I'm still recovering from finger surgery, so there wasn't a full recap last night. Here are some quick thoughts after UConn's win:
The thing that made me happiest was UConn's success at the line, they went 31-38, a huge improvement over recent years.
My biggest concern? UConn had 7 players taller than AIC's biggest guy, but only outrebounded them 39-35.
Kemba looked great, but UConn is super-reliant on him, the Huskies better pray he never gets injured or in foul trouble. I would have liked to see more from Oriakhi, this team will only go as far as Walker takes them, but Oriakhi can help a lot. Huskies also looked better than last year from behind the arc. Maybe Tyler Olander is the real deal, that'd be a nice surprise. Charter Ok looked improved as well, but I'm inclined to chalk that up to the competition level until I can see him stay out of foul trouble in a real game.
I liked Jeremy Lamb and Roscoe Smith but wasn't wowed by either. I missed the last 10 minutes though and I heard they looked better. The Huskies also played very well when Niels Giffey was on the court.
Get ready to get really excited about Shabazz Napier. I'm sure he'll make 4 or 5 dazzaling plays each game, along with 4 or 5 dumb turnovers because he's playing too fast. I'll take that deal for now though, because he is a blast to watch. SHABAZZ~!
Final thought: It was great to watch UConn basketball again. Expectations may be low, but I'm really excited to see the Huskies again. I don't want to read too much (or anything really) into a preseason game, but this team clearly has talent.