After Tough Stretch, Huskies Catch Breath
The Story: The men’s basketball team, up to No. 17 in the Associated Press poll after three grueling games in the Bahamas, is back on the home hardwood tonight when it hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore at the XL Center (7 p.m., CBS Sports).
LESSONS LEARNED: UConn played a trio of tough opponents in No. 21 Auburn, No. 22 Michigan State and VCU but, as coach Dan Hurley said yesterday, “we’ve obviously got areas where we’ve got to get better.”
• We rehashed a number of things we learned in yesterday’s newsletter, so make sure you’re reading every day, but Hurley agreed upon further reflection that the guards are not handling the ball well. R.J. Cole in particular looked lost late in the games against Michigan State and VCU.
• “We probably don’t have the type of overall handlers at guard,” Hurley said. “We are playing bigger, [so] we don’t have a lot of natural, gifted dribblers and ballhandlers and passers.”
• As for the ability to break a full-court press, especially when opponents are face-guarding, it’s a work in progress. “We can work on spacing, maybe different strategic things to move your chess pieces around,” Hurley said. “But we’re gonna have to do it with a little bit more strategy. Most of the teams I’ve had have had so many handlers, [opponents] haven’t been able to press us. But, we don’t have that type of handling team.”
SANOGO HONORED: The Big East recognized Adama Sanogo as its player of the week after he averaged 18 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in the Bahamas. He scored a career-high 30 points against Auburn and had 18 points against Michigan State but scored just six against VCU.
• “If I keep being what I’m being, I will get more [attention], so it’s exciting,” Sanogo said.
• The Huskies actually moved up four places in the AP poll even though they went 2-1. The Thanksgiving exempt tournaments provided a significant shake-up in the polls as teams continue to show what they can do.
ABOUT UMES: We can only think of only one notable UMES-to-UConn connection. Otherwise, the Huskies have only played the Hawks twice and, predictably, trounced them both times, winning 102-63 in 1987 and 84-50 in 2012.
• The Hawks (2-4), who are playing their fourth consecutive road game, are led in scoring by senior guard Zion Styles, who is scoring 12.5 points per game. Junior guard Dom London is averaging 10.3 points per game. UMES isn’t a particularly strong rebounding team as it’s averaging just 35.7 rebounds per game.
• Cole, who spent his first two seasons at Howard, averaged 20.5 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assists in four games against UMES. He has never lost to the Hawks and won each game by an average of 23.3 points. Another performance like that would do wonders for his confidence.
Is Kemba’s Career Over?
The Story: UConn legend Kemba Walker will not only be benched by Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau but be taken out of the rotation altogether as he continues to struggle following his knee injuries.
HOW’D IT HAPPEN? Walker expected to have a happy homecoming when he joined the Knicks over the summer but instead is averaging career lows of 11.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 24.5 minutes in 18 games.
• Thibodeau has been shaking up the Knicks’ rotation in recent weeks as nearly every starter besides Walker has spent time riding the pine.
• “It’s a tough decision to make, but you always have to do what you think is best for the team,” Thibodeau said. “I view Kemba as a starter, and so it’d be tough to play three small guards together. I gave it consideration, and I’ve got great respect for who Kemba is as a person and all he’s accomplished in this league, but I have to do what I think is best for the team.”
IS THIS THE END Although the move seems to be quite severe, there’s always a chance Walker could once again earn significant minutes if Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley or Julius Randle struggle.
• When the Celtics promoted Brad Stevens to general manager over the summer, his first move was to trade Walker to the Thunder. But the two sides negotiated a buyout, and Walker quickly signed a two-year, $18 million contract to return to his hometown team.
• Walker missed 29 games last season, and then two in the playoffs, with a knee injury that has sapped him of his explosion and athleticism. He has not been available when games are played on back-to-back nights and despite his offensive decline, he appears to have struggled the most with his defense.
Zergiotis Chooses to Transfer
The Story: Quarterback Jack Zergiotis, who started as a true freshman in 2019 and opened this season in that role, has decided to transfer from UConn.
• ROCKY ROAD: Zergiotis may not have had the easiest time while in Storrs, especially as someone from Montreal who had to deal with the pandemic early in his college years.
• Zergiotis started nine games as a true freshman and three this year, including his surprise appearance at Clemson on Nov. 13. In 13 career games, he completed 54.3 percent of his passes for 2,017 yards 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
• He was not available to play Saturday against Houston, interim coach Lou Spanos said after the game, with no reason given. He would have had an opportunity to play as walk-on freshman quarterback Jacob Drena finished out the game after a pair of injuries.
• It did not appear that Zergiotis had markedly improved during the Huskies’ year off because of the pandemic, as he continued to struggle reading the defense and finding open receivers during his appearances.
• Zergiotis is the second high-profile player to transfer from UConn as cornerback Jeremy Lucien decided to leave last week. He had fallen behind Tyler Phommachanh and Steven Krajewski on the depth chart and seemed unlikely to play, but his departure illustrates one of new coach Jim Mora’s biggest challenges: keeping players in Storrs.
U IN ’22: The Huskies quietly added a home game against UMass to its schedule for next season and now have all 12 games on the books. UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford said recently that the schools had a 10-year agreement in place.
Morning Reads
• It didn’t take long for Paige Bueckers to land another NIL deal as she has become the first college athlete, man or woman, to endorse Gatorade. And while we love Chipotle, so kudos to Azzi Fudd for her sponsorship, but as Bueckers said, landing a Gatorade deal is an athlete’s dream. (The Athletic)
