Some other positives in this game:

[ctchamps]

UConn held its own regarding rebounding against one of the better rebounding teams in the nation last season. Maryland lost Len, but returned a formidable rebounding team. And Smotrycz 3 point shooting might make this team a better rebounding team than last season because it pulls opposing teams 4 player to the perimeter.

Maryland was one of the better defensive teams last season and UConn was toying with them on offense in spite of less than optimum play from many players that we know are capable of doing better based on last season.

UConn beat Maryland in every category except free throws. The technical was ridiculous. Maybe something in Bazz's demeanor rubbed that ref the wrong way, but there was nothing excessive in what he was doing. My major gripe outside of this call was the foul PN picked up early in the game for a moving screen. Although Maryland was not as bad at moving screens as a lot of teams I've observed over the years, they did have moving screens and never received a call. But that is nitpicking on my part and I'm not going to weigh it strongly. Bottom line is that every category of play was a win for UConn including bench points and rebounding. The only category Maryland beat UConn besides free throws was their bench had more assists than UConn's.

The one draw back to really gauging UConn's performance in this game was Maryland missing Allen. But it is hard to know if his presence would have improved the dynamics of Maryland in this game or not.

I, for one, love that UConn played a strong opponent early in the season and only won by a close margin. A win is a win and I'll take the trade off of my personal viewing discomfort by the way the game ended with the consolation that this team realizes it has lots of things to work on and will not peak early.

 

[mauconnfan]

UConn held its own regarding rebounding against one of the better rebounding teams in the nation last season. Maryland lost Len, but returned a formidable rebounding team. And Smotrycz 3 point shooting might make this team a better rebounding team than last season because it pulls opposing teams 4 player to the perimeter.

Maryland was one of the better defensive teams last season and UConn was toying with them on offense in spite of less than optimum play from many players that we know are capable of doing better based on last season.

UConn beat Maryland in every category except free throws. The technical was ridiculous. Maybe something in Bazz's demeanor rubbed that ref the wrong way, but there was nothing excessive in what he was doing. My major gripe outside of this call was the foul PN picked up early in the game for a moving screen. Although Maryland was not as bad at moving screens as a lot of teams I've observed over the years, they did have moving screens and never received a call. But that is nitpicking on my part and I'm not going to weigh it strongly. Bottom line is that every category of play was a win for UConn including bench points and rebounding. The only category Maryland beat UConn besides free throws was their bench had more assists than UConn's.

The one draw back to really gauging UConn's performance in this game was Maryland missing Allen. But it is hard to know if his presence would have improved the dynamics of Maryland in this game or not.

I, for one, love that UConn played a strong opponent early in the season and only won by a close margin. A win is a win and I'll take the trade off of my personal viewing discomfort by the way the game ended with the consolation that this team realizes it has lots of things to work on and will not peak early.

I agree on Smotrycz he's a tough matchup for a lot of teams......Not to worried about Allen not being there. Our 2 guards shot 9 for 24 and we still pulled out the W. That won't happen a lot........you have to be a little worried the way they reacted the last 10 minutes but not overly. they will need to make FT's but while TS was good those were going to Bazz shooting those for most of the season. Him fouling out just can't happen we saw, but heyt he ref blew the call on the moving pick.......