Sweet, sweet victory
by UConnBlog Justin on Jan 23, 2010 6:40 PM EST
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PrintI think I speak for all us when I say: AHHHHHHH!
With the whole euphoric thing clouding my judgment, here are the only six coherent things I can say about this game.
1. First person to say UConn plays better under Blaney gets drop-kicked.
2. That court-storming was embarrassing. We have two titles and just went to the Final Four. Get your sh*t together, student body.
3. It's amazing what can happen when Kemba is running at full speed. Although he committed some of the worst turnovers I've ever seen en route to a career-high eight, his emergence in the second half (along with Texas' foul trouble and Rick Barnes' bone-headed move not to call a timeout) was what swung this game. Jerome Dyson was his usual stat-stuffing self, scoring a career-high 32 points. But while that shouldn't be overlooked, it's really become customary at this point. What this team needed was someone to run the show, and that's exactly what he did -- on offense and by throwing himself around like a rag doll.
4. On a similar vein, Ater Majok was almost as important. He had only five points, but he also FINALLY gave the Huskies the defensive the presence they needed since losing Thabeet, finishing with four blocks. If he can continue to be tall and play mop-up on D, this team becomes 10-times better.
5. The good-luck grays better be used in every game here on out. Sleep in them, if need be.
6. Texas was certainly on a downswing, coming off its first loss of the season. And they were undoubtedly going to lose their No. 1 ranking when the new polls came out. But that shouldn't, for a second, diminish what an amazing upset this was. After the way the Huskies started conference play, after all of the fallout with Coach Cal taking a leave of absence, UConn's first win over a ranked opponent this season could be a season-saving one.
Enjoy it.
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AMEN
Fold the football program, and deposit monies previously budgeted for said program into a savings account in Coach Calbertus Magnus's name.
Agreed
Absolutely no negatives from me today, except for the turnovers in the first half. that was a wonderful effort, as important to this team as the Indiana win was two years ago.
Good show.
Also, I want to apologize for storming the court. It was embarrassing. We were in the Final Four nine months ago. It was an awesome feeling in the “everyone should do this once” vein, but let us never speak of it again.
Court-storming aside
That was the best crowd I’ve ever been a part of, though. Unbelievably loud and active for 40 minuets.
by Kevin Meacham on Jan 23, 2010 7:01 PM EST up reply actions
We'll just consider it a crime of passion
But the Indiana comparison is a good one.
It may be because we’re caught up in the moment, but I really feel like this could swing the entire season. Plus, Cal must be getting the itch to return by now.
by UConnBlog Justin on Jan 23, 2010 7:04 PM EST up reply actions
I think this win
might have cut his blood pressure in half, or accelerated his timetable for kicking the shit out of cancer again, or whatever he’s battling.
Fold the football program, and deposit monies previously budgeted for said program into a savings account in Coach Calbertus Magnus's name.
Court-Storming
C’mon Kevin,
I read most of the stuff you wrote in the DC, and there was nobody I agreed with more than you. In fact, the opinions I was making on UCTV were very similar. You know as much as I the intensity of Gampel Pavilion when a game starts to turn UConn’s way. Consider the atmosphere as you alluded to below, the comeback, the RIDICULOUS plays that force Texas timeouts and Big Red out of his seat. Now make Texas the first #1 men’s team to ever visit Gampel…I don’t blame the fans for storming the court…in my opinion, they waited TOO LONG to do it!
Just because we are on a level above other D-1 programs doesn’t make court-storming “beneath” us. We’re not an “elitist” group, we’re sports fans, and the moment just happened to be right. No one in the student section was there for our two national titles, some of them (the freshman) weren’t there when UConn went to the Final Four last year. Great programs will always have a storied history to live by, but if having a game between #1 TEXAS and #21 UCONN tells us anything (in a season where a school like UNC is about to be dropped from the rankings entirely), its that every season is different. A new year equals a new team, and nobody figured THIS Husky team to be able to stand up to THAT Texas team.
It wasn’t “embarrassing” for me to see that display — court-storming, rushing the field after USF…these make me as proud to be a Husky as seeing us win a national title. Its school spirit and an AMAZING college tradition…not bush league…some people need to take it with a grain of salt and let it go.
I agree
even though I was rooting for Texas, make no mistake about how important this game was for BOTH teams. I don’t begrudge UConn storming the court. Blaney wanted the fans to be loud and be a part of it. It’s not as if they stormed the court after beating Fairfield (or Minnesota).
true...
it was kind of a “perfect storm” of events…I mentioned to someone else that had UConn dominated the game from start to finish, the fans wouldn’t have even considered storming the court…but this was a big, mid-late comeback for a team trying to avoid falling on some hard times. I mean, lets face it, Texas may not be one of the best PROGRAMS of all time, but this year, there is no denying that they have one of the best TEAMS…they’re a shoe-in to be seeded anywhere from 1-3 in the NCAAs, which gives them a realistic shot at the Final Four…they have a great coach too…The UConn fans knew all this, which is why they reacted the way they did. But the series of events (comebacks, big plays, etc.) had to warrant it, and in this game, they did.
The more I think about it
“Embarrassing” probably wasn’t the most precise word I could use. I still think it’s ridiculous, but that’s just my opinion, and I just happen to have a platform for that opinion.
For the record, I think it’s ridiculous for UConn fans to storm the court because we ought to expect them to win (hell, even in my haiku preview I picked UConn to win). It was perfectly OK for football fans to storm the Rent because the program is basically 5 years old AND they beat a top 10 team AND they had a dramatic goal-line stand to do so. But whatever…the kids should have their fun, and we shouldn’t take this all so seriously anyway.
Relatedly, given that I’ve been one of the many people who call out UConn’s fans for generally sitting on their hands and bringing no energy to games, to say anything negative (besides apologizing for what happened to DreadedOne and his kids) about yesterday’s crowd would be kind of hypocritical. That was about as loud as 10,000 humans could be.
by Kevin Meacham on Jan 24, 2010 1:13 PM EST up reply actions
Very true
If it wasn’t for my personal experience, I don’t think you can ask more from your home crowd. A definite advantage.
right...
your opinion is your opinion, and I respect. Again, you and I agree on something…occasionally our fans lag in certain areas of school spirit (though certain school policies, like signs at games, etc, don’t help remedy that), so anything that gets the crowd going is huge for us.
Storming the court is something I bet you’ll always remember, simply because of the intensity of the game that preceded it. UConn is undoubtedly an elite program, but there is a difference between “elite” and “elitist.” A rich history can’t deny the fans from such an experience. I wasn’t around for UConn’s national titles, and not being from Connecticut I knew very little of their past Big East success, so all I REALLY know is the four years I spent there.
As for “expecting” them to win, again I respect your opinion, but I think its hard to constantly expect greatness considering how wide the talent pool is in college basketball nowadays. Every year there’s a fairly large number of conference and national championship contenders (unlike women’s basketball where its UConn or Tennessee), and its always different teams. Last year there were the Oklahomas and the Villanovas, this year we have the Texases and the Kentuckys, and those teams don’t even begin to scratch the surface of the pool of “contender” schools. I think we expect a decent level of consistency from the Huskies, but its hard to always expect them to come out on top in this day and age.
That’s the base of my ideology. There are no more UCLAs (men’s basketball dynasties). Florida won back-to-back titles and then dipped into obscurity. That’s why I’m an advocate of remembering that you have a rich history, but not letting that history be your guide for the future because college basketball is now a year-by-year thing. The UConn’s and UNC’s are prime examples of that fact.
But yes you’re right, people are taking it way too seriously…they’re quick to judge.
Couple points
Re: ‘Expecting to win’
You made my point. UConn is an elite program, and has been since anyone at the school now has been alive. There is no opponent so much better that any win is a monumental upset, no opponent so much better that a win is more impactful than even the Elite Eight win over Missouri 10 months ago (much less ’04 and ’99), when 75% of the student body was in Storrs.
As good as they may be, Texas, as you note, is no UCLA dynasty. That’s precisely the point.
Re: storming the court
I think I would prefer it if college basketball pundits/fans/analysts would stop pretending that storming the court was some sort of meaningful gesture. It’s not. It’s drunk college kids going crazy in a drunk-college-kid way because they’re on an endorphin high over something amazing that just happened. If everyone could get off their high horse and stop creating imaginary rules and regulations for storming the floor, like they were an overbearing umpire at a T-ball game, we’d all be better off.
But, this is a blog I write for and a subject that has become relevant. I don’t think the fans should’ve done it. Whatever. I’m not the Emperor of Basketball Fan Regulations (yet). It’s just my opinion.
It happened yesterday, it was fun to get caught up in the moment, and I like to think it made up for me missing on storming the Rent in 2007. But I don’t think I’d ever do it again (at a UConn basketball game), because as I ran down the steps it felt weird that UConn fans were acting like they had the history of, to take one example of an actual upset this season, College of Charleston.
I think it made our student section look myopic and appear to have no appreciation for the history of UConn basketball. I understand those aren’t exactly pressing concerns to those drunk college kids we were talking about earlier. It’s all just about having fun for them.
Which is fine. Storm the court all you want. It’s not the students’ job to weigh the costs and benefits of storming the court based on a careful consideration of its impact on the widespread perception of UConn athletics. It’s their job to be loud and crazy, and do things that loud and crazy people do (with reason and good taste, neither of which is violated by court-storming).
But if I think something looks ridiculous (like, for another example, the Pink Hat on Pink Hat Guy), I’m going to call it ridiculous. I suppose that is “judging,” but I have a funny feeling the student section isn’t going to abide by my ruling anyway because, again, they’re just there to have fun, and I’m here to provide the metacriticism.
Now, that’s way more than enough seriousness and long-windedness. Can we get to the part where Rick Barnes sucks as a coach?
by Kevin Meacham on Jan 24, 2010 8:44 PM EST up reply actions
well...
why we don’t seem to agree on these points, I have learned not to drag these arguments on longer than they need to. I greatly admired your column back at the DC (which was rare for the UCTV-Daily Campus “rivalry”…if we had one…), and I continue to agree with you on most points…so we’ll leave it at that.
Can’t say much for Rick Barnes’ coaching abilities, though not switching to the zone was a pretty big miscue…
One more question: when you do become the Emperor of Basketball Fan Regulations, will you bring the signs back to Gampel? I know the camp-outs are too much to ask for.
That's cool with me
We’ll just agree to disagree. I do appreciate the compliments, and obviously hope you keep on reading here as we start on our way to becoming a global media juggernaut.
Also, as Emperor of Basketball Fan Regulations, signs are back in. Student tickets will be distributed on an individual-game, first-come, first-serve basis. The student section will be moved either 1) to the sides of the court or 2) to both lower sections behind the basket. We will create a throne for Big Red, to hang over one of the concourses. We will bring back the Husky Slide.
So it is written, so shall it be done.
by Kevin Meacham on Jan 24, 2010 10:13 PM EST up reply actions
yep...
I knew there was a reason I liked your columns…i’m personally partial to the “mirror” student section…not a lot of other schools do it and it can give the opponent a feeling like there is no escaping Gampel…but don’t stop at the lower sections, we need it top to bottom…
…also, as long as you’re the newly-crowned EBFR, bring ALL the home games back to Gampel, no more of this XL stuff…fans wanna come see a UConn game they can drive to Storrs like everyone else!
Nice job Justin.
I agree on every point. Just one thing I’d add, and this will sound very odd from me, but this game was very much a tale of two halves. The first was very much what we’ve seen from UConn so far, and the eye-popping 16 turnovers speak to that. The second half was obviously worlds better, and trust me, I really hope UConn can channel the momentum from this into better play going forward, but I’m concerned (though the relatively easy upcoming schedule should help).
Texas was a team almost eerily suited to play into UConn’s strengths. They tried to play man, couldn’t cover Sticks (who was amazing, especially in the 1st half) and Dyson (who was equally good in the 2nd) and tried to run with UConn. Any team, no matter how good, that tries to run with us will be at a disadvantage. Thats why no one else will. UConn did not show any increased ability to run a set offense and score in the half-court. Instead, all the momentum came in transition, which is great, but its not a recipe for long-term success, or any success at all, unless the opposing coach is Rick Barnes.
But I’m forgetting myself, I’m supposed to be the positive one. Yes, this was a fantastic win, and the second half was the best basketball UConn has played this year, even Majok played tolerably. Plus, now the team finally has a statement win, assuming that they finish in the top half of the Big East, I’m much less worried about the word “bubble” than I 3 hours ago, especially since the team does not have a “bad” loss. It was a great job by the Huskies and by Blaney.
My last two notes: First, I don’t care how adequately Majok played, there is still no reason anyone should be starting over Gavin. This drives me insane, it puts UConn at an early disadvantage and I’ll bitch about it every game for the rest of the season. Second, how about Donnell Beverly? He provided one hell of a steadying hand, especially in the first half after Kemba’s awful start. I think the Austrie comparison Justin made in TOT was a valid one, and as a fan of Austire, I’m all for more Beverly. The knock on this squad is that they constantly play too out of control and Beverly helps ameliorate that.
Good call on Barnes.
What a bad coach. We’ve seen Calipari and Barnes this year; I cant imagine there are too worse in-game coaches at big-time programs.
Great program builders/recruiters, but I’ll be surprised if Barnes ever wins an NC.
Fold the football program, and deposit monies previously budgeted for said program into a savings account in Coach Calbertus Magnus's name.
Seriously
Why didn’t he go zone at any point? Terrible mistake.
by UConnBlog Justin on Jan 24, 2010 11:52 AM EST up reply actions
Well done
I am a Texas alum who was at the game. I wanted to congratulate UConn on an exceptional victory. It wasn’t because it was Texas or the “#1 team” (we aren’t and I think we’ve proven that now), it was because UConn played like the team that they can be in the second half after looking undisciplined in the first. This game was all about UConn winning it rather than some other team either not giving their best or being officiated out of the game (I am not suggesting either of those).
When it’s any other opponent, I root for UConn as I do live in the state and have a faculty position through them. I will say though that my 11 year old son was the subject of terrible harassment and abuse by drunken fans. We were polite…we weren’t loud at all but I think everyone associated with UConn has to be a little ashamed with the classless display in the stands yesterday. There is a difference between being loud and giving your team a home-court advantage and being classless.
Get well Coach Calhoun and continued success.
by DreadedOne on Jan 24, 2010 10:11 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
see...
yeah, I’ll apologize for that…the drunk fans don’t help, especially in REALLY intense games…and i agree that going after a little kid is pretty despicable too…you should know, however, that those actions are not usually the standard…i dont know a lot about general seating, but the student section usually saves the abuse for the older fans (as that is our way)…we’ll boo just about ANY person wearing ’’enemy’’ colors, but the kids usually dont bear the brunt of that. anyway, im sure an apology is in order, an 11-year old doesnt deserve that kind of treatment…
…we had a UConn Student/Syracuse fan in our student section last year, she wore ALL orange to the game…SHE deserved that kind of treatment.
you kind of have to expect that
It’s not good, but any time you go into a matchup as big as this, expect it. I’m sure if I went to Austin or Syracuse for a game decked out in UCONN gear for a game with a kid they’d get harassed too. It’s like people complaining about students doing a**hole chants every once in a while. It may not be good but you know it’s going to happen.
That all being said, I’ve never seen a travelling fan base antagonize the students as much as the UT fans did this past game. Even the cuse and ND fans weren’t nearly as bad. Probably 90% of the dads with little kids walking through the student section told their kids to throw up the horns to the fans. Not saying that has to do with your situation, but just something I noticed.
R.I.P Jazz #6
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