Has The Bark Gone Out of These Huskies

Hello everyone, in this article our own Art Benedict has a great analysis into the UCONN Men's Basketball Team's performance this season. He knows what he is talking about, when it comes to the Huskies!!!! You can catch his show the X Factor, on Thursday nights from 5 to 6pm.

Article by Art Benedict

3 seems to be a number that the UConn Men’s basketball is seeing in their sleep lately. Their record after six games is 3 -3 after losing 3 straight to West Virginia, Texas, and the latest loss to instate Yale. And for the second straight game it was a 3-pointer that put the dagger in the heart of UConn. Jonathon Holmes hit a 3-pointer as Texas nipped UConn last week and then on this past Friday night Jack Montague hit a 3-pointer from almost the same exact spot as Holmes hit his as Yale beat the Huskies 45-44 at Gampel Pavilion.

I know there is a lot more basketball to be played this season, but let’s be realistic. Shabazz Napier is in the NBA and Neils Giffey is playing overseas. Do you think with those players missing that the Huskies were going to be as good a basketball team? Don’t get me wrong. Ryan Boatright is doing his part and carrying the load for this team. And let’s face facts. Transfer Rodney Purvis only played eight minutes and was 0-3 against Yale while recovering from a high ankle sprain, and Omar Calhoun are is  sitting on the bench with his own injury. . If these two players are at 100%, maybe these close losses become five or ten point victories. Freshman Daniel Hamilton (8 points on 3 -11 shooting ) and Redshirt Sophomore Sam Cassel Jr. (12 points on 4- 6 shooting can’t shoulder the load until Purvis and Calhoun get healthy.

UConn will need more of what they saw from sophomore center Amida Brimah who scored  14 points in the loss to Yale and will need more support from Philip Nolan who only scored 2 points on Friday. UConn head coach Kevin Ollie has stated that his team has got to find some toughness in their locker room. So where does this toughness come from? Boatright proved his toughness against Yale by getting off the deck after his own ankle sprain, but was ineffective against the Bulldogs with only 6 points in 35 minutes. So who is the next big Husky to stand up and be the Shabazz Napier of this 2014-2015 defending national championship team?

They only have 6 days to figure it out as they will take on Coppin State on December 14th  and that will be followed up by Duke at the Izod Center on the 18th. For this week its exam week for these Huskies, but they need to find their bark and they need to find it soon. Kevin Ollie is not used to losing and will make his bark heard in these upcoming practices. Stay tuned Husky fans, there is a lot of basketball to be played yet.

Next Blog: UConn Women’s Basketball team.