Final Score: UW-93 UP-63
Welcome back, Terrence Ross! On a night where the Huskies looked every bit as good as they were bad yesterday, Ross stole the show with lights out shooting and stellar play as the Huskies cruised to victory. The sophomore struggled in the first two games of the tournament, but came out tonight and dropped 24 points on 9-13 shooting, 6-8 from behind the arc. He couldn't miss and no one could stop him. Several times he had a defender in his face, but a smooth cross-over a la Brandon Roy was all it took for him to get a shot opportunity and a beautiful score.
The Huskies capitalized on Portland's turnovers and did what Romar talked about last night: They stepped on Portland's throats and did not let up. The bench was emptied and at the end of the game Brendan Sherrer got to the free throw line where he made both free throws and Alex Wegner drilled his only shot of the night, a 3-pointer.
Six Huskies hit double digits tonight. Ross led all players with 24, followed by C.J. Wilcox with 17, and Abdul Gaddy with 15. Aziz N'Diaye was close to another double-double with 11 points and 7 boards. N'Diaye also added a block, a steal, an assist, and 3 turnovers. He looked a much more finished offensively and the Huskies fed him throughout the game, especially in the second half. N'Diaye did take a bit of a scary foul after going up for a dunk and getting fouled. He quickly bounced back up and looked fine. N'Diaye is one solid performance away from averaging a double-double on the season. His averages are currently 9.4 points and 9 rebounds per game. If he can put up 12 points and 12 boards next week he should be averaging about 10 and 10 for the season.
C.J. Wilcox continued to shoot well, but his performance was overshadowed by Ross' absurd play of the day. Wilcox hit 3-5 from range, went 5-9 overall, and drilled all four of his free throws. He also racked up 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers proving why he deserved the Tournament MVP awarded to him. For the tournament Wilcox averaged over 19 points, nearly 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and close to 3 steals per game all while committing zero turnovers. That is an absurd stat-line. Oh, and can I add his very much appreciated 11-13 free throw shooting on the season, giving him an 85% average.
Darnell Gant came back tonight as well and looked every bit good tonight as he did on Saturday. He dropped in a very respectable 10 points, grabbed 6 boards, nabbed a steal, and turned out some very nice defense. I have to say, his shot looked mighty fine out on the court tonight. He didn't force bad shots, but did a great job of capitalizing on the opportunities he was given. He went 5 of 8 from the court tonight and maintained his season average of 10 points per game.
Tony Wroten Jr. shall hence forth be referred to as Jekyll and Hyde. He is an amazing talent on the court, but his free throw shooting is horrendous. Absolutely putrid. He went 1-7 from the charity stripe after missing his first 5 straight, bringing his season average down to 36%. He even changed up his form from the last game and shot with a softer touch, but could not find the bottom of the net with it. It was so ugly that when he finally made a shot, the crowd almost gave him a standing ovation. Other than that, Tony looked fantastic on the court. He slowed his game down half a tic and the improvement it made was immense. Wroten racked in 11 points on top of 6 assists and only 2 turnovers, including a very nice break away play with Terrence Ross. Ross knocked the ball loose and got into the open court with Wroten. Ross passed the ball to Wroten who dribbled up a bit and tossed up a lob for a beautiful and powerful two hand, half windmill jam. Wroten also did an amazing job feeding N'Diaye in the post with some slick passing.
Abdul Gaddy continued his slow and steady progression of running the floor, controlling his team, and orchestrating an efficient offense. 15 points on 6-8 shooting, 2-3 from 3 range, along with 5 assists and only 1 turnover. Just another night with Abdul Gaddy quietly showing why he was such a highly rated talent out of high school, picking up where he left off before his injury last season. I love watching Wroten sling passes around like some sort of Matrix agent, but if its a close game I want Gaddy running the offense. He is always composed and makes the smart decisions that Wroten will occasionally risk.
Martin Breunig and Hikeem Stewart were fairly quiet tonight. Breunig again committed 3 fouls and seems to be struggling with positioning on defense, which leads to said fouls. Stewart went 0-2 shooting, but did a nice job running the offense alongside Wroten in the final minutes.
Shawn Kemp and Desmond Simmons provided much needed rest time for Gant and N'Diaye, while also providing great defensive presence that contained the Portland bigs. Neither scored, but both 2 rebounds and combined for 3 of the teams 6 blocks.
What Needed Improvement:
Rebounding:
This went slightly unnoticed by me in the first half when the Huskies held only a 1 board advantage, but when the game ended, Portland finished with a 43-38 rebounding lead. The Huskies could not seem to box their men out and all too often a loose board would bobble its way into the hands of a Pilot player rather than the Huskies. Against a smaller team like the Pilots, getting out rebounded is not acceptable. While N'Diaye continued to perform well on the glass and one or two other players nabbed up 5 or 6 boards, the overall trend remains that we lack a second, consistent rebounder. Our guards are doing a decent job of getting 3-5 a night, but we need a second player getting 7 or 8 along side N'Diaye. Every extra board we grab is a 2 board swing in the final stats.
Tony Wroten's Free Throw Shooting:
To be fair, N'Diaye also struggled at the line with a 1-4 night, but N'Diaye is a 7 foot tall tank with far from soft hands, while Wroten is a 6-5 point guard who can pass like a Packer's fan with a gas problem. For having such deft hands one would think he could drop in his fair share of free throws. Hell, I'd settle for 60% from him right now, maybe even 50% if I was feeling desperate enough. When it comes down to it, one has to realize that free throws win close ball games and I can distinctly remember several very close games this past season where a single free throw could have made the difference. The number 1 game that comes to mind is the Pac-10 Championship game. UW missed every free throw in the second half. Just one made shot could have won us the game.
What Was Good:
Offensive Movement:
UW moved the ball very well tonight and found the open man quite often. With 18 assists on 36 makes and only 11 turnovers (mostly committed on rebounds if you ask me) the Husky offense looked a thousand times better than Sunday night against the Owls. The shooting was drastically improved with 55% from the field and 60% from range. As tough as it is to say this, my friend Scott raised a very valid and fast approaching point: Where are Scott Suggs' minutes going to come from? Ross and Wilcox have been out of their minds averaging 16.4 and 19.4 points respectively. Wroten and Gaddy are both averaging over 10 points and 4 assists per games. Really his minutes will come from the little time Hikeem Stewart has been playing and possibly from the four spot as guys like Gant and Breunig rotate around.
Post Play:
This was not the most impressive or highlight filled night in the paint, but it was certainly a very polished and effective night on the block. Players finished their lay-ins, they feed our bigs, they took some base line jumpers and short shots.
Defensive Pressure:
Not a night where we see 20+ turnovers and 10+ steals, but the Huskies flexed their muscles and forced the Pilots in 15 turnovers and had 9 steals (led by Wroten with 3) all while holding Portland to 34% shooting and 21% from range. Our players were able to extend out to the perimeters with our frontcourt playing tough inside which made it hard for the Portland guards to create opportunities for themselves.
Final Thoughts:
If the Huskies can play like this throughout the season it'll be tough to find a team that can beat them. The rebounding still leaves a bit to be desired, but given the amount of young talent in the frontcourt it is not that surprising. Our backcourt is shoring up the rebounding margin as much as possible, but they cannot commit fully to rebounding without losing out on the transition style of basketball that the Huskies are famous for. All in all this weekend revealed where our strengths and weaknesses are, while also showing us how dynamic and exciting this team can be even after the vast amount of talent and experience we lost this past year. While it seemed as if fatigue played a part in Sunday's sub par performance, tonight proved otherwise. The Dawgs rallied together, fought hard throughout the game, and absolutely demolished the Pilots as they should have done to all three teams this weekend. The Huskies will have a much tougher match-up this weekend in Saint Louis. While I am hopeful Suggs will be able to return and play in his home town, the outlook is not great. The Huskies will do themselves a huge favor by picking up this early road win and earn some votes in the polls and much further down the road when it comes to NCAA Selection Sunday. All for now. Check in later this week for a preview on the Saint Louis Billikens.
Go Dawgs!
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Monday, November 14, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Seattle Pacific University Game Review
Final Score: UW-77 SPU-60
This will be a much quicker review than usual. UW plays Oregon in football today and tailgating is starting bright and early.
UW showed a lot of potential in last night's exhibition. They showed some good things as well as bad. Our offense is as potent as ever with a lot of scoring options. UW had 14 assists on 28 makes, which is around what our team did last season. Our defense was solid forcing 11 turnovers, 7 steals, and an amazing 10 blocks. SPU gave a valiant effort, but our team was much too quick, athletic, and skilled to overcome. Andy Poling and Jobi Wall each had 12 points for the falcons, but it took them a combined 10-31 to get the points. SPU's biggest key to remaining in the game was the superb job they were doing on the glass. UW managed to out rebound SPU 41-36, but the Falcons were fairly efficient at attacking the glass. The added height of their two 6-10+ players was a definite advantage.
Some quick hitting facts.
Four UW players had 10 or more points, three had 15 or more, and C.J. Wilcox led all players with 19. Wilcox still seemed to struggle offensively despite his high score. He was 5-12 from range, but missed some pretty open shots. This is something he needs to tack down, soon and preferably before any major non-conference game. 5-12 is 42%, a very respectable percentage, but Wilcox could have had another 2 or 3 shots go in without a doubt.
Terrence Ross led all players in rebounding with 8. UW also had 6 rebounds from Desmond Simmons and Tony Wroten Jr. UW only managed 10 offensive boards, a poor number in my opinion. The Dawgs felt the loss of Aziz N'Diaye and Matthew Bryan-Amaning in this instance.
A few thoughts on the players:
Our freshmen are pretty fresh, but some show lots of promise.
Martin Breunig really impressed me. He finished with 8 points on 3-6 shooting and 2-2 from the line (both were AND1's ). What I liked most was his ability to finish through contact. Breunig went strong to the hoop with both hands on lay-ins, which allowed him to finish his shots despite the fouls. Breunig held on solid as Tony Wroten threw him a pass with so much English on it, the Queen could have knighted it. Martin went to the hoop, made the shot, got fouled, and sunk his free throw. The place went nuts.
Tony Wroten Jr. will indeed be one of our top assist and play makers this season. He will also turn the ball over quite a bit. 4 assists and 4 turnovers. Admittedly, 1 or two of his turnovers were simply Tony getting two excited and overplaying the ball. He needs to slow down just a tad and make a bit smarter play. He will be one of my favorite players without a doubt. Wroten picks up where MBA left off getting super amped on big plays, yelling and chest pumping. It's fantastic and I'm glad to see someone is excited to make plays. Wroten also threw a great alley oop pass to Terrence Ross who was throwing down with authority all day.
Kemp has a ways to go before being a defensive threat outside the block. He plunders around a bit. There is a reason Simmons is the second post option. Kemp ran into foul trouble, picking up 4.
Jernard Jerreau had lots of foul trouble himself. He is long and lanky with a lot of room to improve. He only played 11 minutes so I don't have too much an opinion on him.
Hikeem Stewart is going to need to improve to be a legitimate point guard option.
Terrence Ross was monstrous. 6-8 shooting and a vicious transition dunk. After tipping the ball away, Ross chased the ball down, gathered it up, leaps up, jacks his arm all the way back, and slams home a brutal dunk. He was impressive throughout the game and as Romar said preseason, our wings will likely be our better post options. Ross, Wroten, and Simmons all showed the ability to finish inside as well as out.
Brendan Sherrer jumped in for the final two minutes and Alex Wegner got a minute as well. Andrew Andrews only saw 7 minutes of play time in what will be his only game this season.
All in all UW got the job done and won by 17. They had to opportunity to do more, but for a preseason game it wasn't a terrible outing. There is plenty of work to be done, but the fact that our players were able to play solid defense and get some good scoring in points towards a successful season. Our rebounding could use some improvement and Aziz N'Diaye is going to have a huge impact on how the Huskies play and succeed, that much is plainly obvious. People can criticize his offense all they want, but his defensive and rebounding contributions are immensely important. I liked what I saw out there. It was a bit sloppy as expected, but that is actually reassuring in a way. It means our coaches will continue to push our players harder everyday to get them to their full potential.
Go Dawgs!
This will be a much quicker review than usual. UW plays Oregon in football today and tailgating is starting bright and early.
UW showed a lot of potential in last night's exhibition. They showed some good things as well as bad. Our offense is as potent as ever with a lot of scoring options. UW had 14 assists on 28 makes, which is around what our team did last season. Our defense was solid forcing 11 turnovers, 7 steals, and an amazing 10 blocks. SPU gave a valiant effort, but our team was much too quick, athletic, and skilled to overcome. Andy Poling and Jobi Wall each had 12 points for the falcons, but it took them a combined 10-31 to get the points. SPU's biggest key to remaining in the game was the superb job they were doing on the glass. UW managed to out rebound SPU 41-36, but the Falcons were fairly efficient at attacking the glass. The added height of their two 6-10+ players was a definite advantage.
Some quick hitting facts.
Four UW players had 10 or more points, three had 15 or more, and C.J. Wilcox led all players with 19. Wilcox still seemed to struggle offensively despite his high score. He was 5-12 from range, but missed some pretty open shots. This is something he needs to tack down, soon and preferably before any major non-conference game. 5-12 is 42%, a very respectable percentage, but Wilcox could have had another 2 or 3 shots go in without a doubt.
Terrence Ross led all players in rebounding with 8. UW also had 6 rebounds from Desmond Simmons and Tony Wroten Jr. UW only managed 10 offensive boards, a poor number in my opinion. The Dawgs felt the loss of Aziz N'Diaye and Matthew Bryan-Amaning in this instance.
A few thoughts on the players:
Our freshmen are pretty fresh, but some show lots of promise.
Martin Breunig really impressed me. He finished with 8 points on 3-6 shooting and 2-2 from the line (both were AND1's ). What I liked most was his ability to finish through contact. Breunig went strong to the hoop with both hands on lay-ins, which allowed him to finish his shots despite the fouls. Breunig held on solid as Tony Wroten threw him a pass with so much English on it, the Queen could have knighted it. Martin went to the hoop, made the shot, got fouled, and sunk his free throw. The place went nuts.
Tony Wroten Jr. will indeed be one of our top assist and play makers this season. He will also turn the ball over quite a bit. 4 assists and 4 turnovers. Admittedly, 1 or two of his turnovers were simply Tony getting two excited and overplaying the ball. He needs to slow down just a tad and make a bit smarter play. He will be one of my favorite players without a doubt. Wroten picks up where MBA left off getting super amped on big plays, yelling and chest pumping. It's fantastic and I'm glad to see someone is excited to make plays. Wroten also threw a great alley oop pass to Terrence Ross who was throwing down with authority all day.
Kemp has a ways to go before being a defensive threat outside the block. He plunders around a bit. There is a reason Simmons is the second post option. Kemp ran into foul trouble, picking up 4.
Jernard Jerreau had lots of foul trouble himself. He is long and lanky with a lot of room to improve. He only played 11 minutes so I don't have too much an opinion on him.
Hikeem Stewart is going to need to improve to be a legitimate point guard option.
Terrence Ross was monstrous. 6-8 shooting and a vicious transition dunk. After tipping the ball away, Ross chased the ball down, gathered it up, leaps up, jacks his arm all the way back, and slams home a brutal dunk. He was impressive throughout the game and as Romar said preseason, our wings will likely be our better post options. Ross, Wroten, and Simmons all showed the ability to finish inside as well as out.
Brendan Sherrer jumped in for the final two minutes and Alex Wegner got a minute as well. Andrew Andrews only saw 7 minutes of play time in what will be his only game this season.
All in all UW got the job done and won by 17. They had to opportunity to do more, but for a preseason game it wasn't a terrible outing. There is plenty of work to be done, but the fact that our players were able to play solid defense and get some good scoring in points towards a successful season. Our rebounding could use some improvement and Aziz N'Diaye is going to have a huge impact on how the Huskies play and succeed, that much is plainly obvious. People can criticize his offense all they want, but his defensive and rebounding contributions are immensely important. I liked what I saw out there. It was a bit sloppy as expected, but that is actually reassuring in a way. It means our coaches will continue to push our players harder everyday to get them to their full potential.
Go Dawgs!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
McNeese State Review
Final Score: UW-118 McNeese State-64
Just the Facts
Another great scoring effort tonight, with a much better defensive and rebounding effort to go along with it. The outcome of the game was never in question, with McNeese's only lead coming off their opening 3 point shot. UW had 38 rebounds at half to McNeese's 15 and UW finished with 69 rebounds on the night, a damn good job on the glass tonight. That alone is cause for celebration. Three players had double doubles tonight. Justin Holiday put up 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Aziz N'Diaye grabbed a team high 15 rebounds and scored 13 points. Matthew Bryan-Amaning gets MVP of the game, putting up 28 points and 13 rebounds. Abdul Gaddy, C.J. Wilcox, Scott Suggs, and Isaiah Thomas all put up double digit scoring. The only negative for the game was the terrible free throw shooting by our big men. MBA went 6-12 and Aziz went 3-15. Give Aziz credit though, almost every free throw he missed was nearly spot on. Isaiah Thomas showed his scoring potential taking his turn at going 4-4 from the 3 line, while Justin Holiday only went 1-4 from range and 4-12 overall. UW shot a ridiculous 51 shots in the first half alone and 41 in the second shooting 46% from the field, 40% from the arc and a saddening 47.6% from the charity stripe. UW held McNeese to under 10 points until there was only 4:44 remaining in the first half.
Also, Darnell Gant got the start today and appears to be quite healthy and active. Overton also played today and is looking pretty good. An interesting stat here. After McNeese scored that first three pointer, they went 12 and a half minutes without a field goal. That's just ridiculous.
The Spin
Well, let's talk about what we can improve.
Free Throws
Big men always have trouble with free throws. Big hands means the ball is much smaller and harder to put up from outside the box, but in close game scenarios those free throws are going to help us win games and in not so close games they will keep the win out of the opponents reach. If Aziz even sinks half his free throw shots he would have had a 20 point game today. MBA could also use some more work in the free throw arena as well. While 6-12 is not completely terrible, a 75% average would be much better for the Dawgs.
Fouling
Terrence Ross fouled out with about 3 or 4 minutes to go. He was given some nonsensical fouls as the refs were absolutely terrible today. A third of McNeese's points came off free throws today. C.J. Wilcox and Darnell Gant both had four fouls. While it's not a huge deal to rack up four fouls in a game, its something we should avoid. That many fouls puts a lot of pressure on the other position players to play a little more reserved to avoid their own foul troubles. On the other side of that Aziz picked up two quicks ones, but didn't foul again the rest of the game. He played a total of 15 minutes on the evening. MBA only had one foul. Both big men did a great job of avoiding the kinds of silly fouls that got them removed last week.
Those two items were the only real concern for me the entire game. There was some sloppy play to start the second half, Diego Kapelan dropped a pair of threes in during the first 48 seconds of the half. Romar quickly called a time out to yell at the Huskies for their lack of effort.
Now on to the good news
Rebounding
The Huskies obviously learned something from the St. Martin's big man and worked hard in practice this week at their rebounding skills. 69 rebounds is a great stat to have. Aziz was simply superb down low using his length and strength to power his way into position. He grabbed 9 offensive rebounds. 9. That's awesome. He was not to be trifled with on the defensive board either. He brought the ball down hard with elbows out to make room and a barbaric roar that was terrifying even 40 feet away in the stands. I'm fairly sure I saw the McNeese 5 man shiver at that point. MBA also had a great rebounding effort tonight snagging 8 defensive boards and 5 offensive. Justin Holiday split his 12 rebounds with 6 offensive and 6 defensive. C.J. Wilcox nabbed 7 boards and Ross had a respectable 5 rebounds. If the Husky big men can continue this kind of rebounding production along side the support of the wings and guards we will be hard to stop. 30 offensive boards is a lot of second chance shots that can make or break games. Isaiah and Aziz both tried for a rebound at one point, knocking the ball out of bounds. Romar asked Isaiah what he was doing and you could see him say something along the lines of "Coach, you said you wanted more rebounds, I was rebounding." Give the coaching staff a pat on the back for getting the rebounding mentality into the Husky heads.
Scoring
Not a whole lot to say that isn't immediately clear after our first two games. We can score and we can do it in a variety of ways. Inside, outside, doesn't matter. If one player is having an off game, as Holiday did, we can guarantee there is another player lighting it up, aka Isaiah Thomas today. MBA had his way down low, using a variety of superb moves to score. Backed his man down, jump hook, left handed lay-ins, jumpers, all impressive, all extremely effective. Even with McNeese offering a taller lineup, their big men could do nothing against the dynamic duo of MBA and Aziz. Even Gant caused problems for them. Isaiah Thomas came out with fire in his veins and shot lights out going 4 for 4 behind the line and 6 for 8 overall. At one point he shot three 3's on three consecutive possessions. It was an impressive feat. Another big highlight of the night has to be the manner in which the Huskies hit 100 points. Justin Holiday and MBA fought for a loose ball, Holiday tossed a great pass to MBA who was wide open and threw down a monster reverse dunk. MBA threw down a couple of big ones today including one from about halfway up the paint. Aziz also ripped a couple dunks that lit the crowd up. He had a massive dunk taken away by a foul that, I am almost positive, would have torn the back board off its hinges.
Defense
Minus some sloppy play to start the second half the defense did a great job tonight forcing 18 turnovers in the first half and another 9 in the second. Overton was a non factor offensively, scoring two points and dishing out 6 assists (a nice number by the way), but his defense was as good as it usually is. He had three credited steals, but he also forced many turnovers including a 5 second call on one McNeese guard. The Huskies posted 12 steals for the night, MBA snatched two as did Aziz and Holiday. Ross, despite his 5 fouls, played great D getting low and containing his man.
Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
Didn't get to start today, but no surprises there. Gaddy is in good form and Overton always does well off the bench. He made an immediate impact defensively and had great court vision, dishing out assists left and right. Scoring wise he left a lot to be desired. 1 for 8 is pretty bad, he had a few fast breaks he should have passed off for a better shot that he took instead and missed. His cocky attitude is still as apparent as ever. Tongue waggling, he shut down the McNeese guards quite effectively. He seemed a tad rusty at times, having some trouble on a few screens, but all in all he did a great job of getting around them and forcing bad plays. Three or four terrible passes were thrown due to his great defense. A good night for Overton, fresh off a hamstring injury. Once his shots start dropping the Huskies will really be rolling.
Grade: B
Justin Holiday
Not a bad night for the senior forward. His 12 rebounds really helped the Huskies maintain their offensive assault and his defense was quite good as well. He had a decent night offensively scoring 11 points. His shot was missing the pizzazz that brought down the roof last week. His shots were on target, but tended to clatter out. He had 3 assists today, which helps offset his somewhat subpar shooting night. He will regain his shooting composure in no time I'm sure and could very well have a 20 point night next Tuesday against Eastern Washington. It was just one of those nights when the ball couldn't find its way through the net. Holiday made both of his free throws Without the rebounding and defensive effort it would have been a disappointing night, in my mind, for Holiday.
Grade: B
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
MVP of the game, 28 points (a career high), 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and only 1 foul. An awesome night for the London big man. He put on a show that was fun to watch. Reverse, two hand slams. Distance dunks. Spin moves. Cross overs. Hook shots. Tear drops. He did everything short of taking a 3 point shot. You could make a highlight reel for him from his performance tonight alone. He did a great job down low preventing their post players from scoring or rebounding. His free throw shooting was somewhat improved over last weeks game, though still not as good as I would like. Let's hope he can keep his performance up and man handles the big boys from a more competitive school, aka Kentucky, Michigan St., UCLA, etc. Like I said in last week's write up, his moves seem like they will be effective against anybody and he should be a force to be reckoned with in the post. Stellar performance, stellar player. Look out Isaiah, if MBA keeps on like this he may grab Pac-10 player of the year honors.
Grade: A+
Brendan Sherrer
Played three minutes today, even managed to grab a rebound and foul someone. The Victory Cigar is still without a loss in game play. Let us hope he is smoking often. Not much else notable from the walk on today.
Grade: A for effort
Scott Suggs
A better, more rounded, offensive game this week. He scored 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. He showed off his driving ability and had a few nice lay-ins and base line cuts. His range game was off tonight, going 2 for 7 beyond the arc. Highlight of the night for him has to be a nice reverse lay-in off of a great baseline drive. His defense was also improved today. He really got after it and got in the opponents faces, resulting in the above said two blocks. He still had some troubles getting stuck on screens, but seemed to have an easier time of breaking free than last week. He isn't big enough to be much of a rebounder so pulling in three is a good night for him. Overall a pretty good performance. Only thing to be improved were his shots. If he wants to play more minutes, his shots need to drop with more consistency. As I said before, when one player struggles another is shooting well, C.J. Wilcox in this case (more on him later).
Darnell Gant
Good to see the Birdman back in action. He looked healthy and didn't seem to be nursing his hamstring at all. Defensively he was a shut down player. P.J. Alawoya fouled out with only 2 points both of which came from free throws. Offensively he was pretty good. He didn't make either 3 point attempt, but went 3 for 3 from the free throw line. He also grabbed 5 rebounds, had 3 assists, and a block. He played the role he was meant to, a defense first player. His offensive game seems to be shaping up nicely. I saw flashes tonight of a dangerous player who should not be left open, who could drive and score with a little more practice. The four fouls is a little high, but give him another few games to avoid the sloppy fouls and things will really come together for him.
Grade: B+
Isaiah Thomas
The man was a beast today. He came out cocky, excited, and amped in every way possible. He saluted the Dawg Pack pregame and you could see the intensity in his eyes. He was feeling his shot tonight, raining threes down from the Heavens. He was excellent on defense as well. He did a great job of getting low and moving his feet. He took a couple nasty hits running into screens, including a moving screen that ended with the screener getting called for a foul that fired him and the Dawg Pack up. He showed the Pack the love and they loved him right back. A close second for game MVP. He had 3 assists and a steal to go along with his 1 rebound and 17 points. The only smudge on the night was his 1 for 3 from the line. For such a prolific shooter, you would think he could make free throws with a blind fold on. Definitely a part of his game he needs to work on. If he can be dangerous from the free throw line, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense to avoid fouling. Between last weeks game and this one, you can see the makings of a star player in him. With Venoy back and healthy, expect Isaiah to do more scoring as Overton and Gaddy allow I.T. to play his more fitting shooting guard position.
Abdul Gaddy
Yet another great performance for the McDonald's All American. He worked hard over the summer and it shows. His confidence is high, his shots are looking good, his moves break ankles, and his passes even confuse our team. Gaddy finished the night with 10 points coming off of a 3, a few nice drives, and an AND 1 free throw. He also dished out 5 assists and had a steal. He had one nice spin move into what should have been a lay-in that he opted to try to pass to Aziz who wasn't ready for it, leading to a turnover. He also had a sloppy pass when McNeese switched to a zone defense that caught him slightly off guard. Gaddy managed to pull in 2 rebounds of his own on both sides of the court. He is a fun player to watch and as the season progresses, look for him to impress even more.
Grade: A-
Aziz N'Diaye
Wow. A complete turn around from the subpar performance last week against St. Martin's. This big man picked up two fouls rather quickly, but found himself in control the rest of the game, not picking up a single foul after those first two. It only took him 7 minutes to grab 10 rebounds and he finished with a very impressive 15 on the night. Could we have a new Jon Brockman in the Sengal native? I don't know yet. Once he shows some consistency in his play, we will know for sure just what the 7 footer has to offer. His size and strength is going to be hard to match, even in Pac-10 play and the Maui invitational. He took up a lot of space on the inside and was somewhat under used due to our guards tight defense. Should his play continue at this high level, expect him to see 20 minutes a game, versus the 15 he played tonight. He shot was also looking great. He had a few nice lay-ins and a jump hook on top of his powerful dunks. He had a scary moment trying to dunk over a man. He came down hard and seemed to be in some pain before being helped to his feet. He didn't limp afterwards, but a big body like that coming down from that high up is bound to hurt. If he hadn't had his feet taken out from under him that dunk would have been on par if not better than MBA's facial of Andrew Zimmerman from Stanford. His emotion and dedication to rebounding was evident in how strong he would come down with the defensive boards, often yelling like a warrior. While his free throw shooting was atrocious tonight, he was a foul sponge on the block. Two of McNeese's big men fouled out mainly due to Aziz getting position. If he had made half his shots he would have had close to 20 points. Free throws need to be his concentration for the next few weeks. Without being able to shoot free throws well, the fouls will continue to come since a foul will be better than an open shot. However, I am all for him soaking up the fouls and taking hits if it means the opponent big men end up warming the seats. If we can get his percentage up to 50% I'll be quite happy. I'll be even happier if he gets above 50%. Would have been an A+ game if he shot the freebies with a little more consistency.
Grade: A
Antoine Hosley
Played two minutes and missed the only shot he took, a long range 3 ball that clanged around the rim. Nothing else to report on him, another day as The Victory Cigar's apprentice.
Grade: A for effort
Desmond Simmons
Did not play today and Romar confirmed after the game that Simmons would indeed be redshirting this season. I won't be posting on him any more unless there is notable news concerning injuries or what not.
Terrence Ross
A decent game tonight after what was a superb performance last week. He fouled out with 3 minutes left in the game on a nonsense foul called by the refs. He shots were off today, going 1 for 4 behind the arc and 2 for 7 overall. He scored 6 points, grabbed 5 boards, and had 1 assist. He didn't look as dangerous today, but his shots were close so once they start falling expect some double digit scoring nights to come on a regular basis. Defensively the kid was good. He gets real low and almost looks like Overton with his open mouthed, in your face defense. Still finding his role on the team and learning the fast paced nature of the Husky offense. Look for him to improve offensively and learn some more control to avoid fouls. 2 to 3 of his fouls were from lazy defense where he just grabbed at the ball as the guard ran by versus getting his body in front and playing the kind of defense he is capable of. I'm happy to see he maintained his rebounding efforts as it takes a lot of pressure off our big men, knowing there are others on the court that can snatch the long ones.
Grade: B
C.J. Wilcox
A much better shooting night for the redshirt freshman. He seems to have found his shot as he went 3 for 4 behind the arc and 4 for 6 over all. He shot 2 for 2 from the line giving him 13 points on the night. He also grabbed a very respectful 7 rebounds, with 6 coming on the defensive side. He even had 2 assists and a steal. A very good performance. Defensively he wasn't a stand out player, but he was no slouch as well. His 4 fouls could be a problem if they continue to accumulate as it takes him out of the game. Thankfully we have other shooters in Suggs, Ross, IT, Holiday, and even Overton when he finds his stroke. A pleasant look at what kind of skills he possesses. Hopefully Ross and Holiday can show him how to use his longer frame a little more effectively on the defensive end and mold him into a defensive threat as well. A very good night over all.
Grade: A
It was also Lorenzo Romar's birthday today and the Dawg Pack sang him a wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday. He turned 52 today.
Here are some links to other reviews as well
http://www.mynorthwest.com/category/college_hoops_blog/20101113/Huskies-Roll-Over-McNeese-St.-118-~-64/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2013428482_where_is_the_fi.html
http://www.montlakemadness.com/uw-routs-mcneese-st-game-wrap/
Just the Facts
Another great scoring effort tonight, with a much better defensive and rebounding effort to go along with it. The outcome of the game was never in question, with McNeese's only lead coming off their opening 3 point shot. UW had 38 rebounds at half to McNeese's 15 and UW finished with 69 rebounds on the night, a damn good job on the glass tonight. That alone is cause for celebration. Three players had double doubles tonight. Justin Holiday put up 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Aziz N'Diaye grabbed a team high 15 rebounds and scored 13 points. Matthew Bryan-Amaning gets MVP of the game, putting up 28 points and 13 rebounds. Abdul Gaddy, C.J. Wilcox, Scott Suggs, and Isaiah Thomas all put up double digit scoring. The only negative for the game was the terrible free throw shooting by our big men. MBA went 6-12 and Aziz went 3-15. Give Aziz credit though, almost every free throw he missed was nearly spot on. Isaiah Thomas showed his scoring potential taking his turn at going 4-4 from the 3 line, while Justin Holiday only went 1-4 from range and 4-12 overall. UW shot a ridiculous 51 shots in the first half alone and 41 in the second shooting 46% from the field, 40% from the arc and a saddening 47.6% from the charity stripe. UW held McNeese to under 10 points until there was only 4:44 remaining in the first half.
Also, Darnell Gant got the start today and appears to be quite healthy and active. Overton also played today and is looking pretty good. An interesting stat here. After McNeese scored that first three pointer, they went 12 and a half minutes without a field goal. That's just ridiculous.
The Spin
Well, let's talk about what we can improve.
Free Throws
Big men always have trouble with free throws. Big hands means the ball is much smaller and harder to put up from outside the box, but in close game scenarios those free throws are going to help us win games and in not so close games they will keep the win out of the opponents reach. If Aziz even sinks half his free throw shots he would have had a 20 point game today. MBA could also use some more work in the free throw arena as well. While 6-12 is not completely terrible, a 75% average would be much better for the Dawgs.
Fouling
Terrence Ross fouled out with about 3 or 4 minutes to go. He was given some nonsensical fouls as the refs were absolutely terrible today. A third of McNeese's points came off free throws today. C.J. Wilcox and Darnell Gant both had four fouls. While it's not a huge deal to rack up four fouls in a game, its something we should avoid. That many fouls puts a lot of pressure on the other position players to play a little more reserved to avoid their own foul troubles. On the other side of that Aziz picked up two quicks ones, but didn't foul again the rest of the game. He played a total of 15 minutes on the evening. MBA only had one foul. Both big men did a great job of avoiding the kinds of silly fouls that got them removed last week.
Those two items were the only real concern for me the entire game. There was some sloppy play to start the second half, Diego Kapelan dropped a pair of threes in during the first 48 seconds of the half. Romar quickly called a time out to yell at the Huskies for their lack of effort.
Now on to the good news
Rebounding
The Huskies obviously learned something from the St. Martin's big man and worked hard in practice this week at their rebounding skills. 69 rebounds is a great stat to have. Aziz was simply superb down low using his length and strength to power his way into position. He grabbed 9 offensive rebounds. 9. That's awesome. He was not to be trifled with on the defensive board either. He brought the ball down hard with elbows out to make room and a barbaric roar that was terrifying even 40 feet away in the stands. I'm fairly sure I saw the McNeese 5 man shiver at that point. MBA also had a great rebounding effort tonight snagging 8 defensive boards and 5 offensive. Justin Holiday split his 12 rebounds with 6 offensive and 6 defensive. C.J. Wilcox nabbed 7 boards and Ross had a respectable 5 rebounds. If the Husky big men can continue this kind of rebounding production along side the support of the wings and guards we will be hard to stop. 30 offensive boards is a lot of second chance shots that can make or break games. Isaiah and Aziz both tried for a rebound at one point, knocking the ball out of bounds. Romar asked Isaiah what he was doing and you could see him say something along the lines of "Coach, you said you wanted more rebounds, I was rebounding." Give the coaching staff a pat on the back for getting the rebounding mentality into the Husky heads.
Scoring
Not a whole lot to say that isn't immediately clear after our first two games. We can score and we can do it in a variety of ways. Inside, outside, doesn't matter. If one player is having an off game, as Holiday did, we can guarantee there is another player lighting it up, aka Isaiah Thomas today. MBA had his way down low, using a variety of superb moves to score. Backed his man down, jump hook, left handed lay-ins, jumpers, all impressive, all extremely effective. Even with McNeese offering a taller lineup, their big men could do nothing against the dynamic duo of MBA and Aziz. Even Gant caused problems for them. Isaiah Thomas came out with fire in his veins and shot lights out going 4 for 4 behind the line and 6 for 8 overall. At one point he shot three 3's on three consecutive possessions. It was an impressive feat. Another big highlight of the night has to be the manner in which the Huskies hit 100 points. Justin Holiday and MBA fought for a loose ball, Holiday tossed a great pass to MBA who was wide open and threw down a monster reverse dunk. MBA threw down a couple of big ones today including one from about halfway up the paint. Aziz also ripped a couple dunks that lit the crowd up. He had a massive dunk taken away by a foul that, I am almost positive, would have torn the back board off its hinges.
Defense
Minus some sloppy play to start the second half the defense did a great job tonight forcing 18 turnovers in the first half and another 9 in the second. Overton was a non factor offensively, scoring two points and dishing out 6 assists (a nice number by the way), but his defense was as good as it usually is. He had three credited steals, but he also forced many turnovers including a 5 second call on one McNeese guard. The Huskies posted 12 steals for the night, MBA snatched two as did Aziz and Holiday. Ross, despite his 5 fouls, played great D getting low and containing his man.
Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
Didn't get to start today, but no surprises there. Gaddy is in good form and Overton always does well off the bench. He made an immediate impact defensively and had great court vision, dishing out assists left and right. Scoring wise he left a lot to be desired. 1 for 8 is pretty bad, he had a few fast breaks he should have passed off for a better shot that he took instead and missed. His cocky attitude is still as apparent as ever. Tongue waggling, he shut down the McNeese guards quite effectively. He seemed a tad rusty at times, having some trouble on a few screens, but all in all he did a great job of getting around them and forcing bad plays. Three or four terrible passes were thrown due to his great defense. A good night for Overton, fresh off a hamstring injury. Once his shots start dropping the Huskies will really be rolling.
Grade: B
Justin Holiday
Not a bad night for the senior forward. His 12 rebounds really helped the Huskies maintain their offensive assault and his defense was quite good as well. He had a decent night offensively scoring 11 points. His shot was missing the pizzazz that brought down the roof last week. His shots were on target, but tended to clatter out. He had 3 assists today, which helps offset his somewhat subpar shooting night. He will regain his shooting composure in no time I'm sure and could very well have a 20 point night next Tuesday against Eastern Washington. It was just one of those nights when the ball couldn't find its way through the net. Holiday made both of his free throws Without the rebounding and defensive effort it would have been a disappointing night, in my mind, for Holiday.
Grade: B
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
MVP of the game, 28 points (a career high), 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and only 1 foul. An awesome night for the London big man. He put on a show that was fun to watch. Reverse, two hand slams. Distance dunks. Spin moves. Cross overs. Hook shots. Tear drops. He did everything short of taking a 3 point shot. You could make a highlight reel for him from his performance tonight alone. He did a great job down low preventing their post players from scoring or rebounding. His free throw shooting was somewhat improved over last weeks game, though still not as good as I would like. Let's hope he can keep his performance up and man handles the big boys from a more competitive school, aka Kentucky, Michigan St., UCLA, etc. Like I said in last week's write up, his moves seem like they will be effective against anybody and he should be a force to be reckoned with in the post. Stellar performance, stellar player. Look out Isaiah, if MBA keeps on like this he may grab Pac-10 player of the year honors.
Grade: A+
Brendan Sherrer
Played three minutes today, even managed to grab a rebound and foul someone. The Victory Cigar is still without a loss in game play. Let us hope he is smoking often. Not much else notable from the walk on today.
Grade: A for effort
Scott Suggs
A better, more rounded, offensive game this week. He scored 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. He showed off his driving ability and had a few nice lay-ins and base line cuts. His range game was off tonight, going 2 for 7 beyond the arc. Highlight of the night for him has to be a nice reverse lay-in off of a great baseline drive. His defense was also improved today. He really got after it and got in the opponents faces, resulting in the above said two blocks. He still had some troubles getting stuck on screens, but seemed to have an easier time of breaking free than last week. He isn't big enough to be much of a rebounder so pulling in three is a good night for him. Overall a pretty good performance. Only thing to be improved were his shots. If he wants to play more minutes, his shots need to drop with more consistency. As I said before, when one player struggles another is shooting well, C.J. Wilcox in this case (more on him later).
Darnell Gant
Good to see the Birdman back in action. He looked healthy and didn't seem to be nursing his hamstring at all. Defensively he was a shut down player. P.J. Alawoya fouled out with only 2 points both of which came from free throws. Offensively he was pretty good. He didn't make either 3 point attempt, but went 3 for 3 from the free throw line. He also grabbed 5 rebounds, had 3 assists, and a block. He played the role he was meant to, a defense first player. His offensive game seems to be shaping up nicely. I saw flashes tonight of a dangerous player who should not be left open, who could drive and score with a little more practice. The four fouls is a little high, but give him another few games to avoid the sloppy fouls and things will really come together for him.
Grade: B+
Isaiah Thomas
The man was a beast today. He came out cocky, excited, and amped in every way possible. He saluted the Dawg Pack pregame and you could see the intensity in his eyes. He was feeling his shot tonight, raining threes down from the Heavens. He was excellent on defense as well. He did a great job of getting low and moving his feet. He took a couple nasty hits running into screens, including a moving screen that ended with the screener getting called for a foul that fired him and the Dawg Pack up. He showed the Pack the love and they loved him right back. A close second for game MVP. He had 3 assists and a steal to go along with his 1 rebound and 17 points. The only smudge on the night was his 1 for 3 from the line. For such a prolific shooter, you would think he could make free throws with a blind fold on. Definitely a part of his game he needs to work on. If he can be dangerous from the free throw line, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense to avoid fouling. Between last weeks game and this one, you can see the makings of a star player in him. With Venoy back and healthy, expect Isaiah to do more scoring as Overton and Gaddy allow I.T. to play his more fitting shooting guard position.
Abdul Gaddy
Yet another great performance for the McDonald's All American. He worked hard over the summer and it shows. His confidence is high, his shots are looking good, his moves break ankles, and his passes even confuse our team. Gaddy finished the night with 10 points coming off of a 3, a few nice drives, and an AND 1 free throw. He also dished out 5 assists and had a steal. He had one nice spin move into what should have been a lay-in that he opted to try to pass to Aziz who wasn't ready for it, leading to a turnover. He also had a sloppy pass when McNeese switched to a zone defense that caught him slightly off guard. Gaddy managed to pull in 2 rebounds of his own on both sides of the court. He is a fun player to watch and as the season progresses, look for him to impress even more.
Grade: A-
Aziz N'Diaye
Wow. A complete turn around from the subpar performance last week against St. Martin's. This big man picked up two fouls rather quickly, but found himself in control the rest of the game, not picking up a single foul after those first two. It only took him 7 minutes to grab 10 rebounds and he finished with a very impressive 15 on the night. Could we have a new Jon Brockman in the Sengal native? I don't know yet. Once he shows some consistency in his play, we will know for sure just what the 7 footer has to offer. His size and strength is going to be hard to match, even in Pac-10 play and the Maui invitational. He took up a lot of space on the inside and was somewhat under used due to our guards tight defense. Should his play continue at this high level, expect him to see 20 minutes a game, versus the 15 he played tonight. He shot was also looking great. He had a few nice lay-ins and a jump hook on top of his powerful dunks. He had a scary moment trying to dunk over a man. He came down hard and seemed to be in some pain before being helped to his feet. He didn't limp afterwards, but a big body like that coming down from that high up is bound to hurt. If he hadn't had his feet taken out from under him that dunk would have been on par if not better than MBA's facial of Andrew Zimmerman from Stanford. His emotion and dedication to rebounding was evident in how strong he would come down with the defensive boards, often yelling like a warrior. While his free throw shooting was atrocious tonight, he was a foul sponge on the block. Two of McNeese's big men fouled out mainly due to Aziz getting position. If he had made half his shots he would have had close to 20 points. Free throws need to be his concentration for the next few weeks. Without being able to shoot free throws well, the fouls will continue to come since a foul will be better than an open shot. However, I am all for him soaking up the fouls and taking hits if it means the opponent big men end up warming the seats. If we can get his percentage up to 50% I'll be quite happy. I'll be even happier if he gets above 50%. Would have been an A+ game if he shot the freebies with a little more consistency.
Grade: A
Antoine Hosley
Played two minutes and missed the only shot he took, a long range 3 ball that clanged around the rim. Nothing else to report on him, another day as The Victory Cigar's apprentice.
Grade: A for effort
Desmond Simmons
Did not play today and Romar confirmed after the game that Simmons would indeed be redshirting this season. I won't be posting on him any more unless there is notable news concerning injuries or what not.
Terrence Ross
A decent game tonight after what was a superb performance last week. He fouled out with 3 minutes left in the game on a nonsense foul called by the refs. He shots were off today, going 1 for 4 behind the arc and 2 for 7 overall. He scored 6 points, grabbed 5 boards, and had 1 assist. He didn't look as dangerous today, but his shots were close so once they start falling expect some double digit scoring nights to come on a regular basis. Defensively the kid was good. He gets real low and almost looks like Overton with his open mouthed, in your face defense. Still finding his role on the team and learning the fast paced nature of the Husky offense. Look for him to improve offensively and learn some more control to avoid fouls. 2 to 3 of his fouls were from lazy defense where he just grabbed at the ball as the guard ran by versus getting his body in front and playing the kind of defense he is capable of. I'm happy to see he maintained his rebounding efforts as it takes a lot of pressure off our big men, knowing there are others on the court that can snatch the long ones.
Grade: B
C.J. Wilcox
A much better shooting night for the redshirt freshman. He seems to have found his shot as he went 3 for 4 behind the arc and 4 for 6 over all. He shot 2 for 2 from the line giving him 13 points on the night. He also grabbed a very respectful 7 rebounds, with 6 coming on the defensive side. He even had 2 assists and a steal. A very good performance. Defensively he wasn't a stand out player, but he was no slouch as well. His 4 fouls could be a problem if they continue to accumulate as it takes him out of the game. Thankfully we have other shooters in Suggs, Ross, IT, Holiday, and even Overton when he finds his stroke. A pleasant look at what kind of skills he possesses. Hopefully Ross and Holiday can show him how to use his longer frame a little more effectively on the defensive end and mold him into a defensive threat as well. A very good night over all.
Grade: A
It was also Lorenzo Romar's birthday today and the Dawg Pack sang him a wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday. He turned 52 today.
Here are some links to other reviews as well
http://www.mynorthwest.com/category/college_hoops_blog/20101113/Huskies-Roll-Over-McNeese-St.-118-~-64/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2013428482_where_is_the_fi.html
http://www.montlakemadness.com/uw-routs-mcneese-st-game-wrap/
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