Jim Calhoun Taking Medical Leave of Absence

From UConn spokesman Kyle Muncy:

University of Connecticut Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun will take a medical leave of absence from his head coach position, effective immediately, it was announced Tuesday.

The following is a statement from University of Connecticut Health Center physician Peter Schulman, M.D., Jim Calhoun’s primary care physician:
“It is my recommendation that Coach Calhoun take a medical leave from his coaching position to address some temporary medical issues, none of which involve any previous medical conditions that he has dealt with.”

The following is a statement from UConn Director of Athletics Jeffrey A. Hathaway:
“Our primary concern is Coach Calhoun’s health and his complete recovery. We will do everything possible to support Coach during this time. Jim and I both know that the men’s basketball program is in very capable hands under the leadership of Associate Head Coach George Blaney.”

UConn Basketball Still Struggling

Courtesy of the Hartford Courant

For the first time since the end of the 2006-2007 season, the UConn men’s basketball team has lost three games in a row. Sunday’s loss to unranked Michigan droped the Huskies record to 11-6 on the season. That’s right, UConn already has 6 losses. They had 4 all of last year. The losses to Pittsburgh and Michigan have led to the Huskies being unranked in this weeks AP Top 25 Basketball Poll. It’s the first time all season the Huskies haven’t been ranked.

The Huskies’ six losses have all been close games(expect for the Duke game), but UConn puts themselves in a hole that they can never get out of. The same things keep hindering the team: poor free-throw shooting(especially at the end of games), lack of execution in the halfcourt offense, lack of rebounding, and the lack of scoring from the frontcourt players(with the exception of Gavin Edwards).

Courtesy of the Hartford Courant

“We’ll play anybody tough,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “We’ve won close games, and now we’ve lost some close games. We’ll compete with anybody in America. I said [last week] I have no question about the heart of my team. None. I have at times, questions, about if they truly understand some of the ways in which we need to change.”

The Huskies need to change, and they need to change fast. With only 14 games remaining on the year, UConn needs to start picking up wins just to secure a NCAA Tournament berth.

“There’s a chance that we could not make it into the [NCAA] Tournament,” Gavin Edwards said. “The team has to regroup and refocus. Everybody has to figure out what they have to do to get the team to win. It’s not even just the players. It’s the coaches, everybody. It’s a joint effort.”

UConn hopes to figure stuff out this week with two big games on the schedule. On Wednesday, St.Johns comes to the XL Center in a Big East Conference game, then on Saturday the number one team in the nation, the Texas Longhorns, comes to Gampel for a nationaly televised game. The Huskies need two wins this week with each game becoming more important.