Calhoun Glad to be Back

Jim Calhoun wouldn't comment on his long day in Indianapolis at practice today.

He said he got back home at about 2:30 a.m., was at Gampel at 6:30 a.m. and was simply happy to be back coaching the team. Practice started at 10:30 a.m. and ended just after 2 p.m., extended due to some poor free throw shooting. Today, he said, was a day he's been looking forward to for a long while.

We'll have some quotes from Calhoun up on the blog shortly. Overall, the coach said he saw lots of positive glimpses today – but never really expounded on what he liked. He also realized the team needs a lot of work.

I thought Calhoun was a bit peppier than normal. Seemed to raise his voice a little more, drop a few more "F" bombs. In all seriousness, he hasn't done that a whole lot in practice over the last couple of years, at least from what I've seen. Today, he seemed to be setting a real no-nonsense tone for the season.

He certainly couldn't have liked what he saw from the team at the foul line. To end practice, all 11 scholarship players have to combine to make eight free throws. Fall short, run suicides. Well, the Huskies fell short six times, making for a bunch of suicides and extending practice a good 25 minutes. Twice, Kemba Walker stepped to the line as the final shooter to hit the eighth freebie. Both times, he missed.

"Fourteen more practices until our first game, and we can't make eight free throws!" Calhoun bellowed. "If the fifteen teams in the Big East could see this, they'll foul us like hell!"

We'll have some video footage of practice, as well as of Calhoun, in a couple of hours.