Some notes 'n quotes from UConn's 91-61 exhibition game win over CW Post this afternoon:

C.W. Post coach Chris Casey, who spent six years as Norm Roberts' assistant at St. John's:

(On UConn)

“They can score in transition, they can score around the basket, they have guys that can make shots and they defend you – because they’re fundamentally very good defensively, and because their sheer size covers so much ground. And it goes without saying, they’re very well-coached.”

(on Andre Drummond)

“He’s like a colt right now, and with the history of this place, the way they make guys into players, I think he’s going to be very, very good … He’s scratching the surface right now.”

(on his team's strategy of guarding Jeremy Lamb)

“Hope he misses.”

Jim Calhoun

(on DeAndre Daniels)

“He really looked like a complete basketball player. He handled the ball, made a couple of really good passes, he’s going to make shots because he’s a good shooter. And defensively, he really, really was good.”

“He’s got a chance to be a great shooter someday. Right now, he’s not as strong as he needs to be, he doesn’t always get his shot ready … I like the way he put the ball on the deck, a couple of passes. Like I said to Niels (Giffey), ‘I’d get that boot off pretty quick.’”

*** Ah yes, Giffey, who sat out the game with a hyperextended right knee and a bone bruise in his right ankle.

"It's been 3-4 weeks with that bone bruise," Calhoun said. "If it doesn’t start getting better, you’re a little concerned … the knee has improved, but the ankle is kind of about the same. He was not full-go, in fairness to him, in the first exhibition game.”

Calhoun added that the players who dressed and played on Sunday are, most likely, the same who'll dress and play in Friday night's season-opener.

*** Calhoun noted that walk-on Brendan Allen is the team's back-up point guard right now, with Ryan Boatright still dealing with an eligibility issue and Calhoun wanting Lamb to score more playing off the ball.

“Friday night, (if) Shabazz picks up his second foul, Brendan will probably play the rest of the first half … He’s got to refine his dribble, he’s got to pass the ball a little more assertively. But he knows the offense, he’s got a good body, he’s a really good athlete. There’s every reason to believe that he can play at this level.”

“He may be one of our three, four, five best athletes on the team. He can jump, he can run.”

“I’m not trying to say he’s a game-changer or a program-changer, but right now he’s filling in a void.”

Allen's class schedule doesn't always jibe with UConn's practice schedule, meaning he sometimes arrives at practice late.

“It makes me focus immediately," Allen said. "I kind of take it as a good thing. I’m ready to go.”

*** How comfortable are the Huskies with Allen as their backup PG right now? Ask Shabazz Napier, the starting PG:



*** Late in the game, Drummond picked up a loose ball just before midcourt and had a 2-on-0 with Napier. He gave it to Napier, who then threw the ball off the glass for an alley-oop dunk for Drummond.

Admitted Drummond afterwards: “I was actually planning on putting it between my legs, but Shabazz was like, ‘Let me get the assist.’”

It was one of 13 assists for Napier, who added 14 points. Lamb scored 23 points, Drummond went for 16 points and 10 boards, Daniels netted 13 and Tyler Olander 10. Alex Oriakhi had four points and eight rebounds.

"We need Alex to be better than that," said Calhoun. "We just do."