by: John Chase

In what I would call a poor showing against ASU, the Huskies showed they could grind out low scoring games with strong defense, rebounding, and physical play. Tony Wroten took the game into his hands when no one else could score and was very effective, going 9-12 from the field, which included a Number 1 ESPN Top 10 Play dunk seen here. Vicious, just vicious. ASJ scored his first points on the hardwood and finished with 4 pts and 5 boards, once again fouling out after 16 minutes.

Now the Dawgs must look forward to Arizona, where another whiteout and ESPN GameDay await. Last season started a new rivalry and provided both Husky and Cats fans with three very memorable games. While the last game in Tuscon did not end well for the Dawgs following a very questionable “block” call, Husky fans hardly need to be reminded of the last match-up versus the Wildcats. Gus Johnson gave one of the best play calls in recent history. Can you say COOOOOOOLLLLLDDDDDD BLOODED?! I did have a link to the last 5 minutes of regulation and all of overtime from that game, but someone got all copyright butthurt and took the video down.

The stakes of this game are huge. UW is in a 4 way tie for first with Colorado, Oregon, and California. Arizona is a game back with a 5-3 conference record after handily beating WSU last night. Win and UW can maintain its first place record, lose and UW drops back a few slots.

The Huskies tend to show up big in marquee match-ups. This season they have played just a tad below where they needed to be for a win. Hopefully those loses taught our players something about winning close games and can seal the deal this weekend. The UA crowd will be into the game big time with the whiteout and GameDay crew in attendance. It will be important for the Dawgs to get off to a strong start to quiet the crowd and swing the momentum in their direction.

Much like UW, Arizona lost a lot of their star talent from last season and have been struggling to find an identity and leader on the court. Last night, Kyle Fogg went off big in the first half, scoring 18 points. Other nights, guys like Kevin Parrom have been the star.

Arizona sees solid production from 4 players and are led in scoring by the aforementioned Kyle Fogg who is picking up 12.2 per game. Fogg is deadly from just about anywhere on the court. He is averaging over 80% from the foul line and 44% from deep. While Fogg is not a big guard at 6-3 188lb, he is strong enough and quick enough to get in the lane and do damage inside the paint. I suspect Wroten will be giving the defensive assignment to shut him down.

Solomon Hill is the most important player for the Wildcats with nearly 12 points per game on top of a team high 8 rebounds per outing. Hill also averages a team high in assists with just under 3 a game. Hill commits a team high 2.4 turnovers per game, which isn’t surprising considering how often the ball is in his hands. Hill can be a hard to defend. At 6-6, many of our guards can keep a hand in his face. It is his 226lbs that are tough for defenders to stay even with. Hill has the strength to take his man to the bucket without too much duress and can finish through contact. I expect Desmond Simmons and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins to body up on Hill and front him to prevent inbound passes. Hill has a pretty solid outside shot and is making 35% on the season. His free throw percentage is respectable as well with 75% on the year.

Jesse Perry is the only other scorer in double digits for the Cats.  Like Hill, Perry is a strong forward who is averaging nearly 12 points and over 7 rebounds per game. Perry is slightly taller and skinnier thank Hill at 6-7 216lb, but is just as effective from the field. He is not as great of a shooter, averaging only 31% outside. The key to containing both Perry and Hill is staying in front of them and preventing the dribble drives to the middle.

Kevin Parrom could show up big at times, but after a very devastating summer that included the deaths of both his mother and grandmother as well as getting shot in the hand and leg, it is not surprising that Parrom has not had the type of impact many suspected he would have this year. Parrom has been very up and down this season with 3 games of double digit scoring and 4 games without a single point to his name.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups:

Arizona:

Nick Johnson 6-2 198lb
Kyle Fogg 6-3 188lb 
Josiah Turner 6-3 192lb
Solomon Hill 6-6 226lb
Jesse Perry 6-7 216lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Desmond Simmons 6-7 225lb
Aziz N’Diaye 7-0 260lb

Keys to the Game:

• Get Hot Early  - The Huskies have been far too prone to slow starts this season and I guarantee, now more than ever, a hot start is needed. The crowd will be very loud and very biased towards their home team. It is important to shut them up before their impact on the game becomes too much to handle. With C.J. Wilcox back in the rotation, the Dawgs have a better shot at getting some range in their game, which should help immensely.
• Rebounding - If the shots aren’t falling, the least the Dawgs can do is get dirty on the glass and pick up some nice put backs. Our team is 9th in the nation with over 40 boards per game, though our rebounding percentage could be higher. N’Diaye, Ross, Simmons, Gant, and now ASJ are all averaging over 5 rebounds per game. That is an extreme amount of production from a large amount of players, which gives our team a lot of options when it comes to cleaning house.
• Free Throws - The Huskies were a miserable 61% from the line against ASU, due mostly to very poor shooting performances by Wroten and N’Diaye who combined for 5-14. We cannot afford to miss the freebies, especially on the road where foul shots can be hard to come by. I’m not expecting a 90% shooting performance, but 75% is very reasonable to expect and desire.

Final Thoughts:

The Huskies can win this game if their mentality is in the right place. That being said, this is going to be tough and could end in a blowout if the Dawgs don’t take care of business defensively. What is going to win this game is nose to the grind defense and a tough, go-getter attitude. The Dawgs cannot let the game get away from them or they risk the crowd taking over. Someone needs to go I.T. tomorrow and take over the game. I’d like it to be Ross rather than Wroten, but I have no doubt Wroten will make his impact felt. He loves the big stage and thrives on emotion.

Final Score Prediction: UW-75 UA-74

by: Griffin Bennett

First of all, I’d like to congratulate and thank Coach Romar on his 300th career win and 100th conference win. Great achievements by a great man.

That game was a breath of fresh air. The team finally had a great energy out of the gate and controlled the pace for the entire game. Being in the building, it just felt different. I can’t really explain it. It felt different than any other game this year as the players had a new energy and it was transferred to Dawg Pack and then to all of Hec-Ed.

Perhaps the catalyst of this energy was a Austin Seferian-Jenkins who made one hell of a debut. His 6’6 frame holds a lot of power and he immediately made his presence known in the post as he abused the Stanford big men. He brings that football mentality to this team which was lacking a truly physical player.

Could this be the new rotation? Romar only played 7 men in the game with Gant and ASJ coming off of the bench. The guards, Gaddy, Wroten and Ross, played 38, 34, and 39 minutes respectively and will probably be playing those type of high-minute games until Wilcox returns.

Thank you, Cougs. Thank you so much. Soak that in because you probably won’t hear me say it again. The Cougars beat Cal to keep us still in the title hunt as we are still only a half game back.

On to the reviews…

Positives:

• Austin Seferian-Jenkins – Loved his game. Against a smaller Stanford squad, he was able to move players around. He played 17 solid minutes while grabbing 7 rebounds and five hard fouls.
• Tony Wroten – He was Wade-esque out there. The way he cuts through traffic to the hoop and finishes with style is incredible. When you see those flashes your jaw drops. He led the game with 21 points will stuffing the rest of the stat sheet with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, and only 3 turnovers.
• Terrence Ross – Another stat stuffing effort with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. He was only 2 of 8 from three and you’d like to see him improve his scoring efficiency as he was 6 of 17 from the field.
• Darnell Gant – A great bounce back game for Gant who needed it badly. He was 2 of 3 from deep, which is great to see him continue to shoot. he finished with 7 rebounds and 17 points.
• Rebounding – It was a great team effort on the boards against the second best rebounding team in the conference (Huskies are number one). Aziz only played 13 minutes, probably due to ASJ’s effectiveness and the quickness of Stanford’s post players. Even with him out, the Huskies won the battle 39-31 with no one player getting more than 7.

Negatives:

• Passing – The assist-to-turnover ratio continues to be a struggle for the team. 13:16 against Stanford is unacceptable and Gaddy’s 3 assists to 5 turnovers need to be improved. Gaddy is supposed to be the consistent, mistake free player.
• Foot to the Throat – The Huskies had the Cardinal under their throat late in the second half but they let them crawl back. This team needs to be able to put away teams late in the game. With the smaller bench this year, that gets a little more difficult. I like it when I get to be picky in my negatives.

Overall:

This was the most enjoyable game to watch since the New York trip. Seeing Gant fist pump, ASJ grinding, Wroten slashing, Ross finishing… it was just a great feeling. Is ASJ the change that this team needed? Let’s hope so. We’re still in the race and now a trip down to Arizona is coming and date that we have all had circled on our calendar. A date in Tucson on ESPN’s Gameday. Bow Down.

by: Griffin Bennett

It’s time to shake off Thursday night’s loss. The season can slip away with a loss to the Cardinal on Saturday so it’s game face time. Stanford lost their share of the conference lead when they lost to WSU in Pullman so they will be looking to salvage a split on the road to try and keep pace with Cal.

For the Huskies, it’s one game at a time as they continue to struggle to find any kind of consistency. The first halves have been slow all season long and they can’t seem to find an answer as to why. The Dawgs have scored only 25 points in the first half twice in a row now and barring an insane second half from Ross against the Cougs, they could be staring at two straight losses.

Stanford comes in with a 15-4 record and 5-2 in the conference. They have a very balanced team which makes they dangerous. Their leading scorer is forward Josh Owens with 13.1 ppg who also leads their team in rebounds wirth 6.1 rpg. Aziz will get the first nod to guard the 6-8 Owens which will be interesting due to the size/speed give and take.

Sophomore Aaron Bright, from Bellevue High, is a solid point guard who can do a bit of everything, including shooting the three. He leads their team in 3 point percentage at 43% as well as scoring 12.1 per game. Alongside Bright is freshman SG Chasson Randle who has been equally impressive with scoring 12.3 per game which is good for second best on the squad. Behind Wroten, this may be the freshman of the year in the Pac-12.

Rounding out their starters are sophomore forwards Josh Huestis and Anthony Brown. They are each effective role players who can’t be ignored which makes Stanford so challenging. Filling out their rotation are John Gage, Dwight Powell, Jarrett Mann, and Andrew Zimmerman. It’s a deep team.

Projected Starting Line Ups:

Stanford:

Aaron Bright, 5-11

Chasson Randle, 6-1

Anthony Brown, 6-6

Andrew Zimmerman, 6-8

Josh Owens, 6-8

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy, 6-3 

Tony Wroten Jr., 6-5 

Terrence Ross, 6-6 

Desmond Simmons, 6-7 

Aziz N’Diaye, 7-0 

Keys to the Game:

• Early Energy: The Huskies can’t keep trying to climb out of first half holes. They need to start the game with the same energy that they find in the second half. It’s easier said than done, however.
• Rebounding – UW leads the league in rebounds per game (14.5) but Stanford is right behind them in second (12.7). Which ever team can assert their dominance in the post will have a huge advantage. Look for Aziz to continue his hot streak against a smaller Cardinal team.
• Perimeter Shooting –  The Dawgs need to find someone other than Ross that can make an open three. Teams will continue to play zone while shadowing Ross unless someone (Gant and Gaddy preferrably) can start hitting their shots. I’m not asking them to be C.J., just hit the wide open ones.
• Free Throws – It’s most likely going to be another close one, and free throws will be needed. At some point this ceases to be a key to the game and just a fact of the game.

The Huskies are impossible to predict. Will Ross catch on fire? Will Wroten score at will or keep shooting threes? Will Gant go 0 for 8? Will Aziz have a career high or foul out? You get the point.

The real problem has been motivation and offensive execution in the first half. Even Ross noted as much saying they were forgetting plays during the first half on offense this Thursday. Someone needs to get this team pumped up before the game. I don’t think Hikeem Stewart’s dance in the tunnel is going the job.

Let’s get a win and keep on truckin’. Maybe this will help. Bow Down.

by:John Chase

Heartbreak city was also seat-break city. The Dawgs, yet again, came out slow in the first half and managed a mere 25 points for the second straight game. This time, no amount of raucous and support from the fans could rally the Huskies for more late-game heroics. Trust me, the crowd was in the game, myself very much included as evidence by the seats my friend and I shattered from jumping around so much. Darnell Gant had an opportunity to tie the game and send it to overtime in the final seconds, but like the other 8 shots he took that night, it rimmed out and the Huskies were sent to the locker room with their tails between their legs.

I completely agree with the play call Romar drew up. Ross was going to be over defended and as a senior, Gant should be given the chance for the big play. Abdul Gaddy bobbled the ball before delivering a poor pass to Gant, which appeared to rush his shot and cause the miss. After such a great game against WSU, it was surprising to see Gant go right back to the atrocious shooting he has had on display for over half the season now.

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BY: John Chase

Huge set of games this week against Cal and Stanford. The Huskies only get one shot at each this season and, thankfully, we get to play both at the comfy confines of Hec-Ed. Cal and Stanford currently sit a half game up on UW tied for first, while UW has sole possession of third. To say these games are critical is an understatement. Losing either makes the chase for the Pac-12 title tough and places it in the hands of whoever wins said games. If the Huskies can win both and jump at least a half game up on both schools, they will take not only the lead, but also control the tie breaker for seeding in the Pac-12 tournament.

Neither of these games will be easy, especially with C.J. Wilcox out for the week. While, Terrence Ross‘ performance on Sunday was spectacular, it is going to take a major team effort to pull off these wins. The Dawgs are working with what is essentially a 6-man rotation supplemented by 3 or 4 small minute players. The Huskies need everyone on the court to find productivity offensively, no matter what defense is thrown at them. Fully expect Stanford to run a zone for a majority of the game and Cal to likely start in a man-to-man with zone coming at different times to rattle our guys.

Cal comes into the game 15-4 on the season, 5-1 in conference. Picked as a preseason favorite to win the conference title, Cal has been playing fairly solid basketball. Like the rest of the Pac-12, Cal failed to capitalize on its games against top tier opponents. In their last game, Cal crushed Utah by nearly 40 points. Speaking of Utah, Josh Watkins has been kicked off the Utes squad, adding to the list of Pac-12 players no longer with their respective programs.

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by: Griffin Bennett

Dean Rutz - Seattle Times

It was the game that many of us have been waiting for all season. The game in which Romar finally got his team motivated to perform. The game where Terrence Ross would finally show his NBA lottery-self. And the game where the Huskies finally responded after taking an early gut punch.

After the first half, down 31-25 shooting 29% from the field, it was looking all too familiar.  Poor effort, bad shots, and a propensity to turn the ball over had most Husky fans, including myself, eager to change the channel. The loss of C.J. Wilcox to a “stress induced hip injury” (still waiting to hear more on this) before the tip seemed to doom the game before it even began.

As the second began, it looked like more of the same. Down near 10, the Dawgs were launching three after three and nothing seemed to want to fall. Then it all changed.

It was as if Romar reached his breaking point and the same time as all of us. His frustration over his own team boiled over as a poor call by an official made him blow his lid like I’ve never seen. Mortal Kombat began as he and his blazer squared off in a epic match that is destined to become a YouTube sensation. After his blazer submitted, the refs call a technical and Romar was greeted by roars from the Dawg Pack.

It was as if he was speaking (or raging) for all of us. WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH! Remember the first time you saw your parents get mad? Like REALLY mad? That was this moment for this young Husky team. It was their “Oh shit!” moment. Cue the 28-5 Husky run (or something close to that) and the Husky season was still alive and balance was returned to the Force.

While Romar’s finest moment of the season paramount for the game, it takes a player to  listen and respond for these moments to occur. Terrence Ross responded. In his finest moment as a Husky, he was completely En Fuego as he drained three after three and brought the whole house down when he caught Gaddy’s lob pass for a dunk and one.

That killer instinct that I’ve been waiting for from him not only showed up, if burst out of him. Now let’s hope that he’s found his confidence and he can continue it for the rest of the season.

Positives: Read the rest of this entry »

by: Griffin Bennett

It hasn’t been a pretty year for either team so far. Both the Huskies and the Cougars are suffering for postpartum depression after their stars from last season have left and they are each struggling to find their new identities. This is a huge game for both teams as each needs to prove that they can have some sort of consistency other than consistently inconsistent. The Huskies can’t afford to drop a conference home win at this juncture, especially to a poor Cougar team, if they want to keep their conference title hopes off of life support.

The Cougs are 1-3 in the Pac-12 and 9-7 overall this year. Their loss to Oregon was quite bad while the overtime loss to the pre-season #12 team Utah was a crushing blow.

The problem with Cougs has been their defense during conference play. They are last in the conference in opponents FG% with 51.9% as well as second to last in points allowed per game at 75.2. They miss Casto down low as a very good shot blocker and defender and it’s really showing.

Ken Bone‘s 2011/12 squad is led by Brock Motum who is leading their team in points (15.3) and rebounds (6.4). While he’s the Coug that we all love to tease, he’s a very effective player who plays extremely hard. He’s a poor man’s Jon Brockman. He will be a tough match up for our forwards as at 6-10 he is too quick for Aziz to handle.

Next up is the three-headed guard monster that is Faisal Aden, DaVonte Lacy, and Reggie Moore. Shockingly, Aden does not lead this team in three point attemps as the freshman Lacy has shot 23 more this season. Still, Aden leads this trio in points (12.8) while the enigma that is Moore leads the team in assists (5.4). Moore is shooting less than 40% this season and hasn’t blossomed into the star that he seemed destined for during his freshman year.

Charlie Enquist, Marcus Capers, and Abe Lodwick are the other forward options with Enquist starting opposite of Motum and Capers being their starting small forward option. They aren’t the deepest team down low so getting this team running is always a great strategy.

Projected Starters:

Cougars

G – DaVonte Lacy – 6’3

G – Reggie Moore – 6’1

G/F – Marcus Capers – 6’4

F – Charlie Enquist – 6’10

F – Brock Motum – 6’10

Washington

G – Abdul Gaddy – 6’3

G – Tony Wroten – 6’5

G – Terrence Ross – 6’5

F – Desmond Simmons – 6’7

C – Aziz N’diaye – 7’0

Keys to the Game:

• Off-ball Movement – The Huskies need to get better at guarding off of the ball on defense and moving away from the ball on offense. This young squad gets caught “watching” far too often and it leads to easy baskets that are far too easy.
• Post Defense – Defending Motum will be huge in this game. The Huskies are going to have to be ready with the help defense and not be afraid to foul him hard. The Huskies give up way too many points in the paint and Aziz is just too slow to be the solution. Gant, Simmons, everyone needs to be quick to help down there.
• Pass the ball – I know it sounds crazy, but passing the ball helps you score points. Throw it around the horn and find the best shot possible. Don’t let it get stagnate or else the clogged toilet offense appears.

This year’s version of the Apple Cup is not like it was with Lowe, Weaver, Brockman, Pondexter, and the rest. These two squads are under performing but that doesn’t mean that earning a win is any less important.

It’s the Cougs. The effing Cougs. Let’s smash ‘em. I’d like the Huskies to show some emotion that’s on par with this rivalry. I don’t want to seem them give an inch. Let’s embarrass this Cougar team and leave them at the bottom of the Pac-12 standings, where they belong.

With that said, predicting how this Husky team will perform is harder to do than get a Cougar to admit they got rejected from UW first. I’m eerily confident that the added pressure of the rivalry game mixed with the home atmosphere will help the Huskies perform like they did in New York.

Barring Tony Wroten not being able to play, or is ineffective, due to his tail bone bruise on Tuesday, I see the Huskies pulling out a decisive victory.

 UW 89, WSU 74. For your enjoyment…

Bow down.

by: John Chase

Dean Rutz - The Seattle Times

Many of you might be wondering how this game was so close after going into half with a 13 point lead. One would imagine UW would build on that and crush SU into the dirt. We certainly had the opportunity to do so, but we decided we didn’t like free points and missed 22 free throws. Let me reiterate. Twenty-Two. All of a sudden this 8 point win turns into a 20 or 30 point win if we put up a respectable percentage. C.J. Wilcox took his streak of free throws made to 30 and then proceeded to miss 2 more over the course of the night. Tony Wroten went 12 of 18 from the line, better than his season average, but still 3 fewer than I consider acceptable. Aziz N’Diaye was a miserable 4 of 9 from the line. Our team pretty much takes this attitude about free throws. Where you hear cash or money, replace it with points or free throws.

Seattle U also applied a press the entire game (take note on how it’s done, Romar) that frustrated our team to the point of ridiculousness. The half court press is exceedingly easy to beat if you just run a freaking screen for one player then back to the inbounder who dribbles up the court and passes across to their center court option. I commend Cameron Dollar for his effort, but this was another foul fest featuring 5 SU players fouling out of the game. I thought for sure we would see only 4 players on the court once again.

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