Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Calhoun’s making all the right (personnel) moves

spt-110308-ucopnn-kemba_grid-5x2

Jim Calhoun has the golden touch right now.

Sure, he has Kemba Walker, perhaps the nation’s most explosive scorer. But the way he’s working his bench right now, Walker’s just an added bonus. I mean, who gives little-used Charles Okwandu 16 minutes in the Final Four?

The same guy who knew Okwandu was ready to contribute four points, one rebound, a block and two steals. Same guy who knew freshman Tyler Olander was ready for a spot start.

As Ken Davis wrote for us last night, those moves are why UConn’s rolling into Monday’s title game.

“Jim is able to pluck players [off the bench] and put them in a position where they can be successful and he’s done that with this team all year,” assistant George Blaney told Davis. “He has such a great pulse on this team that he can pick and choose who is right and at the right time.”

He’ll need those savvy moves against Butler. Bulldogs coach Brad Stevens is the only one who can match Calhoun for unlikely moves that pay off.

You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.