No Dyson or Wiggins, Calhoun is plenty
1/27/08
Unranked UConn upset No. 7 Indiana 68-63
Maybe tomorrow I can write about this effort , if not on Monday. Until then I'll leave it to coach -- he says it better than I ever could.
Connecticut basketball is back.
Jim Calhoun
Post Game Opening Statement:
Post Game Opening Statement:
"This sweat that you see isn't from the game. It is from me hugging every single one of those kids. And quite frankly, they deserve more than a hug from me. They deserve one from the state of Connecticut. They deserve a hug from the university. They deserve a hug from our fans. And if you are a basketball enthusiast and you see a team that is limited, self-imposed certainly, in the players that are brought here against a terrific team. To do what we did is certainly the greatest win I've had and it's going to get up there since the national championship team beat Georgia Tech. It could even beat the Duke game where we came back from down seven.
"From the aspect of basketball and leaving and why I do this thing, when people respond that way. I'm not saying we don't have players, we do have players. Hasheem Thabeet made two blocks and 20 detour signs. They went in and left without the ball and him not blocking the shot. Jeff (Adrien) started off rough but came on like a soldier. Donnell Beverly did something that you can't ask a kid to do, having never played in a big game, to come in and give significant minutes. Sticks (Stanley Robinson) put Curtis (Kelly) at the three-position this morning at breakfast and he is normally our four-man. And what our kids did is one of those special things. The pride that I feel with them and the hugs that I gave to them are why athletic competition that brings out the things in people that are very, very special.
"Again, I think back to the national championship game and being down seven to Duke, it's on that plateau. My respect for Indiana, this building and all it represents...this is basketball heaven and I love every bit of it. To come in here when they have a 17-1 team with some terrific players and have our kids give everything they had. I was just hoping the clock would malfunction and go quicker. We were running out of gas, but we found enough inside of us. I know this a soliloquy and not a question and answer but this is how I feel right now. I feel so much pride in my kids and how they responded and did everything we asked them to do. I'll remember this for an awful, awful, awful long time."
On Hasheem Thabeet's progress from last year to this year:"I still think he has a little ways to go, because tonight wasn't his best night, offensively. But he did hold (D.J.) White somewhat in check and held everybody else in check. I was trying to think of and I really can't, I've had Emeka Okafor, Travis Knight, these are all NBA centers, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong...any progress they made would pale in comparison to a kid who hadn't touched a basketball four years ago. His father was the greatest soccer player in Tanzania history, he has the highest cumulative GPA on the team this year, he is an incredibly bright young guy. His work ethic and what he did this summer to get himself ready, now we are starting to see some of those results. I couldn't be more proud of A.J. (Price) and what he had to overcome, some of it self-imposed and some by nature and we almost lost him. To watch Craig (Austrie), after many times being beat out by Marcus Williams after starting 13 games in a row and going undefeated, make the foul shots (at the end). To watch Sticks play the way he did, every single one of them and the guys on the bench. The spirit on our team was phenomenal, and I have never had anyone make the progress [Thabeet] has. I truly believe, and he is going to do what he is going to do and he may be forced to do something, but if he ever waits another year, he will be the best big man in the country far and away. He will change any game and will be one of the most dominating players in recent memory, in my opinion. Is he going to be Greg Oden? I don't know about that, offensively. But I do know that defensively he is an incredible force just being there and being active."
On the team defense:"We worked on it yesterday in practice. That's all we really worked on. We tried to get some of the guys playing different positions. The two players that didn't accompany us, we put them on the other team and went against them. Even if I had decided to bring them, they weren't playing, that I already decided. The point was, we were telling Donnell (Beverly), `Okay, you've been sitting for two and a half months on the yellow team. We would like you to go to Bloomington, Ind. and Assembly Hall and play the seventh ranked team in the country and we expect you to be good'. And he was."
"From the aspect of basketball and leaving and why I do this thing, when people respond that way. I'm not saying we don't have players, we do have players. Hasheem Thabeet made two blocks and 20 detour signs. They went in and left without the ball and him not blocking the shot. Jeff (Adrien) started off rough but came on like a soldier. Donnell Beverly did something that you can't ask a kid to do, having never played in a big game, to come in and give significant minutes. Sticks (Stanley Robinson) put Curtis (Kelly) at the three-position this morning at breakfast and he is normally our four-man. And what our kids did is one of those special things. The pride that I feel with them and the hugs that I gave to them are why athletic competition that brings out the things in people that are very, very special.
"Again, I think back to the national championship game and being down seven to Duke, it's on that plateau. My respect for Indiana, this building and all it represents...this is basketball heaven and I love every bit of it. To come in here when they have a 17-1 team with some terrific players and have our kids give everything they had. I was just hoping the clock would malfunction and go quicker. We were running out of gas, but we found enough inside of us. I know this a soliloquy and not a question and answer but this is how I feel right now. I feel so much pride in my kids and how they responded and did everything we asked them to do. I'll remember this for an awful, awful, awful long time."
On Hasheem Thabeet's progress from last year to this year:"I still think he has a little ways to go, because tonight wasn't his best night, offensively. But he did hold (D.J.) White somewhat in check and held everybody else in check. I was trying to think of and I really can't, I've had Emeka Okafor, Travis Knight, these are all NBA centers, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong...any progress they made would pale in comparison to a kid who hadn't touched a basketball four years ago. His father was the greatest soccer player in Tanzania history, he has the highest cumulative GPA on the team this year, he is an incredibly bright young guy. His work ethic and what he did this summer to get himself ready, now we are starting to see some of those results. I couldn't be more proud of A.J. (Price) and what he had to overcome, some of it self-imposed and some by nature and we almost lost him. To watch Craig (Austrie), after many times being beat out by Marcus Williams after starting 13 games in a row and going undefeated, make the foul shots (at the end). To watch Sticks play the way he did, every single one of them and the guys on the bench. The spirit on our team was phenomenal, and I have never had anyone make the progress [Thabeet] has. I truly believe, and he is going to do what he is going to do and he may be forced to do something, but if he ever waits another year, he will be the best big man in the country far and away. He will change any game and will be one of the most dominating players in recent memory, in my opinion. Is he going to be Greg Oden? I don't know about that, offensively. But I do know that defensively he is an incredible force just being there and being active."
On the team defense:"We worked on it yesterday in practice. That's all we really worked on. We tried to get some of the guys playing different positions. The two players that didn't accompany us, we put them on the other team and went against them. Even if I had decided to bring them, they weren't playing, that I already decided. The point was, we were telling Donnell (Beverly), `Okay, you've been sitting for two and a half months on the yellow team. We would like you to go to Bloomington, Ind. and Assembly Hall and play the seventh ranked team in the country and we expect you to be good'. And he was."