Final Score: UW-71 UCLA-69
Just like that, the Huskies control first place in the Pac-12 and their destiny lies in their hands and not the success (or failures) of others. This game represented some impressive milestones. UW has now won 4 straight against UCLA, something that hasn't ever happened in Husky History, and the Dawgs have now won 8 straight at home against UCLA. Two hours after UW escaped with an emotional win, Arizona knocked off Cal with an early 33-10 run that put Arizona ahead for good.
The Huskies played a a sloppy game that didn't polish up until the final 10 minutes. This was highlighted early with UW up 6-4. UCLA picked up two offensive boards and finally got the put-back to fall in, despite several Huskies near the hoop. Often times, the Dawgs were getting beat on easy boards and gave up far too many turnovers (16 total, 10 in the first half). The first half turnovers were just plain ugly. It wasn't so much that the Bruins were playing tough defense, the Husky guards were just throwing the ball away to players who weren't looking for passes. Regardless, the Dawgs somehow went into halftime with a 1-point game.
Things got worse after half when the Dawg defense shut down and allowed three straight 3-pointers, all by Lazeric Jones who had been silent all game. Suddenly, the Huskies found themselves down 10 with time running off the clock. Something awakened in the team and the crowd, which translated into Terrence Ross taking things to the next level.
The Huskies struggled to contain Josh Smith who scored a career high 24 points. Smith did damage the whole game with 14 points during the first half. While Aziz N'Diaye tried his best to contain Smith, the two early fouls limited his minutes resulting in Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Shawn Kemp rotating through to try and prevent Smith from scoring. The Huskies experienced their best success by playing a zone defense to prevent entry passes to the post and allowed the Dawgs to double team Smith, forcing turnovers. Smith did not score in the final minute of the game (well, technically he scored with 56 seconds on the clock, but I'll excuse it), which was integral in deciding the outcome of the game. N'Diaye was also able to secure the final rebound over Smith as the clock ran out.
The two biggest possessions of the game came in the final minutes when the Bruins committed offensive fouls and allowed UW to extend their small lead to a two possession difference. The Bruins kept fighting back and the missed free throws by UW allowed the Bruins to get back within 2 points during the final 20 seconds. UW played solid defense and forced a young, in experienced Bruin to take a contested shot, which ended up rattling out and tipped around until N'Diaye could finally corral the ball.
The crowd played a big part of UW's success in the final 10 minutes of the game. Once the Dawg Pack started going and Ross starting being a superstar, the rest of the stadium really perked up, stood up, and got into UCLA's collective head. The offense wasn't able to execute properly as no one could hear what was going on. After the game, Coach Chillious raised the roof at the Dawg Pack, Darnell Gant beat his chest, pointed, and yelled, and Romar came over, pointed at the score board, pointed at us, and said that was your win, you helped us do that. I invest a lot of my time, energy, and emotion into this team and into leading the Dawg Pack and it felt really good to see everyone finally getting involved in the game and having the type of effect on the game that we had between '04 and '09. It felt even better to see our efforts get recognized and appreciated by the coach and team.
N'Diaye played a pretty good game, despite the defensive struggles against Smith. No one could defend Smith, who pushed people around with his gut, so it is hard to discredit N'Diaye for failing the same as everyone else who tried to match-up with Smith. N'Diaye was a solid 3-4 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds. N'Diaye could have had a double-double, but finished with 7 after hitting only 1 of his 4 free throw attempts. N'Diaye needs to get some better coaching about his foul shot because he is shooting under 40% on the year, which is not only miserable, it hurts our team. N'Diaye gets to the line 2 to 4 times a night and generally misses at least half those shots. That is a lot of points and opportunities being squandered away. "Hack the Shaq" is a very viable option for teams in close games and that scares me more than anything. N'Diaye delivered a nice pass and assist to tony Wroten who was cutting across the baseline. It was almost a perfect reverse of the usual Wroten to N'Diaye plays. The only big negative for me, outside of the usual free throw issues, was the accidental tip-in by N'Diaye on our own hoop. Rather than getting up and putting two hands on the ball, N'Diaye tried to tip the ball out to a teammate, but it went rogue and N'Diaye scored against us.
Speaking of Wroten, Tony had himself a wild game. Wroten took a knee to the thigh that caused him pain throughout the game and may cause Wroten to play limited, if any, minutes during the USC game tomorrow. Wroten was only 4 of 11 from the field. Wroten grabbed up 5 rebounds, 2 offensive, and dished out 2 assists. His 5 turnovers were very reminiscent of his earlier games, but the 5-5 free throw shooting shows the type of improvement Wroten has made to his game. The other "improvement" I saw from Wroten was an attempt at a right-handed lay-in, something I don't think he had done yet. Sadly, the ball rolled out of the rim, but it was good to see Wroten finally use that second hand of his to take a shot.
Darnell Gant became a true senior tonight. He scored 10 points in the first half, including a very much needed 3-pointer early in the game, deep into the shot clock. Gant finished with only 14 points, but his defense on the Wear twins and other perimeter players was just as valuable as his emotional play and the leadership he displayed. Tonight I saw Gant beating his chest, coaching his teammates, yelling at the crowd to get up and get loud. The passion was evident and Gant was quoted after the game saying he nearly cried following the win. He wanted this game badly and it showed. Let's hope he can continue to be the type of leader this team has been sorely missing.
Abdul Gaddy played another silent game, but did a much better job of attacking the hoop than in previous weeks. Gaddy was 2-5 from the field, 3-4 from the line, and delivered 5 assists. His 4 turnovers marred an otherwise solid outing. I don't know what it is going to take to get Gaddy to go back to the level of play he displayed in the first half of conference lasts season. Maybe he'll never quite get back to that after his ACL tear. Either way, he needs to adjust his game by either getting back in the lane or starting to develop a reliable outside shot that will force defenders to step out, opening the lanes for his teammates.
Desmond Simmons seems to have hit the freshman wall as of late. He played only 11 minutes despite starting, grabbed only 2 rebounds, and missed both shot attempts including an ugly airball. Not much to say about his game due to his limited play time.
C.J. Wilcox looked rusty tonight. Maybe the lack of practices are finally catching up a bit. Wilcox was only 1 of 4 from the field, but drilled all 4 of his free throws, which were immensely important to the Husky win. While I understand and appreciate the need for Wilcox to rest during the week for the games, the fact Wilcox is limited to only 50 jump shots per practice seems a bit absurd to me. Let him take 75 or 100, I highly doubt that will have a huge effect on his injury. Hopefully the Huskies can get things done in a big way against USC (who lost to WSU by only 3, mildly concerning) and both him and Wroten can get their rest and let others gain some valuable play time.
Shawn Kemp played some very strong minutes and had one of his better games. All 4 points came off of dunks, including a very impressive trail play leading to a powerful jam, a small reminder of his father who is one of the best dunkers in the history of the game. ASJ played only 5 minutes and picked up 2 fouls.
Terrence Ross. My man. Please play all 40 minutes like you do the final 10. If you do, you will score 30 points a game, each and every night. Heck, I'll settle for Ross playing two solid halves of basketball versus one half of pure athleticism and skill. Ross played another amazing second half to rally the Dawgs. He caught alley-oops for sweet jams, he drained shots from 25 feet, checking his heat and finding himself on fire, he even pulled off a Top 10 worthy (though he was snubbed somehow) lay-in that shouldn't even be physically possible. After spinning off his defender, Ross was fouled and knocked to the ground, but still managed to get a shot off and it banked home for the AND-1, which put the Dawgs on top. Speaking of banks, Ross drained a ridiculous bank shot at the end of the first half to give the Huskies the 1 point lead. Ross also pulled off a crazy double cross over move that was worthy of some recognition. Ross had 4 rebounds on top of 22 points, 1 steal, two nice blocks, and 3 turnovers. If Ross can put together another impressive game against USC, he will likely win Player of the Week.
What Needed Improvement:
Terrence Ross-First Half:
I would like to see a game where Ross scores 8-10 in the first half. I'm not sure how many games this season Ross has had 4 or less points going into the break, but it is far too many. It needs to change. Not sure what the difference is for Ross, but I guarantee the heart of it is mental.
Ball Control:
The Huskies committed 10 turnovers in the first half and finished the game with 16. Not good by any stretch of the imagination. Too many times the Dawgs would throw the ball out of bounds. UCLA was credited with 10 steals, but I don't recall that many occurring. The Husky guards have been really sloppy as of late and that won't win us any games. The Dawgs also managed only 10 assists, far below the goals and abilities of this team. Got to get this righted for the final half of the year.
What was Good:
Terrence Ross-Second Half:
He is a true closer and is everything in the second half that LeBron James isn't. The kid has a will to win and once the shots start dropping, he can't be stopped. Ross went 9-12 from the field and a perfect 2-2 from deep and dominated the second half. Ross didn't miss in the second half until there were only 25 seconds on the clock.
Gant's Leadership:
His words helped organize the team, his fire pumped up the crowd, and his first half helped the Dawgs take an early lead despite their short comings. Loved the game Gant played today. If Wroten is hurt on Saturday and does not start, I would like to see the Dawgs bust out a 3 forward line-up with Gant back in the starting 5 along side N'Diaye and Simmons.
The Crowd:
The crowd is finally getting into this team again and it is showing up on the home court. The turning point was the WSU come back game. It got loud and people had fun. Now that they have tasted what a truly great college atmosphere is like, they want more and are getting it by creating it themselves. This team is young, and young players thrive on the emotion of the crowd.
Final Thoughts:
This game could have been a blow out if the Dawgs didn't try to throw it away in the first half. The Huskies pulled off another impressive come back and fought off an improving UCLA team. Terrence Ross was a catalyst once more and Gant continued to improve his game and attitude. Thank you, Arizona, for knocking off Cal on their home court and giving us sole possession of first place. With an injured USC team on the horizon, the Huskies can maintain their lead and should ASU pull off a surprising come back, the Dawgs can increase their lead. The Dawgs have one last home-stand after this weekend against the Arizona schools as well as road trips to Oregon, WSU, and the LA schools. The toughest games will likely come against UCLA, WSU, and Oregon as all 3 tend to be superb on their home courts. The Huskies can ill afford more than 2 losses the remainder of the regular season, but with the way this team has been performing, I am confident they can pull out some more grinding, dirty wins away from Hec-Ed. Let's get it done boys and bring home that banner.
Go Dawgs!
Showing posts with label Darnell Gant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darnell Gant. Show all posts
Friday, February 3, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Washington State University Game Review
Final Score: UW-75 WSU-65
This was a tale of two halves and one fueled by emotion and excitement that has been long absent this season, both on the road and at home. After an extremely sluggish first half, the Huskies rallied following a technical foul assessed to Lorenzo Romar who was livid after a very questionable charge call against Terrence Ross. The crowd was upset and the emotion showed. The House started rocking and the Huskies ate it up like a Thanksgiving dinner. The Huskies went on a 28-5 run after the technical and never looked back, turning a 10 point deficit into a 10 point lead. Darnell Gant and Terrence Ross went ballistic and were the driving force on the court in this huge turnaround.
Ross played a career night and woke up on fire after another icy start. Shooting just 1 of 9 in the first half, it looked as though Terrence Ross was bound for another mediocre, disappointing night. The second half showed that thought to be foolishness as Ross went on to tally an absurd 26 points in the second half to set a career high with 30 points as well as a career high 14 rebounds. Talk about second half productivity, Ross would not be denied and after back-to-back 3-pointers it was clear that Ross was on a mission and no one was going to get in his way. Ross was 8-12 in the second half and 5-7 from deep, one of his 3-pointers came in the last 5 seconds of the shot clock after driving out from the low post and turning around for a fade-away that exemplified what sort of player Ross can be.
Darnell Gant finally showed a little leadership and pizazz, rallying the team after Romar's technical and finally taking (and making) shots. Gant scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, which included a pair of monster jams to take the lead and add on to the total in back-to-back possessions. Gant followed with a set of 3-pointers putting him at 5-7 on the night, 3-5 outside. The outside shooting from Ross and Gant was of the utmost importance as C.J. Wilcox was absent from tonight's game and will likely miss all of next week against Stanford and California as he is currently suffering from a stress fracture high on his femur that needs rest and relaxation or risk further damage. Gant showed the rebounding skills we have been begging him to put in play all season, picking up 8 on the night, 5 of which were offensive. During a time when the Huskies are forced to rely on what is essentially a 6 man rotation, not one player can afford to be lazy or slow. Could this be a bit of a turn around game for Gant? Possibly. I am not sold on it yet, but solid performances against Stanford and Cal would certainly convince me that Gant is heading in the right direction once more.
With everything Ross and Gant were doing on the court it was easy to miss out on the excellent performance Aziz N'Diaye had against the Cougars and their zone defense. N'Diaye was 4-5 from the field, with a couple of nice put backs. He was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line, including a pair with 20 seconds to go, which allowed the Huskies to maintain their 10 point lead and really lock-up the win without fear of a major meltdown. N'Diaye put on some nice post moves and provided a solid core in the paint that helped slow down Brock Motum in the second half.
Desmond Simmons certainly gave his all last night. Assigned to the best Cougar on the court, Motum, Simmons had his work cut out for him. Shooting only 1-6 from the field, Simmons struggled to find himself offensively. His 7 rebounds, 4 offensive, were critical on a night where the Dawgs outscored the Cougars 16-9 on second chance points. Fouls and Gant's reemergence seemed to limit Simmons' minutes, who only played 19 tonight despite starting.
Abdul Gaddy looked rigid on the court tonight, but found success play making for others including a pair of alley-oop lobs to Gant and Ross. Gassy went 2-10 from the field, 1-6 from deep, but picked up 6 assists and committing 3 turnovers. Gaddy played 35 minutes on the night. What confounded me the most was how the one time Gaddy drove the lane, he made his shot and made it look easy. Why does he do that more often? It is obvious that it works for him and it is not as if he is continually rejected. Gaddy will need to be aggressive this next week as the loss of Wilcox for the next two games will certainly affect our offensive production.
Tony Wroten also struggled with his shot tonight. Wroten was a miserable 3-14 from the field, but did manage to get to the line for 13 shots. He only made 7, but drilled 4 in a row during a critical stretch of game play. Wroten had 4 assists, but also committed 4 turnovers that proved costly in the first half. Wroten only collected 3 rebounds, but they were all offensive and helped the Dawgs maintain some semblance of an offense during the first half. What Wroten did best was keep pushing the tempo in the Dawgs favor and disrupting the Cougar offense.
What Needed Improvement:
Free Throws:
The Dawgs were a terrible 17 of 28 from the strip tonight, 4-10 in the first half. The Huskies could have controlled this game a lot sooner with respectable free throw shooting, but as per tradition, the Dawgs stunk up the line until crunch time.
Shooting:
I don't understand why Dawgs struggle so much against the zone defense, but without Wilcox on the court the Huskies found it difficult to score until the second half. The Huskies need to utilize a high post option against the zone to collapse the defense and open lanes for our shooters to drive and score or drive and dish. Romar finally started posting Ross and Wroten up high, allowing the play-makers to get off decent opportunities that ended being game changers.
What Was Good:
The Second Half:
The Huskies finally showed some life and played like the energized and exciting team they should have been all year. It should not take the home crowd going crazy to feel that kind of drive, but this is definitely a team that thrives on the emotion of the crowd. Blame on the coaching, blame it on the youth. Whatever it is, it is both a blessing and a curse. At home, this team can relish in the emotion of the game and perform as such. On the road, they often look demoralized and collapse without a fight.
Rebounding:
The Huskies out rebounded the Cougars 46-24. That is ridiculous. In fact it is so ridiculous that the Huskies had 22 offensive boards, nearly totaling that of the entire Cougar production. Rebounds most certainly won the game for the Dawgs and kept the score manageable despite the atrocious shooting of the first half.
Romar:
He may not get a gold star for play making still, but Romar still made two great coaching decisions during the game that allowed the Huskies to pull out a much needed won over rival WSU. The first was picking up the technical foul defending his team and his court. The second was leaving the same 5 on the court the final 13 minutes as their chemistry and fire were not to be trifled with. Often times, Romar is seen pulling players out after going on a run to rest their legs and whatnot only to have the game get out of hand once more. By leaving the same 5 on the court, the players were able to build bonds, predict movements, and operate as an offense truly should. Their confidence rose and as such so did the team's offensive output.
Final Thoughts:
This was a huge win for the Dawgs who looked sleepy in the first half. With what is arguably the toughest week coming up against conference favorites Cal and Stanford, the Dawgs lie half a game back from each and can take the lead with a pair of wins. The emotion and momentum garnered from this game will certainly aid the Dawgs in the efforts next week and hopefully the team has learned how to score without one of their best sharpshooters on the court. Ross and Wroten need to maintain their aggressiveness and Gant will need to keep that fire going himself.
Go Dawgs!
This was a tale of two halves and one fueled by emotion and excitement that has been long absent this season, both on the road and at home. After an extremely sluggish first half, the Huskies rallied following a technical foul assessed to Lorenzo Romar who was livid after a very questionable charge call against Terrence Ross. The crowd was upset and the emotion showed. The House started rocking and the Huskies ate it up like a Thanksgiving dinner. The Huskies went on a 28-5 run after the technical and never looked back, turning a 10 point deficit into a 10 point lead. Darnell Gant and Terrence Ross went ballistic and were the driving force on the court in this huge turnaround.
Ross played a career night and woke up on fire after another icy start. Shooting just 1 of 9 in the first half, it looked as though Terrence Ross was bound for another mediocre, disappointing night. The second half showed that thought to be foolishness as Ross went on to tally an absurd 26 points in the second half to set a career high with 30 points as well as a career high 14 rebounds. Talk about second half productivity, Ross would not be denied and after back-to-back 3-pointers it was clear that Ross was on a mission and no one was going to get in his way. Ross was 8-12 in the second half and 5-7 from deep, one of his 3-pointers came in the last 5 seconds of the shot clock after driving out from the low post and turning around for a fade-away that exemplified what sort of player Ross can be.
Darnell Gant finally showed a little leadership and pizazz, rallying the team after Romar's technical and finally taking (and making) shots. Gant scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, which included a pair of monster jams to take the lead and add on to the total in back-to-back possessions. Gant followed with a set of 3-pointers putting him at 5-7 on the night, 3-5 outside. The outside shooting from Ross and Gant was of the utmost importance as C.J. Wilcox was absent from tonight's game and will likely miss all of next week against Stanford and California as he is currently suffering from a stress fracture high on his femur that needs rest and relaxation or risk further damage. Gant showed the rebounding skills we have been begging him to put in play all season, picking up 8 on the night, 5 of which were offensive. During a time when the Huskies are forced to rely on what is essentially a 6 man rotation, not one player can afford to be lazy or slow. Could this be a bit of a turn around game for Gant? Possibly. I am not sold on it yet, but solid performances against Stanford and Cal would certainly convince me that Gant is heading in the right direction once more.
With everything Ross and Gant were doing on the court it was easy to miss out on the excellent performance Aziz N'Diaye had against the Cougars and their zone defense. N'Diaye was 4-5 from the field, with a couple of nice put backs. He was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line, including a pair with 20 seconds to go, which allowed the Huskies to maintain their 10 point lead and really lock-up the win without fear of a major meltdown. N'Diaye put on some nice post moves and provided a solid core in the paint that helped slow down Brock Motum in the second half.
Desmond Simmons certainly gave his all last night. Assigned to the best Cougar on the court, Motum, Simmons had his work cut out for him. Shooting only 1-6 from the field, Simmons struggled to find himself offensively. His 7 rebounds, 4 offensive, were critical on a night where the Dawgs outscored the Cougars 16-9 on second chance points. Fouls and Gant's reemergence seemed to limit Simmons' minutes, who only played 19 tonight despite starting.
Abdul Gaddy looked rigid on the court tonight, but found success play making for others including a pair of alley-oop lobs to Gant and Ross. Gassy went 2-10 from the field, 1-6 from deep, but picked up 6 assists and committing 3 turnovers. Gaddy played 35 minutes on the night. What confounded me the most was how the one time Gaddy drove the lane, he made his shot and made it look easy. Why does he do that more often? It is obvious that it works for him and it is not as if he is continually rejected. Gaddy will need to be aggressive this next week as the loss of Wilcox for the next two games will certainly affect our offensive production.
Tony Wroten also struggled with his shot tonight. Wroten was a miserable 3-14 from the field, but did manage to get to the line for 13 shots. He only made 7, but drilled 4 in a row during a critical stretch of game play. Wroten had 4 assists, but also committed 4 turnovers that proved costly in the first half. Wroten only collected 3 rebounds, but they were all offensive and helped the Dawgs maintain some semblance of an offense during the first half. What Wroten did best was keep pushing the tempo in the Dawgs favor and disrupting the Cougar offense.
What Needed Improvement:
Free Throws:
The Dawgs were a terrible 17 of 28 from the strip tonight, 4-10 in the first half. The Huskies could have controlled this game a lot sooner with respectable free throw shooting, but as per tradition, the Dawgs stunk up the line until crunch time.
Shooting:
I don't understand why Dawgs struggle so much against the zone defense, but without Wilcox on the court the Huskies found it difficult to score until the second half. The Huskies need to utilize a high post option against the zone to collapse the defense and open lanes for our shooters to drive and score or drive and dish. Romar finally started posting Ross and Wroten up high, allowing the play-makers to get off decent opportunities that ended being game changers.
What Was Good:
The Second Half:
The Huskies finally showed some life and played like the energized and exciting team they should have been all year. It should not take the home crowd going crazy to feel that kind of drive, but this is definitely a team that thrives on the emotion of the crowd. Blame on the coaching, blame it on the youth. Whatever it is, it is both a blessing and a curse. At home, this team can relish in the emotion of the game and perform as such. On the road, they often look demoralized and collapse without a fight.
Rebounding:
The Huskies out rebounded the Cougars 46-24. That is ridiculous. In fact it is so ridiculous that the Huskies had 22 offensive boards, nearly totaling that of the entire Cougar production. Rebounds most certainly won the game for the Dawgs and kept the score manageable despite the atrocious shooting of the first half.
Romar:
He may not get a gold star for play making still, but Romar still made two great coaching decisions during the game that allowed the Huskies to pull out a much needed won over rival WSU. The first was picking up the technical foul defending his team and his court. The second was leaving the same 5 on the court the final 13 minutes as their chemistry and fire were not to be trifled with. Often times, Romar is seen pulling players out after going on a run to rest their legs and whatnot only to have the game get out of hand once more. By leaving the same 5 on the court, the players were able to build bonds, predict movements, and operate as an offense truly should. Their confidence rose and as such so did the team's offensive output.
Final Thoughts:
This was a huge win for the Dawgs who looked sleepy in the first half. With what is arguably the toughest week coming up against conference favorites Cal and Stanford, the Dawgs lie half a game back from each and can take the lead with a pair of wins. The emotion and momentum garnered from this game will certainly aid the Dawgs in the efforts next week and hopefully the team has learned how to score without one of their best sharpshooters on the court. Ross and Wroten need to maintain their aggressiveness and Gant will need to keep that fire going himself.
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, July 7, 2011
Memorable Nights - A Story of My Husky Basketball Experience
Well, it's about 3am and I've been thinking about Husky sports. It started with football and slowly moved its way back to basketball as it usually does. The thoughts usually start out about games both past and future and generally culminates in me thinking about a few games in particular and in turn into a few camp-out nights that have been the greatest times in my college career. Many people may judge me for sitting in line for hours on end, camping over night in sub-freezing temperatures to go watch a ball game, but it doesn't bother me one bit. They ask me "why would you want to sit outside on a Friday night when I could be partying at some frat or a house party?" They tell me it's lonely or anti-social. I believe none of that for one minute for two very simple reasons. One: I do it with my friends. The same people I would be partying with are sitting in line right next to me. Some arrive earlier than others, but we all get there eventually. Two: I love the game. The team. The atmosphere. It can't be beat.
I have been very privileged when it has come to Husky Basketball whereas football has been more down than up during my time at UDub. I first came to UDub for the 2008-2009 season and didn't follow the team much before that. I would watch games on television here and there in the previous years, but I had no emotional investment in the team. This quickly changed thanks to a spare ticket a friend had.
In High School I never attended any of the sporting events for several reasons that do not need to be dictated here as they are neither relevant nor important. All that matters is that attitude transferred over during my first year of college. I watched every football game on T.V., but did not buy season tickets my freshman year. I suffered through every disappointing loss, including the BYU and Apple Cup games. This culminated in me not buying basketball tickets as well. I didn't follow the basketball team as closely as football, mainly due to my school schedule which included labs at 6:30 to 9:30pm on Thursday evenings.
One day I got a call from my friend, Scott Alspach who has contributed a bit to my blog and the inspiration behind it, asking if I wanted to attend the Arizona State game as he had a spare Dawg Pack ticket from a friend who couldn't attend. I figured it could be a good time and I would at least get to hang out with my friends. So four hours before game time I met up with my friends at McMahon and we headed down to the line. We stood in what was to be the usual spot for me that year, somewhere near the steps leading up to Hec Ed from the Graves building. Jim came buy, tore my ticket and slapped a wristband on me about two hours pregame per usual and I waited patiently and anxiously, not knowing what awaited me. As some of you may know the game ended up with a 73-70 victory in overtime. It was ridiculous. My friends and I ended up sitting in the back left of the Dawg Pack, which unfortunately is now a weak section, but that season and that game the crowd was roaring no matter where you sat. I quickly learned the chants after a few times through and found myself jumping and yelling like everyone else. After the game I knew I was addicted and had to get to the rest of the games somehow. I bought regular tickets for the Seattle U game and the Wazzu game and missed out on the Arizona game as the tickets were already sold out. March 7th showed up. I woke up around 4am to get ready to head down to Hec Ed where UDub would be playing against Wazzu to clinch the Pac-10 title outright for the first time in 50 years. It was snowing when I left and the temperature stayed sub-freezing the entire 8 hours I was in line. I naively thought 8 hours would be enough to be near the front of the line. I found myself on the back side of the Graves building as there were around 20 tents pitched from the front of Hec Ed down across the road and stretching along Graves. I sat there in the numbing cold for 8 hours and by god, it was worth every frozen minute. Jim came by, tearing tickets and putting on bands as always. I didn't get one because I had a regular student ticket, but I was not concerned. As with the Seattle U game I would be sneaking into the Dawg Pack using old wrist bands from past seasons the older students had. A few hours later I was standing on the court cheering, screaming, and celebrating with 10,000 other people (minus the cougar fans of course) as UDub cut down the nets. That night we gathered in McMahon with about 8 or 10 people and few cases of brew and set out on a night that has forever been labeled "Pac-10 Night." It resulted in everyone drinking far too much and paying the consequences for it. The next morning I vowed I would never miss another football or basketball game during my student tenure at the University of Washington. I've stayed true to my word and I can't recall missing a single game the past two seasons, minus the first football victory in what was something like 20 games against Idaho in 2009 when I had to attend my cousins wedding up in Port Angeles and the actual game itself when Game Day came to town during the 09-10 season, more on this later.
Before I knew it, it was time to order football tickets and the first day I could purchase said tickets I was up at 8am to be one of the first to order. I figured sales would be slow considering UW's football program had just finished an 0-12 season highlighted by blowing a 10-0 lead against the Cougars, including a missed field goal that would have won the game in regulation. The tickets were ordered and I found myself in Husky Stadium a few weeks later for the home and season opener against LSU. I enjoyed my first experience with tailgating and had a Hurricane too many and found myself high fiving everyone in sight wearing purple, which including one sneaky LSU fan who took advantage of my current state. My hand felt dirty. A 5-7 was the final result and it could have been 8-4 had we performed better in a few instances, but 0-12 to 5-7 is not a bad thing at all. Rushing the field after beating #3 USC in the final seconds with a field goal was amazing. I bought the shirt the day it came out. I wear it for every USC game.
Not long after football started, basketball tickets went on sale and I again awoke early to secure the forbidden treasure that was season Dawg Pack tickets. I succeeded in purchasing the tickets and so began my first year as a full fledged member of the basketball crew.
Two nights stand out that season.
The first night was Game Day coming to UW for senior night against UCLA. It was the be Quincy Pondexter's last home game and man was I bummed about that. As I said above, I actually ended up missing the game and I'll detail how that came to be.
Game Day was on Saturday so naturally I planned to camp out starting Thursday. That's when I realized we played USC on Thursday as well, so it was going to be tricky. We arranged for our good friend to come down about 30 minutes before the end of the USC game to bring a tent and get a good place in line for us. What went down next was ridiculous. UW lost a nail biter to USC by the 3 and the bitterness was surely felt as students left Hec Ed. Now, it is important to note that one particular group of students who were mostly seniors had been the first one to every game this season and first by quite a bit. They camped out just about every home game to my recollection and were the core of the Pack that year. They came out to find a group of 5 or 6 students who had outright skipped the USC game to wait for game day. The result was two hours of arguing over who should be first in line to get into not only the game, but Game Day itself. The police were called to resolve and mediate the matter and threatened to kick everyone out if more trouble was caused. The two groups negotiated for a while and a deal was made, which does not need to be detailed. After the dramatic night, people settled in, had a few drinks, talked sports, stats, and everything in between and slept the drama away. The next day people were in and out as class came and went. As night came, a large spot light was brought out to the front of Hec Ed. The maintenance crew turned it on, checked that everything was in working order, turned it off, and went home after erecting a small "fence" around the light consisting of the waste high dividers used to normally separate the lines going into Hec Ed. Not 10 minutes after they had left, a student hopped the fence, switched the lights on, and the party began. Some one had rented two speakers and connected them to the power supply the Sports department always gave to those camping out. A laptop with Husky Nation and other party tunes was hooked up to said speakers and a dance party broke out. About an hour later, Harry the Husky, the cheer leading team, and part of the Husky Marching Band showed up and played songs and danced for the next hour or so. It was brilliant. After they left the dance party continued. One kid did a fake break dance routine and crushed a can beneath his foot. This lead to my roommate, hailing from Bosnia on exchange for the year, doing a reverse worm and crushing a can with his back. He then climbed on top of the bridge and started chants. A big screen was hauled out and a video of Rece Davis of ESPN was played. Rece called out the Dawg Pack saying he expected a big showing. There was booing, yelling, and inspirational speeches around. Around 2 or 3am a few police showed up to check ID's and make sure things were not getting out of hand. People scattered back to their tents and the lights remained on all night. The next morning we awoke in a haze of too many beverages and a lack of sleep. Game Day started at 9am Eastern time which meant 6am out here on the West Coast. In turn this meant we had to be up at 4am to put our tents away and shuffle into Hec-Ed. I didn't sleep one wink that night ad had probably 3 or 4 hours the night before. The next morning, around 5am when we were filing into Hec Ed, maintenance came out to turn the spot light on. At some point in the night the lights had died. This was likely due to all of the gas having been burnt up, fueling our all night party. We watched in silent snickers as they twiddle nobs, checked power connections, and struggled to determine what was going on. I don't think they ever fixed it and luckily we had remembered to remove the makeshift Batman sign my Bosnian roommate had attempted to paste onto the light. After an intense few hours of Game Day yelling, cheering, and coordination with the program, the student section found ourselves in the small gym connected to Hec Ed where we were to stay until game time several hours later. We tried to sleep on the hardwood floors, but between the noise and people trying to play basketball on the other end, it was pretty pointless. Around noon, Marketing brought us food. Pizza and Fried Chicken. The chicken was the uppercut to my time. About 20 minutes after consuming the food I felt sicker than I had ever felt. I missed over two weeks of high school due to a mono like virus and this was worse. The stuffy air filled with the B.O. of several hundred students several days without showers, too many farts and burps to even think about, plus more carbon dioxide than several large trees could deal with due to a tight space with no ventilation meant I was in a world of hurt. I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy the game in this state so I left my ticket and wristband number with my Bosnian roommate and I struggled back to Stevens Court where I flopped onto my air mattress, unable and unwilling to climb into my bunk. I turned on ESPN and drank about a gallon of water before the game even started. I'm sad I missed the game, it would have been a great experience, but the two nights before were worth it in my books. Quincy opened the game with a 3 pointer, wiped his brow in mock, and probably real, relief and went on to dominate the game, which included a Top 10 worthy windmill dunk.
The second night was the Pac-10 tournament championship game night. Due to their poor road performance for most of the season, UW needed to win at least two games in the tournament, if not win it all, to secure a berth the NCAA tournament. As any Husky fan knows the game was a back and forth battle of the ages. It is in my top 5 favorite games of all time. Neither team led by much throughout the game and in the end UW sealed the win with what was a strange sequence of events, at least in my mind. Jerome Randle, the "Pac-10 POY" (complete B.S. I could write 5 pages on how much crap it is that Pondexter didn't get the award, but I digress....), was dropping bombs all night long. UW led by 3 points with only 20 seconds to go. Pondexter had the ball when Nikola Knezevic, a no namer I don't even remember, stole the ball. California calls a time out with 10 on the clock. The last shot is going to be taken by Randle, no doubt about it. The only question was who would defend him. Would it be Isaiah Thomas? He had been successful throughout the night with two steals. Venoy Overton, the defensive specialist? No, it was Elston Turner. Elston Can't-Make-A-Damn-Free-Throw Turner. Elston The-Three_Point-Specialist Turner. What in god's name is happening? Then, chaos. Elston tips the ball away somehow with 5 seconds to go, but then is called with a nonsense foul. It was a loose ball, no foul should have been called. Either way, Randle was to head to the line for a pair of shots. He sinks the first and my heart drops a little. I know he will go for the intentional miss on the next one. Everyone in the apartment is freaking out. I am literally on my knees, hands on my head about to tear my hair out. Randle misses, UW gets the rebound. A pair of fouls ensure and Venoy Overton heads to the line where he coolly sinks two free throws to seal the game 79-75. My apartment erupts. The girls living below hate us more with every stomp and yell. We do not care. 10 minutes later we are still reveling in the victory, amazed at how we got there. A quick run to Safeway was made and another fantastic night of celebrating began. We ended up in the Sweet 16, during which time Joe Lunardi probably received thousands of emails from the Husky faithful who trashed him and his east coast bias for doubting our abilities against Marquette. I was in Arizona without a T.V. for the Marquette game and had to endure the 15 point deficit and ensuing comeback via text. As soon as I had internet access I watched the game and it joined the Pac-10 championship game in my top 5. Quincy, I will love you forever for that shot. What a beast.
The season was over far too early, but I managed between intramural games and Husky softball. Football returned again in the fall and I found myself a few rows behind the band as was custom for my group of friends. We saw our first winning season in 10 years as well as the first bowl game in close to 10 years and the first bowl WIN in 10 years. Beating USC with a second last second field goal on their own turf was awesome in its own right.
Husky Basketball returned the same day UW Football was to face #1 Oregon in Eugene. Many fans attended the football game instead of the exhibition match against St. Martin's. It almost ended up being a good decision as UW fought with the Ducks for quite sometime before getting squashed.
2010-2011 had its own series of fantastic nights and memories. I distinctly remember three nights as standing out.
The first night was camping out for the Arizona State game. Coming in with a fresh victory over then ranked Arizona, emotions were high and everyone felt great. We stayed up late, had a few select drinks, made signs, talked sports for hours on end, and started a touch football game on the concrete. This led to my roommate getting smashed into the bushes by one of our small, female friends, as well as a broken (?) foot after slipping on the concrete, a few scraps and bruises and a great time in general. It was a great bonding night and was when I really got to know these people really well and they have been great friends ever since. Before the game MBA talked with a friend of mine whom I had had a conversion with on a tagged picture of him on Facebook. He laughed about it and said don't do that on his pictures because he gets 30 some notifications and it annoys him.
The second night is probably one of my favorite college memories. It is better than the two days partying and camping out for game Day. Better than celebrating any of the Pac-10 titles. One of my friends had bought a date with Justin Holiday from a date auction, held by Greek Row if I remember correctly. He was awesome and brought he a pair of signed shoes from his High School days and was all around a cool person from what I was told. She would text him good luck before games and he was always kind enough to respond. Sure, she was on the practice squad for the women's team and is a cute, little blonde girl, but it is still somewhat amazing that he would always find time to message her back and thank her for her support. So senior night rolled around and we had set up camp about 36 or 40 hours prior to game time, per usual. The same friend had talked with Justin about getting some of the guys, namely the seniors, to come to the camp out on Friday night before the game to talk and hang out with us. It would be a great experience as not only would it be the seniors last game at home and a great opportunity for us, the fans, to thank the seniors for their hard work, but a chance for the senior Dawg Pack members to interact closely, one last time, with the basketball squad. Justin managed to wrangled in Darnell Gant and asked if that would be OK. She of course said yes and so we waited a few hours. Around 11pm Justin and Darnell roll in with about 20 other people who turned out to be their family and friends. Amongst those 20 people was also Abdul Gaddy, who snuck his way in like a ninja somehow on his bum knee. I did a double take because he was so quiet and unassuming. Now, I consider myself a fairly tall guy at 6-2 to 6-3, but Abdul Gaddy, who is listed at 6-4, was several inches taller than myself. Justin and Darnell might as well have been giants. So the players came into our little Romarville and signed our posters, hung out, talked, shook hands, and gave out hugs for 15 or 20 minutes. Then one of them got a hold of my iPod docking station and an impromptu dance party broke out once more, though this one was a bit more sober and involved a lot more dancing talent. Darnell, Justin, and their families danced and sang with us for another 20 or 30 minutes before they started to head out. Abdul was forced to watch as he had just had his ACL repaired a few months before and was in no condition to be doing anything besides the Dougie head rub. Before they left, Justin and Darnell made sure to shake every guy's hand and gave every girl a hug. Justin asked to make sure they had interacted with everyone and they thanked us all one last time before heading home for some rest. It was the most humble and honest I had seen a group of athletes behave since...ever, really. Out of the 11 active players (13 if you count Desmond Simmons and Tyreese Breshers) on the UW roster, only those 3 opted to come out and mingle with the fans. It is an act of kindness I will never forget and it made the night truly memorable, even if they did go on to lose to USC the next day. I had a Darnell sign one of my posters and pinned it up on my wall the rest of the year. I've been meaning to dig it out of the box to put on my wall at home while I'm away for the summer. I am not one to try and get things signed, but I wanted something from this night because I knew it would mean more than an average signature. The player was there. I talked with him. Shook hands with him. Sat down next to him and listened to his stories. That signature tells a story to me and it's one I'll cherish for a long time.
The final night of the season is one I'm sure every Husky fan remembers as if it was yesterday. The Pac-10 tournament championship game against regular season title holder, Arizona. After splitting the series due to a questionable block/goaltend call in Arizona, UW and its fans were looking for not only a guaranteed trip to the big dance, but vengeance as well. About 10 people came over for what was sure to be a thrill ride. Boy, what a game. UW got up early, only to relinquish the lead in the last few minutes. UW was down by 4 points with a minute a some change to go. MBA rebounded the ball with a minute to go. Isaiah brought the ball up. It worked its way around to C.J. Wilcox who bricked one without hitting the rim. I.T. rebounded near half court. Took a few dribbles in and pulled up to drain the first of two in 'Momo' Jones' face to put UW within 1. Sadness was quickly being replaced with hope as my apartment erupted as the shot swished on through. This joy was quickly killed as Derrick Williams dropped an AND1 with 27 on the clock. Isaiah brought the ball up once more, drove the lane, and kicked it out to an open Terrance Ross who drilled one from range to put UW within 1 point once more. More cheers, more hope, more anxiety, more adrenaline, more Husky Basketball. I.T. fouled Momo with 14 on the clock. At this point, I.T. now has 4 fouls and has played all but a minute in the tournament. Clearly out of breath he heads towards half court while Momo sinks a pair of free throws without a single Arizona player under the basket in case of a miss. Arizona up 3 with 14 seconds to go. Our apartment is quiet, we whisper to one another about how we can pull this off. Do we drive for two and hope for a foul? Do we try another three? 14 seconds is a lot. Time enough for a 2 pointer and foul Arizona one more time before a last second shot, but we have no timeouts. Instead, I.T. drives the lane again, kicks it out to the left wing this time. C.J. Wilcox is waiting and open. He shoots with 7 to go. Momo tries to stretch out for it, but to no avail. Boom! He drains it with 5.7 remaining. The apartment is hysteric, but we know there is time for Arizona to get off one last shot. Arizona uses its final time out. I start to pace back and forth. I stood on the couch. Crouched on the floor. Said a prayer to whoever would answer it. Momo came out of the time out, dribble down court and threw up a runner that rattled out as time expired. Overtime. For the first time in tournament history. Dear God. I have to endure 5 more minutes of insanity. Screw the 2010 championship game, this is the game for the ages. MBA and Aziz both have 4 fouls. Arizona is clear of foul trouble coming into overtime. Terrence Ross hits a fade away Ala Brandon Roy early on. Wilcox double clutches a shot less than a minute later. MBA fouls on a weak call that causes Romar to nearly takes his jacket off. A great time spending possession happens for UW, two rebounds means three opportunities, but not fall through the nets. Wilcox gets called for an offensive foul with a minute to go and UW up only 1. Parrom misses, Holiday rebounds to I.T., I.T. sees C.J. open down court and throws a chest pass over half the length of the court (try it, its hard as hell). C.J. Throws down a HUGE jam to put UW up 3. Hopes are high until Arizona tries to one-up UW as Parrom drains a monster 3 pointer to tie the game. Then began Gus Johnson's call. Shot clock turned off! Game clock at 8! He's guna do it himself! Thomas! Shake! Cross Over! Step Baaack! ......................................................GGGGGAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! AT THE BUZZER! YUNG ZEKE! AND WASHINGTON! WINS IT! ON A LAST SECOND J! COLLLLLDDDD BLOOOODED!
We didn't even hear the last part of the call until 10 minutes later after we stopped yelling, screaming, cheering, hugging, celebrating, and disbelieving what just happened. That was the single greatest shot ever in the history of the program. The backboard literally lit up as the ball went through the net. Could you plan it any better? No, you couldn't.
And this, my friends, is why I love this team. It is because of my friends, the players, and the sport that I stress out months at a time, wait for hours and even days in line, all for 40 measly minutes of game time.
The Dawg Pack and Husky Basketball have turned a good time in college into a great time. My favorite memories have occurred during the season and the off season has included many hours debated and discussing the team with fellow enthusiasts.
Its 5:30 am. I have to wake up in a few hours to get ready for a full shift at work. I was planning on getting up at 10, but noon is much more likely now. This means I'll miss the sunshine, but it's worth it because Husky Basketball is what I live for.
Go Dawgs
I have been very privileged when it has come to Husky Basketball whereas football has been more down than up during my time at UDub. I first came to UDub for the 2008-2009 season and didn't follow the team much before that. I would watch games on television here and there in the previous years, but I had no emotional investment in the team. This quickly changed thanks to a spare ticket a friend had.
In High School I never attended any of the sporting events for several reasons that do not need to be dictated here as they are neither relevant nor important. All that matters is that attitude transferred over during my first year of college. I watched every football game on T.V., but did not buy season tickets my freshman year. I suffered through every disappointing loss, including the BYU and Apple Cup games. This culminated in me not buying basketball tickets as well. I didn't follow the basketball team as closely as football, mainly due to my school schedule which included labs at 6:30 to 9:30pm on Thursday evenings.
One day I got a call from my friend, Scott Alspach who has contributed a bit to my blog and the inspiration behind it, asking if I wanted to attend the Arizona State game as he had a spare Dawg Pack ticket from a friend who couldn't attend. I figured it could be a good time and I would at least get to hang out with my friends. So four hours before game time I met up with my friends at McMahon and we headed down to the line. We stood in what was to be the usual spot for me that year, somewhere near the steps leading up to Hec Ed from the Graves building. Jim came buy, tore my ticket and slapped a wristband on me about two hours pregame per usual and I waited patiently and anxiously, not knowing what awaited me. As some of you may know the game ended up with a 73-70 victory in overtime. It was ridiculous. My friends and I ended up sitting in the back left of the Dawg Pack, which unfortunately is now a weak section, but that season and that game the crowd was roaring no matter where you sat. I quickly learned the chants after a few times through and found myself jumping and yelling like everyone else. After the game I knew I was addicted and had to get to the rest of the games somehow. I bought regular tickets for the Seattle U game and the Wazzu game and missed out on the Arizona game as the tickets were already sold out. March 7th showed up. I woke up around 4am to get ready to head down to Hec Ed where UDub would be playing against Wazzu to clinch the Pac-10 title outright for the first time in 50 years. It was snowing when I left and the temperature stayed sub-freezing the entire 8 hours I was in line. I naively thought 8 hours would be enough to be near the front of the line. I found myself on the back side of the Graves building as there were around 20 tents pitched from the front of Hec Ed down across the road and stretching along Graves. I sat there in the numbing cold for 8 hours and by god, it was worth every frozen minute. Jim came by, tearing tickets and putting on bands as always. I didn't get one because I had a regular student ticket, but I was not concerned. As with the Seattle U game I would be sneaking into the Dawg Pack using old wrist bands from past seasons the older students had. A few hours later I was standing on the court cheering, screaming, and celebrating with 10,000 other people (minus the cougar fans of course) as UDub cut down the nets. That night we gathered in McMahon with about 8 or 10 people and few cases of brew and set out on a night that has forever been labeled "Pac-10 Night." It resulted in everyone drinking far too much and paying the consequences for it. The next morning I vowed I would never miss another football or basketball game during my student tenure at the University of Washington. I've stayed true to my word and I can't recall missing a single game the past two seasons, minus the first football victory in what was something like 20 games against Idaho in 2009 when I had to attend my cousins wedding up in Port Angeles and the actual game itself when Game Day came to town during the 09-10 season, more on this later.
Before I knew it, it was time to order football tickets and the first day I could purchase said tickets I was up at 8am to be one of the first to order. I figured sales would be slow considering UW's football program had just finished an 0-12 season highlighted by blowing a 10-0 lead against the Cougars, including a missed field goal that would have won the game in regulation. The tickets were ordered and I found myself in Husky Stadium a few weeks later for the home and season opener against LSU. I enjoyed my first experience with tailgating and had a Hurricane too many and found myself high fiving everyone in sight wearing purple, which including one sneaky LSU fan who took advantage of my current state. My hand felt dirty. A 5-7 was the final result and it could have been 8-4 had we performed better in a few instances, but 0-12 to 5-7 is not a bad thing at all. Rushing the field after beating #3 USC in the final seconds with a field goal was amazing. I bought the shirt the day it came out. I wear it for every USC game.
Not long after football started, basketball tickets went on sale and I again awoke early to secure the forbidden treasure that was season Dawg Pack tickets. I succeeded in purchasing the tickets and so began my first year as a full fledged member of the basketball crew.
Two nights stand out that season.
The first night was Game Day coming to UW for senior night against UCLA. It was the be Quincy Pondexter's last home game and man was I bummed about that. As I said above, I actually ended up missing the game and I'll detail how that came to be.
Game Day was on Saturday so naturally I planned to camp out starting Thursday. That's when I realized we played USC on Thursday as well, so it was going to be tricky. We arranged for our good friend to come down about 30 minutes before the end of the USC game to bring a tent and get a good place in line for us. What went down next was ridiculous. UW lost a nail biter to USC by the 3 and the bitterness was surely felt as students left Hec Ed. Now, it is important to note that one particular group of students who were mostly seniors had been the first one to every game this season and first by quite a bit. They camped out just about every home game to my recollection and were the core of the Pack that year. They came out to find a group of 5 or 6 students who had outright skipped the USC game to wait for game day. The result was two hours of arguing over who should be first in line to get into not only the game, but Game Day itself. The police were called to resolve and mediate the matter and threatened to kick everyone out if more trouble was caused. The two groups negotiated for a while and a deal was made, which does not need to be detailed. After the dramatic night, people settled in, had a few drinks, talked sports, stats, and everything in between and slept the drama away. The next day people were in and out as class came and went. As night came, a large spot light was brought out to the front of Hec Ed. The maintenance crew turned it on, checked that everything was in working order, turned it off, and went home after erecting a small "fence" around the light consisting of the waste high dividers used to normally separate the lines going into Hec Ed. Not 10 minutes after they had left, a student hopped the fence, switched the lights on, and the party began. Some one had rented two speakers and connected them to the power supply the Sports department always gave to those camping out. A laptop with Husky Nation and other party tunes was hooked up to said speakers and a dance party broke out. About an hour later, Harry the Husky, the cheer leading team, and part of the Husky Marching Band showed up and played songs and danced for the next hour or so. It was brilliant. After they left the dance party continued. One kid did a fake break dance routine and crushed a can beneath his foot. This lead to my roommate, hailing from Bosnia on exchange for the year, doing a reverse worm and crushing a can with his back. He then climbed on top of the bridge and started chants. A big screen was hauled out and a video of Rece Davis of ESPN was played. Rece called out the Dawg Pack saying he expected a big showing. There was booing, yelling, and inspirational speeches around. Around 2 or 3am a few police showed up to check ID's and make sure things were not getting out of hand. People scattered back to their tents and the lights remained on all night. The next morning we awoke in a haze of too many beverages and a lack of sleep. Game Day started at 9am Eastern time which meant 6am out here on the West Coast. In turn this meant we had to be up at 4am to put our tents away and shuffle into Hec-Ed. I didn't sleep one wink that night ad had probably 3 or 4 hours the night before. The next morning, around 5am when we were filing into Hec Ed, maintenance came out to turn the spot light on. At some point in the night the lights had died. This was likely due to all of the gas having been burnt up, fueling our all night party. We watched in silent snickers as they twiddle nobs, checked power connections, and struggled to determine what was going on. I don't think they ever fixed it and luckily we had remembered to remove the makeshift Batman sign my Bosnian roommate had attempted to paste onto the light. After an intense few hours of Game Day yelling, cheering, and coordination with the program, the student section found ourselves in the small gym connected to Hec Ed where we were to stay until game time several hours later. We tried to sleep on the hardwood floors, but between the noise and people trying to play basketball on the other end, it was pretty pointless. Around noon, Marketing brought us food. Pizza and Fried Chicken. The chicken was the uppercut to my time. About 20 minutes after consuming the food I felt sicker than I had ever felt. I missed over two weeks of high school due to a mono like virus and this was worse. The stuffy air filled with the B.O. of several hundred students several days without showers, too many farts and burps to even think about, plus more carbon dioxide than several large trees could deal with due to a tight space with no ventilation meant I was in a world of hurt. I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy the game in this state so I left my ticket and wristband number with my Bosnian roommate and I struggled back to Stevens Court where I flopped onto my air mattress, unable and unwilling to climb into my bunk. I turned on ESPN and drank about a gallon of water before the game even started. I'm sad I missed the game, it would have been a great experience, but the two nights before were worth it in my books. Quincy opened the game with a 3 pointer, wiped his brow in mock, and probably real, relief and went on to dominate the game, which included a Top 10 worthy windmill dunk.
The second night was the Pac-10 tournament championship game night. Due to their poor road performance for most of the season, UW needed to win at least two games in the tournament, if not win it all, to secure a berth the NCAA tournament. As any Husky fan knows the game was a back and forth battle of the ages. It is in my top 5 favorite games of all time. Neither team led by much throughout the game and in the end UW sealed the win with what was a strange sequence of events, at least in my mind. Jerome Randle, the "Pac-10 POY" (complete B.S. I could write 5 pages on how much crap it is that Pondexter didn't get the award, but I digress....), was dropping bombs all night long. UW led by 3 points with only 20 seconds to go. Pondexter had the ball when Nikola Knezevic, a no namer I don't even remember, stole the ball. California calls a time out with 10 on the clock. The last shot is going to be taken by Randle, no doubt about it. The only question was who would defend him. Would it be Isaiah Thomas? He had been successful throughout the night with two steals. Venoy Overton, the defensive specialist? No, it was Elston Turner. Elston Can't-Make-A-Damn-Free-Throw Turner. Elston The-Three_Point-Specialist Turner. What in god's name is happening? Then, chaos. Elston tips the ball away somehow with 5 seconds to go, but then is called with a nonsense foul. It was a loose ball, no foul should have been called. Either way, Randle was to head to the line for a pair of shots. He sinks the first and my heart drops a little. I know he will go for the intentional miss on the next one. Everyone in the apartment is freaking out. I am literally on my knees, hands on my head about to tear my hair out. Randle misses, UW gets the rebound. A pair of fouls ensure and Venoy Overton heads to the line where he coolly sinks two free throws to seal the game 79-75. My apartment erupts. The girls living below hate us more with every stomp and yell. We do not care. 10 minutes later we are still reveling in the victory, amazed at how we got there. A quick run to Safeway was made and another fantastic night of celebrating began. We ended up in the Sweet 16, during which time Joe Lunardi probably received thousands of emails from the Husky faithful who trashed him and his east coast bias for doubting our abilities against Marquette. I was in Arizona without a T.V. for the Marquette game and had to endure the 15 point deficit and ensuing comeback via text. As soon as I had internet access I watched the game and it joined the Pac-10 championship game in my top 5. Quincy, I will love you forever for that shot. What a beast.
The season was over far too early, but I managed between intramural games and Husky softball. Football returned again in the fall and I found myself a few rows behind the band as was custom for my group of friends. We saw our first winning season in 10 years as well as the first bowl game in close to 10 years and the first bowl WIN in 10 years. Beating USC with a second last second field goal on their own turf was awesome in its own right.
Husky Basketball returned the same day UW Football was to face #1 Oregon in Eugene. Many fans attended the football game instead of the exhibition match against St. Martin's. It almost ended up being a good decision as UW fought with the Ducks for quite sometime before getting squashed.
2010-2011 had its own series of fantastic nights and memories. I distinctly remember three nights as standing out.
The first night was camping out for the Arizona State game. Coming in with a fresh victory over then ranked Arizona, emotions were high and everyone felt great. We stayed up late, had a few select drinks, made signs, talked sports for hours on end, and started a touch football game on the concrete. This led to my roommate getting smashed into the bushes by one of our small, female friends, as well as a broken (?) foot after slipping on the concrete, a few scraps and bruises and a great time in general. It was a great bonding night and was when I really got to know these people really well and they have been great friends ever since. Before the game MBA talked with a friend of mine whom I had had a conversion with on a tagged picture of him on Facebook. He laughed about it and said don't do that on his pictures because he gets 30 some notifications and it annoys him.
The second night is probably one of my favorite college memories. It is better than the two days partying and camping out for game Day. Better than celebrating any of the Pac-10 titles. One of my friends had bought a date with Justin Holiday from a date auction, held by Greek Row if I remember correctly. He was awesome and brought he a pair of signed shoes from his High School days and was all around a cool person from what I was told. She would text him good luck before games and he was always kind enough to respond. Sure, she was on the practice squad for the women's team and is a cute, little blonde girl, but it is still somewhat amazing that he would always find time to message her back and thank her for her support. So senior night rolled around and we had set up camp about 36 or 40 hours prior to game time, per usual. The same friend had talked with Justin about getting some of the guys, namely the seniors, to come to the camp out on Friday night before the game to talk and hang out with us. It would be a great experience as not only would it be the seniors last game at home and a great opportunity for us, the fans, to thank the seniors for their hard work, but a chance for the senior Dawg Pack members to interact closely, one last time, with the basketball squad. Justin managed to wrangled in Darnell Gant and asked if that would be OK. She of course said yes and so we waited a few hours. Around 11pm Justin and Darnell roll in with about 20 other people who turned out to be their family and friends. Amongst those 20 people was also Abdul Gaddy, who snuck his way in like a ninja somehow on his bum knee. I did a double take because he was so quiet and unassuming. Now, I consider myself a fairly tall guy at 6-2 to 6-3, but Abdul Gaddy, who is listed at 6-4, was several inches taller than myself. Justin and Darnell might as well have been giants. So the players came into our little Romarville and signed our posters, hung out, talked, shook hands, and gave out hugs for 15 or 20 minutes. Then one of them got a hold of my iPod docking station and an impromptu dance party broke out once more, though this one was a bit more sober and involved a lot more dancing talent. Darnell, Justin, and their families danced and sang with us for another 20 or 30 minutes before they started to head out. Abdul was forced to watch as he had just had his ACL repaired a few months before and was in no condition to be doing anything besides the Dougie head rub. Before they left, Justin and Darnell made sure to shake every guy's hand and gave every girl a hug. Justin asked to make sure they had interacted with everyone and they thanked us all one last time before heading home for some rest. It was the most humble and honest I had seen a group of athletes behave since...ever, really. Out of the 11 active players (13 if you count Desmond Simmons and Tyreese Breshers) on the UW roster, only those 3 opted to come out and mingle with the fans. It is an act of kindness I will never forget and it made the night truly memorable, even if they did go on to lose to USC the next day. I had a Darnell sign one of my posters and pinned it up on my wall the rest of the year. I've been meaning to dig it out of the box to put on my wall at home while I'm away for the summer. I am not one to try and get things signed, but I wanted something from this night because I knew it would mean more than an average signature. The player was there. I talked with him. Shook hands with him. Sat down next to him and listened to his stories. That signature tells a story to me and it's one I'll cherish for a long time.
The final night of the season is one I'm sure every Husky fan remembers as if it was yesterday. The Pac-10 tournament championship game against regular season title holder, Arizona. After splitting the series due to a questionable block/goaltend call in Arizona, UW and its fans were looking for not only a guaranteed trip to the big dance, but vengeance as well. About 10 people came over for what was sure to be a thrill ride. Boy, what a game. UW got up early, only to relinquish the lead in the last few minutes. UW was down by 4 points with a minute a some change to go. MBA rebounded the ball with a minute to go. Isaiah brought the ball up. It worked its way around to C.J. Wilcox who bricked one without hitting the rim. I.T. rebounded near half court. Took a few dribbles in and pulled up to drain the first of two in 'Momo' Jones' face to put UW within 1. Sadness was quickly being replaced with hope as my apartment erupted as the shot swished on through. This joy was quickly killed as Derrick Williams dropped an AND1 with 27 on the clock. Isaiah brought the ball up once more, drove the lane, and kicked it out to an open Terrance Ross who drilled one from range to put UW within 1 point once more. More cheers, more hope, more anxiety, more adrenaline, more Husky Basketball. I.T. fouled Momo with 14 on the clock. At this point, I.T. now has 4 fouls and has played all but a minute in the tournament. Clearly out of breath he heads towards half court while Momo sinks a pair of free throws without a single Arizona player under the basket in case of a miss. Arizona up 3 with 14 seconds to go. Our apartment is quiet, we whisper to one another about how we can pull this off. Do we drive for two and hope for a foul? Do we try another three? 14 seconds is a lot. Time enough for a 2 pointer and foul Arizona one more time before a last second shot, but we have no timeouts. Instead, I.T. drives the lane again, kicks it out to the left wing this time. C.J. Wilcox is waiting and open. He shoots with 7 to go. Momo tries to stretch out for it, but to no avail. Boom! He drains it with 5.7 remaining. The apartment is hysteric, but we know there is time for Arizona to get off one last shot. Arizona uses its final time out. I start to pace back and forth. I stood on the couch. Crouched on the floor. Said a prayer to whoever would answer it. Momo came out of the time out, dribble down court and threw up a runner that rattled out as time expired. Overtime. For the first time in tournament history. Dear God. I have to endure 5 more minutes of insanity. Screw the 2010 championship game, this is the game for the ages. MBA and Aziz both have 4 fouls. Arizona is clear of foul trouble coming into overtime. Terrence Ross hits a fade away Ala Brandon Roy early on. Wilcox double clutches a shot less than a minute later. MBA fouls on a weak call that causes Romar to nearly takes his jacket off. A great time spending possession happens for UW, two rebounds means three opportunities, but not fall through the nets. Wilcox gets called for an offensive foul with a minute to go and UW up only 1. Parrom misses, Holiday rebounds to I.T., I.T. sees C.J. open down court and throws a chest pass over half the length of the court (try it, its hard as hell). C.J. Throws down a HUGE jam to put UW up 3. Hopes are high until Arizona tries to one-up UW as Parrom drains a monster 3 pointer to tie the game. Then began Gus Johnson's call. Shot clock turned off! Game clock at 8! He's guna do it himself! Thomas! Shake! Cross Over! Step Baaack! ......................................................GGGGGAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! AT THE BUZZER! YUNG ZEKE! AND WASHINGTON! WINS IT! ON A LAST SECOND J! COLLLLLDDDD BLOOOODED!
We didn't even hear the last part of the call until 10 minutes later after we stopped yelling, screaming, cheering, hugging, celebrating, and disbelieving what just happened. That was the single greatest shot ever in the history of the program. The backboard literally lit up as the ball went through the net. Could you plan it any better? No, you couldn't.
And this, my friends, is why I love this team. It is because of my friends, the players, and the sport that I stress out months at a time, wait for hours and even days in line, all for 40 measly minutes of game time.
The Dawg Pack and Husky Basketball have turned a good time in college into a great time. My favorite memories have occurred during the season and the off season has included many hours debated and discussing the team with fellow enthusiasts.
Its 5:30 am. I have to wake up in a few hours to get ready for a full shift at work. I was planning on getting up at 10, but noon is much more likely now. This means I'll miss the sunshine, but it's worth it because Husky Basketball is what I live for.
Go Dawgs
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Darnell Gant Injured?
I've heard from a reliable source that Darnell Gant may have a torn meniscus.
This is a tweet from his twitter
"Please God make it better ma team needs me !!!! Please #serious prayer"
Not good news. This could be the dagger that does us in.
Keep your fingers crossed Husky Nation.
*EDIT* Darnell Gant has tweeted that he is not injured. Breathe Easy Huskies
This is a tweet from his twitter
"Please God make it better ma team needs me !!!! Please #serious prayer"
Not good news. This could be the dagger that does us in.
Keep your fingers crossed Husky Nation.
*EDIT* Darnell Gant has tweeted that he is not injured. Breathe Easy Huskies
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Washington Basketball Player by Player Preview-The Juniors
Juniors:
Isaiah Thomas G 5-9 185lb
Just the Facts
All Pac-10 First Team, Athletes in Action MVP, Pac-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Highest returning scorer, averaging 16.9 points a game. He is 26th on the all time UW scoring list, though he leads the two year scoring list, having amassed 1,134 points since he began his freshman campaign. He is on track to take the number one spot should his offensive skills continue to grace the hardwood. He has scored 10 or more points in 59 of his 69 games, an impressive feat by any player. He is currently on the preseason list for the Wooden Award. He is Co-Captain along side Justin Holiday. Shot .732 from the free throw line last year.
The Spin
The most exciting player to be returning this year. He will be the core around which the Husky backcourt will form. He is a vocal leader, with a lot of confidence and an equally large ego. This ego hindered his performance mid season during which time he received criticism from journalists and fans alike. His return to stardom began with his increased assists stats. By getting others involved he created more opportunities for himself. He also developed into a defensive threat holding Jeremy Green and Jerome Randle to a combined total of 12 points. Jeremey and Jerome were the leagues leading scorers at the time. His signature salute and OK monocle after threes have become a fan favorite and a team feature that brings them together, increasing moral and driving the team to compete even harder. Just as Quincy Pondexter stepped up to replace the offensive and defensive eforts of Jon Brockman, expect Isaiah Thomas to increase his already impressive point per game average in order to offset the loss of Quincy.
I’m predicting 19 to 20 points a game, though the number could be much higher as he already has 18 career 20+ point games. The key to him getting 20+ points a game will be the other Husky backcourt members. If Overton, Gaddy, Holiday, and others can show themselves to be scoring threats, Isaiah will find more room to operate in as teams will not be able to afford to double team him and leave our guards and wings open on the perimeter. While he only averaged a little over 1 steal per game last year, he posted a career high 5 against Seattle University and I expect to see similar numbers from him on the defensive end. He is another player who could manage close to 2 steals a game. Rebound wise, he will most likely average around 4 a game as he did last year, a respectable number from an undersized guard. My Pac-10 Player of the Year, barring some 20+ pt, 10+ rebound effort from Derrick Williams. If Isaiah can find himself averaging 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 or 5 assists, and 1 to 2 steals a game, the title is his. No doubt in my mind that he will have another successful year, just how good is yet to be seen, but the development of his 3 ball towards the seasons end is a good sign of things to come. He has played through a bone spur in his toe and a broken bone in his shooting hand, another tough player whose competitive nature will not let this season slip away from them.
I’m predicting 19 to 20 points a game, though the number could be much higher as he already has 18 career 20+ point games. The key to him getting 20+ points a game will be the other Husky backcourt members. If Overton, Gaddy, Holiday, and others can show themselves to be scoring threats, Isaiah will find more room to operate in as teams will not be able to afford to double team him and leave our guards and wings open on the perimeter. While he only averaged a little over 1 steal per game last year, he posted a career high 5 against Seattle University and I expect to see similar numbers from him on the defensive end. He is another player who could manage close to 2 steals a game. Rebound wise, he will most likely average around 4 a game as he did last year, a respectable number from an undersized guard. My Pac-10 Player of the Year, barring some 20+ pt, 10+ rebound effort from Derrick Williams. If Isaiah can find himself averaging 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 or 5 assists, and 1 to 2 steals a game, the title is his. No doubt in my mind that he will have another successful year, just how good is yet to be seen, but the development of his 3 ball towards the seasons end is a good sign of things to come. He has played through a bone spur in his toe and a broken bone in his shooting hand, another tough player whose competitive nature will not let this season slip away from them.
Darnell Gant F 6-8 225lb
Just the Facts
A low scoring player whose biggest impact is on the defensive end. He averaged 3.1 points his freshman season and 2.5 points last year. His long frame allows him to guard players much taller than him. Started all but one game his freshman year and only 11 starts last year. Career high of 8 points came against Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament, 6 of which came from massive dunks on press break plays. Also had a highlight reel dunk over former California Bear, 7-3 Max Zhang.
The Spin
A possible starter again this year, due to his size and experience. He may not be an offensively minded player, but that is not a big deal as we have other scoring options we can turn to. What we really need him for is his defensive skills and space taking ability. His side line jumper can be vicious when he is open, making it almost every time in a perfect swish. He has been developing his jumper range and precision over the summer and looks to be a more competitive player on the offensive end. While I don’t expect him to post any 20 point games, I see this as the year he makes some big progress in his overall game, putting up maybe 6 or 7 points a game. What would be a better improvement is going from 2.4 rebounds a game last year up to 5 or 6 a game this year. The more rebounds we get the more opportunities we will have, ad after losing Jon Brockman we are still trying to find a rebounding replacement. It will be a team effort to replace his 10+ rebounding efforts and the 7.4 rebounding effort last year by Quincy.
He is a potential starter at the 4 position with MBA dropping down to occupy the 5. He needs to bring back the bird man hand sign after monster dunks. I see him taking a similar as he had in the 2008-2009 season. Starting the game, getting the momentum on our side using his superior defensive skills and the subbing out to a bigger offensive threat such as Scott Suggs, C.J. Wilcox, or even Terrence Ross.
He is a potential starter at the 4 position with MBA dropping down to occupy the 5. He needs to bring back the bird man hand sign after monster dunks. I see him taking a similar as he had in the 2008-2009 season. Starting the game, getting the momentum on our side using his superior defensive skills and the subbing out to a bigger offensive threat such as Scott Suggs, C.J. Wilcox, or even Terrence Ross.
Scott Suggs G 6-6 195lb
Just the Facts
Averaged 4.7 points last year as a sophomore, shooting .374 for the year behind the arc. In his last 61 attempts he has made 40 threes, approximately two thirds of his shots a definite improvement and threat from deep. Has yet to start a game, played in all but one game last year, and 18 games his freshman year. Shoots a decent .774 from the free throw line, making 24 of 31 attempts.
The Spin
Scott Suggs may find himself in a starting role this year. Romar has remarked he has really begun to develop into more than just a spot up shooter. If he is able to remain at .500 or above on his three shot, and is able to drive and dish, to score upwards of 8 points a game. It is well within his means to score 15 to 20 points given the support of his team and the development of his ball skills to create shots for himself and others. I am not sure what to expect from him as a player this year. If he becomes a force on offense I will be pleasantly surprised as it will add another layer of depth and another starting option for the Dawgs. If not, I won’t think any less of him. Putting up 5 a game is fine by me so long as he understands and fills his role on the team. Romar is known for having players step up their third year, even after sub par freshman and sophomore years.
My heart wants me to say he will put up 12 points a game, but realistically I see it being closer to 9 points a game, a rebound or two, and one assist a game. I think this pessimism comes from the terrible performance the Husky football team has been putting out and its affecting my Husky Basketball reasoning ability. He hasn’t shown himself to be dangerous on defense, which isn’t terrible so long as he does some containment and doesn’t allow the open shots. Not everyone on the team can be expected to be as proficient on D as Holiday and Overton, even Isaiah for that matter. Whether he starts or comes off the bench as the second sub, Suggs will play an integral role in this team’s tournament run and will be even more critical deep into the NCAA where bench players make and break the game. Being able to sub out and get some fresh legs that are still able to perform at that top tier is the key to winning games against tough teams.
My heart wants me to say he will put up 12 points a game, but realistically I see it being closer to 9 points a game, a rebound or two, and one assist a game. I think this pessimism comes from the terrible performance the Husky football team has been putting out and its affecting my Husky Basketball reasoning ability. He hasn’t shown himself to be dangerous on defense, which isn’t terrible so long as he does some containment and doesn’t allow the open shots. Not everyone on the team can be expected to be as proficient on D as Holiday and Overton, even Isaiah for that matter. Whether he starts or comes off the bench as the second sub, Suggs will play an integral role in this team’s tournament run and will be even more critical deep into the NCAA where bench players make and break the game. Being able to sub out and get some fresh legs that are still able to perform at that top tier is the key to winning games against tough teams.
Brendan Sherrer F 6-8 245lb
Just the Facts
Added as a walk on official a little over a year ago on November 2nd. Beofre this he was an avid member of the Dawg Pack and can be seen with full body paint supporting Jon Brockman during the upset home win over then #13 UCLA. Scored his first basket against Seattle University, the noise almost collapsed the arena and his smile was detected by Astronomers across the globe who mistook it for a super nova. He scored against 4 days later against WSU. Missed road games due to an infection mid season. Played in the NCAA tournament against New Mexico where he missed both free throw attempts. Nicknamed the “Human Victory Cigar” because he has never played in a game the Huskies have lost.
The Spin
Don’t expect Brandon to play major minutes or be a serious contributer to the Husky squad. I expect him to play in many games this year as the Huskies blow out the foolish who step out on the court with them. Has to be my favorite player on the court. He plays with a lot of heart and loves every minute he is given. Plus he loves Mario Kart 64, one of the best games of all time. Antoine Hosley should become the Victory Assistant along side Sherrer this year as the Huskies punish their way to the top of the Pac and hopefully the NCAA. As for numbers, 1 point per game, .5 rebounds and thats about it. While he is a great person, he is a walk on to a very talented team so his minutes will be few and far between and I can almost guarantee they will all be garbage time at the end of the game. Be sure to give him the love when he steps onto the court.
Post by: John
Post by: John
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