Isaiah Thomas released this statement today and, in my mind, shocked much of Husky Nation.
“Although it was a tough decision, I have decided to forego my senior season and enter my name into this year’s NBA draft. At this time I will not hire an agent. Over the past 3 years I’ve enjoyed every single minute of my Washington Husky career. I am very thankful to have played for a great coach like Coach Romar and our entire coaching staff. I have just over two quarter left to earn my degree, and I fully plan on finishing school. Also, I would like to take the time to thank all of my teammates and Husky fans for their support and the unforgettable memories. Go Dawgs!”
Because Isaiah is not hiring an agent, he could still feasibly return for his senior year if the draft camps do not give him a positive vibe towards a high draft number. Regardless, this is somewhat shocking news as both IT and his father had hinted at Isaiah returning for his senior year.
I'll keep you updated as I learn more. I also planning on writing the player recaps this weekend as I'll have some time to do so.
EDIT: "Thomas has yet to hire an agent, but at the beginning of a conference call with reporters said, 'yes, it is a goodbye.'"
It appears as though no matter the outcome of the draft camps, IT will be entering the draft and will not return to Montlake. Unlike Jake Locker, this is a move I do not understand. It is one thing to consider the draft as a non-senior and then come back because the talent level just isn't there yet, or like Jake, to be a legitimate pro prospect and decide to return, it is quite another to be an undersized player with a pretty good set of skills. Isaiah would do himself a huge favor by returning to put in another year of hard work to develop his jumper and ball handling skills. He would set all sorts of records, possibly win a fourth straight championship of some sort, three straight Tournament MVP titles, four All Pac-10 team selections, he could make the All-American list, and on and on. He would get a TON of publicity and raise his stock.
Go Dawgs!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
University of North Carolina Review
Final Score: UW-83 UNC-86
It all came down to the wire and UW had the chance to win it, but threw it away. After getting up by 11 early thanks to Terrence Ross draining back to back threes followed by Darnell Gant nailing his own and Venoy Overton hitting an AND1 shot. With the game tied up UW committed two straight turnovers that allowed UNC to take a 6 point lead. UW fought back and got within 1 with 17 seconds to go thanks to a beautiful 3 pointer from Scott Suggs. UW fouled with 15 to go and UNC missed the front end of the 1 and 1. UW brought it down and Venoy Overton had his lay in swatted out of bounds with 7 seconds to go. Justin Holiday made a freshman mistake by keeping the ball above his head the whole time and when he tried to inbounds over the 6-10 John Henson the ball was tipped into UNC hands. UW fouled and UNC drained both their free throws. Overton hucked up a half court pass intended for C.J. Wilcox, who was under the hoop but ran out to the arc, was tipped out with .5 to go. I.T. attempted a desperate last shot that almost went in, but it was a 2 point attempt so regardless of in or out it wouldn't have mattered. The clock should have been at 1.4, but for whatever reason the refs chose not to review the clock. That .9 seconds makes all the difference in the world when it comes to shooting. What sucks most for Justin Holiday is that inbounds play will be what people remember of his performance. Not his great defense on Harrison Barnes, holding him to 9-20 and preventing countless other shots.
This was a great game until the final 10 seconds when the Dawgs choked hard. The first half run was impressive and UW did pretty well to fight against UNC's run to end the half. UW got up to a 5 point lead in the second, but UNC chipped away until the took the lead for good with 4 minutes to go. Aziz N'Diaye was a absolute beast today and if it weren't for some ticky tack fouls in the first half, when the refs gave Carolina an 11-2 foul advantage, he could have helped the Dawgs when UNC was pounding it inside. He had 8 rebounds with 8 minutes to go in the first half. He finished with a game high 11, including 5 offensive.
The foul calls started to even out in the second half, but the free throw disparity really killed us in the end. UW had 2 more made field goals and 4 more made 3's, but UNC had 11 more MADE free throws (16 more attempts). That is hard to overcome. 11 to 2, refs. Come on. I can accept when we foul, but there is no way they only picked up 2 in a half. The refs are not why we lost, do not misunderstand me. We had 13 turnovers on the night, and a large majority of those occurred in the final few minutes. The refs did not help our cause, however, they certainly helped UNC.
Isaiah Thomas struggled to find his shot tonight, finishing 5-15, but had 8 assists to 3 turnovers and created opportunities by driving the lane and kicking. There were a few times in the first half I thought he got hit on the hands, but no call for us. Thankfully, our outside game showed up to match our defensive efforts as UW hit 10 of 19 from outside. Ross and Wilcox led the way, going 3-5 a piece, followed closely by Darnell Gant (2-3) and Scott Suggs (2-4). Ross was an absolute monster on the court. He hit two of the most ridiculous lay-ins I've seen this year. He finished 7-10 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line.
Wish Overton had pump faked the UNC players out to get that last lay-in to go, but 20/20 hindsight...There were a lot of great moments in the game, its too bad we had to let it fall between our fingers. After Aziz picked up his 4th and had to sit for a large portion of the second half, the Huskies dropped into a sort of half court offense and that is when the troubles began.
Man, this one is going to suck for a while because we had the ball, down 1, with 7 to go. Every chance to win after putting up a strong first half. Anyone watching the game knows we played a great game and looked like the better team for 90% of the game. We had great pressure defense to start the game that resulted in several turnovers, steals, and near steals.
Free Throws were brilliant tonight. 7-7, wish the refs would have given us a few more shooting fouls to even out the difference. Overton hit 3 and both I.T. and Ross nailed a pair. Not one post player got to shoot free throws for UW. Its like the Arizona game all over again.
What Needed Improvement
Half Court Ball Handling Skills
When UW dropped into their half court offense their ball handling skills seemed to disappear. Too often they would pick up the ball early and help didn't want to move over and lend a hand. Holiday had 3 turnovers, 2 in the final 2 minutes. Ross had a late turnover shortly after the first of Holiday's.
Inbound Plays
This is something that we have struggled off and on with all year and tonight it killed us. Out of a timeout even. No excuse for that, especially a senior. Romar needs to work on drawing up some plays for next season. I hate the half court pass as the inbound play. Get someone open in the post or out in the corner. Set a double screen to open somebody up. Something. Anything.
What was Good
Free Throws
7-7, 100%. Gorgeous. You can't ask for a better job than that. UNC missed 5 attempts out of 23. Wish we could have had that many opportunities. We would have won by 10 the way we were shooting from the line, if we had as many attempts.
Rebounding
To out rebound a much taller team is one thing. To out rebound the number 1 rebounding team in the nation is another. The Dawgs did great work on the glass, ending with a 38-33 advantage. Aziz led the way with 11, Matthew Byran-Amaning had 8, and both Gant and Ross picked up six.
Three Point Shooting
UW hit right where they needed to, 10 makes on 19 attempts. All 3 of our shooting hands hit 2+ and Gant added 2 of his own. Good selection, great shooting. In the end UW did everything right until crunch time, more on that later.
Player by Player Reviews
Justin Holiday
Everything seemed to go down hill for Holiday after his concussion during the USC game. His offense has been quiet the last 2 weeks. He didn't attempt shots and those he did often rimmed out. His defense remained at a high level. Tonight, Holiday managed 4 points on 2-6 shooting and had 3 turnovers to 1 assist, including the horrible inbound play. He also only managed 1 rebound. Its hard not to blame the loss on Holiday, other people made mistakes too, but the fact he had 2 turnovers in the final minutes really hurt our chances. Those mistakes were not something you expect out of a senior.
Grade: C-
Venoy Overton
My biggest question for him, or rather the coaching staff, is why Overton was given the ball with 15 seconds to go after the missed free throw rather than Isaiah Thomas who drained the game winning fade away against Arizona? Overton is very quick, I get that. He had a great drive last year against UCLA that nearly won us the game. This situation was different. We had more time. We could run a play, create a shot. Overton's drive was nice overall, but that ball should have been in I.T.'s hands. Overton only played 12 minutes today, a clear sign that Romar and staff liked was Isaiah was doing on the court. Overton by no means had a bad game, but it was not terrific. 5 points on 1-3 shooting, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1 rebound. Overton did a great job drawing shooting fouls by driving the lane fast and hard, but that last shot was far too hurried. Throw in a pump fake or something. There is time on the clock.
Grade: B-
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Besides one open shot where he lost the handle by being to anxious to get the shot off, MBA was pretty good tonight. He had 14 points on 7-14 shooting, 8 boards, 2 steals, a block, and assist, and 2 turnovers. MBA did all he could to help stop Tyler Zeller and Henson and was fairly successful at times. It was a solid way to end his career as a Husky after a slow night against Georgia.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Scott Suggs
Suggs started in place of Terrence Ross and finished with 8 points on 3-6 shooting. He had 2 rebounds and a turnover as well. ESPN is reporting that Ross hit the 3 to get us within 1, but I could have swore it was Scott Suggs. Either way, Suggs performed pretty well and looks to be a very exciting player next season as a senior.
Grade: B+
Darnell Gant
Pretty good night for the junior forward. He came off the bench to start the game, but started the second half with Aziz in foul trouble. Gant connected on a huge three to drive the lead to 8 early in the first half. Unfortunately, we couldn't hang onto that lead. Gant had 6 rebounds and 2 assists, no turnovers. This is exactly the kind of work I love to see him doing as it gives me a lot of hope as to him developing into a deadly 4 player.
Grade: A-
Isaiah Thomas
You should have had the last shot, Isaiah. You should have driven or shot, not Overton. Way to perform yet again and contribute even when the shots aren't hitting. 5-15 is nowhere near pretty, but he only attempted 2 from beyond the arc, a good sign of more control on his part. His 8 assists helped UW greatly as he found the open man more than what the stat sheet shows. He had a late turnover as well when attempting some fancy dribbling in traffic. Not smart at all, I.T. just pull the ball out if it isn't there, don't force it so hard. By the way, I.T. nearly dunked over 7-0 Zeller, but lose the handle or had it tipped, can't remember which. Either way, it was ridiculous and would have been number 1 on the Top 10 had he made it.
Grade: B+
Aziz N'Diaye
MVP for the Huskies or at least tied with Terrence Ross. He was a freak on the glass tonight and had 2 nice put backs off of offensive boards. 1 assist, 0 turnovers. 0. Love it. His hands looked a thousand times better tonight. He held onto rebounds, he caught some passes, he dove after loose ones that he bobbled or were knocked free. Great effort tonight. I like what I saw. If he can really develop his offensive game and get a few more post moves he will become a very dangerous player for the Dawgs next season.
Grade: A
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
4-9 shooting, 3-5 from outside, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 0 turnovers. A very solid stat line. He played some solid D on the UNC guards and worked well in the zone. Let us hope he finds his consistency next season as our frontcourt appears as though it will be a little weaker next season and we will need to get our points from somewhere else.
Grade: A-
Terrence Ross
My other candidate for MVP. Team high 19 points on 7-10 shooting, 6 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, and 3 turnovers. The turnovers marred his otherwise stellar performance. He is a freak of an athlete and is immensely dangerous when he gets in a groove like tonight. The late turnover hurt us and is the only thing that should haunt him from the night. I'm looking forward to next season when he is ripping it up on the court with a year's experience under his belt.
Grade: A-
Final Thoughts:
Not how I wanted to exit the tournament, but a hell of a game. It was extremely exciting until the turnover with 7 to go. I would have much rather seen a shot go up, hit or miss, it is a much better way to leave the NCAA. It's been a crazy season and I think most people will agree with me when I say UW got a tough draw and any other bracket UW would be sitting in the Sweet 16 right about now. This loss, much like the last second loss to Arizona, is one of those games you really wish the W would have landed on our side because we did almost everything right the whole game. Some late ball handling problems combined with a HUGE foul differential meant UNC walked away victorious and UW was sent home packing. To the seniors, Thank you for everything you gave to this program. I wish you nothing but the best.
I'll probably do a season wrap up sometime later this week after the depression of losing this game goes away. Probably try to get a preview of the incoming recruits up sometime in the coming weeks as well. With the season done, the posts will slow, but I'll try to get some conversational pieces up now and again to get the emotion and hype alive. I love this sport. I love this team. Win or lose, I bleed purple and gold. Go Dawgs!
It all came down to the wire and UW had the chance to win it, but threw it away. After getting up by 11 early thanks to Terrence Ross draining back to back threes followed by Darnell Gant nailing his own and Venoy Overton hitting an AND1 shot. With the game tied up UW committed two straight turnovers that allowed UNC to take a 6 point lead. UW fought back and got within 1 with 17 seconds to go thanks to a beautiful 3 pointer from Scott Suggs. UW fouled with 15 to go and UNC missed the front end of the 1 and 1. UW brought it down and Venoy Overton had his lay in swatted out of bounds with 7 seconds to go. Justin Holiday made a freshman mistake by keeping the ball above his head the whole time and when he tried to inbounds over the 6-10 John Henson the ball was tipped into UNC hands. UW fouled and UNC drained both their free throws. Overton hucked up a half court pass intended for C.J. Wilcox, who was under the hoop but ran out to the arc, was tipped out with .5 to go. I.T. attempted a desperate last shot that almost went in, but it was a 2 point attempt so regardless of in or out it wouldn't have mattered. The clock should have been at 1.4, but for whatever reason the refs chose not to review the clock. That .9 seconds makes all the difference in the world when it comes to shooting. What sucks most for Justin Holiday is that inbounds play will be what people remember of his performance. Not his great defense on Harrison Barnes, holding him to 9-20 and preventing countless other shots.
This was a great game until the final 10 seconds when the Dawgs choked hard. The first half run was impressive and UW did pretty well to fight against UNC's run to end the half. UW got up to a 5 point lead in the second, but UNC chipped away until the took the lead for good with 4 minutes to go. Aziz N'Diaye was a absolute beast today and if it weren't for some ticky tack fouls in the first half, when the refs gave Carolina an 11-2 foul advantage, he could have helped the Dawgs when UNC was pounding it inside. He had 8 rebounds with 8 minutes to go in the first half. He finished with a game high 11, including 5 offensive.
The foul calls started to even out in the second half, but the free throw disparity really killed us in the end. UW had 2 more made field goals and 4 more made 3's, but UNC had 11 more MADE free throws (16 more attempts). That is hard to overcome. 11 to 2, refs. Come on. I can accept when we foul, but there is no way they only picked up 2 in a half. The refs are not why we lost, do not misunderstand me. We had 13 turnovers on the night, and a large majority of those occurred in the final few minutes. The refs did not help our cause, however, they certainly helped UNC.
Isaiah Thomas struggled to find his shot tonight, finishing 5-15, but had 8 assists to 3 turnovers and created opportunities by driving the lane and kicking. There were a few times in the first half I thought he got hit on the hands, but no call for us. Thankfully, our outside game showed up to match our defensive efforts as UW hit 10 of 19 from outside. Ross and Wilcox led the way, going 3-5 a piece, followed closely by Darnell Gant (2-3) and Scott Suggs (2-4). Ross was an absolute monster on the court. He hit two of the most ridiculous lay-ins I've seen this year. He finished 7-10 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line.
Wish Overton had pump faked the UNC players out to get that last lay-in to go, but 20/20 hindsight...There were a lot of great moments in the game, its too bad we had to let it fall between our fingers. After Aziz picked up his 4th and had to sit for a large portion of the second half, the Huskies dropped into a sort of half court offense and that is when the troubles began.
Man, this one is going to suck for a while because we had the ball, down 1, with 7 to go. Every chance to win after putting up a strong first half. Anyone watching the game knows we played a great game and looked like the better team for 90% of the game. We had great pressure defense to start the game that resulted in several turnovers, steals, and near steals.
Free Throws were brilliant tonight. 7-7, wish the refs would have given us a few more shooting fouls to even out the difference. Overton hit 3 and both I.T. and Ross nailed a pair. Not one post player got to shoot free throws for UW. Its like the Arizona game all over again.
What Needed Improvement
Half Court Ball Handling Skills
When UW dropped into their half court offense their ball handling skills seemed to disappear. Too often they would pick up the ball early and help didn't want to move over and lend a hand. Holiday had 3 turnovers, 2 in the final 2 minutes. Ross had a late turnover shortly after the first of Holiday's.
Inbound Plays
This is something that we have struggled off and on with all year and tonight it killed us. Out of a timeout even. No excuse for that, especially a senior. Romar needs to work on drawing up some plays for next season. I hate the half court pass as the inbound play. Get someone open in the post or out in the corner. Set a double screen to open somebody up. Something. Anything.
What was Good
Free Throws
7-7, 100%. Gorgeous. You can't ask for a better job than that. UNC missed 5 attempts out of 23. Wish we could have had that many opportunities. We would have won by 10 the way we were shooting from the line, if we had as many attempts.
Rebounding
To out rebound a much taller team is one thing. To out rebound the number 1 rebounding team in the nation is another. The Dawgs did great work on the glass, ending with a 38-33 advantage. Aziz led the way with 11, Matthew Byran-Amaning had 8, and both Gant and Ross picked up six.
Three Point Shooting
UW hit right where they needed to, 10 makes on 19 attempts. All 3 of our shooting hands hit 2+ and Gant added 2 of his own. Good selection, great shooting. In the end UW did everything right until crunch time, more on that later.
Player by Player Reviews
Justin Holiday
Everything seemed to go down hill for Holiday after his concussion during the USC game. His offense has been quiet the last 2 weeks. He didn't attempt shots and those he did often rimmed out. His defense remained at a high level. Tonight, Holiday managed 4 points on 2-6 shooting and had 3 turnovers to 1 assist, including the horrible inbound play. He also only managed 1 rebound. Its hard not to blame the loss on Holiday, other people made mistakes too, but the fact he had 2 turnovers in the final minutes really hurt our chances. Those mistakes were not something you expect out of a senior.
Grade: C-
Venoy Overton
My biggest question for him, or rather the coaching staff, is why Overton was given the ball with 15 seconds to go after the missed free throw rather than Isaiah Thomas who drained the game winning fade away against Arizona? Overton is very quick, I get that. He had a great drive last year against UCLA that nearly won us the game. This situation was different. We had more time. We could run a play, create a shot. Overton's drive was nice overall, but that ball should have been in I.T.'s hands. Overton only played 12 minutes today, a clear sign that Romar and staff liked was Isaiah was doing on the court. Overton by no means had a bad game, but it was not terrific. 5 points on 1-3 shooting, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1 rebound. Overton did a great job drawing shooting fouls by driving the lane fast and hard, but that last shot was far too hurried. Throw in a pump fake or something. There is time on the clock.
Grade: B-
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Besides one open shot where he lost the handle by being to anxious to get the shot off, MBA was pretty good tonight. He had 14 points on 7-14 shooting, 8 boards, 2 steals, a block, and assist, and 2 turnovers. MBA did all he could to help stop Tyler Zeller and Henson and was fairly successful at times. It was a solid way to end his career as a Husky after a slow night against Georgia.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Scott Suggs
Suggs started in place of Terrence Ross and finished with 8 points on 3-6 shooting. He had 2 rebounds and a turnover as well. ESPN is reporting that Ross hit the 3 to get us within 1, but I could have swore it was Scott Suggs. Either way, Suggs performed pretty well and looks to be a very exciting player next season as a senior.
Grade: B+
Darnell Gant
Pretty good night for the junior forward. He came off the bench to start the game, but started the second half with Aziz in foul trouble. Gant connected on a huge three to drive the lead to 8 early in the first half. Unfortunately, we couldn't hang onto that lead. Gant had 6 rebounds and 2 assists, no turnovers. This is exactly the kind of work I love to see him doing as it gives me a lot of hope as to him developing into a deadly 4 player.
Grade: A-
Isaiah Thomas
You should have had the last shot, Isaiah. You should have driven or shot, not Overton. Way to perform yet again and contribute even when the shots aren't hitting. 5-15 is nowhere near pretty, but he only attempted 2 from beyond the arc, a good sign of more control on his part. His 8 assists helped UW greatly as he found the open man more than what the stat sheet shows. He had a late turnover as well when attempting some fancy dribbling in traffic. Not smart at all, I.T. just pull the ball out if it isn't there, don't force it so hard. By the way, I.T. nearly dunked over 7-0 Zeller, but lose the handle or had it tipped, can't remember which. Either way, it was ridiculous and would have been number 1 on the Top 10 had he made it.
Grade: B+
Aziz N'Diaye
MVP for the Huskies or at least tied with Terrence Ross. He was a freak on the glass tonight and had 2 nice put backs off of offensive boards. 1 assist, 0 turnovers. 0. Love it. His hands looked a thousand times better tonight. He held onto rebounds, he caught some passes, he dove after loose ones that he bobbled or were knocked free. Great effort tonight. I like what I saw. If he can really develop his offensive game and get a few more post moves he will become a very dangerous player for the Dawgs next season.
Grade: A
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
4-9 shooting, 3-5 from outside, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 0 turnovers. A very solid stat line. He played some solid D on the UNC guards and worked well in the zone. Let us hope he finds his consistency next season as our frontcourt appears as though it will be a little weaker next season and we will need to get our points from somewhere else.
Grade: A-
Terrence Ross
My other candidate for MVP. Team high 19 points on 7-10 shooting, 6 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, and 3 turnovers. The turnovers marred his otherwise stellar performance. He is a freak of an athlete and is immensely dangerous when he gets in a groove like tonight. The late turnover hurt us and is the only thing that should haunt him from the night. I'm looking forward to next season when he is ripping it up on the court with a year's experience under his belt.
Grade: A-
Final Thoughts:
Not how I wanted to exit the tournament, but a hell of a game. It was extremely exciting until the turnover with 7 to go. I would have much rather seen a shot go up, hit or miss, it is a much better way to leave the NCAA. It's been a crazy season and I think most people will agree with me when I say UW got a tough draw and any other bracket UW would be sitting in the Sweet 16 right about now. This loss, much like the last second loss to Arizona, is one of those games you really wish the W would have landed on our side because we did almost everything right the whole game. Some late ball handling problems combined with a HUGE foul differential meant UNC walked away victorious and UW was sent home packing. To the seniors, Thank you for everything you gave to this program. I wish you nothing but the best.
I'll probably do a season wrap up sometime later this week after the depression of losing this game goes away. Probably try to get a preview of the incoming recruits up sometime in the coming weeks as well. With the season done, the posts will slow, but I'll try to get some conversational pieces up now and again to get the emotion and hype alive. I love this sport. I love this team. Win or lose, I bleed purple and gold. Go Dawgs!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
University of North Carolina Preview
UW faces a tough test Sunday against a long and lean North Carolina squad. UNC leads the nation in rebounding due to their tall frontcourt and much like UW, UNC favors an up and down game. UNC starts two guards at 6-3, Dexter Strickland and Kendall Marshall, a 6-8 forward also known as Harrison Barnes (the first freshman preseason All American), 6-10 John Henderson, and 7-0 Tyler Zeller. Despite all the length in their starting 5, UW matches up pretty well. Our guys will give up a few inches here and there, but it is nothing extreme. Do not be surprised to see UW to drop into a zone to combat their length. UNC shoots the 3 with a low percentage compared to their 2 point shot. This isn't to say they are a poor 3 point shooting team, they hit 33%, they just have the size inside to do damage.
Let's take a look at the starting 5 for the Tar Heels.
Dexter Strickland is 6-3 180lb. He plays the shooting guard position for UNC, while Kendall Marshall takes point guard. Strickland is averaging 7.3 points, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.6 turnovers per game. He is a quick guard who can be turnover prone. In their first round game, Strickland had 4 assists and turnovers. Strickland has 8 made 3's on 32 attempts so do not expect him to be dropping bombs from outside. He is a 67% free throw shooter.
Kendall Marshall is a much deadly and talented guard. He leads UNC in assists at 5.9 per game along with 2.4 turnovers, 1.0 steals, and 6.0 points. He is the one to run the offense. He gets the ball inside to the post, he works it around the perimeter to Barnes. If UW wants to gain an advantage it will start by putting pressure on Marshall and Strickland. They are the most prone to mistakes. Marshall is 17-44 from range on the year and is a bit better of a shooter, though on average he scores less.
Harrison Barnes is the one everyone talks about and, honestly, he deserves it. Barnes leads UNC in scoring with a 15.3 point average to go along with 5.9 rebounds per game. He can light it up any night of the week and dropped 40 on Clemson to advance to the ACC championship game. Barnes was well defended by LIU, held to 9-19 shooting (2-10 outside). Justin Holiday will combine with Darnell Gant throughout the game to stop this dangerous player.
John Henderson is another dangerous player. At 6-10, 210lb he is a bit of a light weight. I expect Gant will draw the assignment to start the game. Henderson averages a double double and is a blocking machine. 11.9 points, 10.1 boards, and 3.2 blocks per game. Damn impressive numbers. I.T. will need to be careful on the drives inside with him in the paint. UW can help the drive by clearing the lanes and forcing Henderson to commit body check fouls when attempting to defend.
Finally we come to Tyler Zeller. 7-0 250lb, he is a very similar build to Aziz N'Diaye. He is a better shooter, but an equal strength rebounder. His rebounding numbers are better because he gets more minutes. 15.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. The three forwards combined for 84 of UNC's 102 points against LIU. They are dangerous to say the least. MBA is a bit smaller, but I think he has a strength and speed advantage. MBA will need to be patient in the paint as Zeller and Henderson are solid defenders.
Starting Line Up Predictions
North Carolina
Dexter Strickland 6-3 180lb G
Kendall Marshall 6-3 186lb G
Harrison Barnes 6-8 210lb F
John Henderson 6-10 210lb F
Tyler Zeller 7-0 250lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Terrence Ross 6-6 190lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Darnell Gant 6-8 225lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
As I said to start things off, UNC is the number 1 team in the nation when it comes to rebounding. They average 42.3 per game. Impressive. Their 3 starting forwards had 36 of UNC's 52 against LIU. They get some solid numbers from their guards as well. UW will have their work cut out for them. If you want to limit UNC's frontcourt contribution it all starts with big rebounding numbers. Keep them off the glass by getting position and drawing the over the back calls.
Free Throws
With UNC essentially playing at home and a crowd of baby blue in the arena, one could see the refs playing a little biased for sure. This means shooting like we did for 98% of the game against Georgia. We were perfect from the line until crunch time when Venoy Overton and C.J. Wilcox missed their free throws. I have a feeling this will come down to the wire and as such every free throw counts and momentum can swing full tilt based on how they fall. Somehow we manage to find ourselves against a team that on average shoots slightly worse from the line than us. Barnes is their best shooter at 75.4% from the line.
Interior Defense
With 3 tall, strong, and talented forwards at their disposal UNC is a force in the middle. They rely almost entirely on their interior play, but Barnes can step out and do damage behind the arc. Leslie McDonald also comes off the bench for some solid minutes and brings a nice outside shot. A mixture of zone and man will be used, no doubt. Strong backcourt pressure will help our frontcourt immensely. I would almost suggest a Box and 1 defense to contain Barnes, but it is a much more complex defense that requires some practice that is unreasonable to put in at this point in the season.
3 Point Shooting
I am not expect a Virginia game type performance where we drop 17 3's, but I would love for that to happen. What I am expecting is 8 to 12 makes on 20 or so attempts. UNC does not defend the arc that well and UW has the shooters to take advantage of this. 4-18 isn't going to cut it. When we can't find our shot we need to try and get better shots closer to the hoop. If we can hit like we did in the second half against Arizona I will be a happy camper.
Final Thoughts
UNC starts 5 High School McDonald's All Americans. They are a talented group who play a similar tempo of game. They have a strong frontcourt. We have a strong backcourt. Our bench is better, in my opinion. We shoot better, we handle the ball better, we actually rebound the ball better offensively, but UNC gets to the line more often. UNC's up and down style of play is great for us. Georgia kept it close by using their size down low in a half court offense. UW will need to get back on defense. I like Romar applying pressure after made free throws and some shots. It frustrates the opposing offense and forces them into mistakes here and there. I could see UW getting down early and having to fight back. Our shooters need to be hot and not just one or two. Everyone needs to be draining the open ones and creating more opportunities for their teammates. Patience is key. Don't force in the paint as they have some tall defenders who will swat the weak shots. I think this is winnable. It won't be easy. My heart will hurt, but we can do this. When our A-Game is operating on all cylinders we are unstoppable.
Final Score: UW-87 UNC-83
Free throws will make the differential bigger than it actually is. UNC is a 4 point favorite, most likely due to the "home" setting. It really comes down to how well we are shooting. Our defense has been great, we just need our offense to get clicking again. Go Dawgs!
Let's take a look at the starting 5 for the Tar Heels.
Dexter Strickland is 6-3 180lb. He plays the shooting guard position for UNC, while Kendall Marshall takes point guard. Strickland is averaging 7.3 points, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.6 turnovers per game. He is a quick guard who can be turnover prone. In their first round game, Strickland had 4 assists and turnovers. Strickland has 8 made 3's on 32 attempts so do not expect him to be dropping bombs from outside. He is a 67% free throw shooter.
Kendall Marshall is a much deadly and talented guard. He leads UNC in assists at 5.9 per game along with 2.4 turnovers, 1.0 steals, and 6.0 points. He is the one to run the offense. He gets the ball inside to the post, he works it around the perimeter to Barnes. If UW wants to gain an advantage it will start by putting pressure on Marshall and Strickland. They are the most prone to mistakes. Marshall is 17-44 from range on the year and is a bit better of a shooter, though on average he scores less.
Harrison Barnes is the one everyone talks about and, honestly, he deserves it. Barnes leads UNC in scoring with a 15.3 point average to go along with 5.9 rebounds per game. He can light it up any night of the week and dropped 40 on Clemson to advance to the ACC championship game. Barnes was well defended by LIU, held to 9-19 shooting (2-10 outside). Justin Holiday will combine with Darnell Gant throughout the game to stop this dangerous player.
John Henderson is another dangerous player. At 6-10, 210lb he is a bit of a light weight. I expect Gant will draw the assignment to start the game. Henderson averages a double double and is a blocking machine. 11.9 points, 10.1 boards, and 3.2 blocks per game. Damn impressive numbers. I.T. will need to be careful on the drives inside with him in the paint. UW can help the drive by clearing the lanes and forcing Henderson to commit body check fouls when attempting to defend.
Finally we come to Tyler Zeller. 7-0 250lb, he is a very similar build to Aziz N'Diaye. He is a better shooter, but an equal strength rebounder. His rebounding numbers are better because he gets more minutes. 15.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. The three forwards combined for 84 of UNC's 102 points against LIU. They are dangerous to say the least. MBA is a bit smaller, but I think he has a strength and speed advantage. MBA will need to be patient in the paint as Zeller and Henderson are solid defenders.
Starting Line Up Predictions
North Carolina
Dexter Strickland 6-3 180lb G
Kendall Marshall 6-3 186lb G
Harrison Barnes 6-8 210lb F
John Henderson 6-10 210lb F
Tyler Zeller 7-0 250lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Terrence Ross 6-6 190lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Darnell Gant 6-8 225lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
As I said to start things off, UNC is the number 1 team in the nation when it comes to rebounding. They average 42.3 per game. Impressive. Their 3 starting forwards had 36 of UNC's 52 against LIU. They get some solid numbers from their guards as well. UW will have their work cut out for them. If you want to limit UNC's frontcourt contribution it all starts with big rebounding numbers. Keep them off the glass by getting position and drawing the over the back calls.
Free Throws
With UNC essentially playing at home and a crowd of baby blue in the arena, one could see the refs playing a little biased for sure. This means shooting like we did for 98% of the game against Georgia. We were perfect from the line until crunch time when Venoy Overton and C.J. Wilcox missed their free throws. I have a feeling this will come down to the wire and as such every free throw counts and momentum can swing full tilt based on how they fall. Somehow we manage to find ourselves against a team that on average shoots slightly worse from the line than us. Barnes is their best shooter at 75.4% from the line.
Interior Defense
With 3 tall, strong, and talented forwards at their disposal UNC is a force in the middle. They rely almost entirely on their interior play, but Barnes can step out and do damage behind the arc. Leslie McDonald also comes off the bench for some solid minutes and brings a nice outside shot. A mixture of zone and man will be used, no doubt. Strong backcourt pressure will help our frontcourt immensely. I would almost suggest a Box and 1 defense to contain Barnes, but it is a much more complex defense that requires some practice that is unreasonable to put in at this point in the season.
3 Point Shooting
I am not expect a Virginia game type performance where we drop 17 3's, but I would love for that to happen. What I am expecting is 8 to 12 makes on 20 or so attempts. UNC does not defend the arc that well and UW has the shooters to take advantage of this. 4-18 isn't going to cut it. When we can't find our shot we need to try and get better shots closer to the hoop. If we can hit like we did in the second half against Arizona I will be a happy camper.
Final Thoughts
UNC starts 5 High School McDonald's All Americans. They are a talented group who play a similar tempo of game. They have a strong frontcourt. We have a strong backcourt. Our bench is better, in my opinion. We shoot better, we handle the ball better, we actually rebound the ball better offensively, but UNC gets to the line more often. UNC's up and down style of play is great for us. Georgia kept it close by using their size down low in a half court offense. UW will need to get back on defense. I like Romar applying pressure after made free throws and some shots. It frustrates the opposing offense and forces them into mistakes here and there. I could see UW getting down early and having to fight back. Our shooters need to be hot and not just one or two. Everyone needs to be draining the open ones and creating more opportunities for their teammates. Patience is key. Don't force in the paint as they have some tall defenders who will swat the weak shots. I think this is winnable. It won't be easy. My heart will hurt, but we can do this. When our A-Game is operating on all cylinders we are unstoppable.
Final Score: UW-87 UNC-83
Free throws will make the differential bigger than it actually is. UNC is a 4 point favorite, most likely due to the "home" setting. It really comes down to how well we are shooting. Our defense has been great, we just need our offense to get clicking again. Go Dawgs!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Univeristy of Georgia Bulldogs Review
Final Score: UW-68 UGA-65
A near upset tonight. Isaiah Thomas, once again, put the team on his back and carried the Dawgs to victory. After getting down 7 early in the first half due to poor shooting and rebounding, the Dawgs fought back and I.T. tied the game at 28 a piece going into half with a slice and dice drive to the hoop. Thomas was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Venoy Overton missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with 30 seconds to go and C.J. Wilcox missed his second free throw with 5 on the clock. Not what a team needs to win the game. Free throws win close ball games and I.T. sealed his off.
Darnell Gant started in place of Wilcox tonight, but picked up two quick fouls before a full two minutes had passed. Despite that, Gant played a solid game and scored 7 points along with 3 rebounds. He had a big 3 pointer to give the Huskies some momentum. He has a smooth shot motion that doesn't get used to often, but its deadly when unleashed.
Aziz N'Diaye had a pretty nice game as well. 3 of 3 shooting for 6 points and 5 boards, 2 offensive. He picked up 3 fouls and gave the Huskies one more option in the post as both Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Gant had 4 fouls in the game. He had much better hands today and looked pretty good in the post. He caught a nice dish from Holiday and layed it in over the defense.
Terrence Ross was way off tonight, 0 for 5 shooting. He was the only Husky not to score and had 2 rebounds along with a steal. I assume we will keep Ross in the starting 5 to preserve chemistry, but he needs to bring back that Pac-10 Tournament swag that got him there.
Rebounding was ugly today. UGA out rebounded UW 32 to 26. MBA led the Dawgs with 6 and Trey Thompkins led the Bulldogs with 11. He as a beast in the paint for Georgia and UW couldn't do much to stop him. Thompkins also nailed a HUGE 3 pointer with only a few seconds to go to put them within 2. He made a few good shots with hands in his face.
Free throws were great until the final 30 seconds when they matter the most. Overton missed the front end of his 1 and 1, very uncharacteristic, essentially missing two shots and allowing Georgia to cut into our lead even more. Wilcox missed the back end of his 1 and 1 that would have put us up 4 and effectively sealed the win. Normally an 80% shooter from the charity stripe this was also surprising. Got to sack up under pressure and get the job done.
UW was ugly from behind the arc, going 2-12 in the first half and 2-6 in the second. Scott Suggs was very respectable hitting 2 of 5, but he was the only one finding his shot. We need to hit the open 3's with more consistency. That has been one of our biggest weaknesses in the latter half of the season. We aren't hitting the open ones that got us to the number 1 spot in 3 point percentage.
The assist rate tonight was a little sub par for my taste. Only 10 assists on 26 makes. I would like to see 13 or 14 for that number of makes. I.T. had 7 of the 10 and only 2 turnovers. Speaking of turnovers, UW only had 5 on the night, but the 5th was almost extremely costly. Suggs turned the ball over under pressure with 50 seconds or so to go, allowing Georgia to cut the lead to 4 instead of 6 and free throws to shoot. Cannot makes those mistake against a team like UNC. It will kill you.
As I said in the pregame, our bench would be the difference maker. The Bulldogs had 0 bench points, while UW racked up something like 28 tonight. With Ross unable to make his mark, Suggs and Wilcox supplemented as they could and Aziz gave our bigs the support they needed.
I.T. led the Dawgs with 19 and Suggs was the only other Husky to hit double digits with 10. MBA continued to frustrate with his missed bunnies, shooting 3-8 and scoring 8 on the night. I like his 2-2 free throw shooting, but he had a wide open shot that he missed and UGA recovered. DUNK IT, MBA! You are 6-9. Flush that basket. No excuse to miss an open one like that.
What Needed Improvement
Rebounding
Did not do a good job cleaning the glass tonight. Georgia had too many second chance opportunities because they picked up the offensive boards. UW was fairly decent cleaning their own missed (1 of 26 were offensive), but none of our bigs were able to snag more than 6. We need MBA to get at least 8. Aziz and Gant are both near the numbers they should be.
3 Point Shooting
Boy was our shot UGLY tonight. We stunk the place up in the first half and only stayed in the game due to our defensive efforts, forcing the Bulldogs to turn the ball over. We need more than just Suggs to be feeling his shot. I am not asking for 12 or 14 3's a game, but 7 or 8 is well within our skill set.
Clutch Free Throw Shooting
With the exception of I.T., UW struggled to seal the game off late. Overton and Wilcox are both normally strong free throw shooters regardless of time or point differential. I do not expect to see them make such mistakes again. UNC is going to be a tough challenge and we can ill afford to miss the gimmes. #sackup #makeyourfreethrows
What was Good
Defense
UW had some strong defensive showings tonight. The Huskies forced 14 turnovers and held Georgia to only 9 assists. Though Thompkins was able to have his way with our team, the Dawgs were able to shut down Jeremy Price, Gerald Robinson, and Travis Leslie to a combined 11-32 shooting. That is pretty solid in my mind.
Toughness
UW fought back from an early deficit and was able to hold off the late Georgia run. That takes some guts to do and the Huskies worked it out. It wasn't pretty, but they got it done.
Player by Player Reviews
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
8 points and 6 boards to go along with an assist, steal, and block. Not bad, but much lower production than we needed from him. MBA did a good job defensively against the heavier Price, but he couldn't get his offensive game in swing. We will need him to step up big against UNC who features a lengthy front court.
Grade: B
Justin Holiday
6 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and a pair of steals. Holiday matched up against the smaller Georgia front court and was critical in shutting Leslie down. He was 3-7 from the field, 0-2 from range. Two of his boards were offensive, which is very nice. Holiday's offensive numbers have been lower than the start of the year, but his defense is still strong and in the end that is what we really need from him.
Grade: B
Venoy Overton
Overton put up 21 minutes tonight, allowing I.T. to rest. He had 6 points and 4 boards, including some very athletic drives to the hoop. His speed allowed him to push past his defenders and make his way to the rim. Only 1 assist, but 0 turnovers. Not a whole lot else to comment on from his performance tonight. A good way to come back after sitting out the Pac-10 tournament.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
Gant only played 16 minutes today, despite starting due to early foul trouble. He played tough when he came in and hit some big shots and applied solid pressure on his man. I imagine we will see him remain in the starting 5 against UNC as he offers a hybrid between Ross/Wilcox and Aziz. Some size, some speed, good shot, good D. Keep on keeping on Darnell.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
19 minutes off the bench and the only solid shot once more. Suggs is proving time and time again just how undervalued he is to this team. On nights when no one can seemingly hit, Suggs quietly steps up and drops an ace here and there. His late turnover nearly made me put my hand through a wall. Hold on to the ball when they are swarming like that. Call a time out. Just don't pass through traffic in the backcourt, way too dangerous.
Grade: B+
Isaiah Thomas
MVP, no doubt. He played big tonight despite some shooting problems. He got to the line and drilled every shot, minus one that rattled around before settling in the bottom of the net. He had a big steal in the final minutes off an inbound play by UGA that led to 2 free throws. 0-2 from range, but some nice step back 2 pointers near the top of the key. He looked a little like Quincy out on the court tonight with that fade away. 6-14 shooting isn't great, but I'll take it. His 7 assists were critical in taking down Georgia's defense.
Grade: A-
Aziz N'Diaye
I liked what Aziz did for the Dawgs tonight. He was big in the middle and took up a lot of space per usual, but tonight he held the ball well. Both he and MBA made one dumb move apiece there they got an offensive board then brought the ball down to dribble, only to have it stripped. You are 7 feet tall Aziz. Keep it high and get the quick put back. For 20 minutes he had some solid numbers.
Grade: A
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Bad night for the freshman. He couldn't get his swag to turn on and played a team low 10 minutes. C.J. Wilcox may take over in the starting 5 if Romar feels Ross can't step up, but I believe he will stay the starter for now. He has too much explosive power not to at least give him a chance to do his thing.
Grade: D
C.J. Wilcox
Not a great night, but he has had worse. 6 points on 2-6 shooting, 1-4 outside, and a late missed free throw highlight his stats. We need him or Ross to support Suggs on the offensive end to take some pressure of I.T. and MBA. He had a lazy pass that got picked off for 2 easy points. Got to pass smarter and with some speed, especially at the top of the key.
Grade: C
Final Thoughts
It wasn't what I thought we would see, but a win is a win. UNC is up next and it will be a tough, tough game. UNC is essentially at home in Charlotte, so the Dawgs will have to contend with a sea of baby blue in the arena. Get it done Huskies, let's make this tournament memorable for all the right reasons. Go Dawgs!
A near upset tonight. Isaiah Thomas, once again, put the team on his back and carried the Dawgs to victory. After getting down 7 early in the first half due to poor shooting and rebounding, the Dawgs fought back and I.T. tied the game at 28 a piece going into half with a slice and dice drive to the hoop. Thomas was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Venoy Overton missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with 30 seconds to go and C.J. Wilcox missed his second free throw with 5 on the clock. Not what a team needs to win the game. Free throws win close ball games and I.T. sealed his off.
Darnell Gant started in place of Wilcox tonight, but picked up two quick fouls before a full two minutes had passed. Despite that, Gant played a solid game and scored 7 points along with 3 rebounds. He had a big 3 pointer to give the Huskies some momentum. He has a smooth shot motion that doesn't get used to often, but its deadly when unleashed.
Aziz N'Diaye had a pretty nice game as well. 3 of 3 shooting for 6 points and 5 boards, 2 offensive. He picked up 3 fouls and gave the Huskies one more option in the post as both Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Gant had 4 fouls in the game. He had much better hands today and looked pretty good in the post. He caught a nice dish from Holiday and layed it in over the defense.
Terrence Ross was way off tonight, 0 for 5 shooting. He was the only Husky not to score and had 2 rebounds along with a steal. I assume we will keep Ross in the starting 5 to preserve chemistry, but he needs to bring back that Pac-10 Tournament swag that got him there.
Rebounding was ugly today. UGA out rebounded UW 32 to 26. MBA led the Dawgs with 6 and Trey Thompkins led the Bulldogs with 11. He as a beast in the paint for Georgia and UW couldn't do much to stop him. Thompkins also nailed a HUGE 3 pointer with only a few seconds to go to put them within 2. He made a few good shots with hands in his face.
Free throws were great until the final 30 seconds when they matter the most. Overton missed the front end of his 1 and 1, very uncharacteristic, essentially missing two shots and allowing Georgia to cut into our lead even more. Wilcox missed the back end of his 1 and 1 that would have put us up 4 and effectively sealed the win. Normally an 80% shooter from the charity stripe this was also surprising. Got to sack up under pressure and get the job done.
UW was ugly from behind the arc, going 2-12 in the first half and 2-6 in the second. Scott Suggs was very respectable hitting 2 of 5, but he was the only one finding his shot. We need to hit the open 3's with more consistency. That has been one of our biggest weaknesses in the latter half of the season. We aren't hitting the open ones that got us to the number 1 spot in 3 point percentage.
The assist rate tonight was a little sub par for my taste. Only 10 assists on 26 makes. I would like to see 13 or 14 for that number of makes. I.T. had 7 of the 10 and only 2 turnovers. Speaking of turnovers, UW only had 5 on the night, but the 5th was almost extremely costly. Suggs turned the ball over under pressure with 50 seconds or so to go, allowing Georgia to cut the lead to 4 instead of 6 and free throws to shoot. Cannot makes those mistake against a team like UNC. It will kill you.
As I said in the pregame, our bench would be the difference maker. The Bulldogs had 0 bench points, while UW racked up something like 28 tonight. With Ross unable to make his mark, Suggs and Wilcox supplemented as they could and Aziz gave our bigs the support they needed.
I.T. led the Dawgs with 19 and Suggs was the only other Husky to hit double digits with 10. MBA continued to frustrate with his missed bunnies, shooting 3-8 and scoring 8 on the night. I like his 2-2 free throw shooting, but he had a wide open shot that he missed and UGA recovered. DUNK IT, MBA! You are 6-9. Flush that basket. No excuse to miss an open one like that.
What Needed Improvement
Rebounding
Did not do a good job cleaning the glass tonight. Georgia had too many second chance opportunities because they picked up the offensive boards. UW was fairly decent cleaning their own missed (1 of 26 were offensive), but none of our bigs were able to snag more than 6. We need MBA to get at least 8. Aziz and Gant are both near the numbers they should be.
3 Point Shooting
Boy was our shot UGLY tonight. We stunk the place up in the first half and only stayed in the game due to our defensive efforts, forcing the Bulldogs to turn the ball over. We need more than just Suggs to be feeling his shot. I am not asking for 12 or 14 3's a game, but 7 or 8 is well within our skill set.
Clutch Free Throw Shooting
With the exception of I.T., UW struggled to seal the game off late. Overton and Wilcox are both normally strong free throw shooters regardless of time or point differential. I do not expect to see them make such mistakes again. UNC is going to be a tough challenge and we can ill afford to miss the gimmes. #sackup #makeyourfreethrows
What was Good
Defense
UW had some strong defensive showings tonight. The Huskies forced 14 turnovers and held Georgia to only 9 assists. Though Thompkins was able to have his way with our team, the Dawgs were able to shut down Jeremy Price, Gerald Robinson, and Travis Leslie to a combined 11-32 shooting. That is pretty solid in my mind.
Toughness
UW fought back from an early deficit and was able to hold off the late Georgia run. That takes some guts to do and the Huskies worked it out. It wasn't pretty, but they got it done.
Player by Player Reviews
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
8 points and 6 boards to go along with an assist, steal, and block. Not bad, but much lower production than we needed from him. MBA did a good job defensively against the heavier Price, but he couldn't get his offensive game in swing. We will need him to step up big against UNC who features a lengthy front court.
Grade: B
Justin Holiday
6 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and a pair of steals. Holiday matched up against the smaller Georgia front court and was critical in shutting Leslie down. He was 3-7 from the field, 0-2 from range. Two of his boards were offensive, which is very nice. Holiday's offensive numbers have been lower than the start of the year, but his defense is still strong and in the end that is what we really need from him.
Grade: B
Venoy Overton
Overton put up 21 minutes tonight, allowing I.T. to rest. He had 6 points and 4 boards, including some very athletic drives to the hoop. His speed allowed him to push past his defenders and make his way to the rim. Only 1 assist, but 0 turnovers. Not a whole lot else to comment on from his performance tonight. A good way to come back after sitting out the Pac-10 tournament.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
Gant only played 16 minutes today, despite starting due to early foul trouble. He played tough when he came in and hit some big shots and applied solid pressure on his man. I imagine we will see him remain in the starting 5 against UNC as he offers a hybrid between Ross/Wilcox and Aziz. Some size, some speed, good shot, good D. Keep on keeping on Darnell.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
19 minutes off the bench and the only solid shot once more. Suggs is proving time and time again just how undervalued he is to this team. On nights when no one can seemingly hit, Suggs quietly steps up and drops an ace here and there. His late turnover nearly made me put my hand through a wall. Hold on to the ball when they are swarming like that. Call a time out. Just don't pass through traffic in the backcourt, way too dangerous.
Grade: B+
Isaiah Thomas
MVP, no doubt. He played big tonight despite some shooting problems. He got to the line and drilled every shot, minus one that rattled around before settling in the bottom of the net. He had a big steal in the final minutes off an inbound play by UGA that led to 2 free throws. 0-2 from range, but some nice step back 2 pointers near the top of the key. He looked a little like Quincy out on the court tonight with that fade away. 6-14 shooting isn't great, but I'll take it. His 7 assists were critical in taking down Georgia's defense.
Grade: A-
Aziz N'Diaye
I liked what Aziz did for the Dawgs tonight. He was big in the middle and took up a lot of space per usual, but tonight he held the ball well. Both he and MBA made one dumb move apiece there they got an offensive board then brought the ball down to dribble, only to have it stripped. You are 7 feet tall Aziz. Keep it high and get the quick put back. For 20 minutes he had some solid numbers.
Grade: A
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Bad night for the freshman. He couldn't get his swag to turn on and played a team low 10 minutes. C.J. Wilcox may take over in the starting 5 if Romar feels Ross can't step up, but I believe he will stay the starter for now. He has too much explosive power not to at least give him a chance to do his thing.
Grade: D
C.J. Wilcox
Not a great night, but he has had worse. 6 points on 2-6 shooting, 1-4 outside, and a late missed free throw highlight his stats. We need him or Ross to support Suggs on the offensive end to take some pressure of I.T. and MBA. He had a lazy pass that got picked off for 2 easy points. Got to pass smarter and with some speed, especially at the top of the key.
Grade: C
Final Thoughts
It wasn't what I thought we would see, but a win is a win. UNC is up next and it will be a tough, tough game. UNC is essentially at home in Charlotte, so the Dawgs will have to contend with a sea of baby blue in the arena. Get it done Huskies, let's make this tournament memorable for all the right reasons. Go Dawgs!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Univeristy of Georgia Bulldogs Preview
Washington will take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the now 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. I honestly do not know a whole lot about this team and all of my analysis is strictly statistical analysis. I'm hoping to peruse ESPN3 later today as well as Tuesday and Wednesday to find a few of their games so I can give some better analysis on their play style. UW also entered the top 25 in the final regular season poll at 23 and Arizona finished at 17.
Georgia went 21-11 in their regular season, 9-7 in the SEC. In Georgia's last game they were somewhat surprisingly upset in Overtime by Alabama 65-59. Georgia had a 14 point lead erased in the final 7 minutes. Georgia also lost a very similar game to Alabama a few days early 65-57. In both games, Georgia's bench only scored a combined 2 points.
Georgia is essentially made up of its starting 5 plus some minute grabbers that allow the starters to rest. Out of the 5 starters all play 23+ minutes and 4 play 31+ minutes. The Bulldogs have 3 bench players who play more than 10 minutes a game, but none contribute more than 4 points or rebounds per game.
All 5 starters score 8 or more points per outing, led by Trey Thompkins at 16.1. Thompkins also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.5 boards a game. Travis Leslie is the other extremely dangerous player for the Bulldogs. He is second in scoring and rebounding at 14.5 and 7.2 respectively. Leslie is a 6-4 guard while Thompkins is a 6-10 forward.
Georgia offers an interesting match up for the Huskies. Jeremy Price is a 6-8 270lb Forward. Thompkins weighs in at 245lb. This leads me to believe that we could see either Aziz N'Diaye or Darnell Gant in the starting 5 instead of Terrence Ross as without one of the bigger guys in there we would see some bad mismatches. As good as the smaller 5 are together, putting a 6-6 190lb player on either of those guys would mean a serious weight and height advantage for the Bulldogs. I expect Aziz N'Diaye to step in simply because he is bigger than Darnell and can body up on Price, leaving Matthew Bryan-Amaning to take the quicker, better Trey Thompkins.
The 3 starting guards for the Bulldogs measure in at 6-4, 6-1, and 5-11. UW matches up favorably with Georgia's backcourt. Justin Holiday can shut down the smaller Travis Leslie, while C.J. Wilcox or Terrence Ross can work on the 6-1 Gerald Robinson, and Isaiah Thomas has the greatest advantage with 5-11 Dustin Ware. Robinson and Ware combine for 7.7 assists and 4.2 turnovers. Ware is the better of the pair in terms of point guard play with an A/T ratio of 3.2, while Robinson is posting a 1.4 A/T ratio.
Dustin Ware is a strong 3 point shooter, hitting 44% on the year with nearly 60 made shots. Ware also leads Georgia in free throw percentage at 82%. Robinson is second on the team in made 3's at 29, good for 30% shooting on the year. Neither player should be considered 3 point shooters as their average 2 and 1 made three pointers a game respectively. None the less, UW cannot afford to be lazy on defense and allow Georgia to get open outside.
Starting Lineup Predictions
Georgia
Dustin Ware 5-11 182lb G
Gerald Robinson 6-1 180lb G
Travis Leslie 6-4 205lb G
Jeremy Price 6-8 270lb F
Trey Thompkins 6-10 245lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Avoid the Slow Start
The Huskies have had some slow start games that have forced them to have to fight back from double digit deficits and this hasn't always worked out. As nice as it would be to start the strong shooting 5, Georgia's size means we need to go bigger at the start as well. To make up for the slower offense, I.T. and Holiday need to get into the middle to collapse the defense and open the post and perimeters for open opportunities. Getting the ball inside to MBA and possibly forcing a few fouls on the Bulldog's post players early could be huge in gaining a quick advantage.
Rebounding
Georgia has some strong rebounders on their teams. Their season average is only 2 or 3 below ours and their committee style rebounding is very similar to our own. UW will have its work cut out for them, but if they work hard and hustle they can win the battle of the glass. Creating more offensive opportunities by rebounding will greatly help our cause.
3 Point Shooting
This doesn't need to be our focal point, we should not resort to this as our first option, but we have the talent and shooters to take advantage in the backcourt. If I.T. continues his hot streak from the championship game and 2 of our 3 shooting guards are feeling their shot, UW should feel pretty comfortable.
Free Throw Shooting
Got to make the free ones. UW could have avoid a lot of headache and stress if they had made their damn free throws. Georgia is not a great free throw shooting team at 70%, but they have 2 80+% shooters who can drain from the charity stripe. Avoid putting them on the line and make our own shots.
Hustle and Drive
Keep the momentum from the tournament going. Georgia has been very up and down as of late, losing one, winning one, etc. UW worked extremely hard against Arizona to get the loose balls and made tons of hustle plays. They were tougher and it payed off in the end.
Final Thoughts
Georgia should be an interesting match up. UW has the bench to take them apart. The Bulldogs have the frontcourt to do some damage. Our backcourt is clearly stronger. UW can ill afford to overlook Georgia. Still, they should not be too terrible of a team to play. UW has a ton of tournament experience to build off of and the right players are peaking when we need them.
Final Score: UW-78 UGA-72
Georgia went 21-11 in their regular season, 9-7 in the SEC. In Georgia's last game they were somewhat surprisingly upset in Overtime by Alabama 65-59. Georgia had a 14 point lead erased in the final 7 minutes. Georgia also lost a very similar game to Alabama a few days early 65-57. In both games, Georgia's bench only scored a combined 2 points.
Georgia is essentially made up of its starting 5 plus some minute grabbers that allow the starters to rest. Out of the 5 starters all play 23+ minutes and 4 play 31+ minutes. The Bulldogs have 3 bench players who play more than 10 minutes a game, but none contribute more than 4 points or rebounds per game.
All 5 starters score 8 or more points per outing, led by Trey Thompkins at 16.1. Thompkins also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.5 boards a game. Travis Leslie is the other extremely dangerous player for the Bulldogs. He is second in scoring and rebounding at 14.5 and 7.2 respectively. Leslie is a 6-4 guard while Thompkins is a 6-10 forward.
Georgia offers an interesting match up for the Huskies. Jeremy Price is a 6-8 270lb Forward. Thompkins weighs in at 245lb. This leads me to believe that we could see either Aziz N'Diaye or Darnell Gant in the starting 5 instead of Terrence Ross as without one of the bigger guys in there we would see some bad mismatches. As good as the smaller 5 are together, putting a 6-6 190lb player on either of those guys would mean a serious weight and height advantage for the Bulldogs. I expect Aziz N'Diaye to step in simply because he is bigger than Darnell and can body up on Price, leaving Matthew Bryan-Amaning to take the quicker, better Trey Thompkins.
The 3 starting guards for the Bulldogs measure in at 6-4, 6-1, and 5-11. UW matches up favorably with Georgia's backcourt. Justin Holiday can shut down the smaller Travis Leslie, while C.J. Wilcox or Terrence Ross can work on the 6-1 Gerald Robinson, and Isaiah Thomas has the greatest advantage with 5-11 Dustin Ware. Robinson and Ware combine for 7.7 assists and 4.2 turnovers. Ware is the better of the pair in terms of point guard play with an A/T ratio of 3.2, while Robinson is posting a 1.4 A/T ratio.
Dustin Ware is a strong 3 point shooter, hitting 44% on the year with nearly 60 made shots. Ware also leads Georgia in free throw percentage at 82%. Robinson is second on the team in made 3's at 29, good for 30% shooting on the year. Neither player should be considered 3 point shooters as their average 2 and 1 made three pointers a game respectively. None the less, UW cannot afford to be lazy on defense and allow Georgia to get open outside.
Starting Lineup Predictions
Georgia
Dustin Ware 5-11 182lb G
Gerald Robinson 6-1 180lb G
Travis Leslie 6-4 205lb G
Jeremy Price 6-8 270lb F
Trey Thompkins 6-10 245lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Avoid the Slow Start
The Huskies have had some slow start games that have forced them to have to fight back from double digit deficits and this hasn't always worked out. As nice as it would be to start the strong shooting 5, Georgia's size means we need to go bigger at the start as well. To make up for the slower offense, I.T. and Holiday need to get into the middle to collapse the defense and open the post and perimeters for open opportunities. Getting the ball inside to MBA and possibly forcing a few fouls on the Bulldog's post players early could be huge in gaining a quick advantage.
Rebounding
Georgia has some strong rebounders on their teams. Their season average is only 2 or 3 below ours and their committee style rebounding is very similar to our own. UW will have its work cut out for them, but if they work hard and hustle they can win the battle of the glass. Creating more offensive opportunities by rebounding will greatly help our cause.
3 Point Shooting
This doesn't need to be our focal point, we should not resort to this as our first option, but we have the talent and shooters to take advantage in the backcourt. If I.T. continues his hot streak from the championship game and 2 of our 3 shooting guards are feeling their shot, UW should feel pretty comfortable.
Free Throw Shooting
Got to make the free ones. UW could have avoid a lot of headache and stress if they had made their damn free throws. Georgia is not a great free throw shooting team at 70%, but they have 2 80+% shooters who can drain from the charity stripe. Avoid putting them on the line and make our own shots.
Hustle and Drive
Keep the momentum from the tournament going. Georgia has been very up and down as of late, losing one, winning one, etc. UW worked extremely hard against Arizona to get the loose balls and made tons of hustle plays. They were tougher and it payed off in the end.
Final Thoughts
Georgia should be an interesting match up. UW has the bench to take them apart. The Bulldogs have the frontcourt to do some damage. Our backcourt is clearly stronger. UW can ill afford to overlook Georgia. Still, they should not be too terrible of a team to play. UW has a ton of tournament experience to build off of and the right players are peaking when we need them.
Final Score: UW-78 UGA-72
Sunday, March 13, 2011
UW gets a 7 seed
UW is a 7th seed in the East Division, clearly and easily the hardest region to be in. Ohio State, the overall #1 seed, North Carolina, Syracuse, Kentucky, West Virginia, Xavier, and Marquette. That is a lot of talent in one region. Plus its in Charlotte, North Carolina so should UW beat Georgia they will likely face UNC in what will essentially be a home game for the Tar Heels.
Arizona got a 5 seed in the West Division, UCLA picked up a 7 in the Southeast, and USC is one of the play-in games located in the Southwest Division.
It's guna be a tough road, but to be the best you have to beat the best and this is a great chance for UW to take the world by surprise and make those missed out recruits regret their decision.
Basically, our path looks like this: Georgia in the "2nd" round, followed by UNC, Syracuse, and Ohio State, before a match up in the Final Four against Duke and a championship game against Pitt or Kansas. If that isn't tough, I don't know what is.
Arizona got a 5 seed in the West Division, UCLA picked up a 7 in the Southeast, and USC is one of the play-in games located in the Southwest Division.
It's guna be a tough road, but to be the best you have to beat the best and this is a great chance for UW to take the world by surprise and make those missed out recruits regret their decision.
Basically, our path looks like this: Georgia in the "2nd" round, followed by UNC, Syracuse, and Ohio State, before a match up in the Final Four against Duke and a championship game against Pitt or Kansas. If that isn't tough, I don't know what is.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
University of Arizona Review 3
Final Score: UW-77 UA-75
WHAT A FINISH! Isaiah Thomas embodying the spirit of Quincy Pondexter nailed a fade away jumper as time expired after juking out Lamont Jones. In Overtime. I want a Title match up against Arizona so bad. That would be an exciting game. I.T. put the team on his back tonight. 28 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists. Sure the 5 turnovers marred his stat line a bit, but he was monstrous tonight. Not only did he nail the game winner, but at the end of regulation I.T., Terrence Ross, and C.J. Wilcox nailed HUGE 3 pointers from both corners and top of the key. C.J. Wilcox was also on the receiving end of a great full court pass from I.T. and he jammed it home in overtime to put us up 75-72. Kevin Parrom of UA came down and hit a 3 pointer to tie the game with 20.4 to go. I.T. brought the ball up, Romar had a timeout to use, but he let I.T. be a leader and do his thing. Romar's belief in his players has payed off huge. Pondexter nailed the Marquette shot, now I.T. has this one to hang his hat on. After the shot I.T. yelled and flexed for the crowd and camera. His teammates engulfed him, media swarmed and I.T. laid on the ground, exhausted (123 minutes of 125 in the tournament) and it looked like he was crying. His teammates picked him up and put him on their shoulders. He put the team on his back. They put him on theirs. It was a beautiful thing. The kid is an athlete and winner and he put everything into this tournament. With Venoy Overton serving his suspension, I.T. played all, but 2 minutes in the Oregon game and only missed 2 offensive possessions.
Romar made a very smart coaching decision late in regulation and put C.J. Wilcox at the point and let I.T. roam around the court as a shooting guard. His hand was hot tonight and we needed his points. Speaking of points, Terrence Ross was looking like BRoy tonight and was the only other Husky in double digits with 16 on the night. Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Wilcox both had 9 points.
Wilcox was not the only player with a sweet dunk. Terrence Ross rose up and caught a brilliant pass from I.T. for the wide open alley oop. Howdidhegetupthere? Magic. He is made of magic.
UW started a tad slow again, but got an early lead only to see it washed away by a strong Arizona run. UW went into halftime down 3, 36-33. MBA had 0 points going into half time as did Justin Holiday. Holiday finished scoreless again on 0-3 shooting. In the final minute regulation UW's line up was I.T., Ross, Wilcox, Suggs, and Gant. We needed shooters and MBA had 4 fouls. It payed off. We hit three 3 pointers for our final 9 points in the second half.
This game should not have had to go into overtime. I'm not sad it did now, that finish was absurd, but UW missed EVERY SINGLE FREE THROW in the second half. Unacceptable. After a 7-7 first half, UW went cold at the line including several AND1's and 1-1's. UW didn't hit a free throw until overtime when MBA split his free throws. MBA fouled out with 3 minutes to go in overtime, thankfully UW had Darnell Gant to take over. Gant had 6 points and 8 rebounds on the night.
The game had an ominous feel about it when I.T. had a lay-in blocked form behind that was clearly goaltending, but the refs missed the call once more. Darnell Gant evened the score almost immediately after with his own monster block. Gant had 2 great blocks in the game. He has become a very strong 6th man. Aziz N'Diaye had 7 rebounds off the bench, 4 offensive, and missed a dunk, but grabbed the ball and layed it in thankfully.
Arizona was uncharacteristically bad at the free throw line tonight. 20-30 is well below their average. Derrik Williams was 8-13. UW only attempted 14 free throws and missed 6.
UW dominated the glass after getting destroyed in the last match up. UW had 43 rebounds, 16 offensive, including 2 in a row twice in the game. Once with 5 to go in regulation and the other with 2 minutes or so to go in overtime. Arizona only managed 32 with 11 offensive. Williams led the Wilcats with 11. No other player had more than 6 for Arizona.
Watching the replay over and over is the greatest thing ever. Gus Johnson's call was brilliant. GAME CLOCK AT 8! HE'S GUNA DO IT HIMSELF! THOMAS! SHAKE! CROSS OVER! STEP BACK! GGGGGGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What Needed Improvement
Free Throw Shooting
My health was far too endangered by their second half free throw shooting. If they had made their damn free throws we wouldn't have needed that ridiculous come back to win the game. Got to hit the free ones and you especially cannot miss the front end of 1 and 1's.
Fouling
UW had 25 fouls on the night. MBA fouled out and both Aziz and I.T. had 4 when all was said and done. 30 free throw attempts gives opponents too many opportunities to win games. When we are running an 8 man rotation we cannot afford to foul this often.
What was Good
ISAIAH THOMAS
He went all out all game, all tournament. 123 minutes of 125 possible. All 45 in the championship game. I.T. scored 59 points, had 30 assists, 10 rebounds, and 8 steals. To average 19.7 points and 10 assists is ridiculous. The fact that the final minute of regulation he led is completely overshadowed by his buzzer beating shot is a testament to how amazing it was. I.T. starting the come back by hitting a 3 to bring it within 1 point with a minute or so to go. He also dished to C.J. Wilcox in the corner who hit the game tying 3 with only seconds to go in the game. That was, by the way, the only 3 pointer Wilcox hit all game. Talk about getting it done when you need to. I think Wilcox was inspired by I.T. and Ross sacking up in the two previous possessions. But I digress....I.T. put the team on his back. Too bad he couldn't pick up a third straight double double. His performance tonight was legendary. Evidently, Isaiah waved off Romar in the final 20 seconds. He knew what he was doing. He wanted that shot and boy he did not disappoint. I will relive this shot over and over and over. Good game I.T.
Rebounding
I.T., Holiday, Gant, and Aziz were terrific on the glass. MBA only managed 3 rebounds, all in the second half. The first four combined for 27 of UW's 43 boards. We also did a great job keeping Arizona off the glass. Great offensive rebounding and solid boxing out was what did it for us.
Player by Player Reviews
Coming later. I'm off to celebrate this win tonight. GO DAWGS!
WHAT A FINISH! Isaiah Thomas embodying the spirit of Quincy Pondexter nailed a fade away jumper as time expired after juking out Lamont Jones. In Overtime. I want a Title match up against Arizona so bad. That would be an exciting game. I.T. put the team on his back tonight. 28 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists. Sure the 5 turnovers marred his stat line a bit, but he was monstrous tonight. Not only did he nail the game winner, but at the end of regulation I.T., Terrence Ross, and C.J. Wilcox nailed HUGE 3 pointers from both corners and top of the key. C.J. Wilcox was also on the receiving end of a great full court pass from I.T. and he jammed it home in overtime to put us up 75-72. Kevin Parrom of UA came down and hit a 3 pointer to tie the game with 20.4 to go. I.T. brought the ball up, Romar had a timeout to use, but he let I.T. be a leader and do his thing. Romar's belief in his players has payed off huge. Pondexter nailed the Marquette shot, now I.T. has this one to hang his hat on. After the shot I.T. yelled and flexed for the crowd and camera. His teammates engulfed him, media swarmed and I.T. laid on the ground, exhausted (123 minutes of 125 in the tournament) and it looked like he was crying. His teammates picked him up and put him on their shoulders. He put the team on his back. They put him on theirs. It was a beautiful thing. The kid is an athlete and winner and he put everything into this tournament. With Venoy Overton serving his suspension, I.T. played all, but 2 minutes in the Oregon game and only missed 2 offensive possessions.
Romar made a very smart coaching decision late in regulation and put C.J. Wilcox at the point and let I.T. roam around the court as a shooting guard. His hand was hot tonight and we needed his points. Speaking of points, Terrence Ross was looking like BRoy tonight and was the only other Husky in double digits with 16 on the night. Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Wilcox both had 9 points.
Wilcox was not the only player with a sweet dunk. Terrence Ross rose up and caught a brilliant pass from I.T. for the wide open alley oop. Howdidhegetupthere? Magic. He is made of magic.
UW started a tad slow again, but got an early lead only to see it washed away by a strong Arizona run. UW went into halftime down 3, 36-33. MBA had 0 points going into half time as did Justin Holiday. Holiday finished scoreless again on 0-3 shooting. In the final minute regulation UW's line up was I.T., Ross, Wilcox, Suggs, and Gant. We needed shooters and MBA had 4 fouls. It payed off. We hit three 3 pointers for our final 9 points in the second half.
This game should not have had to go into overtime. I'm not sad it did now, that finish was absurd, but UW missed EVERY SINGLE FREE THROW in the second half. Unacceptable. After a 7-7 first half, UW went cold at the line including several AND1's and 1-1's. UW didn't hit a free throw until overtime when MBA split his free throws. MBA fouled out with 3 minutes to go in overtime, thankfully UW had Darnell Gant to take over. Gant had 6 points and 8 rebounds on the night.
The game had an ominous feel about it when I.T. had a lay-in blocked form behind that was clearly goaltending, but the refs missed the call once more. Darnell Gant evened the score almost immediately after with his own monster block. Gant had 2 great blocks in the game. He has become a very strong 6th man. Aziz N'Diaye had 7 rebounds off the bench, 4 offensive, and missed a dunk, but grabbed the ball and layed it in thankfully.
Arizona was uncharacteristically bad at the free throw line tonight. 20-30 is well below their average. Derrik Williams was 8-13. UW only attempted 14 free throws and missed 6.
UW dominated the glass after getting destroyed in the last match up. UW had 43 rebounds, 16 offensive, including 2 in a row twice in the game. Once with 5 to go in regulation and the other with 2 minutes or so to go in overtime. Arizona only managed 32 with 11 offensive. Williams led the Wilcats with 11. No other player had more than 6 for Arizona.
Watching the replay over and over is the greatest thing ever. Gus Johnson's call was brilliant. GAME CLOCK AT 8! HE'S GUNA DO IT HIMSELF! THOMAS! SHAKE! CROSS OVER! STEP BACK! GGGGGGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What Needed Improvement
Free Throw Shooting
My health was far too endangered by their second half free throw shooting. If they had made their damn free throws we wouldn't have needed that ridiculous come back to win the game. Got to hit the free ones and you especially cannot miss the front end of 1 and 1's.
Fouling
UW had 25 fouls on the night. MBA fouled out and both Aziz and I.T. had 4 when all was said and done. 30 free throw attempts gives opponents too many opportunities to win games. When we are running an 8 man rotation we cannot afford to foul this often.
What was Good
ISAIAH THOMAS
He went all out all game, all tournament. 123 minutes of 125 possible. All 45 in the championship game. I.T. scored 59 points, had 30 assists, 10 rebounds, and 8 steals. To average 19.7 points and 10 assists is ridiculous. The fact that the final minute of regulation he led is completely overshadowed by his buzzer beating shot is a testament to how amazing it was. I.T. starting the come back by hitting a 3 to bring it within 1 point with a minute or so to go. He also dished to C.J. Wilcox in the corner who hit the game tying 3 with only seconds to go in the game. That was, by the way, the only 3 pointer Wilcox hit all game. Talk about getting it done when you need to. I think Wilcox was inspired by I.T. and Ross sacking up in the two previous possessions. But I digress....I.T. put the team on his back. Too bad he couldn't pick up a third straight double double. His performance tonight was legendary. Evidently, Isaiah waved off Romar in the final 20 seconds. He knew what he was doing. He wanted that shot and boy he did not disappoint. I will relive this shot over and over and over. Good game I.T.
Rebounding
I.T., Holiday, Gant, and Aziz were terrific on the glass. MBA only managed 3 rebounds, all in the second half. The first four combined for 27 of UW's 43 boards. We also did a great job keeping Arizona off the glass. Great offensive rebounding and solid boxing out was what did it for us.
Player by Player Reviews
Coming later. I'm off to celebrate this win tonight. GO DAWGS!
University of Arizona Preview 3
Woke up late so I'll direct you to a couple of sites who were a little more responsible with their time and got their previews written up
http://www.montlakemadness.com/pac10-ship-uw-vs-arizona-preview/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2014477003_derrick_william_1.html
http://www.montlakemadness.com/pac10-ship-uw-vs-arizona-preview/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2014477003_derrick_william_1.html
Friday, March 11, 2011
University of Oregon Review 3
Final Score: UW-69 UO-51
UW started slow per usual, but played solid enough defense to keep Oregon at bay. UW went into half time with a 9 point lead and came out of half with a 3 pointer from C.J. Wilcox to take a 12 point lead. Oregon battled back slowly, going on a 10-0 run to bring it within 4. Washington rediscovered its offense through Terrence Ross who finished with some sick plays on the night including a top 10 worthy dunk. He went behind the back with one hand and then slammed it home.
The Dawgs rebounded well tonight, beating UO 39-31 led by Darnell Gant with 10 rebounds. Matthew Bryan-Amaning with 7 boards came in second.
Isaiah Thomas finished with his second straight double double, 10 points 12 assists. He shot terribly, going 2-11 on the night 5-8 from the free throw line. Not good numbers. I.T. settled all too often for the 3 pointer.
Speaking of struggling scorers, MBA reverted back to his poor shooting, going 2-9 and missing several bunnies once more. He did hit both his free throws.
C.J. Wilcox led all UW scorers with 14 on 4-9 shooting, 3-7 from range and a perfect 3-3 from the charity stripe. Not quite as good as yesterday, but his stroke was a big reason why we got the lead and kept it.
UW had some trouble in the second half handling the ball as Oregon extended their defense and caused trouble for I.T. and Scott Suggs who was forced to bring the ball up a time or two when I.T. hit the bench. I.T. played 38 minutes on the night so Suggs didn't have to do too much, thank goodness. Suggs, I love you as a wing and shooting guard, but you scare me at the point. Justin Holiday and I.T. both had 4 turnovers, the difference being Holiday had 1 assist to Thomas' 12.
Aziz N'Diaye came off the bench once more and picked up 5 rebounds in 13 minutes. He wasn't effective on offense, but didn't pick up many fouls. I expect his lack of play time was due to the effectiveness of Darnell Gant in the post as he played 21 minutes tonight and nearly had a double double with 8 points on top of his boards.
Brendan Sherrer and Antoine Hosley both played in the final minute, but neither was given the chance to do anything. Both are still undefeated in their playing careers.
What Needed Improvement
Free Throws (I.T.)
Basically this one falls on Isaiah tonight only. Out of the 4 misses, I.T. had 3. Gota step it back up.
Fast Start
We need to learn to come out shooting strong as opposed to the misses we have been throwing up the past week or two. I.T. needs to lead the way with strong drives to the hoop and a dish if it isn't there.
What was Good
The Three Headed Monster
Ross, Wilcox, and Suggs all performed well tonight and combined for 37 points. They also hit 6 of our 7 three pointers and Ross' dunk was just the icing on the cake.
Team Play
17 assists on 24 makes is a great number. UW did a fairly good job of not forcing shots for most the game and did so by working the ball around to open man. Too bad the Huskies struggled to find success in the middle from anyone other than Gant.
Defense
Overall the team defense was pretty good. UW picked up 5 steals and 4 blocks to top off 11 turnovers. It wasn't their greatest defensive performance, but holding the Ducks to 32% shooting form the field and 16% from range is pretty awesome.
Final Thoughts
This was a good way to go into the championship game. A strong 18 point win to top off a dramatic finish against WSU. Two different games allow us to prepare for whatever could come tomorrow in the championship game against Arizona. I expect Aziz to make a return to the starting 5 against Arizona as they have a taller line up, but don't be too surprised if we keep the small 5 to attempt to score some quick baskets. No player reviews tonight, sorry. I'm off to the bars to have a Duck Fart.
UW started slow per usual, but played solid enough defense to keep Oregon at bay. UW went into half time with a 9 point lead and came out of half with a 3 pointer from C.J. Wilcox to take a 12 point lead. Oregon battled back slowly, going on a 10-0 run to bring it within 4. Washington rediscovered its offense through Terrence Ross who finished with some sick plays on the night including a top 10 worthy dunk. He went behind the back with one hand and then slammed it home.
The Dawgs rebounded well tonight, beating UO 39-31 led by Darnell Gant with 10 rebounds. Matthew Bryan-Amaning with 7 boards came in second.
Isaiah Thomas finished with his second straight double double, 10 points 12 assists. He shot terribly, going 2-11 on the night 5-8 from the free throw line. Not good numbers. I.T. settled all too often for the 3 pointer.
Speaking of struggling scorers, MBA reverted back to his poor shooting, going 2-9 and missing several bunnies once more. He did hit both his free throws.
C.J. Wilcox led all UW scorers with 14 on 4-9 shooting, 3-7 from range and a perfect 3-3 from the charity stripe. Not quite as good as yesterday, but his stroke was a big reason why we got the lead and kept it.
UW had some trouble in the second half handling the ball as Oregon extended their defense and caused trouble for I.T. and Scott Suggs who was forced to bring the ball up a time or two when I.T. hit the bench. I.T. played 38 minutes on the night so Suggs didn't have to do too much, thank goodness. Suggs, I love you as a wing and shooting guard, but you scare me at the point. Justin Holiday and I.T. both had 4 turnovers, the difference being Holiday had 1 assist to Thomas' 12.
Aziz N'Diaye came off the bench once more and picked up 5 rebounds in 13 minutes. He wasn't effective on offense, but didn't pick up many fouls. I expect his lack of play time was due to the effectiveness of Darnell Gant in the post as he played 21 minutes tonight and nearly had a double double with 8 points on top of his boards.
Brendan Sherrer and Antoine Hosley both played in the final minute, but neither was given the chance to do anything. Both are still undefeated in their playing careers.
What Needed Improvement
Free Throws (I.T.)
Basically this one falls on Isaiah tonight only. Out of the 4 misses, I.T. had 3. Gota step it back up.
Fast Start
We need to learn to come out shooting strong as opposed to the misses we have been throwing up the past week or two. I.T. needs to lead the way with strong drives to the hoop and a dish if it isn't there.
What was Good
The Three Headed Monster
Ross, Wilcox, and Suggs all performed well tonight and combined for 37 points. They also hit 6 of our 7 three pointers and Ross' dunk was just the icing on the cake.
Team Play
17 assists on 24 makes is a great number. UW did a fairly good job of not forcing shots for most the game and did so by working the ball around to open man. Too bad the Huskies struggled to find success in the middle from anyone other than Gant.
Defense
Overall the team defense was pretty good. UW picked up 5 steals and 4 blocks to top off 11 turnovers. It wasn't their greatest defensive performance, but holding the Ducks to 32% shooting form the field and 16% from range is pretty awesome.
Final Thoughts
This was a good way to go into the championship game. A strong 18 point win to top off a dramatic finish against WSU. Two different games allow us to prepare for whatever could come tomorrow in the championship game against Arizona. I expect Aziz to make a return to the starting 5 against Arizona as they have a taller line up, but don't be too surprised if we keep the small 5 to attempt to score some quick baskets. No player reviews tonight, sorry. I'm off to the bars to have a Duck Fart.
University of Oregon Preview 3
UW faces a hot Oregon team tonight after a shootout with the Cougars late last night. Oregon took it to UCLA and made them look the fool. E.J. Singler has been hot this tournament setting career highs in points both nights with 22 against ASU and 24 against UCLA. The difference in the UCLA game was shooting plain and simple. UO made 27 shots on 55 attempts while the Bruins made 19 on 55, including 1 less made 3 pointer. Both teams hit 17 free throws. Oregon enters tonight 16-16 on the year, finishing 7-11 in conference.
Oregon is not a big team by any means so it would not surprise me to see Aziz N'Diaye on the bench once more and Ross remaining in the starting line up. Oregon's 9 man rotation includes 6 guards and 3 forwards with their biggest player coming in at 6-8. UW has the size advantage and needs to use it down low. Look for MBA to get the ball a lot.
Joevan Catron is the leading scorer for the Ducks on the year, but E.J. Singler has been trying to catch up lately. Catron is averaging 14.9 points and a team high 6.1 rebounds on the year. Catron is the man in the middle for the Ducks. At 6-6 he is a bit undersized for a Forward and especially so for a Center, but at 245lbs he has a lot of weight and muscle to throw around in the post.
Singler is second on the team in both points per game, 11.5, and rebounds, 5.8, but we all know his brother Kyle of Duke is much better. Singler is a big reason why Oregon has been so successful this tournament. He is a phenomenal free throw shooting, averaging 85.9% on the year. Singler is also shooting 40% beyond the arc with 44 makes on 110 attempts. Justin Holiday will likely guard Singler.
Malcolm Armstead is the other important Duck on the squad. Armstead is their star point guard who is averaging a team high 4.4 assists per outing and is 4th in scoring with 8.4 per game. The only major downside is his 2.7 turnover average.
With their team being undersized the Ducks understandably struggle on the glass, averaging around 33 per game as a team. They do, however, defend the glass pretty well, allowing their opponents only 35 boards a game. MBA and Holiday should both have strong showings tonight and hopefully Aziz can find some success off the bench or in the starting 5. If Oregon runs a zone, Aziz will likely be ineffective, but a man match could be equally dangerous for Aziz as well. Chances are that we will need to look elsewhere for our rebounding production than the Senegal native. He just isn't quite ready.
Starting Line Up Predictions
Oregon
Malcolm Armstead 6-0 195lb G
Garrett Sims 6-1 181lb G
E.J. Singler 6-6 210lb F
Joevan Catron 6-6 245lb F
Tyrone Nared 6-8 210lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb G
Terrence Ross 6-6 190lb F
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
Be big on the glass, easy as that. UW has the size and skill to dominate the boards and needs to do so to keep Oregon out of the game. MBA needs to harness I.T.'s energy and resolve last game and unleash it rebounding. Holiday and the rest of the perimeter players need to box their men out and get to the glass as well to aid MBA in the effort.
Free Throws
I failed to mention this in my last write up, but it is more important now than ever. The Cougars missed a lot of free throws, thankfully, so our misses didn't hurt as bad as they could have. When a game is won or lost by 5 or less points, I can almost guarantee one team could have reverse their fortunes via their free throw shooting. UW is not a strong free throw shooting team and that needs to be changed sometime in the near future. It may be too late for this season, but Romar needs to add that to the list of things to work on in the off season. C.J. Wilcox is the best free throw shooter on the team. It is a thing of beauty.
Pound the Middle/Drive the Lane
It worked extremely well against WSU and it'll work again tonight. I.T. and the wings need to slash and drive the middle all night long. This will either lead to a basket, a nice dish to MBA, or a kick out to the wings. In my opinion, WSU plays much better perimeter D than Oregon so we should have more open shots with the kick out if the defense is collapsing as expected on the drive. Let's hope Wilcox and Ross haven't gone cold overnight.
Toughness/Grit
They brought the emotion last time out and they should be riding it into this game tonight. While the Huskies should be considered a lock for the NCAA at this point, there is no reason to quit now. They have a chance to defend their tournament title and another opportunity at Arizona should they survive USC's onslaught. No better way to improve seeding than to beat the conference regular season title holding team and a one time top 10 team.
Final Thoughts
This is one of those dangerous games where an undersized and overlooked squad could come out and take it to the big dogs, but I don't see it happening after last nights performance. UW got their scoring touch back and ended up with 89 on the night. Sure, WSU had 87, but Klay Thompson had 43 of those points and the dude was unreal from the floor. You take Klay Thompson and give him an above average night with 23 points like a normal player and its a 20 point blowout. The Huskies played strong D against the Cougars, it just couldn't be helped that Klay was on fire. UW needs to avenge the embarrassing loss in Eugene that was in the middle of the slump that effectively cost them the title.
Final Score: UW-86 UO-76
Oregon is not a big team by any means so it would not surprise me to see Aziz N'Diaye on the bench once more and Ross remaining in the starting line up. Oregon's 9 man rotation includes 6 guards and 3 forwards with their biggest player coming in at 6-8. UW has the size advantage and needs to use it down low. Look for MBA to get the ball a lot.
Joevan Catron is the leading scorer for the Ducks on the year, but E.J. Singler has been trying to catch up lately. Catron is averaging 14.9 points and a team high 6.1 rebounds on the year. Catron is the man in the middle for the Ducks. At 6-6 he is a bit undersized for a Forward and especially so for a Center, but at 245lbs he has a lot of weight and muscle to throw around in the post.
Singler is second on the team in both points per game, 11.5, and rebounds, 5.8, but we all know his brother Kyle of Duke is much better. Singler is a big reason why Oregon has been so successful this tournament. He is a phenomenal free throw shooting, averaging 85.9% on the year. Singler is also shooting 40% beyond the arc with 44 makes on 110 attempts. Justin Holiday will likely guard Singler.
Malcolm Armstead is the other important Duck on the squad. Armstead is their star point guard who is averaging a team high 4.4 assists per outing and is 4th in scoring with 8.4 per game. The only major downside is his 2.7 turnover average.
With their team being undersized the Ducks understandably struggle on the glass, averaging around 33 per game as a team. They do, however, defend the glass pretty well, allowing their opponents only 35 boards a game. MBA and Holiday should both have strong showings tonight and hopefully Aziz can find some success off the bench or in the starting 5. If Oregon runs a zone, Aziz will likely be ineffective, but a man match could be equally dangerous for Aziz as well. Chances are that we will need to look elsewhere for our rebounding production than the Senegal native. He just isn't quite ready.
Starting Line Up Predictions
Oregon
Malcolm Armstead 6-0 195lb G
Garrett Sims 6-1 181lb G
E.J. Singler 6-6 210lb F
Joevan Catron 6-6 245lb F
Tyrone Nared 6-8 210lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb G
Terrence Ross 6-6 190lb F
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
Be big on the glass, easy as that. UW has the size and skill to dominate the boards and needs to do so to keep Oregon out of the game. MBA needs to harness I.T.'s energy and resolve last game and unleash it rebounding. Holiday and the rest of the perimeter players need to box their men out and get to the glass as well to aid MBA in the effort.
Free Throws
I failed to mention this in my last write up, but it is more important now than ever. The Cougars missed a lot of free throws, thankfully, so our misses didn't hurt as bad as they could have. When a game is won or lost by 5 or less points, I can almost guarantee one team could have reverse their fortunes via their free throw shooting. UW is not a strong free throw shooting team and that needs to be changed sometime in the near future. It may be too late for this season, but Romar needs to add that to the list of things to work on in the off season. C.J. Wilcox is the best free throw shooter on the team. It is a thing of beauty.
Pound the Middle/Drive the Lane
It worked extremely well against WSU and it'll work again tonight. I.T. and the wings need to slash and drive the middle all night long. This will either lead to a basket, a nice dish to MBA, or a kick out to the wings. In my opinion, WSU plays much better perimeter D than Oregon so we should have more open shots with the kick out if the defense is collapsing as expected on the drive. Let's hope Wilcox and Ross haven't gone cold overnight.
Toughness/Grit
They brought the emotion last time out and they should be riding it into this game tonight. While the Huskies should be considered a lock for the NCAA at this point, there is no reason to quit now. They have a chance to defend their tournament title and another opportunity at Arizona should they survive USC's onslaught. No better way to improve seeding than to beat the conference regular season title holding team and a one time top 10 team.
Final Thoughts
This is one of those dangerous games where an undersized and overlooked squad could come out and take it to the big dogs, but I don't see it happening after last nights performance. UW got their scoring touch back and ended up with 89 on the night. Sure, WSU had 87, but Klay Thompson had 43 of those points and the dude was unreal from the floor. You take Klay Thompson and give him an above average night with 23 points like a normal player and its a 20 point blowout. The Huskies played strong D against the Cougars, it just couldn't be helped that Klay was on fire. UW needs to avenge the embarrassing loss in Eugene that was in the middle of the slump that effectively cost them the title.
Final Score: UW-86 UO-76
Washington State University Review 3
Final Score: UW-89 WSU-87
Fantastic Rivalry game and a great way to get our momentum and shooting back. It looked scary early on as MBA picked up his second foul with 16 minutes to go in the first half and WSU rushed out to a 12 point lead. UW went into half down 8 and came out storming only to be answered by Klay Thompson and friends. Klay Thompson set the Pac-10 record for points in a tournament game with 43 and also set the 3 point record going 8 for 14 from range, 15-29 on the night. The dude was unstoppable, hitting NBA range shots all night. The game ended on a fairly dramatic note. With the Huskies up 1, UW inbounded to Matthew Bryan-Amaning near the half court line. He caught the pass mid air, landed on one foot and passed to Scott Suggs who drove towards the hoop with DeAngelo Casto trailing only to cut back out to the wing. Suggs then made a sweet pass to Isaiah Thomas who laid it in to put the Dawgs up 3 with 9 seconds to go. Klay Thompson ended up laying the ball in after a foul on Reggie Moore with 2.4 to go led to an initial miss and an intentional second miss. With .4 on the clock Ken Bones called a timeout and had 0 left and was hit with a technical. C.J. missed the first and hit the second free throw. Holiday passed the ball down the court where it was tapped and time expired.
Thompson played a solid 39 minute game. His missed free throw in the final minute was killer and the missed 3 with 30 seconds to go sunk the ship. I give him props for remaining aggressive even with 4 fouls in the final minutes.
As good as Thompson was, the Huskies were better as a whole. Terrence Ross had a hot first half, scoring 13 on 5-7 shooting and helped the Huskies fight back to single digits at the end of the half. Ross finished with 17 on the night. C.J. Wilcox was the man of the second half as he hit back to back three to give UW a 6 point lead and also hit another 3 immediately after Klay Thompson had tied the game with his own 3 pointer. C.J. finished with 16 points. Every starter had 12 or more points and the bench combined for a measly 7 points. I.T. led UW in scoring with 21 and had a double double by dishing out 11 assists. Justin Holiday also put up a double double with 12 points and 10 boards. MBA was close to a double double with 16 and 7 boards.
Interesting, but smart, lineup from the Dawgs today. C.J. Wilcox remained in the starting 5, but Terrence Ross replaced Aziz N'Diaye, a move that proved to be critical in keeping our bigs involved as Aziz finished with 4 fouls in 12 minutes and MBA picked up 4 of his own during his 28 minutes. I.T. played all 40 tonight and didn't look tired at all out there. He was diving on the court, raising the roof, pumping his team up, pounding the court on defense like an animal. It was the I.T. we saw earlier this year, the one we love and admire, the one we needed.
The biggest key to UW's success tonight was getting inside to the paint where MBA and others were having their way. At one point UW had 38 paint points to WSU's 20. Terrence Ross had an INSANE lay-in off an I.T. dish and nearly had another ridiculous lay-in after a behind the back dribble, but sadly he was fouled and missed.
The Dawgs showed something they have missed the past few games. Emotion. They were raw, loud, tough, they played with grit and intensity. They dove on the court, they played tough hustle defense all night. They extended their pressure full court on free throws and made shots here and there. They even dropped into a zone once in a while to throw a wrench at WSU's offense.
Our shooting returned to us after some miscues in the first. UW finished 11-28 from outside (39%, very respectable) and overall UW hit 34 of 57 to finish just over 50%. MBA got his shot back in order and went 7-11. He also had a ridiculous tip in after a missed 3 by C.J. Wilcox. He one handed it back into the rim as he fell away.
The rebounding was so-so. UW 33 boards WSU had 36 and WSU had 13 offensive boards to UW's 11. Casto led the Cougs with 9 and Holiday led the Dawgs with his 10.
The free throw shooting was decent enough. Every one of the starters missed one of their attempts and Suggs was the only person perfect at the line, though it was only 1-1.
UW handled the ball extremely well, committing only 10 turnovers while dishing out 20 assists. UW also defended pretty well, forcing WSU into 13 turnovers as well as nabbing 8 steals and a block.
What Needed Work
Rebounding
Justin Holiday did his job tonight and some. MBA put up some decent numbers himself and kept Casto from being a dominate force in the paint for the most part. It wasn't a terrible rebounding night, there were a lot of long balls from misses behind the arc, it just wasn't the dominate performance on the glass UW had the past two games.
Free Throw Shooting
I almost put this in the good category, but MBA missing the front end of a 1 and 1 when we were only up 3 in the draining seconds killed it for me. Overall 71% isn't bad, but we can do better. This team should be hitting around 75 to 80%. In close game situations that kind of mistake has hurt us before and could hurt us again. Our team needs to find some clutch shooting from someone as it is March and there are no do overs.
What was Good
Outside Shooting
39% is good enough for me. I didn't expect us to return to our 45% from earlier in the year, but 40% is about right. C.J. Wilcox led the Dawgs going 5-9 form outside. I.T. was 3-5 and Ross was 3-7. Holiday missed all 5 of his outside shots. Hopefully he can get his stroke back tomorrow against Oregon. UW did a great job of taking good, open, outside shots and not forcing with hands in the face. I.T. drained one from the Pac Life logo a solid 30 feet out.
Passing/Ball Handling
I.T. was excellent once more with an 11 to 3 A/T ratio tonight. Holiday added 3 assists of his own. Overall the Dawgs were back to their old selves despite the tough pressure thrown at them by the Cougars. The passed and moved the ball well. After the initial sloppy 5 minutes there weren't a lot of turnovers to speak of. On the other hand, UW's pressure D forced WSU into 5 straight turnovers out of halftime.
Inside Game
UW had so many open shots outside because their inside game was so strong. MBA didn't have to put up 20 points because Isaiah was able to drive so well and get to the hoop. Ross and Suggs also flashed to rim a time or two and this cause the defense to collapse, opening our wings for great shots.
Toughness/Emotion/Grit
They dove. They screamed. They flexed. They worked hard tonight. The hustle they lacked against USC came out tonight and payed off in dividends. This was the first game of the season that UW has won by less than 5 points. Finally we pulled out a close one.
Player by Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
Did not play. Suspended through the Pac-10 tournament.
Grade: N/A
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
A much better and satisfying night from the senior big man. He only played 28 minutes due to early foul trouble, but every minute he played was strong and effective. Casto didn't have an answer for him and both Abe Lodwick and Brock Motum could do nothing to assist in the matter. His one handed put back was extremely athletic and impressive. If only he used the glass like that more often it wouldn't have to be such a pleasant surprise. His 7 boards were a little lower than I was expecting, but I won't complain about it too much, especially when Holiday picks up 10.
Grade: A-, hit your free throws, dammit.
Justin Holiday
12 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. Beautiful stat line. Too bad his outside shot couldn't fall in. 5-13 on the night, 0-5 outside. He hustle and defended as best he could, but Thompson could not miss. Thompson would step back and drain a 28 footer like he was chilling in the post. Holiday couldn't extend anymore without giving up the lane or fouling and in the end he made the right move. Holiday had a very solid 2 hand, baseline jam that seemed to energize the team a bit.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
Gant surprisingly played a team low 10 minutes on a night when our big men were getting fouls everywhere. UW used the zone and substitutions well to protect MBA and Aziz from getting hit with their 5th and final. Gant was 1-3 shooting with 3 rebounds and 1 turnover. For 10 minutes those aren't bad stats. The starters were simply doing a fantastic job in the game, no need to disrupt the chemistry that was working.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
Much like the rest of the bench, Suggs did not have a shot tonight. His lone make was a brilliant slash and drive that featured some fancy spin moves, a great pump fake, and an AND1 basket at the rim. Suggs had 3 rebounds and picked up 4 fouls playing 20 minutes. Suggs also had 2 assists and a turnover. I said we would need 2 of the 3 headed beast to win this one and sadly Suggs had to be left out of the range game. I'd love to see all 3 get hot at once.
Grade: B-
Isaiah Thomas
MVP of the game for the Dawgs. He nearly tied the tournament record of 12 assists tonight. He gave the team energy by diving on the ball, fighting into the lane, pounding his chest, hitting the ground, and just all around playing like a Boss. He was 8-13 from the field and hit 2-3 free throws. Great shooting, great passing, great defense on Moore. He did it all and played one of the toughest 40 minutes of his career, no doubt. He didn't look tired after the game. What an athlete. I.T.'s last minute was just ridiculous. He drove to the rim for back to back scores through multiple defenders and somehow banked um both in.
Grade: A+
Aziz N'Diaye
The refs had a vendetta against the big man tonight. Aziz got hit with two bad foul calls, including one which was a clearly blocked shot and if there was a foul it should have been on C.J. Wilcox. This limited his minutes and ability to affect the game. He had 3 boards, 2 assists, and 1 turnover during his limited stint on the court. He made a great hook shot over a defender that flashed the offensive prowess we hope to see from him next year.
Grade: B+
Antoine Hosley
Did not play
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Ross had a great first half and Wilcox complemented him nicely with a great second half. Ross got his first collegiate start tonight and did not disappoint in the slightest. His 5-7 shooting in the first kept the game reasonable. Sadly, he finished 6-11 from the field and did not have much success in the second. Ross added 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, and 1 turnover on top of his 17 points. His defense is still improving, but its a problem that can be fixed easier in the off season than a tweaked shot. He made a strong argument for remaining in the starting 5 tomorrow against the undersized Oregon Ducks.
Grade: A-
C.J. Wilcox
If Ross was the first half star, Wilcox owned the second. Wilcox and Thompson had a shoot off in the second half and while Thompson may have left with the higher score, Wilcox left with the W. C.J. was huge in getting the Dawgs over the hump and getting momentum on our side for once. He scored 13 of his 16 in the second half. He put the team on his back with the help of I.T. Great shooting once more. We need him to continue to shoot this well. If we can extend Oregon's pressure tomorrow, MBA will have a field day.
Grade: A
Final Thoughts
This was a fantastic game for the Huskies. This was the kind of performance they needed to get their confidence back in not only their ability to win, but their ability to win close ones and score once more. Next up their face Oregon who played a fantastic game against UCLA to pull off the upset. By the way, Isaiah Thomas facing the camera, sticking out his tongue, while yelling and flexing was hilarious and awesome to see. Let's defend that title boys! Go Dawgs!
Fantastic Rivalry game and a great way to get our momentum and shooting back. It looked scary early on as MBA picked up his second foul with 16 minutes to go in the first half and WSU rushed out to a 12 point lead. UW went into half down 8 and came out storming only to be answered by Klay Thompson and friends. Klay Thompson set the Pac-10 record for points in a tournament game with 43 and also set the 3 point record going 8 for 14 from range, 15-29 on the night. The dude was unstoppable, hitting NBA range shots all night. The game ended on a fairly dramatic note. With the Huskies up 1, UW inbounded to Matthew Bryan-Amaning near the half court line. He caught the pass mid air, landed on one foot and passed to Scott Suggs who drove towards the hoop with DeAngelo Casto trailing only to cut back out to the wing. Suggs then made a sweet pass to Isaiah Thomas who laid it in to put the Dawgs up 3 with 9 seconds to go. Klay Thompson ended up laying the ball in after a foul on Reggie Moore with 2.4 to go led to an initial miss and an intentional second miss. With .4 on the clock Ken Bones called a timeout and had 0 left and was hit with a technical. C.J. missed the first and hit the second free throw. Holiday passed the ball down the court where it was tapped and time expired.
Thompson played a solid 39 minute game. His missed free throw in the final minute was killer and the missed 3 with 30 seconds to go sunk the ship. I give him props for remaining aggressive even with 4 fouls in the final minutes.
As good as Thompson was, the Huskies were better as a whole. Terrence Ross had a hot first half, scoring 13 on 5-7 shooting and helped the Huskies fight back to single digits at the end of the half. Ross finished with 17 on the night. C.J. Wilcox was the man of the second half as he hit back to back three to give UW a 6 point lead and also hit another 3 immediately after Klay Thompson had tied the game with his own 3 pointer. C.J. finished with 16 points. Every starter had 12 or more points and the bench combined for a measly 7 points. I.T. led UW in scoring with 21 and had a double double by dishing out 11 assists. Justin Holiday also put up a double double with 12 points and 10 boards. MBA was close to a double double with 16 and 7 boards.
Interesting, but smart, lineup from the Dawgs today. C.J. Wilcox remained in the starting 5, but Terrence Ross replaced Aziz N'Diaye, a move that proved to be critical in keeping our bigs involved as Aziz finished with 4 fouls in 12 minutes and MBA picked up 4 of his own during his 28 minutes. I.T. played all 40 tonight and didn't look tired at all out there. He was diving on the court, raising the roof, pumping his team up, pounding the court on defense like an animal. It was the I.T. we saw earlier this year, the one we love and admire, the one we needed.
The biggest key to UW's success tonight was getting inside to the paint where MBA and others were having their way. At one point UW had 38 paint points to WSU's 20. Terrence Ross had an INSANE lay-in off an I.T. dish and nearly had another ridiculous lay-in after a behind the back dribble, but sadly he was fouled and missed.
The Dawgs showed something they have missed the past few games. Emotion. They were raw, loud, tough, they played with grit and intensity. They dove on the court, they played tough hustle defense all night. They extended their pressure full court on free throws and made shots here and there. They even dropped into a zone once in a while to throw a wrench at WSU's offense.
Our shooting returned to us after some miscues in the first. UW finished 11-28 from outside (39%, very respectable) and overall UW hit 34 of 57 to finish just over 50%. MBA got his shot back in order and went 7-11. He also had a ridiculous tip in after a missed 3 by C.J. Wilcox. He one handed it back into the rim as he fell away.
The rebounding was so-so. UW 33 boards WSU had 36 and WSU had 13 offensive boards to UW's 11. Casto led the Cougs with 9 and Holiday led the Dawgs with his 10.
The free throw shooting was decent enough. Every one of the starters missed one of their attempts and Suggs was the only person perfect at the line, though it was only 1-1.
UW handled the ball extremely well, committing only 10 turnovers while dishing out 20 assists. UW also defended pretty well, forcing WSU into 13 turnovers as well as nabbing 8 steals and a block.
What Needed Work
Rebounding
Justin Holiday did his job tonight and some. MBA put up some decent numbers himself and kept Casto from being a dominate force in the paint for the most part. It wasn't a terrible rebounding night, there were a lot of long balls from misses behind the arc, it just wasn't the dominate performance on the glass UW had the past two games.
Free Throw Shooting
I almost put this in the good category, but MBA missing the front end of a 1 and 1 when we were only up 3 in the draining seconds killed it for me. Overall 71% isn't bad, but we can do better. This team should be hitting around 75 to 80%. In close game situations that kind of mistake has hurt us before and could hurt us again. Our team needs to find some clutch shooting from someone as it is March and there are no do overs.
What was Good
Outside Shooting
39% is good enough for me. I didn't expect us to return to our 45% from earlier in the year, but 40% is about right. C.J. Wilcox led the Dawgs going 5-9 form outside. I.T. was 3-5 and Ross was 3-7. Holiday missed all 5 of his outside shots. Hopefully he can get his stroke back tomorrow against Oregon. UW did a great job of taking good, open, outside shots and not forcing with hands in the face. I.T. drained one from the Pac Life logo a solid 30 feet out.
Passing/Ball Handling
I.T. was excellent once more with an 11 to 3 A/T ratio tonight. Holiday added 3 assists of his own. Overall the Dawgs were back to their old selves despite the tough pressure thrown at them by the Cougars. The passed and moved the ball well. After the initial sloppy 5 minutes there weren't a lot of turnovers to speak of. On the other hand, UW's pressure D forced WSU into 5 straight turnovers out of halftime.
Inside Game
UW had so many open shots outside because their inside game was so strong. MBA didn't have to put up 20 points because Isaiah was able to drive so well and get to the hoop. Ross and Suggs also flashed to rim a time or two and this cause the defense to collapse, opening our wings for great shots.
Toughness/Emotion/Grit
They dove. They screamed. They flexed. They worked hard tonight. The hustle they lacked against USC came out tonight and payed off in dividends. This was the first game of the season that UW has won by less than 5 points. Finally we pulled out a close one.
Player by Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
Did not play. Suspended through the Pac-10 tournament.
Grade: N/A
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
A much better and satisfying night from the senior big man. He only played 28 minutes due to early foul trouble, but every minute he played was strong and effective. Casto didn't have an answer for him and both Abe Lodwick and Brock Motum could do nothing to assist in the matter. His one handed put back was extremely athletic and impressive. If only he used the glass like that more often it wouldn't have to be such a pleasant surprise. His 7 boards were a little lower than I was expecting, but I won't complain about it too much, especially when Holiday picks up 10.
Grade: A-, hit your free throws, dammit.
Justin Holiday
12 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. Beautiful stat line. Too bad his outside shot couldn't fall in. 5-13 on the night, 0-5 outside. He hustle and defended as best he could, but Thompson could not miss. Thompson would step back and drain a 28 footer like he was chilling in the post. Holiday couldn't extend anymore without giving up the lane or fouling and in the end he made the right move. Holiday had a very solid 2 hand, baseline jam that seemed to energize the team a bit.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
Gant surprisingly played a team low 10 minutes on a night when our big men were getting fouls everywhere. UW used the zone and substitutions well to protect MBA and Aziz from getting hit with their 5th and final. Gant was 1-3 shooting with 3 rebounds and 1 turnover. For 10 minutes those aren't bad stats. The starters were simply doing a fantastic job in the game, no need to disrupt the chemistry that was working.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
Much like the rest of the bench, Suggs did not have a shot tonight. His lone make was a brilliant slash and drive that featured some fancy spin moves, a great pump fake, and an AND1 basket at the rim. Suggs had 3 rebounds and picked up 4 fouls playing 20 minutes. Suggs also had 2 assists and a turnover. I said we would need 2 of the 3 headed beast to win this one and sadly Suggs had to be left out of the range game. I'd love to see all 3 get hot at once.
Grade: B-
Isaiah Thomas
MVP of the game for the Dawgs. He nearly tied the tournament record of 12 assists tonight. He gave the team energy by diving on the ball, fighting into the lane, pounding his chest, hitting the ground, and just all around playing like a Boss. He was 8-13 from the field and hit 2-3 free throws. Great shooting, great passing, great defense on Moore. He did it all and played one of the toughest 40 minutes of his career, no doubt. He didn't look tired after the game. What an athlete. I.T.'s last minute was just ridiculous. He drove to the rim for back to back scores through multiple defenders and somehow banked um both in.
Grade: A+
Aziz N'Diaye
The refs had a vendetta against the big man tonight. Aziz got hit with two bad foul calls, including one which was a clearly blocked shot and if there was a foul it should have been on C.J. Wilcox. This limited his minutes and ability to affect the game. He had 3 boards, 2 assists, and 1 turnover during his limited stint on the court. He made a great hook shot over a defender that flashed the offensive prowess we hope to see from him next year.
Grade: B+
Antoine Hosley
Did not play
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Ross had a great first half and Wilcox complemented him nicely with a great second half. Ross got his first collegiate start tonight and did not disappoint in the slightest. His 5-7 shooting in the first kept the game reasonable. Sadly, he finished 6-11 from the field and did not have much success in the second. Ross added 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, and 1 turnover on top of his 17 points. His defense is still improving, but its a problem that can be fixed easier in the off season than a tweaked shot. He made a strong argument for remaining in the starting 5 tomorrow against the undersized Oregon Ducks.
Grade: A-
C.J. Wilcox
If Ross was the first half star, Wilcox owned the second. Wilcox and Thompson had a shoot off in the second half and while Thompson may have left with the higher score, Wilcox left with the W. C.J. was huge in getting the Dawgs over the hump and getting momentum on our side for once. He scored 13 of his 16 in the second half. He put the team on his back with the help of I.T. Great shooting once more. We need him to continue to shoot this well. If we can extend Oregon's pressure tomorrow, MBA will have a field day.
Grade: A
Final Thoughts
This was a fantastic game for the Huskies. This was the kind of performance they needed to get their confidence back in not only their ability to win, but their ability to win close ones and score once more. Next up their face Oregon who played a fantastic game against UCLA to pull off the upset. By the way, Isaiah Thomas facing the camera, sticking out his tongue, while yelling and flexing was hilarious and awesome to see. Let's defend that title boys! Go Dawgs!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Washington State University Preview 3
Sorry for the late post, its the last week of the quarter and I've been busy with cramming all the homework in before Spring Break gets here. Anyways, on to the preview.
UW will face Washington State in the opening round and is trying to avoid a complete sweep on the year as well as securing an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. The Cougars should have their full roster available to them while the Huskies will be down their lone backup point guard to Isaiah Thomas. As Lorenzo Romar said in his media conference, "The backup point guard to Isaiah Thomas is Isaiah Thomas." Expect I.T. to play a full 40 minute game or close to it and expect Ken Bone to apply pressure on I.T. throughout the game to amplify the fatigue. No word yet on Justin Holiday's condition, but one would expect after nearly a week of recovery his concussion is healed up and he is able to play. I assume he underwent some sort of test yesterday, but I have not yet heard the results.
The Cougars and Huskies have everything to fight for. With 2 wins in the tournament, the Cougars have a decent chance of getting an at large bid, though winning the Pac-10 tournament is really the only way for them to guarantee a bid.
The Cougars enter this game with a 19-11 record, 9-9 in conference, with 2 straight wins over the Dawgs, including a near blowout at Hec Ed. The Huskies are still a 6 to 7 point favorite despite all of the controversy that has happened leading up to this game. Its tough to be a team 3 times in one season, but UW pulled it off last year against OSU and Stanford and there is no reason why the Cougars couldn't do it to us. They would love to be the thorn that pops our bubbles and sends us with our tails between our legs back to the NIT.
Klay Thompson will return after a 1 game suspension due to a marijuana possession charge leveled against him after the USC game last week. He is averaging 21.4 points to top off 5.4 boards and 4.0 assists per game. He also commits a team high 3.6 turnovers. When you control the ball as much as he does, chances are you are going to give it up now again and the stat sheet shows it. He uses just over 32% of the teams possessions. He lit UW up for 25 and 26 points this year after being held under 30 points the previous 4 games combined. Holiday and Darnell Gant will likely draw this assignment for the game. Holiday's defense against Tyler Honeycutt was superb, let us hope he can bring that level of intensity and success to this game as shutting down and limiting Thompson will be a big key to picking up the win.
Reggie Moore will also return to play against UW after suffering a sprained ankle that kept him out of the UCLA game. Chances are he could have played in the UCLA game, but Bone was more willing to lose the last regular season and have his team healed up for the Pac-10 tournament as that remains their lone way to secure an at-large or automatic bid should they win it all. Moore is averaging 9.5 points and 3.5 assists per game while only committing 2.0 turnovers. If UW can shut down Moore and DeAngelo Casto while limiting Thompson to 15 or so points, the Huskies can feel fairly confident that the W will land on their half of the head to head this time around.
DeAngelo Casto is 3rd in scoring for the Cougs with 12.0 points per game and leads the tam with 6.8 rebounds per outing. He dominated MBA last time around and could very well do the same thing in this game should MBA not show up to play. Casto is one of those players who could go out and score 20 and grab 10 boards or he could get completely shut down and go for 6 and 6. Its all a matter of what level of defense MBA brings with him and what kind of backside help MBA can get from Aziz and the rest of the Huskies. Normally a zone would be a great option to shut down the low post, but Thompson, Aden, and Moore are all too dangerous from range to be left out and open.
Starting Lineup Prediction
Washington State
Reggie Moore 6-1 180lb G
Marcus Capers 6-4 185lb G
Klay Thompson 6-6 202lb G
Abe Lodwick 6-7 208lb G/F
DeAngelo Casto 6-8 255lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb G
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
UW has beaten the Cougars both times on the glass as should be expected when we have such a great size advantage. The key will be limiting Casto's effectiveness on the boards as he is truly the only Cougar who succeeds regularly in that stat column. UW had 23 offensive board to WSU's 12, that is the kind of domination the Huskies need to build off of.
Limiting Turnovers
UW committed 24 turnovers the first time. The committed 16 the next. The Dawgs need to get this number under 13 if they want to win. Isaiah Thomas will be under pressure the whole game so it will be important that the 4 on the court are aware of what defense the Cougars are throwing at them. They need to move to the ball to avoid lazy passes being picked off. Scott Suggs may run the point for a minute here and there, but overall do not expect anyone other than I.T. to bring the ball up. Romar should prepare a press breaker as I expect WSU to come out in a Three Quarters or Full Court Press. They are simple enough to break as long as the personnel are aware of their roles and duties. Cherry Pick Aziz in the paint if the Cougars pressure too hard.
Passing
Along with limiting turnovers the Huskies need to pass well to get open shots. The past 3 games or so have been really poor offensive showings as a team. Individual players have had great games, see Wilcox against UCLA, but overall our shooting has really stunk it up, especially from range and MBA's bunny shots that cause Husky fans everywhere to tear out their hair. We can get better shots and hit more shots if we pass around with patience to find the open man whether he is in the paint or outside the arc.
Shooting
We either need to start hitting our 3 pointers or start taking less of them. The Dawgs are generally good about taking uncontested 3's, but they have not been hitting the open ones like they did at the onset of the year. MBA, if you read this post, for the love of God USE THE BACKBOARD! He misses more shots short than any big man I have ever seen. I love what this guy has done for our program, but at 240lb of cut muscle he should not be short changing the basket. Shoot hard, aim long, hit the glass and bank it in. Its there for a reason, use it. The ball has a much higher chance of going in if you hit the back of the rim than the front, its simple physics and geometry.
Shut Down Thompson
One player should not be able to beat a team, but Klay draws enough attention that guys like Casto, Moore, and Aden are opened up and start going lights out themselves. Holiday needs to bring every defensive technique in his book out to shut Thompson down. I'm not saying he needs to be held under 10, that would be amazing, but 15 or so points should be considered a shut down night.
Grit and Toughness
UW showed this in L.A. at the start of the season and ground out two tough roads wins only to go on and shut down on the road once more. The Dawgs need to find that toughness again and bring both their defense and offense to the game. Its do or die time and if the Huskies lose a third straight to WSU, not only will they have to live with that for the rest of the year, but they will likely be sitting in the NIT rather than the NCAA. Several people have called UW a lock, but I don't buy it. Not yet.
Final Thoughts
Its going to take every tool in the basket, but UW has the talent, even without Venoy Overton, to beat the Cougars. I have this sick knot in my stomach that is yelling at me that the Cougars are going to make us look the part of the fool again, but Romar is known for getting his team into a state where if its do or die time they step up and pull out all the stops, something they should do all year anyways...The game really lies in Isaiah's hands. Without a backup he will have to play one of the toughest and most impressive games of his career. He has taken a step back from his initial games after Abdul Gaddy's injury and the Huskies need him to get those A-Game performances back. Ross, Wilcox, and Suggs are going to be a huge part of this game. If 2 of those 3 can shoot decently then the Dawgs will be in OK shape. MBA and Holiday need to play like seniors, hit their shots, and play great defense. Aziz needs to take up space, get boards, and avoid foul trouble. Darnell Gant just needs to keep on doing what he has been. 6 points and 4 to 5 boards a game is the kind of production we need out of him. Alex Akita of Seattle Sportsnet made a great comment today "The Huskies have not lost a game in which Brendan Sherrer and Antoine Hosley have played. Start them both." Hilarious, lets hope they are playing by games end.
Final Score Prediction
UW-81 WSU-77
UW will face Washington State in the opening round and is trying to avoid a complete sweep on the year as well as securing an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. The Cougars should have their full roster available to them while the Huskies will be down their lone backup point guard to Isaiah Thomas. As Lorenzo Romar said in his media conference, "The backup point guard to Isaiah Thomas is Isaiah Thomas." Expect I.T. to play a full 40 minute game or close to it and expect Ken Bone to apply pressure on I.T. throughout the game to amplify the fatigue. No word yet on Justin Holiday's condition, but one would expect after nearly a week of recovery his concussion is healed up and he is able to play. I assume he underwent some sort of test yesterday, but I have not yet heard the results.
The Cougars and Huskies have everything to fight for. With 2 wins in the tournament, the Cougars have a decent chance of getting an at large bid, though winning the Pac-10 tournament is really the only way for them to guarantee a bid.
The Cougars enter this game with a 19-11 record, 9-9 in conference, with 2 straight wins over the Dawgs, including a near blowout at Hec Ed. The Huskies are still a 6 to 7 point favorite despite all of the controversy that has happened leading up to this game. Its tough to be a team 3 times in one season, but UW pulled it off last year against OSU and Stanford and there is no reason why the Cougars couldn't do it to us. They would love to be the thorn that pops our bubbles and sends us with our tails between our legs back to the NIT.
Klay Thompson will return after a 1 game suspension due to a marijuana possession charge leveled against him after the USC game last week. He is averaging 21.4 points to top off 5.4 boards and 4.0 assists per game. He also commits a team high 3.6 turnovers. When you control the ball as much as he does, chances are you are going to give it up now again and the stat sheet shows it. He uses just over 32% of the teams possessions. He lit UW up for 25 and 26 points this year after being held under 30 points the previous 4 games combined. Holiday and Darnell Gant will likely draw this assignment for the game. Holiday's defense against Tyler Honeycutt was superb, let us hope he can bring that level of intensity and success to this game as shutting down and limiting Thompson will be a big key to picking up the win.
Reggie Moore will also return to play against UW after suffering a sprained ankle that kept him out of the UCLA game. Chances are he could have played in the UCLA game, but Bone was more willing to lose the last regular season and have his team healed up for the Pac-10 tournament as that remains their lone way to secure an at-large or automatic bid should they win it all. Moore is averaging 9.5 points and 3.5 assists per game while only committing 2.0 turnovers. If UW can shut down Moore and DeAngelo Casto while limiting Thompson to 15 or so points, the Huskies can feel fairly confident that the W will land on their half of the head to head this time around.
DeAngelo Casto is 3rd in scoring for the Cougs with 12.0 points per game and leads the tam with 6.8 rebounds per outing. He dominated MBA last time around and could very well do the same thing in this game should MBA not show up to play. Casto is one of those players who could go out and score 20 and grab 10 boards or he could get completely shut down and go for 6 and 6. Its all a matter of what level of defense MBA brings with him and what kind of backside help MBA can get from Aziz and the rest of the Huskies. Normally a zone would be a great option to shut down the low post, but Thompson, Aden, and Moore are all too dangerous from range to be left out and open.
Starting Lineup Prediction
Washington State
Reggie Moore 6-1 180lb G
Marcus Capers 6-4 185lb G
Klay Thompson 6-6 202lb G
Abe Lodwick 6-7 208lb G/F
DeAngelo Casto 6-8 255lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb G
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
UW has beaten the Cougars both times on the glass as should be expected when we have such a great size advantage. The key will be limiting Casto's effectiveness on the boards as he is truly the only Cougar who succeeds regularly in that stat column. UW had 23 offensive board to WSU's 12, that is the kind of domination the Huskies need to build off of.
Limiting Turnovers
UW committed 24 turnovers the first time. The committed 16 the next. The Dawgs need to get this number under 13 if they want to win. Isaiah Thomas will be under pressure the whole game so it will be important that the 4 on the court are aware of what defense the Cougars are throwing at them. They need to move to the ball to avoid lazy passes being picked off. Scott Suggs may run the point for a minute here and there, but overall do not expect anyone other than I.T. to bring the ball up. Romar should prepare a press breaker as I expect WSU to come out in a Three Quarters or Full Court Press. They are simple enough to break as long as the personnel are aware of their roles and duties. Cherry Pick Aziz in the paint if the Cougars pressure too hard.
Passing
Along with limiting turnovers the Huskies need to pass well to get open shots. The past 3 games or so have been really poor offensive showings as a team. Individual players have had great games, see Wilcox against UCLA, but overall our shooting has really stunk it up, especially from range and MBA's bunny shots that cause Husky fans everywhere to tear out their hair. We can get better shots and hit more shots if we pass around with patience to find the open man whether he is in the paint or outside the arc.
Shooting
We either need to start hitting our 3 pointers or start taking less of them. The Dawgs are generally good about taking uncontested 3's, but they have not been hitting the open ones like they did at the onset of the year. MBA, if you read this post, for the love of God USE THE BACKBOARD! He misses more shots short than any big man I have ever seen. I love what this guy has done for our program, but at 240lb of cut muscle he should not be short changing the basket. Shoot hard, aim long, hit the glass and bank it in. Its there for a reason, use it. The ball has a much higher chance of going in if you hit the back of the rim than the front, its simple physics and geometry.
Shut Down Thompson
One player should not be able to beat a team, but Klay draws enough attention that guys like Casto, Moore, and Aden are opened up and start going lights out themselves. Holiday needs to bring every defensive technique in his book out to shut Thompson down. I'm not saying he needs to be held under 10, that would be amazing, but 15 or so points should be considered a shut down night.
Grit and Toughness
UW showed this in L.A. at the start of the season and ground out two tough roads wins only to go on and shut down on the road once more. The Dawgs need to find that toughness again and bring both their defense and offense to the game. Its do or die time and if the Huskies lose a third straight to WSU, not only will they have to live with that for the rest of the year, but they will likely be sitting in the NIT rather than the NCAA. Several people have called UW a lock, but I don't buy it. Not yet.
Final Thoughts
Its going to take every tool in the basket, but UW has the talent, even without Venoy Overton, to beat the Cougars. I have this sick knot in my stomach that is yelling at me that the Cougars are going to make us look the part of the fool again, but Romar is known for getting his team into a state where if its do or die time they step up and pull out all the stops, something they should do all year anyways...The game really lies in Isaiah's hands. Without a backup he will have to play one of the toughest and most impressive games of his career. He has taken a step back from his initial games after Abdul Gaddy's injury and the Huskies need him to get those A-Game performances back. Ross, Wilcox, and Suggs are going to be a huge part of this game. If 2 of those 3 can shoot decently then the Dawgs will be in OK shape. MBA and Holiday need to play like seniors, hit their shots, and play great defense. Aziz needs to take up space, get boards, and avoid foul trouble. Darnell Gant just needs to keep on doing what he has been. 6 points and 4 to 5 boards a game is the kind of production we need out of him. Alex Akita of Seattle Sportsnet made a great comment today "The Huskies have not lost a game in which Brendan Sherrer and Antoine Hosley have played. Start them both." Hilarious, lets hope they are playing by games end.
Final Score Prediction
UW-81 WSU-77
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Venoy Overton Charged With Supplying Minors
Venoy Overton has officially been charged with supplying two underage girls with alcohol. This carries a maximum penalty of 1 year in jail. No news yet on what the repercussions will be or when the court date is set for. Romar is expected to meet with media members at 2pm so I will bring you more news when I hear it myself.
Overton will likely sit at least 1 game. This is a major blow to the Huskies as the senior just came off a very impressive performance in the loss to USC. It also drops the number of eligible scholarship players back down to 8. The Huskies are going to have to play through this to the best of their abilities and the other members of the team need to step up together to fight through this.
I believe UW needs to win the first game of the Pac-10 tournament to be considered a lock. WSU needs to win the whole thing so they will be fighting tooth and nail to advance as well as beat UW for a 3rd consecutive time, all from this season.
*EDIT* Venoy Overton will sit out the entirety of the Pac-10 Tournament and will not travel with the team.
Overton will likely sit at least 1 game. This is a major blow to the Huskies as the senior just came off a very impressive performance in the loss to USC. It also drops the number of eligible scholarship players back down to 8. The Huskies are going to have to play through this to the best of their abilities and the other members of the team need to step up together to fight through this.
I believe UW needs to win the first game of the Pac-10 tournament to be considered a lock. WSU needs to win the whole thing so they will be fighting tooth and nail to advance as well as beat UW for a 3rd consecutive time, all from this season.
*EDIT* Venoy Overton will sit out the entirety of the Pac-10 Tournament and will not travel with the team.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Pac-10 Awards
Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning made the Pac-10 1st team.
C.J. Wilcox made the all freshman team with Terrence Ross receiving an honorable mention.
Justin Holiday and Matthew Bryan-Amaning were honorable mentions for the all defensive team.
Derrik Williams won Player of the Year and Sean Miller won Coach of the Year.
Freshman of the Year was Allen Crabbe.
Defensive Player of the Year was Marcus Simmons.
Most Improved went to Matthew Bryan-Amaning.
See the full list here: http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/221965/2010-11-pac-10-conference-mens-basketball-honors.aspx
C.J. Wilcox made the all freshman team with Terrence Ross receiving an honorable mention.
Justin Holiday and Matthew Bryan-Amaning were honorable mentions for the all defensive team.
Derrik Williams won Player of the Year and Sean Miller won Coach of the Year.
Freshman of the Year was Allen Crabbe.
Defensive Player of the Year was Marcus Simmons.
Most Improved went to Matthew Bryan-Amaning.
See the full list here: http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/221965/2010-11-pac-10-conference-mens-basketball-honors.aspx
Saturday, March 5, 2011
University of Southern California Review 2
Final Score: UW-60 USC-62
A terrible way to end the season as well as senior night. Justin Holiday went scoreless the entire game, while Venoy Overton did everything in his power to will this team to a victory.
Rebounding and free throws killed us tonight. USC out rebounded UW 36-25. UW missed 6 free throws including a few huge ones down the stretch when the Dawgs were trying to fight back from 12 down.
UW handled the ball well, only turning the ball over 7 times. The dished out 8 assists on 21 makes. UW also had 6 blocks and steals on top of 11 forced turnovers. Overton was a Venoying machine out there and was critical down the stretch. At one point Romar pulled Overton out and Holiday told Romar "We need him." Romar then chewed him out. I'm on Holiday's side. Overton was the reason we came back. He made 4-6 from the field and 7-9 from the line.
Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning continued to struggle with their shooting. MBA was 5-11 and I.T. was 5-13. Holiday was 0-6, 0-3 from range. Our shooting woes were another reason we lost this game. 39% shooting on the night and 2-16 from outside is not going to win a game when compounded with the free throw and rebounding issues. Scott Suggs shot well on the other hand. 6-8, 2-3 behind the arc. C.J. Wilcox collapsed again. 1-7 from the field, 0-5 from range. Ugly.
Terrence Ross did not play tonight. Not sure the reason yet. This is extremely puzzling especially when one considers he was the reason we beat USC on the road at the onset of the Pac-10 season. Aziz played a team low 12 minutes and was hardly used in the second half. Aziz had 0 shots attempted, 0 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 fouls. Useless tonight. He was just plain outclassed by the extremely strong duo of Alex Stephenson and Nikola Vucevic who combined for 24 boards and 30 points.
The crowd was dead tonight. I don't know what has been going on, but the general fan base has been extremely apathetic and it kills me that it continued into Senior Night. Yes, I know the Huskies got down early, but being quiet is only supporting the opposing team.
What Needed Improvement
Rebounding
MBA led the Huskies with 6 boards. 6. Not solid at all. Vucevic and Stephenson work MBA in the post all night. Holiday and Overton each added 5. Pretty hard to win a game when you give up a ton of offensive boards and lose too many of your own.
Free Throw Shooting
You cannot afford to miss free throws. Ever. Especially down the stretch in AND1 situations. I.T. missed a front end of a 1 and 1 as well as an AND1. I believe Overton also missed an AND1 shot.
Shooting
I don't know what to say about this. We have lost that oh so sweet touch that we were renowned for in the beginning of the year. Sure the non-conference opponents were not the most stellar of teams but this team has scored over 100 points 6 or 7 times this season and 98 on another occasion. This is a team that can shoot and we aren't doing it well any more. Even if your defense is doing everything it can, you will not win if you aren't scoring.
What Was Good
Defense
UW held USC to 41% shooting and 20% from range. The blocks, steals, and turnovers forced were solid. Donte Smith was held to 1-9 shooting. UW also forced USC into 21 fouls, 18 by the starters with 3 of them picking up 4 a piece.
Suggs and Overton
Couldn't ask two players to do much more. When one of your seniors doesn't hit a shot and the other is missing gimmes along with being dominated by their assignment its hard to win. This was a night I thought Holiday was blow up and drop 20 again. Not even close. Overton wanted to win and worked his ass off trying to do it. Suggs shot well and defended his man pretty well.
Player by Player Reviews
Justin Holiday
Bleh. Not how you want a senior to end his career at home and in the regular season. I feel bad for the kid. Glad he didn't cry coming out with his family, I would have lost it. He was out sized trying to guard Vucevic and its hard to expect him to really challenge a guy that much bigger than him. If Aziz had been successful this may not have been a problem as Vucevic would not have been able to guard Holiday without giving up size somewhere else. He rebounded well enough. 5 boards is pretty good for a wing. Too bad he didn't have help from the post players. Holiday got beat up this game. He got jabbed in the eye, twisted his ankle, and like a champ, played through it all to the best of his abilities.
Grade: C
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Got worked tonight. Stephenson is a strong player and MBA always struggles against guys who are as athletic as he is. He took some longer range shots that baffled me, shots he hadn't attempted all year. Don't know who he was trying to show off for, but I wasn't impressed. I'd rather have seen him make some post moves and get to the rim. He struggled on the glass and went 1-3 from the line. He did have 2 steals and 3 blocks to offset 2 turnovers.
Grade: C
Venoy Overton
My personal MVP for the night. He worked his ass off and the Venoyance meter read LEVEL 5 the entire second half as he battled and battled, trying to spark some offense into the Huskies on both ends of the court. Even when USC dropped 4 back on free throws to defend the hoop Overton was able to get straight to the rim and quickly. It was impressive. He forced USC into a 5 second call and was continually tapping the ball away from guards, forcing them to lose their handle at least for a moment or two. He finished with 15 points, 1 behind Thomas who led the team. Venoy led the team in assists with 4 of UW's 8.
Grade: A
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
Was not terribly successful tonight. Only 2 rebounds and 0 points on 0-2 shooting. He only played 15 minutes. Did not remember much of his defensive efforts so I can't really comment on how he performed on that side of the ball. The lack of blocks or steals tell me he was likely not to successful.
Grade: D
Isaiah Thomas
He may have led the team in points, but only 3 assists and 38% shooting is just not going to cut it. 6-8 from the free throw line official. In my mind, however, he is 6-9. Missing the front end of a 1 and 1 should always count as two misses. You can't make what you don't attempt. He missed a huge AND1 free throw in the final minutes that would have cut the lead to 3 rather than 4.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
A solid night from the junior. His level of play has really elevated this season. He finished with 14 points and was the only successful outside shooter with the only 2 makes UW had behind the arc on the night. Both his rebounds were offensive and he added in a block to finish off his stat line. No assists, but no turnovers as well. As with Gant I don't remember any outstanding defensive efforts by Suggs, but I also don't remember any big lapses so it could not have been that bad.
Grade: B+
Aziz N'Diaye
He may as well have stayed on the bench the whole game. His stat line is empty minus a steal and 2 fouls. Not sure when the big man is going to turn a corner in his career and start putting up consistent numbers. With MBA leaving after this season and all the big name recruits falling through for the Huskies there isn't a whole lot of talent in the post for the Dawgs.
Grade: F
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Did not play. He did not look injured so to me this screams team rule violation. No reason not to put him in when Suggs is the only one having success outside. Listening to Romar's interview it sounds as though Ross did not play because "there weren't enough minutes." Eff that. C.J. wasn't hitting, put Ross in and let him try his hand. It wasn't as though Romar was trying to keep size in the game as I remember moments where MBA was the lone post player on the court. So between C.J.'s minutes and Gant's minutes I find it hard to believe Romar couldn't find a few to give Ross. As I said before, Ross was a monster against USC earlier this year so why would you not try him again.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
As I said with my preview I wasn't expecting a great performance from Wilcox tonight, but this was just pathetic. 4 points on 1-7 shooting. We needed his range and it was nowhere to be seen. His free throw shooting was brilliant though. Love his free throws.
Grade: D
Final Thoughts
Not how you want to end the regular season. UW finished 3rd in a year where they could have finished 18-0 and in first place. UW, in my mind, needs to win at least 1 game in the Pac-10 tournament. They face WSU in the first round. WSU will likely have Klay Thompson back, despite his father's wishes, as well as Reggie Moore who sat out the UCLA game today with a sprained ankle. UW has a lot of work to do and I don't know what to expect from them any more. I really am lost as to how this team can struggle so much with their shot. This reminds me of our stretch last year on the road where we couldn't buy a win. Got to hope someone steps up and gets this team going again. I don't want the NIT. I want the NCAA and a run to the Final Four.
A terrible way to end the season as well as senior night. Justin Holiday went scoreless the entire game, while Venoy Overton did everything in his power to will this team to a victory.
Rebounding and free throws killed us tonight. USC out rebounded UW 36-25. UW missed 6 free throws including a few huge ones down the stretch when the Dawgs were trying to fight back from 12 down.
UW handled the ball well, only turning the ball over 7 times. The dished out 8 assists on 21 makes. UW also had 6 blocks and steals on top of 11 forced turnovers. Overton was a Venoying machine out there and was critical down the stretch. At one point Romar pulled Overton out and Holiday told Romar "We need him." Romar then chewed him out. I'm on Holiday's side. Overton was the reason we came back. He made 4-6 from the field and 7-9 from the line.
Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning continued to struggle with their shooting. MBA was 5-11 and I.T. was 5-13. Holiday was 0-6, 0-3 from range. Our shooting woes were another reason we lost this game. 39% shooting on the night and 2-16 from outside is not going to win a game when compounded with the free throw and rebounding issues. Scott Suggs shot well on the other hand. 6-8, 2-3 behind the arc. C.J. Wilcox collapsed again. 1-7 from the field, 0-5 from range. Ugly.
Terrence Ross did not play tonight. Not sure the reason yet. This is extremely puzzling especially when one considers he was the reason we beat USC on the road at the onset of the Pac-10 season. Aziz played a team low 12 minutes and was hardly used in the second half. Aziz had 0 shots attempted, 0 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 fouls. Useless tonight. He was just plain outclassed by the extremely strong duo of Alex Stephenson and Nikola Vucevic who combined for 24 boards and 30 points.
The crowd was dead tonight. I don't know what has been going on, but the general fan base has been extremely apathetic and it kills me that it continued into Senior Night. Yes, I know the Huskies got down early, but being quiet is only supporting the opposing team.
What Needed Improvement
Rebounding
MBA led the Huskies with 6 boards. 6. Not solid at all. Vucevic and Stephenson work MBA in the post all night. Holiday and Overton each added 5. Pretty hard to win a game when you give up a ton of offensive boards and lose too many of your own.
Free Throw Shooting
You cannot afford to miss free throws. Ever. Especially down the stretch in AND1 situations. I.T. missed a front end of a 1 and 1 as well as an AND1. I believe Overton also missed an AND1 shot.
Shooting
I don't know what to say about this. We have lost that oh so sweet touch that we were renowned for in the beginning of the year. Sure the non-conference opponents were not the most stellar of teams but this team has scored over 100 points 6 or 7 times this season and 98 on another occasion. This is a team that can shoot and we aren't doing it well any more. Even if your defense is doing everything it can, you will not win if you aren't scoring.
What Was Good
Defense
UW held USC to 41% shooting and 20% from range. The blocks, steals, and turnovers forced were solid. Donte Smith was held to 1-9 shooting. UW also forced USC into 21 fouls, 18 by the starters with 3 of them picking up 4 a piece.
Suggs and Overton
Couldn't ask two players to do much more. When one of your seniors doesn't hit a shot and the other is missing gimmes along with being dominated by their assignment its hard to win. This was a night I thought Holiday was blow up and drop 20 again. Not even close. Overton wanted to win and worked his ass off trying to do it. Suggs shot well and defended his man pretty well.
Player by Player Reviews
Justin Holiday
Bleh. Not how you want a senior to end his career at home and in the regular season. I feel bad for the kid. Glad he didn't cry coming out with his family, I would have lost it. He was out sized trying to guard Vucevic and its hard to expect him to really challenge a guy that much bigger than him. If Aziz had been successful this may not have been a problem as Vucevic would not have been able to guard Holiday without giving up size somewhere else. He rebounded well enough. 5 boards is pretty good for a wing. Too bad he didn't have help from the post players. Holiday got beat up this game. He got jabbed in the eye, twisted his ankle, and like a champ, played through it all to the best of his abilities.
Grade: C
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Got worked tonight. Stephenson is a strong player and MBA always struggles against guys who are as athletic as he is. He took some longer range shots that baffled me, shots he hadn't attempted all year. Don't know who he was trying to show off for, but I wasn't impressed. I'd rather have seen him make some post moves and get to the rim. He struggled on the glass and went 1-3 from the line. He did have 2 steals and 3 blocks to offset 2 turnovers.
Grade: C
Venoy Overton
My personal MVP for the night. He worked his ass off and the Venoyance meter read LEVEL 5 the entire second half as he battled and battled, trying to spark some offense into the Huskies on both ends of the court. Even when USC dropped 4 back on free throws to defend the hoop Overton was able to get straight to the rim and quickly. It was impressive. He forced USC into a 5 second call and was continually tapping the ball away from guards, forcing them to lose their handle at least for a moment or two. He finished with 15 points, 1 behind Thomas who led the team. Venoy led the team in assists with 4 of UW's 8.
Grade: A
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
Was not terribly successful tonight. Only 2 rebounds and 0 points on 0-2 shooting. He only played 15 minutes. Did not remember much of his defensive efforts so I can't really comment on how he performed on that side of the ball. The lack of blocks or steals tell me he was likely not to successful.
Grade: D
Isaiah Thomas
He may have led the team in points, but only 3 assists and 38% shooting is just not going to cut it. 6-8 from the free throw line official. In my mind, however, he is 6-9. Missing the front end of a 1 and 1 should always count as two misses. You can't make what you don't attempt. He missed a huge AND1 free throw in the final minutes that would have cut the lead to 3 rather than 4.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
A solid night from the junior. His level of play has really elevated this season. He finished with 14 points and was the only successful outside shooter with the only 2 makes UW had behind the arc on the night. Both his rebounds were offensive and he added in a block to finish off his stat line. No assists, but no turnovers as well. As with Gant I don't remember any outstanding defensive efforts by Suggs, but I also don't remember any big lapses so it could not have been that bad.
Grade: B+
Aziz N'Diaye
He may as well have stayed on the bench the whole game. His stat line is empty minus a steal and 2 fouls. Not sure when the big man is going to turn a corner in his career and start putting up consistent numbers. With MBA leaving after this season and all the big name recruits falling through for the Huskies there isn't a whole lot of talent in the post for the Dawgs.
Grade: F
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Did not play. He did not look injured so to me this screams team rule violation. No reason not to put him in when Suggs is the only one having success outside. Listening to Romar's interview it sounds as though Ross did not play because "there weren't enough minutes." Eff that. C.J. wasn't hitting, put Ross in and let him try his hand. It wasn't as though Romar was trying to keep size in the game as I remember moments where MBA was the lone post player on the court. So between C.J.'s minutes and Gant's minutes I find it hard to believe Romar couldn't find a few to give Ross. As I said before, Ross was a monster against USC earlier this year so why would you not try him again.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
As I said with my preview I wasn't expecting a great performance from Wilcox tonight, but this was just pathetic. 4 points on 1-7 shooting. We needed his range and it was nowhere to be seen. His free throw shooting was brilliant though. Love his free throws.
Grade: D
Final Thoughts
Not how you want to end the regular season. UW finished 3rd in a year where they could have finished 18-0 and in first place. UW, in my mind, needs to win at least 1 game in the Pac-10 tournament. They face WSU in the first round. WSU will likely have Klay Thompson back, despite his father's wishes, as well as Reggie Moore who sat out the UCLA game today with a sprained ankle. UW has a lot of work to do and I don't know what to expect from them any more. I really am lost as to how this team can struggle so much with their shot. This reminds me of our stretch last year on the road where we couldn't buy a win. Got to hope someone steps up and gets this team going again. I don't want the NIT. I want the NCAA and a run to the Final Four.
Friday, March 4, 2011
University of Southern California Preview 2
USC enters this game with an 17-13 record and are 9-8 in Pac-10 play, most recently having lost to WSU 85-77. Nikola Vucevic had 22 points and 11 rebounds.Maurice Jones added 16 points and Jio Fontan dished out a very nice 7 assists with only 1 turnover.
USC is currently averaging 67.1 points per game and 33.9 rebounds per game. They also bring in 12.1 assists per game and 11 turnovers per game, including 2.2 per game by starting point guard Maurice Jones and 2.3 per game by guard Jio Fontan.
Nikola Vucevic is by far the most dangerous player in the USC line up, averaging a double double with 17.6 ppg and 10.3 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 9.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg and you have yourself a very dangerous duo. 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 3.7 ppg and 1.8 rpg. Thankfully we have Darnell Gant who is averaging 5.2 ppg and 3.4 rpg, though he can score much more than 6 on any given night.
Another tough assignment is Jio Fontan. Isaiah will likely be given the responsibility of handling Fontan. Fontan has made 17 of his 48 three point attempts. Fontan is averaging a team high 4 assists, but is a measly 61% from the free throw line.
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 G
Venoy Overton 6-0 185lb G
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. Aziz 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 11 turnovers a game, their three main guards are averaging a combined 7.2 turnovers a game, the lowest is Bryce Jones at 1.7 per game. Vucevic is also averaging 1.6 turnovers while Stephenson is averaging 1.5 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. The soft on ball, full court pressure UW applied against UCLA was highly successful and kept the game competitive when our shots weren't falling.
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. If we can get scoring, USC won't stand a chance. Look for C.J. Wilcox to have another good night, but I highly doubt he is going to drop 24 again. USC will be looking to shut him down.
Passing
Game in and game out, this is a very deciding factor. When we play lazy and don't pass well we tend to lose. We only had 13 assists against UCLA, but also only had 22 makes so the percentage is nice and the number is actually better than it looks. UW needs to continue to work in transition, moving the ball around quickly. On the road against USC, UW had 0 transition points. USC likes to fall back and cram the middle, its why they rebound so poorly.
Final Thoughts
It's senior night. If the Big Three have half the night Quincy Pondexter did on his senior night, USC won't stand a chance. Venoy Overton will start the game. No doubt in my mind. C.J. will still see plenty of minutes. Minus the atrocious play against WSU, UW is undefeated at home with all but the UCLA game being a 10 point win. No way the seniors let this game fall. No way in hell. Big players play big on big nights. Time for the Seniors to do their job and go out with a bang.
Final Score Prediction
UW-86 USC-70
USC is currently averaging 67.1 points per game and 33.9 rebounds per game. They also bring in 12.1 assists per game and 11 turnovers per game, including 2.2 per game by starting point guard Maurice Jones and 2.3 per game by guard Jio Fontan.
Nikola Vucevic is by far the most dangerous player in the USC line up, averaging a double double with 17.6 ppg and 10.3 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 9.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg and you have yourself a very dangerous duo. 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 3.7 ppg and 1.8 rpg. Thankfully we have Darnell Gant who is averaging 5.2 ppg and 3.4 rpg, though he can score much more than 6 on any given night.
Another tough assignment is Jio Fontan. Isaiah will likely be given the responsibility of handling Fontan. Fontan has made 17 of his 48 three point attempts. Fontan is averaging a team high 4 assists, but is a measly 61% from the free throw line.
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 G
Venoy Overton 6-0 185lb G
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. Aziz 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 11 turnovers a game, their three main guards are averaging a combined 7.2 turnovers a game, the lowest is Bryce Jones at 1.7 per game. Vucevic is also averaging 1.6 turnovers while Stephenson is averaging 1.5 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. The soft on ball, full court pressure UW applied against UCLA was highly successful and kept the game competitive when our shots weren't falling.
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. If we can get scoring, USC won't stand a chance. Look for C.J. Wilcox to have another good night, but I highly doubt he is going to drop 24 again. USC will be looking to shut him down.
Passing
Game in and game out, this is a very deciding factor. When we play lazy and don't pass well we tend to lose. We only had 13 assists against UCLA, but also only had 22 makes so the percentage is nice and the number is actually better than it looks. UW needs to continue to work in transition, moving the ball around quickly. On the road against USC, UW had 0 transition points. USC likes to fall back and cram the middle, its why they rebound so poorly.
Final Thoughts
It's senior night. If the Big Three have half the night Quincy Pondexter did on his senior night, USC won't stand a chance. Venoy Overton will start the game. No doubt in my mind. C.J. will still see plenty of minutes. Minus the atrocious play against WSU, UW is undefeated at home with all but the UCLA game being a 10 point win. No way the seniors let this game fall. No way in hell. Big players play big on big nights. Time for the Seniors to do their job and go out with a bang.
Final Score Prediction
UW-86 USC-70
University of California Los Angeles Review 2
Final Score: UW-70 UCLA-63
After a bit of celebration I return you to your regularly scheduled readings.
In what was another sloppy night offensively for the majority of the Huskies, C.J. Wilcox shone bright in the night sky. After going scoreless on 0-2 shooting in the first half, C.J. Wilcox came out and hit the first 5 Husky points and went on to douse the Bruins with 24 points on 7-10 shooting (7-8 in the second half), including 4-7 from range and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. He put the team on his back.
Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Justin Holiday, and Isaiah Thomas combined for a miserable 7-34 from the field. MBA once again finished a terrible 3-11 from the field and continued to short change his shorts instead of shooting strong and letting the backboard do its job. I.T. was just as bad ending the night 3-12. Holiday was 1-8.
UW and UCLA battled back and forth on the glass and both teams ended with 40 a piece. UCLA was led by Josh Smith at 16 boards. MBA picked up 13 and Aziz N'Diaye added his own 8.
Holiday led with a game high 5 assists, followed by I.T. and Scott Suggs at 3 a piece. Reeves Nelson led UCLA with 3 assists.
The Huskies shooting struggles both from the field and free throw line continued tonight. Sadly, their defensive lapses hinder their overall defensive intensity and effectiveness. UW finished with 5 blocks, 5 steals, and 18 forced turnovers. They also finished 20-28 from the line and a horrifying 22-61 from the field. Wilcox had 4 of UW's 6 made 3 pointers on 15 attempts.
Terrence Ross did not play in the second half due to Overton and Wilcox playing terrific games and only played 4 minutes total and was scoreless, missing his lone attempt.
Suggs played a solid 18 minutes of basketball after returning from his MCL injury. He was 1-3 from the field and aced both his free throws. He added in 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 awesome block, and 2 steals.
I.T. was miserable tonight. Between him and MBA I don't know whose shot was worse, but both of them should have joined Holiday in the auxiliary gym after the game for some work on their game. Props to Holiday for continuing his lonesome workouts and wanting to improve his game to help out his team as well as his future career.
UW had a few fantastic blocks on transition lay-in attempts by UCLA. To my recollection I counted 3. Each one of them as impressive as the others. UW's defensive effort tonight was impressive, too bad their offensive game couldn't have joined the party. This is the second straight game, at home at that, in which the Dawgs have struggled to find their rhythm. UW has C.J. Wilcox alone to thank for the win. He single-handedly took this team by the hand and brought back the W. He had 24 of UW's 46 points (18 of 34 when excluding free throws). UW must get their shot back in time for the post season.
Maybe someone who reads this blog can answer me this question? Why do people have such a problem with the Dawg Pack making fun of Josh Smith for being fat? One of the media heads told us we could do anything, including hold up McDonald's signs and other fast food paraphernalia, but making fat jokes was not OK. We couldn't use those jokes because they were personal comments. ALL THE DAWG PACK DOES IS MAKE PERSONAL COMMENTS!!!!!! He is fat, not crippled. He is a D1 athlete. His weight is a choice he makes just as much as his haircut or tattoos. We aren't criticizing his race or even religion for that matter (something else he chooses). Why is his fatness off limits?
Anyways, I digress. This was a frustrating game because if we hit the shots we should, this would have been a blowout early on and a 30 point win by nights end.
What was Good
C.J. Wilcox's Second Half
24 points. Enough said.
Rebounding
40-40 ain't too shabby, especially when one considers how strong UCLA's frontcourt is. UW had 18 offensive boards, led by MBA at 7.
Defensive Effort
Brilliant work on the defensive end. If you watch the game you will see the hustle, drive, and tenacity that at one time had them recognized as a legitimate National Title contender.
What Needed Improvement
Shooting
22-61 is not good. We are the number 2 offense in the nation. Let's act like it please. We need better shot selection and I.T. needs to drive instead of this fake in nonsense that has led to just terrible shooting. MBA needs to put some damn oomph behind his shot and hit the glass instead of trying to swish everything. It's not a 3 point shot, big man, throw it off the glass. It is there for your help and assistance.
Free Throw Shooting
I am sick of writing free throw shooting under needs improvement. How about we shoot our damn gimmes like a champ for once. UCLA went 12-13. WSU went 32-36. That is how you shoot free throws. Not 20-28. Wilcox knows how to make a free throw. He went 6-6, he was awesome.
Player by Player Reviews
Justin Holiday
Defensively amazing performance. He held Honeycutt to 6 points, all off of free throws. Honeycutt was 0-6 from the field. Offensively he left a lot to be desired. 1-8 shooting, 1-2 from the arc, is well below his standards. Holiday hit the gym after the game and for that I give him two thumbs up. His 6 boards, 5 assists, and block help make up for his 3 turnovers.
Grade: B-
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
3-11 shooting. Horrible. 13 boards. Nice. 1-2 free throws. Meh. 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal. Not bad. Overall MBA was a mess, but I appreciate the glass work. Where has his shot gone? He had done such good work improving his numbers only to have gone a combined 6-22 the past 2 games. Not good to see at all. With Aziz still developing offensively, MBA remains our lone post threat. He needs to step up his game and finish strong at the hoop.
Grade: B-
Venoy Overton
Brought the fire and old V.O. out tonight. 3-3 from the field and a below average 4-7 from the charity line. 0 assists and 2 turnovers. Got called for a bogus "block" call that was clearly a second offensive push off. The refs of the Pac-10 are terrible and they are lucky Overton and Anderson didn't start pushing, shoving, and punching. Ran the transition game extremely well tonight. He is extremely quick and did a nice job staying in front of the quick UCLA guards as well as pushing the tempo of the game.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
A quieter night then I would like from him, but some pretty decent shots overall. He continues to be more aggressive and is looking to take shots instead of always passing the responsibility off to someone else. 5 points on 2-6 shooting, only 2 boards, and 1 very sweet block.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
Suggs had a fairly solid return. For 18 minutes of play his numbers were pretty good especially in context of an MCL strain. I am beginning to feel more confident in his ability to run the team and offense, something he should not have to do his senior senior with Abdul Gaddy, Tony Wroten, and presumably Isaiah Thomas on the squad. He will not likely return to the starting role he had assumed until next season. Overton will start Saturday on senior night and Romar will likely keep C.J. in the starting role to preserve the chemistry that has been working fairly well thus far. I could be wrong.
Grade: B
Isaiah Thomas
Not a good night. 9 points, 3 from the line. He did not score until there were less than 4 minutes remaining in the game. Only 3 assists and 4 boards. He did add 2 steals to help offset his 3 turnovers. His shooting and shot selection must improve and return to the A-game level he showed during the first few weeks of Abdul's absence.
Grade: C
Aziz N'Diaye
I blame Scott Alspach for Aziz's bobbled dunk. He had a dream about it and whenever he dreams this kind of thing, it happens. Aziz needs to get some new hands. His are too tough and incapable of receiving sweet passes right now. The fact he was 2-7 is a testament to his new aggressive style of play and it is only a matter of time before he starts hitting consistently. He had 5 offensive boards tonight.
Grade: B
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Hard to grade a 4 minute performance. So I won't.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
Beast MODE! His first half was forgettable, but his second half was the stuff of legends. He could not and would not miss. He put da team on his back. All the way. Cross the plane. Touchdown. His jumper is so sweet and that fouled AND1 near the arc was just ridiculous. It was a testament to how well his night had been going. MVP by far. No doubt. He won this game by himself. He will likely surrender his starting spot temporarily to Overton for senior night before taking it back for the Pac-10 tournament. This night is yours C.J., enjoy it.
Grade: A++++++++++++++++
Final Thoughts
A fairly nice pick me up after a sobering loss to WSU at home. Not a great offensive night, but the defensive effort was everything you could ask from a team. Hustle plays win games (and free throws). The game at USC is extremely important. If UW wins and UCLA loses, UW will have the 2 seed in the Pac-10 tournament and will play one of the 7-10 seeds who play an extra game the day before. If UW wins and UCLA wins then UCLA will take second at least and UW will remain in 3rd regardless. UCLA needs Arizona to lose for them to have a shot at part of the title.
*EDIT*
Thank you Romar for finally running a damn press early in the game. Even soft on ball pressure made their offense a little more sketchy. 18 turnover, 5 blocks, 5 steals. You can't tell me that wasn't because we pressed hard.
After a bit of celebration I return you to your regularly scheduled readings.
In what was another sloppy night offensively for the majority of the Huskies, C.J. Wilcox shone bright in the night sky. After going scoreless on 0-2 shooting in the first half, C.J. Wilcox came out and hit the first 5 Husky points and went on to douse the Bruins with 24 points on 7-10 shooting (7-8 in the second half), including 4-7 from range and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. He put the team on his back.
Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Justin Holiday, and Isaiah Thomas combined for a miserable 7-34 from the field. MBA once again finished a terrible 3-11 from the field and continued to short change his shorts instead of shooting strong and letting the backboard do its job. I.T. was just as bad ending the night 3-12. Holiday was 1-8.
UW and UCLA battled back and forth on the glass and both teams ended with 40 a piece. UCLA was led by Josh Smith at 16 boards. MBA picked up 13 and Aziz N'Diaye added his own 8.
Holiday led with a game high 5 assists, followed by I.T. and Scott Suggs at 3 a piece. Reeves Nelson led UCLA with 3 assists.
The Huskies shooting struggles both from the field and free throw line continued tonight. Sadly, their defensive lapses hinder their overall defensive intensity and effectiveness. UW finished with 5 blocks, 5 steals, and 18 forced turnovers. They also finished 20-28 from the line and a horrifying 22-61 from the field. Wilcox had 4 of UW's 6 made 3 pointers on 15 attempts.
Terrence Ross did not play in the second half due to Overton and Wilcox playing terrific games and only played 4 minutes total and was scoreless, missing his lone attempt.
Suggs played a solid 18 minutes of basketball after returning from his MCL injury. He was 1-3 from the field and aced both his free throws. He added in 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 awesome block, and 2 steals.
I.T. was miserable tonight. Between him and MBA I don't know whose shot was worse, but both of them should have joined Holiday in the auxiliary gym after the game for some work on their game. Props to Holiday for continuing his lonesome workouts and wanting to improve his game to help out his team as well as his future career.
UW had a few fantastic blocks on transition lay-in attempts by UCLA. To my recollection I counted 3. Each one of them as impressive as the others. UW's defensive effort tonight was impressive, too bad their offensive game couldn't have joined the party. This is the second straight game, at home at that, in which the Dawgs have struggled to find their rhythm. UW has C.J. Wilcox alone to thank for the win. He single-handedly took this team by the hand and brought back the W. He had 24 of UW's 46 points (18 of 34 when excluding free throws). UW must get their shot back in time for the post season.
Maybe someone who reads this blog can answer me this question? Why do people have such a problem with the Dawg Pack making fun of Josh Smith for being fat? One of the media heads told us we could do anything, including hold up McDonald's signs and other fast food paraphernalia, but making fat jokes was not OK. We couldn't use those jokes because they were personal comments. ALL THE DAWG PACK DOES IS MAKE PERSONAL COMMENTS!!!!!! He is fat, not crippled. He is a D1 athlete. His weight is a choice he makes just as much as his haircut or tattoos. We aren't criticizing his race or even religion for that matter (something else he chooses). Why is his fatness off limits?
Anyways, I digress. This was a frustrating game because if we hit the shots we should, this would have been a blowout early on and a 30 point win by nights end.
What was Good
C.J. Wilcox's Second Half
24 points. Enough said.
Rebounding
40-40 ain't too shabby, especially when one considers how strong UCLA's frontcourt is. UW had 18 offensive boards, led by MBA at 7.
Defensive Effort
Brilliant work on the defensive end. If you watch the game you will see the hustle, drive, and tenacity that at one time had them recognized as a legitimate National Title contender.
What Needed Improvement
Shooting
22-61 is not good. We are the number 2 offense in the nation. Let's act like it please. We need better shot selection and I.T. needs to drive instead of this fake in nonsense that has led to just terrible shooting. MBA needs to put some damn oomph behind his shot and hit the glass instead of trying to swish everything. It's not a 3 point shot, big man, throw it off the glass. It is there for your help and assistance.
Free Throw Shooting
I am sick of writing free throw shooting under needs improvement. How about we shoot our damn gimmes like a champ for once. UCLA went 12-13. WSU went 32-36. That is how you shoot free throws. Not 20-28. Wilcox knows how to make a free throw. He went 6-6, he was awesome.
Player by Player Reviews
Justin Holiday
Defensively amazing performance. He held Honeycutt to 6 points, all off of free throws. Honeycutt was 0-6 from the field. Offensively he left a lot to be desired. 1-8 shooting, 1-2 from the arc, is well below his standards. Holiday hit the gym after the game and for that I give him two thumbs up. His 6 boards, 5 assists, and block help make up for his 3 turnovers.
Grade: B-
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
3-11 shooting. Horrible. 13 boards. Nice. 1-2 free throws. Meh. 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal. Not bad. Overall MBA was a mess, but I appreciate the glass work. Where has his shot gone? He had done such good work improving his numbers only to have gone a combined 6-22 the past 2 games. Not good to see at all. With Aziz still developing offensively, MBA remains our lone post threat. He needs to step up his game and finish strong at the hoop.
Grade: B-
Venoy Overton
Brought the fire and old V.O. out tonight. 3-3 from the field and a below average 4-7 from the charity line. 0 assists and 2 turnovers. Got called for a bogus "block" call that was clearly a second offensive push off. The refs of the Pac-10 are terrible and they are lucky Overton and Anderson didn't start pushing, shoving, and punching. Ran the transition game extremely well tonight. He is extremely quick and did a nice job staying in front of the quick UCLA guards as well as pushing the tempo of the game.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
A quieter night then I would like from him, but some pretty decent shots overall. He continues to be more aggressive and is looking to take shots instead of always passing the responsibility off to someone else. 5 points on 2-6 shooting, only 2 boards, and 1 very sweet block.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
Suggs had a fairly solid return. For 18 minutes of play his numbers were pretty good especially in context of an MCL strain. I am beginning to feel more confident in his ability to run the team and offense, something he should not have to do his senior senior with Abdul Gaddy, Tony Wroten, and presumably Isaiah Thomas on the squad. He will not likely return to the starting role he had assumed until next season. Overton will start Saturday on senior night and Romar will likely keep C.J. in the starting role to preserve the chemistry that has been working fairly well thus far. I could be wrong.
Grade: B
Isaiah Thomas
Not a good night. 9 points, 3 from the line. He did not score until there were less than 4 minutes remaining in the game. Only 3 assists and 4 boards. He did add 2 steals to help offset his 3 turnovers. His shooting and shot selection must improve and return to the A-game level he showed during the first few weeks of Abdul's absence.
Grade: C
Aziz N'Diaye
I blame Scott Alspach for Aziz's bobbled dunk. He had a dream about it and whenever he dreams this kind of thing, it happens. Aziz needs to get some new hands. His are too tough and incapable of receiving sweet passes right now. The fact he was 2-7 is a testament to his new aggressive style of play and it is only a matter of time before he starts hitting consistently. He had 5 offensive boards tonight.
Grade: B
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Hard to grade a 4 minute performance. So I won't.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
Beast MODE! His first half was forgettable, but his second half was the stuff of legends. He could not and would not miss. He put da team on his back. All the way. Cross the plane. Touchdown. His jumper is so sweet and that fouled AND1 near the arc was just ridiculous. It was a testament to how well his night had been going. MVP by far. No doubt. He won this game by himself. He will likely surrender his starting spot temporarily to Overton for senior night before taking it back for the Pac-10 tournament. This night is yours C.J., enjoy it.
Grade: A++++++++++++++++
Final Thoughts
A fairly nice pick me up after a sobering loss to WSU at home. Not a great offensive night, but the defensive effort was everything you could ask from a team. Hustle plays win games (and free throws). The game at USC is extremely important. If UW wins and UCLA loses, UW will have the 2 seed in the Pac-10 tournament and will play one of the 7-10 seeds who play an extra game the day before. If UW wins and UCLA wins then UCLA will take second at least and UW will remain in 3rd regardless. UCLA needs Arizona to lose for them to have a shot at part of the title.
*EDIT*
Thank you Romar for finally running a damn press early in the game. Even soft on ball pressure made their offense a little more sketchy. 18 turnover, 5 blocks, 5 steals. You can't tell me that wasn't because we pressed hard.
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