WELCOME TO THE COLISEUM

After being redirected to a pair of parking lots and then sent to the wrong side of the building to pick up press passes, I’m finally in the media workroom at West Virginia Coliseum.
The building strikes me as a mix of the Carrier Dome with a more intimate feel like a Gampel Pavilion. It should make for a great atmosphere as the fans have been lining up for some time.
As for the game, I’ve got a friendly bet with another reporter that UConn wins by least 15. But I’m starting to worry a bit.

JUST LANDED

It’s good to be back on the ground. We touched down about 10 minutes ago here in Pittsburgh and I’m taking advantage of the airport’s free wireless Internet as I wait for some of the other reporters to get in on a flight that isn’t due for an hour or two.
I was surprised to see Brian Koonz of the Danbury paper on my flight out of JFK. But we’re the only ones who took the New York route, which means we’ll get a few extra hours in the Pittsburgh-West Virginia area.
The next task is to get some food and then figure out exactly where my hotel is.

NOW FOR SOME REAL FUN

My attitude with blogging has always been it’s a tool to take you, the reader, behind the scenes. With that in mind, it’s always been my belief that road trips make or the best postings.
Now that UConn is finely leaving its friendly confines, I look forward to sharing some of the better stories that always come out of being in new places for the first time. Consider it a sporadic running diary of sorts, hopefully filled with enough details to keep you amused.
The first chance to try out this approach will be the Huskies’ trip to West Virginia.
The fun for me, and hopefully you, comes when I depart for the airport at about 6 in the morning tomorrow, which is almost six hours from now. On that note, it’s time for bed.
Until tomorrow …

CALLING ALL FANS

I haven’t walked outside yet because I’m saving the surprise for later. So if there happens to be a full house tonight, the joke is on me.
That being said, I’m not expecting the capacity to be approached.
I know there have been a lot of UConn home games already this season, but it’s still a little disappointing to see some of these lacking turnouts of late.
I’m hoping, and obviously expecting, to see the big numbers return for future opponents. Still, I don’t see why these games aren’t worth coming out to.

STILL CREEPING

Not too much to report here as we wrap up the Christmas break.
The only recent thing that really comes to mind is the latest release of the polls. UConn moved up another two spots in both, to No. 12 in the AP and ninth in the USA Today/ESPN.
The Huskies could potentially be in the top 10 in both this time next week should they win against Coppin State and then at West Virginia in the Big East opener.

DIFFERENT STRATEGIES

Although unranked and fresh off its third loss this season, Texas could prove to be a dangerous team come March.
Similar to UConn, the Longhorns have spent these past two months trying to get everyone comfortable with each other with seven freshmen on the roster, five of whom are part of the team’s most used seven players. But Texas is preparing its newcomers with a different approach than the Huskies.
While UConn has built confidence with an easy schedule en route to being a fixture in the national rankings, Texas coach Rick Barnes hasn’t shied from putting his team in difficult situations.
The Longhorns latest defeat in their 8-3 season to date came in overtime at Tennessee, which overcame a 17-point halftime deficit. Texas has also played in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic — losing to Michigan State and beating St. John’s — along with games against Gonzaga, LSU and Arkansas (2-1 in the latter with a the loss coming to Gonzaga).
UConn, which plays at LSU next month, certainly can’t say its young team is as seasoned as Texas, but the Huskies have shown drastic improvement. Even after the dust settles in March and early April, we may never know which plan actually worked the best.
But it will be interesting to see what school makes a deeper postseason run and we’ll then be able to wonder if one plan was really better than the other.

GOOD MEMORIES

As UConn's players left today for their respective homes over this brief Christmas break — the team practices Monday night —— many had good feelings to carry them home.
A 10-0 start for the Huskies has seen many different contributors and you can add Stanley Robinson to the mix after last night. It probably couldn't have happened to a nicer kid, either. Now, the challenge will be to continue to prove himself worthy of more playing time.
Doug Wiggins is another freshman who has to be feeling good after his fourth game out of five in double figures. As for A.J. Price and his seven turnovers, don't expect him to dwell on it too much and there's a good chance we see a bounce-back performance against Coppin State.
Lastly, I'm sure it's a score most of you didn't even notice, but how about Binghamton going down to Miami and getting a win? It's the first high-profile victory for my alma mater in the Division I era and now my Bearcats will look to keep things going against Pepperdine in New Mexico's Lobo Invitational.

TWO MORE GAMES

As one of the reporters so appropriately called it, the Groundhog Day experience is almost over. After watching game after game in which the result was never in doubt early on this season covering UConn, the real excitement finally arrives at month’s end.
It’s not that I, like other beat writers, haven’t enjoyed things so far. It’s just that, like the players have been saying, we also wouldn’t mind seeing a challenge.
I’m sure tomorrow will be interesting with Pepperdine and it’s crazed offensive style, but, come on, does anyone really think UConn has a shot of losing? Ditto for Coppin State, minus all the scoring.
I truly believe this UConn team is going to be good. But I really want to see what happens when they face a challenge.
As writers, our lives are a product of routine. Still, every once in a while it’s not bad to be surprised.

BIG MAN STILL A PROJECT

Among the college basketball writers I read most often and highly respect is Andy Katz of ESPN.com.
Last month, I was reading one of his Daily Word entries when I came across an interesting line. He had been in town and saw UConn play and then had a quote from an unnamed NBA scout saying the raw athleticism and potential of Hasheem Thabeet had at least one team questioning if the 7-foot-3 big man could be the No. 1 pick instead of seemingly consensus top choice Greg Oden.
I couldn’t believe the words the first time and after watching Oden, and Ohio State, on TV Saturday and then catching Hasheem in person Sunday, that belief seems crazier than ever.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Thabeet is going to be a great pro — thus far, I’m on the divided side of UConn beat writers that thinks he’s one year and done, granted Jim Calhoun’s power could make our entire argument one not worth having — but he’s no where near as polished. Oden, on the wrong hand, is playing with complete dominance and looks, for lack of a better term, wise beyond his years.
I think teammate A.J. Price’s opinion of Thabeet is the most realistic and appropriate. The point guard said he’s not surprised by where Hasheem is so far, but quickly pointed out how much of a defensive presence is.
The best thing people can do for Thabeet is simply take him for what he is for now. Because once everything falls into place, you’re talking about one of most unique players in the country. Till then, I’m sure there’re 300-plus schools that wouldn’t mind having him just the way he is.

ENTERING THE UNKNOWN

Jim Calhoun hinted at it, although he didn’t elaborate much. After a lengthy layoff because of finals, just how is UConn going to react?
Say what you will about the Huskies’ schedule, but its design was necessary considering how many uncertainties existed with this youthful rosters. The progress has been impressive, but that’s what makes tomorrow’s game with St. Mary’s so important.
So much of that growth came from confidence, which came from building off one victory after another. But the momentum figures to have worn off some because of this delay, which couldn’t be avoided for obvious reasons.
If UConn can put together another dominant effort, put me into the category of being highly sold on this group because it’ll show a degree of maturity every quality team needs.

DECEMBER MADNESS

Finals end tomorrow at UConn and I’ll be curious to see if there are any changes in the players when we see them at practice.
It’s got to be a big adjustment from being a high school player to now balancing so much and Jim Calhoun has even hinted that some Huskies have handled it better than others. Speaking on Thursday’s Big East teleconference, he talked about the giddiness of his team at recent practices, a sign of perhaps some lingering stress.
Dealing with academics and finals was a topic of conversation for other coaches as well, including Jerry Wainwright. DePaul’s coach has it a little different though since his school is on the lesser-used quarter system.
The Blue Demons’ players actually had to push up their finals because of the team’s appearance at the Maui Invitational. With tests to worry about and practice time cut down by a week nationwide, that combination might explain part of DePaul’s unexpected 0-2 start (the team is 5-3 since).

I’M BACK

It’s nice to be back after a little break, although, as you all know, things have slowed mightily across college basketball with many schools in finals.
One thought I did have after seeing the latest polls is how unbelievable the gap is for UConn when comparing the USA Today/ESPN rankings to those of the AP. It’s down to six spots this week after the Huskies moved to 14th in the AP and No. 8 in the coaches’ estimation, but the difference was nine places a week ago.
I’m curious if anyone out there can remember the last time a disparity like that existed.

In other news, I did get a chance to see live basketball this week when I popped in to catch Hartford at Yale. It turned out to be quite a game, especially when the head official put 0.7 seconds back on the clock and gave Hartford a second chance to win in regulation (the Hawks earned a one-point win in OT). The official hadn’t realized the time had previously been switched to 0.7 from 0.3 and then blew his whistle immediately on the Hawks’ first try, which threw off a potential winning shot.
I thought Yale coach James Jones’ reaction to the sequence was hysterical and it’ll be featured in this Sunday’s paper.

I hope to have more for everyone tomorrow when we have the weekly Big East teleconference.

TAKING A BREAK

To all you loyal readers of this blog — I'll admit, it's hard to tell who's out there since we don't get many comments around here — I'm going to be taking a few days off.
Since UConn is breaking for finals, us writers get a much-needed bit of time off as well. So I won't be posting again until early next week, although you'll still be able to find a few articles online and in the paper during my short getaway.
See you all soon.

LOOKING BACK …

The last time Northeastern won a game in this series with UConn, which improved to 33-4 all-time in the battle of the Huskies after Wednesday night, it was still Jim Calhoun walking away victorious.
In his final season as Northeastern’s coach before coming to UConn, Calhoun earned a 90-73 road win Dec. 28, 1985 at the Civic Center. It’s something he still remembers.
“Very succinctly, I got a technical about 30 seconds into the game,” Calhoun said. “It all came about because the officials — who will go unnamed, two of them are still in the league — walked over and wished (UConn coach) Dom (Perno) Merry Christmas, stayed at the scorer’s table and then threw the ball up.
“I thought we got a bad call, I always do, and so as they came back up I said, ‘Well you gave them a call, plus the Christmas greeting, which I really appreciate.’ And that provoked a technical foul.”
Of course, Calhoun had the last laugh. And those unnamed officials are now the ones coming into his building when assigned to UConn games.
“Bottom line is I remember going in that this was really big-time, I always felt that way,” Calhoun said. “UConn was big-time basketball.”
“That was a really good Northeastern team,” he added, “but it was a thrill.”
Northeastern went on to reach its third straight NCAA tournament that season and fourth in 14 seasons under Calhoun.

A HUSKY, TOO

With Oklahoma State and Syracuse at halftime, and Arizona and Louisville still to come tonight at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic, it's worth noting the former N.C. State coach's ties to UConn.
Jim Valvano spent two seasons as a Huskies assistant (1970-72), later earning national headlines for the Wolfpack's upset win over Houston in the 1983 national championship game. His "Never Give Up" speech has helped make basketball fans from all walks familiar with the V Foundation, which annually sponsors a pair of high-profile college games each season.

LET'S SEE

UConn has practice in about two hours and I'll be interested to see what the players have to say. They've been answering the same questions over and over again, although, collectively, the team took a much firmer stance on wishing there was stiffer competition right away after the latest win.
Tomorrow will be the Huskies' finla game before a week-and-a-half off during finals and the time away should probably help ease any frustrations. Until then, the key will be to keep progressing, as coach Jim Calhoun likes to say, to work toward the tough schedule that awaits in the New Year.

RECORD MATCHED

Hasheem Thabeet is now tied for the UConn record after recording 10 blocked shots. He is the first freshman to reach this total.

STOP FOULING

Sitting here at halftime at Gampel, I can honestly say I've never sat through a longer half of basketball that what we're seeing this afternoon between UConn and Texas Southern.
The Huskies have 23 of their 58 points so far at the free throw line and Texas Southern has already committed 18 fouls. The Tigers have eight players with at least two fouls and one has three.
At least A.J. Price did his part to wake everyone up late the in half with consecutive 3-pointers and an alley-oop feed to Marcus Johnson to account for the team's final eight points.
Here's hoping things go a bit smoother over the final 20 minutes.