The title of best player is always up for debate in the world of sports. Sure, some NBA teams possess super stars that leave little doubt like the Heat and LeBron James, the Magic and Dwight Howard, or the Zombie Sonics and Kevin Durant, but at the college level things change drastically. Several players contribute in a variety of ways to allow great debates about which player has the greatest and most positive impact on his team.
This past off-season saw the departure of our two best players in Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten. While some may not agree with declaring Wroten as one of our top players, it is hard to ignore everything he did for the Husky squad. What this means for the 2012-2013 season is a wide opening for several individuals to elevate their games to the next level and take over the reigns as the squad's "Best Player."
Being the best player is about more than points per games or how many rebounds a player can snatch up in 40 minutes. The best player needs to have intangibles that don't show up in the post-game box score. The best player needs to dominate all aspects of the game and thrive because of it.
Arguably the best player in recent, if not all, UW history is Isaiah Thomas and he is exactly the sort of player I refer to when I talk about a guy doing more than just hitting baskets and making plays. I.T. ruled the court with both his skills and his attitude. The guy refused to lose. He did everything and more to motivate and carry his team through adversity as well as success. If you have any doubt about how good I.T. was and is, just watch this.
My initial reaction was to peg Scott Suggs as the best player next season. Suggs has everything a team could want in terms of size, athleticism, and experience. After facing a tough foot injury right before the 2011-2012 season began, Suggs opted to take a medical redshirt and return in full force for a complete and dominating senior season. Built just like Ross, Suggs stands at 6-6 and nearly 200lbs. Suggs' long athletic frame allows him to elevate above the competition at the hoop and outside the arc. During his junior season campaign, Suggs showed a huge improvement concerning his inside game. Suggs was able to attack the rim and finish inside. We are all well aware of Suggs' ability to nail the outside shot. Suggs was arguably the best sharpshooter on the team in 2010-2011 due to his consistency and accuracy. Watching Suggs during warm-ups this past season has only increased my confidence in his ability to drain the long ball. As a fifth year senior, Suggs has more experience than most. Suggs has participated in 3 NCAA tournament appearances as well as having won a regular season title and two tournament titles (I won't include his redshirt season as he did not play in any games). I believe Suggs will step in to fill Ross' shoes immediately and will make a strong case for Pac-12 Player of the Year honors. The one aspect on his game that Suggs can improve on to solidify his position as the Best Player is rebounding. Suggs has never been a great rebounder, but the increased presence of his inside game will allow Suggs more opportunities near the hoop to snag a few extra boards. I can easily envision Suggs averaging 16 points and 5 rebounds per game. That type of production combined with excellent senior leadership and tenacity would make for an amazing player and could certainly be a game changer in tight situations.
C.J. Wilcox should be involved in any type of "Best Player" argument, whether simply the Husky Basketball team or the Pac-12 conference. Wilcox averaged a quiet 14 points per game last season despite battle nagging injuries that prevented him from seeing action in several games and limiting his play time in others. With a full summer to heal the stress fracture in his hip/leg, Wilcox is primed to light up the court for what could be his final season. Wilcox is attending the Kevin Durant skill camp this summer along with playing the the Seattle Summer league games, giving him plenty of opportunities to work on his abilities before the preseason games across the Atlantic. As with Suggs, Wilcox can strengthen his argument for the team's best player by improving his rebounding from 3 boards per game to 5 or 6. A greater aspect to improve upon, perhaps more important than a few more rebounds per game, would be Wilcox's ability to play into and through contact near the paint to draw fouls and free throws. Wilcox averaged 84% from the line last season and at one point had hit over 30 free throws in a row. Romar's teams have always been known to be unsuccessful at the foul line, yet individual players have made great strides in improving their shot from the charity stripe and in doing so become game changers. These individuals include I.T. and Jon Brockman. Last season, Wroten averaged nearly 8 free throws attempts per game, making under 60% on the season. With Wilcox's 84% average those 4 points from 8 free throws becomes nearly 7 points per game. 3 points extra per night is a huge number from the foul line where close games are won and lost. What could ultimately hold Wilcox back from being the best player on the 2012-2013 squad is his quiet nature. In terms of sheer athletic ability, no one can match-up with Wilcox. Wilcox has been the fastest at the mile, is one of the quickest sprinters on the team, and has the highest vertical jump of anyone. Wilcox out jumped Ross last season and we have all seen what type of plays can occur when a player has huge hops. If Wilcox can become not only a leader in terms of production, but also as a vocal and emotional leader, he could be a favorite for Player of the Year awards.
Aziz N'Diaye would be my third pick for top player on the team. N'Diaye's size and defensive presence alone put him near the top of the list. N'Diaye showed great improvement to his footwork, post moves, and in softening his hands. The big man is no longer a black hole in the middle where the ball will never return from. N'Diaye showed better court vision knowing when to take his man to the hoop and when to kick the ball back out to the perimeter. N'Diaye is already a supreme rebounder, picking up nearly 8 per night, but could take another step forward by boxing out better on the offensive end and allowing his length to take charge. Where N'Diaye can really improve is his offensive game. This has always been the weakest part of N'Diaye's game, but his jump hook is improving steadily. I would also like to see N'Diaye throw down a few more dunks. Too often, N'Diaye is right next to the hoop and opts for a dainty little lay-in. Throw down, big man, throw down. Dunks are the highest percentage shots there are. At 7-0, it is hard to have a dunk blocked inside 4 feet. Take a page out of this kid's book, N'Diaye, it'll help you immensely. If N'Diaye can continue improving his ability to catch the ball and finish at the rim, he could quite possibly average 14 points per game on top of 8 rebounds and a block or two a night. All that production does not even begin to tell the whole tale, something I argued earlier would be critical in determining the team's best player. How many times has an opposing player driven towards the lane only to see N'Diaye towering in the paint? How many times has that player then changed his mind and opted for either a terrible jumper or been forced to kick the ball back outside the paint? That is the type of impact that doesn't show up in the box score. It's the type of impact that every player should strive for.
A fourth, perhaps outside pick, would be Abdul Gaddy. Gaddy has struggled to live up to the All-American hype that surrounded him coming into his freshman season. Gaddy came to the UW as a quite young 17 year old, trying to compete against 22 year old players who were much stronger, faster, and experienced. Gaddy's sophomore campaign started phenomenally, but sadly he blew his ACL right as Pac-10 play began. Gaddy spent the summer recuperating his knee and appeared to be on track for a solid 2011-2012 year. Gaddy spent much of this past season looking slower and more cautious, something that was not all that surprising given his newly injured knee. At the end of the year, Gaddy finally realized how deadly he can be when driving the lane. Not only does it open the opportunity to kick out for an assisted 3-pointer, but it also allows Gaddy to get a good look at the hoop down low in the paint where his teardrop shot can be put to good use. What Gaddy needs to do in order to become our best player is to take this team over and make it his. This will be Gaddy's senior season. His last hurrah. Gaddy must develop that seasoned, vocal leadership this team so dearly lacked last season. Gaddy could average double digit points if he attacked the rim consistently and improved his 3-point accuracy. And, while it may seem greedy, I would really like to see Gaddy average 7 assists per game. Gaddy has amazing court vision and has a great knack for making solid passes to open players. I believe Romar's play calling is what is holding Gaddy back from averaging those types of numbers. If Romar can develop a few more motion offensive plays, Gaddy will have more opportunities to deliver the rock to open guys on the perimeter and in the post. With the addition of Suggs as a steady hand inside and out, Gaddy has one more tool at his disposal to spread the floor and make things happen. Another important point to note is the absence of Wroten allows Gaddy to resume taking a majority of the point guard play time, meaning more play-making opportunities to boost his stats.
So who do you think will take over in 2012-2013? One of these four? Someone else? Let us know in the comments below.
Go Dawgs!
Showing posts with label C.J. Wilcox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label C.J. Wilcox. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
University of Oregon Game Preview 3
The Huskies get one more shot at Oregon this season in an attempt to avenge the humiliating defeat suffered in Eugene earlier this year. Oregon is coming off the highest scoring D1 game this season, beating Iowa 108-97 in a defense optional game. The Ducks have been playing some of their best basketball as of late and look to be an extremely dangerous opponent for the Dawgs as they can compete both in the half court and in transition.
Thankfully for the Huskies, Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox seems to be getting into shooting rhythm at last and may certainly be the deciding factor in tomorrow's match-up. Tony Wroten will be called upon to attack the middle and open up the perimeter for Ross and Wilcox.
In their game against Iowa, Oregon had 5 players with 15 points or more, 3 with 19 or more. E.J. Singler was an incredible 9 of 10 form the field, missing only a single deep shot. Singler was also a perfect 4 of 4 from the foul stripe. Singler finished with a team high 25 points and 6 rebounds as well as 4 assists and only 1 turnover in 35 minutes.
Devoe Joseph created offense across the board dishing out a game high 8 assists on top of his 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting. While Singler may be the most explosive threat on the Duck's roster, Joseph has been the most consistent averaging team highs in both points (16.9) and assists (3.2) this year. Joseph's seniority has given him the experience necessary to compete and succeed in all sorts of situations this year and to me is the X-factor tomorrow night.
As a team, the Ducks shot out of their minds on Sunday, hitting 59% of their shots from the field (43% outside the arc) as well as making a tremendous 88% from the free throw line. The Ducks accomplished this by moving the ball with skill and precision, connecting with 26 assists on 35 made field goals. The only category in which the Ducks "struggled" was offensive rebounding where they managed only 8 rebounds out of 32 total.
Olu Ashaolu has really stepped it up for the Ducks during the past few weeks. Despite his season scoring averaging sitting at 9 points per game, Ashaolu has show without a doubt that he is a force to be reckoned with in the paint. Against Iowa, Ashaolu put up 22 points on 7 of 10 shooting and made 8 of his 11 free throw attempts. Ashaolu is not necessarily a big guy at 6-7 220lb, but he is exceedingly strong and has great footwork that allows Ashaolu to push his man back or maneuver around the defender.
Where the Ducks find their greatest success is their depth of frontcourt. The Ducks feature 7 forwards and centers, all of whom are strong and capable players in their own rights. This is difficult for the Dawgs where the frontcourt is clearly our weakest section due to our lack of depth. Our bigs will have their work cut out once more trying to avoid foul trouble, while also contributing on both ends of the court. The one plus is that the Ducks' best players are on their wings, much like our own team, our advantage comes in taller, stronger, and more skilled guards.
Overall, these two teams balance out quite well. The battle tomorrow will come down to who can execute better over the entire 40 minutes and exploit their opponent's weaknesses, while capitalizing on their own strengths.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Oregon:
Garrett Sim 6-2 185lb
Devoe Joseph 6-4 180lb
E.J. Singler 6-6 215lb
Jeremy Jacobs 6-8 230lb
Tony Woods 6-11 250lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Rebounding:
Cleaning the glass is always a big step in shutting down the opposition's offense. Rebounds prevent second chance opportunities and open 3's, while also limiting transition plays and fast breaks that lead to open, easy points. The Dawgs find themselves matched up against a similarly sized team in the Ducks, but overall the Dawgs have shown themselves to be much more capable on the glass than the majority of teams across the nation.
Free Throws:
Put simply, the Ducks tend to make their freebies and the Dawgs do not. Against Northwestern, the Dawgs finally showed some competency. The Ducks, on the other hand, have shown consistency throughout the season, which is a much more dangerous formula for success. The Huskies must capitalize on whatever few opportunities they may get.
Defense:
The Huskies couldn't lock down the Ducks in the last match-up, leading to a complete blow out. The Dawgs have been playing much better defense this week in the NIT and this is promising for tomorrow evening. The Huskies must play tight defense from the baseline to the half-court line as the Ducks have an array of capable 3-point shooters. Our guys need to lock it down from tip off to the final buzzer if they want to get through to the next round.
Final Thoughts:
This will be a huge match-up. A tough match-up. One that our guys will need to be prepared for. While waiting for the last game, I saw several players show up just a few hours before the game. The majority of the players arriving late were freshmen and bench players, but it was somewhat concerning that our team wasn't preparing the way I expected them to. Tomorrow I expect the players to be at the game before myself taking shots, getting warmed up, watching tape, etc. If the Dawgs truly want to scrape something out of this season, they will need to get past Oregon on their way to Madison Square Garden. Unlike the two games thus far, I suspect this will be a close one throughout with both sides throwing punches and going on little runs here and there. I see a potential buzzer beater type scenario heading our way and hopefully the Dawgs are on the right side of it.
Final Score Prediction: UW-80 UO-77
Thankfully for the Huskies, Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox seems to be getting into shooting rhythm at last and may certainly be the deciding factor in tomorrow's match-up. Tony Wroten will be called upon to attack the middle and open up the perimeter for Ross and Wilcox.
In their game against Iowa, Oregon had 5 players with 15 points or more, 3 with 19 or more. E.J. Singler was an incredible 9 of 10 form the field, missing only a single deep shot. Singler was also a perfect 4 of 4 from the foul stripe. Singler finished with a team high 25 points and 6 rebounds as well as 4 assists and only 1 turnover in 35 minutes.
Devoe Joseph created offense across the board dishing out a game high 8 assists on top of his 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting. While Singler may be the most explosive threat on the Duck's roster, Joseph has been the most consistent averaging team highs in both points (16.9) and assists (3.2) this year. Joseph's seniority has given him the experience necessary to compete and succeed in all sorts of situations this year and to me is the X-factor tomorrow night.
As a team, the Ducks shot out of their minds on Sunday, hitting 59% of their shots from the field (43% outside the arc) as well as making a tremendous 88% from the free throw line. The Ducks accomplished this by moving the ball with skill and precision, connecting with 26 assists on 35 made field goals. The only category in which the Ducks "struggled" was offensive rebounding where they managed only 8 rebounds out of 32 total.
Olu Ashaolu has really stepped it up for the Ducks during the past few weeks. Despite his season scoring averaging sitting at 9 points per game, Ashaolu has show without a doubt that he is a force to be reckoned with in the paint. Against Iowa, Ashaolu put up 22 points on 7 of 10 shooting and made 8 of his 11 free throw attempts. Ashaolu is not necessarily a big guy at 6-7 220lb, but he is exceedingly strong and has great footwork that allows Ashaolu to push his man back or maneuver around the defender.
Where the Ducks find their greatest success is their depth of frontcourt. The Ducks feature 7 forwards and centers, all of whom are strong and capable players in their own rights. This is difficult for the Dawgs where the frontcourt is clearly our weakest section due to our lack of depth. Our bigs will have their work cut out once more trying to avoid foul trouble, while also contributing on both ends of the court. The one plus is that the Ducks' best players are on their wings, much like our own team, our advantage comes in taller, stronger, and more skilled guards.
Overall, these two teams balance out quite well. The battle tomorrow will come down to who can execute better over the entire 40 minutes and exploit their opponent's weaknesses, while capitalizing on their own strengths.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Oregon:
Garrett Sim 6-2 185lb
Devoe Joseph 6-4 180lb
E.J. Singler 6-6 215lb
Jeremy Jacobs 6-8 230lb
Tony Woods 6-11 250lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Rebounding:
Cleaning the glass is always a big step in shutting down the opposition's offense. Rebounds prevent second chance opportunities and open 3's, while also limiting transition plays and fast breaks that lead to open, easy points. The Dawgs find themselves matched up against a similarly sized team in the Ducks, but overall the Dawgs have shown themselves to be much more capable on the glass than the majority of teams across the nation.
Free Throws:
Put simply, the Ducks tend to make their freebies and the Dawgs do not. Against Northwestern, the Dawgs finally showed some competency. The Ducks, on the other hand, have shown consistency throughout the season, which is a much more dangerous formula for success. The Huskies must capitalize on whatever few opportunities they may get.
Defense:
The Huskies couldn't lock down the Ducks in the last match-up, leading to a complete blow out. The Dawgs have been playing much better defense this week in the NIT and this is promising for tomorrow evening. The Huskies must play tight defense from the baseline to the half-court line as the Ducks have an array of capable 3-point shooters. Our guys need to lock it down from tip off to the final buzzer if they want to get through to the next round.
Final Thoughts:
This will be a huge match-up. A tough match-up. One that our guys will need to be prepared for. While waiting for the last game, I saw several players show up just a few hours before the game. The majority of the players arriving late were freshmen and bench players, but it was somewhat concerning that our team wasn't preparing the way I expected them to. Tomorrow I expect the players to be at the game before myself taking shots, getting warmed up, watching tape, etc. If the Dawgs truly want to scrape something out of this season, they will need to get past Oregon on their way to Madison Square Garden. Unlike the two games thus far, I suspect this will be a close one throughout with both sides throwing punches and going on little runs here and there. I see a potential buzzer beater type scenario heading our way and hopefully the Dawgs are on the right side of it.
Final Score Prediction: UW-80 UO-77
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Northwestern Game Review
Final Score: UW-76 Northwestern-55
This was the type of game we have been looking for from the Huskies all season. Our scorers got hot, our defense played tough, and our team showed how 40 minutes of solid basketball leads to a solid, decisive victory over an inferior opponent.
Sure, John Shurna racked up 24 points (by the way, he has the ugliest shooting form I have ever seen. I have no clue how he scores), but our defense contested nearly every shot he took. Shurna is simply a great scorer and guys like that will make shots with a hand in the face or not. Look at Terrence Ross for proof of that.
The Dawgs dominated just about every category you can think of. The only disappointing stat was the turnover category. After holding an 11 to 4 advantage in forced turnovers in the first half, the Dawgs finished with 17 turnovers, while forcing Northwestern in only 15 total. Whether the Dawgs got sloppy or Northwestern adjusted properly is somewhat up for debate. In my opinion, the fact that the Dawgs scored only 2 less points in the second half compared to the first indicates that Northwestern didn't really adjust well, the Huskies simply tried to showboat too often leading to silly turnovers.
The Huskies rebounded in force tonight, holding a 42 to 26 advantage at games end. The Huskies pulled in 20 offensive boards and 3 players, Aziz N'Diaye, Terrence Ross, and Tony Wroten, pulled in 7 or 8 rebounds a piece using their superior size and athleticism to extend above the opposition to pull in the board. After the poor rebounding performance against UT-A it was quite refreshing to see our rebounding prowess return.
The 3-point shooting by the Dawgs was a tale of 2 halves. The Huskies started a very poor 5 of 21 outside the arc, but C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross turned it on in the second half to light up the court. The Huskies were a much better 6 of 11 in the second half as Ross and Wilcox found open looks and took advantage of it. Wilcox was 1 of 6 in the first half, while Ross was 1 of 7 (I believe, not 100%). Wilcox finished 4 of 9 and Ross went 6 of 14 on his way to a career high 32 points.
Here is a stat I thought I would never seen this season, 8-8. That was the Huskies stat for free throw shooting in the first half. No big surprise, the guys shooting those free throws were the ones who have shied away from the line all year: Wilcox and Ross. The Dawgs finished the night 11 of 14 from the line. Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten each missed their lone opportunity at the stripe and N'Diaye split a pair. Outside of those players, the Dawgs were perfect. Man, it was nice to see that.
My favorite stat of the night? 18 assists. That has been the missing ingredient all season long. Both Gaddy and Wroten racked up 7 assists as the Huskies moved the ball well around the court, battling and demolishing the ineffective Wildcat zone defense. Our point guards did exactly what we have needed them to do, distribute the ball. Our top two shooters took the majority of our shots and look how that turned out, amazing.
Aziz N'Diaye could have had a career night, but he struggled to finish at the rim at times. N'Diaye was only 5 of 11 on the night, a lower percentage than his usual. N'Diaye was surprisingly good at defending the small Northwestern guards and did not pick up a single foul. You read that right, not one single foul. Impressive. N'Diaye had 2 steals offsetting 1 turnover and was a solid force down in the block, preventing the dribble drive. N'Diaye played 30 minutes tonight, something that really surprised me as I thought Romar would put a 4-guard line-up on for most of the night with Darnell Gant providing mobile post support.
Tony Wroten and Abdul Gaddy did not have great shooting night, but they had great point guard nights. They moved the ball, the drove and dished, and generally did everything you could ask of a point guard. Both had 5 turnovers, which marred otherwise great nights, but that happens when you try to be too fancy with the ball. Our guards realized our shooters were hot and got them the ball.
Desmond Simmons was quietly effective after getting pulled early in the first half following poor defensive rotations. He finished with 4 points and 2 boards. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, Shawn Kemp, and Hikeem Stewart provided great relief efforts for the Dawgs with Stewart picking up a high of 5 minutes. Martin Breunig came in and flushed a monster dunk in the lane over a Wildcat defender.
C.J. Wilcox had a stellar performance and finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds. He also had 1 assists to offset his lone turnover. Alongside Ross, Wilcox helped stretch the Wildcat defense thin leading to wide open shots. In the first half, our shooters struggled to finish these open opportunities, but capitalized in the second. Wilcox found his shot and drilled home several great deep balls, while also finding success inside the lane with some nice pull-up jumpers. Loved his play tonight and his continuing improvement as his health improved. Wilcox should be a very dangerous player again next season with his body healed up.
Terrence Ross exploded last night. He found his stroke and kept backing up further and further until the Wildcat defenders were guarding him at half-court at which point Ross would dribble past his man, finishing in the paint. Ross was 10 for 21 from the field and a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line. His 8 rebounds were excellent and Ross finished stuffing the stat sheet with an assist, 2 steals, a block, and just 1 turnover. It was a career performance, the type of which exemplifies why he is considered a potential lottery pick in the coming draft. This is how we expected Ross to play all season, but it has taken the last 2 or 3 weeks for Ross to have success in both halves of the game. Hopefully Ross can continue this trend of playing the full 40 through the NIT championship game and throughout next season. I love that Romar kept Ross in late in the game so he could break his career high of 30 points. As soon as Ross got to the line for the final time and sunk 2 free throws to give him a career best 32, Romar subbed Ross out to a standing ovation and chants of "One more year!"
What Needed Improvement:
Turnovers:
I thought the Dawgs were going to finish with under 10 turnovers on the night, but things out sloppy and out of hand at times in the second. A better team would have capitalized on our mistakes, but Northwestern was unable to do so, thankfully. 17 turnovers is way too high and needs to be minimized, especially with a potential quarterfinal match-up against Oregon on the horizon.
What was Good:
Rebounding:
As I talked about before, the Dawgs dominated a clearly inferior rebounding team. Three players racking up at least 7 rebounds a piece is a recipe for success. The guarded well on defense and snatched up their own missed shots to garner 16 second chance points. Great effort on the glass.
Team Effort:
Our point guards passed, our shooting guards shot, and our bigs kept Northwestern out of the paint. There was hustle and effort across the board. Even Romar got involved with a spontaneous post game speech to the crowd, thanking everyone for coming out and supporting them despite the "inconsistent" efforts they displayed this season. It was an emotional game followed with an emotional speech. While it is a little late, this emotion is refreshing to see and hopefully the Huskies can continue to dominate their opposition to send a message to the NCAA that they should have been one of the 68 teams sent to the big dance.
Ross and Wilcox:
The duo combined for 52 of the Huskies 76 points. Damn. That is huge.
Final Thoughts:
The Dawgs will likely face Oregon on Tuesday for the final home game of the season. There is a small chance of an upset, but count on Oregon coming to Hec-Ed one more time. The Dawgs owe Oregon an embarrassment following the dismantling they faced earlier this season in Eugene. The Dawgs can turn a "snub" into at least something by taking home the NIT title, but there are still 3 games left and they cannot ease up on the gas. Hopefully this team saw how well things go when they apply themselves hard on both ends of the court and continue to do so.
Go Dawgs!
This was the type of game we have been looking for from the Huskies all season. Our scorers got hot, our defense played tough, and our team showed how 40 minutes of solid basketball leads to a solid, decisive victory over an inferior opponent.
Sure, John Shurna racked up 24 points (by the way, he has the ugliest shooting form I have ever seen. I have no clue how he scores), but our defense contested nearly every shot he took. Shurna is simply a great scorer and guys like that will make shots with a hand in the face or not. Look at Terrence Ross for proof of that.
The Dawgs dominated just about every category you can think of. The only disappointing stat was the turnover category. After holding an 11 to 4 advantage in forced turnovers in the first half, the Dawgs finished with 17 turnovers, while forcing Northwestern in only 15 total. Whether the Dawgs got sloppy or Northwestern adjusted properly is somewhat up for debate. In my opinion, the fact that the Dawgs scored only 2 less points in the second half compared to the first indicates that Northwestern didn't really adjust well, the Huskies simply tried to showboat too often leading to silly turnovers.
The Huskies rebounded in force tonight, holding a 42 to 26 advantage at games end. The Huskies pulled in 20 offensive boards and 3 players, Aziz N'Diaye, Terrence Ross, and Tony Wroten, pulled in 7 or 8 rebounds a piece using their superior size and athleticism to extend above the opposition to pull in the board. After the poor rebounding performance against UT-A it was quite refreshing to see our rebounding prowess return.
The 3-point shooting by the Dawgs was a tale of 2 halves. The Huskies started a very poor 5 of 21 outside the arc, but C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross turned it on in the second half to light up the court. The Huskies were a much better 6 of 11 in the second half as Ross and Wilcox found open looks and took advantage of it. Wilcox was 1 of 6 in the first half, while Ross was 1 of 7 (I believe, not 100%). Wilcox finished 4 of 9 and Ross went 6 of 14 on his way to a career high 32 points.
Here is a stat I thought I would never seen this season, 8-8. That was the Huskies stat for free throw shooting in the first half. No big surprise, the guys shooting those free throws were the ones who have shied away from the line all year: Wilcox and Ross. The Dawgs finished the night 11 of 14 from the line. Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten each missed their lone opportunity at the stripe and N'Diaye split a pair. Outside of those players, the Dawgs were perfect. Man, it was nice to see that.
My favorite stat of the night? 18 assists. That has been the missing ingredient all season long. Both Gaddy and Wroten racked up 7 assists as the Huskies moved the ball well around the court, battling and demolishing the ineffective Wildcat zone defense. Our point guards did exactly what we have needed them to do, distribute the ball. Our top two shooters took the majority of our shots and look how that turned out, amazing.
Aziz N'Diaye could have had a career night, but he struggled to finish at the rim at times. N'Diaye was only 5 of 11 on the night, a lower percentage than his usual. N'Diaye was surprisingly good at defending the small Northwestern guards and did not pick up a single foul. You read that right, not one single foul. Impressive. N'Diaye had 2 steals offsetting 1 turnover and was a solid force down in the block, preventing the dribble drive. N'Diaye played 30 minutes tonight, something that really surprised me as I thought Romar would put a 4-guard line-up on for most of the night with Darnell Gant providing mobile post support.
Tony Wroten and Abdul Gaddy did not have great shooting night, but they had great point guard nights. They moved the ball, the drove and dished, and generally did everything you could ask of a point guard. Both had 5 turnovers, which marred otherwise great nights, but that happens when you try to be too fancy with the ball. Our guards realized our shooters were hot and got them the ball.
Desmond Simmons was quietly effective after getting pulled early in the first half following poor defensive rotations. He finished with 4 points and 2 boards. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, Shawn Kemp, and Hikeem Stewart provided great relief efforts for the Dawgs with Stewart picking up a high of 5 minutes. Martin Breunig came in and flushed a monster dunk in the lane over a Wildcat defender.
C.J. Wilcox had a stellar performance and finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds. He also had 1 assists to offset his lone turnover. Alongside Ross, Wilcox helped stretch the Wildcat defense thin leading to wide open shots. In the first half, our shooters struggled to finish these open opportunities, but capitalized in the second. Wilcox found his shot and drilled home several great deep balls, while also finding success inside the lane with some nice pull-up jumpers. Loved his play tonight and his continuing improvement as his health improved. Wilcox should be a very dangerous player again next season with his body healed up.
Terrence Ross exploded last night. He found his stroke and kept backing up further and further until the Wildcat defenders were guarding him at half-court at which point Ross would dribble past his man, finishing in the paint. Ross was 10 for 21 from the field and a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line. His 8 rebounds were excellent and Ross finished stuffing the stat sheet with an assist, 2 steals, a block, and just 1 turnover. It was a career performance, the type of which exemplifies why he is considered a potential lottery pick in the coming draft. This is how we expected Ross to play all season, but it has taken the last 2 or 3 weeks for Ross to have success in both halves of the game. Hopefully Ross can continue this trend of playing the full 40 through the NIT championship game and throughout next season. I love that Romar kept Ross in late in the game so he could break his career high of 30 points. As soon as Ross got to the line for the final time and sunk 2 free throws to give him a career best 32, Romar subbed Ross out to a standing ovation and chants of "One more year!"
What Needed Improvement:
Turnovers:
I thought the Dawgs were going to finish with under 10 turnovers on the night, but things out sloppy and out of hand at times in the second. A better team would have capitalized on our mistakes, but Northwestern was unable to do so, thankfully. 17 turnovers is way too high and needs to be minimized, especially with a potential quarterfinal match-up against Oregon on the horizon.
What was Good:
Rebounding:
As I talked about before, the Dawgs dominated a clearly inferior rebounding team. Three players racking up at least 7 rebounds a piece is a recipe for success. The guarded well on defense and snatched up their own missed shots to garner 16 second chance points. Great effort on the glass.
Team Effort:
Our point guards passed, our shooting guards shot, and our bigs kept Northwestern out of the paint. There was hustle and effort across the board. Even Romar got involved with a spontaneous post game speech to the crowd, thanking everyone for coming out and supporting them despite the "inconsistent" efforts they displayed this season. It was an emotional game followed with an emotional speech. While it is a little late, this emotion is refreshing to see and hopefully the Huskies can continue to dominate their opposition to send a message to the NCAA that they should have been one of the 68 teams sent to the big dance.
Ross and Wilcox:
The duo combined for 52 of the Huskies 76 points. Damn. That is huge.
Final Thoughts:
The Dawgs will likely face Oregon on Tuesday for the final home game of the season. There is a small chance of an upset, but count on Oregon coming to Hec-Ed one more time. The Dawgs owe Oregon an embarrassment following the dismantling they faced earlier this season in Eugene. The Dawgs can turn a "snub" into at least something by taking home the NIT title, but there are still 3 games left and they cannot ease up on the gas. Hopefully this team saw how well things go when they apply themselves hard on both ends of the court and continue to do so.
Go Dawgs!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
University of Oregon Game Review
Final Score: UW-76 UO-60
The Huskies started off conference play with a nice sweep over the Oregon schools and did so in fairly dominating fashion. The Dawgs won both games by 15+ points and led most of both games. Both OSU and UO made it close at times, but the Huskies were able to gut it out and regain the lead through strong offense and denying defense. Up next are newcomers Colorado and Utah, who faced each other last night where Colorado completed dominated a severely diminished Utah team 73-33. I'll have more on them later, for now let's talk about the game against the Ducks.
C.J. Wilcox came off the bench in the first half, allowing Tony Wroten to start. It wasn't so much a "demotion" as a move to get the Huskies off to a fast start behind the legs and tenacity of Wroten. Wroten has been superb this year at attacking the hoop and, more often than not, completes the lay-in. Wilcox started the second half after entering the game and drilling some smooth shots with a consistent hand. Wilcox and Wroten helped the Dawgs keep the lead despite poor rebounding on both ends of the court and sub-par free throw shooting. With 3 minutes to go in the first half, Wilcox and Wroten accounted for half the Husky points. Wilcox finished the night with a game high 24 points tying his career high he set last March against UCLA when he dropped all 24 in the second half. Wilcox went 8-11 from the field last night, 6-8 from outside, and 2-2 from the free throw line.
E.J. Singler and Olu Ashaolu dominated the glass for the Ducks and combined for 21 rebounds, 9 on the offensive end leading to 16 second chance points as opposed to UW's 6 total offensive boards and 2 second chance points. The Huskies often let smaller players sneak underneath them to grab boards they had no right taking. The Dawgs simply weren't aggressive enough on the glass to get the type of numbers they are capable of.
Wroten had another fairly stellar night, but his free throw shooting regressed once more. Wroten finished with 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting, missing all three of his 3-point attempts. Wroten was a miserable 3 of 8 from the FT line and had all four of UW's FT attempts in the first half. Wroten had 4 rebounds, somewhat low for Wroten who has been picking up 7, 8, and 9 boards in the past few games. Regardless, Wroten also dished out 5 assists, a game high, while only committing 2 turnovers. Wroten is beginning to get his passing game under control, but is still lacking a decent free throw shot and lacks a right hand when taking shots inside. Wroten made a nice steal and took his defender off the ball using some nice dribble moves rather than powering through to the hoop and possibly drawing an offensive foul.
Aziz N'Diaye. How we missed you against SDST. While N'Diaye's stats were not the most amazing, it was what can't be shown in the box score where his influence is most felt. Oregon simply refused to attack the paint when N'Diaye was in the game. Players would often drive the lanes only to dribble right back out or kick the ball to the wings. N'Diaye had a play where he blocked two straight shots after the first block tipped badly to another Oregon player. The Dawgs went down and got an easy lay-in on a muddled Duck defense. The Ducks called timeout and N'Diaye yelled and pumped his fist hard, really feeling the emotion and power of the moment. It was fantastic to see him get excited like that. N'Diaye started off with the first 4 points of the game, including a nice dribble-spin move that allowed him to hook in a nice shot off the glass. N'Diaye finished the game with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He also had 2 steals and 3 turnovers.
Terrence Ross had a quite night, mainly due to early foul trouble as he picked up his third only 30 seconds into the second half. This made him less aggressive in his attack and certainly held him back a bit on the defensive end. Ross shot 4 of 9 on the night, including 3 of 5 from deep. Ross had a very nice lay-in following tough contact, forcing him to shoot deep from his hip. Ross only managed 3 rebounds, half of his season average. He also finished with 11 points and 2 steals.
Abdul Gaddy was decent tonight with 12 points. He was a perfect 3 for 3 outside the arc and 4 of 5 overall. He missed 2 of his 3 free throw attempts following a foul on a 3-point attempt. Gaddy had 3 assists and an uncharacteristic 3 turnovers. Gaddy picked up 3 fouls in the first half, which limited his contribution inside the paint.
Darnell Gant was quieter than Ross and seems to be losing more of his minutes to Desmond Simmons. Gant did earn himself some credit for coming to aid Tony Wroten after Ashaolu elbowed Wroten in the head. Gant was charged a technical for supposedly mouthing off at Ashaolu. Gant went 0-2 form the field and finished with 0 points. Gant did pick up 4 rebounds and an assist. I love Gant and he can be a huge asset at times, but Simmons is slowly proving himself to be a better rebounder and has just a good of shot, if not better, than Gant. While I suspect Romar will keep Gant in the starting 5, barring some huge collapse by Gant, Simmons certainly deserves the minutes he has been playing and is proving Romar and teammates right when they discussed what kind of hustler and player he is.
Simmons only managed 2 points against the Ducks on 1-4 shooting, but grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 3 assists, only 1 turnover, and nabbed 1 steal. Simmons played 29 minutes to Gant's 17 and it is starting to become more obvious that he is having a bigger impact on the game. Tonight was not necessarily a highlight of his talents, but Simmons had a decent game and had just about the production we need form him to win games. I'd like to see him take a few more inside shots as his is a strong player who can muscle his man out of his way.
Martin Breunig played an efficient 2 minutes, going 1 for 1 from the field. Hikeem Stewart also saw 2 minutes of game time, but didn't log a stat. Shawn Kemp did not enter the game.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
The Huskies were dominated on the glass, despite the numbers being close (36-34 in UO's favor). Oregon picked up 15 offensive boards and held UW to only 6. Second chance points kept the game from being a blowout in the Dawg's favor. If you cut the Duck second chance points in half, the Huskies win by 23. The Dawgs cannot afford to give up 15 offensive boards, no matter the opponent. Their goal should be holding their opponent under 10 offensive boards. The Huskies had a big size advantage over the Ducks whose tallest starter was 6-7. The Ducks were simply more aggressive.
Free Throw Shooting:
This mainly falls on Wroten and Gaddy tonight who were a combined 4 of 11 from the line. Wilcox was the only other Husky to attempt free throws and drained both attempts. Free throws win ball games, plain and simple. It is the easiest shot in the game and never changes. At this point I've really nothing new to say about the importance of free throws.
What was Good:
Outside Shooting:
The Huskies dominate the deep ball tonight, hitting a fantastic 12 of 22 attempts on the night. Wilcox and Gaddy were untouchable outside, combining for 9 of 11 shooting. Ross was respectable in his own right with a 3 of 5 shooting night and Wroten gave it his best, but missed all three attempts. The Dawgs also held the Ducks to 5 of 23 shooting outside, showing fantastic outside defense. This also included a great effort by Wroten following a nice lay-in after which he hustled down the court and blocked the trey attempt.
Defense:
The Dawgs really shut down the Oregon offense that has been one of the better in the Pac-12. The Ducks were held to 60 points and 32% shooting following a 95 point and 69% shooting night against WSU two nights earlier. The Dawgs hustled the length of the court, forcing 15 turnovers and picking up 7 steals and 5 blocks. This was great to see after allowing 80 points against OSU.
Final Thoughts:
This is a great confidence booster before the Dawgs hit the road. While Colorado and Utah may not be the most formidable opponents in the Pac-12, they certainly can't be overlooked especially Colorado who has the offensive tools to be an upset team. Thankfully the Dawgs take on the Buffaloes before the Utes and can get the tougher game out of the way while our players are fully rested. The Dawgs are finally showing the type of chemistry that has arguably cost them games earlier this season. They looked much better on defense and are starting to see an inside presence from N'Diaye who is slowly developing some nice post moves. With Wroten maturing as a player and athlete and our wings continuing to supply the Dawgs with consistent offense from one player or another, the Huskies are poised to regain the hype and play that has been expected of them the past few seasons. A rather bold prediction was made by an ESPN announcer during the Oregon game, Tony Wroten will win both Freshman and Player of the year in the Pac-12. This was last done by Kevin Love in 2007-2008. Before Love you have to go back to the 1995-1996 season when Shareef Abdur-Rahim took the honors home. Do I believe this will happen? It certainly could. Wroten leads the Pac-12 in scoring and is easily the most influential freshman in the league. With his rebounding and turnover stats improving, Wroten is starting to become a key component of this Husky squad as shown by his move into the starting 5.
Go Dawgs!
The Huskies started off conference play with a nice sweep over the Oregon schools and did so in fairly dominating fashion. The Dawgs won both games by 15+ points and led most of both games. Both OSU and UO made it close at times, but the Huskies were able to gut it out and regain the lead through strong offense and denying defense. Up next are newcomers Colorado and Utah, who faced each other last night where Colorado completed dominated a severely diminished Utah team 73-33. I'll have more on them later, for now let's talk about the game against the Ducks.
C.J. Wilcox came off the bench in the first half, allowing Tony Wroten to start. It wasn't so much a "demotion" as a move to get the Huskies off to a fast start behind the legs and tenacity of Wroten. Wroten has been superb this year at attacking the hoop and, more often than not, completes the lay-in. Wilcox started the second half after entering the game and drilling some smooth shots with a consistent hand. Wilcox and Wroten helped the Dawgs keep the lead despite poor rebounding on both ends of the court and sub-par free throw shooting. With 3 minutes to go in the first half, Wilcox and Wroten accounted for half the Husky points. Wilcox finished the night with a game high 24 points tying his career high he set last March against UCLA when he dropped all 24 in the second half. Wilcox went 8-11 from the field last night, 6-8 from outside, and 2-2 from the free throw line.
E.J. Singler and Olu Ashaolu dominated the glass for the Ducks and combined for 21 rebounds, 9 on the offensive end leading to 16 second chance points as opposed to UW's 6 total offensive boards and 2 second chance points. The Huskies often let smaller players sneak underneath them to grab boards they had no right taking. The Dawgs simply weren't aggressive enough on the glass to get the type of numbers they are capable of.
Wroten had another fairly stellar night, but his free throw shooting regressed once more. Wroten finished with 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting, missing all three of his 3-point attempts. Wroten was a miserable 3 of 8 from the FT line and had all four of UW's FT attempts in the first half. Wroten had 4 rebounds, somewhat low for Wroten who has been picking up 7, 8, and 9 boards in the past few games. Regardless, Wroten also dished out 5 assists, a game high, while only committing 2 turnovers. Wroten is beginning to get his passing game under control, but is still lacking a decent free throw shot and lacks a right hand when taking shots inside. Wroten made a nice steal and took his defender off the ball using some nice dribble moves rather than powering through to the hoop and possibly drawing an offensive foul.
Aziz N'Diaye. How we missed you against SDST. While N'Diaye's stats were not the most amazing, it was what can't be shown in the box score where his influence is most felt. Oregon simply refused to attack the paint when N'Diaye was in the game. Players would often drive the lanes only to dribble right back out or kick the ball to the wings. N'Diaye had a play where he blocked two straight shots after the first block tipped badly to another Oregon player. The Dawgs went down and got an easy lay-in on a muddled Duck defense. The Ducks called timeout and N'Diaye yelled and pumped his fist hard, really feeling the emotion and power of the moment. It was fantastic to see him get excited like that. N'Diaye started off with the first 4 points of the game, including a nice dribble-spin move that allowed him to hook in a nice shot off the glass. N'Diaye finished the game with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He also had 2 steals and 3 turnovers.
Terrence Ross had a quite night, mainly due to early foul trouble as he picked up his third only 30 seconds into the second half. This made him less aggressive in his attack and certainly held him back a bit on the defensive end. Ross shot 4 of 9 on the night, including 3 of 5 from deep. Ross had a very nice lay-in following tough contact, forcing him to shoot deep from his hip. Ross only managed 3 rebounds, half of his season average. He also finished with 11 points and 2 steals.
Abdul Gaddy was decent tonight with 12 points. He was a perfect 3 for 3 outside the arc and 4 of 5 overall. He missed 2 of his 3 free throw attempts following a foul on a 3-point attempt. Gaddy had 3 assists and an uncharacteristic 3 turnovers. Gaddy picked up 3 fouls in the first half, which limited his contribution inside the paint.
Darnell Gant was quieter than Ross and seems to be losing more of his minutes to Desmond Simmons. Gant did earn himself some credit for coming to aid Tony Wroten after Ashaolu elbowed Wroten in the head. Gant was charged a technical for supposedly mouthing off at Ashaolu. Gant went 0-2 form the field and finished with 0 points. Gant did pick up 4 rebounds and an assist. I love Gant and he can be a huge asset at times, but Simmons is slowly proving himself to be a better rebounder and has just a good of shot, if not better, than Gant. While I suspect Romar will keep Gant in the starting 5, barring some huge collapse by Gant, Simmons certainly deserves the minutes he has been playing and is proving Romar and teammates right when they discussed what kind of hustler and player he is.
Simmons only managed 2 points against the Ducks on 1-4 shooting, but grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 3 assists, only 1 turnover, and nabbed 1 steal. Simmons played 29 minutes to Gant's 17 and it is starting to become more obvious that he is having a bigger impact on the game. Tonight was not necessarily a highlight of his talents, but Simmons had a decent game and had just about the production we need form him to win games. I'd like to see him take a few more inside shots as his is a strong player who can muscle his man out of his way.
Martin Breunig played an efficient 2 minutes, going 1 for 1 from the field. Hikeem Stewart also saw 2 minutes of game time, but didn't log a stat. Shawn Kemp did not enter the game.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
The Huskies were dominated on the glass, despite the numbers being close (36-34 in UO's favor). Oregon picked up 15 offensive boards and held UW to only 6. Second chance points kept the game from being a blowout in the Dawg's favor. If you cut the Duck second chance points in half, the Huskies win by 23. The Dawgs cannot afford to give up 15 offensive boards, no matter the opponent. Their goal should be holding their opponent under 10 offensive boards. The Huskies had a big size advantage over the Ducks whose tallest starter was 6-7. The Ducks were simply more aggressive.
Free Throw Shooting:
This mainly falls on Wroten and Gaddy tonight who were a combined 4 of 11 from the line. Wilcox was the only other Husky to attempt free throws and drained both attempts. Free throws win ball games, plain and simple. It is the easiest shot in the game and never changes. At this point I've really nothing new to say about the importance of free throws.
What was Good:
Outside Shooting:
The Huskies dominate the deep ball tonight, hitting a fantastic 12 of 22 attempts on the night. Wilcox and Gaddy were untouchable outside, combining for 9 of 11 shooting. Ross was respectable in his own right with a 3 of 5 shooting night and Wroten gave it his best, but missed all three attempts. The Dawgs also held the Ducks to 5 of 23 shooting outside, showing fantastic outside defense. This also included a great effort by Wroten following a nice lay-in after which he hustled down the court and blocked the trey attempt.
Defense:
The Dawgs really shut down the Oregon offense that has been one of the better in the Pac-12. The Ducks were held to 60 points and 32% shooting following a 95 point and 69% shooting night against WSU two nights earlier. The Dawgs hustled the length of the court, forcing 15 turnovers and picking up 7 steals and 5 blocks. This was great to see after allowing 80 points against OSU.
Final Thoughts:
This is a great confidence booster before the Dawgs hit the road. While Colorado and Utah may not be the most formidable opponents in the Pac-12, they certainly can't be overlooked especially Colorado who has the offensive tools to be an upset team. Thankfully the Dawgs take on the Buffaloes before the Utes and can get the tougher game out of the way while our players are fully rested. The Dawgs are finally showing the type of chemistry that has arguably cost them games earlier this season. They looked much better on defense and are starting to see an inside presence from N'Diaye who is slowly developing some nice post moves. With Wroten maturing as a player and athlete and our wings continuing to supply the Dawgs with consistent offense from one player or another, the Huskies are poised to regain the hype and play that has been expected of them the past few seasons. A rather bold prediction was made by an ESPN announcer during the Oregon game, Tony Wroten will win both Freshman and Player of the year in the Pac-12. This was last done by Kevin Love in 2007-2008. Before Love you have to go back to the 1995-1996 season when Shareef Abdur-Rahim took the honors home. Do I believe this will happen? It certainly could. Wroten leads the Pac-12 in scoring and is easily the most influential freshman in the league. With his rebounding and turnover stats improving, Wroten is starting to become a key component of this Husky squad as shown by his move into the starting 5.
Go Dawgs!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Duke Game Review
Final Score: UW 80-DUKE-86
Well, at least it was close at the end. UW came back from another terrible first half to make the game somewhat competitive. After going down by up to 19 points several times, UW rallied at the end with a C.J. Wilcox 3-pointer at the end of regulation to make it a 6 point game. Unfortunately, the Huskies simply couldn't put together enough stops to truly get back in the game as time dwindled. Abdul Gaddy made it a 6 point game with a minute left and poor Duke free throw shooting kept the Huskies in the game. The night was off to an ominous start when Wilcox air-balled a his first 3-point attempt of the night (he went 2-7 from outside).
The end of the game was pretty strange. UW was without a post player due to Aziz N'Diaye leaving with some sort of knee injury (not sure if it's a sprain or something worse, I'll update when I hear more) and Darnell Gant fouling out. UW was also without its two star point guards and ended with Hikeem Stewart on the court for the final 30 seconds. Both Tony Wroten and Abdul Gaddy fouled out of the game.
Speaking of Tony Wroten, he has gone from a pass first guard to an attack 2 guard. He was one of the few players to really attack the lanes and get to the line. He went 6-8 from the free throw line on the night, another marked improvements from the first games of the year. He finished with a game high 23 points, 0 assists (bleh....), and 5 turnovers (this is normal for him, I am not surprised). He went 8-12 from the field, but could have gone 10-12 if he could make the easy lay-ins by using his opposite hand like a true college player.
Abdul Gaddy played a very quiet game opposite Wroten. Only 7 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from range) and went 3-5 from the line, a stat he and the rest of the team need to drastically improve on. What he did well is what he always does, 7 assists to 1 turnover. He is the calm to Wroten's chaos. I'd like him to attack the hoop more. Not necessarily take the shot, just drive to collapse the lanes and free up our shooters. He still looked slow on the court and hesitant at times. He did a much better job getting in towards the rim at the end of the game, but his efforts came too late.
C.J. Wilcox was excellent minus his outside shooting. He drove the lane hard throughout the final 20 minutes and consistently scored with a strange, yet beautiful leaping Superman-esque move to float the shot over the defenders. I don't know how he does it. He did it a few times last season as well and it is becoming his signature move in a way. His 22 points and aggressive attack of the hoop were great to see and were definitely needed, but yet again did not attempt a single free throw. I'm only OK with that because he scored in bunches and made his shots inside.
Terrence Ross was off tonight. He still managed 16 points but it took 17 attempts. He missed his AND1 opportunity and that was the only action he saw at the charity stripe. He is still very tentative about getting inside the paint at times and it really holds him back from his true potential. If he starts attacking with authority more often he'll average over 20 points a game just by getting to the free throw line. Ross did try to throw down a monster jam over Plumlee, but it rattled loose from the hoop.
Aziz N'Diaye looked solid tonight on the defensive end. He only had 4 points and 5 rebounds before injuring his knee. Hopefully nothing is torn and it is just a minor sprain allowing him to return quickly. We will miss his size in the paint and I imagine that UW might go with a 4 guard line up to start most games. This could put Tony Wroten in the starting 5. We may also see Martin Breunig or Desmond Simmons in the starting 5 if N'Diaye must sit out. He managed to contain Plumlee pretty effectively and moved well on the court. The defense as a whole rotated much better tonight.
As I write this, Kentucky just got beat by Indiana on a last second three. At least Karma is still punishing the wicked.
I also need to give Romar some credit. I'm going to pretend that he reads my articles and implemented the high post and full court pressure because I told him to. He finally used full court pressure with over 10 minutes on the clock and low and behold the game went from a 19 point deficit to 6 at the end of the game. The pressure forced Duke to take poor shots, turn the ball over, and it gave UW that many more opportunities. It worked just as I said it would. UW has terrific athletes who can run and gun all day. Full court pressure allows us many more chances at fast breaks and open lanes. The high post ran through Ross and Gant and led to the only good 3-point shots. UW was struggling to get their shooters open and when they were open, they missed. UW (and Duke) went 5-17 from deep. Well below the Huskies talent and potential.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
The Huskies should have dominated this aspect of the game, but Duke came out on top 37-33. Many of the Duke rebounds came off long misses that the Blue Devils tipped out to their guards who were not blocked out and contained by the Huskies. Those long offensive boards also led to at least 2 of the Blue Devils 3-pointers, which is exactly what I said would happen in my pregame analysis. Ross led the Huskies with 7 boards and Simmons collected 6. N'Diaye only had 5 on the night in his 17 minutes of play.
Shooting:
UW was not hitting the open baskets and missed several critical easy lay-ins that shut down whatever momentum the Dawgs had going. Our players need to knock down the open shots because they have been few and far between lately, it would seem. I know our guys can shoot and I know players have cold nights, but tonight it seemed like everyone was cold at once and that is absolutely killer.
Free Throw Shooting:
13-23...That is unacceptable. Thank the stars that Tony Wroten has been getting better and made 6-8 on the night. I'll take 75% shooting from the Dawgs just about any night. No other player had more than 3 makes for the Dawgs. Wilcox and Ross, our two best free throw shooters, combined for only 1 free throw. That is unacceptable. These guys need to get the ball and take their man to the rack for some good old fashioned basketball.
What was Good:
Gut and Drive:
After getting down early once more, the Huskies fought back and worked their asses off to get back in the game. After scoring only 26 in the first half, UW doubled their scoring with 54 in the second. If UW could have managed 35 or 40 in the first half, UW would have won with ease. Statistically the Huskies and Blue Devils were essentially identical outside of the poor shooting in the first 10 minutes. The tenacity displayed by Wilcox and Wroten was fantastic. These players are starting to feel the heat and are dying to get back to their winning ways.
Final Thoughts:
Tough week in the Big Apple for the Dawgs. They needed a big win, but came up short in both match-ups. All said, they Huskies looked much better than the maligned efforts they displayed in St. Louis and Nevada. No one in the Pac-12 plays like Duke or Marquette, which gives me hope that the Huskies can pretty much run the slate come conference and finished with 14, maybe 15 wins. If the Dawgs can win at least 13 and make the final game of the conference tournament, they should go into March with 22 wins or so and 9 or 10 losses. That should be enough for an NCAA bid, though it will be a low seed. The pieces are here, the will to win is coming into its own, and the Huskies are just a few mistakes away from being 6-2 or 7-1 even. Our team is young, but talented and can do a lot of damage when they get their heads in the right place. Let's get it done, boys.
Go Dawgs!
Well, at least it was close at the end. UW came back from another terrible first half to make the game somewhat competitive. After going down by up to 19 points several times, UW rallied at the end with a C.J. Wilcox 3-pointer at the end of regulation to make it a 6 point game. Unfortunately, the Huskies simply couldn't put together enough stops to truly get back in the game as time dwindled. Abdul Gaddy made it a 6 point game with a minute left and poor Duke free throw shooting kept the Huskies in the game. The night was off to an ominous start when Wilcox air-balled a his first 3-point attempt of the night (he went 2-7 from outside).
The end of the game was pretty strange. UW was without a post player due to Aziz N'Diaye leaving with some sort of knee injury (not sure if it's a sprain or something worse, I'll update when I hear more) and Darnell Gant fouling out. UW was also without its two star point guards and ended with Hikeem Stewart on the court for the final 30 seconds. Both Tony Wroten and Abdul Gaddy fouled out of the game.
Speaking of Tony Wroten, he has gone from a pass first guard to an attack 2 guard. He was one of the few players to really attack the lanes and get to the line. He went 6-8 from the free throw line on the night, another marked improvements from the first games of the year. He finished with a game high 23 points, 0 assists (bleh....), and 5 turnovers (this is normal for him, I am not surprised). He went 8-12 from the field, but could have gone 10-12 if he could make the easy lay-ins by using his opposite hand like a true college player.
Abdul Gaddy played a very quiet game opposite Wroten. Only 7 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from range) and went 3-5 from the line, a stat he and the rest of the team need to drastically improve on. What he did well is what he always does, 7 assists to 1 turnover. He is the calm to Wroten's chaos. I'd like him to attack the hoop more. Not necessarily take the shot, just drive to collapse the lanes and free up our shooters. He still looked slow on the court and hesitant at times. He did a much better job getting in towards the rim at the end of the game, but his efforts came too late.
C.J. Wilcox was excellent minus his outside shooting. He drove the lane hard throughout the final 20 minutes and consistently scored with a strange, yet beautiful leaping Superman-esque move to float the shot over the defenders. I don't know how he does it. He did it a few times last season as well and it is becoming his signature move in a way. His 22 points and aggressive attack of the hoop were great to see and were definitely needed, but yet again did not attempt a single free throw. I'm only OK with that because he scored in bunches and made his shots inside.
Terrence Ross was off tonight. He still managed 16 points but it took 17 attempts. He missed his AND1 opportunity and that was the only action he saw at the charity stripe. He is still very tentative about getting inside the paint at times and it really holds him back from his true potential. If he starts attacking with authority more often he'll average over 20 points a game just by getting to the free throw line. Ross did try to throw down a monster jam over Plumlee, but it rattled loose from the hoop.
Aziz N'Diaye looked solid tonight on the defensive end. He only had 4 points and 5 rebounds before injuring his knee. Hopefully nothing is torn and it is just a minor sprain allowing him to return quickly. We will miss his size in the paint and I imagine that UW might go with a 4 guard line up to start most games. This could put Tony Wroten in the starting 5. We may also see Martin Breunig or Desmond Simmons in the starting 5 if N'Diaye must sit out. He managed to contain Plumlee pretty effectively and moved well on the court. The defense as a whole rotated much better tonight.
As I write this, Kentucky just got beat by Indiana on a last second three. At least Karma is still punishing the wicked.
I also need to give Romar some credit. I'm going to pretend that he reads my articles and implemented the high post and full court pressure because I told him to. He finally used full court pressure with over 10 minutes on the clock and low and behold the game went from a 19 point deficit to 6 at the end of the game. The pressure forced Duke to take poor shots, turn the ball over, and it gave UW that many more opportunities. It worked just as I said it would. UW has terrific athletes who can run and gun all day. Full court pressure allows us many more chances at fast breaks and open lanes. The high post ran through Ross and Gant and led to the only good 3-point shots. UW was struggling to get their shooters open and when they were open, they missed. UW (and Duke) went 5-17 from deep. Well below the Huskies talent and potential.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
The Huskies should have dominated this aspect of the game, but Duke came out on top 37-33. Many of the Duke rebounds came off long misses that the Blue Devils tipped out to their guards who were not blocked out and contained by the Huskies. Those long offensive boards also led to at least 2 of the Blue Devils 3-pointers, which is exactly what I said would happen in my pregame analysis. Ross led the Huskies with 7 boards and Simmons collected 6. N'Diaye only had 5 on the night in his 17 minutes of play.
Shooting:
UW was not hitting the open baskets and missed several critical easy lay-ins that shut down whatever momentum the Dawgs had going. Our players need to knock down the open shots because they have been few and far between lately, it would seem. I know our guys can shoot and I know players have cold nights, but tonight it seemed like everyone was cold at once and that is absolutely killer.
Free Throw Shooting:
13-23...That is unacceptable. Thank the stars that Tony Wroten has been getting better and made 6-8 on the night. I'll take 75% shooting from the Dawgs just about any night. No other player had more than 3 makes for the Dawgs. Wilcox and Ross, our two best free throw shooters, combined for only 1 free throw. That is unacceptable. These guys need to get the ball and take their man to the rack for some good old fashioned basketball.
What was Good:
Gut and Drive:
After getting down early once more, the Huskies fought back and worked their asses off to get back in the game. After scoring only 26 in the first half, UW doubled their scoring with 54 in the second. If UW could have managed 35 or 40 in the first half, UW would have won with ease. Statistically the Huskies and Blue Devils were essentially identical outside of the poor shooting in the first 10 minutes. The tenacity displayed by Wilcox and Wroten was fantastic. These players are starting to feel the heat and are dying to get back to their winning ways.
Final Thoughts:
Tough week in the Big Apple for the Dawgs. They needed a big win, but came up short in both match-ups. All said, they Huskies looked much better than the maligned efforts they displayed in St. Louis and Nevada. No one in the Pac-12 plays like Duke or Marquette, which gives me hope that the Huskies can pretty much run the slate come conference and finished with 14, maybe 15 wins. If the Dawgs can win at least 13 and make the final game of the conference tournament, they should go into March with 22 wins or so and 9 or 10 losses. That should be enough for an NCAA bid, though it will be a low seed. The pieces are here, the will to win is coming into its own, and the Huskies are just a few mistakes away from being 6-2 or 7-1 even. Our team is young, but talented and can do a lot of damage when they get their heads in the right place. Let's get it done, boys.
Go Dawgs!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
University of Nevada Game Preview
Washington hits the road for the next few weeks, stopping first in Nevada for a match-up against the Wolf Pack. Nevada is having an up and down season with a 4-3 record thus far. Their biggest struggles are a result of their ball handling (or lack thereof). Big man Dario Hunt, 6-8 230lb, is averaging 4 turnovers a game. Olek Czyz and Deonte Burton are also averaging over 2 turnovers per game, though Burton is also dishing out nearly 4 and a half assists per game, accounting for a third of the teams total assists.
The Wolf Pack has a very dangerous shooter in Malik Story, their leading scorer with over 15 points per game. He is shooting 53% from range with 23 makes on the season. For reference, C.J. Wilcox is shooting 55%, but only has 16 makes. Nevada has played one more game, but I find it highly unlikely Wilcox will drop 7 more shots in the game on Friday. At 6-5 and 225lb, Story will have a bit of a size advantage making it even tougher to keep him out of the lane. With three starters at 6-7 or 6-8, Nevada will be a tougher team to defend.
Outside of his turnover issues, Hunt is a very solid contributor for the Pack. With 8 points and 8 boards a game, he is shoring up the middle quite well. Add in his 2 blocks and 1.4 steals a game and you find yourself up against a complete player who can do damage on both ends of the court. Thankfully he matches up size wise quite well with Darnell Gant. I would honestly expect Aziz N'Diaye to draw this assignment, however, as Hunt is not an outside shooter as opposed to fellow 6-7 forward Olek Czyz who has attempted 15 shots (2 makes) from the arc. 6-8 forward Jerry Evans has taken 20 from 3point land and made 5. All things considered we will likely see Gant on Evans and either Wilcox or Terrence Ross against Czyz.
Statistically, Nevada has played eerily similar to their opponents. Look at their numbers. Nevada averages 64.3 ppg, while surrendering 64.7. They dish out 13 assists and allow 14.6. 38 boards per game for Nevada and 35 for their opponents. The Wolf Pack is shooting 40.4% from the field, while opponents are shooting 41.3%. This could be a good or bad thing for the Huskies depending on how the tempo of the game plays out. If UW can push the tempo the game will be easier as the Huskies average about 8 possession more per game than Nevada. The Huskies are averaging 1.1 points per possession while Nevada is averaging around .96 points so every extra possession the Dawgs can manage gives them another step up towards a victory.
What Nevada is doing best at is rebounding and preventing the opposition from cleaning the glass. The Pack has 3 players averaging 6 or more boards this season, something I wish our squad could get to. I won't complain too much as the Huskies are averaging 43 boards per game (third in the nation), but if we could notch up a third rebounder to help N'Diaye and Ross I would be one happy camper.
Predicted Line-Ups:
Nevada:
Deonte Burton 6-1 185lb
Malik Story 6-5 225lb
Olek Czyz 6-7 240lb (by the way, can someone buy this dude a normal vowel, or perhaps a consonant, for his last name?)
Jerry Evans 6-8 188lb
Dario Hunt 6-8 230lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 240lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Rebounding:
This could be a tough game for UW in terms of rebounding. Nevada sizes up pretty well against our wings, a place where we find a lot of rebounding success. This is also the category where Nevada finds its biggest positive "disparity" from their opponents, which to me reads as a strong point. UW is far from a poor rebounding team, but they have also been known to give up far too many offensive boards. As much as it pains me to think so, I kind of expect Nevada to out rebound the Huskies on Friday. The key to avoiding this is shutting down Hunt and containing his movement.
Frontcourt Pressure:
Normally I am a big proponent of backcourt pressure to deny the big men rather than tougher defense on the block, due to our bigs' foul troubles, however, with Hunt playing sloppy with the ball and having such a well rounded game I believe it will be important to not only ride him tight on defense, but also offensively by working the ball down low to draw fouls.
Ball Control and Tempo:
I hope Romar continues to be tough on his players, pulling them when mistakes are made. It seemed to get through to Tony Wroten Jr. and helped him play a more calm and collected game. Let him make some risky passes, but also hold him accountable when it gets out of hand. Abdul Gaddy continues to be one of the best ball handlers in the conference, if not the nation. With an assist/turnover ratio of 2.9 he is on his way to another fantastic season. The Wolf Pack is turnover prone, as I stated earlier, and UW needs to take advantage of that with tough, man-to-man defense. I know this wish will never be granted under Lorenzo Romar, but for god's sake, please can we start the game with a press? I'll even settle for a 3/4 court press or a half court press.
Final Thoughts:
The Huskies blew out Nevada at home last season 90-60 and if not for garbage time and bench substitutions, UW could have won by 40 (they lead by 39 at one point in the second). UW is a much different team from last season as is Nevada, but I highly doubt the combined difference is worth 30 points. This will likely be a closer game as UW traditionally struggles early on the road as the SLU debacle showed. UW has the advantage of a deeper bench and some taller players. We also possess an array of sharpshooters at every position outside the 5. I'm excited to see if Desmond Simmons can continue to supply the occasional 3 point shot with extreme accuracy. So far he is 3-3 on the season. I think the late start, 8pm, will benefit the Huskies as they have more time to prepare watching tape and warming up. This should prevent the terrible start that occurred against SLU and will hopefully allow the Dawgs to get up early rather than having to claw their way up from a deficit.
Final Score Prediction:
UW-80 NEV-68
I think UW will have their hands full, but with the SLU defeat in mind and the resent HBU win supplying some good feelings, the Huskies should be able to pull off a solid win and make them a little more confident heading to the Big Apple. A loss could send the Huskies a long ways down and be a dark shadow for what will definitely be tough games against Marquette and Duke.
Go Dawgs!
The Wolf Pack has a very dangerous shooter in Malik Story, their leading scorer with over 15 points per game. He is shooting 53% from range with 23 makes on the season. For reference, C.J. Wilcox is shooting 55%, but only has 16 makes. Nevada has played one more game, but I find it highly unlikely Wilcox will drop 7 more shots in the game on Friday. At 6-5 and 225lb, Story will have a bit of a size advantage making it even tougher to keep him out of the lane. With three starters at 6-7 or 6-8, Nevada will be a tougher team to defend.
Outside of his turnover issues, Hunt is a very solid contributor for the Pack. With 8 points and 8 boards a game, he is shoring up the middle quite well. Add in his 2 blocks and 1.4 steals a game and you find yourself up against a complete player who can do damage on both ends of the court. Thankfully he matches up size wise quite well with Darnell Gant. I would honestly expect Aziz N'Diaye to draw this assignment, however, as Hunt is not an outside shooter as opposed to fellow 6-7 forward Olek Czyz who has attempted 15 shots (2 makes) from the arc. 6-8 forward Jerry Evans has taken 20 from 3point land and made 5. All things considered we will likely see Gant on Evans and either Wilcox or Terrence Ross against Czyz.
Statistically, Nevada has played eerily similar to their opponents. Look at their numbers. Nevada averages 64.3 ppg, while surrendering 64.7. They dish out 13 assists and allow 14.6. 38 boards per game for Nevada and 35 for their opponents. The Wolf Pack is shooting 40.4% from the field, while opponents are shooting 41.3%. This could be a good or bad thing for the Huskies depending on how the tempo of the game plays out. If UW can push the tempo the game will be easier as the Huskies average about 8 possession more per game than Nevada. The Huskies are averaging 1.1 points per possession while Nevada is averaging around .96 points so every extra possession the Dawgs can manage gives them another step up towards a victory.
What Nevada is doing best at is rebounding and preventing the opposition from cleaning the glass. The Pack has 3 players averaging 6 or more boards this season, something I wish our squad could get to. I won't complain too much as the Huskies are averaging 43 boards per game (third in the nation), but if we could notch up a third rebounder to help N'Diaye and Ross I would be one happy camper.
Predicted Line-Ups:
Nevada:
Deonte Burton 6-1 185lb
Malik Story 6-5 225lb
Olek Czyz 6-7 240lb (by the way, can someone buy this dude a normal vowel, or perhaps a consonant, for his last name?)
Jerry Evans 6-8 188lb
Dario Hunt 6-8 230lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 240lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Rebounding:
This could be a tough game for UW in terms of rebounding. Nevada sizes up pretty well against our wings, a place where we find a lot of rebounding success. This is also the category where Nevada finds its biggest positive "disparity" from their opponents, which to me reads as a strong point. UW is far from a poor rebounding team, but they have also been known to give up far too many offensive boards. As much as it pains me to think so, I kind of expect Nevada to out rebound the Huskies on Friday. The key to avoiding this is shutting down Hunt and containing his movement.
Frontcourt Pressure:
Normally I am a big proponent of backcourt pressure to deny the big men rather than tougher defense on the block, due to our bigs' foul troubles, however, with Hunt playing sloppy with the ball and having such a well rounded game I believe it will be important to not only ride him tight on defense, but also offensively by working the ball down low to draw fouls.
Ball Control and Tempo:
I hope Romar continues to be tough on his players, pulling them when mistakes are made. It seemed to get through to Tony Wroten Jr. and helped him play a more calm and collected game. Let him make some risky passes, but also hold him accountable when it gets out of hand. Abdul Gaddy continues to be one of the best ball handlers in the conference, if not the nation. With an assist/turnover ratio of 2.9 he is on his way to another fantastic season. The Wolf Pack is turnover prone, as I stated earlier, and UW needs to take advantage of that with tough, man-to-man defense. I know this wish will never be granted under Lorenzo Romar, but for god's sake, please can we start the game with a press? I'll even settle for a 3/4 court press or a half court press.
Final Thoughts:
The Huskies blew out Nevada at home last season 90-60 and if not for garbage time and bench substitutions, UW could have won by 40 (they lead by 39 at one point in the second). UW is a much different team from last season as is Nevada, but I highly doubt the combined difference is worth 30 points. This will likely be a closer game as UW traditionally struggles early on the road as the SLU debacle showed. UW has the advantage of a deeper bench and some taller players. We also possess an array of sharpshooters at every position outside the 5. I'm excited to see if Desmond Simmons can continue to supply the occasional 3 point shot with extreme accuracy. So far he is 3-3 on the season. I think the late start, 8pm, will benefit the Huskies as they have more time to prepare watching tape and warming up. This should prevent the terrible start that occurred against SLU and will hopefully allow the Dawgs to get up early rather than having to claw their way up from a deficit.
Final Score Prediction:
UW-80 NEV-68
I think UW will have their hands full, but with the SLU defeat in mind and the resent HBU win supplying some good feelings, the Huskies should be able to pull off a solid win and make them a little more confident heading to the Big Apple. A loss could send the Huskies a long ways down and be a dark shadow for what will definitely be tough games against Marquette and Duke.
Go Dawgs!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Houston Baptist Game Review
Final Score: UW-88 HPU-65
The Huskies came in strong and blew the imposter Huskies back home with their tails between their legs. C.J. Wilcox showed up in force and dropped 19 on 5-9 shooting from range while adding 5 rebounds and 2 assists. He looked fantastic on the court and showed no ill effects from the mild concussion he suffered on Sunday.
Marcus Davis of Houston Baptist led all scorers with 20 points and picked up a game high 14 rebounds as well. He was absolutely unstoppable on the court despite our best efforts and kept the faux Huskies in the game far longer than they should have been. Joe Latas was held to 15 points and 8 rebounds, though his point margin was cushioned by his 14 free throw attempts as the UW defense held him to 3-11 shooting.
Terrence Ross came through strong in the second half and finished with a beautiful double-double scoring 13 points and nabbing 13 rebounds. He went 5-10 on the night and hit 3 of 5 outside the arc. He looked consistent throughout the night, not terribly impressive, but definitely not quiet. He still seems reserved at times, but when he finds his groove, man is he impressive.
Tony Wroten did exactly as I thought. He impressed and frustrated me as his stat line reveals. 14 points, excellent. 5 assists, very nice. 6 steals, outstanding. 6 turnover, terrible. He pulled off some really athletic moves and also threw some passes he should not have attempted. If he can get his turnovers under control, he'll take over the starting spot and be an extreme force on the court. His free throw shooting continued to struggle going 2-4 from the line.
Aziz N'Diaye did his part containing Latas and was fairly effective offensively. He grabbed 7 boards and dropped in 8 points. He shot 3-6 from the field and 2-6 from the charity stripe. He looked much better defensively and only picked up two fouls. To be fair, Latas was not a quick man, which immensely helped N'Diaye keep his position.
Darnell Gant didn't show up until the second half where he dropped in some fantastic flushes back to back. First was a tip-in after a missed lay-in followed immediately by a fast break jam over a Houston player. In 19 minutes he only managed 7 points and 2 rebounds. He did shoot 3-4 from the free throw line, which makes me very happy.
Desmond Simmons showed up out of no where. He managed 10 points on 3-6 shooting, including 2-2 from the 3-point line. He also had 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and zero turnovers. Loved his defensive efforts as he was all over the place diving for balls, picking up loose ones, and getting in everyone's face.
Abdul Gaddy returned to his better self. He only managed 6 points and 4 boards, but he did throw out a game high 7 assists and 1 turnovers with a steal to top it off. He was calm and composed, but his shot looked a tad off, only hitting 3-8 and 0-1 from the line.
Martin Breunig was solid on the night, as was Shawn Kemp. Both provided excellent backup for their respective starters and were effective on both ends of the court. They combined for 8 points and 6 boards (Breunig had 5 of the 6).
Brendan Sherrer saw 4 minutes of play, missed a fairly easy lay-in, but went 1-2 from the line. Alex Wegner also missed an easy lay-up sadly. Hikeem Stewart played 10 minutes and went 1-2 from the field.
What Needed Improvement:
First Half Ball Control:
UW gave up 12 turnovers in the first half and played fairly sloppily in the first 20 minutes. There seemed to be a sense of panic and hurry as Houston grabbed the early lead and I believe, subconsciously, the Huskies did not want another egg in the face and were working over the top to get points on the board leading to poor decision making. Once we got a comfortable lead, things seemed to calm down and our team got back to playing Husky Basketball.
What was Good:
Rebounding:
UW finally showed a little prowess on the glass, holding a 29-12 rebounding advantage at half and 51-40 at the end. 5 players had 5+ rebounds and only Wegner and Stewart did not record a board. Sherrer had 3. No trillion club for him. This was finally the type of rebounding performance I have been wanting to see. Only a 17-14 advantage on the offensive boards, something I would like to see improved a bit. Holding the opposition under 10 offensive boards would be fantastic, but tough to achieve. The only negative was giving up the 6 extra rebounds in the second half, though I blame this on garbage time play more than lax effort on the glass.
3-Point Shooting:
UW showed up strong tonight hitting 10-21 on the night from deep. Not only did they shoot well, but they took smart shots. Often UW can get frustrated and start jacking up 3s that have no business being shot. Tonight they played smart, something due largely in part to Romar's tough policy. If a player made bad decisions on offense or missed switches and the like on defense they were quickly substituted. Great decision in my mind as it really holds players responsible for their actions and quickly enforces solid, smart play no matter the tempo the game flowed at.
Final Thoughts:
This game was very smooth for the Dawgs and a nice pick-me-up after the debacle in Saint Louis (who, by the way, has been playing very solid and at least making the lost look respectable in some sense). UW now faces a tough road test hitting up Nevada first before heading to the Big Apple for match-ups against Marquette and Duke. All three upcoming games will be tough ones and I'm betting on a 2-1 outcome with a possibly dubbing with Duke. The Blue Devils look exceptional this year and I don't know how well our defense will be able to compete. Hopefully the Nevada game can give us a better measuring stick of where this team is at overall.
Go Dawgs!
The Huskies came in strong and blew the imposter Huskies back home with their tails between their legs. C.J. Wilcox showed up in force and dropped 19 on 5-9 shooting from range while adding 5 rebounds and 2 assists. He looked fantastic on the court and showed no ill effects from the mild concussion he suffered on Sunday.
Marcus Davis of Houston Baptist led all scorers with 20 points and picked up a game high 14 rebounds as well. He was absolutely unstoppable on the court despite our best efforts and kept the faux Huskies in the game far longer than they should have been. Joe Latas was held to 15 points and 8 rebounds, though his point margin was cushioned by his 14 free throw attempts as the UW defense held him to 3-11 shooting.
Terrence Ross came through strong in the second half and finished with a beautiful double-double scoring 13 points and nabbing 13 rebounds. He went 5-10 on the night and hit 3 of 5 outside the arc. He looked consistent throughout the night, not terribly impressive, but definitely not quiet. He still seems reserved at times, but when he finds his groove, man is he impressive.
Tony Wroten did exactly as I thought. He impressed and frustrated me as his stat line reveals. 14 points, excellent. 5 assists, very nice. 6 steals, outstanding. 6 turnover, terrible. He pulled off some really athletic moves and also threw some passes he should not have attempted. If he can get his turnovers under control, he'll take over the starting spot and be an extreme force on the court. His free throw shooting continued to struggle going 2-4 from the line.
Aziz N'Diaye did his part containing Latas and was fairly effective offensively. He grabbed 7 boards and dropped in 8 points. He shot 3-6 from the field and 2-6 from the charity stripe. He looked much better defensively and only picked up two fouls. To be fair, Latas was not a quick man, which immensely helped N'Diaye keep his position.
Darnell Gant didn't show up until the second half where he dropped in some fantastic flushes back to back. First was a tip-in after a missed lay-in followed immediately by a fast break jam over a Houston player. In 19 minutes he only managed 7 points and 2 rebounds. He did shoot 3-4 from the free throw line, which makes me very happy.
Desmond Simmons showed up out of no where. He managed 10 points on 3-6 shooting, including 2-2 from the 3-point line. He also had 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and zero turnovers. Loved his defensive efforts as he was all over the place diving for balls, picking up loose ones, and getting in everyone's face.
Abdul Gaddy returned to his better self. He only managed 6 points and 4 boards, but he did throw out a game high 7 assists and 1 turnovers with a steal to top it off. He was calm and composed, but his shot looked a tad off, only hitting 3-8 and 0-1 from the line.
Martin Breunig was solid on the night, as was Shawn Kemp. Both provided excellent backup for their respective starters and were effective on both ends of the court. They combined for 8 points and 6 boards (Breunig had 5 of the 6).
Brendan Sherrer saw 4 minutes of play, missed a fairly easy lay-in, but went 1-2 from the line. Alex Wegner also missed an easy lay-up sadly. Hikeem Stewart played 10 minutes and went 1-2 from the field.
What Needed Improvement:
First Half Ball Control:
UW gave up 12 turnovers in the first half and played fairly sloppily in the first 20 minutes. There seemed to be a sense of panic and hurry as Houston grabbed the early lead and I believe, subconsciously, the Huskies did not want another egg in the face and were working over the top to get points on the board leading to poor decision making. Once we got a comfortable lead, things seemed to calm down and our team got back to playing Husky Basketball.
What was Good:
Rebounding:
UW finally showed a little prowess on the glass, holding a 29-12 rebounding advantage at half and 51-40 at the end. 5 players had 5+ rebounds and only Wegner and Stewart did not record a board. Sherrer had 3. No trillion club for him. This was finally the type of rebounding performance I have been wanting to see. Only a 17-14 advantage on the offensive boards, something I would like to see improved a bit. Holding the opposition under 10 offensive boards would be fantastic, but tough to achieve. The only negative was giving up the 6 extra rebounds in the second half, though I blame this on garbage time play more than lax effort on the glass.
3-Point Shooting:
UW showed up strong tonight hitting 10-21 on the night from deep. Not only did they shoot well, but they took smart shots. Often UW can get frustrated and start jacking up 3s that have no business being shot. Tonight they played smart, something due largely in part to Romar's tough policy. If a player made bad decisions on offense or missed switches and the like on defense they were quickly substituted. Great decision in my mind as it really holds players responsible for their actions and quickly enforces solid, smart play no matter the tempo the game flowed at.
Final Thoughts:
This game was very smooth for the Dawgs and a nice pick-me-up after the debacle in Saint Louis (who, by the way, has been playing very solid and at least making the lost look respectable in some sense). UW now faces a tough road test hitting up Nevada first before heading to the Big Apple for match-ups against Marquette and Duke. All three upcoming games will be tough ones and I'm betting on a 2-1 outcome with a possibly dubbing with Duke. The Blue Devils look exceptional this year and I don't know how well our defense will be able to compete. Hopefully the Nevada game can give us a better measuring stick of where this team is at overall.
Go Dawgs!
Monday, November 14, 2011
University of Portland Game Review
Final Score: UW-93 UP-63
Welcome back, Terrence Ross! On a night where the Huskies looked every bit as good as they were bad yesterday, Ross stole the show with lights out shooting and stellar play as the Huskies cruised to victory. The sophomore struggled in the first two games of the tournament, but came out tonight and dropped 24 points on 9-13 shooting, 6-8 from behind the arc. He couldn't miss and no one could stop him. Several times he had a defender in his face, but a smooth cross-over a la Brandon Roy was all it took for him to get a shot opportunity and a beautiful score.
The Huskies capitalized on Portland's turnovers and did what Romar talked about last night: They stepped on Portland's throats and did not let up. The bench was emptied and at the end of the game Brendan Sherrer got to the free throw line where he made both free throws and Alex Wegner drilled his only shot of the night, a 3-pointer.
Six Huskies hit double digits tonight. Ross led all players with 24, followed by C.J. Wilcox with 17, and Abdul Gaddy with 15. Aziz N'Diaye was close to another double-double with 11 points and 7 boards. N'Diaye also added a block, a steal, an assist, and 3 turnovers. He looked a much more finished offensively and the Huskies fed him throughout the game, especially in the second half. N'Diaye did take a bit of a scary foul after going up for a dunk and getting fouled. He quickly bounced back up and looked fine. N'Diaye is one solid performance away from averaging a double-double on the season. His averages are currently 9.4 points and 9 rebounds per game. If he can put up 12 points and 12 boards next week he should be averaging about 10 and 10 for the season.
C.J. Wilcox continued to shoot well, but his performance was overshadowed by Ross' absurd play of the day. Wilcox hit 3-5 from range, went 5-9 overall, and drilled all four of his free throws. He also racked up 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers proving why he deserved the Tournament MVP awarded to him. For the tournament Wilcox averaged over 19 points, nearly 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and close to 3 steals per game all while committing zero turnovers. That is an absurd stat-line. Oh, and can I add his very much appreciated 11-13 free throw shooting on the season, giving him an 85% average.
Darnell Gant came back tonight as well and looked every bit good tonight as he did on Saturday. He dropped in a very respectable 10 points, grabbed 6 boards, nabbed a steal, and turned out some very nice defense. I have to say, his shot looked mighty fine out on the court tonight. He didn't force bad shots, but did a great job of capitalizing on the opportunities he was given. He went 5 of 8 from the court tonight and maintained his season average of 10 points per game.
Tony Wroten Jr. shall hence forth be referred to as Jekyll and Hyde. He is an amazing talent on the court, but his free throw shooting is horrendous. Absolutely putrid. He went 1-7 from the charity stripe after missing his first 5 straight, bringing his season average down to 36%. He even changed up his form from the last game and shot with a softer touch, but could not find the bottom of the net with it. It was so ugly that when he finally made a shot, the crowd almost gave him a standing ovation. Other than that, Tony looked fantastic on the court. He slowed his game down half a tic and the improvement it made was immense. Wroten racked in 11 points on top of 6 assists and only 2 turnovers, including a very nice break away play with Terrence Ross. Ross knocked the ball loose and got into the open court with Wroten. Ross passed the ball to Wroten who dribbled up a bit and tossed up a lob for a beautiful and powerful two hand, half windmill jam. Wroten also did an amazing job feeding N'Diaye in the post with some slick passing.
Abdul Gaddy continued his slow and steady progression of running the floor, controlling his team, and orchestrating an efficient offense. 15 points on 6-8 shooting, 2-3 from 3 range, along with 5 assists and only 1 turnover. Just another night with Abdul Gaddy quietly showing why he was such a highly rated talent out of high school, picking up where he left off before his injury last season. I love watching Wroten sling passes around like some sort of Matrix agent, but if its a close game I want Gaddy running the offense. He is always composed and makes the smart decisions that Wroten will occasionally risk.
Martin Breunig and Hikeem Stewart were fairly quiet tonight. Breunig again committed 3 fouls and seems to be struggling with positioning on defense, which leads to said fouls. Stewart went 0-2 shooting, but did a nice job running the offense alongside Wroten in the final minutes.
Shawn Kemp and Desmond Simmons provided much needed rest time for Gant and N'Diaye, while also providing great defensive presence that contained the Portland bigs. Neither scored, but both 2 rebounds and combined for 3 of the teams 6 blocks.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
This went slightly unnoticed by me in the first half when the Huskies held only a 1 board advantage, but when the game ended, Portland finished with a 43-38 rebounding lead. The Huskies could not seem to box their men out and all too often a loose board would bobble its way into the hands of a Pilot player rather than the Huskies. Against a smaller team like the Pilots, getting out rebounded is not acceptable. While N'Diaye continued to perform well on the glass and one or two other players nabbed up 5 or 6 boards, the overall trend remains that we lack a second, consistent rebounder. Our guards are doing a decent job of getting 3-5 a night, but we need a second player getting 7 or 8 along side N'Diaye. Every extra board we grab is a 2 board swing in the final stats.
Tony Wroten's Free Throw Shooting:
To be fair, N'Diaye also struggled at the line with a 1-4 night, but N'Diaye is a 7 foot tall tank with far from soft hands, while Wroten is a 6-5 point guard who can pass like a Packer's fan with a gas problem. For having such deft hands one would think he could drop in his fair share of free throws. Hell, I'd settle for 60% from him right now, maybe even 50% if I was feeling desperate enough. When it comes down to it, one has to realize that free throws win close ball games and I can distinctly remember several very close games this past season where a single free throw could have made the difference. The number 1 game that comes to mind is the Pac-10 Championship game. UW missed every free throw in the second half. Just one made shot could have won us the game.
What Was Good:
Offensive Movement:
UW moved the ball very well tonight and found the open man quite often. With 18 assists on 36 makes and only 11 turnovers (mostly committed on rebounds if you ask me) the Husky offense looked a thousand times better than Sunday night against the Owls. The shooting was drastically improved with 55% from the field and 60% from range. As tough as it is to say this, my friend Scott raised a very valid and fast approaching point: Where are Scott Suggs' minutes going to come from? Ross and Wilcox have been out of their minds averaging 16.4 and 19.4 points respectively. Wroten and Gaddy are both averaging over 10 points and 4 assists per games. Really his minutes will come from the little time Hikeem Stewart has been playing and possibly from the four spot as guys like Gant and Breunig rotate around.
Post Play:
This was not the most impressive or highlight filled night in the paint, but it was certainly a very polished and effective night on the block. Players finished their lay-ins, they feed our bigs, they took some base line jumpers and short shots.
Defensive Pressure:
Not a night where we see 20+ turnovers and 10+ steals, but the Huskies flexed their muscles and forced the Pilots in 15 turnovers and had 9 steals (led by Wroten with 3) all while holding Portland to 34% shooting and 21% from range. Our players were able to extend out to the perimeters with our frontcourt playing tough inside which made it hard for the Portland guards to create opportunities for themselves.
Final Thoughts:
If the Huskies can play like this throughout the season it'll be tough to find a team that can beat them. The rebounding still leaves a bit to be desired, but given the amount of young talent in the frontcourt it is not that surprising. Our backcourt is shoring up the rebounding margin as much as possible, but they cannot commit fully to rebounding without losing out on the transition style of basketball that the Huskies are famous for. All in all this weekend revealed where our strengths and weaknesses are, while also showing us how dynamic and exciting this team can be even after the vast amount of talent and experience we lost this past year. While it seemed as if fatigue played a part in Sunday's sub par performance, tonight proved otherwise. The Dawgs rallied together, fought hard throughout the game, and absolutely demolished the Pilots as they should have done to all three teams this weekend. The Huskies will have a much tougher match-up this weekend in Saint Louis. While I am hopeful Suggs will be able to return and play in his home town, the outlook is not great. The Huskies will do themselves a huge favor by picking up this early road win and earn some votes in the polls and much further down the road when it comes to NCAA Selection Sunday. All for now. Check in later this week for a preview on the Saint Louis Billikens.
Go Dawgs!
Welcome back, Terrence Ross! On a night where the Huskies looked every bit as good as they were bad yesterday, Ross stole the show with lights out shooting and stellar play as the Huskies cruised to victory. The sophomore struggled in the first two games of the tournament, but came out tonight and dropped 24 points on 9-13 shooting, 6-8 from behind the arc. He couldn't miss and no one could stop him. Several times he had a defender in his face, but a smooth cross-over a la Brandon Roy was all it took for him to get a shot opportunity and a beautiful score.
The Huskies capitalized on Portland's turnovers and did what Romar talked about last night: They stepped on Portland's throats and did not let up. The bench was emptied and at the end of the game Brendan Sherrer got to the free throw line where he made both free throws and Alex Wegner drilled his only shot of the night, a 3-pointer.
Six Huskies hit double digits tonight. Ross led all players with 24, followed by C.J. Wilcox with 17, and Abdul Gaddy with 15. Aziz N'Diaye was close to another double-double with 11 points and 7 boards. N'Diaye also added a block, a steal, an assist, and 3 turnovers. He looked a much more finished offensively and the Huskies fed him throughout the game, especially in the second half. N'Diaye did take a bit of a scary foul after going up for a dunk and getting fouled. He quickly bounced back up and looked fine. N'Diaye is one solid performance away from averaging a double-double on the season. His averages are currently 9.4 points and 9 rebounds per game. If he can put up 12 points and 12 boards next week he should be averaging about 10 and 10 for the season.
C.J. Wilcox continued to shoot well, but his performance was overshadowed by Ross' absurd play of the day. Wilcox hit 3-5 from range, went 5-9 overall, and drilled all four of his free throws. He also racked up 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers proving why he deserved the Tournament MVP awarded to him. For the tournament Wilcox averaged over 19 points, nearly 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and close to 3 steals per game all while committing zero turnovers. That is an absurd stat-line. Oh, and can I add his very much appreciated 11-13 free throw shooting on the season, giving him an 85% average.
Darnell Gant came back tonight as well and looked every bit good tonight as he did on Saturday. He dropped in a very respectable 10 points, grabbed 6 boards, nabbed a steal, and turned out some very nice defense. I have to say, his shot looked mighty fine out on the court tonight. He didn't force bad shots, but did a great job of capitalizing on the opportunities he was given. He went 5 of 8 from the court tonight and maintained his season average of 10 points per game.
Tony Wroten Jr. shall hence forth be referred to as Jekyll and Hyde. He is an amazing talent on the court, but his free throw shooting is horrendous. Absolutely putrid. He went 1-7 from the charity stripe after missing his first 5 straight, bringing his season average down to 36%. He even changed up his form from the last game and shot with a softer touch, but could not find the bottom of the net with it. It was so ugly that when he finally made a shot, the crowd almost gave him a standing ovation. Other than that, Tony looked fantastic on the court. He slowed his game down half a tic and the improvement it made was immense. Wroten racked in 11 points on top of 6 assists and only 2 turnovers, including a very nice break away play with Terrence Ross. Ross knocked the ball loose and got into the open court with Wroten. Ross passed the ball to Wroten who dribbled up a bit and tossed up a lob for a beautiful and powerful two hand, half windmill jam. Wroten also did an amazing job feeding N'Diaye in the post with some slick passing.
Abdul Gaddy continued his slow and steady progression of running the floor, controlling his team, and orchestrating an efficient offense. 15 points on 6-8 shooting, 2-3 from 3 range, along with 5 assists and only 1 turnover. Just another night with Abdul Gaddy quietly showing why he was such a highly rated talent out of high school, picking up where he left off before his injury last season. I love watching Wroten sling passes around like some sort of Matrix agent, but if its a close game I want Gaddy running the offense. He is always composed and makes the smart decisions that Wroten will occasionally risk.
Martin Breunig and Hikeem Stewart were fairly quiet tonight. Breunig again committed 3 fouls and seems to be struggling with positioning on defense, which leads to said fouls. Stewart went 0-2 shooting, but did a nice job running the offense alongside Wroten in the final minutes.
Shawn Kemp and Desmond Simmons provided much needed rest time for Gant and N'Diaye, while also providing great defensive presence that contained the Portland bigs. Neither scored, but both 2 rebounds and combined for 3 of the teams 6 blocks.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
This went slightly unnoticed by me in the first half when the Huskies held only a 1 board advantage, but when the game ended, Portland finished with a 43-38 rebounding lead. The Huskies could not seem to box their men out and all too often a loose board would bobble its way into the hands of a Pilot player rather than the Huskies. Against a smaller team like the Pilots, getting out rebounded is not acceptable. While N'Diaye continued to perform well on the glass and one or two other players nabbed up 5 or 6 boards, the overall trend remains that we lack a second, consistent rebounder. Our guards are doing a decent job of getting 3-5 a night, but we need a second player getting 7 or 8 along side N'Diaye. Every extra board we grab is a 2 board swing in the final stats.
Tony Wroten's Free Throw Shooting:
To be fair, N'Diaye also struggled at the line with a 1-4 night, but N'Diaye is a 7 foot tall tank with far from soft hands, while Wroten is a 6-5 point guard who can pass like a Packer's fan with a gas problem. For having such deft hands one would think he could drop in his fair share of free throws. Hell, I'd settle for 60% from him right now, maybe even 50% if I was feeling desperate enough. When it comes down to it, one has to realize that free throws win close ball games and I can distinctly remember several very close games this past season where a single free throw could have made the difference. The number 1 game that comes to mind is the Pac-10 Championship game. UW missed every free throw in the second half. Just one made shot could have won us the game.
What Was Good:
Offensive Movement:
UW moved the ball very well tonight and found the open man quite often. With 18 assists on 36 makes and only 11 turnovers (mostly committed on rebounds if you ask me) the Husky offense looked a thousand times better than Sunday night against the Owls. The shooting was drastically improved with 55% from the field and 60% from range. As tough as it is to say this, my friend Scott raised a very valid and fast approaching point: Where are Scott Suggs' minutes going to come from? Ross and Wilcox have been out of their minds averaging 16.4 and 19.4 points respectively. Wroten and Gaddy are both averaging over 10 points and 4 assists per games. Really his minutes will come from the little time Hikeem Stewart has been playing and possibly from the four spot as guys like Gant and Breunig rotate around.
Post Play:
This was not the most impressive or highlight filled night in the paint, but it was certainly a very polished and effective night on the block. Players finished their lay-ins, they feed our bigs, they took some base line jumpers and short shots.
Defensive Pressure:
Not a night where we see 20+ turnovers and 10+ steals, but the Huskies flexed their muscles and forced the Pilots in 15 turnovers and had 9 steals (led by Wroten with 3) all while holding Portland to 34% shooting and 21% from range. Our players were able to extend out to the perimeters with our frontcourt playing tough inside which made it hard for the Portland guards to create opportunities for themselves.
Final Thoughts:
If the Huskies can play like this throughout the season it'll be tough to find a team that can beat them. The rebounding still leaves a bit to be desired, but given the amount of young talent in the frontcourt it is not that surprising. Our backcourt is shoring up the rebounding margin as much as possible, but they cannot commit fully to rebounding without losing out on the transition style of basketball that the Huskies are famous for. All in all this weekend revealed where our strengths and weaknesses are, while also showing us how dynamic and exciting this team can be even after the vast amount of talent and experience we lost this past year. While it seemed as if fatigue played a part in Sunday's sub par performance, tonight proved otherwise. The Dawgs rallied together, fought hard throughout the game, and absolutely demolished the Pilots as they should have done to all three teams this weekend. The Huskies will have a much tougher match-up this weekend in Saint Louis. While I am hopeful Suggs will be able to return and play in his home town, the outlook is not great. The Huskies will do themselves a huge favor by picking up this early road win and earn some votes in the polls and much further down the road when it comes to NCAA Selection Sunday. All for now. Check in later this week for a preview on the Saint Louis Billikens.
Go Dawgs!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Florida Atlantic University Game Review
Final Score: UW-77 FAU-71
It was ugly, but a win is a win. The Huskies played a very sloppy game where the theme of the night was missed opportunities. UW shot an atrocious 38% from the field and committed 17 turnovers on the night, which allowed FAU to shoot themselves back into the game in the waning minutes. To highlight how terrible UW shot and how fortunate they were to win the game, FAU made more field goals and more 3-pointers, while UW attempted 10 more free throws and made 11 more than FAU.
The Huskies may have needed this bit of humbling experience to remind them that they cannot play down to their opponents or risk an upset. Tony Wroten Jr. literally had to play down to his opponent as he often matched up against FAU's 5-6 point guard, which led to Wroten racking up 4 fouls due to overplaying the ball and the man. The Owl point guard was also able to get away with hand checks and push offs due to his diminutive size as they did not have a noticeable effect on the defender. Just because he is small does not mean he cannot foul. Thankfully, the refs finally started calling the fouls in the final 3-5 minutes when the Owls were looking to slow the game down.
Abdul Gaddy showed why he starts over Tony Wroten once more. With 6 assists, only 3 turnovers and a very nice 15 points, Gaddy was much calmer, collected, and efficient than the flashy Wroten. Wroten racked up 4 assists, but also committed 5 turnovers and missed several lay-ins due to playing an extremely fast tempo that just doesn't work at the collegiate level. Gaddy went 4-6 from the line, while Wroten went 3-7 (he shot 2-9 from the field).
Aziz N'Diaye had some nice looks today as well. While he again looked a little rough offensively, he showed signs of improving post moves and was a lot more effective at creating shot opportunities for himself on the block. He went 5-12 from the field and made 3 of his 5 free throw attempts. He also collected 12 rebounds (5 offensive) to pull in the double-double.
C.J. Wilcox again led all players in scoring with 19 to put his average in the tournament thus far at 20.5 points per game, a fantastic result. Wilcox, like most of the team, struggled on the easy inside shots. He went 5-13 from the field, 3-5 from range. His struggles were highlighted by an easy fast break lay-in opportunities that rolled out. In reality, he should have jammed the ball through the hoop to prevent exactly what happened. If you have an open opportunity and you can dunk, DO IT! It does not need to be a monster jam, just a simple two-handed dunk.
Four players made double digits in scoring today and all four were starters. Darnell Gant was the only starter not to hit double digits and finished the night with only 2 points on 1-4 shooting. He did have a 3-pointer taken away due to an offensive foul committed by Tony Wroten after he had dished it off. Gant played a very quiet 25 minutes only managing to pull down 5 boards.
One very concerning stat was the rebounding line. UW went into half holding a 26-16 lead in the rebounding column, but only finished with a 3 board advantage, 42-39. This was another big reason FAU was able to stay in the game. UW was not boxing out well or communicating, which led to at least 3 UW rebounds knocked away by our own players. Romar needed to use a timeout or two to calm the players down as it seemed the close score line was causing our line-up to play overly anxiously.
Martin Breunig played only 9 minutes, but was a perfect 2-2 from the field. His limited time was largely due to his high foul count and ended the night with 5 points and 3 rebounds. Simple freshmen mistakes were a big part of why he picked up the fouls he did.
Hikeem Stewart only came in for a quick 2 minute burst while Romar rested his starting guards and tallied 1 rebound.
Shawn Kemp did not play today and Jernard Jarreau confirmed last night at the press conference that he would indeed be red-shirting (Jarreau, not Kemp).
Terrence Ross had another sub-par shooting night going 4-14 from the field, 1-5 from range. He did shoot a very nice 5-6 from the charity stripe and for that I give him an A+.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
For having such a height advantage, the Dawgs certainly seemed lost in the second half as to how they should keep their opponent out of the box. It was rather unfortunate as rebounding was one of the few nice stats coming out of the first half. N'Diaye had a fantastic night and with 12 boards its hard to ask him for much more. The rest of the Dawgs performed below average on the glass. After N'Diaye the next highest rebounder had 5 (Gant and Ross). The Huskies need one other player to really bring their game and average 7 boards along with N'Diaye.
Free Throws:
This is one area where poor performances are unacceptable, no matter who the Huskies are playing. Free throws are named such for one simple reason, the shooter has a free attempt at the basket. No defenders, the same shooting rhythm and motion, and essentially as much time as they wish to take. Seeing our team go 24-35 from the line when the score differential is only 6 is extremely frustrating. Even making 4 more shots puts our lead into a comfortable double digit margin. For a point guard, Wroten sure does shoot like an over-sized post player. Wilcox or Ross need to take Wroten under their wings and show him how to put a soft touch on the ball.
Lay-Ins:
Never thought I'd be writing this under the needs improvement category, but here it is tonight. The Huskies were plain and simply ugly when it came to converting in the paint. Lay-ins were often overshot or were rejected by the rim. Players missed fast break shots and tried far too hard to get a poor shot off. If I was Romar I'd be doing more than a fair share of lay-in drills at the pregame practice tomorrow.
What Was Good:
Defensive Pressure:
UW forced FAU into 19 turnovers and picked up 6 steals, led by Wilcox who had 4 on the night, as well as tallying up 7 blocks, N'Diaye had 3. UW held FAU to 32% shooting in the first half before letting up in the second when FAU jumped up to 48%. Overall the Owls finished with 42% shooting from the field and 40% from range. The latter number is a bit troubling, but correctable with better rotating defense.
Final Thoughts:
The Huskies gutted out the win somehow, which in itself is a good thing. What is not so good was how poorly we played against such an inferior team. Yes, often teams will end up playing to level of their opponent, but in this case the opposition level was far below anything the Huskies should consider respectable. With no FAU player taller than 6-8, the Huskies had a big chance to use their size in the paint and when they did get in the paint, the Dawgs couldn't finish. UW will have to play much better quite soon as better non-con opponents are approaching and 17 turnovers against a team like Marquette or Duke will absolutely demolish us.
The Dawgs take on the University of Portland tomorrow in the final game of the tournament. UP is 2-0 in the tournament, winning both games by 5 points in what I would consider an upset manner. They have been behind early, only to finish strong and take home the win. If the Huskies do not step their play up, the Pilots could very well leave Seattle 3-0 rather than the Dawgs. The key to a Washington win tomorrow is finishing at the basket and controlling the glass throughout the game and not just in one half.
Go Dawgs!
It was ugly, but a win is a win. The Huskies played a very sloppy game where the theme of the night was missed opportunities. UW shot an atrocious 38% from the field and committed 17 turnovers on the night, which allowed FAU to shoot themselves back into the game in the waning minutes. To highlight how terrible UW shot and how fortunate they were to win the game, FAU made more field goals and more 3-pointers, while UW attempted 10 more free throws and made 11 more than FAU.
The Huskies may have needed this bit of humbling experience to remind them that they cannot play down to their opponents or risk an upset. Tony Wroten Jr. literally had to play down to his opponent as he often matched up against FAU's 5-6 point guard, which led to Wroten racking up 4 fouls due to overplaying the ball and the man. The Owl point guard was also able to get away with hand checks and push offs due to his diminutive size as they did not have a noticeable effect on the defender. Just because he is small does not mean he cannot foul. Thankfully, the refs finally started calling the fouls in the final 3-5 minutes when the Owls were looking to slow the game down.
Abdul Gaddy showed why he starts over Tony Wroten once more. With 6 assists, only 3 turnovers and a very nice 15 points, Gaddy was much calmer, collected, and efficient than the flashy Wroten. Wroten racked up 4 assists, but also committed 5 turnovers and missed several lay-ins due to playing an extremely fast tempo that just doesn't work at the collegiate level. Gaddy went 4-6 from the line, while Wroten went 3-7 (he shot 2-9 from the field).
Aziz N'Diaye had some nice looks today as well. While he again looked a little rough offensively, he showed signs of improving post moves and was a lot more effective at creating shot opportunities for himself on the block. He went 5-12 from the field and made 3 of his 5 free throw attempts. He also collected 12 rebounds (5 offensive) to pull in the double-double.
C.J. Wilcox again led all players in scoring with 19 to put his average in the tournament thus far at 20.5 points per game, a fantastic result. Wilcox, like most of the team, struggled on the easy inside shots. He went 5-13 from the field, 3-5 from range. His struggles were highlighted by an easy fast break lay-in opportunities that rolled out. In reality, he should have jammed the ball through the hoop to prevent exactly what happened. If you have an open opportunity and you can dunk, DO IT! It does not need to be a monster jam, just a simple two-handed dunk.
Four players made double digits in scoring today and all four were starters. Darnell Gant was the only starter not to hit double digits and finished the night with only 2 points on 1-4 shooting. He did have a 3-pointer taken away due to an offensive foul committed by Tony Wroten after he had dished it off. Gant played a very quiet 25 minutes only managing to pull down 5 boards.
One very concerning stat was the rebounding line. UW went into half holding a 26-16 lead in the rebounding column, but only finished with a 3 board advantage, 42-39. This was another big reason FAU was able to stay in the game. UW was not boxing out well or communicating, which led to at least 3 UW rebounds knocked away by our own players. Romar needed to use a timeout or two to calm the players down as it seemed the close score line was causing our line-up to play overly anxiously.
Martin Breunig played only 9 minutes, but was a perfect 2-2 from the field. His limited time was largely due to his high foul count and ended the night with 5 points and 3 rebounds. Simple freshmen mistakes were a big part of why he picked up the fouls he did.
Hikeem Stewart only came in for a quick 2 minute burst while Romar rested his starting guards and tallied 1 rebound.
Shawn Kemp did not play today and Jernard Jarreau confirmed last night at the press conference that he would indeed be red-shirting (Jarreau, not Kemp).
Terrence Ross had another sub-par shooting night going 4-14 from the field, 1-5 from range. He did shoot a very nice 5-6 from the charity stripe and for that I give him an A+.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
For having such a height advantage, the Dawgs certainly seemed lost in the second half as to how they should keep their opponent out of the box. It was rather unfortunate as rebounding was one of the few nice stats coming out of the first half. N'Diaye had a fantastic night and with 12 boards its hard to ask him for much more. The rest of the Dawgs performed below average on the glass. After N'Diaye the next highest rebounder had 5 (Gant and Ross). The Huskies need one other player to really bring their game and average 7 boards along with N'Diaye.
Free Throws:
This is one area where poor performances are unacceptable, no matter who the Huskies are playing. Free throws are named such for one simple reason, the shooter has a free attempt at the basket. No defenders, the same shooting rhythm and motion, and essentially as much time as they wish to take. Seeing our team go 24-35 from the line when the score differential is only 6 is extremely frustrating. Even making 4 more shots puts our lead into a comfortable double digit margin. For a point guard, Wroten sure does shoot like an over-sized post player. Wilcox or Ross need to take Wroten under their wings and show him how to put a soft touch on the ball.
Lay-Ins:
Never thought I'd be writing this under the needs improvement category, but here it is tonight. The Huskies were plain and simply ugly when it came to converting in the paint. Lay-ins were often overshot or were rejected by the rim. Players missed fast break shots and tried far too hard to get a poor shot off. If I was Romar I'd be doing more than a fair share of lay-in drills at the pregame practice tomorrow.
What Was Good:
Defensive Pressure:
UW forced FAU into 19 turnovers and picked up 6 steals, led by Wilcox who had 4 on the night, as well as tallying up 7 blocks, N'Diaye had 3. UW held FAU to 32% shooting in the first half before letting up in the second when FAU jumped up to 48%. Overall the Owls finished with 42% shooting from the field and 40% from range. The latter number is a bit troubling, but correctable with better rotating defense.
Final Thoughts:
The Huskies gutted out the win somehow, which in itself is a good thing. What is not so good was how poorly we played against such an inferior team. Yes, often teams will end up playing to level of their opponent, but in this case the opposition level was far below anything the Huskies should consider respectable. With no FAU player taller than 6-8, the Huskies had a big chance to use their size in the paint and when they did get in the paint, the Dawgs couldn't finish. UW will have to play much better quite soon as better non-con opponents are approaching and 17 turnovers against a team like Marquette or Duke will absolutely demolish us.
The Dawgs take on the University of Portland tomorrow in the final game of the tournament. UP is 2-0 in the tournament, winning both games by 5 points in what I would consider an upset manner. They have been behind early, only to finish strong and take home the win. If the Huskies do not step their play up, the Pilots could very well leave Seattle 3-0 rather than the Dawgs. The key to a Washington win tomorrow is finishing at the basket and controlling the glass throughout the game and not just in one half.
Go Dawgs!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Georgia State Game Review
Final Score: UW-91 GSU-74
Solid night for the Huskies as C.J. Wilcox led the way with a game high 22 points on 8-12 shooting, 5-8 outside the arc. Wilcox also added in 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 0 turnovers. It was a stellar performance that helped make up for Terrence Ross' somewhat quiet night.
Tony Wroten Jr. and Darnell Gant each dropped 18 on the board. Gant had 10 of UW's first 13 points and shot 7-8 from the field, 2-3 from range. 18 is a career high and Wroten's performance has to be one of the best career starts for a freshman in UW history. Wroten again showed how good he can be with some nice assists, but he also showed how risky his gameplay can be with 4 turnovers. Wroten had a very nice block on a GSU break away that ended with the Panther player suffering what looked like a broken arm or wrist. Tough break, no pun intended, if the GSU player does indeed have a broken bone as this was the first game of the season.
Aziz N'Diaye had a dominating defensive effort tonight and showed why he is such an important player to our team. He had a game high 8 rebounds and tied his career high with 5 blocks. N'Diaye had a devastating block as a GSU player tried to drive the baseline. N'Diaye stepped across the key, jumped straight up and smashed the ball and player to the ground. N'Diaye later got T'ed up after throwing a ball into the oppositions face. The other player was T'ed as well for pushing N'Diaye.
Abdul Gaddy had a game high 6 assists and an uncommon 4 turnovers. He shot decently on the night scoring 7 points on 3-9 shooting. Gaddy played a team high 32 minutes and was one of the few seasoned players on the court at the end of the game.
Other notable highlights from the night include Alex Wegner, the new walk-on from Vashon Island, hitting his first points as Husky with a nice 3 pointer. He went 1-3 overall, 1-2 from the 3-point line. Brendan Sherrer nearly scored as well but threw up a rather ugly shot. It looked as if he wanted to dunk, but was too far out and had to try for a bank shot instead.
Rashaad Richardson of GSU hit 7 3-pointers and was one of the few Panther players with any real offensive rhythm throughout the game. Josh Micheaux had 8 rebounds for the Panthers and added 9 points.
What Needed Improvement:
Free Throws:
The Huskies were noticeably rough around the edges when it came to the charity stripe. If there is one area that Wroten can improve in, its free throws. He was 4-8 on the night. Wroten has a really hard shot that could be improved with adding more arc or a softer touch. Ross, on the other hand, was 4-4 from the line. Desmond Simmons went 4-6 and looked solid on the floor tonight.
Ball Control:
UW only managed 15 assists on 32 makes. Slightly lower than the usual output for the Dawgs. This goes hand-in-hand with the 12 turnovers the Dawgs had. While 12 is not terrible, several were due to silly mistakes and overplaying the ball. The Huskies need to reign in their handling a bit to reduce unnecessary errors.
What was Good:
Rebounding:
While it was not a completely dominating effort, 44-36, UW controlled the glass fairly well. GSU did manage some lucky offensive boards in the second half that bumped up their stat line. Gaddy and Wroten picked up an impressive 7 boards apiece. UW did manage to get 11 offensive boards, though 15 or 17 would be much better in my opinion.
Scoring Options:
This is not something I would normally write about, but I think its important to note who were the high scorers for the Huskies. Wilcox led all scorers, no big surprise there, but the fact that Gant and Wroten were right behind is fantastic. This should give Husky fans some hope for nights when Ross or Wilcox can;t get in a groove. UW should be able to get in the lane or find production from other players. Hikeem Stewart also came out and drilled his first shot, a 3 pointer.
The most noticeable thing from the night might have been the absence of Jernard Jarreau. Despite the blow out and both walk-ons playing, Jarreau did not step on the court. This implies two possibilities, either Jarreau is hurt or he is redshirting. The later seems more likely as I suspect we would have heard about an injury.
Final Thoughts:
UW struggled a bit on defense in the first half. GSU tied the game at 23 thanks to good shooting and poor defensive switches. In the end they got their act together and used their superior depth to wear down the Panthers. Shawn Kemp Jr., Hikeem Stewart, and Martin Breunig all saw between 7 and 10 minutes, but didn't have much of an impact stat wise. The Dawgs got the win they needed and looked fairly solid throughout. I predict Wilcox will lead the Dawgs in scoring for the first few games of the season as teams try to shut down Terrence Ross. Wilcox showed the ability to drive the lane and score against the post. Wilcox also has the ability to catch and shoot quickly with skill and precision, which opens up a lot more shot opportunities. If there is a dark horse candidate for Pac-12 POY, its C.J. Aziz showed himself to be effective against smaller players and zone defenses, something he struggled with last season.
I got to Hec-Ed early and watched the University of Portland-Florida Atlantic game. Portland won 70-65, but FAU should have won. The Owls (FAU) made silly mistakes at the end of the game that came back to bite them in the rear. The Owls were led in scoring by Greg Gantt who had 18 at half time and 23 when the final buzzer sounded. FAU's diminutive point guard, Raymond Taylor, absolutely refuses to dribble when he has the ball at the top of the key. He continuously would stand at the point and wave players towards him to run the offense. This is great for UW as backcourt defensive is our specialty and should be able to really harass FAU through their point guard. I predicted a 94-60 win for the game tomorrow against FAU, but after seeing both teams in action tonight I would be surprised if UW didn't drop 100 on the Owls and win by 40+.
Go Dawgs
Solid night for the Huskies as C.J. Wilcox led the way with a game high 22 points on 8-12 shooting, 5-8 outside the arc. Wilcox also added in 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 0 turnovers. It was a stellar performance that helped make up for Terrence Ross' somewhat quiet night.
Tony Wroten Jr. and Darnell Gant each dropped 18 on the board. Gant had 10 of UW's first 13 points and shot 7-8 from the field, 2-3 from range. 18 is a career high and Wroten's performance has to be one of the best career starts for a freshman in UW history. Wroten again showed how good he can be with some nice assists, but he also showed how risky his gameplay can be with 4 turnovers. Wroten had a very nice block on a GSU break away that ended with the Panther player suffering what looked like a broken arm or wrist. Tough break, no pun intended, if the GSU player does indeed have a broken bone as this was the first game of the season.
Aziz N'Diaye had a dominating defensive effort tonight and showed why he is such an important player to our team. He had a game high 8 rebounds and tied his career high with 5 blocks. N'Diaye had a devastating block as a GSU player tried to drive the baseline. N'Diaye stepped across the key, jumped straight up and smashed the ball and player to the ground. N'Diaye later got T'ed up after throwing a ball into the oppositions face. The other player was T'ed as well for pushing N'Diaye.
Abdul Gaddy had a game high 6 assists and an uncommon 4 turnovers. He shot decently on the night scoring 7 points on 3-9 shooting. Gaddy played a team high 32 minutes and was one of the few seasoned players on the court at the end of the game.
Other notable highlights from the night include Alex Wegner, the new walk-on from Vashon Island, hitting his first points as Husky with a nice 3 pointer. He went 1-3 overall, 1-2 from the 3-point line. Brendan Sherrer nearly scored as well but threw up a rather ugly shot. It looked as if he wanted to dunk, but was too far out and had to try for a bank shot instead.
Rashaad Richardson of GSU hit 7 3-pointers and was one of the few Panther players with any real offensive rhythm throughout the game. Josh Micheaux had 8 rebounds for the Panthers and added 9 points.
What Needed Improvement:
Free Throws:
The Huskies were noticeably rough around the edges when it came to the charity stripe. If there is one area that Wroten can improve in, its free throws. He was 4-8 on the night. Wroten has a really hard shot that could be improved with adding more arc or a softer touch. Ross, on the other hand, was 4-4 from the line. Desmond Simmons went 4-6 and looked solid on the floor tonight.
Ball Control:
UW only managed 15 assists on 32 makes. Slightly lower than the usual output for the Dawgs. This goes hand-in-hand with the 12 turnovers the Dawgs had. While 12 is not terrible, several were due to silly mistakes and overplaying the ball. The Huskies need to reign in their handling a bit to reduce unnecessary errors.
What was Good:
Rebounding:
While it was not a completely dominating effort, 44-36, UW controlled the glass fairly well. GSU did manage some lucky offensive boards in the second half that bumped up their stat line. Gaddy and Wroten picked up an impressive 7 boards apiece. UW did manage to get 11 offensive boards, though 15 or 17 would be much better in my opinion.
Scoring Options:
This is not something I would normally write about, but I think its important to note who were the high scorers for the Huskies. Wilcox led all scorers, no big surprise there, but the fact that Gant and Wroten were right behind is fantastic. This should give Husky fans some hope for nights when Ross or Wilcox can;t get in a groove. UW should be able to get in the lane or find production from other players. Hikeem Stewart also came out and drilled his first shot, a 3 pointer.
The most noticeable thing from the night might have been the absence of Jernard Jarreau. Despite the blow out and both walk-ons playing, Jarreau did not step on the court. This implies two possibilities, either Jarreau is hurt or he is redshirting. The later seems more likely as I suspect we would have heard about an injury.
Final Thoughts:
UW struggled a bit on defense in the first half. GSU tied the game at 23 thanks to good shooting and poor defensive switches. In the end they got their act together and used their superior depth to wear down the Panthers. Shawn Kemp Jr., Hikeem Stewart, and Martin Breunig all saw between 7 and 10 minutes, but didn't have much of an impact stat wise. The Dawgs got the win they needed and looked fairly solid throughout. I predict Wilcox will lead the Dawgs in scoring for the first few games of the season as teams try to shut down Terrence Ross. Wilcox showed the ability to drive the lane and score against the post. Wilcox also has the ability to catch and shoot quickly with skill and precision, which opens up a lot more shot opportunities. If there is a dark horse candidate for Pac-12 POY, its C.J. Aziz showed himself to be effective against smaller players and zone defenses, something he struggled with last season.
I got to Hec-Ed early and watched the University of Portland-Florida Atlantic game. Portland won 70-65, but FAU should have won. The Owls (FAU) made silly mistakes at the end of the game that came back to bite them in the rear. The Owls were led in scoring by Greg Gantt who had 18 at half time and 23 when the final buzzer sounded. FAU's diminutive point guard, Raymond Taylor, absolutely refuses to dribble when he has the ball at the top of the key. He continuously would stand at the point and wave players towards him to run the offense. This is great for UW as backcourt defensive is our specialty and should be able to really harass FAU through their point guard. I predicted a 94-60 win for the game tomorrow against FAU, but after seeing both teams in action tonight I would be surprised if UW didn't drop 100 on the Owls and win by 40+.
Go Dawgs
Thursday, November 10, 2011
University of Portland Game Preview
The Pilots return to Hec-Ed once more following a 20-12 season, 7-7 in the West Coast Conference. Last season UW beat Portland 94-72 with Justin Holiday and Isaiah Thomas leading all scorers with 20 points. MBA added 15 and Scott Suggs dropped in 13 of his own. Nemanja Mitrovic led the Pilots with 15, followed closely by departed senior Luke Sikma with 14.
It'll be two very different line-ups taking the court this coming Monday as the game's top four scorers for the Huskies and two of the top three scorers for the Pilots have either graduated or are injured. Sikma had dominated the glass as well with 16 rebounds accounting for nearly 60% of his teams rebounds, four times as much as his next teammate and twice as much as anyone on the UW squad.
Coming into the 2011-2012 season, Portland looks to be rebuilding their frontcourt. Losing 3 starters from last years squad is tough enough, but the Pilots lose their top two rebounders in Luke Sikma and Kramer Knutson who were responsible for almost 50% of the teams total rebounds. That is even tougher to overcome and 6-11 freshman Thomas van der Mars will be asked to help fill that void. Luckily for Portland, their backcourt seems stable and skilled, which will help alleviate the absence of experienced talent in the post.
Nemanja Mitrovic is one of the top 3-point shooters in the nation, hitting 93 shots on 201 attempts last year, slightly better than highly touted 3-point shooter Jared Stohl who graduated this past season. He returns as the Pilots leading scorer after averaging just under 14 points a game. At 6-5 and 200lbs Mitrovic matches up well against the UW defense and will definitely be able to compete. The Dawgs will need to throw their top defenders at Mitrovic to keep him contained.
Another returning (semi)starter for the Pilots is 5-10 160lb Tim Douglas. Douglas led the team in assists last season, but also led in the turnover category. Portland also brings back a starter in Eric Waterford, 6-1 180lb, who had the best assist to turnover ratio at 1.9.
UP posts some decent size with Riley Barker at 6-10 and van der Mars at 6-11. Both have a lot of work to do before they can match the productivity of Knutson or Sikma, but it'll have to happen if the Pilots want to compete this season.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Portland:
Tim Douglas 5-10 160lb
Eric Waterford 6-1 180lb
Nemanja Mitrovic 6-5 200lb
Ryan Nicolas 6-7 235lb
Riley Barker 6-10 225lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Rebounding:
Just like the past two reviews, and the rest of the season, I will continue to stress the importance of rebounding. Alongside free throws, nothing decides games more than how a team attacks the glass. With the loss of two extremely proficient rebounders, the Pilots will be looking for new players to fill the rebound column. UW can take advantage of this by using their more experienced rebounders to dominate the glass on both ends of the court. By boxing out their men in both the paint and the perimeter, UW can prevent missed shots turning into extra opportunities for the Portland sharpshooters.
Perimeter Pressure:
With a vast majority of Portland's talent coming from their backcourt, UW will need to push their defensive efforts out. I would be vastly surprised to see UW run a zone defense as that type of defense is prone to 3 point attacks. Man-to-Man is the way to go and it is where the Huskies always excel. Portland matches-up much better against the Dawgs than the other two teams in the tournament and as such, the Huskies should expect a much better performance out of the Pilots than the other two squads.
Get in the Paint:
The Dawgs face another inexperienced frontcourt, making them susceptible to sloppy fouls and easy buckets. By getting our tall guards and wings to pressure the lanes, we can open up a lot of opportunities for the smooth shooting of guys like C.J. Wilcox on the perimeter. This is a great chance for our big men to play against players with a little more height, though the strength aspect still appears to be less tested. N'Diaye should have a solid 40 pounds on his defender and can use his weight to back down his man for the easy lay-in or dunk.
Final Score Prediction:
UW-90 UP-70
While the Pilots have more talent than either Georgia State or Florida Atlantic, they do not possess the scoring talent and rebounding ability to compete with the Huskies. UW should take over fairly quickly with an aggressive rebounding attack to maximize second shot chances as well as preventing those for the Pilots. Mitrovic will likely have some success from range and the Huskies need to limit these shots as much as possible. If I am Romar, Wilcox is my go to man for the defensive assignment in this game. He has great athletic abilities that allows him to block shots with authority. In my mind, Wilcox has shown the ability to change shots on the perimeter nearly as effectively as N'Diaye does in the paint. All in all, UW should find themselves with another comfortable game in which Romar can learn a bit more about his team and which players really have chemistry together on the court.
It'll be two very different line-ups taking the court this coming Monday as the game's top four scorers for the Huskies and two of the top three scorers for the Pilots have either graduated or are injured. Sikma had dominated the glass as well with 16 rebounds accounting for nearly 60% of his teams rebounds, four times as much as his next teammate and twice as much as anyone on the UW squad.
Coming into the 2011-2012 season, Portland looks to be rebuilding their frontcourt. Losing 3 starters from last years squad is tough enough, but the Pilots lose their top two rebounders in Luke Sikma and Kramer Knutson who were responsible for almost 50% of the teams total rebounds. That is even tougher to overcome and 6-11 freshman Thomas van der Mars will be asked to help fill that void. Luckily for Portland, their backcourt seems stable and skilled, which will help alleviate the absence of experienced talent in the post.
Nemanja Mitrovic is one of the top 3-point shooters in the nation, hitting 93 shots on 201 attempts last year, slightly better than highly touted 3-point shooter Jared Stohl who graduated this past season. He returns as the Pilots leading scorer after averaging just under 14 points a game. At 6-5 and 200lbs Mitrovic matches up well against the UW defense and will definitely be able to compete. The Dawgs will need to throw their top defenders at Mitrovic to keep him contained.
Another returning (semi)starter for the Pilots is 5-10 160lb Tim Douglas. Douglas led the team in assists last season, but also led in the turnover category. Portland also brings back a starter in Eric Waterford, 6-1 180lb, who had the best assist to turnover ratio at 1.9.
UP posts some decent size with Riley Barker at 6-10 and van der Mars at 6-11. Both have a lot of work to do before they can match the productivity of Knutson or Sikma, but it'll have to happen if the Pilots want to compete this season.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Portland:
Tim Douglas 5-10 160lb
Eric Waterford 6-1 180lb
Nemanja Mitrovic 6-5 200lb
Ryan Nicolas 6-7 235lb
Riley Barker 6-10 225lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Rebounding:
Just like the past two reviews, and the rest of the season, I will continue to stress the importance of rebounding. Alongside free throws, nothing decides games more than how a team attacks the glass. With the loss of two extremely proficient rebounders, the Pilots will be looking for new players to fill the rebound column. UW can take advantage of this by using their more experienced rebounders to dominate the glass on both ends of the court. By boxing out their men in both the paint and the perimeter, UW can prevent missed shots turning into extra opportunities for the Portland sharpshooters.
Perimeter Pressure:
With a vast majority of Portland's talent coming from their backcourt, UW will need to push their defensive efforts out. I would be vastly surprised to see UW run a zone defense as that type of defense is prone to 3 point attacks. Man-to-Man is the way to go and it is where the Huskies always excel. Portland matches-up much better against the Dawgs than the other two teams in the tournament and as such, the Huskies should expect a much better performance out of the Pilots than the other two squads.
Get in the Paint:
The Dawgs face another inexperienced frontcourt, making them susceptible to sloppy fouls and easy buckets. By getting our tall guards and wings to pressure the lanes, we can open up a lot of opportunities for the smooth shooting of guys like C.J. Wilcox on the perimeter. This is a great chance for our big men to play against players with a little more height, though the strength aspect still appears to be less tested. N'Diaye should have a solid 40 pounds on his defender and can use his weight to back down his man for the easy lay-in or dunk.
Final Score Prediction:
UW-90 UP-70
While the Pilots have more talent than either Georgia State or Florida Atlantic, they do not possess the scoring talent and rebounding ability to compete with the Huskies. UW should take over fairly quickly with an aggressive rebounding attack to maximize second shot chances as well as preventing those for the Pilots. Mitrovic will likely have some success from range and the Huskies need to limit these shots as much as possible. If I am Romar, Wilcox is my go to man for the defensive assignment in this game. He has great athletic abilities that allows him to block shots with authority. In my mind, Wilcox has shown the ability to change shots on the perimeter nearly as effectively as N'Diaye does in the paint. All in all, UW should find themselves with another comfortable game in which Romar can learn a bit more about his team and which players really have chemistry together on the court.
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
Friday, November 5, 2010
Washington Basketball Player by Player Preview-The Freshman
Freshman
C.J. Wilcox G 6-5 190lb
Just the Facts
Redshirted last year. Averaged 22.2 points his senior season of high school.
The Spin
Supposedly an amazing three point shooter. He is so good people are surprised and disappointed when he missed. If this is true, then we as fans are truly in for a treat. Not since Ryan Applebee and Tre Simmons has the UW had such a proficient 3 baller if all is as advertised. C.J. is another candidate for our fifth starter, though I feel he needs to prove his game on the court and show he can, not only shoot, but play some D as well. If we can get 4 to 6 points out of him a game I’ll be happy. I don’t expect him to get the minutes to score more unless he finds himself in a starting position or he takes Scott Sugg’s minutes because he is a better player, something I don’t think is likely. C.J.’s impact will come off the bench and in the long, hard games where having talented subs will mean there is little if any drop off from starter to sub. This deep bench will be a difference maker in the NCAA tourny where multiple games in a short amount of time mean tired players and sore bodies that will need to be relieved by the sixth men of the teams.
As for what will see. We will see a sophomore year Scott Suggs/Elston Turner, a bench player with talent to develop that will make big contributions in certains but whose overall role will be to give the starters some time to rest. 4 points and either a few assists, rebounds, etc should be considered a successful year, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he is given more time and scores upwards of 6 or 8 points a game. High score for the season will probably be 14 points against one of our non conference opponents or the oregon schools.
Terrence Ross G 6-6 190lb
Just the Facts
Highlight of the 2010 recruiting class. A 5 star recruit out of Oregon, who as a sophomore was awarded the 5A player of the year in Oregon, ahead of He-Who-Shall-Be-Booed. Ranked 30th overall in his class despite not playing basketball his senior year due to moving schools.
The Spin
Romar is quoted as saying Ross is arguably the most talented player on the team, he just needs to learn the system and figure things out. If he really is that good and can develop his game early against the weaker teams in our non conference schedule and has some sort of semblance come the maui tournament, we are going to be tough to beat. Ross is another player I could see starting. So long as his defense is sound and his shots are dropping I see no reason he can’t get major minutes, even 15 or 20 a game. He is quick, athletic, a good shot, and has something to prove. His recruitment was somewhat over shadowed by his former teammates fiasco. I’d like to see him put up 7 points a game, grab 3 rebounds, and toss around an assist or two. What he can achieve will depend on how many minutes he get, and that really comes down to how well Suggs plays. He may also serve as a sub to Holiday as they are similar in size and athleticism. Some have said he may Redshirt this season, to preserve his talent behind some many other capable players. I don’t see it happening. I think if he is good as Romar says we will find him in the starting 5 at the 4 while Holiday plays the 3 and MBA plays the 5. I’m hoping he has an I.T. esq. year and puts up 15 a game. The realist in me says this is unlikely to happen due to all the senior talent we have on our team this year.
Desmond Simmons F 6-7 215lb
Just the Facts
First commit of the 2010 class. Averaged 18.2 points and 14.2 rebounds a game his junior year of high school.
The Spin
This is my personal candidate for a redshirt season. His offensive game is the weakest of the incoming class and there is already a lot of competition at the forward and guard position. He isn’t big enough to play down low in the key so at best he could play the 4, realistically he’ll play the 3. While I understand the Huskies don’t have a ton of size, Simmons is not that much bigger than Holiday or Ross. Wasting a year of eligibility on a few garbage minutes a game seems a waste. I’m on a wait and see with Desmond. If he plays look for a 2 to 3 point average, with a rebound or two tossed in for fun. I’m sure a decision will be made shortly as to what will be done about redshirting and who if anyone that would be. My bets are on Desmond and I’d give it a 70% chance of happening. He is said to be a real nitty, gritty, defensive player, modeled after Holiday and Bobby Jones. That kind of tenacity on D is a skill not possessed by many and could be a trait we need down the line against some more potent offensives come tournament time.
Antoine Hosley G 5-11 185lb
Just the Facts
Our second walk on. Played along side current teammate Terrace Ross where he scored 15 points and 5 assists a game.
The Spin
Just like Brandon, expect his presence on the court to be late after the victory is already assured. His minutes will be sparse and he will not contribute much over all. I haven’t seen any footage of his game, so I don’t know how he will play if he does. Let’s just hope he sees time every game, I could go for some big time Pac-10 blows outs.
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