Spring Break
Seniors leave lasting legacy
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 4/7/09 Section: Sports
Before the season started, I remember going to the Co-op and buying the 'Athlon's College Basketball season preview' magazine, which featured a photo of Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien and A.J. Price with the tagline "Special Season in Storrs" alongside it.
And early into this year, it became apparent that this team had the chance to be special. They had a certain veteran mentality. All the roadblocks that were thrown in their direction - Stanley Robinson's academic ineligibility, Jerome Dyson's season-ending knee injury - hardly rattled them. They had that special 'it' factor - the thing that separates talented teams from champions.
"It's hard to find, it's hard to get and sometimes it's hard to keep," said coach Jim Calhoun in the week leading up to the Final Four. "But this team has it."
But with 10:11 to go in Saturday's National Semifinal and UConn trailing Michigan State, 58-52, Price - the captain, the man who restores all order when any sense of doubt or panic sets in - took an inbounds pass and let the ball roll to halfcourt before picking it up. The Huskies were only down six. There was still more than half of the second period to play. There was certainly no reason to let the ball roll. And once he did, there was every reason for UConn to panic.
A.J. Price was not himself on Saturday. Sure, he canned a 3-pointer - pull-up, off-the-dribble, beautiful follow-through, as he's done a million times - early in the game. But that was the only long-range shot he'd hit the rest of the way. Instead, he recklessly drove to the basket, he lost the handle on the ball and he let the Michigan State guards run wild.
All season long, UConn has gone as Price has. He was the engine that made them go. And for one of the few times this season, that engine failed - to the tune of 5-for-20 shooting from the field. With it, the Huskies' championship hopes went down in flames.
Naturally, Calhoun gave credit to Michigan State.
And early into this year, it became apparent that this team had the chance to be special. They had a certain veteran mentality. All the roadblocks that were thrown in their direction - Stanley Robinson's academic ineligibility, Jerome Dyson's season-ending knee injury - hardly rattled them. They had that special 'it' factor - the thing that separates talented teams from champions.
"It's hard to find, it's hard to get and sometimes it's hard to keep," said coach Jim Calhoun in the week leading up to the Final Four. "But this team has it."
But with 10:11 to go in Saturday's National Semifinal and UConn trailing Michigan State, 58-52, Price - the captain, the man who restores all order when any sense of doubt or panic sets in - took an inbounds pass and let the ball roll to halfcourt before picking it up. The Huskies were only down six. There was still more than half of the second period to play. There was certainly no reason to let the ball roll. And once he did, there was every reason for UConn to panic.
A.J. Price was not himself on Saturday. Sure, he canned a 3-pointer - pull-up, off-the-dribble, beautiful follow-through, as he's done a million times - early in the game. But that was the only long-range shot he'd hit the rest of the way. Instead, he recklessly drove to the basket, he lost the handle on the ball and he let the Michigan State guards run wild.
All season long, UConn has gone as Price has. He was the engine that made them go. And for one of the few times this season, that engine failed - to the tune of 5-for-20 shooting from the field. With it, the Huskies' championship hopes went down in flames.
Naturally, Calhoun gave credit to Michigan State.
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KKM
posted 4/07/09 @ 10:43 AM EST
It has, indeed, been a great ride and on behalf of all Husky fans at large, I'd like to repeat that thank you. I know the NCAA title would have been the ultimate, but it wouldn't have prevented this dream season from ending. (Continued…)
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