UConn Has Right to Feel Disrespected

In case you didn't hear, the No. 1 team in college basketball won again Wednesday night, taking on a ranked conference rival, putting together a tremendous second-half performance, and walking off the floor having won by 14 points.

And no, I'm not talking about North Carolina beating Duke.

The No. 1 UConn Huskies whipped Syracuse, 63-49, but there's a fair chance you haven't heard anything about it. ESPN is all Duke-Carolina this morning, and so are most of the major sports sites. And that's a shame, because Connecticut is a team everyone should be watching.

UConn center Hasheem Thabeet showed once again Wednesday that he's an absolute monster in the middle, scoring eight points, grabbing 16 rebounds and adding seven blocks. UConn coach Jim Calhoun said after the game that it's Thabeet's defensive presence that makes UConn so good:

"We're not the best offensive team in the league but we're a pretty good defensive team with Hasheem in the middle," Calhoun said. "He affected 20 penetrations in the lane. Don't get caught up in stats with him, even as good as they are, because he is one of the most amazing forces in basketball in America."

But Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who called Thabeet a "tremendous defensive player," went even further in his praise:

"I've said it before and I still believe he's the best we've had in this league. We're an inside team and takes that away from you."

Think about that for a second. Jim Boeheim has been the head coach at Syracuse for as long as the Big East has existed. He's seen (just to name a few) Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and Charles Smith and coached Derrick Coleman and Carmelo Anthony, and he calls Thabeet "the best we've had in this league."

Thabeet is a dominant player, and UConn is the top-ranked team in the league, and yet everyone is talking about Wednesday's other game. I haven't heard the Huskies play the "disrespect" card yet, but I wouldn't blame them if they did.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-12-2009 @ 12:32PM

tpbhome said...

I think you are exactly right about the bias coverage of Duke and North Carolina. Very good teams but spare me with all this coverage. There are about 4 or 5 very good teams in the ACC and the rest are mid-majors. If Duke and North Carolina played some decent non conference teams on the road they would lose a lot of those games. The Big East and ACC are way over rated because they seldom risk tough non conference games. Sometimes they play a Big Ten team or other "big conference" game but if they lose they say it is because of how "tough" those teams are on their home court. I think teams like Xaiver, Dayton, Davidson and others would routinely win games against these team. This is not football. The polls don't really take into account these facts. I think we saw this when Davidson a school of 1800 (very smart) kids beat Gozanga, Georetown, and then Wisconsin last year at the NCAA tournament.

2-12-2009 @ 12:45PM

avonlady256 said...

You must be crazy! U-Conn is scoring 68 points. Any ACC team will beat them today. The ACC is a much tougher conference. The reason ACC doesn't have tough non-conference games is because there are not many. U-Conn is overrated! Let them play the lower half of the ACC! The result.....A LOSS.

2-12-2009 @ 10:03PM

Hey, avonlady. You make my point. If Duke and/or North Carolina played Davidson at Davidson they would lose. The same holds true for Xaiver or Dayton. And don't tell me about attendece, Dayton fills it fine statium (14,000) almost every time and Davidson and Xaiver could do the same thing at their local stadiums. Teams like Duke and North Carolina should not be rated high until they beat teams like Davidson, Dayton, and Xavier ON THE ROAD.

We will see in March!

2-12-2009 @ 12:47PM

By the way. Duke and UNC both beat Davidson this year!

2-12-2009 @ 1:35PM

johnnybashford said...

Duke also beat Xavier by 18 earlier this year as well. The ACC and Big East are by far the best conferences top to bottom.

There is no guaranteed win anymore, just ask Wake Forest ( Ga Tech and NCSU) about it.

And once again the ACC/Big Ten Challenge was won by the better conference, the ACC.

As a Duke fan, I have to say that Carolina deserved to win. They are day in and out the best team in the country. But this is the ACC, and I like our chances next time!

2-12-2009 @ 3:40PM

capt2297 said...

I think the ACC & The Big East are the best conferences as well. March Madness should be great this year.

2-12-2009 @ 3:43PM

RACENDIRT said...

Coming from Jim Boeheim, that's high praise indeed. Worth more than any praise from ESPN. UConn is a great team with an even greater coach. They come to play and they know how to adjust. Sure there are other great teams out there....but better? We'll see. Be prepared for another men/women repeat. They're both going strong.

2-12-2009 @ 10:11PM

Hey, Avon lady they would never beat Davidson AT DAVIDSON. And either team would probably lose at Dayton. Dayton is 23-3 all loses on the road.

2-13-2009 @ 10:41AM

You are 100% right that Duke and Carolina will never beat Davidson AT DAVIDSON. Because they will never, ever, ever play them there!

It doesn't make sense for either team (and Davidson) to give up the revenue to play in a 5500 seat building. With economic times what they are, schools need all they can get from gate receipts. Comprende?

It is a romantic idea to bring the Hickory team in to play South Bend High, but that movie is already in the can.