Ready for a long run

There were a lot of smiles, lots of good-natured ribbing and the occasional wave or two to fans who showed up to get up close and personal with members of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team.

Yep, Wednesday’s annual Husky Fun Run is a way to unofficially usher in the advent of a brand new season, the opportunity to ease into a preseason that will slide into Friday’s equally festive First Night festivities before coach Jim Calhoun opens up his boot camp beginning with Saturday morning’s first official workout that tips off at Guyer Gym.

But bubbling underneath the relaxed atmosphere that defines the Husky Fun Run was a pointed tone, a direction that Calhoun and his charges will determine and navigate when the ‘real’ run tips off.

If you thought the Huskies were running on Wednesday, just wait until you get a look at them this season…….

“We have to be faster,” Calhoun said. “Last year, we would have been foolish to be too fast when you had a 7-3 guy. It only made sense for us to wait for the two guys who scored a lot of points.

“This year, we’re looking for two-thirds of our baskets, we’re hoping two-thirds of them will be scored on the fast break.”

If Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien, the two guys who scored a lot of points for the Huskies last season, aren’t walking through that locker room door again any time soon, Calhoun can still rely upon a proven stable of performers to institute a new style this season.

And even though guards Craig Austrie and A.J. Price are gone as well, the returnees figure that the open auditions for a multi-faceted, free-wheeling style of play will draw a number of candidates.

Sophomore Kemba Walker will step in and assume the full-time point guard’s duties. Shooting guard Jerome Dyson, even though he did not participate in the Fun Run while resting his surgically-repaired right knee, is poised for a big senior campaign.

Freshman guards Darius Smith (6-1, 168) and Jamaal Trice (6-5, 220) possess loads of game-changing talent and will benefit from the up-tempo style.

And with athletic freshman forwards Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (6-7, 210) and Alex Oriakhi (6-9, 240) teaming up with 6-11, 233-pound freshman Ater Majok, who will join the Huskies in time for the second semester, to give the Huskies a deep, mobile front line, this running thing just might make for a memorable campaign.

“To have a better record would be a real stretch,” Calhoun said, referring to last season’s 31-5 season that ended in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. “To have a good record and be a force by February is a very real possibility. That is not a stretch.”

Now a faster tempo at either end of the floor might produce more mistakes, but the increased tempo should also translate into easier, quicker points that could deflate opponents.

“Craig wasn’t a playmaker. He was just glue,” said Calhoun. “A.J. wasn’t as much a playmaker. He feels much more comfortable now [with the Indiana Pacers of the NBA]. But I do feel with Kemba, Jerome, Darius and Jamaal, we have more playmakers.

“It’s our job to get them in position to make those plays and I think we have more kids who can do things with the basketball. I have no idea how that translates but it’s kind of an exciting group to go with.”

That ‘exciting group’ also includes seniors Gavin Edwards and Stanley Robinson.
Edwards, who teamed up with walk-on Kyle Bailey to cross the finish line first (20:25) for the second year in a row, realizes that his role has expanded this season.

“We’re going to run as much as possible and we’re going to have to run because we’re missing a lot of rebounds from last year,” said Edwards. “But as a group I think we can make up for it.

“I know that I have to be more of a leader now and I’m trying to fill that role. The younger guys are really listening and it’s not all about just basketball stuff.”

“He and Stanley are both 4-year players and we’re looking for them to compete like 4-year players,” said Calhoun. “Stanley is so versatile that he can play all over in this style and perform well. And the faster we are, the more Gavin can play. The reason I say that is because Gavin can do a lot of small things.

“There are questions. But I think we’re going to develop some answers because so many of these kids can make plays.”

Notes
- Majok did not participate in the Fun Run due to a stress fracture in his left tibia that was first diagnosed last Friday. The required treatment involves no basketball-related activities for 2-to-3 weeks.
“It’s just from running,” said Majok. “I should be ready in a week-and-a-half or two and then I’ll get myself in game-shape.”
And what of sitting out the first semester before the NCAA finally clears him to don a Husky uniform?
“It shouldn’t be an excuse for me to slack off,” said Majok. “The rules are the rules. I’m just happy to be here and to be part of what should be a lot of fun this season.
“I don’t think it’s a pressure thing without Hash and Jeff. I think it’s a challenge and it’s a fun thing. So when December comes, I’ll be ready.”
- Fun Run times for the other Huskies on scholarship included Walker (22:45), Trice (23:03), Smith (23:05), senior Jonathan Mandeldove (25:25), junior Donnell Beverly (31:12), Robinson (31:13), Coombs-McDaniel (31:14), Oriakhi (33:00) and junior Charles Okwandu (33:10).