UConn Number 18 in ESPN Power Rankings

[UConNation]

Andy Katz who is normally very fair to UConn seems to be a little more excited about what's going on in Storrs this year than his partner.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9863002&ex_cid=espnapi_public

 

[tcf15]

This includes a little write-up from Dana O'Neil, but with the same video: http://espn.go.com/ncb/feature/video/_/page/preseason-power-rankings-2013-2014/num/8

 

[Huskies4ever]

Andy Katz who is normally very fair to UConn seems to be a little more excited about what's going on in Storrs this year than his partner.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9863002&ex_cid=espnapi_public

Jeff Goodman looks like a 40 year old 3 year old.

 

[bear]

I still don't understand how they put Jeff Goodman on TV. He's less articulate than my 6 year old.

 

[GlastonTim]

Jeff Goodman is a an idiot!

 

[Scot-e]

These guys really do not spend all that much time on this outside the top ten teams.
Both of them know two names off the top of their head- Bazz our best player and TO who has been in the news for being an idiot Nice job-JK.

 

[James]

Espn does nothing in depth (as far as ncaab, nba is pretty bleh too). that AAC preview from the betting guy blows anything they do out the water.

 

[Leebo]

Zero acknowledgement that they brought all the best players back from a top 30 team last season. He doesn't understand why they're included? That alone would make not including them ludicrous.

 

[tcf15]

Goodman says he is surprised that UConn is in ESPN's top 25, even though 32 D1 coaches think UConn is good enough to be top 20.

Just stop it.

 

[UChusky916]

Agreed that this was poorly done, no insight. Granted, the published date is from last week, so Facey got cleared after this was published.

Also, how can he say we have no shot-blocking presence? No mention of our 7 footer, Brimah? No mention of 6'10'' Nolan? Granted, these guys aren't big names, but they are big bodies.

No mention that we bring back EVERY player from last year including 3 senior guys who've already won a national championship?

Goodman sounds like he just came from the dentist or something... awful

 

[bear]

I would take Gottlieb over Goodman any day of the week.

 

[CardiacKemba]

I would take Gottlieb over Goodman any day of the week.

Same here. And I DESPISE Gottlieb.

 

[phillionaire]

Goodman's a tool

 

[Penfield]

I think he literally meant he didn't know the names of any other back court players for UConn. Goodman is a joke

 

[gwhuskyfan]

http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/dailyword131029/daily-word

In today's daily word they asked:
3. Which team between Nos. 20-16 in our Power Rankings -- Creighton, Virginia, UConn, Marquette and Gonzaga -- could make the biggest move during the season?


Katz went UVA, Myron Medcalf went Marq, and Eamon Brennan picked us. Here's his explanation :
Relative to our ranking, I'll go with UConn. Marquette is going to be good, we know what Creighton is, everyone has (rightly) come around on Virginia, and Gonzaga may be held back by just-OK defense. But UConn's veteran guard play and pair of talented breakout candidates (Omar Calhoun, DeAndre Daniels) will make them very dangerous -- and arguably underranked.

 

[mauconnfan]

Goodman still has that little swell in his cheek where Calipari placed his tool and pushed a few times to create the sense of tobacco-chewing.......

"....they have no one..."........they guy knows about nothing for sure, is sincerely one of the worst "college hoop guru's" in all the land, but he has a point on the rebounding. In order to run and be sure we are not perimeter oriented for full games we will need to find rebounders. But there are people who will step up.........they guy has no right getting a check for throwing out his spew nonetheless!

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/dailyword131029/daily-word

In today's daily word they asked:
3. Which team between Nos. 20-16 in our Power Rankings -- Creighton, Virginia, UConn, Marquette and Gonzaga -- could make the biggest move during the season?


Katz went UVA, Myron Medcalf went Marq, and Eamon Brennan picked us. Here's his explanation :
Relative to our ranking, I'll go with UConn. Marquette is going to be good, we know what Creighton is, everyone has (rightly) come around on Virginia, and Gonzaga may be held back by just-OK defense. But UConn's veteran guard play and pair of talented breakout candidates (Omar Calhoun, DeAndre Daniels) will make them very dangerous -- and arguably underranked.

Virginia has PG issues (the most important position in college hoops BY FAR). So I haven't come around. Who is sold on Jones, Perrantes, Brogdon and Hall as PG by committee??? If 1 emerges then dangerous but all are unproven commodities.

Marq frontcourt is beastly but V. Blue's 14.8 is a big loss and Jr. Cadougan was their certified leader last year. UConn def puts the smack down on Marq. Hope to see these guys in the Tournament for a beat down of monumental proportions.

 

[upstater]

I have UConn down for 6 losses pre-tourney. That should be good for a 4 seed at least. I like UConn's chances.

 

[UConNation]

I have UConn down for 6 losses pre-tourney. That should be good for a 4 seed at least. I like UConn's chances.

I think they'll do better than 6 losses. Here's where I think they'll see potential losses:

I think they split Florida and Stanford.
I think they win the classic in MSG, including beating Indiana
They'll sweep Memphis
They'll split Louisville
Temple plays up to their competition very well (see Syracuse last year) so I'm going to say they split Temple
And then you just have to throw 1 loss in there for the one that no body saw coming.

All totalled up, I count 4 losses, an AAC title and a 2 or 3 seed in the tourney.

 

[upstater]

I think they'll do better than 6 losses. Here's where I think they'll see potential losses:

I think they split Florida and Stanford.
I think they win the classic in MSG, including beating Indiana
They'll sweep Memphis
They'll split Louisville
Temple plays up to their competition very well (see Syracuse last year) so I'm going to say they split Temple
And then you just have to throw 1 loss in there for the one that no body saw coming.

All totalled up, I count 4 losses, an AAC title and a 2 or 3 seed in the tourney.

So, you have a win @Memphis, wins against BC, Indiana, Harvard, @Washington, @Cincinnati, only one WTF loss on the road @UCF, Rutgers, USF, Houston or SMU, and UConn winning the conference tournament (which will likely require beating Memphis 3 times during the regular season).

That's quite an accomplishment if they can do that.

One thing people looking at last year need to take into account is how weak our BE schedule was.

 

[ctchamps]

So, you have a win @Memphis, wins against BC, Indiana, Harvard, @Washington, @Cincinnati, only one WTF loss on the road @UCF, Rutgers, USF, Houston or SMU, and UConn winning the conference tournament (which will likely require beating Memphis 3 times during the regular season).

That's quite an accomplishment if they can do that.

One thing people looking at last year need to take into account is how weak our BE schedule was.

Factors from last season to consider that should give us caution with optimism: weak BE schedule, many tight games that could easily have gone the other way and SN may have used up all of his clutchiness!

Factors from last season to consider that should give us wild expectations: SN is still clutch and has matured even more, team is deeper at all positions, teams is more experienced than last year's team in which only SN and TO played significant minutes in a UConn uniform, and hopefully team has less injuries which was the major issue for losses last season.

 

[UConNation]

So, you have a win @Memphis, wins against BC, Indiana, Harvard, @Washington, @Cincinnati, only one WTF loss on the road @UCF, Rutgers, USF, Houston or SMU, and UConn winning the conference tournament (which will likely require beating Memphis 3 times during the regular season).

That's quite an accomplishment if they can do that.

One thing people looking at last year need to take into account is how weak our BE schedule was.

I'll admit that I'm being a bit optimistic and I also agree that our BE schedule was quite weak; the teams that we played twice last year were not the strongest in the conference. I think that walking away with 4-6 losses will definitely get us a top 3 seed as long as the losses don't come against the weaker teams in the conference (Houston, SMU, Rutgers) and they don't come at the very very end of the regular season.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Factors from last season to consider that should give us caution with optimism: weak BE schedule, many tight games that could easily have gone the other way and SN may have used up all of his clutchiness!

Factors from last season to consider that should give us wild expectations: SN is still clutch and has matured even more, team is deeper at all positions, teams is more experienced than last year's team in which only SN and TO played significant minutes in a UConn uniform, and hopefully team has less injuries which was the major issue for losses last season.

The counter balance to tight games argument is NC State for 38 minutes, Junior "Hadouken"'s blind squirrel toss and the 2OT loss to Gtown with Bazz on one leg in the 2nd half and being victimized by the BS elbow call on Giff that they did away with this year.

We were thin after Wolf went down, in the losses to USF and Cinci we were a bare cupboard. I count that as 4/5 "tough luck" losses to offset a lot of Bazz' heroics.

Much of that has been improved with the bodies we've brought in. I actually think that we are a 4 or 10 loss team, but not anything in between if that makes sense.

If Brimah is plug and play fill the paint on D and board, and Phil is modestly improved than 4. If not, than 10.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Lets just win the whole thing... AGAIN. I will be at every home game following the Big Red UConn chants with no vocals afterwards. Hopefully a few roadies. If fans can't get behind this team who got screwed out of an NCAA appearance through no fault of their own... then we can't get behind any team. IMHO

It is time for some good ole fashioned retribution in 2013-14. I was admittedly a bit frustrated with how a few recruiting verdicts turned out and what better way to put those guys in the rear view mirror than a trip to Dallas with unlimited exposure.

 

[Dmike]

There is no question that we'll be a tough out, but will we be able to win the most of the close games. Answer, I don't know. The biggest question mark will be what Goodman points out, our ability to rebound, interior defense and low post scoring. I think our guard play and coaching will get us 20+ victories for certain, but the bigs will determine whether we're able to pull out the majority of close games by their ability to get rebounds, preventing second chance opportunities and holding down the middle. I think our bigs are going to be better than what the nation expects and this team has the ability to put together a final four run, but whether we're a four loss team or a ten loss team will be answered by our bigs. I think Goodman's an as$clown, but he's right the big question is going to be our bigs.

End of the day, 2011 saw us go 9-9 in the big east. We'll see a number of teams in the AAC three times if we progress in the AAC tourney. I expect our bigs (namely Nolan, Brimah and hopefully Facey) to progress over the season and give us a different look come tourney time than in the beginning of the season. Their progression will be the difference in whether we have a good season (top 20 / sweet 16 finish) or a great one.