I'm writing the preview and post game of the Cal game for Montlake Madness so I will post the preview link here when it is up on Wednesday.
I.T. is quitting twitter until after the Pac-10 Championship game. Looks like he knows it is time to buckle down. Can't afford any more screw ups.
UW dropped to 28th and 33rd in the polls after the 3 game losing streak and Arizona moved up to 15/16 in the polls. Arizona could feasibly move up further if they win against ASU this week, meaning UW has a chance to finally get a win against a ranked team on the road. I am slightly doubtful of UA losing to ASU, but it is a rivalry game on the road and we all know how that can go.
No more news yet on whether the unnamed player will be charged with a misdemeanor for supplying a minor with alcohol. More info when I have heard more.
Time to right this ship and get back on track. We are going to need some help to do it, but Arizona has the toughest part of its schedule coming up. ASU on the road. WSU and UW at home. USC and UCLA on the road. OSU at home (who is currently 3-0 against them) and UO at home. I see no reason why ASU, WSU, UW, USC, UCLA, or OSU couldn't result in 3 losses. With how UO has been playing they could also come in and surprise the Wildcats. First and foremost we need to get our job down and not allow any more slip ups. After that we can worry about other teams helping us out and getting back into first place. Arizona controls its own destiny right now and if they can do what we could not, well congrats to them. This is the last Pac-10 Championship. I want it bad. I think our boys want it bad. They are going to have to finish this season with all cylinders firing. You can always rest when you are dead. Right now, its hustle time.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
University of Oregon Review 2
Final Score: UW-76 UO-81
I don't even know what to write any more. Days like today are when I wish I didn't care. I wish I could come home and be like the other thousands of students who don't follow the team religious, but I do care. I care a lot. This sucks. I don't know what is wrong with our team. They are not playing smart basketball. They are playing horrid interior defense. They can't handle the ball. They aren't hitting their free throws. To top it off, the refs love letting our players get mauled and not calling the fouls.
I'd like to say we can salvage this and still go on to win the title. I just don't believe it'll happen. I don't see Arizona getting upset anytime soon. Their closest contests should be UW and WSU, but the way we have been playing, UA will blow us out. At this point the best we can do is 14-4. I bet we will be 13-5 or 12-6 by seasons end, in second or third place. We will get a 10 seed in the tournament and likely lose once more in the 2nd round or the Sweet Sixteen. We simply are not executing our offense with enough efficiency to win games away from home. We don't have that fire that drove us to win in L.A.
Our players had decent enough games. They were slightly better on defense, but their interior defense was atrocious for the 3rd straight game. Our free throw shooting was just as bad. The ball handling was what did us in.
One critical play stands out. UW was down 2 points when the poked the ball loose to Scott Suggs. He took about 2 dribbles and looked to pass to I.T. next to him. He threw it right into the hands of an Oregon defender who took it in to score. Instead of a tie ball game. We are down 4 again. That play right there sealed it off with 3 minute left.
UW was forced into 15 turnover. Overton committed 4. Isaiah had 2. Holiday had 3. UW only forced 8 errors for Oregon and allowed them to complete 21 assists to our 19. Bad zone play and rotation led to easy feeds down low to waiting post players and backdoor cuts.
Why does Romar refuse to press the ball on defense? Down 4 points with 3 minutes left. PRESS, DAMMIT! You don't have the time to sit back and let them run out the clock. Make them work to get it up the court. Get a 10 second violation. We have the speed and players to do it, so why not? And why does he refuse to run a press breaker? It is not that hard. Oregon forced us into way to many turnovers by PRESSING! Amazing how something so simple can get a team out of rhythm enough to force them into terrible play.
Our shots were much better tonight with Justin Holiday and Terrence Ross leading the way from outside and MBA from the interior. Isaiah continued his struggles from range on 1-5 shooting outside and continued his struggle to get to the free throw line.
Speaking of fouls. I hate the Pac-10 refs. They have absolutely killed us. They are not the reason we have lost games, but they sure do like to keep them out of reach. MBA got his nose busted up pretty good today and was getting scratched on his, yet no foul was called. That is unacceptable to miss. If a player starts bleeding profusely from the nose...HE WAS FOULED! I.T. was getting hammered on the arms while he drove the lane and was getting no help. They barely called the foul when Aziz took an elbow to the head as well. On the other end, Oregon was getting weak calls left and right. Blocks that were clearly charges, etc. I expect some home biasing, it always happens, but the refs need to call a better game. UO attempted 23 free throws to UW's 11. Absurd, especially considering we had only 3 fouls more than UO. The refs just won't give it to us on the shot.
Turnovers did us in once more. UO had something like 30 points off turnovers. Cut the turnovers in half or even take 4 to 5 turnovers away and suddenly UW is up 4 or 5 points. If Scott Suggs makes that pass or hold onto it, tie ball game. No need to foul. Too many mental lapses at critical moments in the game.
The starting 5 rebounded well. Aziz led the team with 9 followed by MBA, I.T., and Holiday with 5 a piece and Suggs with 4. Darnell Gant played only 5 minutes as he suffered some sort of injury in practice on Friday, but did grab 2 rebounds in his limited play.
UW passed better as a team. I.T. led with 6. Holiday had 5 assists and Suggs had 4.
Why can't we hit our free throws? Overton was 1-4, Aziz was 1-2, MBA was 1-3. I.T. made both of his going 2-2. 6 missed free throws. Even if we had hit just 3 more for a respectable percentage this game would have turned out entirely different. While the score shows a 5 point win, it was a 2 point game in the final 2 minutes. UW had to foul to get the ball. 3 isn't unreasonable to ask either. Overton needs to made 2 more to shoot how he normally does and MBA just needs to go 67% from the line by hitting 1 more.
I am wondering what it is going to take to get this team rolling again. Sure we play 5 of 7 at home to finish conference play, but WSU or USC could come in here and steal one. Stanford could do the same. After all they already have beaten us once. Hell even UCLA is playing strong enough to do it. The ASU game shouldn't be a problem, but with as terrible as we have been, we could get swept in Arizona. We got swept in Oregon, why not there?
Player by Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
While his late game scores where fast and important, his turnovers and horrendous free throw shooting killed us. He played 14 minutes and finished with 4 points, 4 turnovers, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds. Where is his fire? Where is Venoyance? We need him back.
Grade: D+ for the late game baskets, otherwise it'd be a D
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
He started extremely hot and did not miss a shot until the play he was whacked in the face and did not get a foul call. He then missed 6 of the next 9 shots he took. Kind of hard to run and breathe well when you have to have cotton shoved up your nose to stop the bleeding. He went 10-16 from the field, had 21 points, and 5 rebounds. he also had a steal and a block. We did a good job feeding him. His defense was decent enough. I didn't notice him being at fault for too many of the backdoor cuts, but as the center for most of the 2-3 zone he has a big responsibility to plug that up from happening.
Grade: B+, without him we would have been toast
Justin Holiday
MVP of the game without a doubt. He played a quieter game. Doing everything pretty well. I thought he was pretty bad in the zone defense. Then again it could just be a coaching thing. E.J. Singler and the other Ducks were wide open way to often in the corners where the outside players in the "3" part of the 2-3 zone are supposed to cover. Holiday really didn't have much choice as the top 2 were rotating poorly to cover the open man at the top of the key who would dish to the corner or cutting player. Holiday had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 turnovers. A pretty decent night over all. The assists were great as were the blocks. The turnovers...not so much.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
It is hard to give a grade to a player who was out there for only 5 minutes, but I'll give it a shot. Gant evidently suffered a quad bruise in practice and it can be assumed that is why he was limited in play. In just 5 minutes he snagged 2 rebounds, had 1 assist, and 1 turnover. He missed his only shot attempt. He was no better or worse in the zone than MBA or Aziz.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
After a pretty hot night against OSU, Suggs was stone cold. He finished with 3 points on 1-5 shooting, including 1-4 from range. While I don't want to blame the loss on one player, his turnover effectively cost us our last shot at winning. 4 rebounds in 21 minutes along with 4 assist is pretty good. He had 2 turnovers. UW should not have been in a position for that 1 turnover to be so critical, but they were and it was.
Grade: C
Isaiah Thomas
I.T. controlled the ball a little better tonight, only committing 2 turnovers and handing out 6 assist. He had only 3 points until he became aggressive the second half when our shooters started to heat up from range and the lane opened up for him. I counted 2 made baskets and 3 missed shots where there should have been a foul call. Maybe I am too biased. I don't know, but the fouls that weren't being called for us were being called for Oregon on the other end. If you are going to be terrible refs, at least be terrible for both teams.
I understand shooters need to shoot to get out of slumps, but 1-5 range shooting hurts. His looks were pretty good and fairly open, but they wouldn't fall. Have to make the open shots. Have to. If it isn't falling that night, keep passing. Find whoever is hot handed. I.T. ended up with 13 points and would have had more if the refs would throw him a bone.
Grade: B+
Aziz N'Diaye
He rebounded really well tonight, finishing with 9 (4 offensive). He also made two very nice slam dunks, including a trailing tip dunk off of a miss. He looked better against the UO zone than he has in the past. Maybe he is starting to find himself a bit. That blow to the head took him out a bit. He needed help off the court after attempting the free throws. The big man did what we needed him to do tonight. He did well enough on defense and scored on occasion. He was decent at free throws and rebounded very well.
Grade: A-
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
His shot looked a little better tonight, but he still went 1-3 from range and 1-4 overall. 1 rebound and 1 assist. No turnovers. Only 12 minutes.
Grade: B-
Terrence Ross
He played another pretty big game against Oregon. All 12 of his points were from range (4-9 beyond the arc, 4-10 overall). He grabbed 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers. His defense was decent, but like Holiday there was often an open man in the corner where he was responsible for the player. To me that screams coaching versus player fault. Have to improve the zone play. Have to.
Grade: B
Final Thoughts
I am going into disconnect mode. Try to separate myself emotionally from this team so this losses stop taking me out of it. Sure UW could go on to win the next 7, go 14-4 and win the title, but I don't see it happening. Not when play like this continues on the road. This is just looking like another making of the '08-'09 or '09-'10 teams that show so much promise and all the pieces to win big game, only to drop them on their own toes. Don't know the reason, but it needs to change. The difference between a team like us and a team like Duke or Ohio State is not the players, it is the drive and consistency. They need to fix their problems and fix them now. Luckily we have 2 games coming at home this week against California and Stanford that will hopefully allow us to get our heads out of the dirt, brush off the shoulders, and get back to playing hard, tough, Husky defense and basketball.
I don't even know what to write any more. Days like today are when I wish I didn't care. I wish I could come home and be like the other thousands of students who don't follow the team religious, but I do care. I care a lot. This sucks. I don't know what is wrong with our team. They are not playing smart basketball. They are playing horrid interior defense. They can't handle the ball. They aren't hitting their free throws. To top it off, the refs love letting our players get mauled and not calling the fouls.
I'd like to say we can salvage this and still go on to win the title. I just don't believe it'll happen. I don't see Arizona getting upset anytime soon. Their closest contests should be UW and WSU, but the way we have been playing, UA will blow us out. At this point the best we can do is 14-4. I bet we will be 13-5 or 12-6 by seasons end, in second or third place. We will get a 10 seed in the tournament and likely lose once more in the 2nd round or the Sweet Sixteen. We simply are not executing our offense with enough efficiency to win games away from home. We don't have that fire that drove us to win in L.A.
Our players had decent enough games. They were slightly better on defense, but their interior defense was atrocious for the 3rd straight game. Our free throw shooting was just as bad. The ball handling was what did us in.
One critical play stands out. UW was down 2 points when the poked the ball loose to Scott Suggs. He took about 2 dribbles and looked to pass to I.T. next to him. He threw it right into the hands of an Oregon defender who took it in to score. Instead of a tie ball game. We are down 4 again. That play right there sealed it off with 3 minute left.
UW was forced into 15 turnover. Overton committed 4. Isaiah had 2. Holiday had 3. UW only forced 8 errors for Oregon and allowed them to complete 21 assists to our 19. Bad zone play and rotation led to easy feeds down low to waiting post players and backdoor cuts.
Why does Romar refuse to press the ball on defense? Down 4 points with 3 minutes left. PRESS, DAMMIT! You don't have the time to sit back and let them run out the clock. Make them work to get it up the court. Get a 10 second violation. We have the speed and players to do it, so why not? And why does he refuse to run a press breaker? It is not that hard. Oregon forced us into way to many turnovers by PRESSING! Amazing how something so simple can get a team out of rhythm enough to force them into terrible play.
Our shots were much better tonight with Justin Holiday and Terrence Ross leading the way from outside and MBA from the interior. Isaiah continued his struggles from range on 1-5 shooting outside and continued his struggle to get to the free throw line.
Speaking of fouls. I hate the Pac-10 refs. They have absolutely killed us. They are not the reason we have lost games, but they sure do like to keep them out of reach. MBA got his nose busted up pretty good today and was getting scratched on his, yet no foul was called. That is unacceptable to miss. If a player starts bleeding profusely from the nose...HE WAS FOULED! I.T. was getting hammered on the arms while he drove the lane and was getting no help. They barely called the foul when Aziz took an elbow to the head as well. On the other end, Oregon was getting weak calls left and right. Blocks that were clearly charges, etc. I expect some home biasing, it always happens, but the refs need to call a better game. UO attempted 23 free throws to UW's 11. Absurd, especially considering we had only 3 fouls more than UO. The refs just won't give it to us on the shot.
Turnovers did us in once more. UO had something like 30 points off turnovers. Cut the turnovers in half or even take 4 to 5 turnovers away and suddenly UW is up 4 or 5 points. If Scott Suggs makes that pass or hold onto it, tie ball game. No need to foul. Too many mental lapses at critical moments in the game.
The starting 5 rebounded well. Aziz led the team with 9 followed by MBA, I.T., and Holiday with 5 a piece and Suggs with 4. Darnell Gant played only 5 minutes as he suffered some sort of injury in practice on Friday, but did grab 2 rebounds in his limited play.
UW passed better as a team. I.T. led with 6. Holiday had 5 assists and Suggs had 4.
Why can't we hit our free throws? Overton was 1-4, Aziz was 1-2, MBA was 1-3. I.T. made both of his going 2-2. 6 missed free throws. Even if we had hit just 3 more for a respectable percentage this game would have turned out entirely different. While the score shows a 5 point win, it was a 2 point game in the final 2 minutes. UW had to foul to get the ball. 3 isn't unreasonable to ask either. Overton needs to made 2 more to shoot how he normally does and MBA just needs to go 67% from the line by hitting 1 more.
I am wondering what it is going to take to get this team rolling again. Sure we play 5 of 7 at home to finish conference play, but WSU or USC could come in here and steal one. Stanford could do the same. After all they already have beaten us once. Hell even UCLA is playing strong enough to do it. The ASU game shouldn't be a problem, but with as terrible as we have been, we could get swept in Arizona. We got swept in Oregon, why not there?
Player by Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
While his late game scores where fast and important, his turnovers and horrendous free throw shooting killed us. He played 14 minutes and finished with 4 points, 4 turnovers, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds. Where is his fire? Where is Venoyance? We need him back.
Grade: D+ for the late game baskets, otherwise it'd be a D
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
He started extremely hot and did not miss a shot until the play he was whacked in the face and did not get a foul call. He then missed 6 of the next 9 shots he took. Kind of hard to run and breathe well when you have to have cotton shoved up your nose to stop the bleeding. He went 10-16 from the field, had 21 points, and 5 rebounds. he also had a steal and a block. We did a good job feeding him. His defense was decent enough. I didn't notice him being at fault for too many of the backdoor cuts, but as the center for most of the 2-3 zone he has a big responsibility to plug that up from happening.
Grade: B+, without him we would have been toast
Justin Holiday
MVP of the game without a doubt. He played a quieter game. Doing everything pretty well. I thought he was pretty bad in the zone defense. Then again it could just be a coaching thing. E.J. Singler and the other Ducks were wide open way to often in the corners where the outside players in the "3" part of the 2-3 zone are supposed to cover. Holiday really didn't have much choice as the top 2 were rotating poorly to cover the open man at the top of the key who would dish to the corner or cutting player. Holiday had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 turnovers. A pretty decent night over all. The assists were great as were the blocks. The turnovers...not so much.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
It is hard to give a grade to a player who was out there for only 5 minutes, but I'll give it a shot. Gant evidently suffered a quad bruise in practice and it can be assumed that is why he was limited in play. In just 5 minutes he snagged 2 rebounds, had 1 assist, and 1 turnover. He missed his only shot attempt. He was no better or worse in the zone than MBA or Aziz.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
After a pretty hot night against OSU, Suggs was stone cold. He finished with 3 points on 1-5 shooting, including 1-4 from range. While I don't want to blame the loss on one player, his turnover effectively cost us our last shot at winning. 4 rebounds in 21 minutes along with 4 assist is pretty good. He had 2 turnovers. UW should not have been in a position for that 1 turnover to be so critical, but they were and it was.
Grade: C
Isaiah Thomas
I.T. controlled the ball a little better tonight, only committing 2 turnovers and handing out 6 assist. He had only 3 points until he became aggressive the second half when our shooters started to heat up from range and the lane opened up for him. I counted 2 made baskets and 3 missed shots where there should have been a foul call. Maybe I am too biased. I don't know, but the fouls that weren't being called for us were being called for Oregon on the other end. If you are going to be terrible refs, at least be terrible for both teams.
I understand shooters need to shoot to get out of slumps, but 1-5 range shooting hurts. His looks were pretty good and fairly open, but they wouldn't fall. Have to make the open shots. Have to. If it isn't falling that night, keep passing. Find whoever is hot handed. I.T. ended up with 13 points and would have had more if the refs would throw him a bone.
Grade: B+
Aziz N'Diaye
He rebounded really well tonight, finishing with 9 (4 offensive). He also made two very nice slam dunks, including a trailing tip dunk off of a miss. He looked better against the UO zone than he has in the past. Maybe he is starting to find himself a bit. That blow to the head took him out a bit. He needed help off the court after attempting the free throws. The big man did what we needed him to do tonight. He did well enough on defense and scored on occasion. He was decent at free throws and rebounded very well.
Grade: A-
Antoine Hosley
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
His shot looked a little better tonight, but he still went 1-3 from range and 1-4 overall. 1 rebound and 1 assist. No turnovers. Only 12 minutes.
Grade: B-
Terrence Ross
He played another pretty big game against Oregon. All 12 of his points were from range (4-9 beyond the arc, 4-10 overall). He grabbed 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers. His defense was decent, but like Holiday there was often an open man in the corner where he was responsible for the player. To me that screams coaching versus player fault. Have to improve the zone play. Have to.
Grade: B
Final Thoughts
I am going into disconnect mode. Try to separate myself emotionally from this team so this losses stop taking me out of it. Sure UW could go on to win the next 7, go 14-4 and win the title, but I don't see it happening. Not when play like this continues on the road. This is just looking like another making of the '08-'09 or '09-'10 teams that show so much promise and all the pieces to win big game, only to drop them on their own toes. Don't know the reason, but it needs to change. The difference between a team like us and a team like Duke or Ohio State is not the players, it is the drive and consistency. They need to fix their problems and fix them now. Luckily we have 2 games coming at home this week against California and Stanford that will hopefully allow us to get our heads out of the dirt, brush off the shoulders, and get back to playing hard, tough, Husky defense and basketball.
Friday, February 4, 2011
University of Oregon Preview 2
Well this preview comes with some good news after two huge let down games. The allegations of Rape in the Third Degree against a UW basketball player have resulted in NO charges being placed. Hopefully this means less distraction and more focus from our team.
The Ducks are 11-11 on the year, 4-6 in conference, and are coming off a decisive win over WSU on Thursday. The Huskies on the other hand are reeling a bit after two straight losses to WSU and OSU in terribly played games.
Only two players for the Ducks are averaging double digit points, but they have four players between 6.9 and 8.7 points per game. Joevan Catron leads the team with 15.8 points per game and is first on the team in rebounding at 6.6 boards per game.
Malcolm Armstead leads the team with 3.6 assists per game, but also has 2.9 turnovers per game. The Ducks are averaging 14 assists and 13 turnovers per game. They also average 8 steals per game, led by Armstead at 2.0 per game.
The Ducks are a team low on size, with their tallest contributing players standing at 6-8. They do have 6-10 Martin Seiferth who has played in 10 of the Ducks 22 games this season. Both E.J. Singler and Catron stand at 6-6. They are also the tallest players in the Ducks starting line up. Jonathan Loyd is the smallest at 5-8.
The Ducks are a fairly experienced team in that they have 2 seniors and 7 juniors, but they also only have 8 scholarship players on their roster currently. Several players were lost to graduations, early exits, and transfers. A lot of the transfers were due to the firing of long time coach, Ernie Kent, and the long process of hiring a new coach and athletic director.
The Ducks are a poor shooting team with an effective field goal percentage of 41.4%. They have raised their outside shooting percentage to 32.4%
Singler is the best player for the Ducks, in my opinion. Even if he isn't leading the team in scoring, he plays like Justin Holiday and does all the little things. Along with Catron and Armstead, the three look to be a dangerous trio.
With the Huskies coming in morally low and the Ducks coming in riding high I expect a close, tough game.
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
UW was absolutely dominated on the glass by OSU. OSU crashed hard and often, while UW was content to let them get the ball. MBA and Holiday did fine with 10 and 7 respectively, but they were the only ones with any success on the glass. UW needs to step it up. We average a +9.5 rebound margin in wins and a -1 in losses. Rebounding is key.
Outside Shooting
Oregon simply does not have the talent or depth to guard the perimeter as well as the post simultaneously. If MBA and/or Aziz can get going strong, the Ducks could drop back from their normal man to man pressure defense and resort to a zone in an attempt to cut back on our post positions. This is great for us as we have a plethora of talented outside shooters. C.J. Wilcox is still question with a Staph infection, but we have Isaiah Thomas, Justin Holiday, Darnell Gant, Venoy Overton, Terrence Ross, and Scott Suggs who have all shown to be talented outside shots. If the Ducks fall back inside we need to take advantage and shoot the lights out. It is likely the Ducks will zone from the start after seeing the success a sagging 2-3 zone has been against the Dawgs the past two games.
Pressure Defense
The Ducks are turnover prone, especially their point guard, Malcolm Armstead. With a talented backcourt with a ton of speed the Huskies can take advantage of the Ducks and create a ton of transition plays. The Ducks like to run full court pressure after a made basket, but do not possess the speed of our guards and this means the Huskies have a major change to get some big time dunks as well as many transition points, something we live off of. So on both offense and defense the success of the pressure will go a long ways towards the overall success of our game.
Defense
It needs to get better. Now. Venoy Overton doesn't have the fire he used to. Justin Holiday hasn't been locking players down. Our post players have been fouling like mad. OSU abused us inside last game.
Projected Starting Lineups
Oregon
Jonathan Loyd 5-8 160lb G
Jay-R Stowbridge 5-11 180lb G
Malcolm Armstead 6-0 195lb G
E.J. Singler 6-6 210lb F
Joevan Catron 6-6 245lb 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
Final Thoughts
The Huskies need to come out with a will to win. The lacked it entirely in their game against OSU. Losing this one would pretty much take down title aspirations and would kill our tournament seeding and begin to place doubts on even a shot at the tournament. This team has too much potential and the ceiling is high for them if they can just find some consistency. They should not have lost to WSU or OSU. They shouldn't have lost to Stanford. Or MSU or Kentucky. All those games were very winnable with a small tweak here or there. MBA needs to play big and finish strong. Holiday needs to dunk the damn ball when he is open like in the OSU game. Screw laying it in nicely, dunk it. Finish strong. Get pumped. Speaking of dunking, I failed to mention Terrence Ross's sick tip in dunk. It was the exact same dunk Jared Cunningham of OSU had earlier this year. Monstrous. We need more of that. Strong and fired up defense will be key. The offense needs to execute. Get the ball inside. Set some screens. Pick and Roll. Mid Range jumpers. Bring it all out.
Final Score Prediction
UW-78 UO-72
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Oregon State University Review 2
Final Score: UW-56 OSU-68
I don't even know what to say right now. The Huskies came out with zero heart, zero effort, and zero drive to win this game. The only player worthy of positive feedback is Scott Suggs. Suggs wanted to win tonight, Suggs wanted to score, Suggs didn't want to lose to one of the bottom feeders. MBA played with zero intensity. He didn't enforce his will like last month. He didn't back his man down. He didn't rebound. Isaiah Thomas played terrible once more. He would drive and turn the ball over. He couldn't score, he couldn't pass, he just kept giving up the ball. Justin Holiday played flat. He was just as average and nonchalant about the game as just about everyone else.
Just like the WSU game, UW forced the outside shot all too often and couldn't hit anything. The inside lacked any post presence. I don't remember seeing Aziz in the second half for more than 4 or 5 minutes. MBA was a non-factor. Gant didn't do much.
OSU had too easy of a time passing inside and scoring. UW played terrible on the help defense.
UW couldn't rebound either. MBA somehow managed 10, but I counted all too many times that he was boxed out with ease by his man. 44-31. You will not win a game having a -13 rebound margin.
UW attempted half the free throws OSU did (38 to 19) and only converted 9. You cannot miss 10 free throws on the road. Just pathetic. Aziz went 0-4, MBA went 2-6. That is unacceptable. I said it in the pregame, free throws win ball games and on the road you have to hit what little you are given.
Isaiah absolutely killed us today. If I had to put this loss on one persons play, not something I normally like to do, it would be Isaiah. 6 assist is normally nice, but he had 7 turnovers. 7. He only had 9 points on the night and 4 of those game from the line. He wasn't getting the foul call and he refused to adjust his game. He wasn't making his shots either. He finished 2-11 from the field, 1-6 from range. In the last two games Isaiah has resorted back to the selfish play he was known for in his first year and a half, except this time he isn't getting the foul calls that bailed him out.
I really am at a loss for words with how to describe this loss. We really didn't play to win today. We seemed to play because we had to. I never once saw the bench get excited, the plays throw up any salutes or high fives. Nothing. Give OSU credit for making us stay outside. They did a great job getting position on the glass and keeping the ball out of MBA's hands. MBA went 5-12 from the field, by the way.
With Arizona's win today, they take a 1 game lead for first place and we enter a tie with UCLA for second in the league. Oregon crushed WSU as well by 26 points and looks to be dangerous this weekend.
32% shooting from the field and 24% from range. 47% from the free throw line. -13 on the rebounding. That is the kind of slump and play that will haunt you for many games. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get whooped Saturday at Oregon. The Huskies are playing with zero heart right now.
What was Good
Scott Sugg's First Half
4-5 from range in the first half and a game high 14 points going into the break. He couldn't miss, yet we didn't feed him as much as we should have. He went 1-6 in the second half from range and fell apart like the rest of the Husky offense.
What was Decent
MBA's and Holiday's Rebounding
By some miracle MBA finished with 10 boards and Holiday had 7. I really don't know how that happened. MBA looked just plain overwhelmed in the post and was kept out of position more times than he got it. Aziz might as well have sat the entire game. He missed all 4 free throws, picked up 2 rebounds, and had 2 turnovers in 12 minutes. Terrence Ross managed 4 rebounds in 16 minutes, but didn't contribute anything else.
What was Bad
Ball Handling
Sure we only has 13 turnovers this time, but OSU also had 6 steals and UW only managed 12 assists. I.T. had over half of our turnovers. That is ugly. He needs to go back to playing smart basketball. As with WSU, this loss showed why we miss Gaddy. Gaddy may not score 20 points a game. He may not put on a flashy show and have double digit assists, but he does run a team very well and can dish out better than anyone.
Offensive Execution
We forced shots all night again. We could not hit our shots and we could not get any presence inside going. I don't know how MBA managed 12 points. He air balled another short jump hook today. What happened to our mid range game? How about our dribble drive or the pick and roll. Sure the pick and roll is harder to execute against a zone, but there is no reason not to try it when it has been so effective thus far.
Inside Defense
OSU had their way in the paint due to UW not rotating well on defense and ignoring the weak side players that were open for backdoor cuts and the like.
Free Throws
I.T. was 4-5, Scott Suggs was 3-4. They were the only players with respectable numbers. When on the road, free throws are life and death. You take those 10 misses and convert them to points and suddenly its a new ball game. It was the same way at WSU and its the same way tonight. Make your shots, pretty simple.
Three Point Shooting
29 three pointers out of 62 shots taken. Only made 7. Scott Suggs had 5 of those. Talk about going from a multi-optioned outside team to one dimensional. Not sure what happened between November and now, but it is nothing good. We need to find our shot again.
Player by Player Review
Justin Holiday
4 points on 2-8 shooting, 0-3 from outside, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover in 33 minutes. I was expecting a bigger offensive night as I imagined OSU focusing their efforts on MBA and I.T., effectively opening the court for Holiday to have a field day. He looked uninspired today and besides his rebounds, Holiday really didn't contribute much to the game. Holiday missed a wide open lay-in, got the rebound and missed again...Pathetic. You are 6-6 and wide open. DUNK IT IN!
Grade: C+
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
MBA should have been able to power his way to a much stronger double double tonight, but missed his shots and didn't create enough opportunities for himself. The air ball nonsense from 10 feet out needs to stop. MBA needs to make a move to the post and go up strong. I counted at least 3 plays where he went up to get the rebound, brought it down, and went for a lay in that would miss instead of going up strong for a dunk. When you have the size, strength, and position to jam the ball in the hole, DO IT! 12 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block, 1 turnover.
Grade: B-
Venoy Overton
Overton was much more successful on the drive than Isaiah. He had the quickness and agility to execute the play, but really only went for it late in the second half. He had a very limited impact on the game as well. 4 points, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 turnover. Bleh.
Grade: C
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
After a strong showing the past few games, Gant did not show up to play big today. 23 minutes, only 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 4 points. 2-6 shooting. We needed him to produce on the glass and possibly on the scoreboard, but we had neither from him tonight.
Grade: C-
Isaiah Thomas
Worst game of the year by far for Isaiah. This is the second straight game where Isaiah has done more harm than good. The difference between today's game and Sunday's outing was the 10 points more he had against WSU. 7 turnovers = a lot of opportunities missed for us and a lot more points for OSU. He is not getting the foul calls he used to and is seemingly refusing to adjust his game play to the way the fouls are (not) going. 2-11 shooting. We needed him as a point guard and play maker, not a scorer tonight, but it is hard to break a player of his ingrained habits this late in a season and career. While he has had tremendous success from the point the past few weeks, he is regressing back to playing with a 2 spot mentality.
Grade: D
Aziz N'Diaye
He might as well have stayed on the bench. Zone defenses render him useless and Romar hardly played him. For only having 1 foul I am really not sure why Romar didn't give him some more opportunities to make a difference inside when we had had so little success from the players underneath as it was. He needs to make his free throws and catch the ball with a little more power and confidence.
Grade: D
Antoine Hosley
Did not play
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
Hit 1 of 3 shots from outside and played a team low 8 minutes. 2 rebounds and 1 assist. He didn't have enough time to make an impact and didn't do anything exceptional with what time he had on the court.
Grade: C
Terrence Ross
4 rebounds and 2 points in 16 minutes. 1-4 shooting and 0-3 from outside. Like C.J. he really didn't have an effect on the game. He hustled decently enough, but had 0 steals and forced 0 turnovers.
Grade: C-
Final Thoughts
I.T. said it was important to not let one loss turn into two, but it did and now they have to keep from sliding even further down with a loss a Oregon who is riding high and mighty after smashing WSU. UW will drop out of the polls regardless of Saturday's performance and will likely drop to a 6 or 7 seed in the NCAA bracket. They have also put themselves in a big hole they will have to dig out of if they want a shot at the title. With Arizona getting to face us on their court this half of conference they are looking like the new strong favorites to win the title. Sure they have the tough California road trips to finish up, but UW just laid an egg at OSU and could easily drop the game at UO as well. Days like today I find it hard to write without a lot of emotion and wish I wasn't so invested in this team. It is what it is. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but this is just screaming to be let down season. We have so much potential, yet we struggle to unleash it on the road. Sure you don't have the home crowd cheering you on, but the nice part is the court is still 94 feet long, the free throw line is 15 feet from the basket, the hoops is 18 inches across, and the arc is still 20.75 feet from the basket. If UW wants to get this title they really can't afford to lose any more games this season. If they want good seeding in March, or even get to the NCAA for that matter, they need to dominate the opposition and stop playing to their level and tempo. We need our post to go strong and we need our offense to get the ball to them. We need Isaiah to play the point and not the shooting guard position. We need consistent play and tough defense. We need to execute on offense and not miss the easy shots. Free throws need to be hit and games need to be won. I started this season thinking 18-0 and was a very real and achievable goal, but now I am hoping for 14-4 and second place in the league with hopefully a 7 seed in the tournament. This was a must win for UW and they dropped the ball big time. A loss to Oregon on Sunday would put us in a world of hurt and begin to put our post season play in question. The UA and WSU game will be tough battles that really could go either way.
I don't even know what to say right now. The Huskies came out with zero heart, zero effort, and zero drive to win this game. The only player worthy of positive feedback is Scott Suggs. Suggs wanted to win tonight, Suggs wanted to score, Suggs didn't want to lose to one of the bottom feeders. MBA played with zero intensity. He didn't enforce his will like last month. He didn't back his man down. He didn't rebound. Isaiah Thomas played terrible once more. He would drive and turn the ball over. He couldn't score, he couldn't pass, he just kept giving up the ball. Justin Holiday played flat. He was just as average and nonchalant about the game as just about everyone else.
Just like the WSU game, UW forced the outside shot all too often and couldn't hit anything. The inside lacked any post presence. I don't remember seeing Aziz in the second half for more than 4 or 5 minutes. MBA was a non-factor. Gant didn't do much.
OSU had too easy of a time passing inside and scoring. UW played terrible on the help defense.
UW couldn't rebound either. MBA somehow managed 10, but I counted all too many times that he was boxed out with ease by his man. 44-31. You will not win a game having a -13 rebound margin.
UW attempted half the free throws OSU did (38 to 19) and only converted 9. You cannot miss 10 free throws on the road. Just pathetic. Aziz went 0-4, MBA went 2-6. That is unacceptable. I said it in the pregame, free throws win ball games and on the road you have to hit what little you are given.
Isaiah absolutely killed us today. If I had to put this loss on one persons play, not something I normally like to do, it would be Isaiah. 6 assist is normally nice, but he had 7 turnovers. 7. He only had 9 points on the night and 4 of those game from the line. He wasn't getting the foul call and he refused to adjust his game. He wasn't making his shots either. He finished 2-11 from the field, 1-6 from range. In the last two games Isaiah has resorted back to the selfish play he was known for in his first year and a half, except this time he isn't getting the foul calls that bailed him out.
I really am at a loss for words with how to describe this loss. We really didn't play to win today. We seemed to play because we had to. I never once saw the bench get excited, the plays throw up any salutes or high fives. Nothing. Give OSU credit for making us stay outside. They did a great job getting position on the glass and keeping the ball out of MBA's hands. MBA went 5-12 from the field, by the way.
With Arizona's win today, they take a 1 game lead for first place and we enter a tie with UCLA for second in the league. Oregon crushed WSU as well by 26 points and looks to be dangerous this weekend.
32% shooting from the field and 24% from range. 47% from the free throw line. -13 on the rebounding. That is the kind of slump and play that will haunt you for many games. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get whooped Saturday at Oregon. The Huskies are playing with zero heart right now.
What was Good
Scott Sugg's First Half
4-5 from range in the first half and a game high 14 points going into the break. He couldn't miss, yet we didn't feed him as much as we should have. He went 1-6 in the second half from range and fell apart like the rest of the Husky offense.
What was Decent
MBA's and Holiday's Rebounding
By some miracle MBA finished with 10 boards and Holiday had 7. I really don't know how that happened. MBA looked just plain overwhelmed in the post and was kept out of position more times than he got it. Aziz might as well have sat the entire game. He missed all 4 free throws, picked up 2 rebounds, and had 2 turnovers in 12 minutes. Terrence Ross managed 4 rebounds in 16 minutes, but didn't contribute anything else.
What was Bad
Ball Handling
Sure we only has 13 turnovers this time, but OSU also had 6 steals and UW only managed 12 assists. I.T. had over half of our turnovers. That is ugly. He needs to go back to playing smart basketball. As with WSU, this loss showed why we miss Gaddy. Gaddy may not score 20 points a game. He may not put on a flashy show and have double digit assists, but he does run a team very well and can dish out better than anyone.
Offensive Execution
We forced shots all night again. We could not hit our shots and we could not get any presence inside going. I don't know how MBA managed 12 points. He air balled another short jump hook today. What happened to our mid range game? How about our dribble drive or the pick and roll. Sure the pick and roll is harder to execute against a zone, but there is no reason not to try it when it has been so effective thus far.
Inside Defense
OSU had their way in the paint due to UW not rotating well on defense and ignoring the weak side players that were open for backdoor cuts and the like.
Free Throws
I.T. was 4-5, Scott Suggs was 3-4. They were the only players with respectable numbers. When on the road, free throws are life and death. You take those 10 misses and convert them to points and suddenly its a new ball game. It was the same way at WSU and its the same way tonight. Make your shots, pretty simple.
Three Point Shooting
29 three pointers out of 62 shots taken. Only made 7. Scott Suggs had 5 of those. Talk about going from a multi-optioned outside team to one dimensional. Not sure what happened between November and now, but it is nothing good. We need to find our shot again.
Player by Player Review
Justin Holiday
4 points on 2-8 shooting, 0-3 from outside, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover in 33 minutes. I was expecting a bigger offensive night as I imagined OSU focusing their efforts on MBA and I.T., effectively opening the court for Holiday to have a field day. He looked uninspired today and besides his rebounds, Holiday really didn't contribute much to the game. Holiday missed a wide open lay-in, got the rebound and missed again...Pathetic. You are 6-6 and wide open. DUNK IT IN!
Grade: C+
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
MBA should have been able to power his way to a much stronger double double tonight, but missed his shots and didn't create enough opportunities for himself. The air ball nonsense from 10 feet out needs to stop. MBA needs to make a move to the post and go up strong. I counted at least 3 plays where he went up to get the rebound, brought it down, and went for a lay in that would miss instead of going up strong for a dunk. When you have the size, strength, and position to jam the ball in the hole, DO IT! 12 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block, 1 turnover.
Grade: B-
Venoy Overton
Overton was much more successful on the drive than Isaiah. He had the quickness and agility to execute the play, but really only went for it late in the second half. He had a very limited impact on the game as well. 4 points, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 turnover. Bleh.
Grade: C
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
After a strong showing the past few games, Gant did not show up to play big today. 23 minutes, only 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 4 points. 2-6 shooting. We needed him to produce on the glass and possibly on the scoreboard, but we had neither from him tonight.
Grade: C-
Isaiah Thomas
Worst game of the year by far for Isaiah. This is the second straight game where Isaiah has done more harm than good. The difference between today's game and Sunday's outing was the 10 points more he had against WSU. 7 turnovers = a lot of opportunities missed for us and a lot more points for OSU. He is not getting the foul calls he used to and is seemingly refusing to adjust his game play to the way the fouls are (not) going. 2-11 shooting. We needed him as a point guard and play maker, not a scorer tonight, but it is hard to break a player of his ingrained habits this late in a season and career. While he has had tremendous success from the point the past few weeks, he is regressing back to playing with a 2 spot mentality.
Grade: D
Aziz N'Diaye
He might as well have stayed on the bench. Zone defenses render him useless and Romar hardly played him. For only having 1 foul I am really not sure why Romar didn't give him some more opportunities to make a difference inside when we had had so little success from the players underneath as it was. He needs to make his free throws and catch the ball with a little more power and confidence.
Grade: D
Antoine Hosley
Did not play
Grade: N/A
C.J. Wilcox
Hit 1 of 3 shots from outside and played a team low 8 minutes. 2 rebounds and 1 assist. He didn't have enough time to make an impact and didn't do anything exceptional with what time he had on the court.
Grade: C
Terrence Ross
4 rebounds and 2 points in 16 minutes. 1-4 shooting and 0-3 from outside. Like C.J. he really didn't have an effect on the game. He hustled decently enough, but had 0 steals and forced 0 turnovers.
Grade: C-
Final Thoughts
I.T. said it was important to not let one loss turn into two, but it did and now they have to keep from sliding even further down with a loss a Oregon who is riding high and mighty after smashing WSU. UW will drop out of the polls regardless of Saturday's performance and will likely drop to a 6 or 7 seed in the NCAA bracket. They have also put themselves in a big hole they will have to dig out of if they want a shot at the title. With Arizona getting to face us on their court this half of conference they are looking like the new strong favorites to win the title. Sure they have the tough California road trips to finish up, but UW just laid an egg at OSU and could easily drop the game at UO as well. Days like today I find it hard to write without a lot of emotion and wish I wasn't so invested in this team. It is what it is. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but this is just screaming to be let down season. We have so much potential, yet we struggle to unleash it on the road. Sure you don't have the home crowd cheering you on, but the nice part is the court is still 94 feet long, the free throw line is 15 feet from the basket, the hoops is 18 inches across, and the arc is still 20.75 feet from the basket. If UW wants to get this title they really can't afford to lose any more games this season. If they want good seeding in March, or even get to the NCAA for that matter, they need to dominate the opposition and stop playing to their level and tempo. We need our post to go strong and we need our offense to get the ball to them. We need Isaiah to play the point and not the shooting guard position. We need consistent play and tough defense. We need to execute on offense and not miss the easy shots. Free throws need to be hit and games need to be won. I started this season thinking 18-0 and was a very real and achievable goal, but now I am hoping for 14-4 and second place in the league with hopefully a 7 seed in the tournament. This was a must win for UW and they dropped the ball big time. A loss to Oregon on Sunday would put us in a world of hurt and begin to put our post season play in question. The UA and WSU game will be tough battles that really could go either way.
Who were we tonight?
Watching the end of this “basketball game” I am disgusted. Not by the refs (something that normally happens) not by our opponent, but instead by my own Washington Huskies. What did we really see tonight from the Huskies? Did we see a team that was fired up to come back from their loss to WSU, looking to show that they deserve a top 25 ranking and a high seed in the NCAA tournament? Not at all, I saw a team who looked frustrated, there was no fire in our leaders, no fire in almost any of our players. Looking in our players eyes I was ready to call the game for OSU as of halftime. The only two players that I saw who actually looked like they wanted to play were Scott Suggs, and Terrance Ross. Suggs had a career night with 18 points on 5-12 all made shots being three pointers, he played solid defense and only racked up his fouls towards the end of the game intentionally fouling OSU players to save time. Terrance Ross didn’t have a big night numbers wise. He only made one shot, a tip dunk over at least one OSU player, but while he was in he was hustling. I would be lying if I said I don’t care if we lose as long as we play hard; I hate to see the Huskies lose; it ruins my night, it ruins my weekend, it even pisses off my girlfriend because I’m just not a happy person. The one thing I hate more than losing, is feeling like we didn’t even try to win. Sure the players put up shots and played defense (questionably sometimes) but they didn’t do the little things. We had no weak side help ( which OSU scored numerous baskets passing to) we didn’t dive on the floor for loose balls and we didn’t move on offense to get open. Isaiah Thomas, MBA and Justin Holiday combined tonight for 9 – 31 shooting for 25 points. Two weeks ago, I looked at them as a glorious triumvirate, they could control and win games practically on their own. Tonight they looked hapless, IT pleaded with the refs for calls, MBA picked up fouls and was left ineffective for most of the game, and Holiday simply looked defeated. Despite all of this, we were still in the game until the last five minutes. The whole game I watched waiting for someone aside from Suggs to take over, move on offense hustle on defense but it never happened. Watching this loss was worse than losing to WSU, in that game we were sloppy, but we actually appeared to be trying to win. I’m unsure how Saturday will go, but I guarantee that if we play the same way we did tonight for the rest of the season we won’t be celebrating any NCAA achievements this year, we will be lucky to make the NIT and we certainly won’t go far in that tournament either.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Oregon State University Preview 2
The article is up on Montlake Madness: http://www.montlakemadness.com/game-preview-oregon-state-2/
After the 103-72 beat down earlier this season, you can bet the Beavers are anxious for some revenge.
After the 103-72 beat down earlier this season, you can bet the Beavers are anxious for some revenge.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Mid Season Review Later This Week
I was hoping to put up some mid conference season grades by tomorrow, but with school entering the 5th week, things are a bit busier so I won't likely be able to get to the article until Friday. I'm doing the pre and post game analysis for the Oregon State game on Montlake Madness, so I'll post links to the articles here once they are up. The OSU preview should be up tomorrow.
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