283 replies to this topic

[Dan Murfman]

The 2011-2012 schedule is out:

Here's the schedule:
11/2 - AIC @ Gampel (exhibition)
11/6 - CW Post @ XL Center (exhibition)
11/11 - Columbia @ Gampel
11/14 - Wagner @ Gampel
11/17 - Maine @ XL
11/20 - Coppin State @ XL
11/24 - 11/26 - BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS

12/3 - Arkansas @ XL
12/8 - Harvard @ Gampel
12/18 - Holy Cross @ XL
12/22 - Fairfield @ XL
12/28 - at USF
12/31 - St. John's @ XL

1/3 - at Seton Hall
1/7 - at Rutgers
1/9 - WVU @ XL
1/14 - at Notre Dame
1/18 - Cincinnati @ Gampel
1/21 - at Tennessee
1/29 - Notre Dame @ XL

2/1 - at Georgetown
2/4 - Seton Hall @ XL
2/6 - at Louisville
2/11 - at Syracuse
2/15 - Depaul @ Gampel
2/18 - Marquette @ XL
2/20 - at Villanova
2/25 - Syracuse @ Gampel (ESPN GAMEDAY)
2/28 - at Providence

3/3 - Pittsburgh @ Gampel
3/6-3/10 - BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

[ajml]

Wow that's a pretty weak non-conference schedule.

[RedOctober3829]

The Atlantis tournaments have possible matchups with Florida State and Harvard.

On the BE schedule, their toughest road games are Syracuse and Louisville. They get WVU, Pitt, St. John's, Marquette, and Cincy all once and they are all at home. Pretty favorable schedule if you ask me.

[BigSoxFan]

Yup, very weak OOC schedule. Would have loved to see a UConn/Duke matchup or something like that in November.

[Dan Murfman]

Very disappointing out of conference schedule. I wonder if they knew they would have Drummond and Daniels they might have beefed it up a bit.

[Plantiers Wart]

To be fair, I think the Tennessee game was expected to be a better match up when the deal was made. And Arkansas will be tougher than expected. But yes, it's a pretty weak slate.

[Clears Cleaver]

that looks like 26-4 or so...

[jdubbya]

Any idea when single-game tickets go on sale?

[JKelley34]

Well, with everything else that is shitty with the Big East and football at least we have the basketball team. Drummond and Boatright both have crazy hops.

[Clears Cleaver]

This team is as talented as any Uconn team ever. Let's hope its more 2004 than 2006. And this might be the ebst year for overall talent college basketball has seen in a long while. Should be a fun year. I wish Uconn had UNC or KY on the schedule, but maybe they'll get them both in NoLA :-)

[RedOctober3829]

This could be an epic year for the East Regional to be in Boston. Some combination of UNC, Duke, Kentucky, UConn, Syracuse, and Pitt could be there which would make for 2 awesome days of hoops. UNC, Duke, or Kentucky could also be in Atlanta for the South Regional but they all won't.

[RedOctober3829]

Glad they signed Drummond now even more.

Connecticut center Michael Bradley will miss the start of the basketball season with a fractured ankle.

The school did not say when Bradley suffered the injury, though he was limping noticeably after last week's 3.4-mile Husky run, an annual race around campus that precedes the start of basketball practice.

UConn says the 6-foot-10 redshirt freshman will have surgery on the ankle this week and will need about six weeks of rehabilitation before he can return to the court.

Link

[Williams Head Case]

UConn clocking in at #4 in preseason Coaches poll.

[ivanvamp]

UConn clocking in at #4 in preseason Coaches poll.

I'm definitely planning on getting tix to the UConn-Syracuse matchup at UConn this year. Went last year and enjoyed the 'Cuse's win immensely. These two teams are going to be titans this year.

[Skeesix]

According to JackO at Grantland, UConn won't repeat

http://www.grantland...ional-champions

Why you may ask (so you don't actually have to read the article and give him the hit)? Because he doesn't like UConn basketball.

Personally, I'm devastated.

[Clears Cleaver]

i have to say, I am very much ready for college hoops season and to watch this Uconn team. I think it has a chance to be the most talented Uconn tema ever. Key is Napier's development. I heard Lamb will be the backup PG a lot and they could go with Boatright as a 2G/scorer in that set. Daniels could also play the two with Lamb (longest backcourt ever). Smith Daniels, Giffey and Lamb can all play the three and Daniels, Giffey, Smith, and Olander can back up AO at the 4. Drummond and AO will play the five with Wolf getting some minutes. Bradley maybe some too if he is healthy. Calhoun ahs never had this many options to go big or small or have so many guys who can do so many things. The first couple months might be tough as everyone gets used to playing nd their roles, but if Napier proves to be the leader I think he is, this team will be tough to beat. Becasue even if they have a bad offensive night, the defense will be tremendous

Remind me of this when they beat Columbia by 6 and I'm freaking out.

[BigSoxFan]

I love watching good college big men so I'm intrigued by this UConn team. If Drummond is as good as he appears to be, they are going to absolutely MURDER some teams down low. All the ingredients are there. Dominant big men, a ready-to-emerge POY candidate in Lamb, great defense, etc. Would have been nice to see an early season UConn/Duke or UConn/UNC matchup.

[Clears Cleaver]

the OOC schedule kind of sucks this year, especially compared to the last couple seasons. and the Big East is not going to be that good either, at least compared to the last couple seasons.

I expect 3-4 losses this regular season.

[BigSoxFan]

I expect 3-4 losses this regular season.

Have you always been a pessimist?

[JKelley34]

Have you always been a pessimist?

Hell, compared to his posts last year that's almost pie-in-the-sky optimistic for Clears.

[RedOctober3829]

I love watching good college big men so I'm intrigued by this UConn team. If Drummond is as good as he appears to be, they are going to absolutely MURDER some teams down low. All the ingredients are there. Dominant big men, a ready-to-emerge POY candidate in Lamb, great defense, etc. Would have been nice to see an early season UConn/Duke or UConn/UNC matchup.

I would hold off on your expectations of Andre Drummond in terms of offensive production. He's a great passing big man and going to be a dominant defensive presence, but he doesn't have a back to the basket game and his free throw shooting makes Rick Jackson look like Rick Barry. From all reports, his 10-12 foot jumpers are decent but to say that Drummond absolutely could go to the NBA next season and play at all is going a long ways. He needs to stay in school(ala Okafor) and develop his offensive game.

[BigSoxFan]

I would hold off on your expectations of Andre Drummond in terms of offensive production. He's a great passing big man and going to be a dominant defensive presence, but he doesn't have a back to the basket game and his free throw shooting makes Rick Jackson look like Rick Barry. From all reports, his 10-12 foot jumpers are decent but to say that Drummond absolutely could go to the NBA next season and play at all is going a long ways. He needs to stay in school(ala Okafor) and develop his offensive game.

He'll probably get about 8-10 points / game in dunks and putbacks alone.

[RedOctober3829]

He'll probably get about 8-10 points / game in dunks and putbacks alone.

That's all well and good, but he won't be an offensive force like Sullinger or what Davis is going to be. He's more raw offensively than those two players. He needs to really develop a post game.

[WayBackVazquez]

Better make hay this year, boys.

[Drocca]

Christ, that is terrible. I know UCONN is well-known as a 'bend the rules' school but I had no idea their academics were that poor. For those that know; is the entire school a shitty academic school or is this just a problem with Men's Basketball? Seems like a state school would be better academically. I know the state school here, in North Carolina, seems to enjoy a fairly good academic reputation.

Very weird. May hurt UCONN's chances of making it to the ACC. I can't see an institution with the integrity of the ACC standing for this.

Edited by Drocca, 28 October 2011 - 10:49 AM.

[sleepyjose03]

It's mainly a men's basketball issue. Academically, the overall school itself isn't exactly great, but it's better than any of the other New England state-schools. It certainly isn't in the same class as UNC, but I do think that a lot of the smaller schools up here pull better students than the smaller schools UNC is competing with down there. But that's just my uninformed off-the-cuff opinion.

I did have several friends who, while they were on campus, would swear that a lot of the basketball players were borderline retards. I remember stories that made it sound like Jonathan Mandledove would have been incapable of dressing himself every morning.

Not all of them are dummies though, obviously Okafor comes to mind here, but IIRC didn't Walker graduate early as well?

[Doug Beerabelli]

Oohh, now I know why Carolina BBQ is vinegar and water based.

I think it's hoops, too. The football team is something like 73 %, which is a couple ticks short of UNC's very clean, unscandal-ridden football team. If I heard correctly, if Gavin Edwards had not quit school 6 credits short of graduation, they'd be in better shape. But they certainly need to improve in that area. As an institution, I thought UConn recently was the 20th ranked state university in the country. For all universities, US News had em around 55, well behind UNC and the private ACC schools, but right there with Pitt and Syracuse, and middle of the pack for all ACC schools.

Syracuse and Pitt games at the end of regular season at the Conndome will be epic.

Edited by Doug Beerabelli, 28 October 2011 - 01:21 PM.

[StuckOnYouk]

Christ, that is terrible. I know UCONN is well-known as a 'bend the rules' school but I had no idea their academics were that poor. For those that know; is the entire school a shitty academic school or is this just a problem with Men's Basketball? Seems like a state school would be better academically. I know the state school here, in North Carolina, seems to enjoy a fairly good academic reputation.

Very weird. May hurt UCONN's chances of making it to the ACC. I can't see an institution with the integrity of the ACC standing for this.

Integrity and ACC don't quite go together lately...

Thought I read that their most recent or about to be released APR is 975, so they are showing significant improvement from a few years ago. Also sounds like the new pres is setting up school guidelines to make sure that their sociology majors finish in good standing just like many other competitive teams sociology majors do.

Edited by StuckOnYouk, 28 October 2011 - 01:41 PM.

[DukeSox]

Gotta give Ucon some credit here, if they play this right, by adding teams like Boise State, Air Force, Navy, BYU, Central Florida, Houston and SMU to the Big East, they'll quickly climb this list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_teams_with_the_most_victories_in_NCAA_Division_I_men's_college_basketball

[RedOctober3829]

Andre Drummond broke his nose and suffered a concussion today in practice.

"This sucks," Drummond wrote. "Mild concussion and I broke my nose. Worst day ever."

[DukeSox]

Andre Drummond broke his nose and suffered a concussion today in practice.

"This sucks," Drummond wrote. "Mild concussion and I broke my nose. Worst day ever."

i assume it was a fist fight?

[RedOctober3829]

i assume it was a fist fight?

As much as you want it to be, he collided with a player in practice.

[DukeSox]

As much as you want it to be, he collided with a player in practice.

with a player's fist, that is

[Clears Cleaver]

Uconn is playing AIC in an exhibition game tonight. Ryan Boatright is not playing as they are now looking into his eligibility (its not grades related). Who knows what that means. Also, Roscoe Smithy didn't play in the first half, but that was more to do with Calhoun playing mind games for some poor practices. a couple observations:
1) Uconn will be one of the best defensive teams in the country, long and athletic and can rebound. No surpise there, but to see Smith, Lamb, Daniels, AO, AD and NApier all on the court defending you can see its going to tough to score on them in the half court
2) Oriakhi is biggee and stronger and should dominate as a 4 with Drummond on the floor
3) Drummond can dunk and run the floor. he looks like he has trouble finishing, although this was his first ever play with the mask on. I think he ahd 12 points and six dunks. and, uh...the FT shooting will be interesting
4) Daniels is going to be a star. can score, get to the rim and knows how to move without the ball
5) Lamb is Lamb
6) Napier is Napier...I think he ahd 14 or 15 assists
7) They need Daniels or Giffey to shoot the three better. With two post players as good as AO and D there will be 3-pointers avialbel to them
8) unlike past years, this team will be ebtter in transition
9) Olander will play 15-20 mins and be very effective. Rebounding and shooting
10) A lot of missed layups tonight

final score 78 - 35. Napier 9 points, 15 assists, 7 boards and 3 steals. AIC shot 20% from the floor (7-26 from three). Uconn outrebounded 46-26 and had 9 blocks. AIC tallest playesr is 6'6".

[diddle25]

Stat of the night: Napier 15 assists, 0 turnovers

Without Boatright UConn has way too thin a backcourt. This will be a big problem.

[Clears Cleaver]

they ran Lamb at point. The offense definitely stagnated when he did. The walk-on allen played. he's really athletic but is not polished.

I have no idea what the issue is with Boatright. Hopefully it won't be a big deal (I can't imagine it is if it surfaced now, but who knows).

[RedOctober3829]

Jordan Taylor is in a class by himself on The Associated Press' preseason All-America team.

The guard from Wisconsin was the only senior on the team Monday. He was joined by four sophomores, including Ohio State's Jared Sullinger, a unanimous pick of the 65-member national media panel.

Harrison Barnes of North Carolina, Terrence Jones of Kentucky and Jeremy Lamb of Connecticut were the other sophomores.

http://sportsillustr...l#ixzz1cbdz5Umo

[Williams Head Case]

The issue with Boatright is apparently an AAU coach buying him a plane ticket at some point in the past.

CT Post

[Clears Cleaver]

2nd exhibition game vs CW Post today. They won by 31 and actually got outscored in the 2nd half by a point, but they were up 32 at the half and played significantly better on the offensive end. Daniels is going to be a stud. Legit star in the making on the wing. Shot the three in trnsition, dunked in transition, took his guy off the dribble and hit a pullup. Napier was again great but (gasp) had two turnovers to go with the 13 assists. Lamb had 23 points on 14 shots. Drummond had 12 points and dominated the game for a stretch. He is not going to be a great player this year I don't think becasue he is really a complimentary player for this team (for now anyways) but his physical skills are impressive. have yet to see back to the basket moves however.AO did not have a great game, a couple dumb fouls and turnovers. Allen was good, hit a three, played good d. Roscoe did his roscoe things, both good and bad

giffey and Boatright did not play

CW Post is probably bette than a handful of teams uconn will play this year

[Clears Cleaver]

Uconn 70 - 57 over columbia. Columbia played the seocnd half even and had 20 offensive rebounds. Lamb had 30 points and a crazy baseline dunk, and Napier played great. Olander was very good. Everyone else? ehhhhh. Drummond a 0 points night with three fouls. Oriahki's first basket was an 18-foot jump shot. columbia started to double Napier and it slowed uconn down. They need boatright and Giffey back as players who can dribble and pass effectively.

Calhoun had to love what happened, he can kill them in practive now. let's see how Monday goes.

Lamb played like an AA. hit threes, pulls up off the dribble, got to the rim, played good D...definitely stepped up a notch

[RedOctober3829]

Tough win over a good Wagner team. Drummond looked good.

[Williams Head Case]

Drummond looked like a beast at times but I'll be damned if he can hit a free throw all year without banking them in.

[Clears Cleaver]

Wagner plays hard, but UConn did not play well at all. They are going to struggle to guard the third guards on quick teams and theya re getting nothing out of Oriakhi. Don't forget waht a beast he was vs Kentucky and Pitt last year. she should be averaging 10pts and 10 boards a game. Drummond is a work in progress, a nice pass here, a missed assignment there. ofensive game outside 2 fteet is limited so far. Olander was good. Daniels was better (I still think he is best or second best player on the team) and Lamb was good despite missing some shots and forcing a few. Napier was really good again scoring when they needed points but did not get the team into a good flow offensively. they really have yet to exploit their reach advantage offesnively

way to early to be concered about anything, integrating three new players etc. Calhoun certainy will have stuff to teach them, that's for sure. should be fun to watch

[JesusShuttlesworth]

These guys are going to be good. Oriakhi's hands of stone make me angry.

[Doug Beerabelli]

These guys are going to be good. Oriakhi's hands of stone make me angry.

They seem to soften up in March.

[Clears Cleaver]

Oriakhi is key. He is a guy who can take it physically to the front lines of unc, ky and Baylor

[Williams Head Case]

Well I guess anything can happen when you play basketball games in a night club in a casino in the Bahamas.

[Nomar813]

Jim Calhoun, May 2011:

“Here’s what I think is going to happen, nothing more than conjecture,” he said. “Whoever you bring, I like sexy names. So what names? Central Florida would be kind of good but it’s not a sexy name right now. Yet it has, I think, the largest population enrollment of any school in the state of Florida. I don’t think South Florida will care about that, having them come in so close by.”

Revenge is a dish best served on temporary hardwood. I think that win was pretty sexy.

[RedOctober3829]

Jim Calhoun, May 2011:

Revenge is a dish best served on temporary hardwood. I think that win was pretty sexy.

Teams better beat UConn early because when the new guys start to gel(especially Boatright) this team will be really tough to beat.

[Clears Cleaver]

Yawn, whatever. good for UCF. When Napier started playing poorly, they fell apart. HAving two guards only on scholarship creates that. Plus, the defnese sucked.

Let's see how they repsond vs FSU. I liked what I saw from Drummond, not so much from Daniels. Oriakhi showed up, too. They NEED Boatrihgt to be good to be elite