Next month will be a series of challenges for UConn starting with #15 DePaul then # 14 Texas in the Jimmy V Classic, then #1 Notre Dame. Later in December, UConn will face #9 Ohio State and #5 Maryland.
Geno said: "Well, I hope these ranked teams are good as everybody says they are. "Because we need to get our ass beat soon and bad, so that some of our guys will come to realize that this is not a walk in the park. It's not as easy as they think it is."
What is Geno's thinking? This UConn team is neither talented enough to win games on sheer skill nor tough enough to scratch out victories. The program's iconic undefeated teams could win games both ways. Against Tennessee-Chattanooga, UConn gave up a lot of points in the paint in the first half. Chattanooga scored just 39 points the entire game in a loss to un-ranked Maine Sunday.
They scored 31 in the first half against the Huskies Tuesday.
The way Geno sees it, that's the product of a team that still needs to get some grit. He says they they will get their opportunity over the next month. "You have to acquire it. How do you acquire it?" Geno asked, "Well, a lot of times it comes from inside and you just have it and it just needs to come out. "People forget, Stewie's freshman year, they faced reality a lot, and they got tougher in December, January, February. By the time we got to March, those guys were tough."
Geno: "We used to be different, we used to be special somewhat" "We're like everybody else now". The gap has closed somewhat. "Our guys play when they feel like it. They get in a stance when they feel like it. In the second half, they felt like it. The first half, they didn't.
Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? Do you think UConn needs to lose a game to get their focus and bearing?
UConn 87 - DePaul 78
