Somehow, Connecticut’s Season was a Disappointment

Forgive my disenchantment, but I hate this version of Cinderella.

When Denham Brown’s lay up attempt at the end of regulation hung on the rim and went in, I immediately thought UConn, despite all its recent success, was a team of destiny. They didn’t even belong in the final eight. They should have lost to Washington. They should have lost to Albany and Kentucky last weekend.

But they didn’t.

So now in overtime of the regional final, the Huskies were going to start playing. For the time in weeks, they were going to put it altogether. They were going to win.

But they didn’t.

Instead, George Mason played better in the extra period than it played all game. The amazing run that saw one of the last teams in the field of 65 defeat the past two national champions continued for the Patriots and ended for the most talented UConn team ever.

Most talented? Easily. The best? Not even in the top five.

This was on one of the first teams at Connecticut that didn’t respond well to Jim Calhoun’s antics. You have to almost be mentally invincible to play for a tyrant like him, and most of the kids who show up in Storrs are or learn to be.

But this team didn’t.

Rudy Gay, who had one of the best games of his career in what was probably his last, was not like the stars before him. He was missing the Ben Gordon, or Rip Hamilton or Ray Allen in him.

Josh Boone couldn’t handle Calhoun. Even the guys that had been there for four years hardly adjusted to his harsh demeanor.

Here was a group that had won everything. From pre-season to post, the last three years were pretty successful. They had been through it all and next year will most likely be unrecognizable by the average fan. This was a team that was beyond prepared for this season. They were supposed to know what it takes to win.

Yesterday, unfortunately, they didn’t.