I mentioned it on Deadspin on Saturday, but I wanted to bring it up here, too… UConn can suck me. The way Jim Calhoun whined and cried during the Washington game was a disgrace. He spent the entire first half acting like the referees were all conspiring to sodomize his wife. You’ve never seen a coach bitch so much… particularly considering that they got the benefit of a bullshit missed goaltending call that might have turned the game in Washington’s favor.
And then afterwards, at the press conference, he starts complaining about having to play a “road game” against George Mason.
“I just hope we have enough time to recover. It’s going to be nice playing an away game, too. I’m really looking forward to that. That pod system is really working out to protect the 1s, right?”
Hey, maybe he was right. Maybe it was unfair to the 1-seed UConn to have to play in such a terrible environment. Maybe that was too much to ask of UConn and their six-or-more future NBA players. Or maybe the players took a cue from their coach and started listening to his pre-made excuses, his whining, his crying, and they didn’t play like the champions they could have been. It was probably one of those things.
The behavior of a coach has a lot to do with the behavior of a team. And I don’t mean to slight George Mason at all, because I think very highly of their basketball team, but Jim Calhoun didn’t do his own guys any favors. Obviously, his track record is beyond reproach, the last two games were not his best work.
chris
I feel sorry for Jim. He kind of had to coach these past couple games and couldn’t just skate by on fielding an entire team of NBA players.
March 27, 2006 at 9:23 am
Blackstar
Isn’t the pod system designed for the first two rounds anyway? Wouldn’t and shouldn’t the coach of a Division I school understand that?
Leaving aside the facts for the moment, the NCAA really screwed UConn over, by anticipating George Mason would have a home game in the Elite Eight. Dastardly NCAA.
And Calhoun is 2-7 (or something like that) in Elite Eight games.
March 27, 2006 at 9:33 am
Unsilent Majority
the best players money could buy…what a shame
March 27, 2006 at 9:50 am
elm tree
Slow down on the UConn hate people. Calhoun has built a great program from scratch. The man is one of the best at identifying and developing overlooked talent. Josh Boone was rated the 90th best player in his recruiting class. Hilton Armstrong was offered a scholarship by exactly one other school, LaSalle. They are now both locks for the first round and NBA millions. Calhoun finds coal other people didn’t want (Coach K anyone?) and turns them into diamonds. They underachieved last night and were beaten by the better team, but let’s not get out of hand.
Now, having defended the man, he can be a supercillious dick, but he doesn’t go around promising Lexuses to prospective McDonald’s All Americans (Bob Huggins/Jim Boehiem anyone?) so let’s keep some perspective, aight?
March 27, 2006 at 10:01 am
chris
Josh Boone has some ugly ass dreads though
March 27, 2006 at 11:02 am
Insomniac
Is that why his players steal laptops out of dorm rooms? Because they’re upset that Calhoun didn’t buy them a Lexus?
March 27, 2006 at 11:27 am
Unsilent Majority
Now, having defended the man, he can be a supercillious dick, but he doesn’t go around promising Lexuses to prospective McDonald’s All Americans (Bob Huggins/Jim Boehiem anyone?) so let’s keep some perspective, aight?
PLEASE!!! tell me where Rudy Gay’s mom got that Range Rover (she was seen driving it at the tail end of Gay’s highschool career).
March 27, 2006 at 1:25 pm
elm tree
Gay’s mom got the Land Rover from his AAU coach, NOT from Calhoun. It goes like this, unsilent majority: Gay’s AAU coach said that the teams that wanted to recruit him (Maryland, UConn, ‘Cuse, ect) had to schedule the coach’s 19 and under AAU team for exhibitions where the school pays the AAU ‘program.’ Gay played on the 17 and under squad for this coach. The coach got payments from the several schools that agreed to this unseemly arrangement. The schools that didn’t want to go along with this extortion could cross themselves off Gay’s list. UConn and Maryland were the final two programs, but the AAU coach asked for ANOTHER exhibition from each school before Rudy would commit. Gary Williams wouldn’t go for it, which is how UConn got Gay.
Anyway, Rudy’s mom got her car from the AAU coach for agreeing to this bullshit. Since she is his legal guardian, any letter of intent would have been null and void without her signature next to his. Since this went down, the NCAA has changed the rules regarding scheduling exhibitions of people associated with player currently being recruited. But, anyway, Rudy Gay is by far the exception at UConn, not the norm. Emeka Okafor, ranked 95th in his recruiting class and Ray Allen (ranked 67th) are the norm. You only have to bribe the top 10-15 players in each class, ask K-State, who hired Huggins knowing that OJ Mayo would go where he landed.
By the way, I was a division I scholarship player (New England mid-major) and one of the guys I grew up with played for UConn another for UMass. I’m out of the game, but I know a lot of people in some major programs and know of recruiting scenarios even more sordid than the Gay situation. I actually respect Calhoun in part because of how he recruited my boy i.e. without bribery, as opposed to the former coach of UMass who sent checks every which way. So give him some credit.
March 27, 2006 at 1:51 pm
Unsilent Majority
thanks for the knowledge elm tree…after seeing the car and the letter for uconn instead of maryland my head added up 2+2. It’s always good to get more accurate info. Of course as George Orwell stated in his novel 1984, “2+2=5″.
March 27, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Unsilent Majority
but Calhoun’s still a dick
you have to know what you’re opening yourself up to when you allow a kid’s aau coach dictate his higher education. Jon Hargett (another dc/md guy) almost singlehandedly brought down the entire West Virginia program until Beeline came to the rescue.
March 27, 2006 at 2:20 pm
The Big Picture
calhoun should get mention for the worst coach of the year. with that lineup…and maybe 6 or 7 future NBA players, none of their games should have been close…then to lose to Mason. GMUs on fire, but a team like UConn should not have had trouble, let alone lose. fans should be calling for calhoun’s head.
March 27, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Unsilent Majority
as much as i dislike the guy his head should be safe where it is. like it or not his a hall of famer with multiple championships that husky fans will not soon forget.
March 27, 2006 at 3:29 pm
the mighty mjd
Just to clarify my original position… I’m in no way suggesting that Calhoun deserves to be fired, or fans should be calling for his head. You don’t win two national titles without being able to coach, even with the talent he’s had there. I just think he lapsed into some poor behavior and decisions this weekend, and it cost his team.
March 27, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Dave's Football Blog
Can someone tell me why Calhoun doesn’t catch nearly as much hate as Krzyzewski? Is it just because Coach K’s players are more annoying to everyone else?
March 27, 2006 at 4:37 pm
elm tree
Dave, it’s because Calhoun doesn’t get 3-4 McDonald’s All Americans every year, and then get every call in every game with that superior talent. Calhoun develops overlooked players, which people can respect. Plus he doesn’t have that holier-than-thou thing going (prior to this weekend). Calhoun has had 4 McDonalds All Americans in his twenty years at UConn (Donyell Marshell, Rip Hamilton, Charlie V and Rudy Gay). The most recent senior class at Duke included 4 McDonald’s All Americans (JJ, Sheldon, Dockery and Shav Randolph who left early). It’s hard to gve a coach credit when he has the cream every year. What baffles me is that people don’t see how some of Coach K’s talent fails to develop (Dockery, Duhon, every white big man since Latener) and draw negative conclusions about K’s ability to teach the game.
March 27, 2006 at 5:40 pm
Sam
Oh my god, I was thinking the exact same fucking thing. I was watching them totally suck the whole tournament, but having just enough criminals and frauds to squeeze it out at the end and was thinking, “God, I think I’m gonna kill myself if these guys win the title.” I was wondering if anyone else felt the same way.
March 27, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Aces
FYI…Unsilent Majority has been on Uconn all season. I have read his posts on too many message boards to count. He is an apparent expert on the Rudy Gay situation and brings it up everytime. So there is no need to give his tired act any more discussion.
As far as corruption, please! Every D1 school has its black eyes, but if you can keep from having an NCAA investigation occurring in 30+ years of coaching, you must be doing something right.
Also Calhoun has always been a prick. Everyone knows this. His complaining to the officials happens constantly, so its nothing new. If they broadcast Uconn games like they do every single Duke game, people would know this.
Finally, Calhoun has indicated he was worried about this team playing in DC. He likes to play out west everytime, because its free of distractions. Additionally, he said several times that for some reason this team just didn’t “get it”. Partly his fault, sure, but if you can’t sack up in big games with that much talent, it indicates something about the players too. The team just didn’t have it. If it wasn’t GMU, it was going to be Florida.
Calhoun doesn’t pretend he’s not an arrogant jerk, Coach K does. That’s the difference.
March 28, 2006 at 11:42 am
Unsilent Majority
Additionally, he said several times that for some reason this team just didn’t “get it”.
This is 100% on the coach. it’s his job to make the boneheads get “it”
as for the comment about me personally, I only post on mjd, deadspin, and tbj so….good luck counting to three. maybe you could ask marcus williams to swipe you a calculator…HOMER!
March 28, 2006 at 1:00 pm
dmac
Not to take anything away from the Patriots, but shouldn’t Calhoun’s attitude before the game have been “Holy shit! We only need to beat George freakin’ Mason to make the Final Four?!”
Not that he would have said it in public, but I know if I were coaching a No. 1 seed and only had to beat a No. 11 seed to win the region, I’d be pretty excited.
March 28, 2006 at 6:08 pm