Quick, without looking, who's the leading scorer in Pac-10 Conference play? Here's a hint: you won't get it. Arizona State's James Harden is the overall scoring leader who's getting a lot of publicity, but strictly in league play, he's a close second to...Justin Dentmon. UW's senior guard is one of the pleasant surprises for a team that is surprisingly tied for the league lead halfway through the conference season.
At 16-5 (and 7-2 in the Pac-10), UW is ranked in both polls for the first time in two years. The Huskies lead the conference in scoring, rebounding and rebounding margin, and have the league's top individual window cleaner in Jon Brockman. But if Washington is going to make noise in March, it's their trilogy of guards who will make it for them.
Dentmon, freshman stud Isaiah Thomas (third in conference scoring) and Venoy Overton provide the kind of solid guard play that's thought to be a key to March Madness success. In UW's recent win over UCLA, the guards showed the range of their abilities, for better or worse. They looked sloppy and outclassed by Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday as the Bruins jumped out to a 9-1 lead. Then they completely turned it around on the offensive and defensive ends as UW came back and then pulled away in the second half.
Because the Huskies guards can be erratic, they look like a team that could either flame out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament or make a run. ESPN's Bracketology expert has UW tabbed as a rising #6 seed against a Utah State team that's more experienced in March than you think. Brockman's leadership and inside play will be vital if UW's guards go off the rails. Rebounding margin also tends to be a good predictor of March success, so Washington will have to keep banging the boards to stay successful.
Regardless of what happens, the fact we're talking about UW as the conference leader and a tourney lock shows how far they've come. The Huskies were picked to finish fifth in the Pac-10, but their inside-outside combo has been better than advertised. Plus they've been making their free throws much more than last year, when they were the worst in the nation in that category. This is an exciting team that's fun to watch and easy to root for -- in Seattle of all places. The rest of the country shouldn't sleep on UW, even if they haven't heard of the guy who's leading the Pac-10 in scoring.
Showing posts with label college basketball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college basketball. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
A New Year and a New Result
Could it be that Seattle actually has a winning team to cheer for? Perhaps, after the Huskies routed Wazzu 68-48 in Pullman Saturday night in the Pac-10 opener for both schools. UW is now 10-3, although this is the team's best win of the season.
The numbers don't lie: Washington shot 48 percent from the field, while holding WSU to 41 percent. They outrebounded the Cougars 36-20 and even did something they hardly ever do: they made their free throws. They did it without a big game from Jon Brockman, while freshman Isaiah Thomas handled himself well, with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Granted, this isn't the same WSU club of the last few years, but the Cougars still have some pieces left over from their previous NCAA Tournament runs. And breaking a 7-game series losing streak to your rival on the road is nothing to sneeze at.
UW has played better since a close loss to Florida (which followed a blowout to Kansas) and the Huskies might just be what we thought they were: a potential 20-win, NCAA-caliber basketball team. After the city's horrendous sports year in '08, at least one Seattle team is creating sports hope in '09.
Monday, November 3, 2008
A Winning UW Team?!
We know the Sonics are gone and the Seahawks and Huskies are awful. What we could find out, however, is that a UW team might be good this season. The Huskies basketball team has some arrows in its quiver and should finish in the top half of the Pac-10.
UW looks to rebound from last year's losing record because head coach Lorenzo Romar is much better than football coach Ty Willingham in one key area: recruiting. As Stanklin recently noted, Lute Olson's retirement allowed UW to persuade Abdul Gaddy to stay home. That's luck more than anything else. But Romar has convinced more local talent to come to UW than his predecessors. And he's done it at a place that's historically a football school.
New to the team this year is Isaiah Thomas (not the suicide-attempting one, although the younger version got his name because his dad lost a bet during 1989 NBA Finals between the Pistons and Lakers). The 5'8" Tacoma product is a guard in the Nate Robinson mold: he averaged 31 points his junior year, before spending two years at a prep school in Connecticut. He's ranked as the #23 shooting guard by Scout.com, although he'll probably play the point at UW. Either way, he should be able to contribute immediately.
The big gun returning is All-America candidate Jon Brockman. The senior from Snohomish averaged nearly 18 points and 12 rebounds last year and, as they say, leaves it all on the floor. And according to his bio, Jay Bilas considers him the best rebounder in the nation. That should count for something, no?
Junior guard Quincy Pondexter should also be a solid contributor, as he moves back into the starting lineup after coming off the bench most of last year. He is the last vestige of UW's version of a Fab Five recruiting class. Led by Seattle product Spencer Hawes, that group was expected to anchor the team for years. But Hawes inadvisedly jumped to the NBA after one year (he would be a junior this year if he'd stayed), and others transferred, but that's hardly Romar's fault. Such is life in college basketball these days.
The Huskies have reached unprecedented heights under Romar. They were a #1 seed in the '05 NCAA Tournament, and that was the first of two straight trips to the Sweet 16. Those squads were led by Nate Robinson and then Brandon Roy, two Seattle studs who chose to stay home. Romar could easily have jumped to a higher-profile program after that, but the UW alum also chose to stay home. If Hawes had wisely chosen to hone his game here rather than languish on the end of the Sacramento Kings' bench, we might be talking about a top-15 team.
As it is, the Huskies are being picked to finish fifth in the Pac-10, but that was before Olson bolted from Arizona. UW has gotten some Top-25 votes, and they could make some hay in conference. UCLA is still stout, even after losing Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, and Arizona State and USC are also expected to be strong. But Washington State should be down after losing most of last year's starting lineup and there's flux elswhere: four Pac-10 schools have new coaches.
UW's out-of-conference schedule ranges from brutal (Kansas) to cupcake-esque (Portland and Portland State, Cleveland State and Lehigh among others). But it definitely tends more toward more tomato cans than bullies.
Continuity at the coaching position and solid recruiting give UW basketball fans hope for the future. But the present doesn't look so bad either. 20 wins and a run at an NCAA berth are realistic goals for this year's team. And at least we know this basketball team isn't leaving town.
UW looks to rebound from last year's losing record because head coach Lorenzo Romar is much better than football coach Ty Willingham in one key area: recruiting. As Stanklin recently noted, Lute Olson's retirement allowed UW to persuade Abdul Gaddy to stay home. That's luck more than anything else. But Romar has convinced more local talent to come to UW than his predecessors. And he's done it at a place that's historically a football school.
New to the team this year is Isaiah Thomas (not the suicide-attempting one, although the younger version got his name because his dad lost a bet during 1989 NBA Finals between the Pistons and Lakers). The 5'8" Tacoma product is a guard in the Nate Robinson mold: he averaged 31 points his junior year, before spending two years at a prep school in Connecticut. He's ranked as the #23 shooting guard by Scout.com, although he'll probably play the point at UW. Either way, he should be able to contribute immediately.
The big gun returning is All-America candidate Jon Brockman. The senior from Snohomish averaged nearly 18 points and 12 rebounds last year and, as they say, leaves it all on the floor. And according to his bio, Jay Bilas considers him the best rebounder in the nation. That should count for something, no?
Junior guard Quincy Pondexter should also be a solid contributor, as he moves back into the starting lineup after coming off the bench most of last year. He is the last vestige of UW's version of a Fab Five recruiting class. Led by Seattle product Spencer Hawes, that group was expected to anchor the team for years. But Hawes inadvisedly jumped to the NBA after one year (he would be a junior this year if he'd stayed), and others transferred, but that's hardly Romar's fault. Such is life in college basketball these days.
The Huskies have reached unprecedented heights under Romar. They were a #1 seed in the '05 NCAA Tournament, and that was the first of two straight trips to the Sweet 16. Those squads were led by Nate Robinson and then Brandon Roy, two Seattle studs who chose to stay home. Romar could easily have jumped to a higher-profile program after that, but the UW alum also chose to stay home. If Hawes had wisely chosen to hone his game here rather than languish on the end of the Sacramento Kings' bench, we might be talking about a top-15 team.
As it is, the Huskies are being picked to finish fifth in the Pac-10, but that was before Olson bolted from Arizona. UW has gotten some Top-25 votes, and they could make some hay in conference. UCLA is still stout, even after losing Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, and Arizona State and USC are also expected to be strong. But Washington State should be down after losing most of last year's starting lineup and there's flux elswhere: four Pac-10 schools have new coaches.
UW's out-of-conference schedule ranges from brutal (Kansas) to cupcake-esque (Portland and Portland State, Cleveland State and Lehigh among others). But it definitely tends more toward more tomato cans than bullies.
Continuity at the coaching position and solid recruiting give UW basketball fans hope for the future. But the present doesn't look so bad either. 20 wins and a run at an NCAA berth are realistic goals for this year's team. And at least we know this basketball team isn't leaving town.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Easy Come, Easy Go
Lute Olsen’s retirement has resulted in a boon for UW basketball, as Abdul Gaddy (Bellarmine Prep, Tacoma), the number 2 rated point guard in the nation according to Scout.com, withdrew his commitment to Arizona and announced that he will sign a letter of intent to play for the Huskies.
Sound good? It gets better -- Gaddy will be 17 when he enrolls. Some quick math tells us that he’ll have to spend at least two years at UW before considering pro ball due to the NBA's asinine age limit. [SGB readers are reminded of this old chestnut: "Old enough to fight for your country, old enough to make a crapload of duckets playing pro ball]. I suppose there's a chance he could go all Josh “I have a butler and a free house” Childress on us, but we won't worry about that now.
Some highlights (cruelly, put together by some site called GoAZCats.com):
Finally, while we're tangentially on the subject of Lute Olson, I feel compelled to impart this nifty anecdote from the March 2006 issue of Wine Spectator:
“[My wife and I] went to Joseph Phelps after we made the Final Four in 1988, which was the first time any Arizona team had ever been rated No. 1. The fellow who met us was a U-of-A grad, and a big fan. He looked at my Final Four watch and said, "Would you consider trading it for a case of '84 Insignia?" I had about a dozen of those watches in the drawer at home, so I agreed. He sent us a case of '84 Insignia, signed by the winemaker. My wife and I went out of town the weekend the wine came. We arrived home Sunday night, and as we were walking by the trashcan on the way into the house, we saw bottle after bottle of Insignia. One of our sons had had a party at the house. And they could have been drinking Boone's Farm, for all it mattered to them. Easy come, easy go.”
Um, I woulda whupped that kid’s ass. Just saying.
Sound good? It gets better -- Gaddy will be 17 when he enrolls. Some quick math tells us that he’ll have to spend at least two years at UW before considering pro ball due to the NBA's asinine age limit. [SGB readers are reminded of this old chestnut: "Old enough to fight for your country, old enough to make a crapload of duckets playing pro ball]. I suppose there's a chance he could go all Josh “I have a butler and a free house” Childress on us, but we won't worry about that now.
Some highlights (cruelly, put together by some site called GoAZCats.com):
Finally, while we're tangentially on the subject of Lute Olson, I feel compelled to impart this nifty anecdote from the March 2006 issue of Wine Spectator:
“[My wife and I] went to Joseph Phelps after we made the Final Four in 1988, which was the first time any Arizona team had ever been rated No. 1. The fellow who met us was a U-of-A grad, and a big fan. He looked at my Final Four watch and said, "Would you consider trading it for a case of '84 Insignia?" I had about a dozen of those watches in the drawer at home, so I agreed. He sent us a case of '84 Insignia, signed by the winemaker. My wife and I went out of town the weekend the wine came. We arrived home Sunday night, and as we were walking by the trashcan on the way into the house, we saw bottle after bottle of Insignia. One of our sons had had a party at the house. And they could have been drinking Boone's Farm, for all it mattered to them. Easy come, easy go.”
Um, I woulda whupped that kid’s ass. Just saying.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Looking ahead
Is there anywhere else to look? In the past year, some asshair filched the Sonics, the Mariners ended their season one turd away from a turdathon, the Huskies are threatening to go 0-12, and the Seahawks are playing as if they're jealous of Miami's 2007 record. I’m choking on SGB’s self-loathing, and so I find myself looking forward to something… anything.
Would I find it in Pullman, of all places?
Um, no... I wouldn’t. But what the hell else can I write about?
You may remember last year, when the Cougs rode the talented Kyle Weaver (now a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder -- et tu, Kyle?) to 26 wins. Their season ended in the Sweet 16 to eventual runner-up UNC. Weaver, Derrick Low and Robbie "2.5 personal fouls per game" Cowgill all graduated, leaving the Cougs in a rebuilding year. Next year, they will dress 10 freshman.
So what’s there to look forward to? A 229 pound unpolished block machine that goes by the name of DeAngelo Casto, that's what.
Casto, a Spokane native, briefly flirted with UW before signing with Wazzou. The 6’8 power forward plays an angry brand of basketball. He ushered Ferris High through back-to-back undefeated seasons, leaving the team with a 58 game winning streak and two consecutive 4A championships. In the 4A tournament, he averaged 19.7 points and he broke a record by tallying 25 blocks in four games (including eight in the championship game). He single-handedly doused the storied Spokane barn fire of 2005, helped an average of 3.2 old ladies cross the street over his freshman and sophomore seasons and convinced Senator Cantwell to vote against the bailout bill, calling the bill a "band-aid." Said Casto, "H.R. 1424 is no panacea, and our government has approved it in a dispiritingly desultory manner." He also can eat 29 eggs in one sitting. [Ed. Note: We're fairly certain none of this is true. Except for the egg bit.]
Bring on college basketball season. Or more to the point, bring on the end of the Seahawks' season.
Would I find it in Pullman, of all places?
Um, no... I wouldn’t. But what the hell else can I write about?
You may remember last year, when the Cougs rode the talented Kyle Weaver (now a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder -- et tu, Kyle?) to 26 wins. Their season ended in the Sweet 16 to eventual runner-up UNC. Weaver, Derrick Low and Robbie "2.5 personal fouls per game" Cowgill all graduated, leaving the Cougs in a rebuilding year. Next year, they will dress 10 freshman.
So what’s there to look forward to? A 229 pound unpolished block machine that goes by the name of DeAngelo Casto, that's what.
Casto, a Spokane native, briefly flirted with UW before signing with Wazzou. The 6’8 power forward plays an angry brand of basketball. He ushered Ferris High through back-to-back undefeated seasons, leaving the team with a 58 game winning streak and two consecutive 4A championships. In the 4A tournament, he averaged 19.7 points and he broke a record by tallying 25 blocks in four games (including eight in the championship game). He single-handedly doused the storied Spokane barn fire of 2005, helped an average of 3.2 old ladies cross the street over his freshman and sophomore seasons and convinced Senator Cantwell to vote against the bailout bill, calling the bill a "band-aid." Said Casto, "H.R. 1424 is no panacea, and our government has approved it in a dispiritingly desultory manner." He also can eat 29 eggs in one sitting. [Ed. Note: We're fairly certain none of this is true. Except for the egg bit.]
Bring on college basketball season. Or more to the point, bring on the end of the Seahawks' season.
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