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Here come the Huskies UConn looks more like last year's champs
Posted: Friday March 10, 2000 06:23 PM
By Albert Lin, CNNSI.com NEW YORK -- It is a mark of just how far the Connecticut program has come that a 21-win regular season can be considered a disappointment. In the 19 years before Jim Calhoun arrived in Storrs in 1986, the Huskies reached 20 victories just three times and made only two NCAA tournament appearances; in the last six seasons, UConn five times won at least 28, culminating in the 1999 national championship. Ricky Moore graduated and Richard Hamilton left early for the NBA, but otherwise the Huskies returned intact. They started the 2000 season well, shaking off an opening loss to Iowa to run off 11 wins in a row and climb to No. 2 in the AP poll. Then chinks began to appear in the armor and UConn began a wildly inconsistent ride, not winning more than three straight times. In January the Huskies lost to Notre Dame and St. John's, then were pummelled at Syracuse. Things got even worse in February, with three more conference losses, a pounding at Michigan State, and a buzzer-beater to save a W against West Virginia. What ailed the Huskies? "If I could pinpoint it, I'd tell you," senior forward Kevin Freeman said. "It just happened, and I can't pinpoint one area. Teams have come out and played better than they normally do, and we've had to match that -- actually, we've had to learn to play a level harder. That's why we've gotten beat." It looks like UConn has figured it out. The Huskies closed the regular season with a convincing win over that Syracuse team that had mandhandled them six weeks earlier. Thursday, in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, Connecticut toyed with a Seton Hall team that made an appearance (albeit brief) in the Top 25 during the year. Junior Khalid El-Amin torched the Pirates for 24 first-half points, making 10 of his 12 shots from everywhere on the floor, and the second half was basically a formality. The win confirms that the experienced Huskies will be a factor in the NCAA tournament. "People were counting us out," El-Amin said. "We knew the type of team that we had and we still know the type of team that we have. We can compete with anyone, we can play with anyone, and we can beat anyone. ... We've just got to bring that energy, that intensity every night." Calhoun bristles at the notion that this team is not as good as last year's. Following Thursday's game he related how a writer had asked him if El-Amin deserved to be "on the first team"; the coach thought he was referring to All-America, when in fact he meant All-Big East. Calhoun was incredulous. Surely, his team deserved more respect than that. "The season is a long time, and kids go through things," Calhoun said. "Certain teams you can just switch the light on. Our team, you flip the switch and the light is flickering, then it's on, then it's back dark. "It looks to me what we were talking about in October, we finally saw today." And what is that exactly? A team loaded with oodles of NBA-caliber talent that can go two-deep at every position, with a good mix of youth and experience. An All-America point guard (El-Amin), one of the most dangerous shooters in the country (Albert Mouring), an athletic small forward (Freeman, who Thursday held Seton Hall's Darius Lane to nearly 12 points below his average), and powerful defenders/rebounders in the post (Edmund Saunders and Jake Voskuhl). And UConn's second five lacks only experience. Yes, the Huskies have had to assimilate new talent. Three freshmen (Tony Robertson, Marcus Cox and Doug Wrenn) are part of the 10-man rotation, and sophomore Ajou Deng was academically ineligible last year. UConn also has had to get used to having just one go-to guy rather than two. Hence, the ups and downs, resulting in intense criticism from the most rabid pack of beat writers in the country. "I've liked this team all along, but it's been a struggle, I'm the first to admit it." Calhoun said. It looks like the struggles are over. The buzzword on the UConn team is "energy," an asset you can maintain control over; it's not something that can be impacted by an opponent. As long as the Huskies recognize that -- and they seem to -- they have the skill to be playing three weeks from now. "It's been a learning season," Freeman said. "It's not been frustrating at all."
Funny how the Huskies don't seem as vexed by their play as the fans and reporters who follow them. UConn is not in near as much turmoil as people have claimed, and that's why the Huskies remain title contenders.
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