Have no fear, ‘Captain Brutality’ is here
Huskies hope Hurley’s superpowers will help them soar past St. John’s
Their best player and one of the nation’s leading scorers is out for at least another few weeks.
Their reigning Big East player of the week took a shot to the eye in practice on Friday that caused some “pretty significant swelling.” Their most ballyhooed freshman has been out for a few weeks, and figures to be out at least a couple more.
Their games have been few and far between, and when 25thranked UConn returns to the floor for the first time in nearly a week on Monday, it will face one of the peskiest, most disruptive teams in the nation.
Have no fear, Captain Brutality is here.
That’s Dan Hurley, the recent birthday boy who received a gift from his team: a T-shirt sporting the moniker “Captain Brutality.”
“One of the nicest gifts I’ve ever got,” Hurley noted.
Captain Brutality’s superpowers?
“An endless supply of intensity,” the Captain revealed. “An unreasonable demand for effort and accountability. An ability to set the standard always a little bit higher than anyone can actually get to. A tunnel vision on the season only and nothing else.”
Hurley will need to unleash those powers when UConn (7-1, 4-1 Big East) hosts St. John’s on Monday at Gampel Pavilion (2:30 p.m., FOX). Sure, St. John’s (7-7, 2-6) is still residing near the bottom of the Big East standings. But the Red
Storm are coached by Mike Anderson, who’s brought his patented “40 Minutes of Hell” defensive mindset from Arkansas to Queens.
“(We’ve got to) be prepared for a really intense war with those guys,” Hurley told reporters after practice Sunday. “They play so hard and they’re so disruptive with their defense, the way they attack the ball and how hard and aggressive they play, we’re really focused on our ball security and our sharpness. If you’re not sharp with the ball, if you’re soft, they prey on you.”
It’ll be even tougher sans Bouknight, second in the Big East in scoring only to St. John’s forward Julian Champagnie. He’s missed the last two games (both UConn wins) after injuring his left wrist in a Jan. 5 win at Marquette when the Golden Eagles’ Koby McEwen landed on it while diving for a loose ball. (Coincidentally, McEwen’s driving layup with 27 seconds left was the winner in Marquette’s 73-71 win at St. John’s on Saturday.)
Hurley revealed on Sunday that Bouknight’s surgery Tuesday was to clean up bone spurs in his left elbow. He said Bouknight should be back within about a four-week window.
“He’s obviously very antsy; he wants to play,” Hurley reported. “He’s got a couple of weeks here to rehab that injury, and hopefully we see him again soon.”
Tyler Polley, who picked up the slack of Bouknight’s loss with two big games off the bench last week that led to league player of the week honors, took a shot to his left eye during practice Friday. He missed the end
of that practice and the beginning of Saturday’s, but is “completely fine” for Monday’s game.
Hurley didn’t reveal how Polley suffered the injury, but decipher this: “When you’re not in a traditional year, you haven’t played as many games, I think the practice intensity has got to be there to supplement the games you’ve missed. I think it’s appropriate that he’s got the look of a boxer, because we’re in for a heck of a fight (Monday) with these guys.”
Meanwhile, freshman forward Andre Jackson remains sidelined after fracturing his wrist in practice shortly before Christmas. Jackson has been doing cardio work and participating in some parts of practice, and Hurley noted that he has an appointment early this week which, if it goes well, could get him back relatively quickly.
Jackson had trouble getting on track in his first few collegiate games, but with Bouknight out on Monday and St. John’s looking to turn the game into a track meet, “this would have been a beautiful opportunity to get Dre some experience.”
Alas, no Bouknight, no Jackson. But have no fear ...
“‘Captain Brutality.’ I’ll own that,” said Hurley. “It’s who I have to be most days. Especially when things are going well, it’s human nature for people to relax and let your guard down. That’s where my alter-ego, ‘Captain Brutality,’ has got to enter the scene and get everyone back on edge. Because this thing could turn on you quickly. Once you relax and start feeling too good about yourselves, sports will get you.”