the-run deep three pointer, with one second left in overtime.

Before the game started at Villanova on Monday night, Alex Oriakhi used holy water to bless his teammates to hopefully bring better fortune to their on-court performance.  It didn’t look like it had any effect as Villanova ran out to an 18 point lead halfway through the first half.  But then UConn started to play much better defensively, led by the on-ball pressure from Ryan Boatright, which translated into more confidence on offense.    The Huskies were able to storm all the way back to make it a tie game at halftime.

UConn was never able to go on a run in the second half to gain separation from Villanova, but Jeremy Lamb single handedly hit shot after shot to keep the momentum rolling.  His ability to move without the ball, use screens and make his own shots led to a career high 32 points and the only Huskie in double figures.  

There is no doubt that UConn has many talented players, but they have showed consistently over the course of the conference season that talent alone is not enough to win games.  When this group plays hard together as a team and displays the emotion and determination that they showed tonight, they will be tough for anyone to beat. 

Over the past few weeks it looked as if UConn was playing their way out of the NCAA Tournament, instead of in it.  Maybe this win, and the huge shot from Napier, was just the spark they needed to gain momentum and start rolling in the right direction.  Syracuse better be ready on Saturday.

Follow on Twitter @shane_t_mac