tykurez
For Your Health
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- Aug 24, 2011
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Couldn't / Shouldn't we have seen this coming?
After Andre Drummond announced he was attending UConn this year, a lot of people were predicting a steamroll of the perceived "soft" schedule this year. Surely, given the talent level and plethora of players returning from a NC team, UConn should have no problem pounding their opponents into submission with gritty defense and a relentless inside-out offense. Not a terrible assumption, but an assumption that has gotten us to this point.
Back on October 3rd, I wrote this concern about the team in a thread lauding it's seemingly endless amount of talent and promise
Honestly, I didn't even really believe what I had written. I saw a leader in Shabazz. I saw that fiery attitude in him that I've seen in so many other point guards in UConn's history. He had Marcus Williams with shades Khalid written all over him. I saw a team that had the potential to reach even greater heights than last year.
The problem is, that hasn't materialized. This team has no leadership on the court. No Kemba. This is the same team that went 9-9 last year in conference play WITH Kemba Walker ... only now he's not here to pull out some heroics while the young pups come into their own.
They have limited choices. Oriakhi, the team's elder statesman, doesn't possess those qualities and quite honestly, he shouldn't have to. Lamb is a silent killer ... I don't think anyone is expecting him to rally any troops.
That leaves two guys, a sophomore point guard who had the luxury of complimenting arguably the best PG UConn has ever had, and a freshman. These kids just aren't ready yet. Call it what you want ... youth, distractions, inconsistency, (suspensions) ...
In hindsight, we should have seen this coming ... or at least tempered the expectations a bit. Maybe then the hyperbolic criticisms wouldn't be flying off the presses like a Lindsay Lohan Playboy issue (go ahead, look it up.)
Players are slow developing in the Calhoun system. He breaks them down before he builds them back up. It's won us 3 national championships. This team is at a low point right now ... the valley in the break down. But all that talent is there, all those qualities ... it's just a matter of time. The fact is, it might not be this year. Despite all that priceless experience last year, this team is still remarkably young. They're only going to grow from here ... it's just a matter of having patience. I'll continue to watch and support these kids.
After Andre Drummond announced he was attending UConn this year, a lot of people were predicting a steamroll of the perceived "soft" schedule this year. Surely, given the talent level and plethora of players returning from a NC team, UConn should have no problem pounding their opponents into submission with gritty defense and a relentless inside-out offense. Not a terrible assumption, but an assumption that has gotten us to this point.
Back on October 3rd, I wrote this concern about the team in a thread lauding it's seemingly endless amount of talent and promise
Honestly, I didn't even really believe what I had written. I saw a leader in Shabazz. I saw that fiery attitude in him that I've seen in so many other point guards in UConn's history. He had Marcus Williams with shades Khalid written all over him. I saw a team that had the potential to reach even greater heights than last year.
The problem is, that hasn't materialized. This team has no leadership on the court. No Kemba. This is the same team that went 9-9 last year in conference play WITH Kemba Walker ... only now he's not here to pull out some heroics while the young pups come into their own.
They have limited choices. Oriakhi, the team's elder statesman, doesn't possess those qualities and quite honestly, he shouldn't have to. Lamb is a silent killer ... I don't think anyone is expecting him to rally any troops.
That leaves two guys, a sophomore point guard who had the luxury of complimenting arguably the best PG UConn has ever had, and a freshman. These kids just aren't ready yet. Call it what you want ... youth, distractions, inconsistency, (suspensions) ...
In hindsight, we should have seen this coming ... or at least tempered the expectations a bit. Maybe then the hyperbolic criticisms wouldn't be flying off the presses like a Lindsay Lohan Playboy issue (go ahead, look it up.)
Players are slow developing in the Calhoun system. He breaks them down before he builds them back up. It's won us 3 national championships. This team is at a low point right now ... the valley in the break down. But all that talent is there, all those qualities ... it's just a matter of time. The fact is, it might not be this year. Despite all that priceless experience last year, this team is still remarkably young. They're only going to grow from here ... it's just a matter of having patience. I'll continue to watch and support these kids.
