Final Score: UW-76 Northwestern-55
This was the type of game we have been looking for from the Huskies all season. Our scorers got hot, our defense played tough, and our team showed how 40 minutes of solid basketball leads to a solid, decisive victory over an inferior opponent.
Sure, John Shurna racked up 24 points (by the way, he has the ugliest shooting form I have ever seen. I have no clue how he scores), but our defense contested nearly every shot he took. Shurna is simply a great scorer and guys like that will make shots with a hand in the face or not. Look at Terrence Ross for proof of that.
The Dawgs dominated just about every category you can think of. The only disappointing stat was the turnover category. After holding an 11 to 4 advantage in forced turnovers in the first half, the Dawgs finished with 17 turnovers, while forcing Northwestern in only 15 total. Whether the Dawgs got sloppy or Northwestern adjusted properly is somewhat up for debate. In my opinion, the fact that the Dawgs scored only 2 less points in the second half compared to the first indicates that Northwestern didn't really adjust well, the Huskies simply tried to showboat too often leading to silly turnovers.
The Huskies rebounded in force tonight, holding a 42 to 26 advantage at games end. The Huskies pulled in 20 offensive boards and 3 players, Aziz N'Diaye, Terrence Ross, and Tony Wroten, pulled in 7 or 8 rebounds a piece using their superior size and athleticism to extend above the opposition to pull in the board. After the poor rebounding performance against UT-A it was quite refreshing to see our rebounding prowess return.
The 3-point shooting by the Dawgs was a tale of 2 halves. The Huskies started a very poor 5 of 21 outside the arc, but C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross turned it on in the second half to light up the court. The Huskies were a much better 6 of 11 in the second half as Ross and Wilcox found open looks and took advantage of it. Wilcox was 1 of 6 in the first half, while Ross was 1 of 7 (I believe, not 100%). Wilcox finished 4 of 9 and Ross went 6 of 14 on his way to a career high 32 points.
Here is a stat I thought I would never seen this season, 8-8. That was the Huskies stat for free throw shooting in the first half. No big surprise, the guys shooting those free throws were the ones who have shied away from the line all year: Wilcox and Ross. The Dawgs finished the night 11 of 14 from the line. Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten each missed their lone opportunity at the stripe and N'Diaye split a pair. Outside of those players, the Dawgs were perfect. Man, it was nice to see that.
My favorite stat of the night? 18 assists. That has been the missing ingredient all season long. Both Gaddy and Wroten racked up 7 assists as the Huskies moved the ball well around the court, battling and demolishing the ineffective Wildcat zone defense. Our point guards did exactly what we have needed them to do, distribute the ball. Our top two shooters took the majority of our shots and look how that turned out, amazing.
Aziz N'Diaye could have had a career night, but he struggled to finish at the rim at times. N'Diaye was only 5 of 11 on the night, a lower percentage than his usual. N'Diaye was surprisingly good at defending the small Northwestern guards and did not pick up a single foul. You read that right, not one single foul. Impressive. N'Diaye had 2 steals offsetting 1 turnover and was a solid force down in the block, preventing the dribble drive. N'Diaye played 30 minutes tonight, something that really surprised me as I thought Romar would put a 4-guard line-up on for most of the night with Darnell Gant providing mobile post support.
Tony Wroten and Abdul Gaddy did not have great shooting night, but they had great point guard nights. They moved the ball, the drove and dished, and generally did everything you could ask of a point guard. Both had 5 turnovers, which marred otherwise great nights, but that happens when you try to be too fancy with the ball. Our guards realized our shooters were hot and got them the ball.
Desmond Simmons was quietly effective after getting pulled early in the first half following poor defensive rotations. He finished with 4 points and 2 boards. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, Shawn Kemp, and Hikeem Stewart provided great relief efforts for the Dawgs with Stewart picking up a high of 5 minutes. Martin Breunig came in and flushed a monster dunk in the lane over a Wildcat defender.
C.J. Wilcox had a stellar performance and finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds. He also had 1 assists to offset his lone turnover. Alongside Ross, Wilcox helped stretch the Wildcat defense thin leading to wide open shots. In the first half, our shooters struggled to finish these open opportunities, but capitalized in the second. Wilcox found his shot and drilled home several great deep balls, while also finding success inside the lane with some nice pull-up jumpers. Loved his play tonight and his continuing improvement as his health improved. Wilcox should be a very dangerous player again next season with his body healed up.
Terrence Ross exploded last night. He found his stroke and kept backing up further and further until the Wildcat defenders were guarding him at half-court at which point Ross would dribble past his man, finishing in the paint. Ross was 10 for 21 from the field and a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line. His 8 rebounds were excellent and Ross finished stuffing the stat sheet with an assist, 2 steals, a block, and just 1 turnover. It was a career performance, the type of which exemplifies why he is considered a potential lottery pick in the coming draft. This is how we expected Ross to play all season, but it has taken the last 2 or 3 weeks for Ross to have success in both halves of the game. Hopefully Ross can continue this trend of playing the full 40 through the NIT championship game and throughout next season. I love that Romar kept Ross in late in the game so he could break his career high of 30 points. As soon as Ross got to the line for the final time and sunk 2 free throws to give him a career best 32, Romar subbed Ross out to a standing ovation and chants of "One more year!"
What Needed Improvement:
Turnovers:
I thought the Dawgs were going to finish with under 10 turnovers on the night, but things out sloppy and out of hand at times in the second. A better team would have capitalized on our mistakes, but Northwestern was unable to do so, thankfully. 17 turnovers is way too high and needs to be minimized, especially with a potential quarterfinal match-up against Oregon on the horizon.
What was Good:
Rebounding:
As I talked about before, the Dawgs dominated a clearly inferior rebounding team. Three players racking up at least 7 rebounds a piece is a recipe for success. The guarded well on defense and snatched up their own missed shots to garner 16 second chance points. Great effort on the glass.
Team Effort:
Our point guards passed, our shooting guards shot, and our bigs kept Northwestern out of the paint. There was hustle and effort across the board. Even Romar got involved with a spontaneous post game speech to the crowd, thanking everyone for coming out and supporting them despite the "inconsistent" efforts they displayed this season. It was an emotional game followed with an emotional speech. While it is a little late, this emotion is refreshing to see and hopefully the Huskies can continue to dominate their opposition to send a message to the NCAA that they should have been one of the 68 teams sent to the big dance.
Ross and Wilcox:
The duo combined for 52 of the Huskies 76 points. Damn. That is huge.
Final Thoughts:
The Dawgs will likely face Oregon on Tuesday for the final home game of the season. There is a small chance of an upset, but count on Oregon coming to Hec-Ed one more time. The Dawgs owe Oregon an embarrassment following the dismantling they faced earlier this season in Eugene. The Dawgs can turn a "snub" into at least something by taking home the NIT title, but there are still 3 games left and they cannot ease up on the gas. Hopefully this team saw how well things go when they apply themselves hard on both ends of the court and continue to do so.
Go Dawgs!
Showing posts with label Wildcats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wildcats. Show all posts
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Northwestern Game Preview
The Huskies face 4th seeded Northwestern tomorrow evening in the second round of the NIT. The Wildcats avoided a potential upset when the last second Akron 3-pointer fell short of the mark. The Wildcats are 19-13 on the season and went 8-10 in the Big 10 conference.
Last time out against Akron, the Wildcats got major production from a trio of players; all of whom scored at least 19 points. Drew Crawford, a 6-5 205lb G-F, led all scorers with 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting. He was a respectable 3 of 7 from deep and made 4 of his 5 foul shots.Crawford also logged 7 boards, 4 assists, just 2 turnovers. Josh Shurna is a 6-9 220lb forward with some great quickness and a great 3-point shot. He finished with 23 points and 11 boards. Shurna was 8 of 22 from the field and 5 of 11 from deep. JerShon Cobb finished with 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting and at 6-5 provides a potentially interesting match-up tomorrow night.
Josh Shurna is the deadliest weapon on the Northwestern team without a question. At 6-9 he has the size to battle down low for rebounds and easy lay-ins, but it is his 43% 3-point shooting that really scares me. Shurna is quite mobile at only 220lb and has 90 makes on 209 attempts, both are team highs. Shurna is the leading scorer with 19.9 points and is also the leading rebounder with 5.4 per game. Shurna scares me. I'm not sure Darnell Gant will be able to stay with him the whole game as he struggled late against UT-A, allowing back-to-back 3-pointers, and Aziz N'Diaye certainly can't be expecting to defend the block and the perimeter. N'Diaye just doesn't have that type of quickness.
Drew Crawford is the second leading scorer and rebounder on the Northwestern squad. Crawford is averaging 16.5 points and 4.7 boards a night. Crawford is another dangerous 3-point threat with 60 makes on 146 attempts this season. Crawford could be the perfect match-up for Tony Wroten, which should hopefully lead to some nice transition plays from the Huskies. The only downside is that Northwestern handles the ball extremely well, averaging only 10 turnovers per game. Not only player on the Wildcat team averages more than 1.6 turnovers a night. I could also see Terrence Ross getting called upon for this assignment as both show star potential. Great players battling 1-on-1 is always exciting.
After Shurna and Crawford, the scoring drops off greatly. Dave Sobolewski is the third leading scorer for the Wildcats picking up 8.6 a night. He also averages a team high 3.7 assists per game. Sobolewski is a decent shooter from anywhere on the court. He averages a little over 40% from the field, 75% at the line, and a very nice 36% from outside the arc. Sobolewski comes in at 6-1 185lb and will likely be guarded by Abdul Gaddy.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Northwestern:
Dave Sobolewski 6-1 185lb
Reggie Hearn 6-4 210lb
JerShon Cobb 6-5 200lb
Drew Crawford 6-5 205lb
John Shurna 6-9 220lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Pressure Defense:
The Wildcats can shoot the long ball and shoot it well. They average nearly 40% as a team and have 5 players with at least 35 makes on the year. The Huskies need to defend the perimeter well and rotate well off of screens to prevent wide open, dangerous looks. This means good communication by both players and the coaching staff. If we can get in their faces early and keep their shooters from getting in a rhythm, the Huskies can take over this game.
Rebounding:
UT-A stayed in the game for one big reason, they dominated the glass. All of those second chance opportunities killed the Huskies. At the end of the first half, the Mavericks held a 25-12 advantage on rebounds (13 offensive boards). The Huskies will have a decent size advantage over the Wildcats and are certainly a much better rebounding team. The Wildcats average 64 possessions per game (UW averages 71), but only average 29 rebounds per game (UW averages about 40). The Huskies need to grab every board in sight. As I have said before, offensive rebounds often lead to open 3-pointers due to a majority of the defensive team crashing the glass, leaving the opposing guards wide open at the top of the key.
Play with Attitude:
I realize this team thinks they should have been in the NCAA. I'm upset they aren't as well (look at Cal getting stomped around by USF and tell me why they should have been in ahead of us), but the team did this to themselves and need to suck it up and play with some enthusiasm. They get, potentially, another 4 games together, which is essential with such a large number of freshmen gracing the roster. This team does not have the swagger and poise of last year's squad, but that doesn't mean they can't come out with some ambition and emotion. I am tired of slow starts and effortless play that leads to large first half deficits. I'd like to see the Dawgs take a 10 point lead early in the first half. They haven't done that in god knows how long...
Final Thoughts:
This will be a tough match-up. With Shurna likely being guarded by Gant, N'Diaye could be forced to guard a player standing at a mere 6-5 or smaller. What this tells me is we could see a 4 guard line-up for extended periods of time to adjust. I would not be surprised to see C.J. Wilcox in the starting 5 instead of N'Diaye. N'Diaye has struggled with fouls in the past 5 or 6 games and tends to foul smaller players much more often. The big question is how will our team respond without our enforcer in the middle? Throughout this season, the Dawgs have struggled to prevents drives without N'Diaye scaring off opponents so my confidence is not high in regards to this technique. This is a winnable game. The Dawgs play well at home and may be somewhat motivated for a potential "Elite" 8 match-up against Oregon, who thoroughly embarrassed the Dawgs down in Eugene.
Final Score Prediction: UW-76 NW-69
Go Dawgs
Last time out against Akron, the Wildcats got major production from a trio of players; all of whom scored at least 19 points. Drew Crawford, a 6-5 205lb G-F, led all scorers with 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting. He was a respectable 3 of 7 from deep and made 4 of his 5 foul shots.Crawford also logged 7 boards, 4 assists, just 2 turnovers. Josh Shurna is a 6-9 220lb forward with some great quickness and a great 3-point shot. He finished with 23 points and 11 boards. Shurna was 8 of 22 from the field and 5 of 11 from deep. JerShon Cobb finished with 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting and at 6-5 provides a potentially interesting match-up tomorrow night.
Josh Shurna is the deadliest weapon on the Northwestern team without a question. At 6-9 he has the size to battle down low for rebounds and easy lay-ins, but it is his 43% 3-point shooting that really scares me. Shurna is quite mobile at only 220lb and has 90 makes on 209 attempts, both are team highs. Shurna is the leading scorer with 19.9 points and is also the leading rebounder with 5.4 per game. Shurna scares me. I'm not sure Darnell Gant will be able to stay with him the whole game as he struggled late against UT-A, allowing back-to-back 3-pointers, and Aziz N'Diaye certainly can't be expecting to defend the block and the perimeter. N'Diaye just doesn't have that type of quickness.
Drew Crawford is the second leading scorer and rebounder on the Northwestern squad. Crawford is averaging 16.5 points and 4.7 boards a night. Crawford is another dangerous 3-point threat with 60 makes on 146 attempts this season. Crawford could be the perfect match-up for Tony Wroten, which should hopefully lead to some nice transition plays from the Huskies. The only downside is that Northwestern handles the ball extremely well, averaging only 10 turnovers per game. Not only player on the Wildcat team averages more than 1.6 turnovers a night. I could also see Terrence Ross getting called upon for this assignment as both show star potential. Great players battling 1-on-1 is always exciting.
After Shurna and Crawford, the scoring drops off greatly. Dave Sobolewski is the third leading scorer for the Wildcats picking up 8.6 a night. He also averages a team high 3.7 assists per game. Sobolewski is a decent shooter from anywhere on the court. He averages a little over 40% from the field, 75% at the line, and a very nice 36% from outside the arc. Sobolewski comes in at 6-1 185lb and will likely be guarded by Abdul Gaddy.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Northwestern:
Dave Sobolewski 6-1 185lb
Reggie Hearn 6-4 210lb
JerShon Cobb 6-5 200lb
Drew Crawford 6-5 205lb
John Shurna 6-9 220lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Pressure Defense:
The Wildcats can shoot the long ball and shoot it well. They average nearly 40% as a team and have 5 players with at least 35 makes on the year. The Huskies need to defend the perimeter well and rotate well off of screens to prevent wide open, dangerous looks. This means good communication by both players and the coaching staff. If we can get in their faces early and keep their shooters from getting in a rhythm, the Huskies can take over this game.
Rebounding:
UT-A stayed in the game for one big reason, they dominated the glass. All of those second chance opportunities killed the Huskies. At the end of the first half, the Mavericks held a 25-12 advantage on rebounds (13 offensive boards). The Huskies will have a decent size advantage over the Wildcats and are certainly a much better rebounding team. The Wildcats average 64 possessions per game (UW averages 71), but only average 29 rebounds per game (UW averages about 40). The Huskies need to grab every board in sight. As I have said before, offensive rebounds often lead to open 3-pointers due to a majority of the defensive team crashing the glass, leaving the opposing guards wide open at the top of the key.
Play with Attitude:
I realize this team thinks they should have been in the NCAA. I'm upset they aren't as well (look at Cal getting stomped around by USF and tell me why they should have been in ahead of us), but the team did this to themselves and need to suck it up and play with some enthusiasm. They get, potentially, another 4 games together, which is essential with such a large number of freshmen gracing the roster. This team does not have the swagger and poise of last year's squad, but that doesn't mean they can't come out with some ambition and emotion. I am tired of slow starts and effortless play that leads to large first half deficits. I'd like to see the Dawgs take a 10 point lead early in the first half. They haven't done that in god knows how long...
Final Thoughts:
This will be a tough match-up. With Shurna likely being guarded by Gant, N'Diaye could be forced to guard a player standing at a mere 6-5 or smaller. What this tells me is we could see a 4 guard line-up for extended periods of time to adjust. I would not be surprised to see C.J. Wilcox in the starting 5 instead of N'Diaye. N'Diaye has struggled with fouls in the past 5 or 6 games and tends to foul smaller players much more often. The big question is how will our team respond without our enforcer in the middle? Throughout this season, the Dawgs have struggled to prevents drives without N'Diaye scaring off opponents so my confidence is not high in regards to this technique. This is a winnable game. The Dawgs play well at home and may be somewhat motivated for a potential "Elite" 8 match-up against Oregon, who thoroughly embarrassed the Dawgs down in Eugene.
Final Score Prediction: UW-76 NW-69
Go Dawgs
Saturday, January 28, 2012
University of Arizona Game Review
Final Score: UW-69 UA-67
The game came down to a game saving block yet again, but this time it went to the Huskies and it was without a doubt a solid block. Nick Johnson flew in after the block and flushed a dunk and it appeared that Arizona may have tied it up, but the replay clearly showed time had expired and UW won it after Tony Wroten swatted away the potential game tying shot.
The Huskies could have put this game out of reach sooner, but several big missed free throws allowed UA to tie the game at 67 with just a few seconds left on the clock. At one point, the Huskies held an 11 point lead, but let it bleed away with critical turnovers and a silly 5 second call on an inbounds play. Despite their struggles, the crowd, and the foul differential (22 to 13 with four UW players sitting at 4 fouls, while no UA player had more than 3), the Huskies were able to get the win in front of a national audience. This is quickly becoming one of the most exciting rivalries in the league, and nation if you ask me, as the past 4 games have all been thrilling in their own ways.
This win was huge as the Huskies jumped into first place in the conference with a 7-2 record. Both Cal and Oregon play their instate rivals tomorrow and can retie for first place with wins. Out of those two, Oregon has a better chance of winning due to the sub-stellar play of OSU as of late. Stanford has been solid thus far and could give Cal problems on Sunday. The sweep over the Arizona schools, on the road, is going to have big implications for conference standings as UA is a strong home team that will be tough to beat.
Solomon Hill single-handedly kept Arizona in the game with a massive 28 point 11 rebound night, shooting 9 free throws and sinking 8 as well as draining both of his 3-point jumpers. Hill only missed one shot all night and finished 9 of 10 from the field. Jesse Perry did his part as well making 13 points and grabbing a game high 12 rebounds. Hill and Perry were the only Wildcats in double digit scoring.
Four Huskies hit double digit points and all made strong arguments for MVP of the game. Wroten scored a team high 17 points, right around his average, Aziz N'Diaye played a huge game scoring 12 points and grabbing a team high 8 rebounds, 5 offensive, C.J. Wilcox came off the bench and drained 15 points with some nice drives in the lane, and Terrence Ross put up 16 points and 7 boards.
The other four Huskies combined for a less than acceptable 9 points. All four went 1-3 from the field. They did manage to combine for an important 11 rebounds.
Aziz N'Diaye used his size advantage to take it to the hole early on and found immediate success against the much smaller Wildcat frontcourt. N'Diaye was able to extend over the defenders for some nice looking post moves and hook shots. The Dawgs recognized the advantage and fed him the ball more often than in the past. While N'Diaye's offensive talents are still improving, the difference between this year and last is very noticeable and much needed. Aziz finished 6-11 from the field, but missed all 3 free throw attempts.
C.J. Wilcox looked solid on the court, finished inside the paint when his outside shot wasn't falling. Wilcox hit 6 of 10 from the field and was only 1 of 3 from outside the arc. Wilcox nearly cost the Dawgs the game with a missed front end of a 1-and-1 with the Dawgs only up 3 points. The Wildcats came down and sank a game tying 3-pointer. Wilcox took care of business in the last 15 seconds, hitting a pair of free throws following the expected foul. Wilcox had 5 boards and a pair of assists as well as turnovers. Not his greatest night, but following over two weeks of missed practices and games, Wilcox knocked some of his rust off and played big when we needed him.
Terrence Ross had another amazing second half, hitting some big 3-pointers down the stretch to extend the Husky lead. Like Wilcox, Ross missed the front end of a critical 1-and-1 situation that nearly cost the Dawgs the win. Still, Ross had an impressive stat stuffing night with 7 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and 3 turnovers. Ross put together a much better game and did some work in both halves rather than just in the second. That being said, Ross was still much better in the last 20 than the first 20 minutes. Ross let his impact be felt defensively more than offensively as his blocks were humongous and provided the Dawgs with some nice transition opportunities.
Tony Wroten gets my MVP vote tonight. Not only did he swat the game winning block, but Wroten drilled an insane 3-pointer after Ross bobbled the ball. With only 3 seconds on the clock, Wroten grabbed up the loose ball, turned and dribble around his man and pulled up for a 30 footer that crashed through the net. Unbelievable. The shot was almost a bad thing for Wroten and the Dawgs as Wroten got a little too cocky and started to play overexcited, shooting a poor 3-pointer and turning the ball over in the paint. Wroten quickly gained his composure back after the turnover and returned to playing more mature basketball. Wroten went 5-7 from the foul line, but finished a rather poor 5-18 from the field. Many of his shots were inside where he tried to muscle through a lot of contact that wasn't being called (see the foul differential). My bet is Wroten gets Player of the Week once more and gives one more reason why he should get Freshman of the Year and possibly Player of the Year. Wroten averaged just under 20 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game this week and helped seal a much needed road sweep.
The rest of the Dawgs played somewhat underwhelming. Gaddy had the biggest impact, picking up 3 assists early in the first half and finishing with 5 on the night with only 1 turnover. Gaddy managed only 2 points and was not aggressive offensively. His 4 fouls certainly limited how hard he could go to the hoop and defend, but I thought Gaddy had a favorable match-up that could have been exploited more often. Darnell Gant and Desmond Simmons provided some defensive sparks and grabbed 4 boards a piece. Simmons drilled a wide open 3-pointer in the starting minutes to help the Huskies jump out to a 7 point lead. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins played only 6 minutes, but gave N'Diaye a breather and gave out some heavy fouls. Kevin Parrom tried to shove ASJ after a foul, but the big man didn't move an inch and Parrom seemed to realize his mistake shortly after.
What Needed Improvement:
Free Throws:
When the fouls aren't going your way, you have to hit the few you are given. The Huskies were miserable form the line, hitting only 7 of their 16 attempts. In tight games, especially on the road, foul shots are critical. As I said in the pregame, we were not going to get many calls and I was proven right. The Dawgs did not capitalize on their opportunities and it nearly cost them the game. The Huskies MUST improve their foul shooting or risk another close game slipping away.
Ball Control:
Down the stretch, the Huskies got sloppy with the ball and play calls leading to unnecessary and unforced turnovers that allowed UA to fight their way back into the game. 13 turnovers were committed, 5 by Wroten (though I believe the officials should have called a foul instead of traveling on at least one of those plays). The Dawgs need to take better care of the ball and limit themselves to 10 or less per game. The 13 turnovers led to 17 points by the Wildcats.
What Was Good:
Inside Presence:
The Huskies posted a 34 to 28 point advantage inside, led by N'Diaye and Wroten who crashed the glass and the lane. Wilcox provided the spark inside during the second half and Ross showed himself to be an extreme athlete once more with some impressive moves on the block.
Rebounding:
One of the biggest keys to UW's win was offensive rebounding. The Huskies posted 16 offensive boards (36 total) that led to 17 second chance points, crushing UA's 8 second chance points. When our shots weren't dropping, we got up high and gathered the ball for the easy put back. UA did manage 35 boards behind the strong efforts of Hill and Perry, but it just wasn't enough. Six Huskies posted 4 or more rebounds, while Hill and Perry were the only Wildcats with more than 3 rebounds.
Final Thoughts:
Finally, we played in a big road game and came out the victors. Solid defense forced 15 turnovers and held the 'Cats to 42% shooting from the field (not great, but solid enough) and 30% from deep (again, not great, but good enough). The Huskies put together some big stops early in both halves to put the Wildcats in some deep holes that proved too difficult to climb out of. The Wildcats went into half with a 3 point lead following a controversial dunk that appeared to be offensive goaltending. The Huskies overcame sloppy play and put together a strong enough effort to pull out the win. I would say the Dawgs played about 30 minutes of tough basketball, the other 10 minutes led to the Wildcats coming back from 7 and 11 point deficits. Big, big win and while I understand the Pac-12 is "weak" this year, anyone watching the game has to admit it was exciting. These two teams have provided some of the best basketball in the nation these past two seasons and I suspect this will continue for several more years as the programs have really begun to make this game into a huge event with everyone giving all they have to offer. This will be huge when it comes to building our players' mental attitude about big games and road games and should really give these guys a taste of how sweet a big time win is. Hopefully this is the turning point that allows us to start crushing teams with our superior athleticism and talent. Romar, now is your time to get us rolling. The momentum is here, the talent is here, now it comes down to execution and chemistry. Get it done, boys.
Go Dawgs!
The game came down to a game saving block yet again, but this time it went to the Huskies and it was without a doubt a solid block. Nick Johnson flew in after the block and flushed a dunk and it appeared that Arizona may have tied it up, but the replay clearly showed time had expired and UW won it after Tony Wroten swatted away the potential game tying shot.
The Huskies could have put this game out of reach sooner, but several big missed free throws allowed UA to tie the game at 67 with just a few seconds left on the clock. At one point, the Huskies held an 11 point lead, but let it bleed away with critical turnovers and a silly 5 second call on an inbounds play. Despite their struggles, the crowd, and the foul differential (22 to 13 with four UW players sitting at 4 fouls, while no UA player had more than 3), the Huskies were able to get the win in front of a national audience. This is quickly becoming one of the most exciting rivalries in the league, and nation if you ask me, as the past 4 games have all been thrilling in their own ways.
This win was huge as the Huskies jumped into first place in the conference with a 7-2 record. Both Cal and Oregon play their instate rivals tomorrow and can retie for first place with wins. Out of those two, Oregon has a better chance of winning due to the sub-stellar play of OSU as of late. Stanford has been solid thus far and could give Cal problems on Sunday. The sweep over the Arizona schools, on the road, is going to have big implications for conference standings as UA is a strong home team that will be tough to beat.
Solomon Hill single-handedly kept Arizona in the game with a massive 28 point 11 rebound night, shooting 9 free throws and sinking 8 as well as draining both of his 3-point jumpers. Hill only missed one shot all night and finished 9 of 10 from the field. Jesse Perry did his part as well making 13 points and grabbing a game high 12 rebounds. Hill and Perry were the only Wildcats in double digit scoring.
Four Huskies hit double digit points and all made strong arguments for MVP of the game. Wroten scored a team high 17 points, right around his average, Aziz N'Diaye played a huge game scoring 12 points and grabbing a team high 8 rebounds, 5 offensive, C.J. Wilcox came off the bench and drained 15 points with some nice drives in the lane, and Terrence Ross put up 16 points and 7 boards.
The other four Huskies combined for a less than acceptable 9 points. All four went 1-3 from the field. They did manage to combine for an important 11 rebounds.
Aziz N'Diaye used his size advantage to take it to the hole early on and found immediate success against the much smaller Wildcat frontcourt. N'Diaye was able to extend over the defenders for some nice looking post moves and hook shots. The Dawgs recognized the advantage and fed him the ball more often than in the past. While N'Diaye's offensive talents are still improving, the difference between this year and last is very noticeable and much needed. Aziz finished 6-11 from the field, but missed all 3 free throw attempts.
C.J. Wilcox looked solid on the court, finished inside the paint when his outside shot wasn't falling. Wilcox hit 6 of 10 from the field and was only 1 of 3 from outside the arc. Wilcox nearly cost the Dawgs the game with a missed front end of a 1-and-1 with the Dawgs only up 3 points. The Wildcats came down and sank a game tying 3-pointer. Wilcox took care of business in the last 15 seconds, hitting a pair of free throws following the expected foul. Wilcox had 5 boards and a pair of assists as well as turnovers. Not his greatest night, but following over two weeks of missed practices and games, Wilcox knocked some of his rust off and played big when we needed him.
Terrence Ross had another amazing second half, hitting some big 3-pointers down the stretch to extend the Husky lead. Like Wilcox, Ross missed the front end of a critical 1-and-1 situation that nearly cost the Dawgs the win. Still, Ross had an impressive stat stuffing night with 7 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and 3 turnovers. Ross put together a much better game and did some work in both halves rather than just in the second. That being said, Ross was still much better in the last 20 than the first 20 minutes. Ross let his impact be felt defensively more than offensively as his blocks were humongous and provided the Dawgs with some nice transition opportunities.
Tony Wroten gets my MVP vote tonight. Not only did he swat the game winning block, but Wroten drilled an insane 3-pointer after Ross bobbled the ball. With only 3 seconds on the clock, Wroten grabbed up the loose ball, turned and dribble around his man and pulled up for a 30 footer that crashed through the net. Unbelievable. The shot was almost a bad thing for Wroten and the Dawgs as Wroten got a little too cocky and started to play overexcited, shooting a poor 3-pointer and turning the ball over in the paint. Wroten quickly gained his composure back after the turnover and returned to playing more mature basketball. Wroten went 5-7 from the foul line, but finished a rather poor 5-18 from the field. Many of his shots were inside where he tried to muscle through a lot of contact that wasn't being called (see the foul differential). My bet is Wroten gets Player of the Week once more and gives one more reason why he should get Freshman of the Year and possibly Player of the Year. Wroten averaged just under 20 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game this week and helped seal a much needed road sweep.
The rest of the Dawgs played somewhat underwhelming. Gaddy had the biggest impact, picking up 3 assists early in the first half and finishing with 5 on the night with only 1 turnover. Gaddy managed only 2 points and was not aggressive offensively. His 4 fouls certainly limited how hard he could go to the hoop and defend, but I thought Gaddy had a favorable match-up that could have been exploited more often. Darnell Gant and Desmond Simmons provided some defensive sparks and grabbed 4 boards a piece. Simmons drilled a wide open 3-pointer in the starting minutes to help the Huskies jump out to a 7 point lead. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins played only 6 minutes, but gave N'Diaye a breather and gave out some heavy fouls. Kevin Parrom tried to shove ASJ after a foul, but the big man didn't move an inch and Parrom seemed to realize his mistake shortly after.
What Needed Improvement:
Free Throws:
When the fouls aren't going your way, you have to hit the few you are given. The Huskies were miserable form the line, hitting only 7 of their 16 attempts. In tight games, especially on the road, foul shots are critical. As I said in the pregame, we were not going to get many calls and I was proven right. The Dawgs did not capitalize on their opportunities and it nearly cost them the game. The Huskies MUST improve their foul shooting or risk another close game slipping away.
Ball Control:
Down the stretch, the Huskies got sloppy with the ball and play calls leading to unnecessary and unforced turnovers that allowed UA to fight their way back into the game. 13 turnovers were committed, 5 by Wroten (though I believe the officials should have called a foul instead of traveling on at least one of those plays). The Dawgs need to take better care of the ball and limit themselves to 10 or less per game. The 13 turnovers led to 17 points by the Wildcats.
What Was Good:
Inside Presence:
The Huskies posted a 34 to 28 point advantage inside, led by N'Diaye and Wroten who crashed the glass and the lane. Wilcox provided the spark inside during the second half and Ross showed himself to be an extreme athlete once more with some impressive moves on the block.
Rebounding:
One of the biggest keys to UW's win was offensive rebounding. The Huskies posted 16 offensive boards (36 total) that led to 17 second chance points, crushing UA's 8 second chance points. When our shots weren't dropping, we got up high and gathered the ball for the easy put back. UA did manage 35 boards behind the strong efforts of Hill and Perry, but it just wasn't enough. Six Huskies posted 4 or more rebounds, while Hill and Perry were the only Wildcats with more than 3 rebounds.
Final Thoughts:
Finally, we played in a big road game and came out the victors. Solid defense forced 15 turnovers and held the 'Cats to 42% shooting from the field (not great, but solid enough) and 30% from deep (again, not great, but good enough). The Huskies put together some big stops early in both halves to put the Wildcats in some deep holes that proved too difficult to climb out of. The Wildcats went into half with a 3 point lead following a controversial dunk that appeared to be offensive goaltending. The Huskies overcame sloppy play and put together a strong enough effort to pull out the win. I would say the Dawgs played about 30 minutes of tough basketball, the other 10 minutes led to the Wildcats coming back from 7 and 11 point deficits. Big, big win and while I understand the Pac-12 is "weak" this year, anyone watching the game has to admit it was exciting. These two teams have provided some of the best basketball in the nation these past two seasons and I suspect this will continue for several more years as the programs have really begun to make this game into a huge event with everyone giving all they have to offer. This will be huge when it comes to building our players' mental attitude about big games and road games and should really give these guys a taste of how sweet a big time win is. Hopefully this is the turning point that allows us to start crushing teams with our superior athleticism and talent. Romar, now is your time to get us rolling. The momentum is here, the talent is here, now it comes down to execution and chemistry. Get it done, boys.
Go Dawgs!
Friday, January 27, 2012
University of Arizona Game Preview
In, what I would call, a poor showing against ASU, the Huskies showed they could grind out low scoring games with strong defense, rebounding, and physical play. Tony Wroten took the game into his hands when no one else could score and was very effective, going 9-12 from the field, which included a Number 1 ESPN Top 10 Play dunk seen here. Vicious, just vicious. ASJ scored his first points on the hardwood and finished with 4 pts and 5 boards, once again fouling out after 16 minutes.
Now the Dawgs must look forward to Arizona, where another whiteout and ESPN GameDay await. Last season started a new rivalry and provided both Husky and Cats fans with three very memorable games. While the last game in Tuscon did not end well for the Dawgs following a very questionable "block" call, Husky fans hardly need to be reminded of the last match-up versus the Wildcats. Gus Johnson gave one of the best play calls in recent history. Can you say COOOOOOOLLLLLDDDDDD BLOODED?! I did have a link to the last 5 minutes of regulation and all of overtime from that game, but someone got all copyright butthurt and took the video down.
The stakes of this game are huge. UW is in a 4 way tie for first with Colorado, Oregon, and California. Arizona is a game back with a 5-3 conference record after handily beating WSU last night. Win and UW can maintain its first place record, lose and UW drops back a few slots.
The Huskies tend to show up big in marquee match-ups. This season they have played just a tad below where they needed to be for a win. Hopefully those loses taught our players something about winning close games and can seal the deal this weekend. The UA crowd will be into the game big time with the whiteout and GameDay crew in attendance. It will be important for the Dawgs to get off to a strong start to quiet the crowd and swing the momentum in their direction.
Much like UW, Arizona lost a lot of their star talent from last season and have been struggling to find an identity and leader on the court. Last night, Kyle Fogg went off big in the first half, scoring 18 points. Other nights, guys like Kevin Parrom have been the star.
Arizona sees solid production from 4 players and are led in scoring by the aforementioned Kyle Fogg who is picking up 12.2 per game. Fogg is deadly from just about anywhere on the court. He is averaging over 80% from the foul line and 44% from deep. While Fogg is not a big guard at 6-3 188lb, he is strong enough and quick enough to get in the lane and do damage inside the paint. I suspect Wroten will be giving the defensive assignment to shut him down.
Solomon Hill is the most important player for the Wildcats with nearly 12 points per game on top of a team high 8 rebounds per outing. Hill also averages a team high in assists with just under 3 a game. Hill commits a team high 2.4 turnovers per game, which isn't surprising considering how often the ball is in his hands. Hill can be a hard to defend. At 6-6, many of our guards can keep a hand in his face. It is his 226lbs that are tough for defenders to stay even with. Hill has the strength to take his man to the bucket without too much duress and can finish through contact. I expect Desmond Simmons and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins to body up on Hill and front him to prevent inbound passes. Hill has a pretty solid outside shot and is making 35% on the season. His free throw percentage is respectable as well with 75% on the year.
Jesse Perry is the only other scorer in double digits for the Cats. Like Hill, Perry is a strong forward who is averaging nearly 12 points and over 7 rebounds per game. Perry is slightly taller and skinnier thank Hill at 6-7 216lb, but is just as effective from the field. He is not as great of a shooter, averaging only 31% outside. The key to containing both Perry and Hill is staying in front of them and preventing the dribble drives to the middle.
Kevin Parrom could show up big at times, but after a very devastating summer that included the deaths of both his mother and grandmother as well as getting shot in the hand and leg, it is not surprising that Parrom has not had the type of impact many suspected he would have this year. Parrom has been very up and down this season with 3 games of double digit scoring and 4 games without a single point to his name.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Arizona:
Nick Johnson 6-2 198lb
Kyle Fogg 6-3 188lb
Josiah Turner 6-3 192lb
Solomon Hill 6-6 226lb
Jesse Perry 6-7 216lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Desmond Simmons 6-7 225lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Get Hot Early:
The Huskies have been far too prone to slow starts this season and I guarantee, now more than ever, a hot start is needed. The crowd will be very loud and very biased towards their home team. It is important to shut them up before their impact on the game becomes too much to handle. With C.J. Wilcox back in the rotation, the Dawgs have a better shot at getting some range in their game, which should help immensely.
Rebounding:
If the shots aren't falling, the least the Dawgs can do is get dirty on the glass and pick up some nice putbacks. Our team is 9th in the nation with over 40 boards per game, though our rebounding percentage could be higher. N'Diaye, Ross, Simmons, Gant, and now ASJ are all averaging over 5 rebounds per game. That is an extreme amount of production from a large amount of players, which gives our team a lot of options when it comes to cleaning house.
Free Throws:
The Huskies were a miserable 61% from the line against ASU, due mostly to very poor shooting performances by Wroten and N'Diaye who combined for 5-14. We cannot afford to miss the freebies, especially on the road where foul shots can be hard to come by. I'm not expecting a 90% shooting performance, but 75% is very reasonable to expect and desire.
Final Thoughts:
The Huskies can win this game if their mentality is in the right place. That being said, this is going to be tough and could end in a blowout if the Dawgs don't take care of business defensively. What is going to win this game is nose to the grind defense and a tough, go-getter attitude. The Dawgs cannot let the game get away from them or they risk the crowd taking over. Someone needs to go I.T. tomorrow and take over the game. I'd like it to be Ross rather than Wroten, but I have no doubt Wroten will make his impact felt. He loves the big stage and thrives on emotion.
Final Score Prediction: UW-75 UA-74
Now the Dawgs must look forward to Arizona, where another whiteout and ESPN GameDay await. Last season started a new rivalry and provided both Husky and Cats fans with three very memorable games. While the last game in Tuscon did not end well for the Dawgs following a very questionable "block" call, Husky fans hardly need to be reminded of the last match-up versus the Wildcats. Gus Johnson gave one of the best play calls in recent history. Can you say COOOOOOOLLLLLDDDDDD BLOODED?! I did have a link to the last 5 minutes of regulation and all of overtime from that game, but someone got all copyright butthurt and took the video down.
The stakes of this game are huge. UW is in a 4 way tie for first with Colorado, Oregon, and California. Arizona is a game back with a 5-3 conference record after handily beating WSU last night. Win and UW can maintain its first place record, lose and UW drops back a few slots.
The Huskies tend to show up big in marquee match-ups. This season they have played just a tad below where they needed to be for a win. Hopefully those loses taught our players something about winning close games and can seal the deal this weekend. The UA crowd will be into the game big time with the whiteout and GameDay crew in attendance. It will be important for the Dawgs to get off to a strong start to quiet the crowd and swing the momentum in their direction.
Much like UW, Arizona lost a lot of their star talent from last season and have been struggling to find an identity and leader on the court. Last night, Kyle Fogg went off big in the first half, scoring 18 points. Other nights, guys like Kevin Parrom have been the star.
Arizona sees solid production from 4 players and are led in scoring by the aforementioned Kyle Fogg who is picking up 12.2 per game. Fogg is deadly from just about anywhere on the court. He is averaging over 80% from the foul line and 44% from deep. While Fogg is not a big guard at 6-3 188lb, he is strong enough and quick enough to get in the lane and do damage inside the paint. I suspect Wroten will be giving the defensive assignment to shut him down.
Solomon Hill is the most important player for the Wildcats with nearly 12 points per game on top of a team high 8 rebounds per outing. Hill also averages a team high in assists with just under 3 a game. Hill commits a team high 2.4 turnovers per game, which isn't surprising considering how often the ball is in his hands. Hill can be a hard to defend. At 6-6, many of our guards can keep a hand in his face. It is his 226lbs that are tough for defenders to stay even with. Hill has the strength to take his man to the bucket without too much duress and can finish through contact. I expect Desmond Simmons and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins to body up on Hill and front him to prevent inbound passes. Hill has a pretty solid outside shot and is making 35% on the season. His free throw percentage is respectable as well with 75% on the year.
Jesse Perry is the only other scorer in double digits for the Cats. Like Hill, Perry is a strong forward who is averaging nearly 12 points and over 7 rebounds per game. Perry is slightly taller and skinnier thank Hill at 6-7 216lb, but is just as effective from the field. He is not as great of a shooter, averaging only 31% outside. The key to containing both Perry and Hill is staying in front of them and preventing the dribble drives to the middle.
Kevin Parrom could show up big at times, but after a very devastating summer that included the deaths of both his mother and grandmother as well as getting shot in the hand and leg, it is not surprising that Parrom has not had the type of impact many suspected he would have this year. Parrom has been very up and down this season with 3 games of double digit scoring and 4 games without a single point to his name.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Arizona:
Nick Johnson 6-2 198lb
Kyle Fogg 6-3 188lb
Josiah Turner 6-3 192lb
Solomon Hill 6-6 226lb
Jesse Perry 6-7 216lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Desmond Simmons 6-7 225lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb
Keys to the Game:
Get Hot Early:
The Huskies have been far too prone to slow starts this season and I guarantee, now more than ever, a hot start is needed. The crowd will be very loud and very biased towards their home team. It is important to shut them up before their impact on the game becomes too much to handle. With C.J. Wilcox back in the rotation, the Dawgs have a better shot at getting some range in their game, which should help immensely.
Rebounding:
If the shots aren't falling, the least the Dawgs can do is get dirty on the glass and pick up some nice putbacks. Our team is 9th in the nation with over 40 boards per game, though our rebounding percentage could be higher. N'Diaye, Ross, Simmons, Gant, and now ASJ are all averaging over 5 rebounds per game. That is an extreme amount of production from a large amount of players, which gives our team a lot of options when it comes to cleaning house.
Free Throws:
The Huskies were a miserable 61% from the line against ASU, due mostly to very poor shooting performances by Wroten and N'Diaye who combined for 5-14. We cannot afford to miss the freebies, especially on the road where foul shots can be hard to come by. I'm not expecting a 90% shooting performance, but 75% is very reasonable to expect and desire.
Final Thoughts:
The Huskies can win this game if their mentality is in the right place. That being said, this is going to be tough and could end in a blowout if the Dawgs don't take care of business defensively. What is going to win this game is nose to the grind defense and a tough, go-getter attitude. The Dawgs cannot let the game get away from them or they risk the crowd taking over. Someone needs to go I.T. tomorrow and take over the game. I'd like it to be Ross rather than Wroten, but I have no doubt Wroten will make his impact felt. He loves the big stage and thrives on emotion.
Final Score Prediction: UW-75 UA-74
Monday, October 3, 2011
University of Arizona Preview: 2011-2012
With the exhibition opener against Seattle Pacific just a hair over a month away, it's time to get down to it and begin looking at each of the Pac-12 teams in a little bit of detail to get an idea of what sort of challenges await the Huskies. I figure alphabetically is the best way to go, saving UW for last (though technically WSU is last). With UW I'll break it down into 4 separate article concentrating on each class of athletes (Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors) and I'll probably end it with a revised prediction for the Pac-12 standings.
On to Arizona:
Arizona faces a similar situation to Washington as they have lost some of their prime talent, but brought in some promising young talent that could keep them as one of the front runners for the regular season title.
Key Losses:
Derrick Williams:
Not much needs to be said that hasn't been already. Derrick Williams was the Pac-10 Player of the Year and deservedly so. Williams averaged nearly 20 points per game to go along with over 8 boards an outing. He shot 60% on the year from the field and 75% from the line along with an insane 57% from deep. He scored more than twice as many points and had twice as many rebounds than anyone else on the Wildcat roster. He was a huge post presence and drew an average of 8 fouls per game (good for 6th in the nation). He leaves a huge hole in the middle that will need to be filled.
Lamont 'MoMo' Jones:
Jones transferred during the summer to be closer to his family due to some health issues being experienced by his grandmother. Jones was the second leading scorer for the Wildcats with nearly 10 points a game and just under 2.5 assists per game. He transferred to Iona College in the MAAC. Many people also suspect that incoming freshman Josiah Turner also played a role in Jones' decision to transfer. Jones was a proven and successful point guard for the Wildcats and alongside Kyle Fogg, the two helped Williams find many open shots.
Kevin Parrom:
This is an interesting situation. For those who don't know, Kevin Parrom was shot quite recently in New York. He is stable and relatively healthy for someone who was attacked with a shotgun. He suffered gunshot wounds to his hand and leg/knee. I haven't seen any predictions as to his recovery time so I have no idea whether to mark him up as a loss for the Wildcats or just a delayed asset. I'm sure all of us wish him a quick recovery, no matter how much we may despise the Wildcats. If you don't remember Parrom, he is the one who tied up the game in overtime right before Isaiah Thomas made his infamous "Coldblooded" shot.
Jamelle Horne:
Arizona graduated only one senior at the end of the season, 6-7 forward Jamelle Horne. Horne was a solid player for the Wildcats, but was mostly in the shadow of Derrick Williams for the last season or two. In the 2009-2010 season Horne averaged nearly 30 minutes a game. In 2010-2011 Horne averaged only 18 minutes a game due to Williams' dominance in the post. He averaged only 3.3 boards per game and 6.1 points per game. While not a dominate player in his final season, he had all the tools and talents to be a frustrating defender and put up several double digit scoring games through the year.
Incoming Freshmen:
Arizona brought in a high octane recruiting class, snagging two 5-star and two 4-star players including UW recruit Angelo Chol.
Josiah Turner:
Highlighting the class is the #3 PG, Josiah Turner, a 6-3 185lb threat from just about anywhere on the court. He has a nice shot that needs a little refining. His real strengths are his speed and passing ability. He will be a definite threat inside the lane and should be an impact player from day one.
Nick Johnson:
Also at 6-3 and 185lb is the #5 shooting guard out of 2011. He can shoot with the best of them and even blocks shots like a big man. While listed as a 2-guard, he is a bit small for that position, but should be able to make up for that with pure athletic ability. He is also known to have a bit of a weak left hand, so defenders able to turn him the wrong way should experience more success in keeping him from becoming a threat.
Angelo Chol:
Many UW fans know of Chol as he was considered a big part of what would make the Class of 2011 successful for UW. Sadly, like many other big name big men, UW missed out and Chol signed with Arizona instead. At 6-8 and 210lbs he is a big man and will help make up for the loss of Horne and Williams. He has a decent mid-range game that helps to compliment his rebounding and shot blocking ability.
Sidiki Johnson:
Sidiki is a tad bigger than Chol at 6-8 220lb, but not quite as skilled. His scoring game is a work in progress as he is still developing a back to the basket game. Facing the hoop he is able to make a wide variety of shots and can finish strong at the hoop. He rebounds fairly well, but his overall effort tends to come in waves rather than performing at a high level consistently throughout the game.
Returning Players:
Robert Arvizu 6-0 182lb
Dondre Wise 6-1 214lb
Jordan Mayes 6-2 185lb
Kyle Fogg 6-3 180lb
Daniel Bejarano 6-4 208lb
Brendan Lavender 6-5 215lb
Solomon Hill 6-6 226lb
Max Wiepking 6-6 200lb
Jesse Perry 6-7 210lb
Kyryl Natyazhko6-11 264lb
Alex Jacobson 7-0 251lb
The big returning names are Fogg, Lavender, Hill, and Perry. They were the significant contributors this past season and will likely have to step their roles up with the loss of Williams and Jones, with the possibility of Parrom as well.
What to Expect:
Arizona should be a top 4 team in the Pac-12 without a doubt. The real question is whether the young talent coming in can replace the top tier talent they lost. In my mind they take a step back from the Elite 8 team of last season just with the loss of Derrick Williams. Young talent is nice, but experience is a better indicator of how a team will do. I think UW, UCLA, and probably even Cal will be better squads. Josiah Turner will likely make a run for Freshman Player of the Year. Arizona should make the NCAA without too much hassle. Their non-conference season should go well for them and hopefully they will enter the conference season still ranked. Several preseason polls have the Wildcats in the top 15 teams of the nation. To me this far exceeds their abilities. They are far too unproven to be so highly ranked. Are they a top 25 team? More than likely. Are they a top 20 team? Probably. Are they better than UW or UCLA? Likely not. Could they win the conference title? Definitely a possibility. UW should have won it this past season if not for the second half collapse after an outstanding start to the year.
On to Arizona:
Arizona faces a similar situation to Washington as they have lost some of their prime talent, but brought in some promising young talent that could keep them as one of the front runners for the regular season title.
Key Losses:
Derrick Williams:
Not much needs to be said that hasn't been already. Derrick Williams was the Pac-10 Player of the Year and deservedly so. Williams averaged nearly 20 points per game to go along with over 8 boards an outing. He shot 60% on the year from the field and 75% from the line along with an insane 57% from deep. He scored more than twice as many points and had twice as many rebounds than anyone else on the Wildcat roster. He was a huge post presence and drew an average of 8 fouls per game (good for 6th in the nation). He leaves a huge hole in the middle that will need to be filled.
Lamont 'MoMo' Jones:
Jones transferred during the summer to be closer to his family due to some health issues being experienced by his grandmother. Jones was the second leading scorer for the Wildcats with nearly 10 points a game and just under 2.5 assists per game. He transferred to Iona College in the MAAC. Many people also suspect that incoming freshman Josiah Turner also played a role in Jones' decision to transfer. Jones was a proven and successful point guard for the Wildcats and alongside Kyle Fogg, the two helped Williams find many open shots.
Kevin Parrom:
This is an interesting situation. For those who don't know, Kevin Parrom was shot quite recently in New York. He is stable and relatively healthy for someone who was attacked with a shotgun. He suffered gunshot wounds to his hand and leg/knee. I haven't seen any predictions as to his recovery time so I have no idea whether to mark him up as a loss for the Wildcats or just a delayed asset. I'm sure all of us wish him a quick recovery, no matter how much we may despise the Wildcats. If you don't remember Parrom, he is the one who tied up the game in overtime right before Isaiah Thomas made his infamous "Coldblooded" shot.
Jamelle Horne:
Arizona graduated only one senior at the end of the season, 6-7 forward Jamelle Horne. Horne was a solid player for the Wildcats, but was mostly in the shadow of Derrick Williams for the last season or two. In the 2009-2010 season Horne averaged nearly 30 minutes a game. In 2010-2011 Horne averaged only 18 minutes a game due to Williams' dominance in the post. He averaged only 3.3 boards per game and 6.1 points per game. While not a dominate player in his final season, he had all the tools and talents to be a frustrating defender and put up several double digit scoring games through the year.
Incoming Freshmen:
Arizona brought in a high octane recruiting class, snagging two 5-star and two 4-star players including UW recruit Angelo Chol.
Josiah Turner:
Highlighting the class is the #3 PG, Josiah Turner, a 6-3 185lb threat from just about anywhere on the court. He has a nice shot that needs a little refining. His real strengths are his speed and passing ability. He will be a definite threat inside the lane and should be an impact player from day one.
Nick Johnson:
Also at 6-3 and 185lb is the #5 shooting guard out of 2011. He can shoot with the best of them and even blocks shots like a big man. While listed as a 2-guard, he is a bit small for that position, but should be able to make up for that with pure athletic ability. He is also known to have a bit of a weak left hand, so defenders able to turn him the wrong way should experience more success in keeping him from becoming a threat.
Angelo Chol:
Many UW fans know of Chol as he was considered a big part of what would make the Class of 2011 successful for UW. Sadly, like many other big name big men, UW missed out and Chol signed with Arizona instead. At 6-8 and 210lbs he is a big man and will help make up for the loss of Horne and Williams. He has a decent mid-range game that helps to compliment his rebounding and shot blocking ability.
Sidiki Johnson:
Sidiki is a tad bigger than Chol at 6-8 220lb, but not quite as skilled. His scoring game is a work in progress as he is still developing a back to the basket game. Facing the hoop he is able to make a wide variety of shots and can finish strong at the hoop. He rebounds fairly well, but his overall effort tends to come in waves rather than performing at a high level consistently throughout the game.
Returning Players:
Robert Arvizu 6-0 182lb
Dondre Wise 6-1 214lb
Jordan Mayes 6-2 185lb
Kyle Fogg 6-3 180lb
Daniel Bejarano 6-4 208lb
Brendan Lavender 6-5 215lb
Solomon Hill 6-6 226lb
Max Wiepking 6-6 200lb
Jesse Perry 6-7 210lb
Kyryl Natyazhko6-11 264lb
Alex Jacobson 7-0 251lb
The big returning names are Fogg, Lavender, Hill, and Perry. They were the significant contributors this past season and will likely have to step their roles up with the loss of Williams and Jones, with the possibility of Parrom as well.
What to Expect:
Arizona should be a top 4 team in the Pac-12 without a doubt. The real question is whether the young talent coming in can replace the top tier talent they lost. In my mind they take a step back from the Elite 8 team of last season just with the loss of Derrick Williams. Young talent is nice, but experience is a better indicator of how a team will do. I think UW, UCLA, and probably even Cal will be better squads. Josiah Turner will likely make a run for Freshman Player of the Year. Arizona should make the NCAA without too much hassle. Their non-conference season should go well for them and hopefully they will enter the conference season still ranked. Several preseason polls have the Wildcats in the top 15 teams of the nation. To me this far exceeds their abilities. They are far too unproven to be so highly ranked. Are they a top 25 team? More than likely. Are they a top 20 team? Probably. Are they better than UW or UCLA? Likely not. Could they win the conference title? Definitely a possibility. UW should have won it this past season if not for the second half collapse after an outstanding start to the year.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
University of Arizona Review 3
Final Score: UW-77 UA-75
WHAT A FINISH! Isaiah Thomas embodying the spirit of Quincy Pondexter nailed a fade away jumper as time expired after juking out Lamont Jones. In Overtime. I want a Title match up against Arizona so bad. That would be an exciting game. I.T. put the team on his back tonight. 28 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists. Sure the 5 turnovers marred his stat line a bit, but he was monstrous tonight. Not only did he nail the game winner, but at the end of regulation I.T., Terrence Ross, and C.J. Wilcox nailed HUGE 3 pointers from both corners and top of the key. C.J. Wilcox was also on the receiving end of a great full court pass from I.T. and he jammed it home in overtime to put us up 75-72. Kevin Parrom of UA came down and hit a 3 pointer to tie the game with 20.4 to go. I.T. brought the ball up, Romar had a timeout to use, but he let I.T. be a leader and do his thing. Romar's belief in his players has payed off huge. Pondexter nailed the Marquette shot, now I.T. has this one to hang his hat on. After the shot I.T. yelled and flexed for the crowd and camera. His teammates engulfed him, media swarmed and I.T. laid on the ground, exhausted (123 minutes of 125 in the tournament) and it looked like he was crying. His teammates picked him up and put him on their shoulders. He put the team on his back. They put him on theirs. It was a beautiful thing. The kid is an athlete and winner and he put everything into this tournament. With Venoy Overton serving his suspension, I.T. played all, but 2 minutes in the Oregon game and only missed 2 offensive possessions.
Romar made a very smart coaching decision late in regulation and put C.J. Wilcox at the point and let I.T. roam around the court as a shooting guard. His hand was hot tonight and we needed his points. Speaking of points, Terrence Ross was looking like BRoy tonight and was the only other Husky in double digits with 16 on the night. Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Wilcox both had 9 points.
Wilcox was not the only player with a sweet dunk. Terrence Ross rose up and caught a brilliant pass from I.T. for the wide open alley oop. Howdidhegetupthere? Magic. He is made of magic.
UW started a tad slow again, but got an early lead only to see it washed away by a strong Arizona run. UW went into halftime down 3, 36-33. MBA had 0 points going into half time as did Justin Holiday. Holiday finished scoreless again on 0-3 shooting. In the final minute regulation UW's line up was I.T., Ross, Wilcox, Suggs, and Gant. We needed shooters and MBA had 4 fouls. It payed off. We hit three 3 pointers for our final 9 points in the second half.
This game should not have had to go into overtime. I'm not sad it did now, that finish was absurd, but UW missed EVERY SINGLE FREE THROW in the second half. Unacceptable. After a 7-7 first half, UW went cold at the line including several AND1's and 1-1's. UW didn't hit a free throw until overtime when MBA split his free throws. MBA fouled out with 3 minutes to go in overtime, thankfully UW had Darnell Gant to take over. Gant had 6 points and 8 rebounds on the night.
The game had an ominous feel about it when I.T. had a lay-in blocked form behind that was clearly goaltending, but the refs missed the call once more. Darnell Gant evened the score almost immediately after with his own monster block. Gant had 2 great blocks in the game. He has become a very strong 6th man. Aziz N'Diaye had 7 rebounds off the bench, 4 offensive, and missed a dunk, but grabbed the ball and layed it in thankfully.
Arizona was uncharacteristically bad at the free throw line tonight. 20-30 is well below their average. Derrik Williams was 8-13. UW only attempted 14 free throws and missed 6.
UW dominated the glass after getting destroyed in the last match up. UW had 43 rebounds, 16 offensive, including 2 in a row twice in the game. Once with 5 to go in regulation and the other with 2 minutes or so to go in overtime. Arizona only managed 32 with 11 offensive. Williams led the Wilcats with 11. No other player had more than 6 for Arizona.
Watching the replay over and over is the greatest thing ever. Gus Johnson's call was brilliant. GAME CLOCK AT 8! HE'S GUNA DO IT HIMSELF! THOMAS! SHAKE! CROSS OVER! STEP BACK! GGGGGGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What Needed Improvement
Free Throw Shooting
My health was far too endangered by their second half free throw shooting. If they had made their damn free throws we wouldn't have needed that ridiculous come back to win the game. Got to hit the free ones and you especially cannot miss the front end of 1 and 1's.
Fouling
UW had 25 fouls on the night. MBA fouled out and both Aziz and I.T. had 4 when all was said and done. 30 free throw attempts gives opponents too many opportunities to win games. When we are running an 8 man rotation we cannot afford to foul this often.
What was Good
ISAIAH THOMAS
He went all out all game, all tournament. 123 minutes of 125 possible. All 45 in the championship game. I.T. scored 59 points, had 30 assists, 10 rebounds, and 8 steals. To average 19.7 points and 10 assists is ridiculous. The fact that the final minute of regulation he led is completely overshadowed by his buzzer beating shot is a testament to how amazing it was. I.T. starting the come back by hitting a 3 to bring it within 1 point with a minute or so to go. He also dished to C.J. Wilcox in the corner who hit the game tying 3 with only seconds to go in the game. That was, by the way, the only 3 pointer Wilcox hit all game. Talk about getting it done when you need to. I think Wilcox was inspired by I.T. and Ross sacking up in the two previous possessions. But I digress....I.T. put the team on his back. Too bad he couldn't pick up a third straight double double. His performance tonight was legendary. Evidently, Isaiah waved off Romar in the final 20 seconds. He knew what he was doing. He wanted that shot and boy he did not disappoint. I will relive this shot over and over and over. Good game I.T.
Rebounding
I.T., Holiday, Gant, and Aziz were terrific on the glass. MBA only managed 3 rebounds, all in the second half. The first four combined for 27 of UW's 43 boards. We also did a great job keeping Arizona off the glass. Great offensive rebounding and solid boxing out was what did it for us.
Player by Player Reviews
Coming later. I'm off to celebrate this win tonight. GO DAWGS!
WHAT A FINISH! Isaiah Thomas embodying the spirit of Quincy Pondexter nailed a fade away jumper as time expired after juking out Lamont Jones. In Overtime. I want a Title match up against Arizona so bad. That would be an exciting game. I.T. put the team on his back tonight. 28 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists. Sure the 5 turnovers marred his stat line a bit, but he was monstrous tonight. Not only did he nail the game winner, but at the end of regulation I.T., Terrence Ross, and C.J. Wilcox nailed HUGE 3 pointers from both corners and top of the key. C.J. Wilcox was also on the receiving end of a great full court pass from I.T. and he jammed it home in overtime to put us up 75-72. Kevin Parrom of UA came down and hit a 3 pointer to tie the game with 20.4 to go. I.T. brought the ball up, Romar had a timeout to use, but he let I.T. be a leader and do his thing. Romar's belief in his players has payed off huge. Pondexter nailed the Marquette shot, now I.T. has this one to hang his hat on. After the shot I.T. yelled and flexed for the crowd and camera. His teammates engulfed him, media swarmed and I.T. laid on the ground, exhausted (123 minutes of 125 in the tournament) and it looked like he was crying. His teammates picked him up and put him on their shoulders. He put the team on his back. They put him on theirs. It was a beautiful thing. The kid is an athlete and winner and he put everything into this tournament. With Venoy Overton serving his suspension, I.T. played all, but 2 minutes in the Oregon game and only missed 2 offensive possessions.
Romar made a very smart coaching decision late in regulation and put C.J. Wilcox at the point and let I.T. roam around the court as a shooting guard. His hand was hot tonight and we needed his points. Speaking of points, Terrence Ross was looking like BRoy tonight and was the only other Husky in double digits with 16 on the night. Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Wilcox both had 9 points.
Wilcox was not the only player with a sweet dunk. Terrence Ross rose up and caught a brilliant pass from I.T. for the wide open alley oop. Howdidhegetupthere? Magic. He is made of magic.
UW started a tad slow again, but got an early lead only to see it washed away by a strong Arizona run. UW went into halftime down 3, 36-33. MBA had 0 points going into half time as did Justin Holiday. Holiday finished scoreless again on 0-3 shooting. In the final minute regulation UW's line up was I.T., Ross, Wilcox, Suggs, and Gant. We needed shooters and MBA had 4 fouls. It payed off. We hit three 3 pointers for our final 9 points in the second half.
This game should not have had to go into overtime. I'm not sad it did now, that finish was absurd, but UW missed EVERY SINGLE FREE THROW in the second half. Unacceptable. After a 7-7 first half, UW went cold at the line including several AND1's and 1-1's. UW didn't hit a free throw until overtime when MBA split his free throws. MBA fouled out with 3 minutes to go in overtime, thankfully UW had Darnell Gant to take over. Gant had 6 points and 8 rebounds on the night.
The game had an ominous feel about it when I.T. had a lay-in blocked form behind that was clearly goaltending, but the refs missed the call once more. Darnell Gant evened the score almost immediately after with his own monster block. Gant had 2 great blocks in the game. He has become a very strong 6th man. Aziz N'Diaye had 7 rebounds off the bench, 4 offensive, and missed a dunk, but grabbed the ball and layed it in thankfully.
Arizona was uncharacteristically bad at the free throw line tonight. 20-30 is well below their average. Derrik Williams was 8-13. UW only attempted 14 free throws and missed 6.
UW dominated the glass after getting destroyed in the last match up. UW had 43 rebounds, 16 offensive, including 2 in a row twice in the game. Once with 5 to go in regulation and the other with 2 minutes or so to go in overtime. Arizona only managed 32 with 11 offensive. Williams led the Wilcats with 11. No other player had more than 6 for Arizona.
Watching the replay over and over is the greatest thing ever. Gus Johnson's call was brilliant. GAME CLOCK AT 8! HE'S GUNA DO IT HIMSELF! THOMAS! SHAKE! CROSS OVER! STEP BACK! GGGGGGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What Needed Improvement
Free Throw Shooting
My health was far too endangered by their second half free throw shooting. If they had made their damn free throws we wouldn't have needed that ridiculous come back to win the game. Got to hit the free ones and you especially cannot miss the front end of 1 and 1's.
Fouling
UW had 25 fouls on the night. MBA fouled out and both Aziz and I.T. had 4 when all was said and done. 30 free throw attempts gives opponents too many opportunities to win games. When we are running an 8 man rotation we cannot afford to foul this often.
What was Good
ISAIAH THOMAS
He went all out all game, all tournament. 123 minutes of 125 possible. All 45 in the championship game. I.T. scored 59 points, had 30 assists, 10 rebounds, and 8 steals. To average 19.7 points and 10 assists is ridiculous. The fact that the final minute of regulation he led is completely overshadowed by his buzzer beating shot is a testament to how amazing it was. I.T. starting the come back by hitting a 3 to bring it within 1 point with a minute or so to go. He also dished to C.J. Wilcox in the corner who hit the game tying 3 with only seconds to go in the game. That was, by the way, the only 3 pointer Wilcox hit all game. Talk about getting it done when you need to. I think Wilcox was inspired by I.T. and Ross sacking up in the two previous possessions. But I digress....I.T. put the team on his back. Too bad he couldn't pick up a third straight double double. His performance tonight was legendary. Evidently, Isaiah waved off Romar in the final 20 seconds. He knew what he was doing. He wanted that shot and boy he did not disappoint. I will relive this shot over and over and over. Good game I.T.
Rebounding
I.T., Holiday, Gant, and Aziz were terrific on the glass. MBA only managed 3 rebounds, all in the second half. The first four combined for 27 of UW's 43 boards. We also did a great job keeping Arizona off the glass. Great offensive rebounding and solid boxing out was what did it for us.
Player by Player Reviews
Coming later. I'm off to celebrate this win tonight. GO DAWGS!
University of Arizona Preview 3
Woke up late so I'll direct you to a couple of sites who were a little more responsible with their time and got their previews written up
http://www.montlakemadness.com/pac10-ship-uw-vs-arizona-preview/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2014477003_derrick_william_1.html
http://www.montlakemadness.com/pac10-ship-uw-vs-arizona-preview/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2014477003_derrick_william_1.html
Saturday, February 19, 2011
University of Arizona Review 2
UW-86 UA-87
Name of the game. Too little too late. Big props to Derek Williams who blocked the game winning shot by Darnell Gant. I'll have to wait for a replay to see if it was a goal tend or not, but from what I saw initially it looked clean. UW came back from 9 down at half and 12 down at one point in the second half. UW had a 4 point lead at one point, but couldn't finish the game off. We shot ourselves in the foot once more. Isaiah Thomas and Venoy Overton both had break away plays blocked by Arizona due to pure laziness and poor communication. You have to go strong to the basket. No excuses. At all. 5 missed free throws. Arizona only missed 2. Do the math. We win by 2, 6 if you count the two break aways that should have been made.
Home cooking was around, but not the reason we lost. Arizona was shooting hot and we played lax defense in the first half. MBA had a posterization over Derek Williams that should have been an And 1 shot, but no foul was called. Tie game if that is called. On the other end Derek Williams was getting weak calls all night. As bad as that is, those 7 missed points is why we lost.
Offensive rebounding is another reason why we lost. 16-6 in Arizona's favor. 35-22 overall. Terrible. Despite forcing 7 more turnovers and blocking 10 shots and picking up 8 steals we lost. 16 extra opportunities for UA. 10 extra over UW. We did not box out and this led to fouls against us and And 1 plays for UA.
Arizona was hot from outside. 8-10 in the first half, 11-18 overall. UW was 5-16 with C.J. Wilcox hitting all but 1 of those 3 pointers. Williams was a perfect 2-2 and Lamont Jones was 3-6 from outside. We did not extend our defense well in the first half and UA capitalized by draining shots left and right.
Every stat seems to say we should have won this game, except rebounding. So when it comes down to it that was what killed us. Our normally strong rebounding support did a poor job helping MBA on the inside. Aziz N'Diaye hardly played the second half (or the first for that matter) as he picked up his fourth foul early in the second and had 3 quick ones in the first. Darnell Gant started in place of Aziz, but was subbed out 3 minutes in after a few backdoor cuts led to easy points.
I should amend that last statement. Rebounding and free throws. Both teams attempted 18 shots, UA made 3 extra. I.T. missed 3 free throws. Including the first of a 3 point foul and 1 from a technical given to Solomon Hill. The technical foul shot never should be missed. No one is around. Ignore the crowd and put the damn ball in the basket.
MBA played out of his mind along with I.T. They were slow in the first half, but the second they were much more productive and efficient. MBA had 3 straight lay-ins/dunks off of assists by Isaiah Thomas. MBA finished with 24 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers. Isaiah Thomas had 12 points, 9 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers.
As good as MBA was he missed some easy bunny shots, a few he rebounded and put back in to his credit. He finished 12-19 from the field and did not attempt. ONE. SINGLE. FREE THROW. I'm not saying he gets fouled every time, but there is no reason a post player with 19 attempts and 24 points does not see the free throw line at least once. Derek Williams was 8-17 from the field and he shot 9 free throws (made 8).
C.J. Wilcox came off the bench and scored 19 points on 7-11 shooting, 4-8 outside the arc. He was hot tonight. He is looking good once more.
UW has 20 assists to UA's 11. Another category we dominated. The difference, again, was rebounding. Darnell Gant had 5 rebounds to assist MBA, but no other player managed more than 2 after MBA and Gant. Pathetic.
A slow start made this game difficult to come back from. Arizona got up by 10 early and UW made several runs in the first half to cut the lead to 5 or less. At one point, UW was down only 4 points and made 4 defensive stops in a row, did not score on a single one of those opportunities. 3 of the stops ended with UW jacking up a 3 point shot, one of which Wilcox air-balled. The other two were both long and bounced into awaiting Arizona hands.
Arizona did a pretty good job of keeping I.T. out of the lane and I.T. did a great job of finding open teammates to finish. Still, it drives me mad how many easy free throws Thomas missed. I.T. finished 4-9 from the field, 0-2 from the arc.
UW was terrific defensively in the second half, but it was too little too late. When they got the lead, UW got a little sloppier on defense and this led to a pair of And 1 shots for UA, something I think UW only saw one or two times the entire game.
We had every reason to win and once more we fell. This loss hurts a lot. Not only does this drop of from title contention, effectively, but it also puts us on the bubble in my mind. We haven't picked up a huge win, we've dropped bad games to UO and OSU, and we are 10-5 in conference. We have no choice but to win out if we want to lock in a tournament bid. We have not learned how to close a game. USC is the lone time we have held onto a late lead to win. We have not gone into half down and come out to win yet either. This does not bode well for the NCAA. Injuries have killed us. Our once deep team is getting pond thin and we can't afford anymore injuries or mistakes.
What Needed Improvement
Rebounding
35-22. That says it all. 16-6, that is painful. How many times did UA shoot a bad shot thanks to strong defense only to have Arizona rebound it and put it back in for the easy shot? Too many times. That is how many. MBA was strong and Gant was strong. That was all we had. Aziz was in too much foul trouble to be effective at any point. The rest of the team was just plain weak on the box out and rebound.
Free Throw Shooting
This stat also hurt us. 3 misses more than UA, 1 point loss. Make any one of those and its a tie game, make 2 and its a win. No excuse for missing. Not in a big game like this, especially I.T. who has been so strong this year. Terrence Toss and Wilcox both missed 1 free throw. Free throws win close ball games and Arizona made theirs, we did not. We lost. They did not.
Outside Shooting
With the exception of C.J. Wilcox, UW was terrible from range. Holiday was the only other Husky to make a 3 pointer. 5-16 is not up to our standard. We should be 8-16 or 9-16.
What was Good
Passing/Ball Control
We had 20 assists and only 11 turnovers. I said we needed 10 or less to win and it looks like that was the case. Venoy Overton had a critical turnover when we were up 2. He threw it right into the hands of an Arizona player. They went down and got the And 1 to put them up 1 point. It ended up being the game changing play. Instead of up 4 we go down 1 and finish there. Silly turnover, bad ending.
Big Three
MBA, Holiday, and I.T. all played strong. Gant ad Wilcox were also tough and contributed in big ways. We could have used more rebounding from Holiday, but he managed 11 points, hit both his free throws and shot 4-8 from the field (1-3 from outside). He also had 1 steal, 1 block, and a turnover.
Second Half Defense
Strong play in the second half, but it was not enough. We got over the hump only to give the lead right back. We get up and give it up way too easy. I said in the preview we could not let UA go on a run let ASU. Well, UA did go on a big run to start the game and they won. Its hard enough to overcome an 8+ point lead. Its even harder against a talented team like UA.
Player by Player Review
Justin Holiday
Not his strongest game, but a pretty good one overall. His shot was decent, he played strong D, but he didn't rebound well. He had a few moments where he did not box out well. He made his lay-ins this time and did not miss the easy ones. We needed him to rebound the ball 5+ times, he only managed 2. Ouch.
Grade: B
Venoy Overton
A decent game as well for Overton. You don't want to blame him alone for the loss, but the missed break away (due to a block) and the dumb turnover were both costly plays that changed the dynamic of the game. He had 4 assists, 6 points, and 2 steals, but the 3 turnovers hurt us big time. He had some nice passes, but the turnovers loom too big to really appreciate them.
Grade: B
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
I'm going to give him the MVP. He should have had an And1 shot on the dunk over Derek Williams. He had 4 shots where he was fouled and no call was made. Its tough to win games when your post players aren't able to get to the foul line. He played a very tough game and interacted well with I.T. in the second half to battle back into things. You can't ask him to do much more than he did. 6 blocks, 3 steals, 4 assists. Huge numbers. Add in his 24 points and its a fabulous night. His 3 turnovers weren't even that big of a deal because his other stats were so strong.
Grade: A
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Scott Suggs
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
You can't blame him for getting blocked. Williams is a phenomenal athlete and played great help defense on that play. Darnell had 7 points and 5 rebounds. 2 blocks and 1 assist, 0 turnovers. Great play from him tonight. He had a fantastic put back rebound to keep us in the game.
Grade: A
Isaiah Thomas
You really can't ask I.T. to do much more than he did, but he did miss 3 free throws and an easy lay-in (blocked). 9 assists and 12 rebounds. That is wonderful offensive production. He was tough on defense for a majority of the game. He played Jones tight, but Jones hit some big shots despite the hand in his face. I found it odd that Romar kept I.T. out of the game when UW got up 4. In my mind, that is where you want I.T. in the game to bump up the lead and put the choke hold on. Instead, Overton stayed in and turned it over. I.T. came in soon after. Honorary MVP. He makes his free throws and he is MVP. He makes his lay-in, he is MVP.
Grade: A-
Aziz N'Diaye
Non-factor. He played extremely limited minutes due to high fouling, only one was complete nonsense that I noticed. Only 2 rebounds and 2 points. He needs to step his game up. He is out post option next year and we need him to play big.
Grade: D
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 turnover. 1-3 from the field and 3-4 from the line. You can't expect him to make all his free throws and you can hardly blame him for the loss when he shot 75% from the line. Not his greatest game, but decent enough. He had a great put back off an MBA miss, showing those bursts of brilliance we need to become consistent performances.
Grade: B
C.J. Wilcox
19 points tonight, 7-11 form the field, 4-8 from the arc. No rebounds and 1 assist. He did not have a turnover, which is great. He was an offensive demon tonight and overall was good on defense. He had some problems getting his hips in the right place to force his man towards the top of the key or sidelines.
Grade: A-
Final Thoughts
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. This was our shot. This was our time. We had every reason to win. We had every opportunity to win and we couldn't pull it off. That fact alone will kill us come Selection Sunday. We have not made a convincing argument that we will be a competitive team in the NCAA and at this point a win out of the remaining 3 conference games is a must to get in the NCAA. I am hoping for a 10 seed at this point. If we can win out and win the Pac-10 tournament we could get up to a 7 or 8 seed, but without a convincing finish it is hard to argue how deserving we are of great seeding. To call this year underwhelming is an understatement. Every chance to dominate and we shoot ourselves night in and night out. There isn't much time to correct these problems, but it has to be done. not enough pressure defense in the first half, in my opinion. Down 9, got to pressure the ball. At least throw a three quarters court press. Make them work a bit, slow down the offense. Even a half court press would have been nice to see. Can we win the Pac-10 title? No, it would take a miracle. UA would have to lose 3 of their final 4 and with 2 games at McKale center I just don't see it turning out that way. UW would have to win out. UCLA would have to lose 2 to 3 of their final 4. The preseason favorites drowned their hopes in Oregon and are paying for it now. My heart is torn and I hope this team can finished with 5 or 6 straight wins to get into the NCAA and get to work in the post season. Can this team make it past the Sweet Sixteen? Sure. Will it happen? I'm not convinced at this point. They play plenty of teams strong and down to the wire, but they can't finish. For one reason or another they cannot finish. For me this is coaching. Plain and simple. I love Romar, but I'll be damned if the teams inability to finish isn't in part due to Romar and crew's coaching. They have to do something to inspire confidence ad make the team into winners and not close losers.
Name of the game. Too little too late. Big props to Derek Williams who blocked the game winning shot by Darnell Gant. I'll have to wait for a replay to see if it was a goal tend or not, but from what I saw initially it looked clean. UW came back from 9 down at half and 12 down at one point in the second half. UW had a 4 point lead at one point, but couldn't finish the game off. We shot ourselves in the foot once more. Isaiah Thomas and Venoy Overton both had break away plays blocked by Arizona due to pure laziness and poor communication. You have to go strong to the basket. No excuses. At all. 5 missed free throws. Arizona only missed 2. Do the math. We win by 2, 6 if you count the two break aways that should have been made.
Home cooking was around, but not the reason we lost. Arizona was shooting hot and we played lax defense in the first half. MBA had a posterization over Derek Williams that should have been an And 1 shot, but no foul was called. Tie game if that is called. On the other end Derek Williams was getting weak calls all night. As bad as that is, those 7 missed points is why we lost.
Offensive rebounding is another reason why we lost. 16-6 in Arizona's favor. 35-22 overall. Terrible. Despite forcing 7 more turnovers and blocking 10 shots and picking up 8 steals we lost. 16 extra opportunities for UA. 10 extra over UW. We did not box out and this led to fouls against us and And 1 plays for UA.
Arizona was hot from outside. 8-10 in the first half, 11-18 overall. UW was 5-16 with C.J. Wilcox hitting all but 1 of those 3 pointers. Williams was a perfect 2-2 and Lamont Jones was 3-6 from outside. We did not extend our defense well in the first half and UA capitalized by draining shots left and right.
Every stat seems to say we should have won this game, except rebounding. So when it comes down to it that was what killed us. Our normally strong rebounding support did a poor job helping MBA on the inside. Aziz N'Diaye hardly played the second half (or the first for that matter) as he picked up his fourth foul early in the second and had 3 quick ones in the first. Darnell Gant started in place of Aziz, but was subbed out 3 minutes in after a few backdoor cuts led to easy points.
I should amend that last statement. Rebounding and free throws. Both teams attempted 18 shots, UA made 3 extra. I.T. missed 3 free throws. Including the first of a 3 point foul and 1 from a technical given to Solomon Hill. The technical foul shot never should be missed. No one is around. Ignore the crowd and put the damn ball in the basket.
MBA played out of his mind along with I.T. They were slow in the first half, but the second they were much more productive and efficient. MBA had 3 straight lay-ins/dunks off of assists by Isaiah Thomas. MBA finished with 24 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers. Isaiah Thomas had 12 points, 9 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers.
As good as MBA was he missed some easy bunny shots, a few he rebounded and put back in to his credit. He finished 12-19 from the field and did not attempt. ONE. SINGLE. FREE THROW. I'm not saying he gets fouled every time, but there is no reason a post player with 19 attempts and 24 points does not see the free throw line at least once. Derek Williams was 8-17 from the field and he shot 9 free throws (made 8).
C.J. Wilcox came off the bench and scored 19 points on 7-11 shooting, 4-8 outside the arc. He was hot tonight. He is looking good once more.
UW has 20 assists to UA's 11. Another category we dominated. The difference, again, was rebounding. Darnell Gant had 5 rebounds to assist MBA, but no other player managed more than 2 after MBA and Gant. Pathetic.
A slow start made this game difficult to come back from. Arizona got up by 10 early and UW made several runs in the first half to cut the lead to 5 or less. At one point, UW was down only 4 points and made 4 defensive stops in a row, did not score on a single one of those opportunities. 3 of the stops ended with UW jacking up a 3 point shot, one of which Wilcox air-balled. The other two were both long and bounced into awaiting Arizona hands.
Arizona did a pretty good job of keeping I.T. out of the lane and I.T. did a great job of finding open teammates to finish. Still, it drives me mad how many easy free throws Thomas missed. I.T. finished 4-9 from the field, 0-2 from the arc.
UW was terrific defensively in the second half, but it was too little too late. When they got the lead, UW got a little sloppier on defense and this led to a pair of And 1 shots for UA, something I think UW only saw one or two times the entire game.
We had every reason to win and once more we fell. This loss hurts a lot. Not only does this drop of from title contention, effectively, but it also puts us on the bubble in my mind. We haven't picked up a huge win, we've dropped bad games to UO and OSU, and we are 10-5 in conference. We have no choice but to win out if we want to lock in a tournament bid. We have not learned how to close a game. USC is the lone time we have held onto a late lead to win. We have not gone into half down and come out to win yet either. This does not bode well for the NCAA. Injuries have killed us. Our once deep team is getting pond thin and we can't afford anymore injuries or mistakes.
What Needed Improvement
Rebounding
35-22. That says it all. 16-6, that is painful. How many times did UA shoot a bad shot thanks to strong defense only to have Arizona rebound it and put it back in for the easy shot? Too many times. That is how many. MBA was strong and Gant was strong. That was all we had. Aziz was in too much foul trouble to be effective at any point. The rest of the team was just plain weak on the box out and rebound.
Free Throw Shooting
This stat also hurt us. 3 misses more than UA, 1 point loss. Make any one of those and its a tie game, make 2 and its a win. No excuse for missing. Not in a big game like this, especially I.T. who has been so strong this year. Terrence Toss and Wilcox both missed 1 free throw. Free throws win close ball games and Arizona made theirs, we did not. We lost. They did not.
Outside Shooting
With the exception of C.J. Wilcox, UW was terrible from range. Holiday was the only other Husky to make a 3 pointer. 5-16 is not up to our standard. We should be 8-16 or 9-16.
What was Good
Passing/Ball Control
We had 20 assists and only 11 turnovers. I said we needed 10 or less to win and it looks like that was the case. Venoy Overton had a critical turnover when we were up 2. He threw it right into the hands of an Arizona player. They went down and got the And 1 to put them up 1 point. It ended up being the game changing play. Instead of up 4 we go down 1 and finish there. Silly turnover, bad ending.
Big Three
MBA, Holiday, and I.T. all played strong. Gant ad Wilcox were also tough and contributed in big ways. We could have used more rebounding from Holiday, but he managed 11 points, hit both his free throws and shot 4-8 from the field (1-3 from outside). He also had 1 steal, 1 block, and a turnover.
Second Half Defense
Strong play in the second half, but it was not enough. We got over the hump only to give the lead right back. We get up and give it up way too easy. I said in the preview we could not let UA go on a run let ASU. Well, UA did go on a big run to start the game and they won. Its hard enough to overcome an 8+ point lead. Its even harder against a talented team like UA.
Player by Player Review
Justin Holiday
Not his strongest game, but a pretty good one overall. His shot was decent, he played strong D, but he didn't rebound well. He had a few moments where he did not box out well. He made his lay-ins this time and did not miss the easy ones. We needed him to rebound the ball 5+ times, he only managed 2. Ouch.
Grade: B
Venoy Overton
A decent game as well for Overton. You don't want to blame him alone for the loss, but the missed break away (due to a block) and the dumb turnover were both costly plays that changed the dynamic of the game. He had 4 assists, 6 points, and 2 steals, but the 3 turnovers hurt us big time. He had some nice passes, but the turnovers loom too big to really appreciate them.
Grade: B
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
I'm going to give him the MVP. He should have had an And1 shot on the dunk over Derek Williams. He had 4 shots where he was fouled and no call was made. Its tough to win games when your post players aren't able to get to the foul line. He played a very tough game and interacted well with I.T. in the second half to battle back into things. You can't ask him to do much more than he did. 6 blocks, 3 steals, 4 assists. Huge numbers. Add in his 24 points and its a fabulous night. His 3 turnovers weren't even that big of a deal because his other stats were so strong.
Grade: A
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Scott Suggs
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
You can't blame him for getting blocked. Williams is a phenomenal athlete and played great help defense on that play. Darnell had 7 points and 5 rebounds. 2 blocks and 1 assist, 0 turnovers. Great play from him tonight. He had a fantastic put back rebound to keep us in the game.
Grade: A
Isaiah Thomas
You really can't ask I.T. to do much more than he did, but he did miss 3 free throws and an easy lay-in (blocked). 9 assists and 12 rebounds. That is wonderful offensive production. He was tough on defense for a majority of the game. He played Jones tight, but Jones hit some big shots despite the hand in his face. I found it odd that Romar kept I.T. out of the game when UW got up 4. In my mind, that is where you want I.T. in the game to bump up the lead and put the choke hold on. Instead, Overton stayed in and turned it over. I.T. came in soon after. Honorary MVP. He makes his free throws and he is MVP. He makes his lay-in, he is MVP.
Grade: A-
Aziz N'Diaye
Non-factor. He played extremely limited minutes due to high fouling, only one was complete nonsense that I noticed. Only 2 rebounds and 2 points. He needs to step his game up. He is out post option next year and we need him to play big.
Grade: D
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 turnover. 1-3 from the field and 3-4 from the line. You can't expect him to make all his free throws and you can hardly blame him for the loss when he shot 75% from the line. Not his greatest game, but decent enough. He had a great put back off an MBA miss, showing those bursts of brilliance we need to become consistent performances.
Grade: B
C.J. Wilcox
19 points tonight, 7-11 form the field, 4-8 from the arc. No rebounds and 1 assist. He did not have a turnover, which is great. He was an offensive demon tonight and overall was good on defense. He had some problems getting his hips in the right place to force his man towards the top of the key or sidelines.
Grade: A-
Final Thoughts
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. This was our shot. This was our time. We had every reason to win. We had every opportunity to win and we couldn't pull it off. That fact alone will kill us come Selection Sunday. We have not made a convincing argument that we will be a competitive team in the NCAA and at this point a win out of the remaining 3 conference games is a must to get in the NCAA. I am hoping for a 10 seed at this point. If we can win out and win the Pac-10 tournament we could get up to a 7 or 8 seed, but without a convincing finish it is hard to argue how deserving we are of great seeding. To call this year underwhelming is an understatement. Every chance to dominate and we shoot ourselves night in and night out. There isn't much time to correct these problems, but it has to be done. not enough pressure defense in the first half, in my opinion. Down 9, got to pressure the ball. At least throw a three quarters court press. Make them work a bit, slow down the offense. Even a half court press would have been nice to see. Can we win the Pac-10 title? No, it would take a miracle. UA would have to lose 3 of their final 4 and with 2 games at McKale center I just don't see it turning out that way. UW would have to win out. UCLA would have to lose 2 to 3 of their final 4. The preseason favorites drowned their hopes in Oregon and are paying for it now. My heart is torn and I hope this team can finished with 5 or 6 straight wins to get into the NCAA and get to work in the post season. Can this team make it past the Sweet Sixteen? Sure. Will it happen? I'm not convinced at this point. They play plenty of teams strong and down to the wire, but they can't finish. For one reason or another they cannot finish. For me this is coaching. Plain and simple. I love Romar, but I'll be damned if the teams inability to finish isn't in part due to Romar and crew's coaching. They have to do something to inspire confidence ad make the team into winners and not close losers.
University of Arizona Preview 2
Link is up here. Romar has said Venoy Overton will start in Scott Suggs place.
http://www.montlakemadness.com/game-preview-arizona-2/
http://www.montlakemadness.com/game-preview-arizona-2/
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
University of Arizona Preview
In what is arguably the most important conference game this season, UW hosts Arizona, recently ranked number 25 in the ESPN/Coaches Poll. This will likely be the lone game this Pac-10 season where two ranked teams play one another. Whoever wins will stay in the polls while the loser will drop out. This game will be broadcast as the FSN national game. So to say the least, it is a big deal.
Arizona is 15-3 on the year and 4-1 in conference, having lost to Oregon State and most recently beat their rival, ASU, 80-69. The OSU game was lost technically by 1, but only because UA managed to make a 3 pointer at the end of regulation.
When Arizona comes to mind there is one player who everyone knows of and that is Derrick Williams, a favorite for Pac-10 Player of the Year and possible candidate for National Player of the Year. Derrick Williams is a 6-8 241lb F who can shoot from anywhere on the court. He leads the Wildcats in scoring with 19.7 points per game as well as a team high 7.3 rebounds per game. The next highest scorer is Solomon Hill at 8.5 ppg. Solomon is also second on the team in rebounding at 4.7 rpg. To say the Wildcats depend on Williams is a bit of an understatement. He is their core and main option. He has scored more than 14 points in every game this year and has two 31 point games, including Arizona's lone game this past week against Arizona State University.
Williams is shooting 65.8% from the field and 70.8% from beyond the arc, connecting on 17 of 24 shots. Last season Williams only attempted 16 shots, making 4. He has made considerable improvement in that aspect of his game. The biggest way Williams scores is by getting to the line. Not to knock on the guy, he is a hard worker, but it seems as though if someone sneezes on him he will be shooting two. Derrick Williams is like Isaiah Thomas his freshman year, he shoots a lot of free throws. Williams is a solid free throw shooter as well, making 77% of his shots. Against ASU he went 15-16 and at home against Cal he went 16-22. This game, more than any, will need to see our big men avoid foul trouble.
Williams is also rated as the number 1 player in the nation in effective offense by KenPom.
UA runs a 10 man rotation with no player receiving less 12 minutes per game. There are 5 players that contribute significant amounts of points (~8 ppg or more) and 4 of them are starters. The bench for Arizona, while deep, is not extremely talented. Jamelle Horne is UA's 6th man and scores 7.6 ppg in 19 minutes of play. He is also third in rebounding at 4.3 rpg.
Where UW will be able to take the biggest advantage is our senior backcourt. Arizona is somewhat turnover prone, averaging 14 per game, led by Williams at 2.4 per game and Lamont Jones at 2.2 per game.
Arizona is a tall team with their shortest player coming in at 6-0. They have a 7-0 player, but he has only played in a few games and averages 6 minutes per game.
Starting Line Ups
Arizona
Lamont Jones 6-0 196lb G
Kyle Fogg 6-3 180lb G
Solomon Hill 6-6 226lb F
Jesse Perry 6-7 210lb F
Derrick Williams 6-8 241lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Scott Suggs 6-6 195lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
Washington has done a great job of late out rebounding opponents and rates second in the conference in rebounding margin, narrowly behind Arizona. Williams will get his boards no doubt, Washington needs to capitalize on boxing out as best they can to maximize their opportunities. Williams can have his 9 or 10 boards as long as we win the game and battle of the boards. We rebound very well by committee. If Darnell Gant and Terrence Ross can continue to pick up a combined 10+ boards off the bench we will be in good shape. This could be a high scoring game and second chance opportunities will have a profound effect on the outcome of the game.
Free Throw Shooting
Arizona is a great FT shooting team. They are currently shooting 75.7%, while the Huskies are shooting a miserable 65.2%. There have been marked improvements by the team in their free throw shooting, especially Isaiah Thomas who I talked about in my last post. This will likely be a close game and free throws will be extremely important. We cannot afford to miss our shots because Arizona won't that is for sure.
Passing/Ball Control
After Isaiah's brilliant performance with 13 assists it seems as though he is unstoppable. He had 5 turnovers, but those were negated by his assists, rebounds, and steals. With Arizona having a young backcourt, UW is in prime position to get in transition by forcing turnovers. We need to first pass well on offense and keep control of the ball. Limiting our turnovers means less touches for Arizona and Derrick Williams.
Push the Middle
Williams is a good defender, but a better offensive threat. The biggest and best way to negate his presence is not by trying to double team him, rather make him foul. Isaiah can lead the way by driving the lane and dishing out, forcing Williams out of position and hopefully picking up a few fouls. MBA and Aziz need to see the ball often, especially MBA as he has the talents to pick up fouls better than Aziz.
Fouling
In the same vein as the last, we need to limit our fouling as Williams will kill us at the line. Even with the home court advantage that usually occurs with foul calls, Williams will still see 8+ shots at the free throw line.
Outside Shooting
Arizona is shooting 38.9% from range. They can drain the ball. UW can drain it better. Against Cal, our 3 point shooting showed up as it had earlier in the year and it paid off in dividends. If we can shoot that well again, as we usually do at home, we will be feeling much better.
Final Thoughts
This will be a tough battle, no doubt about it. Could we win by double digits? Yes we can, it all depends on how well our post players show up. Williams is going to score and rebound. He is a great player and is near impossible to stop. It is up to our post players to negate his effort by putting up great numbers themselves. Get him fouls and keep the ball from getting to him. That's how you stop Williams. Arizona will need big games from someone other than Williams to pull off the upset, in my mind. MBA, IT, and Holiday have been playing great the past week and I hope they have the same, if not more intense mentality, coming into this game. Is this make or break for winning the Pac-10 title? I don't think so, but it will be a contributing factor. The key to winning the title is win all the home games and at least split all the road trips. So far UW has picked up two big road wins in LA, something Arizona has not had to do yet. Montlake Madness has a good article on this that I will post a link to at the bottom.
Final Score Prediction
UW-83 UA-77
I think the Huskies will be able to win this, it'll be tough, but at home we have a great advantage. The crowd needs to come rocking. If we do manage to shut down Williams one way or another this game could get to be a bit of a blowout. We shall wait and see. I think Suggs will start to avoid a big size differential. Overton does really well off the bench and offers good support for Isaiah when he needs it. Suggs also gives us a better outside shooter to start the game.
Ernie Kent will be doing Color Commentary for the game tomorrow. Bring your sombreros, Dawg Pack. Ole!
Links
Montlake http://www.montlakemadness.com/how-big-is-the-zona-game/
For Dawg Pack Members: New Chant Reminder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggl6VG0zUTw
Dirt: http://tinyurl.com/DawgPackDirtUA
Arizona is 15-3 on the year and 4-1 in conference, having lost to Oregon State and most recently beat their rival, ASU, 80-69. The OSU game was lost technically by 1, but only because UA managed to make a 3 pointer at the end of regulation.
When Arizona comes to mind there is one player who everyone knows of and that is Derrick Williams, a favorite for Pac-10 Player of the Year and possible candidate for National Player of the Year. Derrick Williams is a 6-8 241lb F who can shoot from anywhere on the court. He leads the Wildcats in scoring with 19.7 points per game as well as a team high 7.3 rebounds per game. The next highest scorer is Solomon Hill at 8.5 ppg. Solomon is also second on the team in rebounding at 4.7 rpg. To say the Wildcats depend on Williams is a bit of an understatement. He is their core and main option. He has scored more than 14 points in every game this year and has two 31 point games, including Arizona's lone game this past week against Arizona State University.
Williams is shooting 65.8% from the field and 70.8% from beyond the arc, connecting on 17 of 24 shots. Last season Williams only attempted 16 shots, making 4. He has made considerable improvement in that aspect of his game. The biggest way Williams scores is by getting to the line. Not to knock on the guy, he is a hard worker, but it seems as though if someone sneezes on him he will be shooting two. Derrick Williams is like Isaiah Thomas his freshman year, he shoots a lot of free throws. Williams is a solid free throw shooter as well, making 77% of his shots. Against ASU he went 15-16 and at home against Cal he went 16-22. This game, more than any, will need to see our big men avoid foul trouble.
Williams is also rated as the number 1 player in the nation in effective offense by KenPom.
UA runs a 10 man rotation with no player receiving less 12 minutes per game. There are 5 players that contribute significant amounts of points (~8 ppg or more) and 4 of them are starters. The bench for Arizona, while deep, is not extremely talented. Jamelle Horne is UA's 6th man and scores 7.6 ppg in 19 minutes of play. He is also third in rebounding at 4.3 rpg.
Where UW will be able to take the biggest advantage is our senior backcourt. Arizona is somewhat turnover prone, averaging 14 per game, led by Williams at 2.4 per game and Lamont Jones at 2.2 per game.
Arizona is a tall team with their shortest player coming in at 6-0. They have a 7-0 player, but he has only played in a few games and averages 6 minutes per game.
Starting Line Ups
Arizona
Lamont Jones 6-0 196lb G
Kyle Fogg 6-3 180lb G
Solomon Hill 6-6 226lb F
Jesse Perry 6-7 210lb F
Derrick Williams 6-8 241lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Scott Suggs 6-6 195lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
Washington has done a great job of late out rebounding opponents and rates second in the conference in rebounding margin, narrowly behind Arizona. Williams will get his boards no doubt, Washington needs to capitalize on boxing out as best they can to maximize their opportunities. Williams can have his 9 or 10 boards as long as we win the game and battle of the boards. We rebound very well by committee. If Darnell Gant and Terrence Ross can continue to pick up a combined 10+ boards off the bench we will be in good shape. This could be a high scoring game and second chance opportunities will have a profound effect on the outcome of the game.
Free Throw Shooting
Arizona is a great FT shooting team. They are currently shooting 75.7%, while the Huskies are shooting a miserable 65.2%. There have been marked improvements by the team in their free throw shooting, especially Isaiah Thomas who I talked about in my last post. This will likely be a close game and free throws will be extremely important. We cannot afford to miss our shots because Arizona won't that is for sure.
Passing/Ball Control
After Isaiah's brilliant performance with 13 assists it seems as though he is unstoppable. He had 5 turnovers, but those were negated by his assists, rebounds, and steals. With Arizona having a young backcourt, UW is in prime position to get in transition by forcing turnovers. We need to first pass well on offense and keep control of the ball. Limiting our turnovers means less touches for Arizona and Derrick Williams.
Push the Middle
Williams is a good defender, but a better offensive threat. The biggest and best way to negate his presence is not by trying to double team him, rather make him foul. Isaiah can lead the way by driving the lane and dishing out, forcing Williams out of position and hopefully picking up a few fouls. MBA and Aziz need to see the ball often, especially MBA as he has the talents to pick up fouls better than Aziz.
Fouling
In the same vein as the last, we need to limit our fouling as Williams will kill us at the line. Even with the home court advantage that usually occurs with foul calls, Williams will still see 8+ shots at the free throw line.
Outside Shooting
Arizona is shooting 38.9% from range. They can drain the ball. UW can drain it better. Against Cal, our 3 point shooting showed up as it had earlier in the year and it paid off in dividends. If we can shoot that well again, as we usually do at home, we will be feeling much better.
Final Thoughts
This will be a tough battle, no doubt about it. Could we win by double digits? Yes we can, it all depends on how well our post players show up. Williams is going to score and rebound. He is a great player and is near impossible to stop. It is up to our post players to negate his effort by putting up great numbers themselves. Get him fouls and keep the ball from getting to him. That's how you stop Williams. Arizona will need big games from someone other than Williams to pull off the upset, in my mind. MBA, IT, and Holiday have been playing great the past week and I hope they have the same, if not more intense mentality, coming into this game. Is this make or break for winning the Pac-10 title? I don't think so, but it will be a contributing factor. The key to winning the title is win all the home games and at least split all the road trips. So far UW has picked up two big road wins in LA, something Arizona has not had to do yet. Montlake Madness has a good article on this that I will post a link to at the bottom.
Final Score Prediction
UW-83 UA-77
I think the Huskies will be able to win this, it'll be tough, but at home we have a great advantage. The crowd needs to come rocking. If we do manage to shut down Williams one way or another this game could get to be a bit of a blowout. We shall wait and see. I think Suggs will start to avoid a big size differential. Overton does really well off the bench and offers good support for Isaiah when he needs it. Suggs also gives us a better outside shooter to start the game.
Ernie Kent will be doing Color Commentary for the game tomorrow. Bring your sombreros, Dawg Pack. Ole!
Links
Montlake http://www.montlakemadness.com/how-big-is-the-zona-game/
For Dawg Pack Members: New Chant Reminder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggl6VG0zUTw
Dirt: http://tinyurl.com/DawgPackDirtUA
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