Well, that's all finished: South Florida 75, UConn 68
by Kevin Meacham on Mar 6, 2010 4:23 PM EST
11 comments
The Jerome Dyson-Stanley Robinson-Gavin Edwards troika sat on the bench for the last 16 minutes of UConn's 75-68 loss to South Florida today. Frankly, it might have been about 10 games too late for that tactic.
The NCAA Tournament hopes are done. Finished. Kaput. The words "NCAA Tournament" and "UConn" will not be used in the same sentence on this blog until April. UConn's not even a lock for an NIT home game at this point, having lost three winnable games against middling Big East teams in the final seven days of the season.
I don't think there can be any doubt now that UConn will be better off next year without Dyson and the suddenly-invisible Robinson. Their replacements performed admirably in cutting a 14-point USF lead down to two with 30 seconds left.
It's almost like the kids didn't have to worry about getting subbed and just went out and played basketball. My God, how refreshing.
Kemba Walker, Donnell Beverly, Darius Smith, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriakhi, Charles Okwandu, Ater Majok: they can all be proud of their effort. And I'll be very happy to have them all around next year (along with hopefully some talented freshmen).
They were hungry, they showed some heart. They weren't quite good enough to overcome that deficit on the road today, but I already feel 90% better about the 2010-11 Huskies.
UConn drops to 17-14, just as they were in 2006-07. They'll be the 12th seed in the Big East tournament, just as they were in 2006-07. They'll get to play St. John's, the one team they actually can beat in Madison Square Garden, Tuesday afternoon. If Dyson doesn't play, I think I'll be OK with that. I'll be sadder to see Stanley and Gavin play their final game of any meaning Tuesday or Wednesday night, but I'd like to see how the kids will do for a full 40 minutes.
The seniors had their chance to finish in a nice way. Simply enough, they failed. It happens. We wish the seniors well, but their era at UConn, much like their Big Dance hopes, is over.
Long live Kemba.
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That would be delicious.
Maybe UNC in the second round?
You know, assuming Northwestern doesn’t pull a Michigan on us.
Orange Bowl/dual Final Fours or bust in 2011. We're going all-in.
by Kevin Meacham on Mar 6, 2010 4:41 PM EST up reply actions
Robinson v. Dyson
I’m more disappointed about how Dyson has turned into a shell this year than Robinson. Robinson had a big end of the year last year, but other than that he’s been invisible for 4 years. All that talent, nothing to show. And even last year, he never created his own shots, he got open because of Price and Thabeet.
I have liked Dyson a ton for the 1st 3 years, I just don’t know what happened to him this year. I guess he can’t be the top dog, he has to play 2nd fiddle. But don’t forget how good he was last year. If he wasn’t hurt, we definitely beat MSU and give UNC a run at the title.
by El-Amin's Stomach on Mar 6, 2010 7:59 PM EST reply actions
This is the end
I think that, if our fate is maybe winning one in the Big East Tourney, then playing the NIT, then we should definitely go with the young guys and bury Dyson and Sticks so far on the bench that it would take CSI a month to find them. At least if we go young, the NIT will really be a good opportunity for us. The young guys can get experience playing meaningful games in a tournament-type structure. Playing Dyson and Sticks does nothing for us in this situation.
I wish Dyson well in his professional basketball career. I hear the winter weather in Gdansk is a bitch.
Am I the only one against
waterboarding Sticks and Dyson for the rest of the season?
I mean, yes, they have their issues — especially Dyson, who is the type of player I absolutely loathe. But what’s beneficial about going with this youth movement and ruining the end of their senior seasons? You’d get some of the young guys some burn, sure; but how much progress can you make playing Alex Hornat and No Nickname Smith (five fouls in 11 mins.).
Again: Doing this 10 games ago? Sure, I’ can see that. But now? It’s just silly last-gasp tactic to squeeze out something that’s not in them already.
by UConnBlog Justin on Mar 6, 2010 8:23 PM EST reply actions
the problem is
Giving Dyson and Sticks major minutes down the stretch is counter-productive. There’s obviously a disconnect as far as their “tick-tock”, coachability, whatever you want to call it. Really, the negativity has pretty much killed this season, and the best you can do is use the rest of this season, however many games that is, to let the younger guys get a run, get some momentum going into the offseason training into next year.
And as for ruining their senior seasons, I think they already did a fine job of that the last few weeks all on their own. Let Calhoun get out of the practice of banging his head against the wall with guys who won’t be here much longer and get him into coaching kids who want to be there.
Don't you dare mock Alex Hornat
Orange Bowl/dual Final Fours or bust in 2011. We're going all-in.
by Kevin Meacham on Mar 6, 2010 8:37 PM EST up reply actions
BET bracket
OK, I know everyone will freak, but I just looked at the bracket and we can easily win 2 games, then we have WV if we win the 1st 2 games, then if we beat WV then we have Cuse…if we beat Marquette and WV, plus obviously Rutgers, that could get us back in…
OK wishful thinking, but every year we are the big dogs and Cuse stinks, they end up beating us in the BET (or else it feels that way), so why not the Huskies get 2-3 hard practices, JC style, then get 3-4 wins?
by El-Amin's Stomach on Mar 6, 2010 8:50 PM EST reply actions
Correction
The opponents would be
13) St. John’s
5) Marquette
4) Villanova
I’ll settle for them winning one game before we start thinking crazy things like “two wins in a row in two days”.
Orange Bowl/dual Final Fours or bust in 2011. We're going all-in.
by Kevin Meacham on Mar 6, 2010 9:06 PM EST up reply actions
Is that the bracket?
The one I looked at must have been wrong, but actually that’s even better, Villanova can be beaten easier than Cuse…
Obviously I’m not optimistic it will happen, but this team is so bi-polar, if they play like they did last week, not this week, they can get to the semis or the finals. Just before this they played Cuse to the wire, beat WV, beat Nova, beat Rutgers, and played LVille to the wire.
by El-Amin's Stomach on Mar 6, 2010 10:12 PM EST reply actions
You just said it: they're bi-polar.
What about this year makes you think they can win even two games in a row, on the road, in a pressure-filled postseason environment?
I’ll be pleasantly surprised if they squeeze by St John’s and then lose to Marquette close (which, really, considering this team, is the most likely scenario).
Fold the football program, and deposit monies previously budgeted for said program into a savings account in Coach Calbertus Magnus's name.
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