Final Score UW-74 UCLA-63
Not as high scoring as I expected. Another game in which our outside shooting was poor, but we found success on the inside. The foul differential was closer (23-17 in favor of UCLA), but the FT differential is huge. UCLA attempted 36 free throws, while UW only attempted 15. UCLA made 25 and UW hit 12 for 80% shooting on the night including 5-6 by Matthew Bryan-Amaning and 6-7 by Isaiah Thomas. UW only had 3 attempts in the first half versus 19 for UCLA.
MBA finished with another double double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Aziz N'Diaye fouled out for the second game in a row going 3-3 from the field and grabbing 6 boards in his limited court time. Isaiah Thomas finished with 17 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. Justin Holiday added 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and 1 turnover. Both Gaddy and Overton were quiet tonight. C.J. Wilcox showed up for a few minutes and missed his lone three point attempt, but made a nice lay-in.
Ross looked good during his time on the court using his vicious cross over to open up some nice shots. Suggs made some nice assists including a beautiful pass from the baseline to Holiday who drained a 3 point shot. After the shot he looked at the UCLA bench and was called for a technical. Not sure what happened, but I didn't see him do anything wrong. The refs were just looking for fouls to call it seems like.
Reeves Nelson was tough as ever and with our bigs picking up so many fouls (Aziz-5, MBA-4, Gant-4) he was able to score at will for a majority of the game. He finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Smith fouled out with 9 points and 7 boards. Tyler Honeycutt was shut down well in the first half with only 5 points going into break. He finished with 12 points and 2 rebounds.
Speaking of rebounds, UW nudged out UCLA on the glass with 34-33.
UW returned to its excellent passing ways, picking up 17 assists on 29 makes (50% shooting and 59% assist rate). They also managed to keep their turnovers from reaching double digits, finishing with 9. Their shooting is still far from where it started. UW went 4-15 from range with no player making more than one long ball. Darnell Gant, Justin Holiday, Isaiah Thomas, and Terrence Ross all hit one a piece. UW went 3-12 in the first half and 1-3 in the second.
The zone defense was utilized a few times in the first half and it was again effective. It was also used almost exclusively in the last 6 minutes after Aziz fouled out. It found great success and this bodes well should we find ourselves in similar situations again. It is also nice to see it worked well with smaller bodies on the court.
C.J. Wilcox, Terrence Ross, and Scott Suggs combined for 19 minutes and 9 points. Ross had 7 on 3-6 shooting.
What was Good
Post Presence
MBA definitely showed up to play today. He did well on the glass, pretty well on his shots (8-15), and defensively he was fairly solid as well. Nelson and Smith are tough, and strong (or in Smith's case, fat) who are/were able to muscle around defenders fairly easily. MBA was able to force them to pass out along with Aziz and Gant helping down low. Aziz played a good game offensively tonight, showing some good moves and was solid on the put backs. He grabbed 6 boards in 19 minutes. Not his best night, but he did well considering the foul situation. He picked up several of his fouls on defensive rebounds that resulted in over the back calls. Gant played good help defense especially tonight. Several times Smith or Nelson were open underneath and got passes, but Gant rolled over to get his hands up and help force either turnovers or passes back out to the perimeter. When Gant covered Nelson to start the second half, UW went on a 10-0 run. When he came out, Nelson went on a Roll and UCLA was able to get within 4.
Passing
Much better ball handling tonight and passing was excellent, especially by Isaiah who finished with a season high 9. He could have had several more if not for some misses on short jumpers. Gaddy had 2 assists and Overton had 1. Isaiah found many of his assists on great dump offs to MBA on drives. His drive and dish was excellent tonight. He was a tad greedy at times, putting up somewhat wild shots on the drive that, thankfully, drew foul calls.
Free Throw Shooting
I forgot to mention this in my preview, but free throws were going to be huge tonight. Much like the USC game, our free throw opportunities were limited. UW did a great job of capitalizing on their limited opportunity, missing only 3 attempts on the night and no one player missed more than one. Gant went 1-2. MBA was beautiful hitting 5-6, and Isaiah's new technique is working wonders, going 6-7 from the charity stripe. It's great to see IT continuing his success and MBA stepping up and starting to nail his attempts as well. Aziz, though he shot no free throws tonight or Wednesday against USC, has also done well on fixing his free throw problems that were oh so prominent in the opener against McNeese State. He has gone 12-19 since the 3-15 opener.
Zone Defense
Our normal man to man worked pretty well for most of the game, but at times we used a 2-3 zone defense that was extremely effective against UCLA's post. It also held their outside shot to 2-11 and overall UCLA went 18-51 (35.3%) from the field.
Toughness and Grit
We didn't need it as much this game as on Wednesday, but UW withstood a strong run from UCLA that reduced UW's17 point lead down to 4. With our three bigs again in serious foul trouble, they had to be calm and careful on defense to avoid fouling out. Once Aziz picked up his fifth on a screen it was back to the zone. MBA and Gant avoided picking up their fifths during the final 6 minutes. If MBA or Gant had fouled out I would imagine Ross would have entered the game and UW would have continued its 2-3 zone with the smaller line up.
Senior Leadership
Between MBA, Holiday, and IT, yes he is a junior and no I don't care, the Huskies were able to hold off a strong UCLA run as well as creating their own to start the second half. The Huskies have been notorious this year for starting the second half slowly. This time they came out with some fire and extended a 7 point half time lead to 17 that ended with a nice put back by Aziz N'Diaye. MBA scored and rebounded extremely well. Holiday played stellar defense on Honeycutt. Isaiah scored, found players, and created opportunities.
What Needed Improvement
Outside Shooting
I don't know what has happened, but the last 4 games have been poor shooting nights for the Huskies from range. I am not expecting 12+ three's a night, but after several games of high percentage outside shooting I would imagine we could hit 5 or 6 per game when we put up 15 attempts. With C.J. still limited in play, only 4 minutes against UCLA, we don't quite have the same presence from range. Once C.J. gets healthy again I expect our shooting to perk back up. With him on the court our other shooters are able to find open shots as well. This means more opportunities around.
Fouling
Once more we found ourselves suffering from a thin frontcourt and lots of fouls. Our big men need to learn better control to avoid foul trouble. It is not good to have MBA, Aziz, as well as Gant in foul trouble with one or more per game fouling out. This is something that needs to change. Keep in mind the Huskies picked up 50 fouls in two games and 85 minutes of play. That is extremely high and at home the foul numbers tend to be better for the home team. On the road we need to find a way to avoid the silly fouls for our bigs. By silly I mean over the back, offensive screening fouls, and the like. Our guards, especially Overton have done really well to avoid picking up reach in fouls.
Player by Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
A quiet night for Overton. He was good on defense and had limited offensive opportunities, but he flourished when he did shoot. He received a nice pass for an open and athletic lay-in. He also had a beautiful drive for a finger tip roll shot that dropped right in. He only managed 1 assist, but had no turnovers in his 19 minutes. He does a great job of running the team and that is something you don't always see in the stats. Can't expect him to play like an MVP game in and game out. Not a bad night, just not great.
Grade: B-
Justin Holiday
Holiday hit a killer three and got called for a technical. Still unsure what transpired, but from what we saw on TV he looked at the bench after he sunk the shot. Maybe he said something. I am not sure. All I know is last season Reggie Moore flexed at our bench and nothing happened. This is the second technical Holiday has picked up and also the second that was completely absurd to call a technical. He wasn't chesting up against a Bruin. He wasn't being overly vocal. Oh well, he still managed another solid stat line with his 9 points and 8 boards leading the way. He played crushing defense on Honeycutt who picked up 2 fouls early in the first half and was held to 5 points at the break. Solid, solid performance once more. I think his foot was feeling pretty good this weekend.
Grade: A- for defense and rebounding
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
MBA wrapped up an already solid 18 and 8 outing against USC with an even better 21 and 10 night against UCLA. Finishing the weekend with a 19.5 ppg and 9 rpg average is fantastic. Those are the types of numbers people have been clamoring for all season long. If he keeps up this type of play he could be a dark horse for Pac-10 player of the year. His performances were also critical as UW struggled to find hot shooters from outside the arc this weekend. Its great to see that MBA was able to step up when his team needed him most. He still has some problems with little bunny shots that keep him from have 25 point nights and IT from having 10+ assist games. All in good time though. I will take 8-15 shooting and 5-6 from the line from MBA any night. He is playing much stronger and much more purposed. I don't know what clicked for him, but I like it. If he can have these types of performances against the two strongest frontcourts in the Pac-10, I can only imagine what he might do this next weekend at home against Oregon and Oregon State. MBA also had a powerful dunk that looked very similar to last season's vicious throw down over Andrew Zimmerman of Stanford, only without a person to teabag.
Grade: A
Brendan Sherrer
Despite the bad foul situation again, Brendan did not play.
Grade: N/A
Scott Suggs
Another slow night for Suggs. He did do a lot of things right while on the court. He only played 6 minutes, but had a fantastic assist to Justin Holiday and a big offensive rebound. He stumbled off a screen, but luckily UCLA missed the shot. His defense is getting better. His work in the paint is some of his most improved talents and is great to see. Not sure why the trio of Ross, Suggs, and Wilcox (Wilcox is still hampered by a Staph infection) played so limited today, but the line up we had on the court seemed to be working. Why fix something if it isn't broken? Just looking at the stat sheet you might assume he had a poor night, but I liked what I saw.
Grade: B
Darnell Gant
Terrific night defensively and not bad offensively. He hit his lone three point shot and went 2-4 from the field. He picked up 2 rebounds as well during his 20 minutes. His most valuable impact in the game was the excellent shut down defense he had on Nelson to start the second half. His three point shot was the nail in the coffin as it put UW up 68-59 with 3:24 remaining. He is still rebounding lower than I would like, but with Aziz playing more minutes, MBA stepping up his game on the glass, and Holiday continuing to excel the Huskies are in pretty good shape when it comes to rebounding. If it is for the team's benefit that he stays more outside so be it.
Grade: B+
Isaiah Thomas
MVP of the night. 17 points on top of 9 assists and 3 boards. Fantastic performance. He forced a few drives and was bailed out with fouls, but IT is known to draw fouls on some of those circus shots. He had some great lay-ins regardless of his sometimes cringe worthy plays. Getting 9 assists to go along with that many points is hard to do. He was one missed shot away from a double double. The biggest miss was a nice dump off to MBA who, instead of dunking it, attempted a lay-in and was fouled, missing the shot. IT created many of the scoring opportunities MBA excelled on. He led the team extremely well and played 36 of the 40 minutes. His leadership is a huge asset to the team. After a somewhat slow game against USC it was refreshing to see him command the court once more. Isaiah also helped foul out Josh Smith by using his speed to force block calls.
Grade: A+
Aziz N'Diaye
The big man just couldn't seem to avoid the fouls this weekend. Sure the refs were a tad whistle happy, but Aziz needs to do more on his part to avoid the over the back calls that led to several whistles against him. He shot very well tonight, going 3-3 with a pair of nice put backs and one great post move. He did well containing Smith, who outweighs Aziz by 40lbs, for the most part. Its hard to give up that much weight, but he managed by using his height and speed advantage. 6 rebounds in 19 minutes and 6 points. Good performance, but not quite where we need him to be.
Grade: B
Abdul Gaddy
The slow streak continues for Gaddy, who again struggled to get in a rhythm offensively. He only managed 2 assists on the night. He did have 2 rebounds and a steal in addition to his 2 points that came off a nice driving bank shot. Not a great night. Isaiah did a much better job running the team tonight than Gaddy, which is a bit unusual.
Grade: C+
Antoine Hosley
Did not play today.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
C.J. only played 4 minutes today in a somewhat surprising appearance. He is currently dealing with a Staph infection on his hip and was not expected to play today. He took one long shot, missed, and had a nice lay-in off a great pass. Hard to grade him when he barely played. His defense looked fine for the little time he spent guarding his man.
Grade: B
Terrence Ross
Only 9 minutes tonight after what was an exciting performance against USC. He went 1-4 from range tonight and added in a nice cross over jumper to finish 3-6 on the night. His 7 points led the bench, which was very quiet this game. Romar must have decided we needed our starting 5 plus Gant and Overton to beat UCLA as he left out the three head monster for a large chunk of the game. He wasn't as impressive as he was against 'SC, but still played a solid game.
Grade: B
Final Thoughts
The Huskies had a much easier time against UCLA than they did USC. They played a much better game and made the game work to their tempo despite the foul calls. They passed, they executed, they played great defense. They may not have shown the scoring ability we are so used to, but the Pac-10 teams are much better defenders than most of our opponents this season. This is a great start to the season and goes a long ways towards a successful season. This is likely to be the toughest road trip we will take until tournament time. Arizona and Wazzu will be tough games, but our post players, especially MBA, have shown they can play big against tough frontcourts. If our guards and forwards can begin to find some shooting success from range against Pac-10 teams we will be looking good. Many people were predicting a 1-1 record leaving LA this weekend. Instead we leave 2-0 from a pair of tough match ups. Great job, Huskies. You deserve a great New Years and I look forward to seeing the success continue on the 6th at home against Oregon.
Friday, December 31, 2010
University of California Los Angeles Preview
UCLA is coming off a Pac-10 win against WSU, final score 80 to 71. Malcolm Lee and Reeves Nelson each scored 21, Nelson had 11 rebounds and Tyler Honeycutt added 9 rebounds alongside his 14 points.
UCLA is 9-4 on the season. Much like USC, their record is deceiving in two ways. UCLA lost by 1 to then #4 Kansas on the road after a controversial call resulting in two free throws to give Kansas the win. They followed this up by a 9 point loss at home to Montana. Their four losses came in a streak starting with a loss to now #8 and then #7 Villanova by 12, 4 point loss to VCU, then the two losses stated above. They are now on a 6 game winning streak all of which are home games.
UCLA is led by a dynamic duo of Tyler Honeycutt and Reeves Nelson. Honeycutt, 6-8 188, is a similar build to Justin Holiday, though he is slightly taller and only 3 pounds heavier. Honeycutt is a solid rebounder 8.1 rebounds per game. He also brings in a team high 14.8 points per game. Reeves Nelson is called by many "Baby Brockman" or a poor mans Brockman. He is a tough rebounder and player, nose to the grind every minute of the game. He is currently scoring 14.7 points per game and averages 8.0 rebounds per game. UCLA also has Josh Smith starting at center. At 6-10 and supposedly 305lbs, looks like he is closer to 320, he is an imposing force. He is averaging 10.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 19.6 minutes. Smith is the only starter averaging less than 28 minutes per game.
Malcolm Lee and Lazeric Jones are the starting guards for UCLA. Jones is averaging 3.5 assists and 2.2 turnovers per game, while Lee is averaging 2.0 assists and 1.6 turnovers. They combine for 24.1 points.
UCLA runs a 9 man rotation with 3 bench players receiving significant time, the 4th averages 6.5 minutes per game. Their bench only averages 12.8 points per game out of their 74.5 points per game (~17%).
UCLA is averaging 15 turnovers a game led by Honeycutt with 3.3 per game. The UCLA guards are combining for 6.6 turnovers per game.
Smith, Reeves, and Lee all picked up 4 fouls against WSU and this is the 7th game Josh has picked up 4 fouls.
Starting Line Up Predictions
UCLA
Lazeric Jones 6-0 187lb G
Malcolm 6-5 200lb G
Tyler Honeycutt 6-8 188 lb F
Reeves Nelson 6-8 235lb F
Josh Smith 6-10 305lb C
UW
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb SG
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 195lb PG
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
UCLA is a strong rebounding team. With Nelson and Honeycutt each averaging 8+ and Smith nearly grabbing 7 per game they have a strong starting group of rebounders. UCLA is averaging just over 38 per game and will be tough competition for UW. After a strong showing against USC (44-28) confidence should be high and expectations are also high. Holiday will have a key match up against Honeycutt and it is extremely important he brings his A-game defensively and offensively on the glass. Box out and get position. MBA will have his work cut out for him against Nelson who is an extremely hard worker and excellent rebounder. Aziz will have to use all his muscle and size to contain Smith. Our guards will need to take advantage of their rebounding skills to help our bigs out and take some of the load off of them.
Contain Honeycutt
Between Nelson and Honeycutt, Honeycutt has the biggest chance of being shutdown and is currently the most impacting player on the Bruin squad. He is turnover prone and Holiday needs to take advantage of this using his long arms and great defensive skills. Containing Honeycutt and limiting not only his touches, but rebounds will greatly help our team. Look for Darnell Gant to possibly pick up the assignment at times when Holiday is on the bench.
Get in Transition
The UCLA guards are slightly better than last season, but are still vulnerable to tough defensive opposition like Isaiah and Overton. Last game against USC, UW had 0 transition and fast break points. Smith is very slow in transition and UW needs to use this to gain numbers on the run. With both MBA and Aziz running well look for them to get some nice transition lay-ups and dunks. MBA is more likely to be the recipient of such passes and plays as Aziz usually stays close to home on the glass. Lee is a fast player and Overton will need to play well and fast to keep pace. Abdul will likely need to rely on Aziz and/or MBA helping in the middle to prevent him from lighting up the boards.
Shooting
We beat USC without C.J.'s range, but found Ross' shot to be just as excellent. Holiday also sank some key baskets. UW shot poorly through most of the game and has lacked its outside touch the past few games. The Huskies need to find the hot hand and let him get some shots off. This comes down to not only Romar drawing up plays, but the team creating opportunities themselves. If I am Romar, I am putting Ross on the court and letting him test his hand. He went 4-8 from range and everyone of them was important to the games outcome. He created shots on the baseline using his ball handling skills and shot with defenders in his face from range and sunk them. We need to find at least two outside shooters to give us solid flow and scoring. IT will be looking to have a field day and may find some luck against the slightly shorter UCLA line up. Smith is slow to the ball and may pick up fouls on our driving guards if he is caught out of position.
Passing
UW did terrible with its ball handling and passing against USC, picking up 17 turnovers and only 7 assists. UCLA does not pack the middle like USC does and UW needs to create the opportunities it missed out on against USC. With better passing comes better shot selection and higher scoring.
Ball Handling
After a terrible night at USC, Isaiah and the other guards need to get their ball handling under control. This, along side rebounding, is probably the biggest key to winning this game. If we can handle the ball well we will find open players, make solid plays, and get our shooters rolling.
Post Defense
With a strong frontcourt, MBA, Aziz, and Gant once again have their work cut out for them. They need to avoid foul trouble and use good help defense to block shots and rebound. Our bigs need to avoid silly rebounding fouls and use their strength to gain position.
Toughness and Grit
They showed it against USC and it will be needed again against UCLA. Road games are always tough and Pauley Pavilion is always a tough venue for the Huskies. Last season they suffered a 1 point loss on a last second buzzer beating 3 point shot. They know they can win on the road and do it against the worst circumstances. If they play tough and play their game, the Huskies will be able to win. Maintaining composure, even when down, will be important. This will likely be a back and forth game through the first 25 to 30 minutes before the Huskies bench and depth can open things up.
Bench Play
Our depth is where our greatest strength and opportunity for victory lies. UCLA has very little bench production and the use of fresh, talented legs will be key. If we can get Ross and/or Suggs hot, things will be looking good. This also implies that our starters are holding their own. Overton and Gant coming off the bench will provide some strong and needed defensive skills to shut down Lee and Honeycutt/Nelson.
Final Thoughts
UW will be in another tough and grind 'um match up. UCLA is a big, physical team who will use its size to play an inside out style of game. Could we see UW utilize the zone again? Doubtful, UCLA is a better outside shooting team than USC and our team is sized and skilled in the right places to take advantage of UCLA's short comings. Nelson and Smith will prove to be tough match ups and UCLA will look to them more often than anyone else. With Holiday on Honeycutt, that option will be mostly shut down. If we can play a tough game, rebound, and get some shots dropping we will be fine.
Final Score Prediction
UW-83 UCLA-75
UCLA is 9-4 on the season. Much like USC, their record is deceiving in two ways. UCLA lost by 1 to then #4 Kansas on the road after a controversial call resulting in two free throws to give Kansas the win. They followed this up by a 9 point loss at home to Montana. Their four losses came in a streak starting with a loss to now #8 and then #7 Villanova by 12, 4 point loss to VCU, then the two losses stated above. They are now on a 6 game winning streak all of which are home games.
UCLA is led by a dynamic duo of Tyler Honeycutt and Reeves Nelson. Honeycutt, 6-8 188, is a similar build to Justin Holiday, though he is slightly taller and only 3 pounds heavier. Honeycutt is a solid rebounder 8.1 rebounds per game. He also brings in a team high 14.8 points per game. Reeves Nelson is called by many "Baby Brockman" or a poor mans Brockman. He is a tough rebounder and player, nose to the grind every minute of the game. He is currently scoring 14.7 points per game and averages 8.0 rebounds per game. UCLA also has Josh Smith starting at center. At 6-10 and supposedly 305lbs, looks like he is closer to 320, he is an imposing force. He is averaging 10.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 19.6 minutes. Smith is the only starter averaging less than 28 minutes per game.
Malcolm Lee and Lazeric Jones are the starting guards for UCLA. Jones is averaging 3.5 assists and 2.2 turnovers per game, while Lee is averaging 2.0 assists and 1.6 turnovers. They combine for 24.1 points.
UCLA runs a 9 man rotation with 3 bench players receiving significant time, the 4th averages 6.5 minutes per game. Their bench only averages 12.8 points per game out of their 74.5 points per game (~17%).
UCLA is averaging 15 turnovers a game led by Honeycutt with 3.3 per game. The UCLA guards are combining for 6.6 turnovers per game.
Smith, Reeves, and Lee all picked up 4 fouls against WSU and this is the 7th game Josh has picked up 4 fouls.
Starting Line Up Predictions
UCLA
Lazeric Jones 6-0 187lb G
Malcolm 6-5 200lb G
Tyler Honeycutt 6-8 188 lb F
Reeves Nelson 6-8 235lb F
Josh Smith 6-10 305lb C
UW
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb SG
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 195lb PG
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
UCLA is a strong rebounding team. With Nelson and Honeycutt each averaging 8+ and Smith nearly grabbing 7 per game they have a strong starting group of rebounders. UCLA is averaging just over 38 per game and will be tough competition for UW. After a strong showing against USC (44-28) confidence should be high and expectations are also high. Holiday will have a key match up against Honeycutt and it is extremely important he brings his A-game defensively and offensively on the glass. Box out and get position. MBA will have his work cut out for him against Nelson who is an extremely hard worker and excellent rebounder. Aziz will have to use all his muscle and size to contain Smith. Our guards will need to take advantage of their rebounding skills to help our bigs out and take some of the load off of them.
Contain Honeycutt
Between Nelson and Honeycutt, Honeycutt has the biggest chance of being shutdown and is currently the most impacting player on the Bruin squad. He is turnover prone and Holiday needs to take advantage of this using his long arms and great defensive skills. Containing Honeycutt and limiting not only his touches, but rebounds will greatly help our team. Look for Darnell Gant to possibly pick up the assignment at times when Holiday is on the bench.
Get in Transition
The UCLA guards are slightly better than last season, but are still vulnerable to tough defensive opposition like Isaiah and Overton. Last game against USC, UW had 0 transition and fast break points. Smith is very slow in transition and UW needs to use this to gain numbers on the run. With both MBA and Aziz running well look for them to get some nice transition lay-ups and dunks. MBA is more likely to be the recipient of such passes and plays as Aziz usually stays close to home on the glass. Lee is a fast player and Overton will need to play well and fast to keep pace. Abdul will likely need to rely on Aziz and/or MBA helping in the middle to prevent him from lighting up the boards.
Shooting
We beat USC without C.J.'s range, but found Ross' shot to be just as excellent. Holiday also sank some key baskets. UW shot poorly through most of the game and has lacked its outside touch the past few games. The Huskies need to find the hot hand and let him get some shots off. This comes down to not only Romar drawing up plays, but the team creating opportunities themselves. If I am Romar, I am putting Ross on the court and letting him test his hand. He went 4-8 from range and everyone of them was important to the games outcome. He created shots on the baseline using his ball handling skills and shot with defenders in his face from range and sunk them. We need to find at least two outside shooters to give us solid flow and scoring. IT will be looking to have a field day and may find some luck against the slightly shorter UCLA line up. Smith is slow to the ball and may pick up fouls on our driving guards if he is caught out of position.
Passing
UW did terrible with its ball handling and passing against USC, picking up 17 turnovers and only 7 assists. UCLA does not pack the middle like USC does and UW needs to create the opportunities it missed out on against USC. With better passing comes better shot selection and higher scoring.
Ball Handling
After a terrible night at USC, Isaiah and the other guards need to get their ball handling under control. This, along side rebounding, is probably the biggest key to winning this game. If we can handle the ball well we will find open players, make solid plays, and get our shooters rolling.
Post Defense
With a strong frontcourt, MBA, Aziz, and Gant once again have their work cut out for them. They need to avoid foul trouble and use good help defense to block shots and rebound. Our bigs need to avoid silly rebounding fouls and use their strength to gain position.
Toughness and Grit
They showed it against USC and it will be needed again against UCLA. Road games are always tough and Pauley Pavilion is always a tough venue for the Huskies. Last season they suffered a 1 point loss on a last second buzzer beating 3 point shot. They know they can win on the road and do it against the worst circumstances. If they play tough and play their game, the Huskies will be able to win. Maintaining composure, even when down, will be important. This will likely be a back and forth game through the first 25 to 30 minutes before the Huskies bench and depth can open things up.
Bench Play
Our depth is where our greatest strength and opportunity for victory lies. UCLA has very little bench production and the use of fresh, talented legs will be key. If we can get Ross and/or Suggs hot, things will be looking good. This also implies that our starters are holding their own. Overton and Gant coming off the bench will provide some strong and needed defensive skills to shut down Lee and Honeycutt/Nelson.
Final Thoughts
UW will be in another tough and grind 'um match up. UCLA is a big, physical team who will use its size to play an inside out style of game. Could we see UW utilize the zone again? Doubtful, UCLA is a better outside shooting team than USC and our team is sized and skilled in the right places to take advantage of UCLA's short comings. Nelson and Smith will prove to be tough match ups and UCLA will look to them more often than anyone else. With Holiday on Honeycutt, that option will be mostly shut down. If we can play a tough game, rebound, and get some shots dropping we will be fine.
Final Score Prediction
UW-83 UCLA-75
Thursday, December 30, 2010
University of Southern California Review
Final Score UW-73 USC-67
Wow...what a game. In a game where it looked as though the Huskies would struggle once more on the road they got it done. Despite the refs, despite the turnovers, they pulled out the win. Sure it took overtime. Sure UW was down 12 to start the game, but Terrence Ross wanted nothing to do with that. Along side MBA and Holiday, Ross got this game back and put us ahead. Venoy and Holiday put it away. MBA played a tough, tough game inside, scoring 18 and grabbing 8 boards. Foul trouble plagued the Huskies all game long and three players fouled out: Aziz N'Diaye, Terrence Ross, and Darnell Gant. MBA finished with 3 fouls, Holiday with 4, IT with 4, and Venoy had 1. At the end of regulation time, Nikola Vucevic had as many free throw attempts (14) as our entire team and the foul differential was 11 to 4.
USC started off strong leading 16-4 before UW mounted a come back led by Terrence Ross who hit back to back three point shots to get the game within 1 at 19-18. Ross gave UW its largest lead at 51-46 with a nice three with a hand in his face.
The game went to 55-55 at the end of regulation. UW had the ball with 39 seconds left. IT ran the clock down and took a shot with 7 to go which missed. USC rebounded, but Overton stole the ball at midcourt and put up a shot that was on line, but hit off the front rim. Overtime loomed ominous with the Husky foul situation. Aziz had already fouled out of the game with MBA and Gant close behind. The fouls were so bad that Brendan Sherrer was at the scorers table with 90 seconds left in the first half after MBA had picked up his second foul. If play had stopped during those final 90 seconds, he would have entered the game. In overtime Ross fouled out with 2:37 to go and Gant fouled out with 6 seconds left on a dumb foul. Gant also started the second half in place of Aziz.
Justin Holiday had a HUGE block with 19 seconds to go that allowed the Huskies to keep their 4 point lead and led to Gaddy getting to the line to extend the lead to 71-64. Overton sank two final free throws to put it away 73-67.
Vucevic was the destructive force everyone expected him to be and more. He hit a career high 28 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, including two three pointers, and a perfect 14-14 from the free throw line. He also snatched up 14 rebounds, 11 defensive.
Speaking of rebounding, UW won the battle of the boards 44 to 28. MBA led the team with 8 boards. Aziz had 6 boards, 4 offensive, in only 14 minutes. Justin Holiday and Venoy Overton also grabbed 6 a piece.
Offensively, the Huskies were extremely sloppy. They had only 7 assists and a crushing 17 turnovers. Thankfully UW utilized a zone defense which proved very effective and allowed USC's terrible perimeter shooting to keep the game reasonable.
Shooting proved to be tough early on as the Huskies finished with 40% from the field and 36.8% from range. Ross went 4 for 8 and was the best shooter on the team tonight. Holiday went 2 for 4 from range and hit the ones that really mattered. MBA went 6 for 11 from the field and 6-9 from the free throw line. He missed one near the end of regulation that very well could have proven to be the game winner, but in the end the Huskies got the W and MBA played a solid game so I won't dally on things I cannot change. On a night went solid outside shooting was needed, C.J. Wilcox was out with a staph infection in his hip and looks unlikely to play against UCLA, but Terrence Ross stepped in to show what kind of player he is. You can bet that his performance earned him some game time minutes. against UCLA. Suggs was held scoreless in his 9 minutes. Gant and Aziz were also held scoreless. Abdul only managed 4 points in 19 minutes and 0 assists.
IT led the team with 3 assist, but also had a commanding lead in the turnover category with 6. Ross, Suggs, Overton, and Holiday each had 1 assist. Ross had 2 steals and IT managed 1 as well.
Overton went 9 of 13 from the line, IT hit 4 of 5, and Holiday was 2 for 2.
What Was Good
Rebounding
MBA and Aziz, while he was in, were terrific down low getting the boards. Sure Vucevic managed 14 and Stephenson got 8, but the rest of the team was able to box out their man and get the boards themselves. Winning the rebounding battle 44-28 against a tall and tough USC team is a great sign of progress. Darnell Gant was fairly ineffective the whole game, scoring no points and grabbing no rebounds. His only stats came from fouls, 5, and his lone assist. Scott Suggs only managed one. Other than those two, every other Husky grabbed 4 or more rebounds. Fantastic effort tonight by the team.
Terrence Ross
I'll say more on him later in the player by player review, but he needs to be noted here. This kid was an absolute BEAST tonight. Without him this game would have been lost early on. 7-13 shooting for 18 points, 4-8 from range, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, and 2 turnovers. Great, great night for him. It was, hopefully, a breakout performance. If he keeps playing like that in conference play he will see major minutes come February and March.
Toughness
This isn't something you can quantify statistically, but the Dawgs had a lot of it tonight. In a physical game where UW was getting called for everything and USC was getting away with obvious fouls, the Huskies played tough, adapted, and battled through the refs to win the game. Playing against 5 is hard enough, 8 is near impossible. Add in our poor ball handling and you have yourself a nightmare. IT was getting picked left and right by Marcus Simmons, the 6-6 200lb G, whose size and strength was for the most part too much to handle for IT. Still, IT fought through and managed 10 points in the end. With Abdul playing even less effectively than IT, Thomas and Overton were given the reigns and they did a pretty good job of getting things going in the Dawgs favor.
Despite being down 12, the Huskies still managed to get the lead at the end of half, keeping their record a perfect 12-0 at halftime.
So despite all their short comings and the tough officiating, the Huskies kicked and punched their way through to the end and showed the grit they have been lacking thus far in the season. They showed they could win a tough game and on the road at that. Give props to Romar for getting his team ready for these battles.
Free Throw Shooting
While they were far from perfect, they did well in overtime when we needed it most. 2-3 in the first half, 7-11 in the second, and 13-17 in overtime. Overton was slightly below his normal shooting percentage at 9-13, but he did well in crunch time. MBA was better than usual at 6-9, though his was one make away from a really solid FT shooting night.
What Was Bad
Fouling
Whether it was us or the officials, our team struggled tonight with fouling. Going into half MBA had 2 fouls, Aziz had 3, and Holiday had 3. Gant may even have had 3, I don't remember. It was rough goings for the Huskies, especially the bigs who continually picked up fouls on rebounding. Our guards, mainly IT, were called for charges and momentum kept creeping away every time we picked up a foul. If not for USC's need to foul in OT the FT differential would have been huge. USC finished with 32 attempts to UW's 31. As I said in some other articles, fouling has been a problem for us. We are averaging 21 per game. Normally this is not a big deal as our guards pick up a few fouls, but today it was all on our bigs would just couldn't get the refs to leave them alone. UW will ace another tough challenge against UCLA on Friday. UCLA has a strong frontcourt with a little more depth than USC, though perhaps not as talented overall. MBA did a good job ending the game and maintaining his 3 fouls.
Ball Handling
Ball handling was terrible tonight. USC forced 17 turnovers and had 9 steals. IT had 6 turnovers alone and couldn't get things going his way. It seemed like every time we had things starting to head our way we would get an off the ball foul, a charge, or some sort of travel/steal/turnover. I don't know what was happening (thanks FSN....), but from what I heard, it was just sloppy offense and great defense by USC. Not sure if Romar made the right choice keeping IT in for so much of the game with as many turnovers as he had, but he must have been playing good defense to merit his time. That and the fact that Gaddy was ineffective as well meant IT's leadership was valuable and possibly why he stayed on the court.
Not sure where to put our defense. We only forced 10 turnovers and had 27 fouls against us, but the zone we threw at USC forced them to shoot from range and they failed miserably at it. USC went 5 for 21 from range. To me this looks like we were an effective defensive team despite our short comings. Holiday came through with a critical, game securing block with 19 seconds to go. A huge play to make especially with 4 fouls.
Player by Player Review
Venoy Overton
His first half was not his best performance, but his second half and overtime performances were excellent. He hit free throws, drove the lane on occasion, and created some opportunities. He made a nice steal at the end of regulation to give the Huskies at shot at a last second win, but it rimmed off the front. Nice performance tonight getting 11 points and 6 boards and only 1 foul. On a night when fouls were being handed out like candy on Halloween, the normally foul prone guard did a great job avoiding them and adding to the deficit.
Grade: B+
Justin Holiday
Holiday was forced to play a mismatch against Stephenson in the post at times and it hurt us, but overall Holiday played a very solid game. Even with four fouls he managed to be a game changer. He scored 12 points including a huge three pointer to start off the overtime period. He snatched up 6 boards, 4 defensive and had two blocks on the night. Without video coverage it's hard for me to really judge how well all the players fared.
Grade: B+
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Well he sure stepped up his game today. 18 points and 8 boards. Fantastic performance offensively for MBA. From the fans that attended the game in person it sounds as though he still struggled to hit some of the bunny shots, a problem that has persisted this season and throughout his career. Defensive performance is even harder to judge. Vucevic had 28 points and tended to be MBA's assignment, but playing a zone defense most of the game makes Vucevic not entirely his responsibility alone. The fact he was able to score and rebound against tough post players is a huge improvement over earlier this season and he was most effective when Aziz was in the game. Expect to see them remain in the starting line up together despite the foul trouble we had tonight. The Dawgs showed they could battle through the foul trouble and get it done regardless.
Grade: A-
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play, but also did in the final 90 seconds of the game when MBA picked up his second foul and Aziz was already sitting with 3. Would have been a huge moment as he has never played in a non blowout game let alone the first half. I guess Romar was serious when he said Sherrer could see real game minutes and I was right about when. Foul trouble situations for our bigs.
Grade: N/A
Scott Suggs
Only 9 minutes tonight. Missed both shot attempts. Not much else to say about him tonight. Ross was hot so Romar left him in. Unfortunate as Suggs has been a big contributor the last two games.
Grade: C
Darnell Gant
Like Suggs, Gant was ineffective on offense tonight. On defense he was solid, especially in OT minus the stupid 5th foul with 5-6 seconds left in the game. He still did not manage to rebound a single ball in 22 minutes of play. At 6'8'' that is unacceptable. Even 6-0 Overton managed 6 and 5-8 IT grabbed 4. After grabbing 4 offensive boards in 14 minutes against UNR I was hopeful he had turned the corner, but this game indicates otherwise. Not sure why he can't rebound, but it isn't a part of his game yet, though it seriously needs to be.
Grade: C+ for his defense and size we needed
Isaiah Thomas
Marcus Simmons shut him down pretty well. IT still managed 10 points. His 6 turnovers were generally due to forcing too much on the inside against USC's long bodies. Can't blame him for trying to create opportunities on a night when we lacked a lot of offensive punch. He hit his free throws. He rebounded well. His defense was pretty good.
Grade: B
Abdul Gaddy
Another sub par performance tonight. He did tie a career high with 5 rebounds, but had 0 assists and only 4 points. He sat a large chunk of the game, playing only 19 minutes. I don't know what his game looked like and why he struggled. It sounds as though he hid behind the ball and despite taking the shots he normally excels at he missed.
Grade: C
Aziz N'Diaye
No points tonight for the big man, but he did manage an impressive 6 rebounds, 4 offensive, in 14 minutes. One of his offensive boards was huge as it gave UW a third chance at the basket and led to the Huskies going to the free throw line. Fouls eliminated him from the game and it looks as though the tough post presence of Stephenson forced him to pick up silly over the back foul calls. More time will be needed to perfect his rebounding efforts, but so far you have to be impressed. The lack of points is disappointing, but he isn't exactly out there to be a big scoring option. Still, it would be nice to see him put up 6 or 8 a night. It's a long season so don't fret now about his offensive woes. The fact that he rebounds so well is the best part about him.
Grade: B- for foul problems
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
Sat out tonight with a Staph infection in his hip. He is unlikely to be healthy enough to play against UCLA on Friday. Hope he gets well soon, we missed his shooting tonight, though Ross did an excellent job filling in and playing big.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
MVP of the game no doubt. His back to back threes got us within 1. His third put us up 28-26 at the end of the half. His fourth gave us our largest lead at 51-46. He had a few drives into the middle for great lay-ins and hook shots. He picked up 4 boards, had 2 steals, an assist, and 2 turnovers. He fouled out with 2:37 to go in OT. This was a slightly scary moment for the Huskies as he had been our main offensive weapon and most consistent and dangerous shooter. A huge, breakout night and performance from the freshman. 18 points in his Pac-10 opener, not many freshman can say they have done that, let alone have those 18 points be such high impact points. Without Ross, tonight would have been another blowout loss on the road. Didn't see what he did defensively minus the steals so I'm not sure how he did on that end of the court.
Grade: A
Final Thoughts
A tough win with the grit and drive Husky fans have been clamoring for. A huge win and statement maker to open Pac-10 play. This win should give our team a lot of confidence heading into Friday's game against UCLA. They have proven to not only themselves, but us, and the media they can win tough games and road games, oh and tough road games. Man, my heart took a beating from this game. I honestly don't know out of this game, the Pac-10 Tournament Championship game, and the Marquette game which was the most stressful. Maybe this one because it was either going to show we are overrated again and can't play up to our promise or it would show we have what it takes to win big. Picking up a win in UCLA would likely put the Huskies back in the rankings. Nice job tonight Huskies, way to get it done the hard way.
Wow...what a game. In a game where it looked as though the Huskies would struggle once more on the road they got it done. Despite the refs, despite the turnovers, they pulled out the win. Sure it took overtime. Sure UW was down 12 to start the game, but Terrence Ross wanted nothing to do with that. Along side MBA and Holiday, Ross got this game back and put us ahead. Venoy and Holiday put it away. MBA played a tough, tough game inside, scoring 18 and grabbing 8 boards. Foul trouble plagued the Huskies all game long and three players fouled out: Aziz N'Diaye, Terrence Ross, and Darnell Gant. MBA finished with 3 fouls, Holiday with 4, IT with 4, and Venoy had 1. At the end of regulation time, Nikola Vucevic had as many free throw attempts (14) as our entire team and the foul differential was 11 to 4.
USC started off strong leading 16-4 before UW mounted a come back led by Terrence Ross who hit back to back three point shots to get the game within 1 at 19-18. Ross gave UW its largest lead at 51-46 with a nice three with a hand in his face.
The game went to 55-55 at the end of regulation. UW had the ball with 39 seconds left. IT ran the clock down and took a shot with 7 to go which missed. USC rebounded, but Overton stole the ball at midcourt and put up a shot that was on line, but hit off the front rim. Overtime loomed ominous with the Husky foul situation. Aziz had already fouled out of the game with MBA and Gant close behind. The fouls were so bad that Brendan Sherrer was at the scorers table with 90 seconds left in the first half after MBA had picked up his second foul. If play had stopped during those final 90 seconds, he would have entered the game. In overtime Ross fouled out with 2:37 to go and Gant fouled out with 6 seconds left on a dumb foul. Gant also started the second half in place of Aziz.
Justin Holiday had a HUGE block with 19 seconds to go that allowed the Huskies to keep their 4 point lead and led to Gaddy getting to the line to extend the lead to 71-64. Overton sank two final free throws to put it away 73-67.
Vucevic was the destructive force everyone expected him to be and more. He hit a career high 28 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, including two three pointers, and a perfect 14-14 from the free throw line. He also snatched up 14 rebounds, 11 defensive.
Speaking of rebounding, UW won the battle of the boards 44 to 28. MBA led the team with 8 boards. Aziz had 6 boards, 4 offensive, in only 14 minutes. Justin Holiday and Venoy Overton also grabbed 6 a piece.
Offensively, the Huskies were extremely sloppy. They had only 7 assists and a crushing 17 turnovers. Thankfully UW utilized a zone defense which proved very effective and allowed USC's terrible perimeter shooting to keep the game reasonable.
Shooting proved to be tough early on as the Huskies finished with 40% from the field and 36.8% from range. Ross went 4 for 8 and was the best shooter on the team tonight. Holiday went 2 for 4 from range and hit the ones that really mattered. MBA went 6 for 11 from the field and 6-9 from the free throw line. He missed one near the end of regulation that very well could have proven to be the game winner, but in the end the Huskies got the W and MBA played a solid game so I won't dally on things I cannot change. On a night went solid outside shooting was needed, C.J. Wilcox was out with a staph infection in his hip and looks unlikely to play against UCLA, but Terrence Ross stepped in to show what kind of player he is. You can bet that his performance earned him some game time minutes. against UCLA. Suggs was held scoreless in his 9 minutes. Gant and Aziz were also held scoreless. Abdul only managed 4 points in 19 minutes and 0 assists.
IT led the team with 3 assist, but also had a commanding lead in the turnover category with 6. Ross, Suggs, Overton, and Holiday each had 1 assist. Ross had 2 steals and IT managed 1 as well.
Overton went 9 of 13 from the line, IT hit 4 of 5, and Holiday was 2 for 2.
What Was Good
Rebounding
MBA and Aziz, while he was in, were terrific down low getting the boards. Sure Vucevic managed 14 and Stephenson got 8, but the rest of the team was able to box out their man and get the boards themselves. Winning the rebounding battle 44-28 against a tall and tough USC team is a great sign of progress. Darnell Gant was fairly ineffective the whole game, scoring no points and grabbing no rebounds. His only stats came from fouls, 5, and his lone assist. Scott Suggs only managed one. Other than those two, every other Husky grabbed 4 or more rebounds. Fantastic effort tonight by the team.
Terrence Ross
I'll say more on him later in the player by player review, but he needs to be noted here. This kid was an absolute BEAST tonight. Without him this game would have been lost early on. 7-13 shooting for 18 points, 4-8 from range, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, and 2 turnovers. Great, great night for him. It was, hopefully, a breakout performance. If he keeps playing like that in conference play he will see major minutes come February and March.
Toughness
This isn't something you can quantify statistically, but the Dawgs had a lot of it tonight. In a physical game where UW was getting called for everything and USC was getting away with obvious fouls, the Huskies played tough, adapted, and battled through the refs to win the game. Playing against 5 is hard enough, 8 is near impossible. Add in our poor ball handling and you have yourself a nightmare. IT was getting picked left and right by Marcus Simmons, the 6-6 200lb G, whose size and strength was for the most part too much to handle for IT. Still, IT fought through and managed 10 points in the end. With Abdul playing even less effectively than IT, Thomas and Overton were given the reigns and they did a pretty good job of getting things going in the Dawgs favor.
Despite being down 12, the Huskies still managed to get the lead at the end of half, keeping their record a perfect 12-0 at halftime.
So despite all their short comings and the tough officiating, the Huskies kicked and punched their way through to the end and showed the grit they have been lacking thus far in the season. They showed they could win a tough game and on the road at that. Give props to Romar for getting his team ready for these battles.
Free Throw Shooting
While they were far from perfect, they did well in overtime when we needed it most. 2-3 in the first half, 7-11 in the second, and 13-17 in overtime. Overton was slightly below his normal shooting percentage at 9-13, but he did well in crunch time. MBA was better than usual at 6-9, though his was one make away from a really solid FT shooting night.
What Was Bad
Fouling
Whether it was us or the officials, our team struggled tonight with fouling. Going into half MBA had 2 fouls, Aziz had 3, and Holiday had 3. Gant may even have had 3, I don't remember. It was rough goings for the Huskies, especially the bigs who continually picked up fouls on rebounding. Our guards, mainly IT, were called for charges and momentum kept creeping away every time we picked up a foul. If not for USC's need to foul in OT the FT differential would have been huge. USC finished with 32 attempts to UW's 31. As I said in some other articles, fouling has been a problem for us. We are averaging 21 per game. Normally this is not a big deal as our guards pick up a few fouls, but today it was all on our bigs would just couldn't get the refs to leave them alone. UW will ace another tough challenge against UCLA on Friday. UCLA has a strong frontcourt with a little more depth than USC, though perhaps not as talented overall. MBA did a good job ending the game and maintaining his 3 fouls.
Ball Handling
Ball handling was terrible tonight. USC forced 17 turnovers and had 9 steals. IT had 6 turnovers alone and couldn't get things going his way. It seemed like every time we had things starting to head our way we would get an off the ball foul, a charge, or some sort of travel/steal/turnover. I don't know what was happening (thanks FSN....), but from what I heard, it was just sloppy offense and great defense by USC. Not sure if Romar made the right choice keeping IT in for so much of the game with as many turnovers as he had, but he must have been playing good defense to merit his time. That and the fact that Gaddy was ineffective as well meant IT's leadership was valuable and possibly why he stayed on the court.
Not sure where to put our defense. We only forced 10 turnovers and had 27 fouls against us, but the zone we threw at USC forced them to shoot from range and they failed miserably at it. USC went 5 for 21 from range. To me this looks like we were an effective defensive team despite our short comings. Holiday came through with a critical, game securing block with 19 seconds to go. A huge play to make especially with 4 fouls.
Player by Player Review
Venoy Overton
His first half was not his best performance, but his second half and overtime performances were excellent. He hit free throws, drove the lane on occasion, and created some opportunities. He made a nice steal at the end of regulation to give the Huskies at shot at a last second win, but it rimmed off the front. Nice performance tonight getting 11 points and 6 boards and only 1 foul. On a night when fouls were being handed out like candy on Halloween, the normally foul prone guard did a great job avoiding them and adding to the deficit.
Grade: B+
Justin Holiday
Holiday was forced to play a mismatch against Stephenson in the post at times and it hurt us, but overall Holiday played a very solid game. Even with four fouls he managed to be a game changer. He scored 12 points including a huge three pointer to start off the overtime period. He snatched up 6 boards, 4 defensive and had two blocks on the night. Without video coverage it's hard for me to really judge how well all the players fared.
Grade: B+
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Well he sure stepped up his game today. 18 points and 8 boards. Fantastic performance offensively for MBA. From the fans that attended the game in person it sounds as though he still struggled to hit some of the bunny shots, a problem that has persisted this season and throughout his career. Defensive performance is even harder to judge. Vucevic had 28 points and tended to be MBA's assignment, but playing a zone defense most of the game makes Vucevic not entirely his responsibility alone. The fact he was able to score and rebound against tough post players is a huge improvement over earlier this season and he was most effective when Aziz was in the game. Expect to see them remain in the starting line up together despite the foul trouble we had tonight. The Dawgs showed they could battle through the foul trouble and get it done regardless.
Grade: A-
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play, but also did in the final 90 seconds of the game when MBA picked up his second foul and Aziz was already sitting with 3. Would have been a huge moment as he has never played in a non blowout game let alone the first half. I guess Romar was serious when he said Sherrer could see real game minutes and I was right about when. Foul trouble situations for our bigs.
Grade: N/A
Scott Suggs
Only 9 minutes tonight. Missed both shot attempts. Not much else to say about him tonight. Ross was hot so Romar left him in. Unfortunate as Suggs has been a big contributor the last two games.
Grade: C
Darnell Gant
Like Suggs, Gant was ineffective on offense tonight. On defense he was solid, especially in OT minus the stupid 5th foul with 5-6 seconds left in the game. He still did not manage to rebound a single ball in 22 minutes of play. At 6'8'' that is unacceptable. Even 6-0 Overton managed 6 and 5-8 IT grabbed 4. After grabbing 4 offensive boards in 14 minutes against UNR I was hopeful he had turned the corner, but this game indicates otherwise. Not sure why he can't rebound, but it isn't a part of his game yet, though it seriously needs to be.
Grade: C+ for his defense and size we needed
Isaiah Thomas
Marcus Simmons shut him down pretty well. IT still managed 10 points. His 6 turnovers were generally due to forcing too much on the inside against USC's long bodies. Can't blame him for trying to create opportunities on a night when we lacked a lot of offensive punch. He hit his free throws. He rebounded well. His defense was pretty good.
Grade: B
Abdul Gaddy
Another sub par performance tonight. He did tie a career high with 5 rebounds, but had 0 assists and only 4 points. He sat a large chunk of the game, playing only 19 minutes. I don't know what his game looked like and why he struggled. It sounds as though he hid behind the ball and despite taking the shots he normally excels at he missed.
Grade: C
Aziz N'Diaye
No points tonight for the big man, but he did manage an impressive 6 rebounds, 4 offensive, in 14 minutes. One of his offensive boards was huge as it gave UW a third chance at the basket and led to the Huskies going to the free throw line. Fouls eliminated him from the game and it looks as though the tough post presence of Stephenson forced him to pick up silly over the back foul calls. More time will be needed to perfect his rebounding efforts, but so far you have to be impressed. The lack of points is disappointing, but he isn't exactly out there to be a big scoring option. Still, it would be nice to see him put up 6 or 8 a night. It's a long season so don't fret now about his offensive woes. The fact that he rebounds so well is the best part about him.
Grade: B- for foul problems
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
Sat out tonight with a Staph infection in his hip. He is unlikely to be healthy enough to play against UCLA on Friday. Hope he gets well soon, we missed his shooting tonight, though Ross did an excellent job filling in and playing big.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
MVP of the game no doubt. His back to back threes got us within 1. His third put us up 28-26 at the end of the half. His fourth gave us our largest lead at 51-46. He had a few drives into the middle for great lay-ins and hook shots. He picked up 4 boards, had 2 steals, an assist, and 2 turnovers. He fouled out with 2:37 to go in OT. This was a slightly scary moment for the Huskies as he had been our main offensive weapon and most consistent and dangerous shooter. A huge, breakout night and performance from the freshman. 18 points in his Pac-10 opener, not many freshman can say they have done that, let alone have those 18 points be such high impact points. Without Ross, tonight would have been another blowout loss on the road. Didn't see what he did defensively minus the steals so I'm not sure how he did on that end of the court.
Grade: A
Final Thoughts
A tough win with the grit and drive Husky fans have been clamoring for. A huge win and statement maker to open Pac-10 play. This win should give our team a lot of confidence heading into Friday's game against UCLA. They have proven to not only themselves, but us, and the media they can win tough games and road games, oh and tough road games. Man, my heart took a beating from this game. I honestly don't know out of this game, the Pac-10 Tournament Championship game, and the Marquette game which was the most stressful. Maybe this one because it was either going to show we are overrated again and can't play up to our promise or it would show we have what it takes to win big. Picking up a win in UCLA would likely put the Huskies back in the rankings. Nice job tonight Huskies, way to get it done the hard way.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
University of Southern California Preview
USC enters this game with an 8-5 record that is much better and worse than it appears at first glance. They have beaten two top 25 teams in Texas and Tennessee and narrowly lost to #3 Kansas. They also have a 20 point loss a home to Rider and a 1 point loss at home to Bradley.
USC is currently averaging 69.1 points per game and 35.6 rebounds per game. They also bring in 12.2 assists per game and 13 turnovers per game, including 2.9 per game by starting point guard Maurice Jones and 2.7 per game by guard Jio Fontan.
Until 3 games ago, USC lacked transfer Jio Fontan and he seems to have stabilized USC and made them into a strong competitive team. USC was also playing a 7 man rotation, bu are now using an 8 man rotation with the addition of Fontan.
Nikola Vucevic is by far the most dangerous player in the USC line up, nearly averaging a double double with 15.3 ppg and 9.8 rpg. He is a beast in the post and will be a tough challenge for our bigs to contend with. Add in Alex Stephenson who is also near a double double average with 9.8 ppg and 8.6 rpg and you have yourself a very dangerous duo. Hopefully MBA and Aziz who have been averaging a combined 23 ppg and 17.5 rpg in the last two outings can contend with these two talent post players. MBA will likely guard Vucevic as Vucevic has a nice outside shot. This will allow Aziz to stay close to home in the middle of the key to get rebounds and play tough defense. The one bonus is the USC frontcourt is not deep. After Vucevic and Stephenson, USC does not have any contributing forwards. Garrett Jackson averages 3.5 ppg and 1.7 rpg. Thankfully we have Darnell Gant who is averaging 6.3 ppg and 3.0 rpg, though he can score much more than 6 on any given night.
Another tough assignment is Jio Fontan. After 3 games he is leading the team in scoring with 16.3 ppg and also throws in 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. These are solid numbers and it will be interesting to see if he can maintain them through conference play. Isaiah will likely be given the responsibility of handling Fontan. Fontan has made 5 of his 8 three point attempts.
Starting Line Ups
USC
Maurice "Mo-Mo" Jones 5-7 155lb G
Jio Fontan 6-0 175lb G
Marcus Simmons 6-6 220lb G
Nikola Vucevic 6-10 240lb F
Alex Stephenson 6-10 250lb F
UW
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb SG
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 195 lb PG
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
This is the biggest issue the Huskies will have to deal with. USC does not rebound by committee, rather USC rebounds via Vucevic and Stephenson who account for half of USC's rebounds. MBA and Aziz will have their work cut out for them. Its a sink or swim sort of moment for MBA who needs to prove himself against worthy opponents. Aziz also needs to show he can be dominate once more on the glass against tough foes. Now that he is able to play 20+ minutes a game, his numbers are improving and his impact is becoming greater. If MBA and Aziz can combine for 15 or 16 boards while limiting the USC duo to 12 or 14 we should consider their play a success. Vucevic and Stephenson will get boards no doubt, how many depends on the sort of effort MBA and Aziz put out. Our other players need to limit their opponents from getting loose balls as well, especially off long range misses. The less second chance points USC gets the better off we shall be.
Pressure Defense
Though USC is only averaging 12 turnovers a game, their three main guards are averaging a combined 7.8 turnovers a game, the lowest is Bryce Jones at 2.2 per game. Vucevic is also averaging 2.0 turnovers while Stephenson is averaging 1.8 per games. Last season, USC was highly susceptible to 3/4 and full court pressure defense and so far it appears it is true once more. If UW want to control this game they need to get the tempo going in their favor and that means getting the ball out in transition. USC usually runs a good half court offense so forcing them to step up the tempo and play faster than usual should create more turnovers and opportunities for the Huskies to score. This will also limit 3 point opportunities for Fontan and Bryce Jones, both of whom can shoot the long ball with some proficiency.
Shooting
If we can get our perimeter shots to drop, our post players will have an easier day with a little less pressure on their backs. If we can't get the ball to drop from range, we will struggle mightily. USC's frontcourt is tough and scoring on them will prove to be tough as well. We need to find our shot on the road early in the season if we wish to gain any respect and not have to rely on the Pac-10 tournament to secure a spot in March Madness. If we can get scoring, USC won't stand a chance. There is a 20 point differential in our scoring averages, but only a 6 point differential in opponents scoring. Basically this translates to when we are scoring well we are golden, when we cannot find our shot it will be tough.
Passing
We continue to pass extremely well with our guard trio averaging a combined 12.7 assists per game with only 4.7 turnovers per game giving us an A/T ratio of nearly 2.7. USC is sitting at 9.6 assists from their trio and 7.8 turnovers for a ratio of 1.23. Clearly the advantage is ours if we continue to make 19 to 20 assists per game and force 18 to 20 turnovers per game. Playing patient and making the extra pass will go a long ways towards securing the lead and victory. It also lets us play our game and not falter under USC's pressure.
Final Thoughts
A tough road test to start the season is a mixed blessing. It means we could get our knocks early in a tough loss, but we have experienced those already against TAMU and slightly against MSU and UK. Win and we should be feeling much better about the season's prospects. We should be ready by now to take the conference by storm and statistically UW is superior in almost every category. This is a game that will likely come down to the final 5 or 10 minutes. With USC's strength playing the same spots as some of our weaknesses this game will not just blow over. We really need to play well, shoot well, and defend well. Limiting the USC post play will go a long ways towards winning in LA. All things considered I think UW can get this one done.
Final Score Prediction
UW-74 USC 68
USC's post presence will limit the scoring of MBA and Aziz while providing some second chance points for the Trojans. UW will eventually overcome using its superior bench and backcourt play.
Links
http://www.montlakemadness.com/game-preview-usc/
http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_washington_vs_southern-california
USC is currently averaging 69.1 points per game and 35.6 rebounds per game. They also bring in 12.2 assists per game and 13 turnovers per game, including 2.9 per game by starting point guard Maurice Jones and 2.7 per game by guard Jio Fontan.
Until 3 games ago, USC lacked transfer Jio Fontan and he seems to have stabilized USC and made them into a strong competitive team. USC was also playing a 7 man rotation, bu are now using an 8 man rotation with the addition of Fontan.
Nikola Vucevic is by far the most dangerous player in the USC line up, nearly averaging a double double with 15.3 ppg and 9.8 rpg. He is a beast in the post and will be a tough challenge for our bigs to contend with. Add in Alex Stephenson who is also near a double double average with 9.8 ppg and 8.6 rpg and you have yourself a very dangerous duo. Hopefully MBA and Aziz who have been averaging a combined 23 ppg and 17.5 rpg in the last two outings can contend with these two talent post players. MBA will likely guard Vucevic as Vucevic has a nice outside shot. This will allow Aziz to stay close to home in the middle of the key to get rebounds and play tough defense. The one bonus is the USC frontcourt is not deep. After Vucevic and Stephenson, USC does not have any contributing forwards. Garrett Jackson averages 3.5 ppg and 1.7 rpg. Thankfully we have Darnell Gant who is averaging 6.3 ppg and 3.0 rpg, though he can score much more than 6 on any given night.
Another tough assignment is Jio Fontan. After 3 games he is leading the team in scoring with 16.3 ppg and also throws in 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. These are solid numbers and it will be interesting to see if he can maintain them through conference play. Isaiah will likely be given the responsibility of handling Fontan. Fontan has made 5 of his 8 three point attempts.
Starting Line Ups
USC
Maurice "Mo-Mo" Jones 5-7 155lb G
Jio Fontan 6-0 175lb G
Marcus Simmons 6-6 220lb G
Nikola Vucevic 6-10 240lb F
Alex Stephenson 6-10 250lb F
UW
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb SG
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 195 lb PG
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
This is the biggest issue the Huskies will have to deal with. USC does not rebound by committee, rather USC rebounds via Vucevic and Stephenson who account for half of USC's rebounds. MBA and Aziz will have their work cut out for them. Its a sink or swim sort of moment for MBA who needs to prove himself against worthy opponents. Aziz also needs to show he can be dominate once more on the glass against tough foes. Now that he is able to play 20+ minutes a game, his numbers are improving and his impact is becoming greater. If MBA and Aziz can combine for 15 or 16 boards while limiting the USC duo to 12 or 14 we should consider their play a success. Vucevic and Stephenson will get boards no doubt, how many depends on the sort of effort MBA and Aziz put out. Our other players need to limit their opponents from getting loose balls as well, especially off long range misses. The less second chance points USC gets the better off we shall be.
Pressure Defense
Though USC is only averaging 12 turnovers a game, their three main guards are averaging a combined 7.8 turnovers a game, the lowest is Bryce Jones at 2.2 per game. Vucevic is also averaging 2.0 turnovers while Stephenson is averaging 1.8 per games. Last season, USC was highly susceptible to 3/4 and full court pressure defense and so far it appears it is true once more. If UW want to control this game they need to get the tempo going in their favor and that means getting the ball out in transition. USC usually runs a good half court offense so forcing them to step up the tempo and play faster than usual should create more turnovers and opportunities for the Huskies to score. This will also limit 3 point opportunities for Fontan and Bryce Jones, both of whom can shoot the long ball with some proficiency.
Shooting
If we can get our perimeter shots to drop, our post players will have an easier day with a little less pressure on their backs. If we can't get the ball to drop from range, we will struggle mightily. USC's frontcourt is tough and scoring on them will prove to be tough as well. We need to find our shot on the road early in the season if we wish to gain any respect and not have to rely on the Pac-10 tournament to secure a spot in March Madness. If we can get scoring, USC won't stand a chance. There is a 20 point differential in our scoring averages, but only a 6 point differential in opponents scoring. Basically this translates to when we are scoring well we are golden, when we cannot find our shot it will be tough.
Passing
We continue to pass extremely well with our guard trio averaging a combined 12.7 assists per game with only 4.7 turnovers per game giving us an A/T ratio of nearly 2.7. USC is sitting at 9.6 assists from their trio and 7.8 turnovers for a ratio of 1.23. Clearly the advantage is ours if we continue to make 19 to 20 assists per game and force 18 to 20 turnovers per game. Playing patient and making the extra pass will go a long ways towards securing the lead and victory. It also lets us play our game and not falter under USC's pressure.
Final Thoughts
A tough road test to start the season is a mixed blessing. It means we could get our knocks early in a tough loss, but we have experienced those already against TAMU and slightly against MSU and UK. Win and we should be feeling much better about the season's prospects. We should be ready by now to take the conference by storm and statistically UW is superior in almost every category. This is a game that will likely come down to the final 5 or 10 minutes. With USC's strength playing the same spots as some of our weaknesses this game will not just blow over. We really need to play well, shoot well, and defend well. Limiting the USC post play will go a long ways towards winning in LA. All things considered I think UW can get this one done.
Final Score Prediction
UW-74 USC 68
USC's post presence will limit the scoring of MBA and Aziz while providing some second chance points for the Trojans. UW will eventually overcome using its superior bench and backcourt play.
Links
http://www.montlakemadness.com/game-preview-usc/
http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_washington_vs_southern-california
The End of Non Conference: A Look Back Part 2
Player by Player Review
Venoy Overton
Venoy has been hampered by injuries all year. He missed the exhibition game with a pulled hamstring he had been nursing for a while. Against Eastern Washington he took a hard fall and bruised his tailbone pretty well. Now he is currently out with a hyper-extended knee, which looks as though it will be healed up by Wednesday's game against USC. You have to feel for the guy, being hurt throughout his senior year. Hopefully he can get these injuries under control as we will need him to really succeed this year. So far he has been up and down in terms of his scoring ability. Personally, that doesn't really bother me as we need him first and foremost to be a point guard and defensive juggernaut. His defense hasn't quite been what we are used to, but with so many lower body injuries it is no surprise his game is a little slowed and he isn't putting up the steals like we are used to. On the other side, his assist turnover ratio is sky rocketing. He has led the team in assists on several different occasions, with a season high of 8. Right now he is sitting at a 3/1 ratio, a drastic improvement over last years 1.3 A/T ratio. His shot at the beginning of the year was rough at best, but over the past few weeks it has gotten more refined and is looking much better again. He is driving fairly well, but is still prove to over committing and causing turnovers that could be avoided with a pass out. He is a great sixth man for the team, but with Abdul having stepped up his game so much offensively and defensively, Overton is getting into the game a little later. He is playing somewhat similar minutes compared to previous years (21.4 this season versus 23.1 minutes last season) so his role has not really diminished. It is hard for me to judge what all we may expect from him this season as 90% of his minutes thus far have been hampered by one injury or another. Before he tweaked his knee, his speed looked to be on the rise again and the outlook was good. If he keeps getting injured, we may see him fall further back on the bench, sadly. I don't expect the injuries to be a trend by any means, but the continual recurrence of such things is mildly worrisome, especially the hamstring injury. Those injuries can take many moons to properly heal if they heal correctly at all. I am optimistic and would say Overton will be back to his old self within another week or two. From the sounds of things, Romar believed Overton could have played versus UNR, but opted to keep him out and give him some more rest. His talents are much more needed against USC and UCLA than UNR. Will he be a 10 point per game player? No, but he should score 6 or 8 almost routinely. We should see him putting out 4+ assists a game. Defensively, we may not see him grab 2 or 3 steals per game, but he will force turnovers. He has the ability to just plain frustrate his opponents and make them resort back to their middle school days of ball handling. Should he start? No. I don't think he is better than Abdul or Isaiah, but he is great at what he does and brings a lot to the table. We will need his speed at one point or another this year I am sure. He is a clutch free throw shooter, something that should not be overlooked in the slightest. I would rather see him in the final minutes than IT, maybe even Gaddy. 90% of the time he will make the right decision. Now it is about getting him to correct those final 10%. He has dropped some beautiful dimes to MBA and Aziz. He also has shown great court awareness, seeing the open shooters and getting them the ball even if he has an open shot.
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Once again MBA teases us all with flashes of brilliance and extreme talent, only to leave us with confusion and anticipation when we play big games. He starts the year scoring 28 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, and only 1 foul. Then comes UK, MSU, and TAMU and he shuts down both on the glass and offensively. I take that back, he was bad against UVA, but did pretty well against MSU minus the rebounding. Against UK he had 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Bleh. Against TAMU he had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 turnovers. Not quite as bleh, but much worse stats than we need from him. In the last two games, Romar has had a nice starting line up with MBA at the 4 and Aziz N'Diaye at the 5. It has worked out great for both players and allowed MBA to return to his offensive rhythm. Now, we need to be reminded his two nice outings were against UNR and USF. Two mid major programs he should crush. What we need from him is some good outings against stronger post players. USC and UCLA have strong frontcourts that should give MBA a chance to either prove himself or flounder once again. Starting alongside Aziz, I think he stands a god chance to do well against USC and UCLA, but we shall see. He lacks the nose and drive to rebound well consistently, but he appears to be turning a corner in that aspect. He finally dove for a loose ball against UNR. It was the first time I had seen that out of him and I was happy to see it. Sure he had the ball knocked out of his hands and was right there, but he still hustled to snatch it right back up. He still jams like a monster and has added some nice post moves to his list of skills. He is running well and getting out front in transition. His ball handling skills still surprise people as he is able to play almost like a point guard at times. Once he starts rebounding 8 or more boards a game as well as scoring 12+ points per game he will be exactly what we expected, wanted, and need him to be. Next Wednesday is a big test of the new line up and hopefully MBA will flourish again. I have criticized him and will give him due credit when he shows up to play against the big boys. Also, we have seen him take a few jumpers from outside the key and they look pretty good so far. Nothing extravagant or overly impressive, but enough to get the job done. He hasn't taken any three pointers, not that he should or needs to, but it is a part of his game he has said is improved.
Brendan Sherrer
It's hard to say much about walk-ons, sadly. On the other hand, Romar has said Sherrer could see some real game minutes if the situation called for it. Romar believes that while Sherrer is not ready or talented enough for high level competition, he could see Sherrer in the game and not be freaking out about the outcome. Sherrer is a big, strong body who could provide some much needed rest or a temporary body in foul trouble situations. He is becoming much more confident in his shot and is not immediately passing off when he gets the ball. Overton has done a great job of making plays for Sherrer on pick and rolls. Sherrer is a screen beast if you haven't noticed. The kid will set 10 or 12 picks per possession it seems like. Great hustle and defense. He may not be major D1 talent, but he has a great heart and love of the game. After a year with the team his conditioning has really picked up and he is now able to play more minutes per game, though still in blowout games. Will we see him in Pac-10 play? Yes. Against the Oregon schools, Stanford, maybe ASU or even Cal . UCLA, WSU, UA, and USC will most likely be competitive games and will not let Sherrer get in play time. Will he play during "real" game situations? Probably not. I think his first opportunity for that type of play will be against Seattle University.
Darnell Gant
One of the biggest surprises of the year was the sudden emergence of Darnell's offensive game. He has never been known as an offensive power by any standard. Suddenly he is out on the court finding open shots and sinking them with ease. While he is still far from being a leading score or a 10+ ppg scorer, he is a threat that opponents must keep honest or he can light up the boards. At one point he was shooting 70% from range on 7 for 10 shooting. That is not a ton of shots, but he was taking open shots and sinking them, something C.J. has struggled with the last two games. He lost his starting spot to MBA in the new, larger, and better rebounding line up (more on this at the end). Darnell has never been much of a rebounder either, but after his poor performance at Texas A&M, which could be argued was a main reason we lost the game, he has toughened up a bit on the glass. He came out against UNR and picked up 4 offensive boards in 14 minutes, a pretty solid performance. He has realized the need to rebound and that as a larger forward, 6-8, he should be helping the team pick up the loose balls. Will he be a 6+ rpg player? No, but he can average 4 to 5 no problem. If he can do this along with Ross and C.J. off the bench, the Huskies will be looking good. His defense is still quite solid as his length allows him to guard just about anyone and do it very well. He isn't the biggest or strongest guy at 6-8 225lbs, but as I said his length is a huge part of his success as a defender. With MBA starting alongside Aziz Gant will play in a variety of line ups where he will play the 4 and at times even play a strange type of 5. Likely we will see Aziz come out first unless he is scoring at a regular clip. Then Aziz will come in to relieve MBA. When Gant is in he needs to continue to create shots, but he also needs to stay closer to home. If he is playing the 4, he can't be dancing around the arc all night. He needs to stay closer at home to rebound the ball. He can be a huge asset for the Dawgs if he steps up the rebounding and maintains his defensive mindset. He doesn't need to score 8 or 10 points a game, but taking the open shots is a great idea and he should continue to try and a create a few shots a game to keep the defenders honest.
Scott Suggs
He got to start one game before losing the position to Gant. To be fair, I really didn't think Suggs could start in front of Gant. He is sadly undersized for the 4 spot and gives up too much size to start. He is not good enough to bump Holiday from the starting 3, so in the meantime he looks to be the first sub off the bench to relieve the 2 or 3 player. He started off looking much the same as last year. A solid, spot up shooter. However, as the season has progressed we have seen a lot more aggressiveness from him and his inside game is much improved. He has been the most consistent shooter for the team, better than Wilcox in my opinion, as he makes his open shots 90% of the time. He has the ability to enter a game and immediately get things under control if we are playing wild or put a team down if we are barely holding a lead. In our wins he is averaging 10ppg while in losses he is averaging 3ppg. Sure the whole team is averaging less points, but 7 less is quite a difference. His defense is looking better, but I still see him struggling off the screen at times. This causes him to be a step or two off his man and this is very dangerous for teams with solid outside shooters or even decent ones who can hit open shots. What I do like is his ability to now get under the basket, rebound, and put it back up real quick for some nice second chance points. I also enjoy his three point shot, though this is something most people know of and appreciate greatly. His consistency is earning him minutes that are becoming tougher to come by as Romar works on narrowing down a tighter rotation as we get into the conference schedule. It appears as though Romar will be playing who ever is hot from the trio of Suggs, Wilcox, and Ross and so far Suggs has proven himself to be a good first option and testing point. He could take Holiday's starting spot next season after graduation. Suggs' mission, get open, take shots, grab a few rebounds.
Isaiah Thomas
Isaiah has had an interesting year and like all star players has taken some heat when he didn't live up to every expectation. He took a bad shot against TAMU that many blame the loss on. At the same time he has also stepped up his passing game both on the perimeter and on the drive. He ended the non conference with a bang scoring a season high 24 points. Sure he went 9-19 from the field, but he shot 40% from range, a solid number. His assist numbers are great, averaging 3.9 a game thus far with an assist to turnover ratio just under 2.0. He has developed a new free throw shot that takes a few more seconds after dribbling to concentrate and so far it is looking much improved and was a great decision by Isaiah. He is going to lead the team in scoring throughout the year, of this I have no doubt. He is too much of a threat inside and out not to be. He has the speed, agility, and strength to drive at will and score. He can create space and shoot. He can also face up and shoot on most defenders. So long as his ego does not get in his way and cause him to take bad shots when he isn't hitting simply to try and score he will be a good guard for this team. He should average between 16 and 20 points on the year with 4+ assists and hopefully an A/T ratio of 2 or more. Another interesting, but great number is 3.8, the number of rebounds he is averaging per game. For a guard, at 5-9 none the less, that is huge. He is a big part of why we are able to get some nice defensive boards. He really gets after it and his toughness combined with his athleticism allows him to get up and grab the ball off the rim. He nearly had a put back jam this year that may have brought the roof down. IT looked like Nate Rob in 04-05. It will be a productive year for IT once again as he climbs the scoring charts for UW. He may earn Pac-10 player of the year awards.
Aziz N'Diaye
What a big and pleasant surprise this junior college transfer has been. His offensive game has really begun to tune itself up nicely in the last week, just in time for Pac-10 play. Over the last two games he is averaging 10ppg and 7.5 rpg alongside MBA who is averaging 13ppg and 10 rpg. The two have worked really well together and I hope the trend continues this week in SoCal. Back to Aziz....He is a tough, tough guy. He is actually rebounding at a better rate per minute than Jon Brockman. Quite a feat. After dealing with some soreness in his knee, it appears the training staff has been able to get him feeling healthy which is allowing him to play 20 to 25 minutes a game. This is great for the Huskies as he is a huge defensive presence, a tremendous rebounder, and shot blocker. His presence on the court also gives MBA and IT more opportunities because his strength demands respect. He is starting to get some post moves that allow him to back down his man and get to the hoop. Aziz has really progressed his offensive game and done it in a very quick and pleasing manner. He actually played one of his better games against UK getting 10 boards and 5 blocks. Sure UK doesn't have a big inside presence, but they are a top caliber team and for him to have that kind of game is brilliant, especially for a player new to the D1 scene. Look for him to step up this week. He strikes me as a player who will excel in tough situations as he has the drive to get down and dirty.
Abdul Gaddy
This kid went from bust to all star in no time. He is confident, he can shoot, he passes like no one else in the nation. He is averaging 4.3 assists in his 23 minutes per game. His assist to turnover ratio is currently 3.6. That is amazing. He is also tied for the most offensively efficient player in the nation with Kemba Walker. He is also averaging 9.5 ppg and is shooting 89% from the free throw line (8 of 9). His also shooting 43% from range on the year and is fairly deadly from outside. His tear drop shot he showed off in limited attempts last season is raining all over the opposition this year. He can drive and dish better than any other guard on the court, except maybe Isaiah. His passes are certainly better, so much better than his teammates often fumble them because they are not ready for such precise ball placement. If I had to put an x-factor on who will be the biggest factor in how our season goes, it could go to either Abdul or Gant who have both dramatically improved and strengthened the team.
Antoine Hosley
Another walk on. He has a weird shot and likes to jack up shots he shouldn't be taking. I would probably do the same. Limited minutes on a major D1 team with a shot at going deep into March, I'm shooting every chance I get. He has good ball handling skills and could run a team decently, but I wouldn't give him normal game minutes.
Terrence Ross
Ross has been off and on all season, offensively. He is a solid rebounder and scrapper. He has a good shot, but he tends to put too much power on it. He is confident in his shot and pulls up with defenders in his face. He can create space using a sick cross over move, very B-Roy like. He plays some good defense and gets low and in the opponents face. He could see 15 or 20 a game if he is shooting well. 10 if he is not. With Romar looking to tighten the rotation he needs to come out shooting and playing well. His rebounding and play making ability make him a prime candidate for play time especially when we are losing the battle on the boards. He may not be a huge star this season, but all the tools are there for him to break out after a year of play under Romar and a summer to work more on his skills. For not having played in HS his senior year, he sure is playing well. He long ball is pretty good, but he needs to work on either arcing more or taking some gas off of it.
C.J. Wilcox
He has the best and most pure shot on the team. The last two games he has not played well or shot well and has played limited minutes due to that. When he is in his groove, he is unstoppable. He has a quick release, good form, and a nice jump that allows him to get over defenders. His defense has really stepped up over the last weeks and he rebounds fairly well in addition to his offensive game. I am interested to see if he can step up against USC and get his shot back into action. When he is shooting well we play much better as his incredible range gives our post more room and opens up our other perimeter players. He missed some open shots in the game against UNR, something that cannot become the norm especially with his great shooters touch. He shoots free throws pretty well. He has a decent dribble drive, but is more prone to penetrate then take a jump shot. He is a potential starter next season with the departure of Justin Holiday.
Final Thoughts
All in all this is one of the better teams UW has seen, possibly better than 04-05 if they play up to their potential and talents. They could either enter conference play tomorrow and show they will be the dominate force or they could begins their road woes again and fall into mediocrity once more. If they can sweep the SoCal schools and start the season 2-0, I think they have a good shot of going undefeated in conference. USC poses the biggest threat this weekend. With a larger frontcourt and some talented guards they are dangerous. They have beaten two top 25 squads and nearly beat Kansas. UA on the road along with USC and WSU on the road appear to be the most challenging games in conference play. So what will our final record look like? We should be 15-3 or better. Worse than that should be considered a disappointment. Personally, I think 18-0 is very doable if we play our game night in and night out. Will this happen? Likely not. Romar's teams tend to struggle near the beginning, but shape up to be hugely talented teams by the time March rolls around. I am predicted 16-2, with a loss to UA on the road and either WSU or USC on the road.
Venoy Overton
Venoy has been hampered by injuries all year. He missed the exhibition game with a pulled hamstring he had been nursing for a while. Against Eastern Washington he took a hard fall and bruised his tailbone pretty well. Now he is currently out with a hyper-extended knee, which looks as though it will be healed up by Wednesday's game against USC. You have to feel for the guy, being hurt throughout his senior year. Hopefully he can get these injuries under control as we will need him to really succeed this year. So far he has been up and down in terms of his scoring ability. Personally, that doesn't really bother me as we need him first and foremost to be a point guard and defensive juggernaut. His defense hasn't quite been what we are used to, but with so many lower body injuries it is no surprise his game is a little slowed and he isn't putting up the steals like we are used to. On the other side, his assist turnover ratio is sky rocketing. He has led the team in assists on several different occasions, with a season high of 8. Right now he is sitting at a 3/1 ratio, a drastic improvement over last years 1.3 A/T ratio. His shot at the beginning of the year was rough at best, but over the past few weeks it has gotten more refined and is looking much better again. He is driving fairly well, but is still prove to over committing and causing turnovers that could be avoided with a pass out. He is a great sixth man for the team, but with Abdul having stepped up his game so much offensively and defensively, Overton is getting into the game a little later. He is playing somewhat similar minutes compared to previous years (21.4 this season versus 23.1 minutes last season) so his role has not really diminished. It is hard for me to judge what all we may expect from him this season as 90% of his minutes thus far have been hampered by one injury or another. Before he tweaked his knee, his speed looked to be on the rise again and the outlook was good. If he keeps getting injured, we may see him fall further back on the bench, sadly. I don't expect the injuries to be a trend by any means, but the continual recurrence of such things is mildly worrisome, especially the hamstring injury. Those injuries can take many moons to properly heal if they heal correctly at all. I am optimistic and would say Overton will be back to his old self within another week or two. From the sounds of things, Romar believed Overton could have played versus UNR, but opted to keep him out and give him some more rest. His talents are much more needed against USC and UCLA than UNR. Will he be a 10 point per game player? No, but he should score 6 or 8 almost routinely. We should see him putting out 4+ assists a game. Defensively, we may not see him grab 2 or 3 steals per game, but he will force turnovers. He has the ability to just plain frustrate his opponents and make them resort back to their middle school days of ball handling. Should he start? No. I don't think he is better than Abdul or Isaiah, but he is great at what he does and brings a lot to the table. We will need his speed at one point or another this year I am sure. He is a clutch free throw shooter, something that should not be overlooked in the slightest. I would rather see him in the final minutes than IT, maybe even Gaddy. 90% of the time he will make the right decision. Now it is about getting him to correct those final 10%. He has dropped some beautiful dimes to MBA and Aziz. He also has shown great court awareness, seeing the open shooters and getting them the ball even if he has an open shot.
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Once again MBA teases us all with flashes of brilliance and extreme talent, only to leave us with confusion and anticipation when we play big games. He starts the year scoring 28 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, and only 1 foul. Then comes UK, MSU, and TAMU and he shuts down both on the glass and offensively. I take that back, he was bad against UVA, but did pretty well against MSU minus the rebounding. Against UK he had 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Bleh. Against TAMU he had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 turnovers. Not quite as bleh, but much worse stats than we need from him. In the last two games, Romar has had a nice starting line up with MBA at the 4 and Aziz N'Diaye at the 5. It has worked out great for both players and allowed MBA to return to his offensive rhythm. Now, we need to be reminded his two nice outings were against UNR and USF. Two mid major programs he should crush. What we need from him is some good outings against stronger post players. USC and UCLA have strong frontcourts that should give MBA a chance to either prove himself or flounder once again. Starting alongside Aziz, I think he stands a god chance to do well against USC and UCLA, but we shall see. He lacks the nose and drive to rebound well consistently, but he appears to be turning a corner in that aspect. He finally dove for a loose ball against UNR. It was the first time I had seen that out of him and I was happy to see it. Sure he had the ball knocked out of his hands and was right there, but he still hustled to snatch it right back up. He still jams like a monster and has added some nice post moves to his list of skills. He is running well and getting out front in transition. His ball handling skills still surprise people as he is able to play almost like a point guard at times. Once he starts rebounding 8 or more boards a game as well as scoring 12+ points per game he will be exactly what we expected, wanted, and need him to be. Next Wednesday is a big test of the new line up and hopefully MBA will flourish again. I have criticized him and will give him due credit when he shows up to play against the big boys. Also, we have seen him take a few jumpers from outside the key and they look pretty good so far. Nothing extravagant or overly impressive, but enough to get the job done. He hasn't taken any three pointers, not that he should or needs to, but it is a part of his game he has said is improved.
Brendan Sherrer
It's hard to say much about walk-ons, sadly. On the other hand, Romar has said Sherrer could see some real game minutes if the situation called for it. Romar believes that while Sherrer is not ready or talented enough for high level competition, he could see Sherrer in the game and not be freaking out about the outcome. Sherrer is a big, strong body who could provide some much needed rest or a temporary body in foul trouble situations. He is becoming much more confident in his shot and is not immediately passing off when he gets the ball. Overton has done a great job of making plays for Sherrer on pick and rolls. Sherrer is a screen beast if you haven't noticed. The kid will set 10 or 12 picks per possession it seems like. Great hustle and defense. He may not be major D1 talent, but he has a great heart and love of the game. After a year with the team his conditioning has really picked up and he is now able to play more minutes per game, though still in blowout games. Will we see him in Pac-10 play? Yes. Against the Oregon schools, Stanford, maybe ASU or even Cal . UCLA, WSU, UA, and USC will most likely be competitive games and will not let Sherrer get in play time. Will he play during "real" game situations? Probably not. I think his first opportunity for that type of play will be against Seattle University.
Darnell Gant
One of the biggest surprises of the year was the sudden emergence of Darnell's offensive game. He has never been known as an offensive power by any standard. Suddenly he is out on the court finding open shots and sinking them with ease. While he is still far from being a leading score or a 10+ ppg scorer, he is a threat that opponents must keep honest or he can light up the boards. At one point he was shooting 70% from range on 7 for 10 shooting. That is not a ton of shots, but he was taking open shots and sinking them, something C.J. has struggled with the last two games. He lost his starting spot to MBA in the new, larger, and better rebounding line up (more on this at the end). Darnell has never been much of a rebounder either, but after his poor performance at Texas A&M, which could be argued was a main reason we lost the game, he has toughened up a bit on the glass. He came out against UNR and picked up 4 offensive boards in 14 minutes, a pretty solid performance. He has realized the need to rebound and that as a larger forward, 6-8, he should be helping the team pick up the loose balls. Will he be a 6+ rpg player? No, but he can average 4 to 5 no problem. If he can do this along with Ross and C.J. off the bench, the Huskies will be looking good. His defense is still quite solid as his length allows him to guard just about anyone and do it very well. He isn't the biggest or strongest guy at 6-8 225lbs, but as I said his length is a huge part of his success as a defender. With MBA starting alongside Aziz Gant will play in a variety of line ups where he will play the 4 and at times even play a strange type of 5. Likely we will see Aziz come out first unless he is scoring at a regular clip. Then Aziz will come in to relieve MBA. When Gant is in he needs to continue to create shots, but he also needs to stay closer to home. If he is playing the 4, he can't be dancing around the arc all night. He needs to stay closer at home to rebound the ball. He can be a huge asset for the Dawgs if he steps up the rebounding and maintains his defensive mindset. He doesn't need to score 8 or 10 points a game, but taking the open shots is a great idea and he should continue to try and a create a few shots a game to keep the defenders honest.
Scott Suggs
He got to start one game before losing the position to Gant. To be fair, I really didn't think Suggs could start in front of Gant. He is sadly undersized for the 4 spot and gives up too much size to start. He is not good enough to bump Holiday from the starting 3, so in the meantime he looks to be the first sub off the bench to relieve the 2 or 3 player. He started off looking much the same as last year. A solid, spot up shooter. However, as the season has progressed we have seen a lot more aggressiveness from him and his inside game is much improved. He has been the most consistent shooter for the team, better than Wilcox in my opinion, as he makes his open shots 90% of the time. He has the ability to enter a game and immediately get things under control if we are playing wild or put a team down if we are barely holding a lead. In our wins he is averaging 10ppg while in losses he is averaging 3ppg. Sure the whole team is averaging less points, but 7 less is quite a difference. His defense is looking better, but I still see him struggling off the screen at times. This causes him to be a step or two off his man and this is very dangerous for teams with solid outside shooters or even decent ones who can hit open shots. What I do like is his ability to now get under the basket, rebound, and put it back up real quick for some nice second chance points. I also enjoy his three point shot, though this is something most people know of and appreciate greatly. His consistency is earning him minutes that are becoming tougher to come by as Romar works on narrowing down a tighter rotation as we get into the conference schedule. It appears as though Romar will be playing who ever is hot from the trio of Suggs, Wilcox, and Ross and so far Suggs has proven himself to be a good first option and testing point. He could take Holiday's starting spot next season after graduation. Suggs' mission, get open, take shots, grab a few rebounds.
Isaiah Thomas
Isaiah has had an interesting year and like all star players has taken some heat when he didn't live up to every expectation. He took a bad shot against TAMU that many blame the loss on. At the same time he has also stepped up his passing game both on the perimeter and on the drive. He ended the non conference with a bang scoring a season high 24 points. Sure he went 9-19 from the field, but he shot 40% from range, a solid number. His assist numbers are great, averaging 3.9 a game thus far with an assist to turnover ratio just under 2.0. He has developed a new free throw shot that takes a few more seconds after dribbling to concentrate and so far it is looking much improved and was a great decision by Isaiah. He is going to lead the team in scoring throughout the year, of this I have no doubt. He is too much of a threat inside and out not to be. He has the speed, agility, and strength to drive at will and score. He can create space and shoot. He can also face up and shoot on most defenders. So long as his ego does not get in his way and cause him to take bad shots when he isn't hitting simply to try and score he will be a good guard for this team. He should average between 16 and 20 points on the year with 4+ assists and hopefully an A/T ratio of 2 or more. Another interesting, but great number is 3.8, the number of rebounds he is averaging per game. For a guard, at 5-9 none the less, that is huge. He is a big part of why we are able to get some nice defensive boards. He really gets after it and his toughness combined with his athleticism allows him to get up and grab the ball off the rim. He nearly had a put back jam this year that may have brought the roof down. IT looked like Nate Rob in 04-05. It will be a productive year for IT once again as he climbs the scoring charts for UW. He may earn Pac-10 player of the year awards.
Aziz N'Diaye
What a big and pleasant surprise this junior college transfer has been. His offensive game has really begun to tune itself up nicely in the last week, just in time for Pac-10 play. Over the last two games he is averaging 10ppg and 7.5 rpg alongside MBA who is averaging 13ppg and 10 rpg. The two have worked really well together and I hope the trend continues this week in SoCal. Back to Aziz....He is a tough, tough guy. He is actually rebounding at a better rate per minute than Jon Brockman. Quite a feat. After dealing with some soreness in his knee, it appears the training staff has been able to get him feeling healthy which is allowing him to play 20 to 25 minutes a game. This is great for the Huskies as he is a huge defensive presence, a tremendous rebounder, and shot blocker. His presence on the court also gives MBA and IT more opportunities because his strength demands respect. He is starting to get some post moves that allow him to back down his man and get to the hoop. Aziz has really progressed his offensive game and done it in a very quick and pleasing manner. He actually played one of his better games against UK getting 10 boards and 5 blocks. Sure UK doesn't have a big inside presence, but they are a top caliber team and for him to have that kind of game is brilliant, especially for a player new to the D1 scene. Look for him to step up this week. He strikes me as a player who will excel in tough situations as he has the drive to get down and dirty.
Abdul Gaddy
This kid went from bust to all star in no time. He is confident, he can shoot, he passes like no one else in the nation. He is averaging 4.3 assists in his 23 minutes per game. His assist to turnover ratio is currently 3.6. That is amazing. He is also tied for the most offensively efficient player in the nation with Kemba Walker. He is also averaging 9.5 ppg and is shooting 89% from the free throw line (8 of 9). His also shooting 43% from range on the year and is fairly deadly from outside. His tear drop shot he showed off in limited attempts last season is raining all over the opposition this year. He can drive and dish better than any other guard on the court, except maybe Isaiah. His passes are certainly better, so much better than his teammates often fumble them because they are not ready for such precise ball placement. If I had to put an x-factor on who will be the biggest factor in how our season goes, it could go to either Abdul or Gant who have both dramatically improved and strengthened the team.
Antoine Hosley
Another walk on. He has a weird shot and likes to jack up shots he shouldn't be taking. I would probably do the same. Limited minutes on a major D1 team with a shot at going deep into March, I'm shooting every chance I get. He has good ball handling skills and could run a team decently, but I wouldn't give him normal game minutes.
Terrence Ross
Ross has been off and on all season, offensively. He is a solid rebounder and scrapper. He has a good shot, but he tends to put too much power on it. He is confident in his shot and pulls up with defenders in his face. He can create space using a sick cross over move, very B-Roy like. He plays some good defense and gets low and in the opponents face. He could see 15 or 20 a game if he is shooting well. 10 if he is not. With Romar looking to tighten the rotation he needs to come out shooting and playing well. His rebounding and play making ability make him a prime candidate for play time especially when we are losing the battle on the boards. He may not be a huge star this season, but all the tools are there for him to break out after a year of play under Romar and a summer to work more on his skills. For not having played in HS his senior year, he sure is playing well. He long ball is pretty good, but he needs to work on either arcing more or taking some gas off of it.
C.J. Wilcox
He has the best and most pure shot on the team. The last two games he has not played well or shot well and has played limited minutes due to that. When he is in his groove, he is unstoppable. He has a quick release, good form, and a nice jump that allows him to get over defenders. His defense has really stepped up over the last weeks and he rebounds fairly well in addition to his offensive game. I am interested to see if he can step up against USC and get his shot back into action. When he is shooting well we play much better as his incredible range gives our post more room and opens up our other perimeter players. He missed some open shots in the game against UNR, something that cannot become the norm especially with his great shooters touch. He shoots free throws pretty well. He has a decent dribble drive, but is more prone to penetrate then take a jump shot. He is a potential starter next season with the departure of Justin Holiday.
Final Thoughts
All in all this is one of the better teams UW has seen, possibly better than 04-05 if they play up to their potential and talents. They could either enter conference play tomorrow and show they will be the dominate force or they could begins their road woes again and fall into mediocrity once more. If they can sweep the SoCal schools and start the season 2-0, I think they have a good shot of going undefeated in conference. USC poses the biggest threat this weekend. With a larger frontcourt and some talented guards they are dangerous. They have beaten two top 25 squads and nearly beat Kansas. UA on the road along with USC and WSU on the road appear to be the most challenging games in conference play. So what will our final record look like? We should be 15-3 or better. Worse than that should be considered a disappointment. Personally, I think 18-0 is very doable if we play our game night in and night out. Will this happen? Likely not. Romar's teams tend to struggle near the beginning, but shape up to be hugely talented teams by the time March rolls around. I am predicted 16-2, with a loss to UA on the road and either WSU or USC on the road.
Friday, December 24, 2010
The End of Non Conference: A Look Back Part 1
So I will continue to call this the end of our non conference schedule because plainly, having to continually reiterate to myself and others that we still play Seattle University in February is annoying and unnecessary. With Pac-10 play beginning in less than a week I thought this would be the opportune moment to look back on our 11 games thus far and talk about what was good, bad, ok, as well as do another player by player review based on their seasonal performance thus far and discuss what we need from them/would like to see from them.
We saw two distinct teams from the Huskies through our non conference schedule. We saw the dominant home team that put up 4-100+ point games and a few 90+ point games as well. We led the nation in scoring for quite some time as well as some other stats including assists and three point shooting. After the season opener against McNeese we were first in 6 of 8 categories: PPG, OPPG, RPG, ORPG, Assists, and OAssists. We were second in shooting percentage and opponents shooting percentage. The second team we saw was very strange. They struggled against top 10 teams, yet would be within 2 points in the final minute. This team couldn't close out and win close games. C.J. Wilcox had two opportunities to hit game winning shots, but was unable to convert. IT got blocked on a last second shot that could have won the game when there was a wide open Gant and semi open C.J. on the perimeter. For one reason or another our shooting shut down against good opponents. We couldn't buy a shot and it killed us. On the other side of that, we saw stellar defense throughout the non conference schedule that allowed us to stay in those tough shooting nights until the draining seconds. So while the 8-3 finish is disappointing considering the very possible 11-0 start we could have had, things could have been worse. We could have lost by 20 to teams like UK, MSU, and TAMU on the road. Instead we lost by 7, 4, and 1. Small margins. The 7 and 4 point loses were amplified by free throws at the end of the game. We effectively lost to MSU by 1 point as MBA missed a game tying free throw (just shoot me please...). The worst part of the MSU loss was blowing a 10 point halftime lead. Another interesting fact: We have led at half every game this year. Every single game. A slow start to the second half has been our Achilles Heel.
Now then, a quick recap of all the games. McNeese was complete domination and the revealing of several future super stars for the Huskies. C.J. Wilcox showed off his shooting touch, Terrence Ross brought out his athletic skills and wowed all. Aziz was beastly down low grabbing 10 boards and 15 points despite 3 for 15 shooting from the FT line. This same trend continued until the Maui Invitational. At Maui we opened up with a thorough whomping of the Tony Bennett coached Virginia team. We score 108 points on a coach whose highest score against had been something like 84 points, in double OT mind you. We hit 17 three pointers and could not miss plain and simple. Even Antoine Hosley, a walk on, came onto the court, jacked up a three, and drained it like it was shooting practice back home. We looked and played like a National Championship team that would go undefeated with no opponent being able to match us in any aspect of the game. Then reality hit home. We played Kentucky, somewhat of a blood feud and newly found rivalry after the defection of two highly touted and skilled recruits in Enes Kanter, currently ineligible to play due to NCAA infractions concerning his amateur status as a basketball player, and Terrence Jones, a possible POY candidate in my opinion and the missing piece to an uncontested shot at the Final Four and Title. Things started well for us in that game, taking the early lead. Next thing we know we are down 14. We battle our way back to the lead slowly but surely. We get with 2. Overton gets called for a technical after an official review, something I was unaware could happen. We keep the game within two. Then the unthinkable. Overton is called for a foul despite being elbowed in the face, a violation of a newly heavily enforced rule concerning player safety. UK is given two free throws and the ball. Romar yells for a review and gets it. The UK guard is called for the technical, yet UK is allowed to keep the two points and the ball. Had the ref called the right play originally it would have been our ball and two free throws, instead we are down four and UK has the ball. We end up giving up several key offensive rebounds and lose by 7. We beat ourselves with poor shooting and some holes on defense, but the refs buried us. Then came MSU, our chance for redemption against the #2 team in the nation. We got up by 10 at half, confidence was high once again. We were still shooting poorly, but our defense was keeping us well ahead as our transition game flourished. MSU's coach, Tom Izzo, came out of half time and just out-coached Romar. He set up several inbound plays that led to killer 3 point shots that got them back in the game and eventually took the lead. We had a chance to tie with less than a minute left as MBA went to the line for two shots and the Huskies down two points. He nailed the first. Stress was high, prayers were being spit out as fast as a person could say them. His second shot goes up and out. MSU rebounds. They pick up two offensive rebounds that drain the clock to the point where we are forced to foul. We get the ball, down three. Romar brings in C.J. Wilcox, the three point prodigy, to win the game. At this point he has only played 2 minutes in the game thus far. His cold arm showed as he air balled with 14 seconds left. MSU rebounds and goes on to win by 4. Hopes are crushed. The Huskies drop from 13 in the polls down to 22. The fans and team know we will recover at home and we do, going on to dominate several more mid major programs. We look forward to our final test of the non conference schedule. A match up on the road against Texas A&M who had not lost in 69 straight non conference home games. Rebounding kills us throughout the game as we again struggle to shoot. We force 20 turnovers while causing 20 ourselves. Our defense kept us close. TAMU inbounds the ball with 14 seconds left. We choose to go for the steal rather than the foul, down only 1 point. Isaiah gets the miracle steal with 5 seconds or so left. He dribbles down court, pulls up and half hesitates as he shoots somewhere between the free throw line and the three point line. His shot is swatted away as the buzzer sounds. Another season with road struggles early on. Stress is high to say the least. IT takes heavy criticism. The team moves on and crushes their final home opponents. We dropped out of the AP and Coaches polls, sitting somewhere between 26 and 30 in the rankings. Kenpom still has us at number 5 in the nation. We could fill this position very well if we lived up to our potential and talent, yet we struggled to finish the tough games. We still lack signature victories, but have played several close games to top tier opponents and crushed everyone else with much more expertise than most people predicted.
We now enter Pac-10 play with several schools having picked up wins against ranked opponents, something we did not manage. Yet at the same time, those schools lost by large amounts to teams they should have beaten USC beat number 19 Texas and number 19 Tennessee after losing by 20 at home to Rider. UCLA beat number 18 BYU, but lost to several mid major programs as well. WSU and UA are the only teams with losses to quality opponents. WSU is currently on a roll beating a few solid teams including Baylor. This spices things up for the conference title race as things are not so clear cut in who will take the title. I still feel as though it is ours to lose, but we could see UA, WSU, and possible UCLA or even USC compete for the title.
So what have we done well thus far.
Shooting
For the most part we have been a lights out team. Our home game average is somewhere around 100 points with a margin of victory over 30 points. Against Virginia we shot arguably our best game, hitting 17 three pointers. On the road and in neutral sites our shot struggled. Even in our last two homes games our shots seems to be avoiding the net for one reason or another. We have 8 legitimate three point threats. IT, Holiday, Gaddy, C.J., Ross, Suggs, Overton, and Gant. MBA is said to be able to shoot the long ball a bit as well, but that is not something I want to test. The Huskies have had 4 players score 20+ points thus far. Holiday has had two 20 point games this season. IT has had two 20+ point games. MBA had a 28 point game to start the year. C.J. Wilcox hit 20 as well. With the new starting line up with MBA at the 4 and Aziz at the 5 our post scoring has greatly improved over the last two games and I expect we will continue to see this line up especially against bigger teams like USC and UCLA. There is no doubt we can score and do it in bunches when we get going. The trick is being able to win games when we can't find the long ball and so far that has been pretty iffy at best.
Defense
This has probably been one of the most solid and consistent aspects of the Husky team thus far. Game in and Game out our team has played solid defense. We have had lacking moments and have been taken advantage of, but personally I would rather our defense take its lumps now and learn the mistakes early versus in February and March. I want a deep run this season. I want it bad. So bad. With Justin Holiday and Venoy Overton being recognized as two of the best defenders in the nation along with IT becoming a monster on defense and Aziz in the post as the Great Wall of Sengal we have proven to be a tough team for guards to excel against. Our defense is currently forcing 18.3 turnovers per game. That's pretty darn good. We are only turning the ball over 11.5 times per game, but in the last two games we have committed a total of 9 turnovers (4 against USF, 5 against UNR). If it weren't for our defense UK, MSU, and TAMU would have killed us. This will be what allows us to win close games when our shots just won't fall.
Passing
This is another part of our game that has been stellar the entire year. We are averaging over 19 assists per game and holding opponents to under 10 assists per game. Our 19 assists a game is good for an assist percentage of almost 57% (56.9). That is incredible. We are currently 2nd in the nation for assists per game. The Huskies have been really exceptional at taking an extra pass or even two and three to find the open shooter. Abdul Gaddy, Isaiah Thomas, and Venoy Overton have been absolutely killing it on the assist to turnover ratio. Against USF they had a combined 19/1 ratio. Against UNR Abdul and Isaiah combined for 9/1. Could have been better had MBA not dinked some easy shots next to the basket. We score so well because our team is unselfish and has not only great court vision, but the talent to use it effectively over and over again. Abdul throws passes like no one else can. He finds holes that surprise even our players who are on the receiving end. IT has greatly improved on his ability to dish out on the drive from inside the lanes and has often found MBA and Aziz with waiting arms for an easy lay-in or dunk. Continuing our passing excellence will greatly help our cause. When our team stops passing that is when you can see we are panicking and will lose games.
What has been improving/needs improvement
Rebounding
Slowly, but surely the Huskies have been improving on the glass. Against UNR we finally brought back the A-game we saw against McNeese. After only leading 22-21 at half the Dawgs came out and won the board battle 56-42. MBA finished with 11, Aziz with 10, Holiday with 9, and IT with 8. Man, if IT was 6 inches taller could you imagine what kind of rebounding numbers he could have. Give him credit though, the kid has a nose for the ball and the hops and strength to get after it. Aziz's work ethic on the boards seems to be rubbing on finally on MBA and Gant. With the taller line up, opponents have to make a choice who to box out as they won't be able to get both if MBA and Aziz are doing their jobs right. This is showing in the increased rebounding numbers for both players, though admittedly Aziz's increase is more due to more play time than anything. Aziz plays a tough and rumble game very similar to Brockman, only with the advantage of being 7 feet tall versus 6'7''. Ross, Suggs, and Wilcox have been good on the boards thus far, grabbing a few a game each. Gant started the year soft, but he has been better about getting tough on the boards especially after the TAMU game where he let A&M pick up two costly offensive boards off missed free throws that were put back in. He was lazy on the box out and let his man move him around. He picked up 4 offensive boards in 15 minutes against UNR. MBA had 7 offensive boards against USF. Its still a work in progress, but Romar has them heading in the right direction, I think. Getting 45 boards a game would keep us on top no doubt in my mind, well, assuming the other team doesn't out rebound us even when we grab 45 ourselves. Of course that means a TON of missed shots, which will hopefully not be our fault.
Opening the Second Half
We start so slow coming out of half it seems like. More often than not, the opposition is able to cut down whatever lead we took into half usually within a few minutes as we struggle to make changes to counteract whatever the opposition changed about their play style. To me this is a coaching issue more than a player problem. If the coach sees his players aren't adjusting call a time out. I don't care if its 15 seconds into the game or 4 minutes. The coach's job is to see what the players don't and tell them how to identify and correct it. Our team needs to find its source of inspiration and come out all cylinders firing. Maybe leave the 5 on who ended the first half rather than returning to the starting five? I'm not sure. Romar has been able to address the half court offense pretty well and is developing some great baseline cut plays and backdoor screens. I am hopeful he will be able to address and solve our slow start problem. Obviously it can be done because the other teams always seems to manage a nice run to start the second half. Why can't we do the same?
Speaking of it
Half Court Offense
This was the nagging problem that caused us so many problems against MSU and UK, even TAMU. When we couldn't find out shot we seemed lost to do anything else offensively. We didn't seem to have a plan or an ability to run plays. It came down to mostly lazy screens, some sloppy pick and rolls, and a hope that some one could get themselves open. Running an offense is on the coach completely. The players need some direction, especially at the college level where they are still learning and perfecting the game. Romar is addressing this issue pretty darn well and it is showing our decreased turnovers and increased post efficiency. Our half court offense is definitely in its infant stages still, but it is better than nothing. We have a lot of talent that can benefit from a solid half court offense if we can get it rolling.
I think I'll continue this discussion in another post I'll try to put up tomorrow. Being on break is nice. I have time to write about more than just the games. More later! Peace.
We saw two distinct teams from the Huskies through our non conference schedule. We saw the dominant home team that put up 4-100+ point games and a few 90+ point games as well. We led the nation in scoring for quite some time as well as some other stats including assists and three point shooting. After the season opener against McNeese we were first in 6 of 8 categories: PPG, OPPG, RPG, ORPG, Assists, and OAssists. We were second in shooting percentage and opponents shooting percentage. The second team we saw was very strange. They struggled against top 10 teams, yet would be within 2 points in the final minute. This team couldn't close out and win close games. C.J. Wilcox had two opportunities to hit game winning shots, but was unable to convert. IT got blocked on a last second shot that could have won the game when there was a wide open Gant and semi open C.J. on the perimeter. For one reason or another our shooting shut down against good opponents. We couldn't buy a shot and it killed us. On the other side of that, we saw stellar defense throughout the non conference schedule that allowed us to stay in those tough shooting nights until the draining seconds. So while the 8-3 finish is disappointing considering the very possible 11-0 start we could have had, things could have been worse. We could have lost by 20 to teams like UK, MSU, and TAMU on the road. Instead we lost by 7, 4, and 1. Small margins. The 7 and 4 point loses were amplified by free throws at the end of the game. We effectively lost to MSU by 1 point as MBA missed a game tying free throw (just shoot me please...). The worst part of the MSU loss was blowing a 10 point halftime lead. Another interesting fact: We have led at half every game this year. Every single game. A slow start to the second half has been our Achilles Heel.
Now then, a quick recap of all the games. McNeese was complete domination and the revealing of several future super stars for the Huskies. C.J. Wilcox showed off his shooting touch, Terrence Ross brought out his athletic skills and wowed all. Aziz was beastly down low grabbing 10 boards and 15 points despite 3 for 15 shooting from the FT line. This same trend continued until the Maui Invitational. At Maui we opened up with a thorough whomping of the Tony Bennett coached Virginia team. We score 108 points on a coach whose highest score against had been something like 84 points, in double OT mind you. We hit 17 three pointers and could not miss plain and simple. Even Antoine Hosley, a walk on, came onto the court, jacked up a three, and drained it like it was shooting practice back home. We looked and played like a National Championship team that would go undefeated with no opponent being able to match us in any aspect of the game. Then reality hit home. We played Kentucky, somewhat of a blood feud and newly found rivalry after the defection of two highly touted and skilled recruits in Enes Kanter, currently ineligible to play due to NCAA infractions concerning his amateur status as a basketball player, and Terrence Jones, a possible POY candidate in my opinion and the missing piece to an uncontested shot at the Final Four and Title. Things started well for us in that game, taking the early lead. Next thing we know we are down 14. We battle our way back to the lead slowly but surely. We get with 2. Overton gets called for a technical after an official review, something I was unaware could happen. We keep the game within two. Then the unthinkable. Overton is called for a foul despite being elbowed in the face, a violation of a newly heavily enforced rule concerning player safety. UK is given two free throws and the ball. Romar yells for a review and gets it. The UK guard is called for the technical, yet UK is allowed to keep the two points and the ball. Had the ref called the right play originally it would have been our ball and two free throws, instead we are down four and UK has the ball. We end up giving up several key offensive rebounds and lose by 7. We beat ourselves with poor shooting and some holes on defense, but the refs buried us. Then came MSU, our chance for redemption against the #2 team in the nation. We got up by 10 at half, confidence was high once again. We were still shooting poorly, but our defense was keeping us well ahead as our transition game flourished. MSU's coach, Tom Izzo, came out of half time and just out-coached Romar. He set up several inbound plays that led to killer 3 point shots that got them back in the game and eventually took the lead. We had a chance to tie with less than a minute left as MBA went to the line for two shots and the Huskies down two points. He nailed the first. Stress was high, prayers were being spit out as fast as a person could say them. His second shot goes up and out. MSU rebounds. They pick up two offensive rebounds that drain the clock to the point where we are forced to foul. We get the ball, down three. Romar brings in C.J. Wilcox, the three point prodigy, to win the game. At this point he has only played 2 minutes in the game thus far. His cold arm showed as he air balled with 14 seconds left. MSU rebounds and goes on to win by 4. Hopes are crushed. The Huskies drop from 13 in the polls down to 22. The fans and team know we will recover at home and we do, going on to dominate several more mid major programs. We look forward to our final test of the non conference schedule. A match up on the road against Texas A&M who had not lost in 69 straight non conference home games. Rebounding kills us throughout the game as we again struggle to shoot. We force 20 turnovers while causing 20 ourselves. Our defense kept us close. TAMU inbounds the ball with 14 seconds left. We choose to go for the steal rather than the foul, down only 1 point. Isaiah gets the miracle steal with 5 seconds or so left. He dribbles down court, pulls up and half hesitates as he shoots somewhere between the free throw line and the three point line. His shot is swatted away as the buzzer sounds. Another season with road struggles early on. Stress is high to say the least. IT takes heavy criticism. The team moves on and crushes their final home opponents. We dropped out of the AP and Coaches polls, sitting somewhere between 26 and 30 in the rankings. Kenpom still has us at number 5 in the nation. We could fill this position very well if we lived up to our potential and talent, yet we struggled to finish the tough games. We still lack signature victories, but have played several close games to top tier opponents and crushed everyone else with much more expertise than most people predicted.
We now enter Pac-10 play with several schools having picked up wins against ranked opponents, something we did not manage. Yet at the same time, those schools lost by large amounts to teams they should have beaten USC beat number 19 Texas and number 19 Tennessee after losing by 20 at home to Rider. UCLA beat number 18 BYU, but lost to several mid major programs as well. WSU and UA are the only teams with losses to quality opponents. WSU is currently on a roll beating a few solid teams including Baylor. This spices things up for the conference title race as things are not so clear cut in who will take the title. I still feel as though it is ours to lose, but we could see UA, WSU, and possible UCLA or even USC compete for the title.
So what have we done well thus far.
Shooting
For the most part we have been a lights out team. Our home game average is somewhere around 100 points with a margin of victory over 30 points. Against Virginia we shot arguably our best game, hitting 17 three pointers. On the road and in neutral sites our shot struggled. Even in our last two homes games our shots seems to be avoiding the net for one reason or another. We have 8 legitimate three point threats. IT, Holiday, Gaddy, C.J., Ross, Suggs, Overton, and Gant. MBA is said to be able to shoot the long ball a bit as well, but that is not something I want to test. The Huskies have had 4 players score 20+ points thus far. Holiday has had two 20 point games this season. IT has had two 20+ point games. MBA had a 28 point game to start the year. C.J. Wilcox hit 20 as well. With the new starting line up with MBA at the 4 and Aziz at the 5 our post scoring has greatly improved over the last two games and I expect we will continue to see this line up especially against bigger teams like USC and UCLA. There is no doubt we can score and do it in bunches when we get going. The trick is being able to win games when we can't find the long ball and so far that has been pretty iffy at best.
Defense
This has probably been one of the most solid and consistent aspects of the Husky team thus far. Game in and Game out our team has played solid defense. We have had lacking moments and have been taken advantage of, but personally I would rather our defense take its lumps now and learn the mistakes early versus in February and March. I want a deep run this season. I want it bad. So bad. With Justin Holiday and Venoy Overton being recognized as two of the best defenders in the nation along with IT becoming a monster on defense and Aziz in the post as the Great Wall of Sengal we have proven to be a tough team for guards to excel against. Our defense is currently forcing 18.3 turnovers per game. That's pretty darn good. We are only turning the ball over 11.5 times per game, but in the last two games we have committed a total of 9 turnovers (4 against USF, 5 against UNR). If it weren't for our defense UK, MSU, and TAMU would have killed us. This will be what allows us to win close games when our shots just won't fall.
Passing
This is another part of our game that has been stellar the entire year. We are averaging over 19 assists per game and holding opponents to under 10 assists per game. Our 19 assists a game is good for an assist percentage of almost 57% (56.9). That is incredible. We are currently 2nd in the nation for assists per game. The Huskies have been really exceptional at taking an extra pass or even two and three to find the open shooter. Abdul Gaddy, Isaiah Thomas, and Venoy Overton have been absolutely killing it on the assist to turnover ratio. Against USF they had a combined 19/1 ratio. Against UNR Abdul and Isaiah combined for 9/1. Could have been better had MBA not dinked some easy shots next to the basket. We score so well because our team is unselfish and has not only great court vision, but the talent to use it effectively over and over again. Abdul throws passes like no one else can. He finds holes that surprise even our players who are on the receiving end. IT has greatly improved on his ability to dish out on the drive from inside the lanes and has often found MBA and Aziz with waiting arms for an easy lay-in or dunk. Continuing our passing excellence will greatly help our cause. When our team stops passing that is when you can see we are panicking and will lose games.
What has been improving/needs improvement
Rebounding
Slowly, but surely the Huskies have been improving on the glass. Against UNR we finally brought back the A-game we saw against McNeese. After only leading 22-21 at half the Dawgs came out and won the board battle 56-42. MBA finished with 11, Aziz with 10, Holiday with 9, and IT with 8. Man, if IT was 6 inches taller could you imagine what kind of rebounding numbers he could have. Give him credit though, the kid has a nose for the ball and the hops and strength to get after it. Aziz's work ethic on the boards seems to be rubbing on finally on MBA and Gant. With the taller line up, opponents have to make a choice who to box out as they won't be able to get both if MBA and Aziz are doing their jobs right. This is showing in the increased rebounding numbers for both players, though admittedly Aziz's increase is more due to more play time than anything. Aziz plays a tough and rumble game very similar to Brockman, only with the advantage of being 7 feet tall versus 6'7''. Ross, Suggs, and Wilcox have been good on the boards thus far, grabbing a few a game each. Gant started the year soft, but he has been better about getting tough on the boards especially after the TAMU game where he let A&M pick up two costly offensive boards off missed free throws that were put back in. He was lazy on the box out and let his man move him around. He picked up 4 offensive boards in 15 minutes against UNR. MBA had 7 offensive boards against USF. Its still a work in progress, but Romar has them heading in the right direction, I think. Getting 45 boards a game would keep us on top no doubt in my mind, well, assuming the other team doesn't out rebound us even when we grab 45 ourselves. Of course that means a TON of missed shots, which will hopefully not be our fault.
Opening the Second Half
We start so slow coming out of half it seems like. More often than not, the opposition is able to cut down whatever lead we took into half usually within a few minutes as we struggle to make changes to counteract whatever the opposition changed about their play style. To me this is a coaching issue more than a player problem. If the coach sees his players aren't adjusting call a time out. I don't care if its 15 seconds into the game or 4 minutes. The coach's job is to see what the players don't and tell them how to identify and correct it. Our team needs to find its source of inspiration and come out all cylinders firing. Maybe leave the 5 on who ended the first half rather than returning to the starting five? I'm not sure. Romar has been able to address the half court offense pretty well and is developing some great baseline cut plays and backdoor screens. I am hopeful he will be able to address and solve our slow start problem. Obviously it can be done because the other teams always seems to manage a nice run to start the second half. Why can't we do the same?
Speaking of it
Half Court Offense
This was the nagging problem that caused us so many problems against MSU and UK, even TAMU. When we couldn't find out shot we seemed lost to do anything else offensively. We didn't seem to have a plan or an ability to run plays. It came down to mostly lazy screens, some sloppy pick and rolls, and a hope that some one could get themselves open. Running an offense is on the coach completely. The players need some direction, especially at the college level where they are still learning and perfecting the game. Romar is addressing this issue pretty darn well and it is showing our decreased turnovers and increased post efficiency. Our half court offense is definitely in its infant stages still, but it is better than nothing. We have a lot of talent that can benefit from a solid half court offense if we can get it rolling.
I think I'll continue this discussion in another post I'll try to put up tomorrow. Being on break is nice. I have time to write about more than just the games. More later! Peace.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
University of Nevada-Reno Review
Final Score: UW-90 UNR-60
Overton was sat out today with a hyper-extended knee he suffered on Monday. Coach said he could have played, but they decided he would be better off resting.
In the final home non conference game of the year the Huskies dominated once again. The shooting was once more subpar over all, but Holiday and Suggs looked great from range. C.J. struggled going 1-4 from range and 1-7 overall including a few open shots he should have nailed without a problem. Isaiah went 4-10 from range and 9-19 over all, but scored a season high 24 points with 8 rebounds. Washington had 4 players with double doubles or close to it. MBA had 16 points and 11 rebounds with 8 defensive boards. Aziz N'Diaye had 11 points and 10 rebounds including 5 offensive boards. IT led the team in scoring with 24 and had 8 boards. Holiday filled the stat sheet once again before leaving the game with a sprained ankle Romar said did not appear serious and Holiday should be ready by next their next game against USC. Holiday had 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block. What a beast. UW won the rebounding battle quite solidly finishing 56-42. UW led at half by only one board at 22-21.
So what did we see out there tonight? We saw us play how we should be playing every game. We were able to score down low and rebound (27 points and 21 boards from our bigs, finally!) Our shooting, while not up to our usual standards was not completely terrible. We shot 46% from range in the first half, but only 31% in the second. Overall the Dawgs went 35-83 from the field, 42%. Not great, but could be worse. The Huskies had 18 assists on the night led by Adbul Gaddy who had 5 assists and 0 turnovers, but played a forgettable game otherwise going 1-6 from the field and picking up 4 fouls, including tw quick back to back fouls for numbers 3 and 4. Our defense was absolutely crippling as the Huskies held UNR to 28.3% shooting on the night including 16.7% from range (2-12). The Huskies had 7 steals and 7 blocks and forced 11 turnovers on the night. Not quite the 20 or so I expected, but limiting our own to 5 once again was brilliant. Gant, Ross, and Suggs did a great job for the Huskies off the bench. Both Gant and Ross picked up 4 boards. The three combined for 23 points, including a very emphatic jam by Ross off a beautiful alley oop by IT.
What Was OK
Shooting
Not our best night by any means. Two players missing 10 shots a piece is normally a rough night, yet we still managed to score 90 points due to great rebounding. Almost all of MBA's misses were off of lay-ins and break-aways. He put most of them right back in, padding his rebounding stats. On one particular play he had an easy lay-in opportunity in transition that bounced back out, but Aziz was trailing nicely and jammed it home.
C.J. once against struggled to find a rhythm and made his only shot as time expired in the first half. One would hope he can regain his shooting prowess before next Wednesday against USC. We need his shot to be hot as USC has a lot of size down low that will make MBA and Aziz's day a lot harder. The opportunities inside may not be there that we had today.
Holiday and Suggs were the best shooters for the Huskies tonight. Sure IT led the team in scoring, but he missed 10 shots and took some bold 3 point shots he probably shouldn't have. Ross shot fairly well going 3-7 from the field. He is still shooting with too much power and needs to either arc the ball more or take some gas off his shot.
IT was a monster on the drive, faking behind the back passes, driving through three and four players with ease, dropping off passes, pulling up and shooting. He did it all. The only part of his game that really wasn't up to par was his outside shot. 4-10 isn't bad, but he has done much better and is capable of much better.
Fouling
UNR attempted 33 free throws and made 24, while UW made 9 of 15 (MBA was 4-9, bleh...). Three players attempted 7 or more free throws. We cannot let teams get to the line that often. This is how the 08-09 team did so well. They drew tons of fouls and converted them to points, which allowed them to win close games. USC is turning into a solid team and if we let them take 30+ free throws we will be in a much tighter situation than we want.
What Was Good
Defense
UW dominated defensively tonight. 11 turnovers including 7 steals is very nice. Add in the 7 blocks and holding UNR to 17-60 from the field and you have yourself one heck of a defensive effort. The Huskies also picked up 35 defensive boards and limited UNR to 13 offensive boards. A nice job in taking away second chance opportunities. MBA had 4 blocks tonight and Justin Holiday led the team with 3 steals. MBA and Ross split the remaining 4 steals with 2 a piece. UW also held UNR to 0 assists in the first half. 0. Excellent. UNR ended the night with 5 assists, the same number as UW had turnovers on the game. Kevin Panzer, one of the starting 5 for UNR, played 23 minutes and missed his only field goal attempt as well as his only free throw attempt and was held scoreless. Nice job Holiday.
Passing
18 assists on 35 makes. Once again, above a 50% assist rate. Our unselfishness showed itself in one particular play quite splendidly. MBA had a steal near center court. He passed to a leading Holiday who dropped the ball down low to C.J. who had a bad shot under the basket and instead passed out to Suggs who dropped in the tre. Completely unselfish, team basketball at its finest. Find the open man and work it around until you get the best shot. Isaiah had a number of great passes to Aziz and MBA, finishing with 4 assists. Isaiah could have had close to 8 had MBA not dinked so many close and easy baskets.
The Bigs
All three, MBA, Aziz, and Gant, had pretty solid nights. MBA was somewhat of a mess offensively on his shots, but still managed 16 points. His free throw shooting still leaves me shaking my head, but I'll take what I can get. His 11 boards gives him 20 over the last two games. He appears to be peaking at the right time.
Along that same vein, Aziz is really coming into his own over the last week of play. 20 points and 15 boards including his double double tonight in his last two outings. This new line up with MBA at the 4 and Aziz at the 5 is doing wonders for our team offensively and approaches more of a "traditional" NBA line up. Aziz is finally throwing down instead of putting up softies. He is also using some nice post moves that have developed into useful tools. Only one block tonight. He could have had more if our guards had moved out of the way and let him do his thing. Regardless, he was a big part of why the Wolfpack struggled to shoot tonight as once again his size is a shot and game changer.
Gant picked up 4 boards, all offensive, in his 14 minutes of play. He did a great job while he was in, especially in the last 10 minutes or so when he started to score a bit as well. If he can continue to get 4 boards in 15 minutes or 6 in 20 we will be feeling much more comfortable, especially with MBA and Aziz picking up close to 10, if not more, a piece.
Player by Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
Sat out with a hyper-extended knee. Should be good to go by next week. Has been plagues by injuries this year. Too bad, especially since it is his senior season. We wish he the best and a speedy recovery, though it sounds like he could have played today had we needed him.
Grade: N/A
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Sloppy offensively, but put up nice numbers. His sloppy offensive padded his rebounding numbers, but he still did a nice job picking up 8 defensive boards. His 4 blocks only begin to tell his defensive efforts on the night. I wouldn't call him the MVP defensively, but he was pretty solid on the court tonight. He is working really well with Aziz and they don't seem to negatively impact each others' games at all. If anything their games have dramatically improved the more they have played together. MBA needs to make the close and easy ones. In the highlight vid of the game, link below, you can see an example of one of his close misses. Thankfully Aziz was trailing to clean it up. 6-16 from the field with 0-0 from range is not good. The short ones should be dropping in no problem. 4-9 from the FT line is not a good number either. He needs to be hitting 6 or 7 of 9. He may never be an 80% FT shooter, but he needs to get to at least 70%.
Grade: A-
Justin Holiday
I give Justin the MVP of the night. He must think he is a Thanksgiving chef, because he just crams and stuffs the stats sheets full of numbers game in and game out. 12,9,3,2,1. What a line. Only 1 foul as well and he played 28 minutes. Who would have thought at the beginning of last season Holiday would be putting up double digits almost every game this year and that any night he didn't would be considered an off night? Last season if Holiday had scored 8 or 12 points we would have been saying "wow, what a game for Holiday!" Instead we are now going "man, Holiday only got 10. What was wrong with his shot?" What a blessing to have Holiday develop into such a prolific offensive weapon to round out his already stifling defensive abilities. He left with an ankle sprain that the x-rays showed to not be serous, according to Romar. He should be healthy by next week.
Grade: A+
Darnell Gant
Only 14 minutes of play for Gant, but he used it very well. 4 offensive boards and 8 points on 2-5 shooting isn't bad at all. His limited minutes were likely due to his 4 fouls he picked up. He played much tougher and much more aggressive on the glass than I have seen him play this year. Maybe the A&M game woke him up to the fact that he needs to box out and help on the glass, snatching as many boards as he can. It really helps our team when our post sub player can come in and grab rebounds as well. His outside shot is still looking good and he is not taking bad shots. I like this a lot.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
Once again, Suggs came off the bench to offer up some nice shots and some good range. He went 3-6 from the field and hit 2 long balls. He got knocked around a bit on defense, but was otherwise pretty good. If he can put on some more muscle, he looks to be a star next season or even later this season. Not his best game, but it was a good effort for 19 minutes of play. Nailing that shot assisted by C.J. was huge. He has been making the open shots where C.J. has been missing as of late.
Grade: B
Brendan Sherrer
No points tonight in his two minutes. He supposedly had a turnover, but I didn't see it. Either way, it was another night a the Victory Cigar.
Grade: A for effort
Isaiah Thomas
Another candidate for MVP of the game. His 24 points and 8 rebounds were brilliant. This type of break out game right before conference play begins will be huge to his momentum going into next week. It only takes one game to get a player going and this could have been that game. UNR had some decent size that IT had to combat, including a defensive assignment on a guy 7 inches taller and 40lbs heavier in Malik Story, who IT helped hold to 5-12 shooting. While he may have missed a bunch of shots, 9-19 and 4-10 from range, he drove like a wild animal. He looks back in form in that sense. His passing is still excelling, with 4 assists. I think his best play was either the fake behind the back pass to a lay-in or the alley oop to Terrence Ross who threw down a gnarly dunk.
Grade: A
Abdul Gaddy
Off night for the sophomore guard. He went 1-6 from the field and didn't score until the second half. He had 4 fouls which limited his play in the second half. He did manage to once again commit 0 turnovers and put up 5 assists. He is a magnificent passing machine. He had a beautiful pass line drive where he did a crazy spin move to go around his defender. The pass made its way out to Ross, who sadly missed the long ball. If Ross had made the shot, the play would have been on the ESPN top 10, I guarantee it. Let's hope he can mentally move on and prepare for next week's opener against USC. We need him to be at the top of his game.
Grade: B-
Aziz N'Diaye
Another fantastic night for Aziz. His second double double of the year, posting 11 points and 10 rebounds. It's hard to describe effectively just how much of a turn around we have seen from him the last two games. He has gone from a 4 to 5 point a game scorer to someone who could and should be posting double digits and maybe even double doubles, every night. He may not be as fancy as MBA, but with his size and length he doesn't need to be. He has the muscle to work the ball down low. He just needs to add some face up moves to get a clearer shot at the hoop. I am glad to see he is beginning to dunk the ball first and foremost on the put backs and passes rather than going for the bank shot. He picked up two fouls tonight, but the second one was complete nonsense. He had position, he was outside the invisible arc, his feet were set. A perfect charge situation, yet somehow the ref manages to call it a block. Whatever....give Aziz credit for knowing how to behave defensively to avoid foul trouble.
Grade: A
C.J. Wilcox
Man, I don't know what is up with Wilcox, but his shot has just been OFF. It pains me to see him struggle and only score three on the night when we know and have seen him put up points like no other. Maybe it has just been a rough week and he will recover in LA. All I know is that we need him to be hitting come next Wednesday. He did have 2 assists and 3 rebounds, but this hardly qualifies as a good night for such a normally outstanding player. Get it together C.J., we need you.
Grade: C
Terrence Ross
What an athlete. If that alley-oop dunk doesn't convince you of that, maybe his cross over to create space will. Just watch that highlight vid and see it at work. That isn't even the first time that has worked so beautifully. He looks like B-Roy out there. Sure, he "only" managed 9 points, but he also grabbed 4 boards and had 2 steals in 19 minutes of play. Pretty solid night for sure. This kid is going to start breaking out real soon. Once he gets the rust out of his long ball, look out, he will be lighting it up for 15 a night. He is a confident shooter, which I love, and has the ball handling to make his own shots and space.
Grade: B+
Antoine Hosley
No points tonight. He did take a shot, but it air balled. He will jack up at least one shot every time he enters the game, usually a 3 pointer. I don't blame him. I would totally do the same thing if I was a walk on for a division 1 team. You only get so many minutes, try to score. His shot is still wonky as ever, but that's OK we love him regardless.
Grade: A for effort
Final Thoughts
Tonight was a solid victory and a great dominant performance to get us rolling into conference play. If we can rebound as efficiently against USC and put up a dominant performance, we may manage to find ourselves in the top 25 again as USC has beaten two ranked teams. Personally, I don't care too much about the "top 25", I just want the win. I would prefer to see us come out and just crush USC, but I would take a close, 5 to 10 point, game.While UNR's size may not have been the strongest or most talented it was a bit of a preview for next weeks battle against USC who has two tough forwards. A week of rest and practice should have us up and ready for another road test. We should come away from LA with a 2-0 start to the season, but it will be no gimme. The Huskies will likely have two tough battles to fight, but in the end our bench depth and overall talent should see us through.
Also, it is important to note that the USC-UW game will not be televised. FSN, the bums, are showing WSU-UCLA as their national game at 8pm, thus the local networks cannot show any games during that time. The USC-UW game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30pm and USC has refused to reschedule to 6pm to gain television coverage for whatever convoluted reason they seem to deem reasonable. I know there have been several viewing parties schedules as many Husky fans will be in the area rooting on the Football team in the Holiday Bowl. FSN and USC are really screwing the pooch big time on this one. Oh well, time to bust out the old radio once more.
Links:
Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsJSnqCK5uw&feature=player_embedded
Percy Allen: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2013744757_isaiah_thomas_t_1.html
Montlake Madness: http://www.montlakemadness.com/huskies-dominate-nevada-90-60/
Overton was sat out today with a hyper-extended knee he suffered on Monday. Coach said he could have played, but they decided he would be better off resting.
In the final home non conference game of the year the Huskies dominated once again. The shooting was once more subpar over all, but Holiday and Suggs looked great from range. C.J. struggled going 1-4 from range and 1-7 overall including a few open shots he should have nailed without a problem. Isaiah went 4-10 from range and 9-19 over all, but scored a season high 24 points with 8 rebounds. Washington had 4 players with double doubles or close to it. MBA had 16 points and 11 rebounds with 8 defensive boards. Aziz N'Diaye had 11 points and 10 rebounds including 5 offensive boards. IT led the team in scoring with 24 and had 8 boards. Holiday filled the stat sheet once again before leaving the game with a sprained ankle Romar said did not appear serious and Holiday should be ready by next their next game against USC. Holiday had 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block. What a beast. UW won the rebounding battle quite solidly finishing 56-42. UW led at half by only one board at 22-21.
So what did we see out there tonight? We saw us play how we should be playing every game. We were able to score down low and rebound (27 points and 21 boards from our bigs, finally!) Our shooting, while not up to our usual standards was not completely terrible. We shot 46% from range in the first half, but only 31% in the second. Overall the Dawgs went 35-83 from the field, 42%. Not great, but could be worse. The Huskies had 18 assists on the night led by Adbul Gaddy who had 5 assists and 0 turnovers, but played a forgettable game otherwise going 1-6 from the field and picking up 4 fouls, including tw quick back to back fouls for numbers 3 and 4. Our defense was absolutely crippling as the Huskies held UNR to 28.3% shooting on the night including 16.7% from range (2-12). The Huskies had 7 steals and 7 blocks and forced 11 turnovers on the night. Not quite the 20 or so I expected, but limiting our own to 5 once again was brilliant. Gant, Ross, and Suggs did a great job for the Huskies off the bench. Both Gant and Ross picked up 4 boards. The three combined for 23 points, including a very emphatic jam by Ross off a beautiful alley oop by IT.
What Was OK
Shooting
Not our best night by any means. Two players missing 10 shots a piece is normally a rough night, yet we still managed to score 90 points due to great rebounding. Almost all of MBA's misses were off of lay-ins and break-aways. He put most of them right back in, padding his rebounding stats. On one particular play he had an easy lay-in opportunity in transition that bounced back out, but Aziz was trailing nicely and jammed it home.
C.J. once against struggled to find a rhythm and made his only shot as time expired in the first half. One would hope he can regain his shooting prowess before next Wednesday against USC. We need his shot to be hot as USC has a lot of size down low that will make MBA and Aziz's day a lot harder. The opportunities inside may not be there that we had today.
Holiday and Suggs were the best shooters for the Huskies tonight. Sure IT led the team in scoring, but he missed 10 shots and took some bold 3 point shots he probably shouldn't have. Ross shot fairly well going 3-7 from the field. He is still shooting with too much power and needs to either arc the ball more or take some gas off his shot.
IT was a monster on the drive, faking behind the back passes, driving through three and four players with ease, dropping off passes, pulling up and shooting. He did it all. The only part of his game that really wasn't up to par was his outside shot. 4-10 isn't bad, but he has done much better and is capable of much better.
Fouling
UNR attempted 33 free throws and made 24, while UW made 9 of 15 (MBA was 4-9, bleh...). Three players attempted 7 or more free throws. We cannot let teams get to the line that often. This is how the 08-09 team did so well. They drew tons of fouls and converted them to points, which allowed them to win close games. USC is turning into a solid team and if we let them take 30+ free throws we will be in a much tighter situation than we want.
What Was Good
Defense
UW dominated defensively tonight. 11 turnovers including 7 steals is very nice. Add in the 7 blocks and holding UNR to 17-60 from the field and you have yourself one heck of a defensive effort. The Huskies also picked up 35 defensive boards and limited UNR to 13 offensive boards. A nice job in taking away second chance opportunities. MBA had 4 blocks tonight and Justin Holiday led the team with 3 steals. MBA and Ross split the remaining 4 steals with 2 a piece. UW also held UNR to 0 assists in the first half. 0. Excellent. UNR ended the night with 5 assists, the same number as UW had turnovers on the game. Kevin Panzer, one of the starting 5 for UNR, played 23 minutes and missed his only field goal attempt as well as his only free throw attempt and was held scoreless. Nice job Holiday.
Passing
18 assists on 35 makes. Once again, above a 50% assist rate. Our unselfishness showed itself in one particular play quite splendidly. MBA had a steal near center court. He passed to a leading Holiday who dropped the ball down low to C.J. who had a bad shot under the basket and instead passed out to Suggs who dropped in the tre. Completely unselfish, team basketball at its finest. Find the open man and work it around until you get the best shot. Isaiah had a number of great passes to Aziz and MBA, finishing with 4 assists. Isaiah could have had close to 8 had MBA not dinked so many close and easy baskets.
The Bigs
All three, MBA, Aziz, and Gant, had pretty solid nights. MBA was somewhat of a mess offensively on his shots, but still managed 16 points. His free throw shooting still leaves me shaking my head, but I'll take what I can get. His 11 boards gives him 20 over the last two games. He appears to be peaking at the right time.
Along that same vein, Aziz is really coming into his own over the last week of play. 20 points and 15 boards including his double double tonight in his last two outings. This new line up with MBA at the 4 and Aziz at the 5 is doing wonders for our team offensively and approaches more of a "traditional" NBA line up. Aziz is finally throwing down instead of putting up softies. He is also using some nice post moves that have developed into useful tools. Only one block tonight. He could have had more if our guards had moved out of the way and let him do his thing. Regardless, he was a big part of why the Wolfpack struggled to shoot tonight as once again his size is a shot and game changer.
Gant picked up 4 boards, all offensive, in his 14 minutes of play. He did a great job while he was in, especially in the last 10 minutes or so when he started to score a bit as well. If he can continue to get 4 boards in 15 minutes or 6 in 20 we will be feeling much more comfortable, especially with MBA and Aziz picking up close to 10, if not more, a piece.
Player by Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
Sat out with a hyper-extended knee. Should be good to go by next week. Has been plagues by injuries this year. Too bad, especially since it is his senior season. We wish he the best and a speedy recovery, though it sounds like he could have played today had we needed him.
Grade: N/A
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Sloppy offensively, but put up nice numbers. His sloppy offensive padded his rebounding numbers, but he still did a nice job picking up 8 defensive boards. His 4 blocks only begin to tell his defensive efforts on the night. I wouldn't call him the MVP defensively, but he was pretty solid on the court tonight. He is working really well with Aziz and they don't seem to negatively impact each others' games at all. If anything their games have dramatically improved the more they have played together. MBA needs to make the close and easy ones. In the highlight vid of the game, link below, you can see an example of one of his close misses. Thankfully Aziz was trailing to clean it up. 6-16 from the field with 0-0 from range is not good. The short ones should be dropping in no problem. 4-9 from the FT line is not a good number either. He needs to be hitting 6 or 7 of 9. He may never be an 80% FT shooter, but he needs to get to at least 70%.
Grade: A-
Justin Holiday
I give Justin the MVP of the night. He must think he is a Thanksgiving chef, because he just crams and stuffs the stats sheets full of numbers game in and game out. 12,9,3,2,1. What a line. Only 1 foul as well and he played 28 minutes. Who would have thought at the beginning of last season Holiday would be putting up double digits almost every game this year and that any night he didn't would be considered an off night? Last season if Holiday had scored 8 or 12 points we would have been saying "wow, what a game for Holiday!" Instead we are now going "man, Holiday only got 10. What was wrong with his shot?" What a blessing to have Holiday develop into such a prolific offensive weapon to round out his already stifling defensive abilities. He left with an ankle sprain that the x-rays showed to not be serous, according to Romar. He should be healthy by next week.
Grade: A+
Darnell Gant
Only 14 minutes of play for Gant, but he used it very well. 4 offensive boards and 8 points on 2-5 shooting isn't bad at all. His limited minutes were likely due to his 4 fouls he picked up. He played much tougher and much more aggressive on the glass than I have seen him play this year. Maybe the A&M game woke him up to the fact that he needs to box out and help on the glass, snatching as many boards as he can. It really helps our team when our post sub player can come in and grab rebounds as well. His outside shot is still looking good and he is not taking bad shots. I like this a lot.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
Once again, Suggs came off the bench to offer up some nice shots and some good range. He went 3-6 from the field and hit 2 long balls. He got knocked around a bit on defense, but was otherwise pretty good. If he can put on some more muscle, he looks to be a star next season or even later this season. Not his best game, but it was a good effort for 19 minutes of play. Nailing that shot assisted by C.J. was huge. He has been making the open shots where C.J. has been missing as of late.
Grade: B
Brendan Sherrer
No points tonight in his two minutes. He supposedly had a turnover, but I didn't see it. Either way, it was another night a the Victory Cigar.
Grade: A for effort
Isaiah Thomas
Another candidate for MVP of the game. His 24 points and 8 rebounds were brilliant. This type of break out game right before conference play begins will be huge to his momentum going into next week. It only takes one game to get a player going and this could have been that game. UNR had some decent size that IT had to combat, including a defensive assignment on a guy 7 inches taller and 40lbs heavier in Malik Story, who IT helped hold to 5-12 shooting. While he may have missed a bunch of shots, 9-19 and 4-10 from range, he drove like a wild animal. He looks back in form in that sense. His passing is still excelling, with 4 assists. I think his best play was either the fake behind the back pass to a lay-in or the alley oop to Terrence Ross who threw down a gnarly dunk.
Grade: A
Abdul Gaddy
Off night for the sophomore guard. He went 1-6 from the field and didn't score until the second half. He had 4 fouls which limited his play in the second half. He did manage to once again commit 0 turnovers and put up 5 assists. He is a magnificent passing machine. He had a beautiful pass line drive where he did a crazy spin move to go around his defender. The pass made its way out to Ross, who sadly missed the long ball. If Ross had made the shot, the play would have been on the ESPN top 10, I guarantee it. Let's hope he can mentally move on and prepare for next week's opener against USC. We need him to be at the top of his game.
Grade: B-
Aziz N'Diaye
Another fantastic night for Aziz. His second double double of the year, posting 11 points and 10 rebounds. It's hard to describe effectively just how much of a turn around we have seen from him the last two games. He has gone from a 4 to 5 point a game scorer to someone who could and should be posting double digits and maybe even double doubles, every night. He may not be as fancy as MBA, but with his size and length he doesn't need to be. He has the muscle to work the ball down low. He just needs to add some face up moves to get a clearer shot at the hoop. I am glad to see he is beginning to dunk the ball first and foremost on the put backs and passes rather than going for the bank shot. He picked up two fouls tonight, but the second one was complete nonsense. He had position, he was outside the invisible arc, his feet were set. A perfect charge situation, yet somehow the ref manages to call it a block. Whatever....give Aziz credit for knowing how to behave defensively to avoid foul trouble.
Grade: A
C.J. Wilcox
Man, I don't know what is up with Wilcox, but his shot has just been OFF. It pains me to see him struggle and only score three on the night when we know and have seen him put up points like no other. Maybe it has just been a rough week and he will recover in LA. All I know is that we need him to be hitting come next Wednesday. He did have 2 assists and 3 rebounds, but this hardly qualifies as a good night for such a normally outstanding player. Get it together C.J., we need you.
Grade: C
Terrence Ross
What an athlete. If that alley-oop dunk doesn't convince you of that, maybe his cross over to create space will. Just watch that highlight vid and see it at work. That isn't even the first time that has worked so beautifully. He looks like B-Roy out there. Sure, he "only" managed 9 points, but he also grabbed 4 boards and had 2 steals in 19 minutes of play. Pretty solid night for sure. This kid is going to start breaking out real soon. Once he gets the rust out of his long ball, look out, he will be lighting it up for 15 a night. He is a confident shooter, which I love, and has the ball handling to make his own shots and space.
Grade: B+
Antoine Hosley
No points tonight. He did take a shot, but it air balled. He will jack up at least one shot every time he enters the game, usually a 3 pointer. I don't blame him. I would totally do the same thing if I was a walk on for a division 1 team. You only get so many minutes, try to score. His shot is still wonky as ever, but that's OK we love him regardless.
Grade: A for effort
Final Thoughts
Tonight was a solid victory and a great dominant performance to get us rolling into conference play. If we can rebound as efficiently against USC and put up a dominant performance, we may manage to find ourselves in the top 25 again as USC has beaten two ranked teams. Personally, I don't care too much about the "top 25", I just want the win. I would prefer to see us come out and just crush USC, but I would take a close, 5 to 10 point, game.While UNR's size may not have been the strongest or most talented it was a bit of a preview for next weeks battle against USC who has two tough forwards. A week of rest and practice should have us up and ready for another road test. We should come away from LA with a 2-0 start to the season, but it will be no gimme. The Huskies will likely have two tough battles to fight, but in the end our bench depth and overall talent should see us through.
Also, it is important to note that the USC-UW game will not be televised. FSN, the bums, are showing WSU-UCLA as their national game at 8pm, thus the local networks cannot show any games during that time. The USC-UW game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30pm and USC has refused to reschedule to 6pm to gain television coverage for whatever convoluted reason they seem to deem reasonable. I know there have been several viewing parties schedules as many Husky fans will be in the area rooting on the Football team in the Holiday Bowl. FSN and USC are really screwing the pooch big time on this one. Oh well, time to bust out the old radio once more.
Links:
Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsJSnqCK5uw&feature=player_embedded
Percy Allen: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2013744757_isaiah_thomas_t_1.html
Montlake Madness: http://www.montlakemadness.com/huskies-dominate-nevada-90-60/
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