Elaine Thompson / AP
Watched the Huskies and Texas A&M from home so I could catch the entire Cal/Kansas game also.
Here are my combined thoughts on the two contests:
Cal is going to be tough. Both UW (Texas Tech, Georgetown) and Cal (New Mexico, Ohio State before Evan Turner’s injury, Syracuse, Kansas) have lost their tough contests away from home, and prevailed in all of the games they were expected to win. I’m not sure why voters rank UW higher than Cal in the polls — my sense is that this is a dead heat right now.
If I’m the Dawgs (and, of course, if trading existed in college hoops), I wouldn’t trade Isaiah straight up for Jerome Randle. . . But, I’d think about it for a minute.
When Cal’s Patrick Christopher is on, he’s more dangerous than anyone in the Pac-10 because he gets rid of the ball so quickly. Talk about in your eye.
Cal’s big men, except for Jamal Boykin, are pretty terrible. I can’t see why Coach LoRo would start two bigs against them. Hopefully we’ll go with a third guard, Quincy and MBA when the Bears come to town on January 16th.
Max Zhang has the smallest knees I have ever seen.
The Huskies have these stretches when they miss way too many layups and three-foot shots. Frustrating.
Darnell Gant had a sneaky good game against Texas A&M. He buried two jumpers, grabbed seven boards, and contributed to A&M’s only relevant big man (Bryan Davis) going 0-7 from the field.
Scott Suggs is starting to use his athleticism to his advantage on the defensive end too. He took one charge, and should’ve gotten the call on another, and had a couple of other nice plays. I’m coming around on Scott, and it’s not just because he can shoot.
I saw a concerted effort by Matthew Bryan-Amaning against A&M to deny the ball into the post. He was trying to do something I’ve seen Tyreese Breshers do a bit: jumping around his defender to pick the pass into the post. It worked a few times tonight for Matthew who had three steals.
The Huskies need to work on their inbound passing from underneath the basket. Too many plays when the inbounder chucks a prayer to midcourt. I had bad visions of that Texas Tech play a few times on Tuesday night.
We can play with anyone in the country at Hec Ed. But, at this point there’s nothing more that the Huskies can do in this building to convince me that they can compete with the nation’s best. They need to bring it on the road.
Thanks for coming!
Tags: Post-game story, Texas A&M
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Nice win against a pretty good team. I agree with MM, though, lets see them win a big game on the road… At CAL or at WSU.
I think we got a good feeling for how minutes are going to be handed out this season. (Bad news for Turner and Trent.) Foul trouble in the frontcourt is going to mean a Trent appearance, otherwise, I see some games where he doesnt play at all. I think the same goes for Turner in the backcourt.
If there are no foul issues, I think we may see a 9 man rotation, although I can see Turner playing minutes in games where teams are set on playing zone against us.
Gaddy was not good, but I still think he should remain the starter for three reasons 1) Venoy is just better off the bench so SOMEBODY has to start at PG 2) He is 17 and will get better and better as the season progesses 3) I like starting the game in 2nd or 3rd gear with Gaddy, getting the defense comfortable, and then slipping Venoy in and shifting into 5th.
MBA played a great defensive game. If he can just spend some time in the gym practicing dunking the basketball I think he can average a double double and be a force. DUNK THE BALL. YOU ARE THE BIGGEST GUY ON THE COURT. Amazing how he plays so tough and with such attitude on defense, but offensively, he is so meak. This has to change.
Note to Gant: Keep shooting that 12-15 footer. It actually goes in sometimes and makes the D play you, opening up lanes for the little guys.
Note to Suggs: Great game. I am a believer now.
Note to IT: If that three dropped at the end of the half, and a few obvious fouls were called on your drives, you would have had about 14 points to go along with a really nice all around game. Keep your head up.
Note to Venoy: Do you really have to fall down on every layup? Just kidding..GREAT GAME.
Note to Quincy: Don’t let up all year long and you will be a top 20 draft pick.
Great game, Huskies!
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Great comments Mod/Josh and G-stache. Agree with all of them.
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Will repost here as the discussion seems centered on basketball.
The positives-
1) 12 blocks really stands out and points to some serious defense. I only remember one back door. A&M shoots .303 for the game. Esp MBA as Davis was 0-7.2) Suggs continues to gain confidence. His two 3s were our only long balls and his 44% three point pecentage is outstanding. He also missed two midrange shots that were both on balance and good shots. I really would not be surprised to see him score 20. Importantly he also had ZERO turnovers and probably had twenty or more touches(take note VO).
3) IT continues to reduce his ill advised drives to the hoop. His 5 assists are evidence to me that he perserveres in his striving to improve.
4) Qpon continues to shine. Please show your determination with body language.
4) We are a great rebounding team. Thomas and Overton with 7 boards apiece.
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MM, I totally agree with you about the inbounds plays. While I love Romar as much as anyone, those awful inbounds plays are something that has bothered me since I’ve started going to all the UW games 5 years ago. We always seem to have to throw it over the top of a defender that often tips it or steals it or just gives me a heart attack. It should be so easy to inbound it most of the time but we make it look so hard.
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I just love the defensive pressure and intensity they brought. They really haven’t played very good defense against against a good squad all year this was the first game that really stood out to me. Now hopefully they can do this on the road which is my biggest concern. MBA looked good on the defensive end but its getting annoying watching him fade away from contact. He has great size and needs to use it better and i agree on the inbounds plays. Everytime were about to inbound the ball i feel like there is going to be a to.
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