NCAA

Jim Calhoun on March Madness, Y! Reports, UConn’s Profits And Nova-UNC

Jim Calhoun got on the horn with WFAN’s Mike  Francesarecently to talk about, well, all the stuff that Jim Calhoun has to talk about (and right now, there’s puh-lenty). Specifically, Calhoun delves into the necessity of getting a quick lead in NCAA Tournament games and how UConn has been great at that this year, UConn’s profits from basketball this season, the NCAA review of UConn, Tom Izzo’s “beautiful” half-court offensive sets, playing a quicker pace against Michigan State, and how a faster tempo favors Villanova over North Carolina(!).

On UConn making money in:

“I really got criticized when someone asked me how much I made and then I said that we bring in $12 million so I guess I was understating what we try to do. But more importantly, I think hopefully … UConn over the past 23 years, the whole image in New York City, the tri-state area, everyplace, nationally has changed, and that to me worth a lot more than $14 or $15 million.”

On coming back to WFAN in order to talk about the Yahoo! Stuff:

“Right now I can make this statement – we are under, not investigation, but review. That means the NCAA is talking and looking at all the records we have in our program. And once again, that’s the only thing I’m allowed to say.” Jim Calhoun on the importance of a quick start, the Michigan State Spartans, and the full interview after the jump.

On UConn getting out to a quick lead in tourney games:

“You’re 100% right and just think about it, the teams that we wouldn’t expect to get out slow, Louisville, etc, that had to struggle, they are no longer here. I think Louisville was as good as anybody in the country. But if you get out slow in this tournament, more pressure is created and it becomes a whole different ballgame. So, as far as I’m concerned, you almost have to hit the first punch. I thought that Louisville got punched and never was able to recover. I was shocked – it happens by the way – that Michigan State punched them and they never got back in the game.

On playing a quicker pace:

“We got to pick the pace up, because Tommy – I’m not exaggerating here – Bill Self used to have a pretty thick playbook, Tommy’s is twice as thick as that. You need to get them into a game where they aren’t just in the half-court set running all kinds of beautiful stuff. They run half-court offense. Tommy Izzo probably runs as good as stuff as there is in the country. They’re the number one rebounding team in the country – we happen to be number two by the way. It looks to be a pretty great battle.”

Coach K on Leaving Duke, This Year’s Squad And The Olympics

Previous article

There’s More Soap Opera At Valley Ranch Than There Was At Ewing Ranch

Next article

Comments

Leave a reply