1) Last year, we were down nine points in the opener against Bryant and were still tied at 45 with nine minutes left. Sam Cassell was in the starting lineup and he and Terrence Samuel combined for 65 minutes and 16 shots. Not to kick sand on those two players, but that's trouble.
Tonight, with nine minutes left, UConn was up 40. The talent level is so, so much higher and there's so much more depth. Last year, Kentan started. This year, he came into the game after five minutes and it reminded me that he was on the team. It was like finding a Christmas present you forgot to open. It's so much nicer this way.
2) Shonn Miller is the answer to about 3,000 questions I had about last year's team. He rebounds. He scores. He gets Ivy League degrees. He sees that three-point shots are going to be long and he runs 25' towards it just so we have a Sportscenter Top Ten play in case we need it. He is Stanley Robinson fully-realized. Brilliant.
3) He doesn't play like him, but how many of people had momentary flashbacks to Ben Gordon with the #4 running around there? If Miller is the answer to 3,000 questions about last year's team, Sterling is the answer to like 1,500. He can shoot, he can pass, he can dribble, he can score 20 points and you're not sure when he did it.
4) Squirrel!
5) The front court is vastly better than it was last year. Most of it is the inclusion of Miller, but Amida was admittedly a terror tonight - fans in the stands had free wings in record time. He did hunt blocks on a couple of occasions, but he probably ended up blocking those shots, so that's that. Some of his blocks were like punts - he had some hang time on a few of 'em. Facey gets bumped down one spot in the rotation and still puts up a very Facey-like six points and six rebounds -- and he was flying around the court. The front court is so long and then you bring in Facey - makes this difficult on an opponent's second flight. Enoch was very big and very lost at times, but last year, we had Lubin in the very big and very lost position and this will end so much better for us.
6) The backcourt is a nightmare. I still think Purvis has a chance to be our best player by year end. If that happens, with the rest of this roster, good luck. Adams looked freshmanish which makes sense given his freshmanishness.
7) Hamilton is his own category. Everything went through him tonight - he largely made pretty good decisions. Didn't turn the ball over, started the break, taught Miller how to catch lobs like Amida, etc.
8) I like the bench a lot, but I can see where things are going for some players. They went ten deep tonight and I suspect things will whittle down to eight, with a crack for a ninth. Adams is going to play. Facey deserves to play. Enoch needs to play.
So....Omar and Sam.
I think Omar will carve out a (small) role for himself. He looks to be healthy for the first time in however long and he's got enough ability and athleticism to get on the floor as the eighth or ninth player...but not if he's going out there with the intention of being a three-point threat. Because he isn't.
I just don't see Cassell getting much time. He's a prop plane on a team of jets. He played 18 minutes tonight and that was too many. It's been debated many times here, but he's just not a three-point shooter. But since he's so slow-footed, he's prone to firing quick, off-balance threes to get his shots - and he will get his shots. We just can't have games where he and Calhoun put up six three-point attempts because those are largely wasted possessions. He's not a point guard, he's not really a shooting guard and we're playing 20 mph faster than his top speed - I think he's buried deep. Be Donnell Beverly.
9) All in all, a great night. We looked like old-timey UConn tonight - I think a lot of folks are sleeping on this team.
The silver lining is when I got home I noticed there was some TBD basketball game listed on SNY in the early morning hours which I recorded. Lo and behold when I got up in the morning there was the UConn game recorded for me. I guess the TV gods were forgiving.
