No. 2 UConn Men Look To Make Opening Statement
UConn players know there's more at stake than a win-or-lose bottom line tonight in the season opener against Western Carolina.
From here on out, analysis of the No. 2 Huskies will only increase. A first impression will be made at Gampel Pavilion. A reputation will have begun to take shape.
"It's our first chance to make a statement this year,"
point guard A.J. Price said. "We know everybody around the country is going to be looking at the score every night, regardless of who we play. This is our first chance to say, 'We're for real this year.' We don't want to leave any doubt that we're not as good as people say we are."
UConn isn't just looking to chalk up an early nonconference victory any way it can get it. The Huskies want to impress themselves, impress those watching and move forward with a head of steam.
"I think it's really important to establish what you're going to be,"
said associate head coach George Blaney, speaking to the media Thursday in place of Jim Calhoun, who left shortly after practice for a speaking engagement in Boston. "It takes a long time for a team to create an identity, so we'll start to find out who we are."
UConn was victorious, though flat, in each of the last two openers. The Huskies needed a late Craig Austrie three-pointer to defeat Quinnipiac 53-46 in 2006-07 and barely defeated Morgan State last year, 69-65. Players said Calhoun has reminded them of both games recently. Calhoun also has spoken quite often about UConn's first-round NCAA Tournament loss to San Diego in March.
The Huskies won 24 games and a lot of respect last season. Now, with every key player back (or returning midseason), there are heady expectations -- and there should be no reason for a shortage of motivation.
"Now we have no excuse,"
center Hasheem Thabeet said. "Last year we learned our lesson."
At one point in practice Thursday, the Huskies were so energetic that even Calhoun wanted them to take a step back.
"They were kind of juiced up today and that's always a good sign,"
Blaney said. "Sometimes that kind of juice will get you too excited. Coach tried to settle them down a little bit and get them more fundamentally sound."
Western Carolina, of the Southern Conference, will find out plenty about itself tonight, too. The Catamounts were 10-21 last season and coach Larry Tucker has many new players. The Catamounts are led by 6-foot-6 guard Brandon Giles, who averaged a team-high 15.3 points last season. Jerome Dyson is likely to draw the defensive assignment.
This is the first meeting between the teams. UConn is 19-0 in the season's first game at Gampel since it opened in 1990. The Huskies want to become 20-0 by creating transition baskets and, when that fails, work the ball inside to Thabeet and Jeff Adrien.
"We're faster,"
Blaney said. "I think we're going to be much more of a passing team because, obviously, we're playing three guards. . . . Almost all the time, we'll have two point guards on the floor at the same time. We are trying to run. We are trying to press and trap a little bit more. So I suspect that we will get it up and down a little bit more."
UConn expects to start the same five players as in two exhibitions -- Price, Austrie, Dyson, Thabeet and Adrien. Kemba Walker will log plenty of minutes in a three-guard set.
"We've got to go out and make a statement by showing the other teams in the country that we're for real, that we're not No. 2 in the country for no reason, that not anybody can come in here confident, thinking they can beat us,"
Adrien said. "We want them to be scared."
Okwandu's Status Uncertain
Backup sophomore center Charles Okwandu missed practice Thursday because he was sick and might not play tonight as UConn awaits final word from the NCAA regarding his eligibility.
Okwandu, a transfer from Harcum Junior College in Pennsylvania, sat out the first exhibition game against AIC and played the second against UMass-Lowell.
