November 2009

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Husky Hoops Week in Review

November 22, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | No comments

Oliver then and now copyIt wouldn’t have been possible for the excitement of this week to match that of last week, when the Huskies played three games in three nights to start their season.

This week, though, had its share of fun too, and most importantly left the Huskies still unbeaten:

Yo Adrian, how rocky did you leave things at UW!?: The Huskies defeated San Jose State, 80-70, in a mostly uninspired effort on Friday night. Quincy Pondexter, though, played like a man on fire, and let us all in on some of the dirty laundry left over from when Spartan guard Adrian Oliver transferred away from UW.

Jinx whut?: Isaiah Thomas made the cover of Sports Illustrated. There were six regional covers, and I.T. and the Dawgs were the only west coast team represented, and the cover distributed (as far as I can tell) throughout all of the Pac-10 areas.

A great pleasure this week was buying my copy from a newsstand at Oakland airport, and thinking about all of the Cal fans who must be tickled to walk in and buy their issue of SI with Isaiah’s mug on the cover. Buy an 11″ x 14″ print of the cover here.

The underappreciated superstar: We did this piece about how Isaiah Thomas looks like a better ballplayer this season, despite having such a strong freshman campaign last year. Percy Allen also pointed to this marked improvement and wrote this piece for the Times.

Big Josh signs and T.J. waiting: Josh Smith signed his letter of intent to play ball at UCLA on Tuesday, after announcing his decision last week. Here’s our post, which many readers disagreed with, listing three good things about not getting Josh. And, just as news of one recruiting drama was being put to bed, Terrence Jones decided to wait until the spring period to sign, likely meaning many more months of speculating about where he’ll end up.

Pac-10 floundering: No school in the conference has played more than four games, and only four teams remain unbeaten. Without a quality win yet, and several very bad losses (cue up the Sacramento State fight song!), the Pac-10 is looking more and more to be fulfilling the “down year” label it received from mcuh of the national media.

Thanks for coming!

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Quincy Unplugged: Talks Bad Blood with Oliver

November 21, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 1 comment

Quincy madIt was apparent last night that Quincy Pondexter was a man possessed during the Huskies’ 80-70 win over San Jose State.

It was more than Quincy’s 30 point, 15 rebound performance — it just looked like Pondexter was playing with a real chip on his shoulder. What was unclear until after the game was exactly why.

He spoke candidly during the post-game press conference about his feelings toward San Jose State guard Adrian Oliver, a UW transfer, and about his entire freshman class (Pondexter, Oliver, Phil Nelson, and Spencer Hawes), all of whom have left UW, except for Quincy, of course.

(on whether he spoke to Adrian much during the game): “I didn’t talk to him nearly as much as I talked to Phil. Adrian, he got what he wanted. He got a school where he could score as many points as he wants. But, I’d rather be here where I’m at. We’re winning games. He had 32. I got the win. I’m happy.”

(on whether Pondexter and Oliver left things on good terms): “I can answer that now. No. We didn’t leave things on good terms when he left. It just happened, y’know?”

(on whether he was disappointed that Adrian left): “I was disappointed the whole class left, starting from Spencer (Hawes). I thought if Spencer came back, and our team was back again together, working hard, a full summer, and knowing what the college game was like, I think we would’ve been fine. We won 19 games that year, us only being 18-year-old kids.”

“We could have done so much more that year. We were a game or two away from winning 20 games and going to the tournament, I believe, that year. It was a heartbreaking year for me to see everyone go. And, y’know, everyone’s in their different situation now — the situation that they picked, and the situation that they wanted to be, so I can’t complain.”

(on how recently he had spoken to Oliver): “I hadn’t talked to Adrian from when he left that December — he left our apartment — I didn’t talk to him a few weeks when he was staying there, and I didn’t talk to him until two months ago. So, it happened. He’s in a situation. I’m in my situation.”

(on whether Oliver’s leaving was the reason for the bad feelings): “Yeah, I think, I felt stranded, y’know. He left me as a teammate. He left me as a friend. He left me with the rent. . . (laughter). . . That was the last person I was close to, so it was really tough my sophomore year, because people bond to people that are in their recruiting class. You come in together. You’re friends. That’s how it was. And, our team wasn’t as close, and I was kind of alone a lot of times. And, that next year, I bonded with Jon (Brockman) more. And, got the whole team together more, and it really helped us.”

(on why Pondexter and Oliver spoke two months ago): “He called me. It’s a funny story. There was a rumor going around that I got married. He called, and I was in my car driving. And, I thought I saw a 206 area-code number, but I didn’t have his number, and I had just gotten a new phone.

So, I answered it, and he’s like ‘please don’t say you got married.’ And I was like, ‘first of all who is this? I don’t know.’ And I looked at the phone again and saw it was a 209 area code where he’s from, and he’s like, ‘it’s A.O.’

I was like, ‘man, if I’d have known it was you, I wouldn’t have answered probably.’ We talked. We just said, ‘man, whatever happened in the past is in the past.’ He’s in a situation. I’m in my situation. We caught up, and we’re good, so, I’m proud of him. He did a terrific job tonight.”

Thanks for coming!

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Huskies Defeat San Jose State, 80-70

November 21, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 2 comments

Joe Nicholson / AP

Joe Nicholson / AP

The Washington Huskies defeated the San Jose State Spartans 80-70 Friday night at Hec Edmundson Pavilion to raise their record to 4-0.

The Least You Should Know:

This was a business-like win for the Dawgs, who were not nearly as dynamic or energetic as they were in any of last weekend’s games.

Quincy Pondexter continued to put together the beginnings of a monster season, reaching career-highs in points (30) and rebounds (15) again.

To read the rest of the game post (for free, of course), please click here to go over to UDubSports.com.

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Game Preview: UW vs. San Jose State (Game #4)

November 19, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 10 comments

UW San Jose St preview copyThe Huskies will play the San Jose State Spartans on Friday night at Bank of America Arena at 8:00 PM.

The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Northwest and KJR-950 in Seattle, or your local Husky radio affiliate elsewhere (click here to find yours). Tickets are still available through GoHuskies.com and start at $20 each.

What you need to know about the Huskies:

The Huskies come into the game at 3-0, having won all three of their games during the Athletes in Action Classic last weekend.

Quincy Pondexter was named Pac-10 player of the week for his performance last weekend, when he averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas was a monster during the Huskies opening games as well. Read our take on the “new and improved” Thomas here.

Of course it’s coincidence, but what better way to punish kids who transfer than by scheduling games against their schools and pounding them, like we did on Sunday to Phil Nelson and Portland State?

We’ve played San Jose State once before, defeating them 88-69 in 1976.

Projected lineup: G – Venoy Overton, G – Isaiah Thomas, F – Quincy Pondexter, F – Darnell Gant, F – Matthew Bryan-Amaning

Husky to watch:

Scott Suggs, Sophomore Guard: Suggs has been all the rage this week, starring in feature stories for The News Tribune and The Seattle Times, after averaging six points in the Huskies’ first three games and earning a call from the bench very early in the games on Saturday and Sunday. Suggs will need to show that he’s ready to be assertive on a consistent basis to ensure he keeps his spot in the rotation once Elston Turner gets his early season shooting slump straightened out.

What you need to know about San Jose State:

San Jose State comes into the game at 1-0 after defeating William Jessup, 89-63, on Monday night.

San Jose State went 13-17 last season overall, and 6-10 in conference play, finishing in a sixth-place tie in the Western Athletic Conference. San Jose State was picked in both the WAC coaches’ poll, and WAC media poll to finish eighth in the conference.

Head coach George Nessman enters his fifth season at San Jose State with four of his five starters from last season. His biggest loss is forward Tim Pierce who averaged 11.6 ppg and 5.4 rebounds.

Key returnees this season are guard Justin Graham (8.3 ppg, 4.7 apg, 1.7 spg), forward C.J. Webster and center Chris Oakes (Webster and Oakes: combined 20 ppg, 14 rpg), and former Husky guard Adrian Oliver (17.1 ppg in 18 games last season). Oliver notched the first double-double of his career Monday with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Spartans have a talented group of forwards and may not make things easy for the Huskies on the inside.

Projected lineup: G – Justin Graham, G – Adrian Oliver, F – C.J. Websiter, F – Chris Jones, C – Chris Oakes

Spartan to watch:

Senior Center, Chris Oakes: The 6’10″, 235 lb., Oakes will be a presence to contend with in the middle for the Huskies. Oakes averaged 8.2 points and 7.6 rebounds last season. This year, the Pepperdine transfer will be relied upon even more heavily. Oakes should test the Husky forwards.

The path to victory:

No letdown: It’s a good thing the team has had a week to listen to Coach Lorenzo Romar tell them that they’re not nearly as good as they may have looked in Sunday night’s 56-point win. Hopefully, the team resists the urge to wear their cool jackets out on Friday night against a team they should have no problem defeating handily.

Outside shooting: Having to rely on Justin Holiday one night, and Scott Suggs the next, for outside shooting is not a recipe for success. Coach Romar will need to know who he can rely upon to shoot the three and hit it by midseason. If it’s not Elston Turner, the Huskies can survive. But, it needs to be someone, and on a consistent basis.

A quick word from the opposition:

Had a chance to briefly catch up with former Husky guard Adrian Oliver, who’s currently starting for the Spartans and is expected to be their main scoring threat:

Montlake Madness: Describe the significance of coming back to play at UW after starting your college career here.

Adrian Oliver: It’s exciting. I still have relationships with players on the team. My roommate (when I was at UW) was Quincy (Pondexter). We came in together in the same class.

MM: Please give me the scouting report on the Spartans. Where are you right now as a team?

AO: This (game) is going to be a good test for us early on. Our team has something to prove.

MM: What will you need to do to beat UW?

AO: As a team, we have to play hard, not be afraid, not let the crowd get into the game. We’ve got to be tough. . . They have one of the best student sections in the nation. The Huskies feed off of their energy. It’s a great college basketball atmosphere.

MM: Anything else you want to share with the UW fans?

AO: Lorenzo Romar is a great man. He caught my attention out of high school. He is a great coach and a great teacher. He turned me into the man I am today. When I was at Washington, I turned to him as a father figure.

What I expect:

I expect Quincy Pondexter to continue to generally excel, but to come back down to earth a little bit, since he’ll have more trouble dominating near the rim simply by outhustling and outmuscling during this matchup.

I expect Justin Holiday to keep being aggressive on offense. Every other piece of his game is terrific. Until he proves otherwise, who am I to doubt that he can become a viable option shooting the ball?

I expect the Huskies will have to settle for a margin of victory less than 56 points, but I do believe that they’ll prevail easily. I’m picking the Huskies by 26, 92-66.

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Pac-10 Roundup: Season Openers

November 19, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 2 comments

Howland Robert Gauthier LA Times

Can I get one guy who doesn't suck? Photo: Robert Gauthier/LA Times

This evening: a preview of UW’s game tomorrow night against San Jose State.

This morning: a brief capsule review of how the rest of the Pac-10 fared in their games to start the season. It’s early, but maybe not too early to feel awesome about my assessment that Oregon State is vastly overrated at this point. . . or to feel really iffy about picking UCLA to finish third in the conference.

Arizona: Defeated Northern Arizona in their opener behind 17 points from freshman Solomon Hill. Nic Wise had 15 for the Wildcats in Coach Sean Miller’s debut. Next, they play Rice at home on Thursday night. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

Arizona State: Crushed Western Illinois in their opener last week, defeated Texas State 84-62 Monday night in the first round of the preseason NIT, and defeated TCU 52-49 in the second round. Next up, San Francisco at home on Friday night. Then, a real test against Duke on Wednesday, November 25th, in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

Cal: Just got by Murray State in their opener last week, winning 75-70. In their second game, they blew out Detroit, 95-61. No surprise that Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson were the top scorers in each of the games. Next, they’ll play Syracuse in New York City on Thursday night (on ESPN2) in a matchup of Top 25 teams. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

Oregon: Handily defeated Winston-Salem State, UC Davis and Colorado State in the BTI Tip-Off Tournment. Guard Teondre Williams was impressive, averaging nearly 14 points per game for the Ducks. Next up, they’ll travel to play Portland on Friday night. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

Oregon State: Lost two of their three games in the Duel in the Desert, getting blown out in their opener by Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (63-47), then handily beating South Dakota, before losing a squeaker to Texas Tech. No one player averaged more than 12 points on a weekend that’s got to be a huge blow to a team with tournament dreams. Next game: at home vs. Sacramento State on Saturday. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

Stanford: Landry Fields averaged 23.5 points per game as Stanford split its first two contests. After losing to San Diego, 77-64, in their opener, the Cardinal came back to defeat Cal Poly, 70-53, on Sunday. Then last night, the Cardinal lost a squeaker to Oral Roberts, 83-81, becoming the second Pac-10 team to pick up their second loss in non-conference play. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

USC: Despite opening the season with only six healthy scholarship players, USC defeated UC Riverside, 77-67, on Tuesday night. Dwight Lewis scored 22, and USC only played seven different players. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

UCLA: After a close shave in their first exhibtition game, UCLA lost its opener to Cal State Fullerton Monday night in double overtime, 68-65. I caught a little bit of this game, and this is as unathletic a Bruin team as I’ve seen. I am absolutely regretting picking them, and not Oregon, as my third place finisher in the Pac-10. Next is Cal State Bakersfield at Pauley on Friday night. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

WSU: Crushed Mississippi Valley State in their opener, 94-66, then beat Eastern Washington, 67-61, on Monday night. Also caught some of the game against Eastern and wonder if Ken Bone has the horses to run a faster pace at Wazzu this season. If DeAngelo Casto ever learns to play with a chip on his shoulder, watch out. Next up, IPFW at home on Thursday night. Here’s a link to their official site for game stories and box scores.

Here’s a link to the conference standings so far.

Thanks for coming!

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Terrence Jones Update: Likely To Sign in Spring

November 18, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 4 comments

terrence jones on court copyZagsblog is reporting that Terrence Jones is likely to wait until the spring to sign his letter of intent.

The early signing period ends tomorrow, and Jones’ mom told Zagsblog that unless he has a breakthrough, he’ll wait until spring.

This doesn’t mean he won’t announce a decision at some point between now and the spring signing period (which begins April 14, 2010, and continues through May 19), but he’ll have to wait until spring to sign his letter of intent.

I get more emails and comments asking my thoughts on Jones than any other topic (except maybe Scott Suggs, this week!). If I had to guess how this will shake out, I think it’s going to be Oregon. Two reasons:

1. The Ducks are probably going to be good: Not Pac-10 championship good, but good enough to prove that the program is on the upswing. With a bunch of talented young players, Jones might see a chance to bring Oregon to the Final Four.

2. Jones strikes me as the type of kid who might want to be near home: I just get a feeling. He seems really close with his mom (she generally speaks to the media on his behalf). There’s something about the process that’s made me think he’s leaning toward staying close. If this is the case, it puts UW in the second-best position. If Oregon, for some reason, isn’t good, or Ernie Kent gets fired, maybe UW is the compromise where Terrence goes to a program in good shape, while still staying close.

That’s the latest. More as I hear it.

Thanks for coming!

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BOOM!

November 17, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 3 comments

unknown

This is awesome, particularly since we played like a top 10 team this weekend.

The New and Improved Isaiah Thomas

November 17, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 7 comments

Ryan Petitt / UDubSports.com

Ryan Petitt / UDubSports.com

During the post-game interview session on Sunday evening, I got an answer from Quincy Pondexter to a question I’d asked that sounded like the obvious, easy answer — the non-controversial language of a team leader.

My question: “Which of your teammates has played so well so far that you’ve taken notice of it?”

Quincy’s answer: “Isaiah Thomas. You see what he’s done? He’s shot the ball extremely well so far. And, he’s making the game easy. He’s rebounding well. . . He’s a terrific scorer and he’s doing a lot of little things to help this team win.”

At first, my thought was: duh! But when I thought about it more, Quincy wasn’t giving me the obvious answer. Quite the opposite, actually. It’s hard to imagine how Isaiah Thomas could raise eyebrows with his play again this year after such a terrific freshman season, but that’s exactly what he’s doing.

I see four major improvements in Thomas’s game after the opening weekend of the season, and all of them could go a long way toward the Huskies’ success this year:

Three-point shooting: After shooting only 29% on three-pointers last year, Isaiah has started the year 10-19 from deep. If you’re concerned that there’s not enough evidence yet to know this shooting streak will continue, let me point out that Isaiah doesn’t mess with his scoring. He checked back into the game on Sunday with UW up about 50 points to ensure he put up 20 for the evening. He promptly nailed a shot, and went back to the bench, a minute after checking in.

If Isaiah wasn’t confident that he could get his points by shooting the three, he’d shoot it less. Last season, less than a third of Thomas’s shots were from beyond the arc. This year? 19 of his 37 attempts have been from deep.

Defense: This is the hardest improvement to quantify at this point. Sure, I.T. has three steals so far, but that only leaves him fourth on his own team. It’s more the effort and focus on the defensive end of the court that I’m seeing. And, he’s doing it without fouling (one per game to start the season). Thomas isn’t a lockdown defender at all at this point, and he may always struggle against larger players, but the tools are there for him to be much-improved. We saw hints of it this weekend.

Passing: Maybe it’s from playing day-in and day-out with Abdul Gaddy, but Isaiah all of a sudden has added a thread-the-needle touch pass to his arsenal that has come in handy so far for the Huskies. The assist numbers aren’t there yet (1.7 per game compared to last year’s 2.6). But, since Thomas can draw defenders on his way to the rim so well, it’s going to be fun watching him able to make more of these dazzling dishes to his teammates as the season continues.

Rebounding: Thomas averaged three rebounds per game last year, which he’s raised to five per game this year. There were a couple of instances this weekend when Thomas got wrapped up with taller teammates, like Quincy Pondexter or Matthew Bryan-Amaning, both players coming down holding the ball. Thomas isn’t quite a triple-double threat, but since this team needs an all-hands effort on the boards, every improvement will help.

Left out of the above are his improved free-throw shooting so far (22-27 from the line) and the fact the muscle Isaiah put on this summers means he can somehow absorb even more contact on his way to the rim this season and still finish baskets.

All of this, and it still took an ah-ha moment from Pondexter to consider that Isaiah was indeed the most improved Husky after the season’s first weekend. It’s true that it’s easy to take your best players for granted. Thanks, Quincy, for the wake-up call.

Weekend in Review: 10 Thoughts After a Full Slate of Husky Hoops

November 16, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 11 comments

Ryan Petitt / UDubSports.com

Ryan Petitt / UDubSports.com

The Huskies had a very good weekend, starting 3-0, and playing better each night. We’ve been discussing the team here at Montlake Madness for such a long time without any actual basketball happening. Finally, some games to discuss.

Now that we’ve actually gotten to see this year’s team play a few times, here are 10 thoughts and observations about the Dawgs so far:

1. Timing is everything: If the Huskies had played these three games in the opposite order, starting with the huge blowout and finishing with the five-point victory, the entire weekend would feel different. But, it was clear that the team grew from Friday to Sunday, shaking off some jitters, and maybe discovering for themselves just how good they can be.

2. The new and improved Isaiah Thomas: Even last season, it was almost a given that Isaiah was going to get his points, even on nights when he didn’t necessarily have his best stuff. He was so good as a freshman that I never could’ve imagined saying that, at least on first glance, Isaiah looks like a much better player this season. More on this in a full post very soon.

3. Free Throws: The Dawgs shot 79.3% from the line over these three games. Sure, it’ll be different when games are closer, and the free throw matter more, but I saw plenty of evidence this weekend that the Huskies are quite capable of beating last year’s 70% mark as a team.

4. Manic substitution pattern: Coach has a very nice problem to contend with in trying to whittle down a rotation of 11 players all of whom deserve to see significant minutes. There’s no way for me to figure out exactly how many rotations Coach LoRo used this weekend, but it felt like every imaginable combination was put on the court together. The only combo I can think of that wasn’t explored was putting three of the Huskies’ four “bigs” (MBA, Gant, Trent, and Breshers) on the court at once.

5. Speaking of the oft-overlooked Darnell Gant: It’s so easy to overlook Gant until you watch him play that stifling post defense, or come out on a half-court trap, and realize that he’s just one of those guys who plays best away from the ball. Consider that, while Gant only totaled seven rebounds over the three games, five were on the offensive side. Gant is busy on defense using his spaghetti arms to front his mand and deny passes into the post. Unfortunately, he has trouble, once the shot goes up, getting into good position to rebound.

6. Venoy Overton and Abdul Gaddy: Overton was the better player this weekend. Not perfect, but more good things seemed to happen when Venoy was on the floor than when he wasn’t. For now, we’ve got two point guards who make different kinds of mistakes.

Abdul Gaddy looks like a freshman. A good freshman, but one still learning to play real defense and be an assertive floor leader at this level. Overton doesn’t seem like he’s ever going to be a typical, floor-general point guard, but at least his mistakes tend to happen when he’s trying to force something good to happen. Sure, he requires some patience to watch, but at least he’s thinking big.

7. More on Gaddy: Abdul will look better and better not only as he gains experience, but as his teammates learn to expect what he’s got coming for them. There were several look-what-I-found moments when Husky players found themselves on the receiving end of dazzling passes from Gaddy they just weren’t ready for.

8. Defensive vulnerabilities: Anyone scouting the Huskies’ first three games will advise their players to try to beat the Huskies to the rim on backdoor cuts, because they worked against the Dawgs all weekend. While the Huskies played good defense for the most part, they could stand to improve on their defensive rotations, and also showed a vulnerability to the back-cutting typical of teams like Oregon State.

9. Tyreese Breshers: Breshers missed the Portland State game after jamming his finger in first half against Belmont. It’s not expected to keep him out of any more action, but he’s the guy I least want to see missing any time as he tries to get back into game shape and become a major factor in the Huskies’ post game.

10. The Turner/Suggs/Holiday Quandary: Of all of his rotational quandaries, it looks to me like Coach is having the most trouble trying to figure out where and when to play his three reserve wing players. Each brings a unique skill set, but none has shown a complete enough game to push ahead of the other two. I’m certain that I don’t think all three should play together as they did for stretches this weekend. But, past that, I’m stumped.

Turner is, theoretically, our best shooter, but didn’t show it this weekend, going 2-9 from the field and 1-5 from deep. Holiday is a defensive specialist, but wants to assert himself more on offense, with mixed results so far: 2-11 shooting the first two games, but 4-7 with 10 points Sunday night. Suggs clearly won the weekend, playing good defense overall, hitting 3-6 on three-pointers, and averaging six points and three rebounds in about 17 minutes per game. But my eyes tell me that he’s the least ready for prime time of the three.

In case you missed our game-by-game analysis, check each of them out at UDubSports.com:

Wright State game analysis

Belmont game analysis

Portland State game analysis

Thanks for coming!

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Huskies Dominate Portland State, 111-55

November 16, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | No comments

Ryan Petitt / UDubSports.com

Ryan Petitt / UDubSports.com

The Huskies defeated the Portland State Vikings 111-55 Sunday Night at the Bank of America Arena in the final game of the Athletes in Action Classic to raise their record to 3-0.

The Least You Should Know:

The Dawgs were absolutely dominant tonight. The entire team played hard, and played well.

Quincy Pondexter had his best game statistically as a Husky, filling up the box score with 29 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists. Isaiah Thomas had 21 points and six boards.

To read the rest of the game post (for free, of course), please click here to go over to UDubSports.com.

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