Having watched the three games in Maui, I have come to a few conclusions…..

1) UConn is once again fun to watch. They play with great intensity and appear to be having a great time on the court. During the past three or so seasons they always looked like they were just going through the motions. Maybe the bad chemistry players are now gone. Walker and Oriakhi totally dominated two top 10 teams.

2) They will lose some they should win this year. That’s just the product of youth. With Walker being a junior and Oriakhi a sophomore, the rest of the cast are all freshmen. If they play as hard as they have so far, there will be games when Kemba won’t be so hot or Oriakhi will be doubled down low. Then it will be up to Smith, Lamb, Giffey and Napier to carry the team. But as we have seen already, they will definitely win some that they were thought to have no chance when the season began.

3) Kemba Walker is a big time player. With the influence of Dyson et al we were robbed of seeing the real Walker last season. And they have allowed Oriakhi to become a dominant big man who has destroyed some pretty good front lines in Hawaii.

4) We are really going to enjoy watching these Husky pups grow up for the next few years!

Categories: Coach O, Commentary, Connecticut
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After watching quite a few early season games I have some thoughts on Big East teams this season.

Cincinnati – The Bearcats have looked to be much improved this season. Yancy Gates is becoming a polished down low player. Lance Stephenson is probably the best Freshman in the league. Cincy will be a much tougher opponent for the top teams this year. They sit at 5-1 and have a rebound margin of +11 a game.

UConn - The guards are fine but the Huskies have some glaring deficiencies down low. This is a rarity for UConn. They have even been outrebounded by Hofstra at home. Jerome Dyson is playing very well as is Gavin Edwards. In order for the Huskies to be successful they have to rebound and run to make up for having no half court offense.

Georgetown - An impressive win over Butler last night shows that the Hoyas may be one of the top teams in the league. Greg Monroe is dominating down low. Chris Wright is a steadying influence on the outside. A 7-0 start is a good sign for GTown fans.

Marquette - Too much is being thrown on Lazar Hayward. The loss of the three amigos is probably too much to make up for. MU needs something from Acker on the outside to compliment Butler and Hayward inside.

Notre Dame - Luke Harangody is expected to carry this team. He tries to do that but is constantly double teamed and ends up throwing up off balanced forced shots. Tim Abromaitis has been outstanding and Tory Jackson is still driving and creating opportunities. ND still relies way too much on 3 point shooting. This may be a tough year in South Bend.

Pittsburgh - Pitt looks very shaky at this point. They are having trouble scoring points and were outplayed by a young and weak Indiana team last night. The Panthers could only garner 15 points in the first half against New Hampshire! Ashton Gibbs has been steady as has Wanamaker. No big run in the BET this year for Pitt.

Syracuse - The Orange have been really on top of their game so far. A big win against North Carolina at MSG was a major lift for SU. Even though we are used to early season success for the Orange, this year may be different in that they have faced quality foes early.I have been impressed with Wes Johnson, a transfer into the program. Opponents may have to start fouling Onuaku to stay with them in games. Another Triche? The young guys have blended well with veterans and without the Devendorf distractions this may be the year for Syracuse to make a run at the league title.

Villanova - STRONG! The Cats are strong at every position. Of course Scottie Reynolds may lose a few winnable games with trying to do too much, he will also be the reason they win most of their games. Any team that falls behind VU is in real trouble. Only when Nova gets behind does Reynolds throw up some crazy shots. The class of the league.

West Virginia - As long as DaSean Butler and Devin Ebanks stay healthy and on the court the Neers look to be one of the best. WVU is 5-0 and I expect them to roll along and be one of the top teams in the league.

These are the teams I have seen so far. I like Nova, Cuse and WVU to be the top teams in the Big East this year and Pitt and the Irish will struggle.

Categories: Coach O, Commentary
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Just watched Lemoyne beat Syracuse 82-79. I know it’s only an exhibition but it was fun anyway.

Tomorrow night Ill be at the UConn – American International game in Hartford. Didn’t someone tell these guys there’s a World Series going on?

Categories: Coach O, Commentary, Syracuse
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Close to the quote from Meatloaf in his Bat Out of Hell cd, but not quite. Hopes of getting three Big East teams into the Final Four ala 1985 disappeared as Louisville hit the skids against Michigan State on Sunday. Louisville had been riding along in the weakest bracket after also finding themselves  on the fast track to a BET victory. Michigan State was the first real tough team the Cards met in the NCAA’s and proved to be more than the Ville could handle.

And how about Nova? What a stunning win against Pitt in the Elite Eight game  Saturday. Here is a team that many picked to struggle in the league this year. But even though they may have been in a struggle, they never gave up. Not once! We have been accused of ‘hating’ Villanova by a commenter on this site. I will say that I don’t think a hated of the Cats has ever been shown here. Not by this writer for sure. Just to let    know….. my daughter is a grad student at Villanova right now, and her fiance is graduating from Villanova Law School in May. I will say emphatically that I am not a Nova hater, but I am pleasantly surprised with their progression. As I’ve said before, no coach has the success of getting his troops to play their best ball every year in the NCAA’s like Jay Wright. I will say that as much as I’d like to see the Wildcats in the final game next Monday night, I do feel they won’t get past UNC on Saturday.

UConn has weathered all sorts of problems this year to get to the Final Four. Major injuries, coaching tirades at press conferences, recruiting violation questions all led to victories. The Huskies deserve all the credit for their great play in the NCAA’s this year. A.J. Price has turned into a major player in the Huskies run. Kemba Walker almost singlehandedly willed UConn over Mizzou. And on and on…… So they now play a road game at Michigan State on Saturday and I feel they can handle that. UConn’s road performance this year has only one blemish on it. They should have enough left to whip MSU in a tight game and then will have to play their best game by far this year to beat UNC in the final. UNC looks a little too strong for the Huskies but, lets see…….

How about a Nova-UConn championship game???????? That would be the best….!!!!!!

Categories: Coach O
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Notre Dame   97  Rutgers  65

Luke Harangody scored 26 and Ryan Ayers added 23 to lead the Irish to a 97-65 win over Rutgers. Kyle McAlarney added 18 in the win. Greg Echenique led the Scarlet Knights with15, followed by Anthony farmer with 13 and Mike Rosario with 11. The Irish led at the half 52-40. Harangody had 18, Ayers 14 and McAlarney 10. Rosario and Farmer had 9 each for the Scarlet Knights.

USF 66  SETON HALL  65

South Florida rushed out to a 37-29 halftime lead and held off a furious Seton Hall rally to win 66-65. Dominic Jones led the Bulls with 16. Jesus Verdejo added 12 and Gilchrist and Howard had 10 apiece to lead USF to a victory in its 1st tourney game ever. Jeremy Hazell was 4-19 from the field (1-14 from three) and had only 9 points for the Hall. Mitchell led Seton Hall with 22 points and 11 rebounds. He was joined by Eugene Harvey in double figures with 11.

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