March 2010

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Best-Case Scenario for Huskies in NCAA Tournament?

March 14, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 5 comments

FF logoWe’ll have lots of coverage over the next few days looking ahead to the Huskies’ first-round NCAA Tournament game against Marquette on Thursday in San Jose.

But for now, just a few thoughts:

The Huskies regular season didn’t earn them an easy game in the first round of the Tournament. But, we all knew that. Recognizing that as a given, though, #6 Marquette (11-7 Big East, 22-11 overall), with a potential second-round matchup against #3 New Mexico (14-2 Mountian West, 29-4 overall) is, in my humble opinion, a best-case scenario draw.

Of all four teams in the Huskies’ “pod,” the Dawgs will be traveling the shortest distance. Marquette will be traveling almost three times further from home. Fans of the Golden Eagles will need to get on a plane to see the game, while Husky fans can (and should) get in their cars on Wednesday morning and be in San Jose with plenty of time for the game to give the building a home-ish atmosphere.

The Huskies won’t experience a terrible individual matchup in the first two rounds. Marquette’s 6’6″ Lazar Hayward is a beast of a player, but neither Marquette or New Mexico has the one type of player the Huskies simply have no answer for: an atheltic, talented big man. Crazy as it may sound, the new and improved Matthew Bryan-Amaning may be the best big man in our “pod” in San Jose.

Huskies will need to find umbrellas, or else it’s gonna rain. Marquette was 24th in the entire country this year in made three-pointers with 262, hitting them at a 40.6% clip (sixth best in the nation). New Mexico hit even more (263), with a 37.5% success rate.

More later from one of our new staff writers.

Thanks for coming.

So You Think We Can Dance?

March 14, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 4 comments

Here’s a final look at yesterday’s amazing win against Cal by one of our new staff writers. Big night tonight. Where do the Dawgs wind up? Who will we play? Can’t wait.

by WhoLetTheDawgsOut – Staff Writer

UW has conjured its own modern routine for The Big Dance. It’s quick. It’s easy. And even you can do it. Follow my lead:

1. Double Arm Flex
2. Kiss the bicep
3. Scowl at your opponent
4. Salute the crowd

And evacuate the dance floor because the Dawgs are dancing!

The wait is finally over! Dawg Nation’s biggest question for the last month was emphatically answered yesterday. Final answer: We’re in. Now, not even our biggest critics, mainly Greg Anthony or Seth Davis, can dispute UW crashing the party. Following a nail-biter 79-75 victory over Cal to take home the Pac-10 Championship, UW clinched an automatic birth into the NCAA Tourney, leaving all of their doubters by the wayside.

Game Recap:

In case you missed it, the game was a shootout from start to finish. The opening possession resulted in a bizarre missed dunk by Jamal Boykin. The ball seemingly went down the cylinder and popped back out like there was a lid on the rim. Thank you Antoine Tyler, our real sixth man. Following that play, UW began the game with great energy. They maintained their aggressiveness and hunger on defense to help create opportunities in transition.

Romar tried to get Abdul Gaddy going early by trying to exploit his matchup against Jerome Randle. Gaddy flashed signs of potential as he scored four points in the first two minutes, but soon failed to convert on some easy opportunities. It didn’t take long for Venoy Overton to sub in and stabilize our lineup.

But, Theo Robertson and Jamal Boykin kept Cal nipping on our heels as they combined for a 9 for 15, 24 point first half. Boykin remained virtually unguardable throughout the entire game as he could not miss.

IT and Venoy, however, combined efforts kept and kept Player of the Year Jerome Randle out of rhythm, reminiscent of his performance in Seattle back in January. Randle finished with 12 points in only 31 minutes (four below his average), due to foul trouble.

Q-Pon and IT fueled the Dawgs offensively, pouring in over half of UW’s points in the first half. Quincy’s Dayquil must’ve kicked in at the right time as his moves in the lane kept Cal scratching their heads. Justin Holiday, normally known for his defensive prowess, played an integral role offensively. He converted on 4 of 6 shooting for 8 points, including a couple of big jump shots. UW went into the half with a four-point lead.

The Huskies extended their lead to seven early in the second half. As expected, though, Cal went on a run midway through the second half to take the lead on the wings of Boykin and Robertson.

Venoy was quick to respond with a huge three-pointer from the corner to pull us even again. Several lead changes ensued resulting in an Elston Turner drive to the hoop that pulled UW even again.

The turning point in the game came with about 3:25 left when Quincy assisted on an Elston Turner three-pointer to put the Huskies up 71-68.  UW would never surrender the lead again after that.

ET made a great play on Randle at the end to force him to the line instead of allowing him a three-point opportunity to tie. Venoy closed out the game with two clutch free throws and that was all she wrote.

The Good:

I.T. played stellar defense on Jerome Randle all day when Venoy was in foul trouble. Thomas is becoming a great under-the-radar defender — he doesn’t gamble on defense and forces his man to pass.

Quincy Pondexter returned to form in this game as he scored inside and out at will to lead the team with 18 points.

Breshers was a force on the defensive end with 4 blocks that prevented Cal from gaining momentum.

Free Throws: 17-18 for the day.

UW threw up a 2-3 zone defense for two defensive sets toward the end of the game to force two huge defensive stops.

Elston “Kyra Sedgwick” Turner made some huge clutch plays to close the game today. He has definitely gained favor over Scott Suggs as each game has become a must-win affair. (from Themod: Montlake Madness: Where references to “The Closer” happen.)

The Bad:

Foul Trouble: Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Tyreese Breshers both left the game midway through the second half with four fouls leaving Darnell Gant with a heavy burden on defense.

Forcing Abdul Gaddy to become a scorer garnered mixed results. Gaddy just seemed rattled today as he missed several easy layups.

Gaddy got called for yet another failed attempt to draw a charge. He and Breshers need a lesson on setting their feet without leaning back or bumping the player with their hip. And staying out of the area below the basket where drawing a charge is essentially impossible.

Although Venoy was clutch down the stretch, he was erratic with his drives to the hoop early on as he drove into double teams and threw up circus shots.

A great win today. And now it’s on to the NCAA Tournament. Where will the Dawgs end up? We’ll know by 4 PM.

Where do you think we’ll be seeded?

Thanks for coming!

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This Video Speaks the Truth

March 13, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 1 comment

They are indeed, Dancin’ Dawgs. This is the best night ever.

Pac-10 Tournament Champions!

March 13, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 3 comments

celebrating pac10 titleThe Huskies saved their best for last, defeating Cal, 79-75, in the Pac-10 Tournament final.

From a fan’s perspective, this was the most entertaining game of the entire season, with the lead changing over and over again, and both teams playing exceptionally well.

Elston Turner scored five straight points down the stretch, Quincy Pondexter finished with 18 points, and Isaiah Thomas had 16.

After so much doubt throughout most of this season, there’s no question now that the Huskies will play in the NCAA Tournament. The only question now is where they’ll play, and who they’ll be facing in the first round.

More coverage of this game and the exciting week to come later on.

Go Dawgs!

Thanks for coming!

Not So Fast, Re: Terrence Jones

March 13, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 2 comments

Terrence Jones told the Oregonian today that he has not made a decision yet about where he’ll go to school next year, refuting some recent reports that have him committing to Washington or Kentucky.

UCLA, Oregon and Oklahoma are apparently still in the mix, along with Washington and Kentucky.

We’ll keep covering this, of course, but I apologize if I was a little overzealous in sharing my opinion that it’s looking good for the Dawgs. I still think we have a good shot, but turns out that, according to Jones at least, the recent buzz has been baloney.

Thanks for coming!

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Thoughts and Observations on the Dawgs’ Semifinal Win Over Stanford

March 13, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 3 comments

Associated Press

Associated Press

Here’s another guest piece, taking another look at last night’s semifinal win against Stanford in the Pac-10 Tournament. Thanks, Alex!

by Alex Tuttle

After a lackluster start to Thursday’s game vs. the Beavers, it was reassuring to see the “good” Dawgs come out to play against the Cardinal and put this one out of reach early on.  That said, the Dawgs left a lot of points on the board by missing layups and other easy shots in the early going.  Making a few more of those would have buried the Cardinal for good much earlier.

Let’s just get right to it: Although Matthew Bryan-Amaning’s dunk over Andrew Zimmerman was rated the 5th “Top Play” on SportsCenter, I wonder if it wasn’t actually one of the more dominant dunks we’ve seen in all of college basketball this season.  MBA absolutely crotch-shotted him.

Peaking at the right time: For all the talk about what it would take to make the tournament, seemingly lost in the discussion is the fact that the Dawgs have been playing their best basketball of the season over the last month and a half.  In fact, UW has now won 11 of their last 13 games, dating back to the LA road trip.  And if they beat Cal, their record away from
home will even out to 7-7.  Crazy how things can change in such a short time.

Fun to be a “Bubble Team”?: I wonder if it isn’t more fun to be on the bubble (albeit more terrifying as well).  Would we care that Georgia Tech beat Maryland, or whether Georgetown could get past Marquette?  Put simply, life on the bubble can be exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.  I
wouldn’t want to be here every year, but it sure as hell beats what was happening on Montlake a decade ago. . .

You gotta believe we’re in: It’s hard to believe that with this win, the Dawgs haven’t clinched a spot in the Big Dance.  Forget what the media is saying about the Pac-10 being a one-bid conference. . . no team with eleven Pac-10 wins in the regular season has ever failed to get an at-large invitation to the Big Dance (since the tournament last expanded to 64 teams).  Arizona State, on the other hand, is probably not feeling quite as comfortable.

Nightmare draw: Does any 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th seeded-team in the NCAAs want to play these Huskies right now?  If this team gets lucky and gets placed in Spokane, they could be a dangerous Cinderella….

Big Shot Zeke: With all that said, things aren’t perfect.  For instance, how bad does this team need a consistent 3-point shooter?  Isaiah Thomas has become the team’s one big-balls outside shooter, always unafraid to take a
big shot.  But if he’s not on, the Dawgs’ postseason hopes could end at any time.

Streaky play: Also, this team still seems to struggle to put together forty complete minutes of basketball.  From this point on, the Dawgs will have to remain focused.  Sloppy turnovers and transition defense can be tolerated against Stanford, but not against the NCAA Tournament field.

Feels more like home?: Finally, the Dawgs seem to be more comfortable on a neutral court than on the road.  Maybe it’s the fact that the refs don’t call the game the same way they do on someone else’s home court, but it felt like the Huskies’ physicality tonight was more of an asset than it has been on the road this season.

Batten down the hatches: Saturday’s game against the Golden Bears is exactly the matchup we wanted, Dawg fans!  One final chance to land a knockout punch on the team that took our Pac-10 title.  Let’s hope the Dawgs come out swinging early and watch Selection Sunday from their recliners and not the edge of their seats. . .

Thanks for coming!

Thanks, Alex!

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Huskies Win! We’re In! (I Think)

March 13, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 1 comment

The Huskies defeated Stanford, 79-62, this evening in the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals.

Quincy Pondexter had 19 points, seven rebounds. Isaiah Thomas had 17.

I think tonight’s win will be enough to put the Huskies into the NCAA Tournament. Before the game tonight, we were included in the “Last Four In” on ESPN’s Bracketology.

But, really, let’s seal the deal tomorrow and beat Cal. That way, there’s no chance that UW is the team that everyone around the country feels got robbed. Because it happens to at least one team every year. Beat Cal, and we know for sure it won’t be us.

More analysis coming in the morning.

Thanks for coming!

Before Semi’s, One More Look at Huskies’ Quarterfinal Comeback

March 12, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 15 comments

 

Mark J. Terrill / AP

Mark J. Terrill / AP

Here’s some analysis on last night’s 59-52 win over Oregon State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament. Today, we hear from Anthony Cassino, who also writes for another great Huskies’ site: UW Dawg Pound.

by Anthony Cassino

We’ve all heard the cliché that this team’s offense is fueled by its defense, and last night the defense got an assist from an unlikely source: the rim. With Josh Tarver and Jared Cunningham on a two-on-none break, Tarver threw a dunk off the back of the iron, and almost as quickly as the ball shot out of the cylinder, the momentum of the game changed.

The Huskies came out with no energy, and played (in my estimation) their worst half of basketball this season to open the game. The shots weren’t falling, and when the Dawg defense was sound, Oregon State bailed themselves out by knocking down desperation three-pointers (the Beavers hit on their first six from deep).

Isaiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter combined for just six points in the first half on only one made shot. There were scoreless stretches for the Huskies of 7:01 and 4:11.

The second half didn’t look like it was starting any better, with the Dawgs going scoreless for the first 2:46. But, almost on cue, Tarver missed his breakaway dunk and the real Huskies decided to show up and play some basketball. The team started getting to the free throw line, forcing turnovers and getting offensive boards, as Thomas and Turner knocked down threes and Oregon State’s three-point shooting came back down to earth.

A 27-8 run commenced and the Dawgs never looked back, as they made liars of those who say it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season. (In fact, the Pac-10 has had three teams go 3-0 against an opponent this year. And that number will be four if the Huskies can beat Stanford.)

Player of the Game: Isaiah Thomas. He didn’t have his best game (4/16 from the field) but he made some big threes and fueled the team in the second half. Once he got rid of the glove, his shot improved.

Play of the Game: Justin Holiday made a slick pass from the top of the key to a cutting Quincy Pondexter, who laid the ball in and got fouled. The play brought the game to within three points, and made it feel like the Huskies had taken control.

Unsung Hero: Elston Turner. The sophomore kept the team from digging itself into too big a hole by hitting back-to-back shots in the first half (one of them a three). He also hit the three pointer that gave UW the lead they never relinquished.

Headscratcher of the Game: When the Dawgs were struggling in the first half, Lorenzo Romar tried a lineup of Abdul Gaddy, Elston Turner, Scott Suggs, Darnell Gant and Matthew Bryan-Amaning. Individually, I like all of those players a lot. As a group? Not so much. I don’t know how Coach expected that group to create shots.

Stat of the Game: Tyreese Breshers did not commit a foul. This is the first time that’s happened since the Portland State game in which, I should add, Breshers did not play.

Thanks for coming!

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Maybe It’s Dawgs That Have Nine Lives!

March 12, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 4 comments

Dawgs win! Dawgs win!

The Huskies came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat Oregon State tonight, 59-52, in the Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinals. Isaiah Thomas had 15 points. MBA and Elston Turner had 10 apiece.

Tomorrow night, at about 8:30, UW vs. Stanford. The winner gets a date with the Cal/UCLA winner.

More analysis of the Huskies’ escape act in the morning from one of our new contributors…

Thanks for coming!

Buzz…. About Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross

March 11, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 8 comments

There’s a bit of buzz right now saying Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross (teammates at Portland’s Jefferson HS) are going to come to UW.

But, all I have so far is buzz. I believe this started with Jim Basnight, who’s reporting on his Husky Digest (pay) site that a source from the University of Kentucky has confirmed that the two Terrences are coming to the Dub.

More as I have it… And, if this turns out to be true, thanks Jim for breaking the story!

Thanks for coming!

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