Video: UConn’s Napier Considered Leaving After Calhoun Retired

[huskiesnyc]

http://zagsblog.com/uconn/uconns-napier-boatright-soldier-on-despite-postseason-ban/

Asked how close he came to leaving UConn, Napier said, “Not really close, but close enough…I thought about it in my head and I never came to the realization that, you know what, I’m going to pack my bags and leave. I’d rather just stay here.”
Napier said he decided to stay only after sitting down and talking with Calhoun and new coachKevin Ollie, whose contract runs through April of next year.
“[Coach Ollie] had to listen to what I felt,” Napier said. “Coach Ollie’s a great listener.”
He added: “I came back because I wanted to stay loyal.”

 

[huskiesnyc]

There is also a nice video of Boatright on the same link...This is the kind of attitude and toughness we lacked last year. I look forward to Boat and Shabazz bringing it every day. I love these guys and their loyalty!

“Every day before we go out to practice I tell them that we got something to prove, prove the world wrong,” Boatright told SNY.tv in the video below.
“Nobody expects us to do anything, nobody expects us to have a good season due to our situations and everybody had left. And I honestly feel like we got enough in our locker room to upset a lot of teams and open a lot of eyes.”

 

[uconnforlife]

That would have been a catastrophe.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Boatright is also sporting a Kembaesque goatee

 

[OkaForPrez]

Kemba Big East Media day 2010

Bazz is going to get compared to Kemba a lot this year. Lets start now.

Is Bazz ready to lead?

 

[Huskies4ever]

Boatright is also sporting a Kembaesque goatee

I mentioned that in a thread with Boat playing pick up games awhile back. The Kemba look can't hurt.

 

[Huskies4ever]

http://zagsblog.com/uconn/uconns-napier-boatright-soldier-on-despite-postseason-ban/
He added: “I came back because I wanted to stay loyal.”

That's gonna be a theme all season. I think KO has already beat "loyalty" into their brains

 

[huskiesnyc]

I mentioned that in a thread with Boat playing pick up games awhile back. The Kemba look can't hurt.

Maybe it will be passed on to Omar in the next couple years..

 

[huskiesnyc]

That's gonna be a theme all season. I think KO has already beat "loyalty" into their brains

I was hoping one of them would mention how escalators are for cowards

 

[Huskies4ever]

I was hoping one of them would mention how escalators are for cowards

We may hear that line in an interview with a player at some point: "No, man. At the hotel, I took the stairs. Escalators are for cowards."

 

[husky99]

Losing napier would have been very very bad

 

[UConn990411]

“[Coach Ollie] had to listen to what I felt,” Napier said. “Coach Ollie’s a great listener.”
He added: “I came back because I wanted to stay loyal.”

Now here's how The Boneyard interpreted that quote:

"[Coach Ollie] had to listen to what I felt," Napier said. "I need at least 20 shots a game this season. I want to play as many minutes as I want. In fact, I should be the one deciding the substitution patters.

"Blah blah blah. Selfish thought, selfish though, selfish though."

 

[selles]

Now here's how The Boneyard interpreted that quote:

"[Coach Ollie] had to listen to what I felt," Napier said. "I need at least 20 shots a game this season. I want to play as many minutes as I want. In fact, I should be the one deciding the substitution patters.

"Blah blah blah. Selfish thought, selfish though, selfish though."

Can't speak for the Boneyard, but my thinking on reading that quote, plus the additional quote in the article about being upset that the media had JC's retirement before the team did, plus the media day gripe about the length of KO's contract, was "hey Shabazz STFU and play". And when you need to talk because you're being interviewed? Say what Boatright says. Because Boatright gets it.

 

[mauconnfan]

Who cares what Bazz says? He's a kid and really never said the right things but has done everything we've asked on the court. He stayed when he could have left like others yet some here feel the need to hammer him? Some fans are a joke!

 

[huskiesnyc]

Here's another interview with Dana O'Neil. He says all the right things in this one. It sounds to me like Boat and Bazz are pretty tight, and they will provide great leadership being a year older.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/65599/video-connecticuts-shabazz-napier

 

[blackbird]

If I were Bazz I would have felt that way too.

Say what you want about Bazz, but he, especially, was/is extremely loyal to the school and to the coach. Basketball players come to Uconn BECAUSE of Calhoun.

So taking the one year suspension from post season, I could have swallowed. Taking the one year suspension and losing the reason I came to Uconn in the first place - pfft. We're lucky the guy didn't leave. And he would have had every right to.

I don't know why fans are so entitled when it comes to these kids. Expecting loyalty when they haven't received any in return (From fans, from the school, from the NCAA) consistently getting punished when, this group in particular, didn't even do anything wrong.

Bazz, Giffey, Lamb, Tyler, Roscoe, and AO are guys that gave Calhoun his third championship as freshman/sophomores. And those same guys were then completely degraded from fans for their poor play, for their "lack of loyalty" (after none was shown to them) for their lack of leadership (when they were really just kids and not ready to be leaders yet) and then for doing what was right for them personally - after they had given the university and the team a lot. I understand being annoyed at AO and Roscoe a bit.

But Bazz, Giffey, and Tyler..there should probably be a moratorium on anything negative said about them.

 

[Huskies4ever]

If I were Bazz I would have felt that way too.

Say what you want about Bazz, but he, especially, was/is extremely loyal to the school and to the coach. Basketball players come to Uconn BECAUSE of Calhoun.

So taking the one year suspension from post season, I could have swallowed. Taking the one year suspension and losing the reason I came to Uconn in the first place - pfft. We're lucky the guy didn't leave. And he would have had every right to.

I don't know why fans are so entitled when it comes to these kids. Expecting loyalty when they haven't received any in return (From fans, from the school, from the NCAA) consistently getting punished when, this group in particular, didn't even do anything wrong.

Bazz, Giffey, Lamb, Tyler, Roscoe, and AO are guys that gave Calhoun his third championship as freshman/sophomores. And those same guys were then completely degraded from fans for their poor play, for their "lack of loyalty" (after none was shown to them) for their lack of leadership (when they were really just kids and not ready to be leaders yet) and then for doing what was right for them personally - after they had given the university and the team a lot. I understand being annoyed at AO and Roscoe a bit.

But Bazz, Giffey, and Tyler..there should probably be a moratorium on anything negative said about them.

I totally agree on the kids who did not transfer. Loyalty is a big thing (see Ollie, Kevin). I appreciate what AO and RS did in 2010-11. Not so much last season. No ill will, but they are gone, finishing at another school, so I could care
less.

The social media allowed myself and many to sour on AO. To have the immaturity to call your coach an "idiot" on your twitter account is awful. Tell your teammates, your family, your friends, but you don't aire that in public. He was very lucky. Then his father came along and made things worse. I'm happy to bid rid of that baggage.