Matt's UConn men's basketball blog

Dennis, Pickett not expected to visit this weekend

2009-04-22T20:57:00.004-04:00

Contrary to other reports, recruits Nolan Dennis and Rico Pickett are not expected to visit UConn this weekend, and it's unclear at the moment if or when they'll come to the Storrs campus.

Dennis, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard, asked for his release from his commitment to Memphis in the wake of John Calipari's departure, and reportedly is considering UConn, Oklahoma and Baylor as some of his top choices. He is a top-60 recruit in the 2009 class, according to Rivals.com.

(Update: Per Rivals.com, Dennis has chosen Baylor.)

Pickett, a Miami-Dade Community College prospect, has been on UConn's radar since last year. The 6-foot-3 guard went the junior college route after he was suspended from Alabama for violating team rules.

It's official: UConn, Kentucky to meet next season

2009-04-22T13:32:00.007-04:00

Jim Calhoun called it a strong possibility last week. It became a reality Wednesday.

The UConn men’s basketball team will face Kentucky on Dec. 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York as part of the SEC/Big East Invitational, it was announced by ESPN.

As part of a two-night doubleheader which also features games in Tampa, Fla., Georgia will play St. John’s on ESPN2 in the early game in New York, followed by Kentucky vs. UConn on ESPN.

UConn and Kentucky have played once before, in the 2006 NCAA tournament second round, with UConn winning, 87-83.

"We are excited to be a part of this and to have the opportunity to play a program like Kentucky,” Calhoun said in a statement. “We always try to schedule against the best and think this is a continuation of that tradition for us. In addition, it is always exciting for our team and our fans to play in Madison Square Garden, an arena that has been the site of so many successes for us over the years."

On Dec. 10, at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., DePaul will take on Mississippi State on ESPN2, followed by Syracuse vs. Florida on ESPN. Game times for all four match-ups will be announced at a later date.

The Big East holds a 5-3 record in the first two years of the SEC/Big East Invitational.

Thabeet declares for NBA

2009-04-14T19:22:00.003-04:00

So, not surprisingly, Hasheem Thabeet is heading to the NBA Draft, where he is expected to be a top-five pick at best and a lottery pick at worst.

Jim Calhoun met with the media earlier today, a day after having a sit-down with Thabeet, and said he expected Thabeet to make an announcement on his future within the week. Thabeet didn't wait that long. UConn spokesman Kyle Muncy sent out the release at 4:46 p.m.

"He was just anxious to put the word out," said Muncy, who added that Thabeet wasn’t planning to hold a news conference to further discuss his move.

Thabeet was a consensus All-American this season after averaging 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks — good for second nationally — in leading UConn to its third Final Four and a 31-5 record. The two-time national and Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Thabeet “has been one of the most dominant defensive players in the history of college basketball,” Calhoun said.

“And I am certain that wherever he ends up in the NBA, he is ready to be equally successful,” the coach said in a statement. “He will truly be remembered as one of the great players in UConn history, not only for his accomplishments, but also because of the type of person he is.”

Calhoun spoke more of Thabeet’s character earlier Tuesday, calling him “one of the true pied pipers that we’ve ever had” while meeting with reporters to wrap up the 2009 season.

“He really has a captivating personality,” Calhoun continued. “Some kids hide and slink in at 7-3. He stands 7-8 when he stands up because he’s bigger than life sometimes.”

Currently, ESPN.com’s Chad Ford ranks Thabeet as the draft’s third best prospect and DraftExpress.com projects him to go No. 4.

Thabeet was in the news on Monday, if you consider his tweets to be news. I don't. Neither does Calhoun.

"He’s here at school, he’s going to finish out all the way through finals," Calhoun said. "He’s not going to go any place. He has traveled. People think it’s unusual he’s at the Final Four. They give him two tickets to the game after he gets national Defensive Player of the Year. They find it strange that since he has a girlfriend in Miami, that he goes to Miami. I don’t find any of that stuff strange at all. If you want to look at where any of our other kids went, they all went different places.

"The fact that he went into a night club and he’s 7-foot-3, he’s of-age. I don’t find that revealing. I thought I was reading People Magazine or Entertainment Tonight (with all the news about it)."

Final Four tickets available Tuesday

2009-03-30T23:05:00.000-04:00

UConn Final Four travel packages, comprised of game tickets and hotel rooms, will be available for purchase by the general public beginning Tuesday morning.

Fans interested in purchasing Final Four packages through UConn may do so between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. by calling 1-888-GO-UCONN or by visiting UConnHuskies.com. Packages may also be purchased which include charter air travel to Detroit.

Pricing information for all UConn Final Four packages is available at UConnHuskies.com.

Chicago guard Darius Smith commits to Huskies

2009-03-30T20:22:00.002-04:00

Darius Smith, a 6-foot-2 combo guard out of Marshall High School in Chicago, verbally committed to the Huskies on Monday night, choosing UConn over Arizona State, Cincinnati, and Marquette.

Regarded as one of the country's top unsigned senior guards, Smith averaged 23 points, seven rebounds, six steals and six assists for Marshall this past season. An First Team All-State pick, he joins a recruiting class for next season that includes Tilton teammates Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Mt. Zion guard Jamaal Trice of L.A.

Smith said Monday his relationship with the Huskies' coaching staff as well as their style of play made them stand out. He also was considering Marquette and Duke. UConn liked Smith's scoring ability and his ability to play both guard positions.

Thabeet injury update

2009-03-29T15:24:00.002-04:00

Hasheem Thabeet suffered a bruised left ring finger and a slight sprain of the ring and middle finger on his left hand during Saturday's 82-75 victory over Missouri that earned UConn its third Final Four berth. The 7-foot-3 center hurt himself in a scramble for a loose ball on the floor in the second half of the West Regional final.

Team trainer James Doran expects Thabeet to participate in practice tomorrow with no limitations. The Big East co-player of the year finished with 13 rebounds but five points and no blocks against Missouri.

The Huskies traveled home Saturday night and arrived back in Connecticut at 4:00 a.m. today. They held a brief team meeting this afternoon, but did not practice.

NCAA investigation underway

2009-03-28T13:45:00.002-04:00

The NCAA's investigation into the UConn athletics department is underway, though numerous reports over the last three days have already made that clear. That said, the university released this statement today:

"The University is working collaboratively with the NCAA to conduct a thorough review of the issues raised in the recent news accounts regarding alleged recruiting violations in the men's basketball program.

"On Wednesday morning March 25, soon after the article was posted, the University and NCAA enforcement staff initiated conversations on this matter. A comprehensive examination of the facts and circumstances involved has begun. The review is being conducted by the NCAA and the University in a manner consistent with NCAA enforcement procedures."

Not much detail there, obviously. Stay tuned.

Report: LaFleur, Nochimson in contact regarding Majok

2009-03-26T19:20:00.003-04:00

A new development in the UConn recruiting saga emerged Thursday. UConn assistant Andre LaFleur, who was the Huskies' main recruiter in their pursuit of the 6-foot-10 Ater Majok, was in contact with Josh Nochimson, the former UConn student manager, during the Kentucky Derby All-Star Festival in Louisville, Ky., according to phone records Yahoo! Sports obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

ESPN.com reported Wednesday that Nochimson, who allegedly made contact with former UConn forward Nate Miles that violated NCAA rules, attended the high school basketball tournament and "shepherded" Majok during the weekend. Ten days later, Majok visited UConn and verbally committed to the Huskies.

Nochimson also acted as a conduit and put festival officials into contact with Majok's coach, Ed Smith, according to the ESPN.com report. Reached by the Bulletin on his cell phone earlier Thursday, Smith didn't comment.

"Can I call you back?" he said. "I need to read the report first."

As of Thursday evening, further efforts to reach Smith were unsuccessful.

Here's the updated report from Yahoo! Sports.

UConn statement regarding Yahoo! report

2009-03-25T12:50:00.002-04:00

The University of Connecticut released a statement regarding a Yahoo! Sports report detailing violations the men's basketball team made in its recruitment of former guard/forward Nate Miles. Here's the statement in full:

"The University of Connecticut received a Freedom of Information Act Request from Yahoo Sports during the fall. That request was acted upon in a series of communications with Yahoo culminating in complete disclosure of all requests.

"When the University began its recruitment of the student-athlete named in the article, it utilized the University's outside counsel on NCAA related matters who worked collaboratively with the NCAA staff to examine all aspects of his amateur status, as is expected under NCAA rules. The NCAA's Eligibility Center reviewed all information that it had concerning the student-athlete's eligibility status and determined that he was eligible for his freshman year. The student-athlete departed from the University before ever participating in athletics competition.

"The story printed today includes no current student-athletes and no student-athlete who has ever competed for the institution. The University's men's basketball team and its coaches are working today to prepare for its upcoming game tomorrow night. University outside counsel and administrators are continuing to review the article to determine if additional action is required.

"The University takes very seriously its responsibilities of NCAA membership and will do all that is expected to follow up on any information related to possible NCAA rules violations."

Report: UConn committed violations in Miles recruitment

2009-03-25T10:50:00.002-04:00

According to a Yahoo! Sports report, UConn violated NCAA rules in the recruitment of former guard Nate Miles, who was provided with lodging, transportation, restaurant meals and representation by Josh Nochimson, a professional sports agent and former UConn student manager, between 2006 and 2008.

Here's the full report on Yahoo.

According to the report, five different UConn coaches traded at least 1,565 phone and text communications with Nochimson, including 16 from head coach Jim Calhoun. Yahoo obtained this information through the Freedom of Information Act.

Miles was expelled from UConn on Oct. 2008 after he violated a restraining order against a female student.

Leitao resigns from Virginia

2009-03-16T17:31:00.002-04:00

Dave Leitao, an assistant under Jim Calhoun at Northeastern and UConn for 18 seasons, resigned as the head coach of Virginia on Monday after the Cavaliers' 10-18 season.

The former ACC Coach of the Year (2007), Leitao compiled a 63-60 record in his four years at Virginia, his third stint as a head coach. He was the head coach at Northeastern for two seasons, but returned to UConn following a 4-24 season with the (other) Huskies. He found more success in three seasons at DePaul, where he led the Blue Demons' transition into the Big East and compiled back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a trip to the NCAA tournament. He left following the 2004-05 season for the Virginia job, making the 2007 NCAA tournament while with the Cavaliers.

Final AP poll: UConn fifth

2009-03-16T16:30:00.002-04:00

UConn finished the season as the No. 5 team in the Associated Press poll, with Louisville earning the season's final top spot. It marks the Cardinals' first stay atop the AP rankings (45 votes), though UConn still received on first-place vote along with Pitt (three), Memphis (11) and North Carolina (11).

"I think it's great. It's quite an honor for our basketball team to finish the regular season ranked No. 1," Louisville coach Rick Pitino told the AP on Monday. "But now, everyone wipes the slate clean and everyone starts fresh. There are no No. 1s and there's no No. 64s. Now we just all play for the other No. 1."

Here's the top 25 I submitted to the AP on Sunday night:

(1) Louisville
(2) Memphis
(3) Pittsburgh
(4) North Carolina
(5) UConn
(6) Duke
(7) Michigan State
(8) Oklahoma
(9) Missouri
(10) Villanova
(11) Gonzaga
(12) Wake Forest
(13) Syracuse
(14) Kansas
(15) Washington
(16) UCLA
(17) Purdue
(18) Arizona State
(19) Florida State
(20) LSU
(21) Marquette
(22) Xavier
(23) Clemson
(24) Butler
(25) Utah State

Also, I submitted my picks for the All-America teams, AP Coach of the Year and AP Player of the Year. Here's what I came up with: (We weren't required to pick a G-G-F-F-C lineup, but they five players on each team had to conceivably be able to play together on the court.)

First Team
Stephen Curry, Davidson junior guard
Jerel McNeal, Marquette senior guard
James Harden, Arizona State sophomore guard
Blake Griffin, Oklahoma sophomore forward
DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh sophomore forward

Second Team
Ty Lawson, North Carolina junior guard
Jeff Teague, Wake Forest sophomore guard
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame junior forward
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina senior forward
Hasheem Thabeet, UConn junior center

Third Team
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse sophomore guard
Sherron Collins, Kansas junior guard
Jodie Meeks, Kentucky junior guard
Terrence Williams, Louisville senior forward
Jordan Hill, Arizona junior forward

Coach of the Year vote: Bill Self, Kansas
Player of the Year vote: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

Chattanooga Chat

2009-03-16T14:34:00.001-04:00

Wrapped up the conference call with Chattanooga coach John Shulman and senior forward Nicchaeus Doaks (a nightmare for both SoCon defenders and my computer’s spell check). Here’s some notes and quotes from the Huskies’ first-round opponent in the NCAA tournament:

(1) Tournament Turnaround: Happy to avoid the play-in game in Dayton tomorrow, Chattanooga’s lackluster record (18-16) can be tied to two things directly: The Mocs opened the season with a murderous slate that included games at Tennessee, at Missouri, against Memphis and USC in Puerto Rico and at Davidson, ETSU and Alabama. Five of those are NCAA tournament teams, including a No. 2 (Memphis) and No. 3 seed (Missouri) which happen to be in the same region.

On top of that, the Mocs lost senior forward Kevin Goffney — who Shulman called his team MVP — less than a minute into the season-opener against the Vols with a fractured ankle. He missed the next eight games, and not surprisingly, the Mocs started 1-7.

“But we hung in there,” said Shulman, whose team finished winning seven of its last 10 games. “We start five seniors and our seniors knew at the moment we couldn’t have one of those dream 25-5 seasons, but we could still have a chance to be very good. And we got into league play and we actually started out 0-3 in the league. And we won five in a row, and we won six out of seven.

“I don’t know if we panicked or we played with amazing urgency, but we did some neat things in our tournament,” he later added. “And we played as close to reaching our potential as we played all year long.”

Shulman described himself as an “inside-oriented” coach and Chattanooga, a team that prides itself on rebounding, averaged nearly 40 a game and on average, 3.3 more than its opponents. The coach knows that’s good, but it doesn’t quite compare to UConn (42.7 rebounds per game, plus-8.2 on the season).

“I don’t know if he (coach Jim Calhoun) bribes them,” Shulman said. “I don’t know what he does to get them to go to the offensive boards like that, but that is very scary to try to prepare for that.”

Shulman went on to say that he watched tape of the first Pitt-UConn game on Sunday night, calling it “one of the most physical basketball games I’ve ever seen.”

“If they officiate (Thursday’s) game like that Pitt-UConn game, I’m not sure, we’ll have to bring helmets and pads.”

(2) Joking aside: Doaks, who leads the Mocs in rebounding (8.7 per game) and is second in scoring (13.9), said he and his teammates joked throughout the year about what it would be like to play UConn.

“Those jokes are going to be reality coming up this week,” he said.

Unfortunately, all that talk didn’t produce any rock-solid strategies, especially against the 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet, who Shulman called “special.”

“(But) you can’t be scared of him because if you go in scared, he’s just going to block everything,” Doaks said. “Even if you go in there and with intentions of trying to dunk on him, he’s going to block it, too. We just have to keep working at him and hopefully get a couple shots off of him.”

Chattanooga actually features the 7-foot-1 Jeremy Saffore on its roster but the red-shirt sophomore weighs 225 pounds (some 40 fewer than Thabeet) and averaged 1.7 points in seven minutes a game this season.

“We’re going to start 6-8 on 7-3,” Shulman said. “We’re not as physical as Pitt. ... We can’t be Blair. We can only be who we are. But it’s very difficult. We’ve had great preparation and we’ll have great preparation this week. If I don’t prepare our team to have a chance to win against UConn, I’ve done our team a disservice. We understand the odds and we understand how good UConn is. And they’re fantastic.”

(3) Point-less shooting: Stephen McDowell, the Mocs’ leading scorer (18.6 points per game), was originally a point guard before transferring from South Carolina, where he averaged 6.7 minutes a game as a sophomore.

“And I don’t understand how he was a point guard,” Shulman said with a chuckle.

McDowell has embraced his role as a shooting guard in Chattanooga, averaging 14.3 points last season before hitting 135 3s at a 43.4-percent clip this winter.

“In his sit-out year, after every single game that we played, he was the first one back out and he’d shoot until 2 o’clock in the morning,” Shulman said. “He is a self-made guy. He can really, really shoot it.

“And he’s got no point-guard responsibilities and he’s got the green light. And when you’ve got the green light, sometimes that ball goes in a little easier. He can take 19 3s in a game and not get in trouble.”

(4) Philadelphia, born and raised: Thursday’s showdown is a homecoming for Chattanooga senior and Philly native Khalil Hartwell. And he has quite a story.

The forward, who is averaging 9.1 points and 7.1 rebounds, tore his ACL nine games into last season and appeared to be finished for the year.

“Well, the middle of that next week, he comes up and he says, ‘Coach I want to brace it up, and I want to play,’” Shulman said. “Well nobody tells you that. They’re done for the year. I didn’t want to do that. I was scared we were going to further injure him and I didn’t want to do that. I said, ‘No.’ And he came back and he said, ‘Coach I want to play for the team. I want to help the team.’”

So, Hartwell fashioned a brace for the rest of the season, started in 24 of 27 games and amazingly, averaged 6.9 points and 6.1 rebounds. (Note: Shulman didn’t elaborate if it was a partial or full tear. He just called it a torn ACL.) Hartwell underwent knee surgery during the offseason and was cleared to begin practicing in October. Like the rest of his team, he started slow before coming on with three double-doubles in conference play.

“Personally I think Khalil’s my super-man because of what he did last year,” Shulman said. “I was hoping by January, February that he would show no ill-effects because of it, and right now, he’s not showing any.”

Shulman also said that he had promised his senior — who he called a “warrior” (sound familiar?) — that the Mocs would play in Philadelphia before he graduated. The selection committee made sure Shulman held up his end of the bargain.

“He’s kind of emotion-less,” Shulman said. “He doesn’t play with a ton of emotion. He’s just steady every single night and he has a great poker face. And then all of a sudden, we win the (SoCon) tournament and a guy’s coming up to me, crying on my shoulder and that’s Khalil.

“(And) the smile that he on his face (Sunday) night when he saw he got to go back home to Philly to play ...”

(5) Moc speed: Shulman on Goffney: “In our league, at 6-5 with a great size, (he) is a really athletic three. In (the Big East), he’s a back-up point guard.” ... Shulman on UConn’s Stanley Robinson, an Alabama native: “He’s a Southern guy. So we need him to just be a nice guy. He’s from two hours away from us down here in Chattanooga.” ... Doaks on his team winning the SoCon tournament: “Nobody picked us to do anything. Everybody thought it would go through Davidson, Charleston or the Citadel. We had a little chip on our shoulder trying to prove people wrong and we just played our hearts out. We played with emotion, we played with passion, we played with energy, and that’s just part of our personality as a team.”

Thabeet named USBWA All-America

2009-03-16T12:54:00.001-04:00

Junior center Hasheem Thabeet has been named a Second Team All-American by the USBWA. Here's the full release and teams.

Moc ... Yeah! Ing ... Yeah!

2009-03-16T10:24:00.006-04:00

I know Harry and Lloyd didn't mean the Mocs, per say, but it still fits. So the top-seeded Huskies will face the SoCon champion Chattanooga Mocs in the first round Thursday in Philadelphia (3 p.m.). Before inundating you with links on the team, my first question, of course, was: What's a Moc?

More is explained here (scroll toward the bottom) but the name is derived from the school's original nickname of the 'Moccasins,' which was in place until 1996.

After a stint with an actual moccasin as its mascot, from the 1970s until 1996, the school used Chief Moccanooga, an exaggerated Cherokee tribesman, as its mascot, before concerns over sensitivity, forced the school to drop the chief in favor of the name "Mocs" and a mockingbird named "Scrappy" dressed as a railroad engineer. The school's main athletic logo features Scrappy riding a train, a reference to Chattanooga's history as a major railroad hub and to the song "Chattanooga Choo Choo."

As for the basketball side, here are some numbers, names and games. Also, its ESPN page, which I find very useful when looking for quick info on teams. Finally, here's a few links from the Chattanooga Times Free Press: From Selection Sunday, a view from the past and how the SEC got no love from the NCAA, with a bit on UConn-Chattanooga.

Chattanooga hasn't been to the Dance since 2005, where it lost to Wake Forest. It faced UConn in the first round of the 1995 tournament in Salt Lake City, where it lost, 100-71.

Jim Calhoun on Sunday compared the Mocs' leading scorer Stephen McDowell, a 5-foot-11 grad student, to Miami's Jack McClinton. McDowell is averaging 18.6 points and shoots 43.4 percent from 3 (135-for-311). For perspective, A.J. Price leads UConn in 3s with 71.

A conference call is scheduled later this afternoon with Mocs coach John Shulman, so we'll have more info on Chattanooga, which lost 10 of its first 14 games, won 11 of its next 14, and upset College of Charleston (which beat Davidson in the conference semifinals) in the league title game.

UConn earns No. 1 seed

2009-03-15T18:16:00.002-04:00

UConn knows its NCAA tournament destination.

The Huskies have been named the No. 1 seed in the West region, the No. 4 overall seed in the tournament and will play its first-round game Thursday in Philadelphia against 16th-seeded and Southern Conference champion Chattanooga. The winner of that game gets the winner of the No. 8 BYU-No. 9 Texas A&M match-up. If UConn advances past that game, it could see fourth-seeded Washington.

Memphis, the team UConn was most likely vying against for a top seed, is the No. 2 team in its bracket, and could see No. 3 Missouri in the Sweet Sixteen.

UConn was a No. 1 seed in both 2006 and 1999, most recently, and it emerged out of the West region in both 1999 and 2004 when it won the national title.

Louisville is the No. 1 overall seed and will play out of the Midwest.

Thabeet, Blair share Big East P.O.Y. honors

2009-03-10T17:59:00.002-04:00

Hasheem Thabeet and Pitt's DeJuan Blair were named Big East Co-Players of the Year on Tuesday, the first time the league has awarded dual honors since 2002 when UConn's Caron Butler and Pitt's Brandin Knight shared it. Talk about coincidences.

Thabeet is the sixth Husky to win the award and the first since Emeka Okafor (2004). In total, a UConn player has been the Big East P.O.Y. seven times, including Richard Hamilton, the program's only two-time winner.

Georgetown's Greg Monroe was named the Big East's Rookie of the Year and Villanova's Jay Wright was named Coach of the Year.

Here's a link to the full release.

Thabeet, Calhoun top USBWA teams

2009-03-10T12:02:00.002-04:00

Hasheem Thabeet was named the USBWA's District I Player of the Year and Jim Calhoun was named its Coach of the Year, it was announced Tuesday. Jeff Adrien and A.J. Price were each named to the All-District Team, which essentially doubles as an All-New England squad. District I includes Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Here are the remaining honorees in whole.

UConn drops in polls

2009-03-09T20:32:00.002-04:00

Following its loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday, formerly top-ranked UConn dropped to No. 3 in The Associated Press poll and No. 4 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll, it was released on Monday.

North Carolina assumed the top spot in both sets of rankings.

Here's what I submitted to the AP. I had UNC as my No. 2 last week but jumped Pitt ahead of the Tar Heels because, well, I think Pitt looks like the best team in the country at the moment. Simple enough, I think.

(1) Pittsburgh
(2) North Carolina
(3) UConn
(4) Memphis
(5) Louisville
(6) Michigan State
(7) Oklahoma
(8) Duke
(9) Wake Forest
(10) Villanova
(11) Gonzaga
(12) Kansas
(13) UCLA
(14) Washington
(15) Missouri
(16) Butler
(17) LSU
(18) Syracuse
(19) Marquette
(20) Xavier
(21) Clemson
(22) Arizona State
(23) BYU
(24) Purdue
(25) Utah

Sick day

2009-03-09T13:12:00.002-04:00

A few quick notes from Gampel Pavilion, where UConn's practice wrapped up a little more than an hour ago:

(1) Kemba Walker did not practice today because of strep throat. The team leaves for New York on Tuesday, and coach Jim Calhoun said he's unsure if the freshman guard, who was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team on Sunday, will be able to practice by Wednesday.

"If he’s ready to go, we won’t say it’s a game-time decision," Calhoun said. "We’ll let you know what it is."

Calhoun also said that Thabeet, who was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year on Monday for the straight year, was dealing with a groin injury. But in the 45 minutes or so the media was allowed to watch -- which included mainly half-court offensive and defensive work -- the junior center was a full participant.

(2) Calhoun said he is strongly considering changing the starting lineup for Thursday's Big East quarterfinal game, namely replacing senior Craig Austrie with either Walker or fellow freshman Scottie Haralson. With Walker out, Haralson spent the entire session today with the first team.

Austrie has struggled offensively since moving into the starting lineup following Jerome Dyson's season-ending knee injury. In his past seven games. He's averaging 5.0 points while shooting 13-of-47 from the field (27.7 percent) and 5-of-19 from 3-point land (26.3). He's made just one of his last 11 3s as well, and went scoreless in 15 minutes of action in Saturday's loss at Pittsburgh.

"But we’ll see how the week works out," Calhoun said. "As of today, (for) Thursday,Craig has three good days and hopefully he’ll forget about the no man’s land that he’s in and play.

(3) Some Big East bracket particulars: UConn is slotted into the No. 3 seed for Thursday's quarterfinals and will see either South Florida, Seton Hall or Syracuse. Chances are it's the sixth-seeded Orange, who await the winner of USF and Seton Hall's Tuesday match-up. UConn is 12-12 all-time in the Big East quarterfinals and 0-2 against the No. 6 seed.

No current Husky has ever won a Big East tournament game, as UConn has been eliminated in its first game the last three years and has lost four straight overall. UConn is 29-23 all-time in Big East tournament play, 28-16 under Calhoun.

Check back later for more reaction of the All-Big East teams, upcoming tournament play, etc.

Thabeet named Big East's top defender

2009-03-09T10:06:00.003-04:00

To no one's surprise, Hasheem Thabeet has repeated as Big East Defensive Player of the Year, it was announced this morning, giving UConn the league's top defensive honor for the sixth time in seven seasons.

Thabeet averaged 4.5 blocks this season (second in the nation), swatting 89 in league play alone. The 7-foot-3 junior ranks second all time in UConn history in that category (trailing only Emeka Okafor) and ranks second all-time in blocks during conference play, trailing Patrick Ewing.

Other winners: Villanova's Dante Cunningham was named Most Improved Player, his teammate Corey Fisher was Sixth Man of the Year and West Virginia's Alex Ruoff earned the Sportsmanship Award.

Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Scholar-Athlete will be announced tomorrow at roughly 5:30 p.m. during a news conference.

Four Huskies honored by Big East

2009-03-08T12:12:00.004-04:00

Hasheem Thabeet was named to the All Big East First Team on Sunday, putting him among the six players from whom the Big East Player of the Year will be chosen. A.J. Price was named to the league's Second Team and Jeff Adrien was rewarded with a Third Team nod. Kemba Walker was also named to the All-Rookie Team.

Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Scholar-Athlete will be announced in a press conference Tuesday. The rest of the league honorees (Defensive Player of the Year, Sportsmanship Award, Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year) will be announced via e-mail on Monday.

Here are the teams in full:

All-Big East First Team

Hasheem Thabeet, UConn
Terrence Williams, Louisville
Jerel McNeal, Marquette
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh
Sam Young, Pittsburgh

All-Big East Second Team

A.J. Price, UConn
Wesley Matthews, Marquette
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse
Dante Cunningham, Villanova
Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia

All-Big East Third Team

Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati
Jeff Adrien, UConn
Earl Clark, Louisville
Levance Fields, Pittsburgh
Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall

Honorable Mention

Weyinmi Efejuku, Providence
Dominique Jones, So. Florida
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova
Alex Ruoff, West Virginia

Big East All-Rookie Team

Yancy Gates, Cincinnati
Kemba Walker, UConn
Greg Monroe, Georgetown
Samardo Samuels, Louisville
Mike Rosario, Rutgers
Devin Ebanks, West Virginia

Here were my predictions that ran in today's edition of the Bulletin. Keep in mind I had to hand these in directly after the UConn-Pitt game yesterday.

Fields of play

2009-03-06T16:15:00.003-05:00

Levance Fields, Pitt's senior guard and the Big East's assists leader, is questionable for Saturday's game against UConn and remains a game-time decision. Here's a little more on Fields' status. Fields bruised his tail bone in Wednesday's victory over Marquette, and despite the pain, stayed in to register 17 points and 10 assists.

The guard didn't practice Thursday and was scheduled to be reevaluated today. (Update: He didn't practice today either but has been said to be feeling better.) Jamie Dixon told the Tribune-Review that if the game was Thursday, Fields wouldn't have played. That said, can you imagine Fields not trying to give it a go against UConn, on Senior Day, in his final game at the Petersen Events Center?

It'd be hard to say he wouldn't, but the real concern is, how effective will he be with the injury? He went roughly 37 minutes of Pitt's game at UConn without producing a single point, but of course, he scored 10 in the final three minutes and his presence both handling and distributing the ball can never be overvalued.

Nonetheless, it creates another interesting subplot to watch for.

Men of Steel

2009-03-05T23:56:00.005-05:00

So, there's this kind-of-big game going on Saturday in Pittsburgh. You may have heard about it. No. 3 Pitt vs. No. 1 UConn. A chance at a Big East title is on the line. So is the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament. Yeah, check it out if you can.

"I’m excited, they should be excited," Jim Calhoun said of his players. "It’s an opportunity to win a championship in one game, one afternoon, 12 to 2 (p.m.), two hours. All the practices and all the trips and all of the tough places we went, they have a chance to win a neighborhood title."

As seems to be the case with most of UConn's game lately, aside from those obviously important subplots -- a win guarantees it the top seed in the conference tourney, a loss guarantees it the No. 3 seed -- there's even more buzzing around this particular game.

For example: Pitt hasn't lost at home this season (18-0) and has won 20 straight at the Petersen Events Center. The Huskies, meanwhile, are the country's only unbeaten team on the road, where they are 13-0 and 8-0 in league road games. Also, Hasheem Thabeet and DeJuan Blair can further stake their claim in the Big East Player of the Year race with a stand-out performance. That award, along with the Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, will be announced Tuesday. The rest of the awards will be released via e-mail during the two days prior.

Here are some more notes, quotes and thoughts on those subjects and more from Thursday's availability at Gampel Pavilion:

(1) UConn is in the midst of an extended six-day lay-off between games. After taking Sunday off, Calhoun said UConn practiced Monday and Tuesday, did roughly 70 minutes of shooting on Wednesday, and was back at it Thursday. The Huskies fly out Friday for Saturday's game.

"So I don’t know the effects," Calhoun said. "It’s easier I suppose to some degree … to hone in on one game. The first two days we didn’t talk about Pittsburgh."

Price said it's been a good week of practice, but like Calhoun, he wasn't exactly sure how it will play out come Saturday.

"I feel like we’ve come into practice this whole break and worked on everything that we need to work hard on and things we’re going to see against Pittsburgh," Price said. "We’ve had a lot of time to prepare for them. I definitely think it’s going to benefit us going down there. Only time will tell, though."

For the 30 or so minutes the media was allowed to watch practice on Thursday, the Huskies were going through their defense of Pitt's offensive sets and inbounds plays. At one point (I think) Ater Majok was playing the role of Sam Young and displayed what's looking more and more like a pretty deadly 18-foot jumper. Alas, I digress.

(2) This is the focus of today's story, so I won't have too much more than what's explained here, but the rematch of Thabeet and Blair (post-Thabeet flipping) is an interesting story line.

"With the type of competitor he is, I hope he’s looking for revenge," Blair said of Thabeet, who was limited to 23 minutes and five points in the Huskies' 76-68 loss to Pitt on Feb. 16. Blair had 22 points and 23 rebounds. "When you’re a great player, you take pride in the way you play, and when a team beats you once, you want to come back that much harder at them the next time. I hope we see him at his best on Saturday, because challenges like that are what make this game fun."

UConn is aware it will have to do something different to contain the 6-foot-7 forward. Calhoun said the Huskies have worked on different schemes but didn't elaborate exactly what they were (for obvious reasons).

"We’ll have to see how it works out," the coach said. "But once again, we had a couple schemes set up (last time) but when he was sitting beside me, the schemes weren’t very good."

Jeff Adrien said the key is not allowing Blair to set up in the blocks, a place the 6-foot-7 sophomore dominated in Hartford. "Don’t let him feel comfortable," the senior continued. "Just get him rattled and get some double teams flying at him and making sure he doesn’t see the hoop freely."

For Thabeet, there's a little more to it. Scorers who find success against the junior go right at Thabeet's chest, and Blair, using his muscle and width, often forced him under the hoop, where his shot-blocking abilities were negated. One thought is for Thabeet to front Blair more or, like Adrien eluded to, pushing him out of the paint and toward the high post and perimeter. Either way, he'll have to stay out of foul trouble and on the floor to make more of an impact.

"I think getting in foul trouble goes with the flow of the game," he said. "I’m not blaming it on the refs. If they let it happen, it’s going to happen. I’m just going to go over there and play the game. Sometimes even the ref tells you so. ‘Don’t do this, don’t go that. If you do that one more time, I’ll give you a foul.’ You just have to go over there and play aggressive. Maybe you might have a bad day."

There's more.

"I just have to produce more," Thabeet said. "Maybe last game I didn’t produce enough and this time, I’m going to go over there and try some new stuff I didn’t do last game. Maybe that day wasn’t my day. I didn’t have a good game. I hear some comments … people say I’m soft. Again, I go over there and play ball. I’m really not looking for all this talk off the court. I go over there and just play ball."

Yet as much attention as the Thabeet-Blair showdown will get from the media (and I'm no different because my story was all about that today), A.J. Price said, "We don’t think that the whole Thabeet-vs.-Blair match-up is the key to the game."

"We would like to have him on the court more and allow him to do what he does best, which is play defense and rebound the ball," the senior said of Thabeet. "If we have him on the court, we know our chances will be much greater. I think he just needs to worry about what he does best. As a team we just can’t allow Hash to be physical and man-up with Blair one-on-one the whole game because it’s going to take a toll on him. We need to help him out as a team and try to get more help and not expect him to block every shot that goes up."

(3) The Huskies are the country's premiere road team, winning at Louisville, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Marquette and Gonzaga (in Seattle) in remaining perfect away from home. Pitt largely owns the league's best home-court advantage at the Petersen Events Center, where its 114-10 all-time (.919). Yeah, that's pretty good.

Considering what's on the line and the opponent, this is UConn's biggest road test by far.

"By far," Price emphasized. "Playing at Pitt, No. 4 team in the land, the most at-stake than any game this year — I think this will tell a lot about us, how good we really are on the road. We’re undefeated right now, (but) this is by far the biggest game we’ve played on the road this year."

The Huskies have come to relish the us-against-the-world mentality teams need on the road. It's a mindset Calhoun is most comfortable with and even as UConn has grown into a national title contender, it still loves believing its the underdog. (I haven't seen any lines, but if I was a betting man, I say Pitt lays a point.)

"We definitely have to match their intensity at home," Adrien said. "There’s going to be a lot of kids out there, it’s going to be crazy. They’re excited, we’re excited. And they’ve got a home winning streak going on and we’ve got a road winning streak. Somebody’s going to have to give it up."

Said Calhoun: "We’ve had some tests. I look at it as a great opportunity. I think particularly now, given the strength of the league, if you win the 18-game regular-season title, we’re going to end up being a good team regardless because we’re going to have a very good record within our league. But there’s nothing wrong with getting the trophy in the meantime, either. ... Right now we have one game to see if we can get our first objective of the year and that is to win the Big East championship."

(4) Like the Huskies on Saturday, Pitt will be enjoying its Senior Day this weekend when it says good-bye to Sam Young, Levance Fields, Tyrell Biggs and Sean Brown. Expect a lot of emotion in the arena, especially surrounding Fields who has been the heart of the Panthers during his four years.

Though he won't get a lot of awards buzz like Blair, he's an All-Big East lock after leading the conference in assists (225) and assist-to-turnover ratio (a ridiculous 4.02).

"In my opinion, he’s the biggest key," Price said of the senior guard. "He’s the point guard, the head of their team. He takes care of the ball and doesn’t turn it over, which is extremely important. So they’re getting good shots every time down the court. I think he’s the one that makes them go more than anybody else."

(5) Matching Pitt physically and on the boards remains a key for the Huskies after they were beat badly in both areas in the first match-up.

"We can’t get beat on the glass," said Calhoun, whose team was out-rebounded, 48-31, in the last match-up. It's the only game UConn has lost the battle on the boards this season. "If we do, I think we’re in trouble because they’re not going to turn it over. They don’t turn it over."

Said Price: "We need to execute our offense better, especially down the stretch of the game. We have to be comfortable in whatever set we call and have enough confidence to know we’re going to score out of it. And more importantly, we can’t get outrebounded the way we did. It’s unacceptable for this team. If we win the battle on the glass, I think we’ll be in great shape to win a game."

(6) Thabeet doesn't have great memories of the Petersen Events Center. Last time, he took an early shot from Aaron Gray and never quite recovered. Gray finished with 22 points and 19 rebounds and Thabeet had one and six.

"I couldn’t get back in the game and play the game I’m capable of playing," Thabeet recalled. "Everyday you face different challenges and Saturday’s going to be a new challenge. That’s why we watch tape and work on the little stuff we didn’t do last game."

(7) Some potpourri: UConn has accumulated 15 wins for the sixth time in league play. No other school in Big East history has won more than 15 games more than once, according to the UConn game notes. The others are Georgetown, St. John's, Miami and Louisville. Pitt can reach 15 wins for the first time on Saturday. ... UConn is 41-8 all-time as the No. 1 team, though that last loss was to Pitt. ... Thabeet needs nine blocks to tie Patrick Ewing as the all-time blocks leader in Big East history. He has 238 in 51 career games. ... UConn has taken over as the country's blocks leader -- for now. Through 29 games, it's averaging 7.76 per game (225 in 29 contests), barely edging out Mississippi State, which has 230 in 30 (7.67). Mississippi State has one more Saturday at Mississippi.

First wave of awards include Thabeet, Adrien

2009-03-05T17:39:00.004-05:00

Over the next week, regional and conference honors will go flying off the shelves. Here's an appetizer: Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien were each named to a NABC All-District team on Wednesday, Thabeet earning a First Team nod and Adrien one to the Second Team.

Besides the obvious kudos these honors carry, they also may carry a little more significance in forecasting how the Big East awards will play out. In a change from the past, instead of naming 10 players (plus the Player of the Year) to the conference's First Team and 10 more to the Second, the league this season is naming five players to the First Team (and perhaps six; it's unclear if the P.O.Y. will be included), five to the second and five to the third, plus a handful of honorable mentions.

How does this relate to the NABC honors? Also in a change from the past, the NABC realigned its districts to mirror many of the conferences, meaning District 5 now includes only Big East teams. So, in addition to Thabeet, the NABC First Team includes Jerel McNeal (Marquette), Terrence Williams (Louisville), Luke Harangody (Notre Dame) and Jonny Flynn (Syracuse). With Adrien, DeJuan Blair (Pitt), Sam Young (Pitt), Dante Cunningham (Villanova) and Da'Sean Butler (West Virginia) make up the Second Team.

Will the Big East teams play out exactly like this? It's hard to say. The Big East teams don't have to reflect all five positions, but rather the five players most deserving. And I don't think many coaches will leave Blair off the First Team, even with the group slimming to just five players. (And quite frankly, these changes make earning that honor very noteworthy.)