So much to discuss and so little time. There’s recruiting in both football and basketball, game analysis and just some media matters on the game. I’ll start out easy – media matters. Especially since it gives me a chance to mention that I’ll be gone for most of the day tomorrow. In a sign of true strangeness, I’ll be on a panel discussion at the City Club in Cleveland talking about journalism and media criticism. The City Club usually has podcasts of these things up a few days later. A local station also airs (and streams) the things the next day. I still shake my head when I think that there are people that actually think I know what I’m doing.

Let’s start with Jim Calhoun. What can I say, I love prickly, acerbic, sarcastic coaches. They provide great quotes. Guys who over time can say anything and people look for the backhanded swipe, and in a press conference can merely arch an eyebrow and people look for the meaning. The Pittsburgh media isn’t used to it. They aren’t used to a guy who seems more critical of his own team at times than complimentary of the winning foe. Most never have and never will forget the “I don’t think they’re the most talented team in the league, but I do think they’re the best team in the league.” comment.

Last night, Calhoun again labeled Pitt the best team in the Big East but added he was sorry the Huskies only play Pitt once during the regular season.

“I wish we’d play them in February and have (7-foot-3 freshman center Hasheem Thabeet) healthy,” Calhoun said.

That left you wondering just how impressed Calhoun was with the performance of Pitt center Aaron Gray, who had 22 points, 19 rebounds and four blocked shots.

See to me, that’s as much about the confidence that Calhoun has in his own team to keep getting better and improve. I don’t take that as much of a slight. Come February, the team will be improved and much better. Plus, it seems Thabeet was never quite right the whole game.

Thabeet took an inadvertent elbow to the nose from Pitt’s Mike Cook while he was trying to grab a rebound just a minute-and-a-half after the opening tip. The freshman big man was stunned and had to be helped into the locker room but returned with 6:48 left in the first half.”That was the third hit he got,” said Calhoun, adding that Thabeet’s eyes wouldn’t stop watering. “I think the idea was to take it right to him. I don’t mean intentionally, but take it right at him and see if he can block shots.”

Jonathan Mandeldove filled in admirably for a time, but the Huskies clearly missed their shot-blocker.

“I got dazed. I couldn’t see. I lost my vision,” said Thabeet, who didn’t attempt a shot in 21 minutes of action. “Even when I came back, a couple times I lost my vision.”

You can always find the disrespect. Calhoun, to the Connecticut media was actually quite willing to praise Pitt.

Jim Calhoun isn’t shy to talk about how good he thinks Pittsburgh is.

The UConn men’s basketball coach seems to embrace this rivalry, which has grown into one of the Big East’s biggest in this decade. The close competition, combined with a commitment to both playing a physical style, has also led to similar interests on the recruiting trail.

He was frustrated more about the performance of his team.

“Every team that loses games finds a reason to be happy,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “I haven’t got one damn reason to be happy, to be honest with you. What should I be happy about?”

…

Asked what Thabeet might learn from a game like this, the coach offered, “Duck.”

It was fitting of a night that ended with Calhoun finding himself short on explanations or information worth holding onto. He was brief with the media, even briefer with his players and looked to be running low on tolerance.

“I’m not taking anything away,” Calhoun said. “I don’t want to find new ways to lose.”

In the rivalry thing, you could argue that Gray took a swipe at the present UConn players when asked about the UConn players that left.

Pitt center Aaron Gray was asked how it is not seeing those guys anymore.

“It’s kind of a relief,” he said. “They had so many good players go through and so many players that could do so many different things. Obviously, through the draft last year, you saw how good they really were.”

It wasn’t actually a swipe at the present UConn players — especially with their potential — but it could be construed that way. As if they don’t measure up to the talent before them.