Connecticut News, Jeff Borzello

A ‘DIFFERENT’ UCONN READY FOR BIG EAST IN 09-10

Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun will rely on speed more than size this season

by JEFF BORZELLO

Think about Connecticut basketball over the past decade. More likely than not, the immediate images that one thinks of when they think of UConn are of big men Emeka Okafor, Hasheem Thabeet, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong, Rudy Gay and a host of other former Huskies now in the NBA and performing well. Almost nightly a former Husky is one of Doug Ferguson’s three stars of Big East alums in the NBA at NBE Sport’s Association Report.

This season will be different. With the losses of Thabeet and Jeff Adrien, Connecticut will be inexperienced down low and will need to rely on its perimeter group.

“I’m not saying we aren’t [as good as last year],” head coach Jim Calhoun said. “How good are we? I know this – we’re different.”

Fortunately for Calhoun, he has two of the best guards in the Big East at his disposal in senior Jerome Dyson, who missed the latter part of last season after injuring his knee in February, and sophomore Kemba Walker.

“Our season might have been determined when Jerome went down,” Calhoun said. “We were 22-1 when that happened. I believe that if he was healthy, we would have been playing on Monday night.”

Walker is stepping into the shoes vacated by A.J. Price, while he will also have to fill the leadership void that used to belong to Price and Craig Austrie.

“There’s not very much of a difference,” Dyson said. “Kemba’s learned a lot from A.J., so it’s been very productive.”

A New York City native, Walker has no problem taking the reins to the team. He showed flashes of brilliance last season, including his performance in the Elite Eight against Missouri last season, when he put up 23 points, five rebounds and five assists. Walker also opened his career with games of 21 and 23 points in his second and third appearances, respectively.

Clearly, he won’t be afraid to play the point guard position full-time.

“I’m the point guard, it’s my job to be a leader,” Walker said. “I’ve learned to be more vocal, A.J. was great at it. You have to let people know.”

As the most experienced player on the team, Dyson also said that he has to take on more of a leadership role.

With more of an emphasis on the backcourt and the perimeter players, it won’t be a surprise if the Huskies run-and-gun more often and pressure teams in an attempt to force turnovers.

“I feel like we’re going to be able to press more,” Dyson said. “Our team has been in great shape. We’re working on it a lot; we’re up at 7 a.m. every morning. We’re going to be very quick with Kemba, Darius [Trice], Jamaal [Coombs-McDaniel], myself and Donnell Beverly.

“We have to play solid defense. I know I can play defense – it’s all about the effort.”

In the frontcourt, Calhoun will lean on returning seniors Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards. Robinson averaged 17.0 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last six games a season ago, and he is poised for a monster finish to his career.

However, replacing the production of Adrien and Thabeet down low will be the responsibility of freshman Alex Oriakhi.

“He’s looking very impressive,” Walker said. “He’s big and strong, a great rebounder. He will have a chance to step up early, and might get a chance to start.”

Calhoun added that Oriakhi has been the best of the newcomers so far.

The arrival of talented freshman Ater Majok, who is sitting out until December, will also be an added boost to the frontcourt.

“He’s going to be big for us, he’s going to be a shot-blocker for us,” Walker said.

Calhoun said that the newcomers are going to have to make an impact right away, especially the frontcourt players.

“The bottom line is: how many shots are we going to block?” he said. “They have to give us something.”

Despite all the new players, the season will come down to how well the veterans perform – if they all step up and the freshmen play well in supporting roles, Connecticut could be in Final Four contention again.

“I think we have a great shot,” Dyson said. “I don’t think there’s a better trio than us,” referring to himself, Walker and Robinson.

“These guys have to do their job,” added Calhoun, pointing to Dyson, Walker and Robinson. “Along with Gavin, these are the four we have to build on.”

Walker wasn’t ready to give up on having another banner season in Storrs.

“I think it’s all up in the air,” he said. “It’s on us. It depends on how hard we work, but we have a great will to win.”

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