Sporting Chance by Candace Zion

A good friend of mine wrote this for a class. I thought it was fantastic and a piece of literature more people should have the chance to enjoy. Sports can be a majestic thing. Forget love poetry, the way to a girls heart should be sports poetry. I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I did. If you enjoy the the following article, give her some love in the comments or share it with your fellow Husky fans. Heck, share it with your unfortunate Wildcat friends or even worse, your Cougar friends.

      

“Cold Blooded”

            “Shot clock turned off…game clock at eight….he’s gonna do it himself,,” Gus Johnson announced hoarsely, straining to keep his voice loud, trumping the rowdy crowd in the background as the game drew to a close. The Washington Huskies, clad in all black faced the Arizona Wildcats, in all white, for the third time this season. Each team owned one victory over the other, earned at their respective home arenas in front of game changing home crowds. At this meeting, the last Pac-10 Tournament title is on the line. Neither team possessed home court advantage as they battled at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The game tied at seventy five points apiece and already in the first overtime period.

            Isaiah Thomas was just about to cross half court, dribbling the basketball about waist high, standing straight up. Taking the perfect amount of time to make it down the court, each of his steps were even and casual. He saw everything in front of him. His stride exuded game time composure developed over years of intense match ups and close scores. Inches before the black, center stripe he began to drift to his left, chest, hips, feet and shoulders all square to a spot on the floor opposite the bench. The play was already drawn up in his head. His overly comfortable progression up the floor made his defender leery. He glanced over his shoulder at his coach who was preparing to call a time out, clip board ready, and gave a nonchalant wave of his hand, a mere flick of the wrist. The motion laden with confidence sent the well versed, veteran coach back to the bench, trusting his junior guard completely. There was no doubt that Thomas knew what he was doing. This was his game, his tournament. Game after game, playing thirty eight of forty minutes each, he showed no sign of fatigue. His actions remained crisp, his decisions smart, his leadership apparent with his mind game still sharp.

            Crossing the center line flipped the switch. Instantly, Thomas dropped into an athletic stance, knees bent, muscles flexed and feet ready to dance. His back stayed flat, chest and head up. He never lost sight of the floor space and set up. His hand, arm, and shoulder working in perfect unison to ricochet the ball back and forth from hand to floor. Up, down. Hand, floor. He crosses the ball in front of his body with methodical bounces from left to right. The guard shoots left handed but dribbles with unrivaled ambidexterity. Two crossovers and he gains his rhythm. The ball stays on his left hand for two more dribbles, pulling his positioning that direction. Never a glance down.

            His defender seems barely there, causing no disruption in any of the Husky’s movements. Thomas acknowledges his man’s presence but is not phased by it. Thomas’s eyes see every teammate and defender simultaneously. His teammates sit flat with the baseline. Thomas sees his lanes, knows the openings. Now approaching the top of the key, a dribble between the legs to return the ball to his right hand, his body rises up matching the bounce of the ball and falls with its return to the hardwood. Back in a text book athletic stance, two quick possession changes between his hands, quick feet movements that can only be appreciated in slow motion. He juts left leaving his defender flat footed at the foul line.

            Two hard dribbles to the left, he lands on his left foot. His body moves as one complete unit, his left foot pulling the rest of him along. He pushes off backwards, feet landing on the three point arch in picturesque shooting form. Feet spaced, chest and shoulders square with the basket. Both hands on the ball, he jumps with both feet. His quads and calves team up to elevate him off the polished wood. His hands lift the ball perfectly above his head and his back begins to fall away from the basket. His left wrist flips the ball towards the basket with perfect backspin and seemingly calculated arch, left hand ending parallel to the floor, arm perpendicular. His left foot kicks forward, his ankles separating the same way scissors do. His five feet nine inch, compact frame was able to muscle the ball nineteen feet to the hoop in a fade away jump shot. The defender’s lanky arms were slow to recover from the earlier juke and the shot got off cleanly.

            Thomas lands back on the surface, right foot first, then left, already backpedaling, arms swinging behind him on their way down. The ball goes through the rim, snaps the net. The buzzer sounds and the backboard border lights up in red. The shoulders of the men in white slump and they sulk off the floor in defeat to the sounds of elated fans adorned in purple and gold celebrating.

All Thomas’s basketball movements vanish. He faces the stands but looks at no one yet sees everyone. His head back, mouth open in a triumphant roar that can’t be heard over the crowd, his arms flexed making a perfect frame around the purple “Washington” against the black fabric on his chest. He stumbles between the teammates storming him as the bench clears, throwing victory fists into the air. Then he collapses in the middle of his team. Safely surrounded by his comrades, he just lies down, his body relaxes, his mind dazed. The exhaustion from game after game with no substitutions caught up and he was finally able to momentarily surrender his will to perform.

            “Thomas…Shake. Cross over. Step baaaaack…. AT THE BUZZER! Young. Zeke and Washington wins it! With a last second j… Cooooold. Blooded,” were the words Gus Johnson rasped out while Thomas led his team to a well deserved triumph over their Pac-10 rivals. Each word improvised on the spot and spoken with unabashed emotion, excitement, and accuracy. Washington now forever reigns as Pac-10 Tournament champions, thanks to that fateful, cold blooded shot by a hot handed, worn out, draft bound Husky. 

-Written by Candace Zion 11/15/2011

Duke Game Review

Final Score: UW 80-DUKE-86

Well, at least it was close at the end. UW came back from another terrible first half to make the game somewhat competitive. After going down by up to 19 points several times, UW rallied at the end with a C.J. Wilcox 3-pointer at the end of regulation to make it a 6 point game. Unfortunately, the Huskies simply couldn't put together enough stops to truly get back in the game as time dwindled. Abdul Gaddy made it a 6 point game with a minute left and poor Duke free throw shooting kept the Huskies in the game. The night was off to an ominous start when Wilcox air-balled a his first 3-point attempt of the night (he went 2-7 from outside).

The end of the game was pretty strange. UW was without a post player due to Aziz N'Diaye leaving with some sort of knee injury (not sure if it's a sprain or something worse, I'll update when I hear more) and Darnell Gant fouling out. UW was also without its two star point guards and ended with Hikeem Stewart on the court for the final 30 seconds. Both Tony Wroten and Abdul Gaddy fouled out of the game.

Speaking of Tony Wroten, he has gone from a pass first guard to an attack 2 guard. He was one of the few players to really attack the lanes and get to the line. He went 6-8 from the free throw line on the night, another marked improvements from the first games of the year. He finished with a game high 23 points, 0 assists (bleh....), and 5 turnovers (this is normal for him, I am not surprised). He went 8-12 from the field, but could have gone 10-12 if he could make the easy lay-ins by using his opposite hand like a true college player.

Abdul Gaddy played a very quiet game opposite Wroten. Only 7 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from range) and went 3-5 from the line, a stat he and the rest of the team need to drastically improve on. What he did well is what he always does, 7 assists to 1 turnover. He is the calm to Wroten's chaos. I'd like him to attack the hoop more. Not necessarily take the shot, just drive to collapse the lanes and free up our shooters. He still looked slow on the court and hesitant at times. He did a much better job getting in towards the rim at the end of the game, but his efforts came too late.

C.J. Wilcox was excellent minus his outside shooting. He drove the lane hard throughout the final 20 minutes and consistently scored with a strange, yet beautiful leaping Superman-esque move to float the shot over the defenders. I don't know how he does it. He did it a few times last season as well and it is becoming his signature move in a way. His 22 points and aggressive attack of the hoop were great to see and were definitely needed, but yet again did not attempt a single free throw. I'm only OK with that because he scored in bunches and made his shots inside.

Terrence Ross was off tonight. He still managed 16 points but it took 17 attempts. He missed his AND1 opportunity and that was the only action he saw at the charity stripe. He is still very tentative about getting inside the paint at times and it really holds him back from his true potential. If he starts attacking with authority more often he'll average over 20 points a game just by getting to the free throw line. Ross did try to throw down a monster jam over Plumlee, but it rattled loose from the hoop.

Aziz N'Diaye looked solid tonight on the defensive end. He only had 4 points and 5 rebounds before injuring his knee. Hopefully nothing is torn and it is just a minor sprain allowing him to return quickly. We will miss his size in the paint and I imagine that UW might go with a 4 guard line up to start most games. This could put Tony Wroten in the starting 5. We may also see Martin Breunig or Desmond Simmons in the starting 5 if N'Diaye must sit out. He managed to contain Plumlee pretty effectively and moved well on the court. The defense as a whole rotated much better tonight.

As I write this, Kentucky just got beat by Indiana on a last second three. At least Karma is still punishing the wicked.

I also need to give Romar some credit. I'm going to pretend that he reads my articles and implemented the high post and full court pressure because I told him to. He finally used full court pressure with over 10 minutes on the clock and low and behold the game went from a 19 point deficit to 6 at the end of the game. The pressure forced Duke to take poor shots, turn the ball over, and it gave UW that many more opportunities. It worked just as I said it would. UW has terrific athletes who can run and gun all day. Full court pressure allows us many more chances at fast breaks and open lanes. The high post ran through Ross and Gant and led to the only good 3-point shots. UW was struggling to get their shooters open and when they were open, they missed. UW (and Duke) went 5-17 from deep. Well below the Huskies talent and potential.

What Needed Improvement:

Rebounding:

The Huskies should have dominated this aspect of the game, but Duke came out on top 37-33. Many of the Duke rebounds came off long misses that the Blue Devils tipped out to their guards who were not blocked out and contained by the Huskies. Those long offensive boards also led to at least 2 of the Blue Devils 3-pointers, which is exactly what I said would happen in my pregame analysis. Ross led the Huskies with 7 boards and Simmons collected 6. N'Diaye only had 5 on the night in his 17 minutes of play.

Shooting:

UW was not hitting the open baskets and missed several critical easy lay-ins that shut down whatever momentum the Dawgs had going. Our players need to knock down the open shots because they have been few and far between lately, it would seem. I know our guys can shoot and I know players have cold nights, but tonight it seemed like everyone was cold at once and that is absolutely killer.

Free Throw Shooting:

13-23...That is unacceptable. Thank the stars that Tony Wroten has been getting better and made 6-8 on the night. I'll take 75% shooting from the Dawgs just about any night. No other player had more than 3 makes for the Dawgs. Wilcox and Ross, our two best free throw shooters, combined for only 1 free throw. That is unacceptable. These guys need to get the ball and take their man to the rack for some good old fashioned basketball.

What was Good:

Gut and Drive:

After getting down early once more, the Huskies fought back and worked their asses off to get back in the game. After scoring only 26 in the first half, UW doubled their scoring with 54 in the second. If UW could have managed 35 or 40 in the first half, UW would have won with ease. Statistically the Huskies and Blue Devils were essentially identical outside of the poor shooting in the first 10 minutes. The tenacity displayed by Wilcox and Wroten was fantastic. These players are starting to feel the heat and are dying to get back to their winning ways.

Final Thoughts:

Tough week in the Big Apple for the Dawgs. They needed a big win, but came up short in both match-ups. All said, they Huskies looked much better than the maligned efforts they displayed in St. Louis and Nevada. No one in the Pac-12 plays like Duke or Marquette, which gives me hope that the Huskies can pretty much run the slate come conference and finished with 14, maybe 15 wins. If the Dawgs can win at least 13 and make the final game of the conference tournament, they should go into March with 22 wins or so and 9 or 10 losses. That should be enough for an NCAA bid, though it will be a low seed. The pieces are here, the will to win is coming into its own, and the Huskies are just a few mistakes away from being 6-2 or 7-1 even. Our team is young, but talented and can do a lot of damage when they get their heads in the right place. Let's get it done, boys.

Go Dawgs!

Duke Game Preview

So if you haven't heard the news yet, Scott Suggs will be redshirting this season following a surgery in mid October on his foot to repair a broken bone. He was projected to return this week for the games in the Big Apple, but continuing foot pains slowed his recovery and places him more at a mid January return, leaving only 16 regular season games. Rather than play only a small section of his senior season, Suggs has opted to return next season. This could work out great in the long run, especially if Terrence Ross leaves early for the NBA. Right now, it sucks. We needed Suggs' senior leadership on the court, especially in crunch time situations where a cool head and sweet shot are critical. Anyways...on to Duke.

The Blue Devils are coming off a big loss to Ohio State and a more recent win over Colorado State. Duke enters the game as the Number 7 team in the nation with an 8-1 record. UW and Duke have not played each other since 1989 so all previous games between the two squads are essentially null and void. The only common thread between then and now is Mike Krzyzewski.

To say Duke is going to be a tough match-up is an understatement. There is a good reason why they are in the top 10 and why many people projected a win over Marquette, but a loss to Duke. Duke has a very potent line-up from top to bottom and their frontcourt is just as strong as their backcourt.

Five players are averaging double digit scoring for Duke thus far in the season (Andre Dawkins is averaging 9.6 ppg so I'm including him). Austin Rivers, son of Doc Rivers, leads the team with nearly 16 ppg. Four players have hit 10 or more 3-pointers this season led by Andre Dawkins with 20 makes on 43 attempts.

The Plumlee brothers, Mason and Miles, dominate the glass for Duke with Mason clearly the superior ball player. Mason is averaging 9.8 boards per game and has four double-doubles on the year. Miles is averaging a second best 5 board per game. The two account for nearly 50% of Dukes 33 rpg average. Mason is also averaging over 2 blocks per game and is as much of a threat on defense as offense.

Duke is rounded out by a pair of more than capable shooters in Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly. Each average over 12 ppg and 3 rpg. Curry is the assist leader with 3.3 per game, while also committing 2 turnovers per outing. Overall, Duke is averaging just as many assists as turnovers (13).

As with Marquette, Duke plays a pretty similar style of basketball. The differences come in a much better frontcourt than Marquette and a slightly better backcourt. The Duke perimeter players are all deadly play-makers, but are not as skilled in the rebounding or assist category.

Keys to the Game:

Rebounding:

If there is one category UW can capitalize on to keep themselves in the game or possibly win it, it is rebounding. Duke averages a very low 33 boards per game and two players make up half that number. Mason will not be shut down. As strong defensively Aziz N'Diaye may be, Mason is quicker and more skilled and N'Diaye will likely struggle to keep him contained. What this means in terms of UW's strategy is containing the rest of the Blue Devil squad and our backcourt crashing the glass hard. Keeping Duke's sharpshooters from getting a second chance at the hoop is going to be huge in limiting the number of open shots they get. There is no better time to take a 3-pointer than after an offensive rebound. At that point the defense has likely collapsed, leaving the perimeter open for easy jumpers.

Ball Control:

Abdul Gaddy gave up the last possession against Marquette with 34 seconds on the clock and the game tied at 75. Instead of UW taking the game winning shot, Gaddy threw a terrible pass that was deflected and recovered by Marquette. We cannot afford those types of situations ever. Our turnovers in general have been much higher than they should be, due to not only Tony Wroten's usual antics, but lately the unusually poor play of Gaddy. If UW wants to have any chance at an upset, they need to limit their turnovers and not give Duke extra possessions.

Pressure the Backcourt:

As good as Mason Plumlee is, he can be contained by limiting the touches he receives. The happens by containing the backcourt and forcing them to stay near the top of the key rather than on the wings where they can work the ball inside. Backcourt pressure will also help limit the number of 3-point attempts that Duke can take. If N'Diaye can somehow manage Mason and Miles, the backcourt will be able to breathe a little easier.

Projected Starting Line-Ups:

Duke:

Tyler Thornton 6-1 195lb (Andrew Dawkins is having back problems and is doubtful to play Saturday)
Seth Curry 6-2 180lb
Austin Rivers 6-4 200lb
Mason Plumlee 6-10 235lb
Ryan Kelly 6-11 230lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb

Final Thoughts:

Darnell Gant will likely draw the assignment on the tall, mobile, and sharp shooting Ryan Kelly. Wilcox will hopefully be put on shut down duty against Seth Curry, while Terrence Ross takes on Austin Rivers. Without Dawkins on the court, UW may stand a better chance of containing the perimeter shooting Duke is well known for. All things considered this is another tough, but perhaps winnable game for the Huskies. An upset here would go a long ways towards calming the fan base and establishing some confidence in the teams ability to get it done on the road. It will also give UW and the Pac-12 a marque win that will be extremely important in March for the selection committee. At this point, at least two projections leave out the Huskies from the NCAA and the highest seed they received in any projection is 10th. Unfortunately, a loss is a loss and a win is a win come selection time so while the close loss to Marquette may be a sort of moral win it does nothing for our record and chances at a fourth consecutive NCAA berth. The Huskies need to be firing on all cylinders, rotations on defense need to go smoothly, and shots need to drop.

Final Score Prediction:

UW-78 DUKE-84

The skill level of the Duke frontcourt is going to be extremely difficult for UW to match, giving them a great advantage they will be sure to exploit every chance they can. It should be a close game thanks to our perimeter players, but if our starters cannot get to the foul line we will be hurting. Thank god Tony Wroten draws fouls, if only he could make his shots. We need high percentage shooters like Ross and Wilcox stepping to the line to convert the easy baskets. I'm still quite pessimistic about our chances against Duke, but I'm hopeful they can at least make it a competitive game. While this may not exactly be a "must win" game for UW, it will certainly make their lives easier to just go out there and win.

Go Dawgs! 

Marquette Game Review

Final Score: UW-77 MARQ-79

Another disappointing road loss following a large Husky lead. UW got hot early going up 11-2 only to surrender not only those 9 points, but an additional 3 and went into half-time down 37-34. UW fought back hard and went up by 1 point on a desperate Terrence Ross jumper 77-76 despite being mauled by two separate players. Did Ross get a foul call? Nope, just look at the free throw stats for how the night went for the Huskies. Marquette attempted 27 free throws while UW only shot 10 on the night. UW did not capitalize on the opportunities they had, making only 50% (Tony Wroten went 3-7 from the line and neither Ross nor C.J. Wilcox attempted a free throw. Heck only Desmond Simmons shot a pair outside Wroten and Aziz N'Diaye missed his AND1 opportunity).


The killer moment was right after the defense miscue resulting in Darnell Gant and Desmond Simmons tying their feet up and allowing a wide open Marquette 3-pointer to take the 2 point lead. Abdul Gaddy received the inbound pass and cross half court with 4 seconds or so remaining. Rather than call a timeout to compose the chaotic UW offense, Romar let Gaddy drive himself in the middle of two defenders and the sideline for a terrible game ending shot. Call the timeout, set up and a play, and execute. We do not yet have a go-to guy yet, though Terrence Ross showed a lot of potential and promise to be that guy with his heroic shot with 15 seconds to go. Without a go-to guy, a wild, out of control play is only going to result in a terrible shot as we saw tonight. Gaddy doesn't have the killer instinct to make a play in that type of situation.

A big moment for the Huskies came in the opening minutes when N'Diaye and Chris Otule, the Eagle center, went chasing after a loose ball. It appeared as though Otule's knee buckled or N'Diaye hit his knee, forcing Otule to head to the training room for an inspection. He did not return until late in the game. Without the big center in the paint, UW was able to get some nice shots off, resulting in the big first half lead.


UW shut Darius Johnson-Odom's shot down, holding him to 6-17 from the field, but 11 foul shots allowed the star player to put up 23 on the night, driving his team to victory. They also kept Jae Crowder to 2 points in the first half, but let the big man get free in the second as he went on to finish with 18 on the night.

A big reason UW was able to stay in this game was the rebounding differential. The Huskies dominated the glass with a 43-28 advantage led by N'Diaye with 13 boards (4 offensive as well). Ross and Desmond Simmons 4 coming on the offensive end (Ross had 9 total, Simmons 7).

Where UW truly suffered was the assist category. UW only managed 13 tonight as Gaddy only managed a measly 2 assists with 2 turnovers and Wroten put up 3 assists and 3 turnovers. Turnovers were a killer again with 16 on the night, but they didn't show up as strongly as the turnovers were spread out throughout the night versus a vicious streak. N'Diaye and Ross both had 4 turnovers tonight. Surprisingly, Darnell Gant led the team in assists with 4. Marquette, on the other hand, dished out 20 assists with 14 turnovers and did a much better job of moving off the ball and delivering to the open player.

Fouls killed the Dawgs throughout the night. Some tough calls offensively and sloppy fouls on the defensive end. The only starter without 4 fouls was C.J. Wilcox who had just 1 on the night. Terrence Ross picked up 2 fouls on offense, severely hindering his ability to attack the hoop for fear of a fifth.

Ross starred tonight and outside of his turnovers was the most complete player for the Dawgs. 19 points on 9-14 shooting, just 1 board short of his third double-double. He threw down a 180 dunk off a nice pass from Wroten (Number 1 on ESPN Top 10) and also jammed in a dunk following a terrible lay-in attempt by Wroten. Sadly, this performance by Ross gets somewhat lost by the fact that the Huskies couldn't pull out the W. If there is a player I want to have the ball in the final seconds, it's Ross. His shot with 15 seconds to go showed he could be the go-to guy. Unfortunately, we couldn't get him the ball for the potential buzzer beater.

C.J. Wilcox was off and on tonight. He finished with 15 points on 6-16 shooting. He had 4 blocks, two of which were emphatic and impressive. I still think he is one of our best defenders and doesn't get enough opportunities to go against their number 1 offensive threat. If Wilcox can put on 20lbs of muscle he could become a vicious defensive threat. While his early season efforts were valiant and impressive, Wilcox has been in somewhat of a slump lately despite the points he puts up. Wilcox needs to get to back to his 50%+ shooting that made him so deadly in the tournament.

Aziz N'Diaye did not get enough touches this game. I don't necessarily mean shots, just opportunities to get the ball and collapse the defense. He went 2-4 from the field and missed his lone free throw attempt. His 13 boards and 2 blocks were great. The 4 turnovers...not so much. His hands are improving, but he stills struggles with low passes and occasionally on contested rebounds.

Desmond Simmons finally garnered some solid minutes and had 21 on the night and boy, look at his production. 3-5 shooting, 7 boards, 2-2 from the free throw line, 1 assist, and only 1 turnover. I love what he did defensively as well and minus whatever nonsense happened on the last second play between him and Gant, it was a very solid night for the redshirt freshman.

Darnell Gant came back once more and showed the fire I've been wanting to see since his junior season. He shot very well hitting 6-9 from the field, draining 2-3 from outside. He had 14 points and only 1 turnover. His 2 rebounds were much lower than I want, but we won the rebounding battle so I'll limit my complaints about that this game.

Abdul Gaddy, how the mighty have fallen. After a huge start to his sophomore season, the junior has looked slow at times, hesitant even. Tonight was no different. 2-11 shooting and a terrible pass with 34 seconds to go and the score tied at 75. Gaddy attempted a pass to Ross with 34 on the clock only to throw it wide where Ross' defender picked it off, forcing Ross to pick up his fourth foul of the night and rather than UW taking the final shot, Marquette took the lead and forced the early shot by Ross in order to give the Huskies time for a second shot in case of a miss. While Wroten may turn the ball over a ton, his uptempo play may be better suited for the Dawgs and Gaddy may find himself coming off the bench if he doesn't pick up his play soon.

Speaking of Tony, he continues to be a driving force for the Huskies thought he tends to drive me crazy as often as he drives me wild. Wroten had 13 on the night with 5-9 shooting and got the foul line in droves, though he couldn't find the bottom of the net yet again. He had 6 boards to compliment his 3 assists and turnovers. I have to admit, his lay-ins are as ugly as his free throws. He refuses to use his right hand and consistently forces lay-ins instead of pump faking and drawing a foul. As much as it pains me to say this, Wroten may be our best starting option at this point. Despite his turnovers and sloppy play at times, he seems to have a much bigger drive to win and shows much more emotion on the court, which translates into tougher play (for the most part). If Gaddy can start driving to the rack and garnering free throws like Wroten I'll change my mind, but we need a point guard willing to attack the hoop since our wings still struggle with that.

Martin Breunig and Shawn Kemp combined for 7 minutes 1 turnover and 4 fouls. Not much to say about them outside of that.

What Need Improvement:

Offensive Movement:

While UW did show improved movement to start the game, by the time the second half rolled around UW had gone back to a slow and stagnant half court offense. The assist column showed just that as players had to create their own shots versus coming off screens for open opportunities. The majority of the problems come from the Huskies not running hard and tight enough off the screens, easily allowing the Marquette defenders to stay with their man.

Final Minute Composure:

Second straight game where UW has allowed a game tying or winning shot at the end of regulation. UW needs to find itself in crunch time and develop a go to plan that every player on the team should know. A simple play, both offensively and defensively, that can create and shut down opportunities respectively.

Free Throws:

Only 1 free throw from a starter. 1. Pathetic. Get to the hoop, play through contact, and draw the foul. Wroten does that, even though he can't make a free throw to save his life. Drawing fouls is a great way to create problems for the opposition and early minute fouls are devastating when they pile up on players. UW needs to get aggressive and open the lanes.

What Was Good:

Terrence Ross:

The early season expectations of Ross are really starting to rear their heads. Ross was 1 rebound away form his third straight double-double. He has thrown down extremely athletic dunks, sunk some beautiful fade aways, and drained some fantastic 3's. His 180/360 dunk was crazy and definitely deserved the Number 1 spot on ESPN. He tends to be quiet in the first half, something I attribute to both the teams inability to move the ball well in the half-court and Ross not being aggressive enough and demanding the ball. He could put up 25 a game if he can perform in the first half the way he scores in the second.

Rebounding:

N'Diaye, Ross, Simmons, and Wroten. They'll be our 1, 2, 3, and 4 for rebounding throughout the season. Game in and game out, these four players get up and dirty to grab the rebounds and chase down loose balls. 41-28 rebounding margin is fantastic. They held Marquette to 8 offensive boards, while grabbing 17 of their own resulting in 20+ second chance points. Rebounding is the glue that kept us in the game and kept it from being the blowout loss I predicted.

Final Thoughts:

Hard to know what to say. The close game makes me think this team has grown as they should have beaten what is looking to be a very strong, top 10 team. On the other hand they showed the same sort of mistakes that has them sitting at 4-3 with Duke on the horizon. The Huskies need to find leadership, they need to start moving the ball again, and they need to control themselves down the stretch and not panic. I'm not sold on this team yet, but a win over Duke could prove to be a great sign of good things to come. Even a close game could give me a little more hope that tonight was not a fluke and this team can truly compete with the best. Unfortunately, the loss tonight leaves UW with one more opportunity in the non-conference season to make a statement and pick up a marque win that is so often discussed in late February and early March. If UW loses to Duke, they will have their work cut out in conference to establish themselves as a tournament worthy team due to how poorly the conference has performed thus far in the non-con. Here's hoping for the best.

Go Dawgs.

Marquette Game Preview

Marquette, the name brings back memories. Quincy Pondexter sealed the deal in a 15 point come back in the first round of the 2009-2010 NCAA Tournament. Live it again here. This year it brings a little more to the table, namely an 11th ranked team in the top 11 for 3 of the 4 main offensive categories (PPG, APG, and FG%). With 84 points a game, Marquette plays a high octane offense in a very similar style to UW. Darius Johnson-Odom leads the team in scoring with nearly 20 points per outing. Jae Crowder follows closely behind with 17 points a game. Both players are 14-33 from range and are deadly accurate with the ball. Crowder also leads the Golden Eagles in rebounding with 6.7 boards per game.

Their offense produced 90+ points in the first 4 games. Not only can the Eagles score, but their defense is vicious as well. Marquette is allowing under 60 points a game and has an average margin of victory nearing 30 points. They are also holding their opponents under 35% shooting from the field.

Marquette is dishing out around 19 assists per game while committing only 13 turnovers. With 51% field goal shooting and 37% from the 3-point line, Marquette will prove to be an extremely tough team to defend. With 6 players averaging over 7 points a game, they have the tools to attack relentlessly and the UW defenders cannot afford to double team players or otherwise cheat on their defensive assignments.

The majority of Marquette's offense comes from inside the arc with the team averaging only 4 or 5 3-pointers per game and most of those come from their top two scorers. What this means for the Huskies is that their outside scoring can be somewhat contained. This is again similar to UW where Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox provide the majority of the 3-point shooting, but others have show the ability to drain from outside.

Norfolk and Wisconsin managed to hold Marquette to 61 points or fewer, but the Golden Eagles prevailed none the less. In all reality there is little chance of this being a low scoring game as both the Dawgs and the Eagles love to push the tempo.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups:

Marquette:

Derrick Wilson 6-0 215lb
Darius Johnson-Odom 6-2 215lb
Vander Blue 6-4 200lb
Jae Crowder 6-6 225lb
Chris Otule 6-11 265lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb (I would agree in favor of Desmond Simmons getting a starting position until Gant can prove to be more consistent on the court)
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb

Keys to the Game:

Rebounding:

With the high volume of shots that will likely be going up tomorrow night, cleaning the glass will be crucial. If UW can keep Marquette off the offensive glass, while grabbing their own misses, the Dawgs will be doing themselves a huge favor in keeping the game manageable.

Offensive Movement:

This was and has been a huge problem for the Huskies not only this season, but in years past as well. When the Dawgs are forced to run a half-court offense, they often find themselves taking poor shots and turning the ball over. I'm hoping Romar gets some X's and O's drawn up should they find themselves slowed down once more. When UW can move the ball they find the most success.

Ball Control:

After Friday's 11 turnover in 11 minute debacle, UW doesn't have to do much to improve. With such a great backcourt it is frustrating to see the Huskies commit so many silly errors by forcing unnecessary passes. Offensive movement should help solve the turnover problem immensely and ball control will tighten the reigns even more.

Final Thoughts:

This is a tough one. UW matches up well in personnel and tempo, but the Eagles have proven themselves to be a far more consistent and successful team. The Dawgs will have to scratch and claw their way to a victory. If the Huskies can get some shots dropping early and don't throw the ball away, they'll be a few defensive stops away from a huge marque win that will do wonders for their confidence and post-season aspirations. After the terrible performances UW has had on the road thus far, I'm hard pressed to call a Husky victory in the Big Apple. If there is one they will win though, I'd bet on this game rather than Duke.

UW-74 MARQ-84

I just can't see UW pulling off this one or the Duke game, for that matter. These are top 10 teams with great offensive and defensive ability that prove game in and game out to be tough, tough opponents. It'll take just about everything going right to pull out the W. I'm holding my breathe, but don't be surprised if UW gets tossed around a bit.

Go Dawgs!

University of Nevada Game Review

Final Score: UW-73 NEV-76

Yet another pitiful road performance highlighted by the first 10 minutes of the game. UW opened the game looking comfortable, scoring easily on the first two possessions due to a sweet stroke from Darnell Gant. Then it got ugly. UW gave up 11 turnovers in the first 11 minutes and only managed 11 points in that same time. Somehow the Huskies fought back and went into half up 29-27. Don't ask me how they did it. I have no idea.

UW came out strong in the second half and jumped up to a 10 point lead with 12 or 13 minutes to go. Deonte Burton of Nevada came out with fire in his hands and dropped 31 on the night. More on him later. The Wolf Pack scrapped and fought, running a beautiful press throughout the game (Romar, see how well it works? Amazing...). The press caused countless problems, even for the ever steady Abdul Gaddy and it took two or three turnovers for Romar and team to figure out a simple press break. The night seemed saved when Darnell Gant went to the line with UW up 2 points and only seconds on the clock. Romar pulled everyone back to avoid an over the back foul, which would send Nevada to the line themselves. Gant sunk the first shot. Missed the second (FREE THROWS WIN BALL GAMES!). Tony Wroten played defense on Burton who brought the ball up. Then, with only 4 or 5 seconds to go, Wroten inexplicably stood up and stopped playing defense. Literally stopped in place. Looked over to Romar and then back to Burton who drilled the game tying 3 pointer. I don't know what the hell he was thinking, but he needs to be running sprints the entire next practice as punishment for such a junior high mistake.

UW goes into overtime and scores the first 4 points. Things look OK. Olek Czyz had fouled out at the end of regulation and Burton had 4 fouls. Instead of driving the lane on Burton and drawing the foul, the Huskies continued to play well outside the paint where they had to force last second shots in heavy traffic. Speaking of last second shots, UW was called for 2 shot-clock violations this game. The first you could blame on the freshmen. The second one you put on the coach. The offense Romar ran today was stiffer than a board. Almost zero off the ball movement led to a stagnant offense that was picked apart by the Nevada defense. Shooters could get open looks, the post was jammed up, and the lanes weren't even close to being accessible due to our screens forcing our players along the sidelines, while stuffing the middle with defenders.

Burton demolished our defense. No one could stop him and for whatever reason, Romar continued to play Wroten on Burton rather than putting Terrence Ross or C.J. Wilcox against him. They are much better defenders, with more length and athleticism along with shot blocking ability. The old school way of handling a hot shooter was knocking him to the court with either a tough screen or just a plain hard foul. No one did that and no one would drive on him.

To show how malignant our offense was to start the game, let's look at C.J. Wilcox' statline. He had zero first half points and only took three shots. A team's leading scorer should have more than 3 opportunities in a half. Wilcox finished with 14 points on 6-13 shooting. That means he went 6-10 in the second. Get a shooter the ball and they make things happen. Wilcox and Ross were a big reason UW went up by 10. When Wilcox was shut down again by the stale offense, Nevada caught right back up.

Another highlight of how little UW was able to work the post is the fact that Aziz N'Diaye only took 3 shots. I do not expect 10-12 shot nights from N'Diaye, but I do expect him to get around 6 or 7 shots a game. Unlike Wilcox who at least had opportunities in the second to score, N'Diaye barely touched the ball outside of rebounds (he had 12 by the way, fantastic number).

Terrence Ross was amazing tonight, though his 3 point shot was very suspect throughout the evening. It's unfortunate because his contributions and athletic plays will be lost in the defeat. Ross had three extremely athletic plays that immediately come to mind. The first was a transition play where Ross received a pass near the top of the arc towards the sideline. He dribbled into the lane went up and under a player and tried to windmill it home. He came up short and hit the rim with the ball. He should have gone for the lay-up, but I'm not sure he had a clear shot at the glass due to the defender. The second was a reverse lay-in after a pass to him on the baseline. He showed excellent control, stopping in place, waiting for the defender to jump and the reversing the lay-in and spinning the ball off the glass. The last came off a pass from Gaddy who hit Ross near the high post (See what I'm getting at?). Ross caught the ball mid air and spun 360 degrees to lay the ball off the glass into the hoop. Ross got his 18 points somewhat quietly. He grabbed 5 boards, dished out 5 assists, had a steal, and two turnovers. He was a perfect 4-4 from the line. He needed to be the one receiving the ball on the inbound plays at the end of regulation. Either Ross or Wilcox and unfortunately, Romar also seems to struggle with inbound plays as shown by the turnover near the end of regulation with UW up 4. As with our offense, our inbound plays generally show little movement leading to easy pick-ups by Nevada.

Darnell Gant started the night hot, making the first two UW baskets from fairly long range. He didn't hit a shot the rest of the night and finished 2-6 from the field and a critical 3-4 from the charity stripe. He disappeared most of the night to due the fact he picked up his fourth foul with 17 minutes to go in the 2nd half. Not sure how a senior misses such a critical free throw. I can't imagine Scott Suggs missing that shot. Hell, I can't imagine Wilcox or Ross missing that shot. You know who I missed after that play? Venoy Overton. The dude was a beast at the end of games in clutch situations, hence his nickname "Captain Clutch."

Speaking of clutch players, UW still lacks a go-to guy in tight situations. This showed in full force at the end of OT when UW was forced to kick out to the corner to Darnell Gant for a 3 point attempt rather than Ross or Wilcox who had had the hot hands. Gant missed, UW rebounded out to Gaddy who seemed to forget there were only 8 second left before taking his own three point shot that dropped short as the game ended.

Desmond Simmons played pretty well once more tonight, leaving me wondering why he doesn't see more playing time. He went 3-4 from the field and showed strong defense through most of his play. He had 5 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. All in 9 minutes. Sure he had 3 fouls, but Gant had 4 and played 26 minutes. Give Simmons some of those minutes and let him be the hustling force we needed to scrap some points.

Tony Wroten. I don't know what to say. Yet another game with more turnovers (5) than assists (4). He also gave up the (indirectly) game winning shot in regulation. He improved his free throw shooting for a game going 6-8 from the line. He shot 4-8 from the field. Every time he did something good he would follow it with a sloppy play on one end of the court or the other.

What Needed Improvement:

Ball Control:

One of my three keys to the game in the preview and UW did the complete opposite. 11 turnovers in a game is sloppy enough for my tastes, let along 11 in 11 minutes. UW committed 18 turnovers on the night with Gaddy and Wroten combining for half those. The lack of movement forced the UW guards to throw ill advised passes, resulting in the abhorrent amount of turnovers the Huskies ended with.

Shot Selection:

This comes back to the ball control and court movement. It's surprisingly easy to guard a team who just stands around waiting for someone to make a move (not really). The poor shot selection is a direct consequence of players standing in place, waving their hands for the ball instead of moving around the key and perimeter to open up.

Coaching:

Yup, coaching. Here's why. Lorenzo Romar is 9-20 now in true non-conference road games during his time at UW. 9-20. That is a hair better than 31%. His total record at UW? 199-104, equating to 66%. Sure, home games are great and the fans can definitely play a part in certain settings and situations, but a team should not turn into a melted mess of panic and slop just because the fans are wearing a different color. Two shot-clock violations, at least 1 terrible inbound play with less than a minute in the game, zero offensive movement the whole night, a fairly ineffective press breaker that consisted mostly of a tea party between Wroten and Gaddy coming up the court, a lack of change in defenders on the hottest hand on the court, and at one point UW was T'ed up for having 6 players on the court out of a timeout. That right there cost us the game. Take away the made free throw in that situation and we win 66-65. There is no reason to have too many players on the court out of a timeout. A coach needs to have his plays on the same page and informed at all times and especially when play has ceased for an extended period of time. I love Romar, but the issues that are starting to arise and the trends that are developing are not good. You don't see the Duke's and UNC's of the world choking over 2/3rds of their road games. Yes, they are highly talented teams, but the last few Romar squads have been far from the shabby, sloppy teams that seem to step out on the court every time they play at a place that doesn't end in Hec Ed. He needs to change his pregame methods and rituals and start developing a winning tradition on the road. I don't know what the problem is, but it is becoming more and more glaring every day.

What Was Good:

Rebounding:

UW out-rebounded Nevada 38-27. That was about the only highlight, though this did suffer towards the end of the game when Nevada grabbed several key offensive boards leading to successful second chance points. Some box outs were missed and long rebounds went to waiting Wolf Pack players as their man was no where to be seen.

Final Thoughts:




UW has a long ways to go this season and at this point I don't know if they can pull an NCAA tournament bid out of a hat let along earn it. After Duke and Marquette, UW plays UC Santa Barbara, South Dakota State, and Cal State Northridge and I can guarantee not a single one of those three home games will count as a quality or signature win come March. If UW can get worked so easily by St. Louis and Nevada, Marquette and Duke will likely tear us apart. We are in their neck of the woods and I'll be expecting a strong showing from their fans, giving it an near home game atmosphere. Once conference play begins it'll be hard for UW to justify even a 14-4 to 12-6 record as being tournament worthy due to how terrible the Pac-12 has been thus far in the non-con season. UW looked poised to pull off a nice win on the road, but instead collapsed on themselves when they had a 10 point lead (UNC in the third round, anyone?). Great teams put their foot down when they have the lead, UW isn't there yet. Especially not this squad, they are too young and without Suggs they lack senior leadership. Without I.T., UW lacks a strong, vocal leader who can take a game over in an instant. UW needs to find this/these player(s) quickly if they want to win tough, tight games. This is a frustrating loss, but it also is relieving as I now won't feel so hyped and confident for the Big Apple trip, allowing me to study more for my finals and less time thinking about how awesome we will play and what huge upsets they will be. Another plus, we are evidently rush the court worthy. Not sure how, but this is our second loss and the second time the opposition has rushed the court.

Go Dawgs

University of Nevada Game Preview

Washington hits the road for the next few weeks, stopping first in Nevada for a match-up against the Wolf Pack. Nevada is having an up and down season with a 4-3 record thus far. Their biggest struggles are a result of their ball handling (or lack thereof). Big man Dario Hunt, 6-8 230lb, is averaging 4 turnovers a game. Olek Czyz and Deonte Burton are also averaging over 2 turnovers per game, though Burton is also dishing out nearly 4 and a half assists per game, accounting for a third of the teams total assists.

The Wolf Pack has a very dangerous shooter in Malik Story, their leading scorer with over 15 points per game. He is shooting 53% from range with 23 makes on the season. For reference, C.J. Wilcox is shooting 55%, but only has 16 makes. Nevada has played one more game, but I find it highly unlikely Wilcox will drop 7 more shots in the game on Friday. At 6-5 and 225lb, Story will have a bit of a size advantage making it even tougher to keep him out of the lane. With three starters at 6-7 or 6-8, Nevada will be a tougher team to defend.

Outside of his turnover issues, Hunt is a very solid contributor for the Pack. With 8 points and 8 boards a game, he is shoring up the middle quite well. Add in his 2 blocks and 1.4 steals a game and you find yourself up against a complete player who can do damage on both ends of the court. Thankfully he matches up size wise quite well with Darnell Gant. I would honestly expect Aziz N'Diaye to draw this assignment, however, as Hunt is not an outside shooter as opposed to fellow 6-7 forward Olek Czyz who has attempted 15 shots (2 makes) from the arc. 6-8 forward Jerry Evans has taken 20 from 3point land and made 5. All things considered we will likely see Gant on Evans and either Wilcox or Terrence Ross against Czyz.

Statistically, Nevada has played eerily similar to their opponents. Look at their numbers. Nevada averages 64.3 ppg, while surrendering 64.7. They dish out 13 assists and allow 14.6. 38 boards per game for Nevada and 35 for their opponents. The Wolf Pack is shooting 40.4% from the field, while opponents are shooting 41.3%. This could be a good or bad thing for the Huskies depending on how the tempo of the game plays out. If UW can push the tempo the game will be easier as the Huskies average about 8 possession more per game than Nevada. The Huskies are averaging 1.1 points per possession while Nevada is averaging around .96 points so every extra possession the Dawgs can manage gives them another step up towards a victory.

What Nevada is doing best at is rebounding and preventing the opposition from cleaning the glass. The Pack has 3 players averaging 6 or more boards this season, something I wish our squad could get to. I won't complain too much as the Huskies are averaging 43 boards per game (third in the nation), but if we could notch up a third rebounder to help N'Diaye and Ross I would be one happy camper.

Predicted Line-Ups:

Nevada:

Deonte Burton 6-1 185lb
Malik Story 6-5 225lb
Olek Czyz 6-7 240lb (by the way, can someone buy this dude a normal vowel, or perhaps a consonant, for his last name?)
Jerry Evans 6-8 188lb
Dario Hunt 6-8 230lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 240lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb

Keys to the Game:

Rebounding:

This could be a tough game for UW in terms of rebounding. Nevada sizes up pretty well against our wings, a place where we find a lot of rebounding success. This is also the category where Nevada finds its biggest positive "disparity" from their opponents, which to me reads as a strong point. UW is far from a poor rebounding team, but they have also been known to give up far too many offensive boards. As much as it pains me to think so, I kind of expect Nevada to out rebound the Huskies on Friday. The key to avoiding this is shutting down Hunt and containing his movement.

Frontcourt Pressure:

Normally I am a big proponent of backcourt pressure to deny the big men rather than tougher defense on the block, due to our bigs' foul troubles, however, with Hunt playing sloppy with the ball and having such a well rounded game I believe it will be important to not only ride him tight on defense, but also offensively by working the ball down low to draw fouls.

Ball Control and Tempo:

I hope Romar continues to be tough on his players, pulling them when mistakes are made. It seemed to get through to Tony Wroten Jr. and helped him play a more calm and collected game. Let him make some risky passes, but also hold him accountable when it gets out of hand. Abdul Gaddy continues to be one of the best ball handlers in the conference, if not the nation. With an assist/turnover ratio of 2.9 he is on his way to another fantastic season. The Wolf Pack is turnover prone, as I stated earlier, and UW needs to take advantage of that with tough, man-to-man defense. I know this wish will never be granted under Lorenzo Romar, but for god's sake, please can we start the game with a press? I'll even settle for a 3/4 court press or a half court press.

Final Thoughts:

The Huskies blew out Nevada at home last season 90-60 and if not for garbage time and bench substitutions, UW could have won by 40 (they lead by 39 at one point in the second). UW is a much different team from last season as is Nevada, but I highly doubt the combined difference is worth 30 points. This will likely be a closer game as UW traditionally struggles early on the road as the SLU debacle showed. UW has the advantage of a deeper bench and some taller players. We also possess an array of sharpshooters at every position outside the 5. I'm excited to see if Desmond Simmons can continue to supply the occasional 3 point shot with extreme accuracy. So far he is 3-3 on the season. I think the late start, 8pm, will benefit the Huskies as they have more time to prepare watching tape and warming up. This should prevent the terrible start that occurred against SLU and will hopefully allow the Dawgs to get up early rather than having to claw their way up from a deficit.

Final Score Prediction:
UW-80 NEV-68

I think UW will have their hands full, but with the SLU defeat in mind and the resent HBU win supplying some good feelings, the Huskies should be able to pull off a solid win and make them a little more confident heading to the Big Apple. A loss could send the Huskies a long ways down and be a dark shadow for what will definitely be tough games against Marquette and Duke.

Go Dawgs!