Calhoun Pleased With Players' Attitude
There is more color to Jim Calhoun's complexion now. His voice is sharp and clear. He appears to have gained back some weight he lost during radiation treatments, and he's back to moving at breakneck pace.
All of this is easy to notice. But the best way to judge how Calhoun is feeling two-plus weeks after the conclusion of treatments on a cancerous growth on his neck is to hear the way he answers the simple question: How are you?
"I'm really happy with our team,"
said Calhoun, who finished seven weeks of treatment Aug. 8. "It's nice to know we've put together this group."
Calhoun's mind is almost fully devoted to basketball again — not early morning treatments, radiation side effects or what a bear the recent months have been. He's glowing, clearly excited about the possibilities for the 2008-09 season and encouraged by the work ethic and attitude of players who returned to UConn over the weekend.
Classes began Monday. Practice doesn't start until October 17. But a page has been turned. A team meeting was held Sunday night. Individual workouts have begun. Players are playing pickup on their own time. The schedule is due out soon.
As always this time of year, there is an intense sense of impatience to start in earnest. But for Calhoun, 66 and entering his 23rd season at UConn, life has at least taken on a sense of normalcy again.
"Over the past four months, from the first time I went in for what I thought was a cyst on my neck until I finished radiation just a few weeks ago, it's been a very long summer,"
he said. "I feel refreshed by the attitude these kids have, that they really want to play basketball. People are doing their jobs. People are being disciplined yet accepting it. One thing I made sure of — and this is nothing personal or anything against anyone who left our program — is that our problems are going to be on the court, not off the court. That's our theme this year."
The Huskies open Nov. 14 against Western Carolina at Gampel Pavilion and play Hartford Nov. 17 at the Civic Center.
UConn then plays three games at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, an eight-team tournament that begins with the Huskies facing La Salle on Nov. 21.
Calhoun has many options on his roster. Junior Hasheem Thabeet could be the nation's most dominant big man. Seniors Jeff Adrien and A.J. Price were All-Big East last season, when UConn went 24-9 and lost to San Diego in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
With freshmen Kemba Walker and Nate Miles in the mix, the coaches say this could be UConn's best passing team in recent memory.
Calhoun is committed to using predominantly a three-guard lineup.
A.J. Price, progressing well after ACL surgery and just a week or two away from being cleared for full contact drills, will anchor the backcourt. And with Jerome Dyson (shooting guard), Craig Austrie (point guard, shooting guard), Walker (point guard), Miles (both guard positions, small forward), Scottie Haralson (shooting guard, small forward) and Donnell Beverly (point guard), there are a number of ways Calhoun can mix and match.
"I think we'll be able to answer you in a number of different ways,"
Calhoun said. "We can answer you small. We know that. And then we have the difference-maker."
The "difference-maker"
is Thabeet. Come December, the difference-makers could be Ater Majok and Stanley Robinson.
Neither is expected to be with the Huskies for the first semester. There is a very slight chance Majok, a 6-foot-10 forward from Sudan via Australia, could get cleared for the fall semester by Tuesday's deadline, but the coaching staff has shifted its focus to midseason.
"Hopefully his situation will be worked out by December,"
Calhoun said.
Robinson, who plays pickup with the Huskies, is working five days a week in Willimantic and living with his uncle in Vernon. Calhoun is pleased with the dedication of Robinson, who is in line to rejoin the team if he continues to stay on track.
"I'd love to have both of them in December,"
Calhoun said.
