Spring Break
Don't stop believing
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: March Madness
The ESPN headquarters are located in Bristol, which, according to Mapquest.com, is 61 minutes away from Gampel Pavilion.
It's just 27 minutes from the XL Center.
But make no mistake, the "Worldwide Leader" doesn't have a UConn bias.
In fact, it's quite the opposite.
After the Huskies received the top overall seed in the West region, they were immediately deemed "the most vulnerable No. 1 seed" by analyst Doug Gottlieb.
We all knew that Dick Vitale would North Carolina to win it all. We all knew that Digger Phelps would wet himself as soon as he heard the word "Pitt." But no "experts" picking UConn to win the 'ship? Really?
Only three - Vitale, Bilas and the ultra-conservative Gottlieb, who picked all four ones seeds - had UConn in the Final Four.
And Hubert Davis, the hater of all haters - well, his Elite Eight was between Purdue and Missouri.
Even the ESPN.com pollsters spoke out against the Huskies. Forty-three percent declared UConn more likely to lose before any No. 1 seed, and only 9 percent of voters said UConn has the best chance of winning the national championship.
Well guess what? I live about five minutes from Gampel Pavilion, and unlike ESPN, I have the utmost confidence in the Huskies.
Jeff Adrien played arguably the two worst games of his career in recent losses to Pitt and Syracuse.
Even coach Jim Calhoun admitted that he's "very concerned about Jeff."
"If that was a normal game [without overtimes], Jeff would have had something like four points and five rebounds," he said.
Trust me, Adrien will not lay another egg in the NCAA Tournament. He's too tough of a kid and too much of a leader.
Other than the "Jeff Adrien sucks" case - which has been wrongfully buzzing around campus lately - many college basketball fans are sufferring from the "UConn can't win without Jerome Dyson" syndrome.
Kemba Walker in the starting line-up isn't that much of a step down from Dyson, and when Stanley Robinson attacks the boards and shoots the way he did against Syracuse, it will take a monumental collapse (which is exactly what happened versus the Orange) for UConn to lose to anyone.
It's just 27 minutes from the XL Center.
But make no mistake, the "Worldwide Leader" doesn't have a UConn bias.
In fact, it's quite the opposite.
After the Huskies received the top overall seed in the West region, they were immediately deemed "the most vulnerable No. 1 seed" by analyst Doug Gottlieb.
We all knew that Dick Vitale would North Carolina to win it all. We all knew that Digger Phelps would wet himself as soon as he heard the word "Pitt." But no "experts" picking UConn to win the 'ship? Really?
Only three - Vitale, Bilas and the ultra-conservative Gottlieb, who picked all four ones seeds - had UConn in the Final Four.
And Hubert Davis, the hater of all haters - well, his Elite Eight was between Purdue and Missouri.
Even the ESPN.com pollsters spoke out against the Huskies. Forty-three percent declared UConn more likely to lose before any No. 1 seed, and only 9 percent of voters said UConn has the best chance of winning the national championship.
Well guess what? I live about five minutes from Gampel Pavilion, and unlike ESPN, I have the utmost confidence in the Huskies.
Jeff Adrien played arguably the two worst games of his career in recent losses to Pitt and Syracuse.
Even coach Jim Calhoun admitted that he's "very concerned about Jeff."
"If that was a normal game [without overtimes], Jeff would have had something like four points and five rebounds," he said.
Trust me, Adrien will not lay another egg in the NCAA Tournament. He's too tough of a kid and too much of a leader.
Other than the "Jeff Adrien sucks" case - which has been wrongfully buzzing around campus lately - many college basketball fans are sufferring from the "UConn can't win without Jerome Dyson" syndrome.
Kemba Walker in the starting line-up isn't that much of a step down from Dyson, and when Stanley Robinson attacks the boards and shoots the way he did against Syracuse, it will take a monumental collapse (which is exactly what happened versus the Orange) for UConn to lose to anyone.
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