The collegiate Huskies are seven games into a season with no championship opportunities. While the youngsters fight their way through the last great season of the Big East, they do so with the same aspirations as all other NCAA player – to play in the NBA one day. Today being the first of December, it seems an appropriate time to check in some former Huskies who are living that dream and see how their seasons are progressing. Let’s start with the good news.
The Surprise: AJ Price – Washington Wizards
After leading UConn to a surprise Final Four in his senior year, AJ Price joined the Indiana Pacers. Price had a few nice seasons as a backup point guard before struggling during the 2011-2012 season. He saw his productivity and his minutes drop.
This offseason, Price signed with the Washington Wizards and has been their starting point guard in every game so far this year with star guard John Wall out with an injury. Despite the Wizards’ unthinkably bad record (1-13), Price has been a bright spot on the roster and finally seems to have found a home where he’s appreciated.
Stats: 8.9 ppg | 3.2 rbd | 5.2 ast
The Star: Rudy Gay – Memphis Grizzlies
Rudy Gay has had the type of career that many imagined he would when he arrived in Storrs. After suffering through a few seasons on bad Grizzlies teams, Gay has now found himself as the best player on a playoff caliber team. As icing on the cake, Gay is playing under a lucrative contract that will net him over $19 million this season.
Stats: 19.2 ppg | 5.7 rbd | 2.3 ast | 1.4 stl
The Veteran: Ray Allen – Miami Heat
After a five year run with the Boston Celtics that resulted in a championship, UConn legend Ray Allen took his talents to South Beach this summer in the wake of a fraying relationship between teammates and the Celtics brass that tried to trade him last season.
Allen seems to be enjoying playing with the defending champion Heat. With MVP LeBron James and All-Star Dwayne Wade carrying the offensive load, Allen’s main job is to hang out on the wing and shoot when he gets open. As a result, Allen’s point totals have decreased but his shot efficiency is sky-high. Ray is shooting 50% from the floor and 52% (!) from deep.
Stats: 13.4 ppg | 4.2 rbd | 2.1 ast | 1.1 stl
The Next in Line: Kemba Walker – Charlotte Bobcats
Kemba Walker went from a national championship at UConn directly to the worst team in NBA history – a pathetic Bobcats team that finished 7-59 in a strike-shortened disaster. This season, with Walker leading the way, the Bobcats have already matched last year’s win total only 15 games into the young season.
Meanwhile, Walker has developed into a very solid point guard and even demonstrated the clutch heroics that made him a legend at UConn.
Stats: 16.3 ppg | 3.8 rbd | 5.9 ast | 2.1 stl
The Old Guys: Rip Hamilton – Bulls & Caron Butler – Clippers
NBA veterans Rip Hamilton and Caron Butler are nearing the end of their pro careers but are still key pieces on playoff teams. Hamilton’s Bulls are awaiting the return of Derrick Rose, their superstar point guard, and are all but assured to be a top 4 seed in the East – barring a disaster.
Butler really seems to enjoy playing alongside Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in Los Angeles. Caron is the calming veteran influence on a relatively young team that loves to run and can jump right out of the gym. The Clippers are enjoying their first taste of success in a long time and Butler figures to be a big factor in their postseason run.
Stats: Hamilton: 13.8 ppg | 2.3 rbd | 2.4 ast – Butler: 9.9 ppg | 2.6 rbd | 1.0 ast
The Broken Mirror: Emeka Okafor – Washington Wizards
Poor Emeka Okafor. After leading UConn to their second national championship in 2004, he became the first ever draft pick of the Charlotte Bobcats where he toiled away in mediocrity for 5 painful seasons. Okafor was then traded to the New Orleans Hornets just in time for them to dismantle the team around him. Finally, this season, Okafor wound up in Washington playing for the same dismal Wizards team as AJ Pice.
Okafor averaged a double-double in each of his five seasons in Charlotte but his production has steadily decreased since then. Okafor’s entire career has been full of bad luck and poor timing. Hopefully he gets a chance to play for a title contender before his career ends.
Stats: 7.2 ppg | 5.9 rbd | 0.9 ast | 1.6 blk
The Microwave: Ben Gordon – Charlotte Bobcats
Ben Gordon, Okafor’s collegiate teammate, has joined forces with another UConn great in Kemba Walker. Gordon is continuing the role of sixth man that brought him so much success in Chicago and Detroit. Gordon’s talents were wasted on a bad Pistons team the past three seasons. A Gordon/Walker playoff run would be really fun to watch.
Stats: 13.9 ppg | 2.2 rbd | 4.1 asst
The Bench-Warmer: Charlie Villanueva – Detroit Pistons
Charlie Villanueva makes over $8 million a year, so it’s hard to feel too bad for him. However, Chuck has been glued to the bench of a terrible Pistons teams that values him so little but wont release or trade him because of his contract. Villanueva has been on the bench for all but 7 of Detroit’s 17 games and has only played 10 or more minutes in 4 of them – the last 4 games they’ve played.
Given minutes, Villanueva can still produce – averaging almost 14 points per game over the last four games – but it’s clear that Chuck needs a change of scenery.
Stats: 8.3 ppg | 2.9 rbd | 0.9 ast
The Reclamation: Hasheem Thabeet – Oklahoma City Thunder
Insert your Hasheem Thabeet joke here. The giant former Husky has been the subject of a lot of ridicule throughout his incredibly disappointing career. He is (rightfully) considered one of the worst draft pick failures in history. This season, however, Thabeet seems to have finally settled into a role he can fill. Coming off the bench for the defending Western Conference champion Thunder, Thabeet is contributing despite limited minutes. Earlier this week, he had the first double-double of his career.
Stats: 3.6 ppg | 3.7 rbd | 0.1 ast | 0.8 blk
The Youngster: Andre Drummond – Detroit Pistons
Andre Drummond is the youngest former Husky in the NBA and is continuing the proud tradition of playing on terrible Pistons teams. The 19 year old is only playing 17 minutes per night but has had some success when he’s on the court.
Stats: 6.1 ppg | 6.0 rbd | 0.4 ast | 0.8 stl | 1.2 blk
The Banished: Jeremy Lamb – Oklahoma City Thunder | Tulsa 66ers
The good news: Jeremy Lamb scored 33 points last night. The bad news: it was for the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA’s Developmental League. Lamb was banished from Oklahoma City’s roster following the trade that sent him to the Thunder from the Rockets this offseason. The demotion will probably help Lamb who needs development time on the court and clearly wasn’t going to find it immediately in OKC.
Stats: 2.1 ppg | 0.4 rbd | 0.3 ast
