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Beginning Monday, June 21st,
2004 CHN began unveiling 144 Team previews in 144 Days. CHN ranked the
nations top 144 teams, and is unveiling one per day leading up until the
opening day of the 2004-05 Season.
Bookmark the
144 Teams in 144 Days home page, and check back
each day to see which team is previewed next.
#10 Connecticut Huskies
Big East
2003-04: 33-6, 12-4, 2nd
2003-04 postseason: NCAA
Champions
By
Joel Welser
 There is only one direction to go
when you are on top, but the Huskies have been on top before and Jim Calhoun
has taken them back to the national championship. UConn still has plenty of
talent, but they also lose three great players, which makes another trip to
the top unlikely. Every other team will be looking to knock off the former
champs and that will wear down the Huskies.
Who’s Out: Emeka Okafor,
Ben Gordon and Taliek Brown combined for 42.4 points, 20 rebounds and 12
assists per game. Those numbers will be very difficult to replace. Okafor
and Gordon were the second and third overall picks in the NBA Draft,
respectively. It’s tough to reload with such immense loses. Sparingly used
Shamon Tooles, Ryan Swaller and Justin Evanovich have run out of
eligibility.
Who’s In: The status of A.J.
Price is unknown for this season. After a life threatening intracranial
hemorrhage, the Huskies are preparing for the 2004-2005 season without the
freshman point guard. Fellow freshman Antonio Kellogg is expected to back
up returnee Marcus Williams. Kellogg would have been a shooting guard if
not for the Price situation, but is talented enough to play both. Rudy Gay
should be starting from day one. The 6-9, 220 pound, Baltimore native was
widely regarded as the best high school player not entering the NBA Draft.
Gay averaged 21.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.7 blocks as a senior in high
school. Last year Ed Nelson watched his old team, Georgia Tech, play his
new team, UConn, for the national championship. After his redshirt year,
the former ACC rookie of the year is ready to play. Two years ago Nelson
averaged 8.1 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets and he should
compete for the starting job at power forward. Ryan Thompson redshirted
last season after playing two years at the juco level. The small forward is
an excellent long range shooter and passer.
Who to Watch: Lots of
players are waiting in the wings to take over this team. Rashad Anderson
and Denham Brown are major scoring threats. Josh Boone proved that he was
the real deal when Emeka Okafor was on the sidelines nursing a back injury.
Sophomore forward Charlie Villanueva will most likely have a breakout
season. The 6-10 forward averaged 8.9 points and 5.3 boards last year and
should see a drastic improvement in his numbers with more playing time.
He’s only started four games, but could end up being the go-to-guy this year
for the Huskies. Villanueva has some questions around his defense and
rebounding, qualities that Ed Nelson has, which means Nelson could take away
some of Villanueva’s minutes. Villanueva is major scoring threat from
inside and out. He’s nearly impossible to defend at times. If his defense
becomes more rounded then just blocking shots, he’ll be a superstar.
Projected Conference Rank:
Questions at the point are always a cause for concern. Marcus Williams
didn’t play the second half of last season, but in the first 16 games he
averaged 4.3 assists in 14.1 minutes of play. If Williams can be consistent
the Huskies shouldn’t have much trouble achieving 2nd place in
the Big East, but Pittsburgh and Notre Dame won’t make it too easy.
Projected Post-season
Tournament: NCAA
«
Team #11 ,
Team #9
»
Email Joel Welser:
jwelser_chn@ameritech.net
Chat About CHN's Top #144
Ranking:
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