| 27 March 2011
I’ve spent the last half hour trying to figure out how to start this column, and the best I can come up with is this: I cannot believe I’m still writing about UConn basketball at this point in the season. Amongst everything that I consider feasible on this planet, the idea that I’m still talking about Jim Calhoun, Kemba Walker and the Huskies, ranks somewhere just above, “The Cleveland Indians winning the World Series,” and just below, “Jennifer Aniston actually being attracted to David Schwimmer on the TV show Friends.”
Then again, that last analogy isn’t far off as it might seem. Yes Friends is just a TV show. It’s fiction. But to continue the parallel with UConn basketball, it does kind of seem fitting. That’s because while UConn fans might argue about a lot of things, there’s something everyone is in agreement with: This season doesn’t seem real.
And it really doesn’t seem real, when you think back and consider all the dark places UConn basketball has been since their last Final Four run in 2009. Because to understand where UConn is today, you’ve got to understand where they’ve been. And believe me when I say, it isn’t pretty.
Starting with the obvious, by now, you all know a lot of the surface level stuff that’s been going on with the program. You know about the NCAA snooping around like the Hardy Boys over the last two years, looking for any dirt they could find to bring down the team. You know about the firing of assistant coaches Beau Archibald and Patrick Sellers. You know about the NCAA hitting the school with sanctions just a few months ago, limiting scholarships and recruiting in the coming years.
What’s crazy though, is that there’s been plenty more going on beneath the surface. It might be stuff that didn’t get talked about as much. But for awhile did change the vibe around the program.
It’s only fair to start with the actual 2010 season, which- as you might have heard- didn’t go well. The story of that team probably didn’t really hit as hard nationally as it did at home, but was one of the most crushing in recent memory.
Ultimately, the 2010 UConn Huskies were the antithesis of everything that people hate about sports. Individually it was a good group of kids, but collectively it was nothing short of a grease fire. At a certain point, I really felt like Jim Calhoun might have to call in the National Guard to run interference.
Again, the 2010 team was nothing if not insufferable. On the court they were selfish, self-serving and disinterested. They lacked leadership and heart. Their level of play yo-yoed with whomever they were playing. It was a club that beat the No. 1 team in the country (Texas) and a future Final Four participant (West Virginia), but also lost more winnable games in one season than the Washington Generals have in their entire history. In full disclosure, I will say that 2010 was the first time that I’ve ever openly rooted for my team’s season to end. Having no UConn basketball at all, was better than having to watch another second of that pathetic 2010 club.
Off the court, there was other stuff too. Calhoun missed time with an illness. He bickered with Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway over a contract extension. The school lost a handful of elite recruits, all unsure of the future of the program.
And much like the recruits, the future of the program left a lot of people in Connecticut in a funk too.
Understand that like a lot of places, UConn basketball probably means a little too much to a lot of people, myself included.
Yes Connecticut is a progressive state. But really, the Huskies are one of the few things that separate us from everyone else, that we can call our own, and that we don’t share with Boston or New York, the Northeast or the tri-state area. UConn basketball has the same meaning to us that Boise State football does to the people of Boise, the Spurs have to San Antonio, and Kentucky hoops does to the commonwealth. It’s what sets us from everyone else.
And it’s because of that, that the last 18 months or so were really pretty tough. In a lot of people’s eyes, our program, our coach and our team, were self-imploding, or at the very least losing traction as one of the nation’s elite. With NCAA sanctions, lost recruiting battles, and defeats on the court, it left a lot of people wondering, is this it? Is this the end of our run on top?
Which, bringing it full-circle, is why this season has become about so much more than basketball for UConn fans.
Look, I could sit here and tell you all about the merits of Calhoun, Kemba and Alex Oriahki, but you watch the games just like I do. You know the stories of Maui, of the midseason struggles, and of the epic Big East Tournament run. I could babble on about those things all day (and believe me, I’d love to), but why bother? We’ve already been there. That’s old news.
So instead, let’s talk about all the little stuff I’ve already mentioned, and let me explain why it’s so important. Because understand this: Not only did no one in Connecticut see this Final Four run coming, ultimately I don’t know if anyone really wanted it. All we did want, was a little bit of our pride and self- respect back, and for people to start talking about the games on the court, rather than the crap off of it.
Not that anyone’s complaining.
Because if last year’s club was every reason to hate sports, well, this one is every reason to love them. This is a group that’s team-first, selfless, and cares about W’s more than any other stat. This is a group that’s seen players shuffled in and out of the lineup all year, has seen roles change, seen stats change, but has never, ever seen anyone’s attitude change.
Remember, Niels Giffey began the year playing big minutes, and now gets next to none. We haven’t heard a single complaint from him. Tyler Olander plays in short spurts, and usually is done on the court by the midway point of the first half. We haven’t heard a complaint from him. Donnell Beverly is a scholarship senior, likely playing the last meaningful basketball of his life. We haven’t heard a single complaint from him. Alex Oriahki has basically had to fend for himself in the paint all year. No complaints. Roscoe Smith, Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier have seen their roles fluctuate back and forth, good and bad. No complaints from them.
And while we’re here, what about Kemba Walker?
Yes he’s everyone’s All-American, and yes he’s put up more than 30 points twice in the tournament. And you know what else? His role has changed over the course of the season too. Yes he still gets his points, but he also gets everyone else way more involved than he did, even a month ago. Understand that this team wouldn’t have won in Maui or had their incredible regular season run without “Kemba being Kemba.” They also wouldn’t be on a nine game postseason win streak if he hadn’t altered what he was doing along the way too.
Finally, you know who I’ve been most surprised by? Jim Calhoun.
Understand that I’ve been watching UConn basketball about as long as I can remember. I’m not joking when I say that outside my immediate family, Jim Calhoun probably had about as much an impact on my childhood as anyone else (What that says about me, is another story).
And I can never remember Calhoun acting the way he has this year. Maybe he’s been mellowed by the unrelenting media, the health problems, whatever. But whatever it is, I never remember him this relaxed. On the sideline. In interviews. In everything. Maybe it’s arm-chair analysis, I don’t know. But I’ve got to be honest, I think he’s enjoying the ride as much as anyone.
One more thing. I know I haven’t talked about basketball much at this point, and honestly I’m not going to. You know why? Because as I mentioned before, this isn’t just about basketball.
This UConn basketball season is about why grandfathers bring their sons to games, and why those sons do the same with their kids 20 years later. It’s why you grow up a Dodgers fan, or a Cubs fan, an Alabama football fan, or UConn hoops fan. It’s why you keep following teams through thick and thin, coaching changes, scandal, whatever. It’s because sometimes a team takes you on such an unexpected and wild ride, that it makes all the bad worth it. We’ve all heard the stories of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, Kentucky’s “Unforgettables,” and the Super III New York Jets, about how win or lose, following those teams was about more than sports. It was an experience.
And that’s how I feel about this UConn team.
Eight days from now, the college basketball season will end, and a new NCAA Champion will be crowned. Maybe it’ll be UConn or maybe it won’t, but either way I’m going to be pretty upset.
Not because my team won or lost. But just because this season has been so fun, I don’t want it to end.
(Love the article? Hate it? Disagree with something Aaron said? Let him know by commenting below, or e-mailing him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Also for his continued take on all things sports, and updates on his articles, podcasts and giveaways, be sure to follow Aaron on Twitter @Aaron_Torres, Facebook.com/AaronTorresSports or by downloading the Aaron Torres Sports App for FREE for your iPhone or Android Phones)
