Cincinnati 60, UConn 48
I didn’t see this one coming, I have to admit. Surely the Huskies would realize the urgency of the matter. Surely Coach Calhoun’s return would light a spark. Surely the team’s play would improve with a the Hall of Famer back at the helm…right? Wrong. From an offensive standpoint, this was the Huskies’ worst performance of the season. There is not one bright spot to be found as I sift through the stat sheet, and go back and forth on the DVR…just an abysmal offensive effort.
The Huskies shot 34.6% as a team, they made just 18 field goals. They were 3-15 from beyond the arc, and 9-18 from the stripe.
Jerome Dyson was the goat in this one…5-16 from the field, 1-7 from deep, 2-5 from the stripe, and 5 turnovers to 3 assists…for good measure. Reluctant to pass, reluctant to run plays, reluctant to do anything that could be interpreted as smart basketball.
Stanley Robinson scored 10 points in the first half, and took the rest of the afternoon off. At ease Stanley.
Kemba Walker gets a pass for the day, scoring a team high 14 points and having just one turnover, but he would be well served to realize this is his team. This team desperately lacks a leader, and Jerome Dyson running around the court jacking shots from everywhere, and jawing with Lance Stephenson is not being a leader…it’s being selfish. Kemba, this is your team now, Jerome is gone in a month…3 assists isn’t good enough…4-11 isn’t good enough. Short of Big East Tournament miracle, this season is a wrap, grab this team by the throat and shake it…someone has to. Jerome’s not going to. Calhoun might, but it won’t work. Stanley definitely won’t…it’s on you Kemba.
The bench, as usual, was non-existent. Ater Majok, 0 points. Donnell Beverly 1 point. Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, 0 points. Charles Okwandu, 0 points.
More fun facts :
The Huskies were outrebounded 41-29, and 17-12 on the offensive glass. UConn committed another 15 turnovers…to just 18 field goals.
Well, I’ve kept the colors flying to the best of my abilities this season, but scoring 48 points at home, in an absolute must win game, tells me everything I need to know about this team. It’s over for 2009-2010…play the kids, they couldn’t do any worse than 48 points, anyway.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Miserable. So disappointing.
Excellent points about Kemba. Would love to see him become a leader. He would of course have to play smart ball night in and night out but I think he has the potential.
Tough thing about the poor effort this season is that next season could likely be another un-uconn like season because of the lack of experience. Sort of a real reset next year.
Disaster.
When the battle is lost – look to the generals.
Frank, I’m not going to disagree with that. The Buck stops with Calhoun, and his team is 14-11, 4-8.
Yeah, this is kind of a lost year. You can’t call it a building block, that will be next year. Next year should be exiting with all the newcomers, so it’s something good to look forward to. The rest of this year should be interesting because the pressure is now off.
Let’s hope those newcomers include one of Corey Joseph, Doron Lamb, Brandon Knight or Josh Selby…and unless Cleveland Melvin and Michael Bradley are ready to contribute right away (I doubt, based off of other offers, and UConn’s recent recruiting trends) I think next year is going to be a very difficult one. I don’t see where the scoring will come from.