Time for tipoff
Huskies ‘blessed’ to kick off the season on Wednesday
And so it begins. More than eight months after their last game, after a promising late-season surge was snuffed, the NCAA Tournament canceled, the beginning of a new season delayed, a 14day shutdown, workouts on the field hockey field and about four “realistic practice days” since, the UConn men’s basketball team begins its 2020-21 season Wednesday night.
There will be no fans in the stands at Gampel Pavilion. There will likely be spates of ugly basketball.
But there will be Donyell Marshall, the former UConn great, coaching Central Connecticut State on the visiting sideline. There will be Dan Hurley, intense and vocal as always, on the home sideline. There will be James Bouknight, kicking off one of the more anticipated sophomore seasons in UConn history after “foaming at the mouth” in recent weeks to get out and play.
“We’ve had to settle him down,” said Hurley, “because he’s been going 110 miles per hour.”
There will be veterans like Isaiah Whaley and Tyler Polley, transfers like R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin, and freshmen like An
dre Jackson and Adama Sanogo.
There will be college basketball.
“It means everything,” Polley, a senior forward, said. “How the world is right now with COVID, teams shutting down, it’s a blessing to go out and play and represent UConn. So I’m excited.”
“It’s a blessing to get the opportunity,” Hurley added. “When so many people are suffering, it’s a blessing to be able to do what we love to do. Hopefully, we’ll be a great distraction for people during a real hard time.”
Less than a week ago, even this game was in danger of not being played. UConn returned from a 14-day shutdown, the result of a player with a positive COVID-19 test, on Nov. 19 and didn’t look too good. Individual shooting and calisthenics inside the Werth Family Champions Center, even cardio sessions outside on the field hockey field, weren’t enough to keep the Huskies in basketball shape during their shutdown.
After a couple of rough practices, Hurley considered canceling or postponing the season opener, but changed his mind.
“I was influenced by players,” Hurley admitted. “These guys, early on, when we got into our first practice together, they desperately want to start play
ing. Our depth, and the players desperately wanting to play, were the two key things.”
The Huskies had a better practice on Saturday, a scrimmage with referees, and the game was finally added to the schedule late Monday morning.
“It’s uncharted waters,” Hurley said. “You write up a practice plan on what you’d like to see coming out of a two-week shutdown, but there’s no road map for this. You’ve just got to be able to adapt. We’ve tried to get them as much live reps as we could, while also not pushing them too hard and risking injury.”
The coach added that, since returning from the shutdown, he’s had to go back to the basics, concentrating on defense simply playing hard and together. His biggest worry isn’t finding the right combinations or even replacing the outside shooting threat of Christian Vital, last year’s leading scorer who graduated.
“Probably our greatest concern right now is, who is that guy who can replace the tone that Christian set for us, in terms of how hard he played,” Hurley said.
CCSU is coming off a 4-27 season. It’s tempting to think UConn didn’t even need to practice over the last week to handle the Blue Devils easily.
Of course, that’s not how coaches think. That’s certainly not how Dan Hurley thinks. There is no film of exhibition games or scrim
mages for the coaching staff to study. There is plenty to worry about.
“You have no idea, tactically, what anybody’s gonna do,” Hurley said. “Because you have nothing.”
That’s where the coach is wrong, however. On Wednesday night at Gampel Pavilion, there will be something.
There will be college basketball.
RIM RATTLINGS
Hurley has known Marshall since the two played against each other on the AAU circuit and were teammates on the Olympic Festival Team, coached by former St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis, in 1991.
“We were pretty inseparable during that trip to Los Angeles,” Hurley recalled.
He also recalled Marshall giving him “a bunch of problems” when Hurley, playing for Seton Hall, went up against Marshall at UConn in the mid-1990s.
“He’s one of the true greats that’s ever played here,” Hurley said. “He’s one of the first greats that made the decision to come here. He was a trailblazer, along with Coach ( Jim) Calhoun, Chris Smith, the late Cliff Robinson. He was one of the first big-time guys to make UConn their home. So, ultimate respect as a G.O.A.T. here. He’s a great basketball guy.”