Glen Miller & Jim Calhoun Talk About The Upcoming Season
On June 8, 2013, Jim Calhoun hosted the Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride and Walk to raise money to benefit the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UConn Health Center. Participants solicited sponsors for their ride/walk; some of those participants raised more than $1000. Those participants (including yours truly) were invited to a thank-you party at Damon’s Tavern in West Hartford Wednesday night and yours truly attended.
There were about 75 people in attendance, some were riders/walkers and some were corporate sponsors. There were other folks there, too, such as the IMG rep that circulated through the crowd. I introduced myself to him (I thought he was someone else but, oh well) and we had a talk about UConn marketing. IMG’s job is to market UConn to big companies but it also gets peripherally involved in UConn’s general marketing. I asked about the football uniforms and the IMG rep was happy to claim some responsibility. I don’t think I made a friend when I mentioned my opinion of UConn’s new football helmets; the conversation ended soon after.
The food was sorta bleh (who puts slices of summer squash on ziti?) but it was free so I don’t want to complain. The main attraction was Jim Calhoun, who was introduced by Joe D’Ambrosio shortly after the food was served. JC stood in front of the crowd and proclaimed that “The UConn men’s team will always be “my” team, to love and to root for. But this is now Kevin [Ollie’s] team. KO put his mark on this team last year, put his fingerprints on it and now it’s his team”. He then turned the microphone over to Associate Head Coach Glen Miller who gave a rather thorough rundown on his opinion on the current state and potential of this year’s men’s basketball team. Here are some of his remarks:
“We have some challenges ahead of us this year but we’ll also have some success”, said Miller. “We’ll build on what we were able to accomplish last year. With the post-season ban we didn’t know what to expect from the players or the fans but what happened was special. Thanks to all you fans that supported the team. The sky was not falling. We had tradition and we had character that carried us through and the fans helped make it special”.
It was a heartfelt statement that sounded absolutely sincere.
Looking forward, Miller continued, “I can’t talk about recruits but I can tell you we’re moving forward, just got another one and Kevin is in Florida right now”. No specifics were forthcoming, obviously.
Regarding this year’s team:
“We need to get rebounding under control. Last year we were 190 out of 240 teams in rebounding”, said Miller. “We had a good field goal percentage but now the goal is to be in the top 10 in rebounding. In practices, we’re really emphasizing defense and rebounding”.
New NCAA rules allow practices to begin 42 days before the start of the season and while some schools aren’t taking advantage of that, UConn is. There’ve been 6-7 practices already, with the intent of getting the young players and new players integrated into the team as much as possible and adjusted to speed and physicality of the college game.
Miller addressed some general issues:
“The new league will be more challenging than people think, schools will be improving, too. And our out of conference schedule is very challenging. We beefed it up to improve our RPI, to prepare for the NCAA tournament. We’re here to compete for a national championship. Last year we played for character and pride and now we’re primed to compete for a national championship”.
Regarding individual players:
“We’re going to have the best backcourt in the country. The point guard position will be shared by Shabazz Napier and Terrence Samuel. Terrence isn’t going to play much off the ball, although Bazz will. I have coached a lot of players but I’ve never seen anyone grow and mature as a leader as much as Shabazz Napier”.
Ryan Boatright – “He has grown a lot during the summer. He and Bazz wanted to leave for the NBA last year but they weren’t in a good position [in the draft]. They both took a look at what they needed to do and worked on a lot of areas over the summer”.
“Another guard, Omar Calhoun, is a tremendous talent. He has swagger and will be better this year after his surgery on both hips. The surgery wasn’t serious but he’s still sore, still recovering although we expect him to be back to full strength by the first game”.
“Rodney Purvis is another tremendous talent, an NBA talent. He’s a point guard/shooting guard, not really a pure either, and sitting out will benefit him skill-wise and having him in practice will help Bazz, Boat and Terrence”.
Lasan Kromah – “..is a 2/3. He was injured as a sophomore but graduated in four years, kind of like RJ Evans, so he has another year of eligibility. He’s a tremendous, tremendous addition to the team. He can really score and like Omar, has a real swagger”.
Niels Giffey – “He played major minutes with the German national team [this summer]. He’s now a senior with experience and has the ability to go from a role player to a major player. We expect him to be more consistent this season”.
As for the power forward position – “DeAndre Daniels is our best NBA prospect. He looked at the NBA last year but didn’t get good feedback so he’s returned. He’s gained weight, is a hard worker, and has real skills. He should be a first round pick for the NBA”.
“Leon Tolksdorf is an average athlete, most likely a small forward/power forward type. He’s more of a specialty player”.
“Kentan Facey is a long, rangy athlete. He’s only been playing basketball for 4-5 years so right now he’s a better defender and shot blocker [than scorer]. He can defend the perimeter well. We’re hopeful of getting some good news regarding his eligibility soon”.
“Amida Brimah is a diamond in the rough and we feel really lucky in getting him. He’s another great shot blocker”.
“Phil Nolan showed some flashes of brilliance last year. Another long, rangy athlete. He’s possibly the starting 5. We’re expecting more scoring and rebounding out him”.
“Tyler Olander is progressing slowly from foot surgery and he’s not back in shape yet but he should be good by the first game”.
Miller went on to say that this year’s team has depth and versatility, especially on the perimeter. This will be a good defensive team. The goal is to not allow penetration and keep opponents out of the lane but when a breakdown happens there will be shot blockers to help out. He said that Facey and Brimah are “prototypical UConn frontcourt players”.
Miller finished with this:
“There is a huge difference in practices between this year and last. We have more depth and can compete harder in practice. And Rodney Purvis is coming in every day like it’s his game, with that swagger. I’m confident that practice will continue to be at a high level and that we’ll be ready for the NCAA tournament”.
Jim Calhoun took the mike from Glen Miller and added a few comments of his own. Of Rodney Purvis, JC said, “He’ll be in the NBA within 2 years. He’s the most talented, a Ben Gordon/Rip Hamilton-like player. He can dunk, run full speed up the floor and stop and shoot”.
One thing JC wanted to point out is that this is an experienced team. “In the past, it was like ‘Get that guy out of there, he can’t shoot’. Steve Pikiell likes to tell the story that “Don’t Shoot the Goddamn Ball” was in the UConn playbook. But in the past, we didn’t have anyone to put out there for a guy that couldn’t shoot but now we have an experienced team. You can look at the bench and find someone that will work in that situation”.
JC wrapped it up with this comment: “If we can rebound and we can be physical and we can run, we will be lethal”.
On a personal note, JC said he’s headed to Israel to run a basketball clinic. He already has plans to see Nadev Henefeld and Doron Sheffer while he’s there.
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