If I see one thing, I tend to dismiss. If I see two, it becomes a pattern.
Fox Sports Jeff Goodman, who I generally consider to be a decent college basketball reporter, apparently has fallen in love with UConn. Witness the past two days on his blog. On Thursday, during his normal morning wrap-up of the previous night’s games, Goodman spent a good chunk of the article talking about UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet and asking whether Thabeet was the 2nd coming of Patrick Ewing(which would never come up except Thabeet plays in the Big East.) Goodman ultimately said Thabeet is not in Ewing territory yet but did stat that UConn was “the top team in the country.” Certainly the polls back that statement up and you can argue that UConn is playing well enough to claim that mantle as well. The other interesting part of Goodman’s wrap-up article? No mention of the UNC-Duke game. None. Maybe Goodman decided it was well covered and wanted to focus elsewhere but it seems odd, considering the way Ty Lawson played Goodman chose to completely ignore the game and even make his “Stud of the Night” the freaking Dayton Flyers.
Fast forward one day. UConn last night received news that 2nd leading scorer and top perimeter defender Jerome Dyson was possibly lost for the season with a torn knee ligament. On paper this is viewed as a huge loss. Not according to Goodman:
Jerome Dyson’s loss won’t hurt UConn’s national championship hopes all that much. In fact, I’m not sure if it’ll hurt the Huskies at all.
Sure, Dyson was second on the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and is capable of exploding. But the Huskies proved they could win without him when he was suspended last season.
In fact, they were a better team when Dyson was out.
UConn was 8-1 – with the lone loss coming at Villanova.
I’m not saying here that UConn couldn’t use Dyson in order to win a national title, but what I’m saying is that even if he doesn’t return from the knee injury he suffered early in the win against Syracuse the Huskies can still cut down the nets in Detroit.
On one hand Goodman does back up the statement with some relevant facts from last season. On the other hand that was last season. Look at it this way. Everyone has been running around saying UNC is hamstrung without Marcus Ginyard in the lineup but UConn can lose their steals leader and 2nd leading scorer and it will not affect them? Really? Granted UConn has a defensive presence in the post that can make up for lapses by whoever fills in for Dyson. That being said, it is still a loss for the offense and for UConn’s depth. In my opinion there has to be some level of impact. To flatly state you think it will not hurt “all that much” or “at all” seems a overly optimistic to me or straight up spinning in the best traditions of politics.
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Goodman has always been pretty negative towards UNC and a huge Duke homer… I was not at all surprised to see no mention of UNC. I find Doug Gottlieb to be FAR more insightful…
If Pitt knocks off UConn on Monday, people will be jumping off that bandwagon.
^ THF, Do you have some information that would suggest that BD was “leaveraging” during the UT coaching search? Was BD or his agent actually contacted by UT?
When UNC hired Butch Davis, UNC was stating that they wanted big time football in Chapel Hill. With it comes things like this, as in Thursday night games that elevate the program’s profile. Baddour has made his decision so he can’t go back and say, well, Butch, look, “let’s be good but not great”
I’m rather surprised that most analysts have chosen to focus on the loss of Dyson in the context of offense. Andy Katz did the same thing yesterday, not mentioning defense at all, as if everything about UConn’s defense is taken care of with Thabeet. Well, UConn is way up there in offensive and defensive efficiency, but their defense is rated slightly higher than their offense, thanks primarily to Thabeet. Take away some of Thabeet’s effectiveness by outside shooting, or forcing him to move away from the basket, then they become much more vulnerable. Losing a 6-4 perimeter player who leads the team in steals may end up making the conversation turn to defense, which makes the upcoming Pitt game all the more intriguing.
Gary Parrish sees things a little more realistically:
“Jim Calhoun will coach Saturday for the first time this season sans Jerome Dyson, who injured his knee against Syracuse on Wednesday night and will have surgery within a week. Barring a surprise, it appears — though it’s not definite — that Dyson will be gone for the season. And though that shouldn’t cost Connecticut at Seton Hall this weekend, it could against Pittsburgh on Monday, or on down the line.”
^ Sorry, I posted my football comment here. My bad.
Anyway, certainly there is a good chance that the Heels will never have to play UCONN. I think Pitt, Louisville and OK are just as likely….
I’m focused on Miami. (Not that me being focused has anything to do with the team’s performance)
C’mon HeelsP, get your head in the game! Let’s focus on basketball.
uconn plays 8 guys. now has 7. unc is down to 8 guys with bobby and cope (9th guy) probably earning more minutes. here’s the comparison.
uconn
1. jeff adrien (F, 6-7, 243, sr) 34.0 mpg, 14.0 ppg, 9.9 rpg
2. hasheem thabeet (C, 7-3, 263, jr) 31.0 mpg, 13.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 4.2 bpg
3. aj price (G, 6-2, 181, sr) 29.4 mpg, 12.4 ppg, 4.4 apg, 0.415 3pt%
4. jerome dyson (G, 6-4, 190, jr) 29.3 mpg, 13.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.2 apg
5. craig austrie (G, 6-3, 176, sr) 23.7 mpg, 8.0 ppg, 0.368 3pt%
6. kemba walker (G, 6-1, 172, fr) 23.6 mpg, 8.8 ppg
7. stanley robinson (F, 6-9, 210, jr) 19.6 mpg, 5.4 ppg
8. gavin edwards (F, 6-9, 234, jr) 11.3 mpg, 4.1 ppg
unc
1. tyler (F, 6-9, 250, sr) 29.4 mpg, 21.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 0.429 3pt%
2. wayne (G, 6-4, 200, jr) 28.3 mpg, 15.0 ppg, 0.395 3pt%
3. ty (G, 5-11, 195, jr) 28.2 mpg, 15.7 ppg, 6.5 apg, 2.2 spg, 0.478 3pt%
4. danny (F, 6-6, 210, sr) 26.1 mpg, 13.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.464 3pt%
5. deon (F, 6-8, 240, jr) 25.9 mpg, 11.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg
6. ed (F, 6-10, 220, fr) 19.2 mpg, 6.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.8 bpg
7. bobby (G, 6-3, 210, sr) 15.5 mpg, 2.7 ppg, 0.269 3pt%
8. drew ii (G, 6-1, 180, fr) 10.6 mpg, 1.8 ppg, 2.3 apg
A 7-0 Zeller sure should would look good in that lineup.
Here’s to hoping that he is getting ready!!! Maybe he’ll even surprise Coach Roy with his ability after such a long absence.