GO WEST, YOUNG MEN
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To paraphrase Horace Greeley (a terrific point guard in the 1800's) , the UConn Huskies head to the desert on Tuesday to prepare for the Sweet 16 of the West Regionals... Awaiting them, the Purdue Boilermakers, who survived an upset bid by Northern Iowa and then beat Washington in Portland, not an easy accomplishment. They won the Big 10 tournament title, finished tied for second in the regular season and lost in overtime to Oklahoma in the Pre Season NIT Finals.
But UConn hits the road with a confidence that we haven't seen from the Huskies in a long, long time. The wins over Chattanooga and Texas A&M have washed away the doubts about whether this team can win without Jerome Dyson. Don't get me wrong, they still miss him and life would be better if he was driving on the court instead of styling on the sidelines.
But UConn has now proved to the world and more importantly itself that they still have enough pieces to win the big puzzle.
A.J. Price was superb in Philadelphia and is playing the kind of ball that made him so highly recruited coming out of high school. It is terrifc to see how at ease he is with everything, from interviews to draining threes. Stanley Robinson is also playing with the most confidence of his three year career. Sticks doesn't have to be spectaular every night, just steady. He looks like he feels that confidence he needs to succeed. Kemba Walker has not been wowed by the big stage, Craig Austrie and Gavin Edwards understand their roles and how important they are.
Jeff Adrien was terrific on Saturday, making A&M pay for sagging on Hasheem Thabeet. His shooting exhibition will force teams to think twice about that strategy. When Jeff hits his first couple of shots, it gives him an incredible jolt of confidence,and that makes the Huskies that much better.
And as for Thabeet, UConn fans have to hope that his numbers against A&M aren't duplicated the rest of the way. Because, the competition gets a whole lot better starting with 6'10 sophmore JuJuan Johnson on Thursday.
I'll check in Wednesday after the interviews and open practices. (3 hour time difference in Phoenix so it will be a late post)
And don't forget, the broadcast begins Thursday night at 6:30!
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