Huskies wear out Dons in Pac-10 tune up
This is Gant’s Moustache, filling in for Montlake Madness while he vacations. I’ll be covering the next 4 Husky games— giving you the scoop on Husky game action the way I saw it happen.
Some fans wear rose-colored glasses. Some fans see every glass as half empty. I just try to see things over my big, hairy moustache.
Will the Real Huskies Please Stand Up?
A Jekyll and Hyde performance from Washington (9-2) was good enough to beat a weak San Francisco (4-10) team, 86-71, this afternoon at Hec Edmundson Pavillion. This historic victory marked the 1600th in the program’s history. It was also the first time the Huskies and Dons ever played one another.
Please raise your hand if you know what a Don is. Anybody? Seriously. Anyone? Luckily for the inconsistent Huskies, on Saturday, Webster’s defined a Don as “a Division I basketball team with one good player and a bunch of tall guys who can’t shoot.”
After a slow start, likely fueled by a few days without basketball, the Huskies got on track behind great post play from Tyreese Breshers. It also helps that Superman, I mean Quincy Pondexter, finds ways to score from everywhere on the court.
The Huskies let the Dons hang around early, but took a commanding 16-point lead into halftime, despite IT being held scoreless for the second game in a row.
I made a celebratory sandwich during the half and planned on eating it while I watched the Huskies win by thirty. To my dismay, the second half began with a 5-minute stretch of awful basketball that nearly caused me to choke on a stringy piece of salami. The Dons cut the lead to 4 faster than you can say ‘why is Clarence Trent in the game right now?’ (And that’s exactly what I did say just before Romar called time and took him out.)
For some reason, the Huskies have these 4- or 5-minute stretches where they look unenthused, tentative and disorganized. This disturbing trend has reared its ugly head in every game of this young season, with the exception of the Portland State beating. *I wonder: is this because of the 11 man rotation? Does the team just lose rhythm? I would love to hear your comments on this.
Luckily, this team manages to turn things around in a hurry. That’s exactly what they did on Saturday. Scott “Don’t Call me Terrell” Suggs’ only basket of the night was a big three-pointer from the corner with 11 minutes left, which extended the lead from 4 to 7. He is not quite “Big Shot Scott” but I like his poise, shooting with a hand in his face, and knocking down big three’s. I thought this was a critical shot because it really took the wind out of the sails of the Dons.
Q-Pon, Overton and MBA pretty much took off from there as the Husky defense clamped down and the fast break baskets began to fall like rain. The Huskies never looked back. Elston Turner played some nice minutes down the stretch, and Holiday and Gant were quietly great defensively. (Venoy was also great defensively, but he doesn’t do anything quietly.)
A few thoughts on a few Huskies:
- Please dunk the ball MBA. He actually dunked the ball twice, which was great to see. Still, watching him try for that reverse layup on the fast break pass from Overton early in the second half was like watching a squirrel fly an airplane, it just didn’t make sense.
Speaking of squirrels, Michael Williams, #5 on the Dons, was standing beneath the basket. He is barely 6 feet tall and as MBA came toward the hoop, he looked just like a squirrel dodging an 18-wheeler on I-5. This was not an appropriate moment for MBA to show finesse. Jump and dunk the ball on his head, please!
Other than that, MBA played a real nice game and seems to be getting the message that he needs to take it up strong on offense. He finished with 13 points, 6 boards and 3 steals.
- Venoy makes us go. When this team is led by the ‘go-go-go’ mindset of Venoy (and he is able to keep his rocket fuel from burning himself and his teammates up), this team is fun to watch and very difficult to beat. Not sure why it works so well, but Venoy is just much better off the bench.
- Quincy is ridiculous. Quincy scored 22 points on 10 of 12 shooting, and pulled in 5 boards, with three blocks. If he needed to, I think he could have scored 35 in this one. Luckily, he was moving around well, showing no physical damage from his performance in the Nutcracker on Dec. 23rd.
- Gaddy is still struggling. He had a nice drive to open the game, and a pretty bank shot in the second half as well. You can tell how good he can be if he just believes in himself a bit more and plays with some swagger. It’ll happen. I am a believer.
- IT making adjustments. The league is starting to realize that if you keep IT in front of you and clog the lane, he has trouble scoring. His response? He is becoming much more adept at driving into the contact and finding open teammates. He is going to force opponents to choose their poison: let him score contested layups or find wide-open teammates? I think opponents are going to find that committing to stopping IT isn’t the magic formula to beating the Huskies—especially if he continues to pass in traffic so effectively.
Final analysis: With Pac-10 play beginning against Oregon State this Thursday, the missed dunks, careless turnovers and bad stretches will have to stop. We seemed to have controlled the turnovers, but it is hard to tell if that will last long.
If not for a badly broken leg, and a team full of guys who had a very hard time putting the ball in the basket, would we have been 2-0 these past two games? I am not so sure.
The Pac-10 is up next. In a down year for the conference, we can’t make too many mistakes and be guaranteed tourney bid. The real season starts on Thursday!
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Nice recap moustache man.
A Don is a title of respect or even nobility in Spain, Portugal and Italy(think Godfather).
I will agree with your Venoy makes us go comment for this game. Maybe the best I’ve seen him play. ONE turnover. If he can string three or four in a row without a five turnover game then I’m a believer. The problem with Venoy in the past is that you win with him and you lose with him- look at the Purdue line score and report back.
I think Gaddy deserves real credit for an under the radar game. NO turnovers and he could easily have had five or six assists. MBA’s missed dunk and two dimes to Brehsers not converted were really good passes. Six points and three boards. The question mark is the competition.
I think the ‘bad’ stretches are just part of the game for every team. Sort of like business cycles-they just are and defy explanation. A slow down set up offense may not seem to have them but they go long periods of time without a bucket or give up five or six in a row. It’s just more obvious with a high scoring running team. Without Venoy going train wreck and IT going gauntlet we had only 7 turnovers. If we had a standard Husky rebounding game we woulda won by forty.
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An extremely well done commentary g-stache.
Several of your comments really resonated w/ me…right down to your half-time sandwich to enjoy while Huskies run away with it…the only difference, for me it was a piece of cherry cheesecake.1. Suggs. I’ve been meaning to go back and check, because I may be wrong, but haven’t his best games and moments come against the best opponents and at the most critical times? Maybe I haven’t double-checked because I don’t want to be wrong, but I’m wondering if Suggs has a little bit of ‘big time’ in his DNA. It’s got my hopes up at least.
2. MBA. I’ve personally committed to not ‘trash’ MBA because he is receiving plenty of that and I’m growing to really appreciate what he is bringing defensively and each game he does at least one thing that makes me think, “now THAT was awesome” (like his no-look pass to Q-Pon). BUT…I did have an epiphany on him yesterday…I think he mistakes “taking it up strong” with “throwing it down strong”.
3. Agree with you on Venoy…after Q-Pon, I think Venoy is actually becoming the most consistent and reliable player. Last night I played a game of, “which players right now are most critical to Huskies success?” and realized that after Q-pon and I.T., Venoy is the clear-cut #3.
Regarding the lapses by the Huskies – I’m not quite as concerned. I do absolutely believe Huskies still win that game against A & M if the injury had never occurred…and though I wish they wouldn’t relax against teams they know they can beat, I also think it is a sign of how good they are – they were fully aware yesterday they could turn on the jet engines at any time and run away with it…which they proved.
Their poor shooting bothers me, that may end up haunting them. But I’m feeling pretty confident about their chances as we head into conference play. May I still feel this way a week from now.
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Very nice work Stache-man. I’m really happy with where the Dawgs are at right now considering the struggles of I.T. (recently) and Gaddy. I’m very concerned about Gaddy, not only now, but in the future. It’s hard for me to imagine how this guy will be a force in college basketball (or the NBA for that matter) when he’s not a good enough shooter to knock down shots when no one is guarding him within 18 feet of the hoop – plus, he doesn’t appear to have the speed to drive and kick out. His shot just doesn’t look good – similar to the way Venoy looked when he came into the program. Of course, Venoy has the speed and defensive intensity to make up for his struggles from outside. I sure hope Gaddy proves me wrong.
One other thing: yeah, MBA did some nice things – especially when the game got out of reach, but he still plays way too small. Why does it seem like Breshers is 5 inches taller than MBA? Probably because Breshers goes to the hole strong and MBA tries to dribble around and look for a crazy layin.
I’m fired up for Pac-10 play!
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Great recap Gant’s Stache. By the way, I’m planning my entire New Year’s Eve around the Husky game. I plan to watch before I go out. Can you suggest a good drinking came to coincide with the game?
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I’ve often wondered about some of Romar’s coaching decisions especially when it comes to some of his less cereberal players. I did notice however, how everytime MBA made one of his typical bonehead plays i.e. missed dunk or his pussy power ups he looks right for the coach and starts jogging to the bench. It’s apparent the coach has told him that every time he disengages his brain he’s gone. Lets just hope he’s intelligent enough to learn because he could be a valuable asset.
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Jimmer Fredette drops 49 on the Zona Cats in Tucson.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=200912280017
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Howitzer, yeah I was gonna say a mafia kingpin, but your explanation is way better.
Paul, “Last night I played a game of, “which players right now are most critical to Huskies success?” and realized that after Q-pon and I.T., Venoy is the clear-cut #3.”
I agree, and that’s kind of scary. I mean Venoy’s great when he’s under control, but when he’s not… Venoy’s definitely one of those guys you can live and die with.
Go Dawgs, I totally disagree w/ you about Gaddy. Venoy had some serious technical flaws in his J when he came to UW. His footwork was all wrong, his release point was too far out in front, his release was too slow, he had a hitch in his motion, and his shot was totally flat. Some of this has gotten better, but he’s still only a threat from the outside if you leave him totally wide open.
I have not noticed these types of problems in Gaddy’s shot. It’s just not falling for him. I suspect that will change as he gains confidence. I’m not saying he’ll be a great shooter, but I think he’ll be adequate.
As far as his speed, no, he’s not cat-quick like Isaiah and Venoy, but he’s 6-3. And when he shows it, he’s got mad handles and a crossover like no one I can ever remember at UW. And he’s got an excellent first step, great reaction time, and tremendous court vision. I think he’s more than fast enough to take it to the rack, drive and dish, or penetrate and kick it out to the shooters.
Unfortunately we haven’t seen much of that yet. But we will, mark my words.
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