If this game were played in January, or later, I would be more confident than I am now. It doesn’t all have to do w/ the absence of Ater Majok, but that is a big piece of the puzzle missing. & I’m sure the Dukies are equally bummed to be missing the injured Plumlee (whichever one that is). This year’s UConn team is odd. They have some experience, in key positions, but they also have a lot of youth. The youth is in the frontcourt, & that is not where you want it. Gavin Edwards has been a role player more than the factor he was last night. Hopefully he’s taking the sort of step forward that Hilton Armstrong did, between his junior & senior seasons. @ least, hopefully he’ll be a consistent factor.

My point is that this UConn team, w/ a season’s maturity under their belts, & w/ Majok, will be a tough out. & that the team that plays Duke tomorrow, & Kentucky on Dec 9, will be better, if the teams were to meet again, in March. The same is true for every team, to an extent. & still, it will be an interesting match up tomorrow. This Husky team is smaller than & less experienced, up front, than we’ve been accustomed to. But they are FAST, & athletic. & they play a lot of D’.

Conversely, this Duke team is bigger than we’ve been accustomed to, from them. & has some pretty good experience from it’s core players. I don’t see an abundance of ball handlers, & maybe that could be a facet the Huskies would look to exploit. Scheyer seems to handle the ball a lot, & I imagine Smith. The Huskies have been running a fair amount of full court, so far, this season. I don’t expect the Devils to be as bothered by the press as the Tigers were last night, but the prowess of the Husky perimeter D’ has been undervalued ever since Dyson showed up on campus. Blocks are thesexy statistic, but Dyson is a stud, & Walker & Robinson are both great perimeter defenders. I think they will give Duke some trouble.

UConn is helped by Duke not shooting the lights out. I hate to say this game comes down to rebounding, all games do. But, in particular, this game will be decided on the boards. UConn’s defense, & speed & athleticism offensively, will be difficult for Duke to contend w/. & Duke’s defense, & offensive execution, & size (we’ll see), are the things the Huskies will need to endure/disrupt. That leaves the boards, turnovers, & the FT line. FT’s could also be a telling point. Both teams usually shoot a good amount more than their opponents, so we’ll see there.

Bottom line, I wish it were a big game against anyone accept Duke. My sporting blood has enjoyed the mastery, of Coach K, that Calhoun has enjoyed. I think the Huskies could end up losing a game before long (unless they replicate last’s night’s effort), & I’d hate for it to be this one. I’ll stop short of saying good luck to the Blue Devils, tomorrow, but I will say Happy Thanksgiving.