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Quick Opinion & Poll: The Huskies vs. the Zone

November 25, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 10 comments

Zone defense 2-3 copyWatching last week’s game against San Jose State, it’s apparent that the Huskies are going to see a lot of zone defense this season. I’m a little concerned about how effective the Spartan defense, employed by clearly less talented players, was so effective in keeping the Dawgs’ offense leashed last night.

Zone defenses will neutralize one of the things the Huskies do best: an up-tempo attack with plenty of guard penetration, and it will force them into more outside shooting, still a question mark for the team.

The good news is that this idea of teams trying to beat the Dawgs with a zone has been apparent since training camp, and the Huskies have been preparing for it. Coach Lorenzo Romar mentioned yesterday that Quincy Pondexter quickly becomes scoring option #1 when teams drop out of man-to-man defense. Quincy’s big game last night (including the first 13 Husky points of the second half, all against a zone) was a big part of the reason San Jose State’s upset dreams never came closer to fruition.

While Quincy will continue to find success working out of the high post against the zone, Isaiah may have his difficulties at times, particularly if his jumper isn’t falling.

In my opinion, there is a lineup the Huskies can employ that’ll be set up for dismantling the zone. However, it will at times require Lorenzo Romar to shorten his bench and take a leap of faith with his three best defensive players (Overton, Holiday, and Gant) all on the bench for certain stretches.

The “Zonebuster” squad looks like this: Abdul Gaddy, with his precision passing and more controlled tempo is necessary when the Huskies find themselves playing against a defense that neutralizes their athletic advantage. Isaiah Thomas is too good not to find a way to be successful against the zone, but will need to temper his urge to drive, and look more to dish once the defense has collapsed on him. Elston Turner is the perfect wing to receive these passes. Clearly more comfortable without a defender in his face, Turner could shoot 40%-45% from deep if most of his shots were the open ones often earned against the zone. Quincy Pondexter moving freely between the high post, or making back door cuts along the baseline, gives the Huskies a zonebusting specialist. And, Tyreese Breshers, who can receive the ball and get a shot up even against double coverage, rounds out my Zonebusters lineup. Breshers is enough of a presence not to get swallowed up even when outnumbered in the post.

What do you think? What will the Huskies do to combat the zone this season? Are you concerned? Let me know below, and thanks for coming.

Which of these best describes your thoughts about the Huskies' ability to run their offense against a zone defense?

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Quick Opinion: Redshirting C.J. Is Another Example of Romar’s Faith in Breshers

November 10, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 2 comments

Ryan Petitt / UDubSports.com

Ryan Petitt / UDubSports.com

Coach Lorenzo Romar may have gotten all the proof he needed, during last week’s exhibition game as Tyreese Breshers was dazzling the arena, that this year’s team may be a lot more similar to last season’s squad than originally envisioned.

Today’s decision to redshirt freshman C.J. Wilcox, universally proclaimed by coaches and teammates to be the Huskies’ “best shooter,” seemed like an odd move to me at first. We’re just not deep enough with shooters for C.J. to be expendable. Not if we’re a team that, having lost its best forward, will rely much more heavily on its strong backcourt for production.

But, then it clicked. Maybe in Coach’s ideal vision, we’re not going to play all that differently from last year. And, if we’re going to rely heavily on our inside game, who’s going to lead that charge? Do we trust MBA yet? Not completely. At least, I don’t.

I kept hearing voices mention Tyreese Breshers. There were hints on media day. Heck, Jon Brockman even said it to me.  And more recently statements by Coach Romar that a starting role may be in line once he’s healthy enough to run 20-25 minutes per game.

A lot more is being expected of Breshers, once he’s finally healthy, than I’d anticipated coming into this season. And, if he can live up to these expectations, and we can get some major production in the paint, then we can get by with one sharpshooter on the roster, with Elston Turner playing the role of gunner-off-the-bench. This allows C.J. to be a part of Husky basketball until 2014, and helps ease some of the crowding in the Husky backcourt.

Of course, Breshers needs to get fully healthy. If Coach too often needs to move Quincy Pondexter down low to the “4″ spot just to firm up a weakness in rebounding, or the lack of a low-post scoring threat, I think there will be nights we miss C.J. too much to make the move worth it.

But, if Tyreese can live up to the growing cacophony of whispers, and be that main presence in the paint, this years’ Dawgs might resemble last years’ more than we ever expected.

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Husky Hoops Week in Review (10/26 – 11/1)

November 1, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | No comments

arizona baby copyAnother week in Husky hoops, and another seven days closer to tip-off. Next week will be the week before the week that the season starts. That’s exciting. Right?

Lucky 13 and picks galore: It’s easy to deride the polls when they don’t give your team enough credit, especially since the only number that really matters in college basketball is whether you’re number 65 (the last team into the NCAA Tournament) or number 66 (the first team out). But, since UW was ranked 13th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, and 14th by the Associated Press, I’ve got nothin’ but love for the polls this week.

It also seems that this was the week a lot of sites ran their conference and team preview articles. I enjoyed Rivals.com’s preview, which called Quincy Pondexter the most underrated player in the league. We decided to wait, and you’ll see our big Pac-10 season preview next week.

Walk-on by: The Daily at UW got the scoop on the walk-on situation, which may be a non-factor to the viewing fan, since there’s been no indication yet whether Rudy Sharar and Brendan Sherrer (really? Sharar and Sherrer?) will dress for games.

@LoRo Shhh! This scrimmage is closed: The only information available about last weekend’s closed door scrimmage at St. Mary’s was from Tweets from some of the Dawgs’ players. We, like, totally felt like we’d reached a new low by trying to decipher some of what read.

Pac-10 holds Media Day and reveals that media <HEARTS> Arizona: The Pac-10 asks its regular beat writers (including the Times’ Percy Allen) to submit their 1-10 predictions for order of finish in the league. Arizona, which brings in a strong freshman class, but no one who projects to be a from-day-one impact player in the league, is inexplicably picked fourth. No idea how that makes sense.

Here’s Percy’s first and second post from Media Day. And, if you’re super-interested, watching this video of the event is the best way to hear it all. (As of this writing, though, the video link was not working, although I assume they’ll get it fixed shortly.)

Josh Smith torture show continues: Despite a huge chorus of media calling him a done deal to UCLA, Josh Smith is on his official visit to Washington this weekend. Truly, I hope the kid does what’s best for him, which could be UW and could be UCLA. But, this has reached a whole other level as far as fan investment in a single recruit, and the B of A faithful are not likely to forget this roller-coaster ride in the event Josh’s only college games in Seattle are played in a Bruins uniform.

Shameless: In case you missed them, here are our interviews with Desmond Simmons and Elston Turner.

Big week ahead: This week will mark your first chance to watch the Dawgs play a game, and even though it won’t count, Montlake Madness will be incredibly relieved to have actual basketball to write about.

The exhibition game is Wednesday night at 7 PM against Central Washington at Bank of America Arena. We’ll run a game preview that morning and get you familiar with the opposition, along with pointing out some things to watch for. If you’d like to be there in person (the game isn’t on TV), get your tickets here for only $10.

Thanks for coming!

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Elston Turner Talks to Montlake Madness About Having a Coach at School, and a Coach at Home

October 27, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 1 comment

Elston Trey copyWhen you look at all of the scoring the Huskies will have to make up for this season when accounting for the losses of Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon (approximately 37% of last season’s points), it’s going to take more than small increases from several returning players to bridge the gap. One guy Montlake Madness is looking to for a greatly increased role in the offense this season is Elston Turner.

Turner had more ups and downs than the average freshman last year. He averaged 17 minutes per game as a key scoring option off the bench early on, before an ankle injury caused him to miss four games. When he returned, his scoring touch was there, but his minutes went way down. Then, in the NCAA Tournament, Elston Turner averaged 20 minutes per contest, showing off a more well-rounded game and raising expectations for this season.

I had a chance to speak with Turner recently. Here’s what we discussed:

Montlake Madness: What’s new? What part of your game have you been working on this off-season?

Elston Turner: You’re gonna see how much more I’m gonna be aggressive. Not just being a three-point shooter, but getting to the foul line, going to the basket, a lot of mid-range. You know, that’s 80-85% of the main things I’ve worked on this summer: being more aggressive and not just settling for the three-point jumper.

MM: How much do the increased minutes you saw very late last year in the NCAA Tournament bolster your confidence coming into this year?

ET: It helps a good deal. Going into the tournament, my dad was talking about how I have to be more aggressive, and if I have an open shot, don’t pass it up. And, if I feel like I can do something with the ball, then go ahead and do it. And, I started to do it in the Tournament and a lot of people could see it then.

MM: What’s it like having a coach at home (NBA coach, Elston Turner, Sr.) and a coach at school? Any discrepancy between the advice that they suggest to you?

ET: No, not really, because they talk all the time. They played in the NBA together. They both know what’s the best thing for me. When they both tell me one thing, it’s likely right. So, I haven’t had a problem with that yet.

MM: What’s the path from here to a professional career for you? What do you need to develop?

ET: Being more aggressive. Having more people notice me. Doing little things. Not just being an offensive player, but also playing defense and rebounding. Getting to the ball, stuff like that. Just so I can stay on the court and have more people notice me.

MM: What’s the battle like for rotation spots at practice? How do you work that out with being friends off the court? You and C.J. (Wilcox) particularly?

ET: You really don’t think about it as a player. Like you said, we’re real good friends. (C.J. and I) are roommates. We hang out a lot. And, I mean, really we’re just encouraging each other, so whoever gets the minutes, we’re not gonna be mad. We’re gonna be encouraging. I’m just trying to tell him a little bit about the offense. Because, I’ve been through it last year. I’m just trying to help him out and have him be the best player he can be.

MM: Would you rather start or finish?

ET: I’d rather finish.

Hey, thanks for coming.

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Video Fun From Midnight Madness: Slam Dunk Contest and Pre-Event Warmup

October 17, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 12 comments

Quincy Dunking at MMadness copy If you haven’t read it yet, here’s the post with my impressions of yesterday’s Midnight Madness event — focusing mostly on the 10-minute team scrimmage.

Wanted to share some video I took before and during the event. I had a great time, and wanted to give anyone who wasn’t there a little taste of what went down, and give even those of you who were there a little look behind-the-scenes.

Here are a few videos (mostly dunks) of the team warming up while they waited for the UW/UCLA volleyball game to end:

Watch the background of this video for a nice slam by Abdul Gaddy.

A series of dunks and dunk attempts.

A little shooting contest between Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Scott Suggs.

More pre-event warmups.

A couple of nice dunks by MBA.

And, here’s a windmill dunk by Tyreese Breshers, who didn’t participate in the Slam Dunk contest.

Slam Dunk Contest:

Here’s one long clip from the Dunk Contest.

Thanks for coming!

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PurpleDawgs Crush GoldDawgs at UW Basketball’s Midnight Madness Event

October 17, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 5 comments

MMadness on ESPNIn the fan’s first look at this season’s UW Husky Basketball Team, the PurpleDawgs defeated the GoldDawgs, 35-20, at Bank of America Arena on Friday night.

The Basics:

The PurpleDawgs team consisted of Abdul Gaddy, Quincy Pondexter, Darnell Gant, Tyreese Breshers, Elston Turner, and C.J. Wilcox.

The GoldDawgs Team consisted of Scott Suggs, Venoy Overton, Isaiah Thomas, Matthew Bryan-Amaning, and Clarence Trent.

Hec Ed was crowded, but not full. Our women’s volleyball team is very, very talented. Anytime you have the opportunity to see the 3rd-ranked team in any sport, it’s worth the time.

The scrimmage was only 10 minutes long, played with a running clock that only stopped for free throws.

Here’s an (unofficial) box score I put together based on my notes, and consulting a couple of other stories, all which seem to disagree on the scoring:

MMadness Boxscore copy

Impressions and Extras:

Poised Purple and Go-go-Gold: Not sure how the teams were chosen, but there was a clear contrast in styles between the PurpleDawgs poised, structured attack, and the run-and-gun effort by the GoldDawgs. The more controlled team won, but the lopsided-ness was due mostly to the best guy on the court playing for the PurpleDawgs.

Elston Turner: Sure, it was only a scrimmage, but Elston Turner looks good. Real good. Turner, Gaddy and Pondexter kept the ball moving at midseason form, finding the open man and taking advantage of Elston’s hot shooting (he went either 5-6 or 5-7 from the field, with three three-pointers). Based on the small hints Coach Romar gave during his Media Day press conference, I have to believe Elston Turner may contend for a starting role on this team (likely with two smaller guards, Quincy Pondexter, and one traditional big man).

The Venoy/Gaddy Matchup: This was the marquee one-on-one battle of the evening, and, if only for the final score, the slight edge goes to Abdul Gaddy tonight. Venoy had one nice steal which started a fast break, ending with a redonkulous dunk by Clarence Trent. Otherwise, though, Abdul controlled the tempo and was able to run the offense despite Venoy’s pesky D.

Gaddy had one jaw-dropping, thread-the-needle pass out of traffic from right under the basket to a wide-open Quincy Pondexter.

Clarence Trent: Trent is very active, but doesn’t look as big as I’d expected. Maybe it’s seeing him next to Breshers, Gant and MBA that’s throwing me off. Time will tell, but his frame, and his game, are reading more to me like a small forward’s than a big man’s.

Scott Suggs: I’m hoping we’ll get early evidence that Scott Suggs is going to be more aggressive and take control of whatever minutes he’s given on the court. It didn’t happen tonight, but hopefully tomorrow when real practices begin, a terrific sophomore year will start to take shape for Suggs.

Justin Holiday: Justin didn’t compete in the scrimmage, the dunk contest, or the three-point shootout, as he’s still recovering from hernia surgery. However, I did see him warming up in the gym before the event, and he’s moving pretty well.

Overheard after Tyreese Breshers missed two free throws: “Maybe he’s taking those Jon Brockman comparisons too far.”

The Dunk Contest: Isaiah took the slam dunk event, despite some tough competition from MBA and Venoy. According to Assistant Coach, Raphael Chillious, this was the first time he’d ever seen Clarence Trent lose a dunk contest.

The Three-Point Shootout: C.J. Wilcox defeated Elston Turner, but each was paired with a UW student as a teammate. I watched C.J. shoot for a bit in the gym beforehand, and his form is just so consistent. It’ll be interesting to see whether he can create his own shot this season though, or whether he’ll need some seasoning before he can show off his stellar form consistently in games.

ESPN2′s coverage: ESPN2 did a couple of minutes on the program as part of their 30-minute Midnight Madness show. They highlighted Coach Romar, (calling him a “rising star”) and the Huskies perimeter players. ESPNU isn’t available in my area, so I have no idea how much of the two-hour show was devoted to the Dawgs.

Coach Chillious on what ESPN choosing UW for its Midnight Madness program means to the team: “I think what it does is validate the successful season we had last year. And, hopefully, it gives us momentum moving forward. We know that’s not what’s going to make us a good team. And, y’know, the rest of the nation doesn’t get to see the teams in the Pacific Northwest that often, so this is just a jumpstart.”

Terrence Jones and Tony Wroten: Both stud recruits were there. Jones was on his official visit and sat on the Husky bench. He didn’t look too enthused, but I’m not going to read much into the facial expressions of a 17-year-old kid.

Real Practice Starts Saturday at 1 PM: With 31 days until the regular season opener at home against Wright State, the Huskies get back to full practices tomorrow afternoon.

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Montlake Madness Conjectures on the Starting Lineup and Nine-Man Rotation

September 29, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 12 comments

In recent days, Coach Romar has begun to reveal what his lineup may look like during the upcoming season. Here are some of the clues he’s given through interviews:

  • He said that Isaiah Thomas, Quincy Pondexter, and Darnell Gant would all start for the Huskies at the beginning of the upcoming season, as each did on last year’s Pac-10 championship squad.
  • Coach LoRo has also said that whichever point guard (between Abdul Gaddy and Venoy Overton) does not start will be “like a starter,” since he’ll often opt to finish games with a three-guard lineup.
  • Finally, coach has said before that it’s likely he’ll exercise a nine-man rotation again this year, which will leave three Huskies scrapping for extra minutes during blowouts, and times of foul trouble or injury.

Here’s the lineup I think Coach will use to start the season, along with the role players coming off the bench, and our explanations for each pick. You’ll notice that we’re not listing the guys in order of playing time, since there are too many unknowable factors that will go into that. We’re picking starters, role-players, and reserves.

The Starters:

aa starters copy

F/C – Matthew Bryan-Amaning

Why he should start: No one’s been a victim of higher expectations than MBA during the first two seasons of his college career, and it seems like he’s just now prepared to start making those flashes of brilliance a more regular occurrence at Hec Ed.

Why he shouldn’t: We’re being a little unfair here, given his injuries last year, but if MBA couldn’t consistently maintain a high level of intensity in about 17 minutes-per-game last year, what makes us think he can do it now for 25-30 mpg?

F – Darnell Gant

Why he should start: Because he plays solid defense, shares the ball, and hustles whenever he’s on the court. And, word out of Montlake is that Gant put on a bunch of muscle and is ready to be more of a presence near the rim on both sides of the ball this year.

Why he shouldn’t start: Because he had the worst assist-to-turnover ratio (1/2.2) of any regular player last season and shot just under 37% from the field, meaning defenders could sag off of him and clog the lane.

F – Quincy Pondexter

Why he should start: We finally saw the Quincy Pondexter we’d been waiting for during the last part of 2008/09, when Q-Pon developed into a scorer by forcing himself into the lane and getting high percentage looks at the basket, or getting himself fouled. An underrated rebounder, there’s an outside chance he could challenge for the Pac-10 lead in boards.

Why he shouldn’t start: It’s not worth struggling to come up with a reason just for the sake of writing something here.

G – Isaiah Thomas

Why he should start: I.T. is going to be the most exciting player on the court this year wherever he goes, and if he doesn’t lead the team in scoring, it will mean something’s gone horribly wrong. He’s the Husky capable of throwing a 50-spot up on the scoreboard, or laying the ball in despite a lane filled with a guy like Jarvis Varnado, or Hakeem Olajuwon, or Shaq. . . or all three.

Why he shouldn’t start: Again, he should and he will. Not much more to offer here.

G – Abdul Gaddy

Why he should start: Because the word on Gaddy is that he’s one of the best pure point guards in the world right now, and that he’s a guy who makes the game come more easily to everyone around him. Unless he gets some form of the freshman yips, and isn’t as poised or polished in reality as by reputation, the Huskies will benefit from having a true quarterback on the floor.

Why he shouldn’t start: Because for a team with aspirations of a run through the NCAA Tournament, any growing pains at all for Gaddy could result in loses that would severely hamper our seeding come March.

The Role Players:

aa reserves copy

Venoy Overton – Sixth Man

Why this role is right for him: Because Venoy was our game-changer last season, and there’s no way to quantify the energy boost he gave the team every time he stepped on the floor. It’s valid to wonder whether fouls and turnovers would go up, and the manic energy would go down, if Venoy saw 7-8 more minutes per game (last year he averaged about 20).

Dissenting opinion: Venoy is the team’s nerve center — at times, our heart and soul. Is there ever a time we don’t want his energy on the court? And, are we selling short the idea that Overton can grow as a playmaker too, using his two years of Pac-10 experience to make the battle for the starting point guard spot an absolute dawgfight?

Justin Holiday – Defensive Stopper

Why this role is right for him: Because we need someone we can bring onto the floor to ice the other team’s hot hand. With his length and speed, smaller point guards (common in the Pac-10) and huge post men (not so common in the Pac-10) are the only players Holiday will have difficulty shutting down.

Dissenting opinion: We’re a defensive-minded team, and that should be a strength regardless of the mix on the floor. Additional minutes for a shooter (like Wilcox) or a post player (Trent) may be more critical for the team than another defensive-minded sub.

Elston Turner – Marksman

Why this role is right for him: With some consistent playing time (after last season’s ankle injury Turner’s minutes-per-game dropped from 19 to 11), and a year under his belt, I’d be very surprised if Turner didn’t raise his three-point accuracy into the 40% range (from about 37% last season). He does everything well enough not to hurt us when he’s on the floor, and until someone proves differently in real game action, Turner is the option here.

Dissenting opinion: It’s hard to ignore the early whispers out of practice: that C.J. Wilcox is the team’s best shooter. If Turner doesn’t make the most out of his minutes early, Wilcox could begin to eat into his court time.

Tyreese Breshers – Reserve Big Man

Why this role is right for him: Because there are going to be games when (gasp) the Huskies are getting out-rebounded and the ghost of Jon Brockman looms large over this club. When the gameplan isn’t going our way, or our bigs are in foul trouble, Big Ty is going to be the man who gets the call.

Dissenting Opinion: Breshers was a medical redshirt last season and is just getting back to full-speed workouts. With Breshers off of a year-long injury, it’s entirely possible that Clarence Trent, who has impressed with his hustle thus far, could sneak into this role as well.

The Reserves:

aa bench copyScott Suggs, Clarence Trent, C.J. Wilcox – Bench Guys

Why this role is right for them: Trent and Wilcox are freshmen, and provided neither of them cracks the regular rotation, they’ll have the chance next year. Trent can set his sights on earning minutes vacated when Quincy Pondexter graduates, and Wilcox can bulk up and keep working on his sweet shot. Suggs is the odd man out here, still struggling in a crowded backcourt to distinguish himself.

Dissenting Opinion: It may be impossible to keep Wilcox off the court if he turns out to be a more athletic version of Ryan Appleby and truly is the team’s best shooter. The tools are there, and Trent could easily step into the backup big man role, or even a starting spot, if he can rebound well, play defense, and add an offensive element to the team that Darnell Gant doesn’t. It’s starting to sound like a familiar refrain, but Scott Suggs was Missouri’s best high school baller before he came to UW. I wouldn’t be shocked if Suggs shocks us and improves by leaps and bounds, forcing himself into the discussion.

So, that’s the lineup I think we will go with, and should go with. What do you think? Please do offer up your opinions in our comments section. We love to hear from you!

***

Finally, an announcement came yesterday from UW that a “Midnight Madness” style preseason event will be taking place on October 16th, at about 7:30 PM. A dunk contest and scrimmage are on tap, and you can bet we’ll be there soaking in every second of it.

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What if Husky Hoops Hit the Gridiron?

September 3, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 2 comments

football basketball pic copyIn honor of college football kicking off this weekend, I thought it would be fun to do a football-themed Husky basketball post, and to get your thoughts also. Here’s the scenario:

It’s Saturday afternoon, a few hours before kickoff of the LSU game, and the Husky football team is nowhere to be found. Nothing particularly bad has happened, but the entire team is missing. Game time comes, but there’s nothing UW can do except forfeit, starting this season where they finished off last year: with a loss.

But wait. Coach Lorenzo Romar has invited every one of his players from this year’s Husky basketball team, and the last four UW hoops teams as well, to be his guests at the game. Just as Coach Sark heads toward the referee to tell him that the Dawgs will need to forfeit, Coach Romar runs onto the field and whispers an idea into his ear.

“Let my boys play,” says Coach Romar.

“You’re boys?” says Sark.

“Yes, let the basketball players suit up and play some football. They can do it. They can do anything,” Romar answers.

“You crazy, LoRo,” Sark says. “But, we’ve got no choice. Get your team of too-talls out here and let’s see what they can do.”

The only thing left then would be to take the Husky basketballers from the last five seasons and play them in the best positions on the field to produce. Sure, we’re probably looking at a losing battle against LSU. But, at least we’re not forfeiting.

If I’m Coach Sark, the following is my starting lineup. What’s yours? Send me an email to MontlakeMadness@gmail.com, and we’ll publish some of the best lineups in a future column, and name a Montlake Madness “Honorary Sark” award for the best reader-submitted lineup.

The rules are simple: only Huskies from the 2005-06 season on are eligible, players can’t start on both offense and defense. And, feel free to suggest a lineup with a 4-3 defense instead, or an additional tight end, etc.

Offense:

Abdul Gaddy – Quarterback: I know. He’s a freshman. But, if he’s going to be the QB of our hoops team, let’s give him a shot on the gridiron as well.

Isaiah Thomas – Halfback: You can barely see him moving up and down the court. Can you imagine trying to tackle him?

Clarence Trent – Fullback: Big body opens up holes and picks up blockers as necessary. Can also give us a different look ball carrier a few times during the game.

Brandon Roy – Wide Receiver: Big-time scorer does what it takes to get open and put points on the board.

Joel Smith – Wide Receiver: Under-achieving baller never lacked for athleticism. A good third option in the passing game behind Roy and J-Brock.

Jon Brockman – Tight End: I was tempted to play Jon at Center to anchor up the O-Line, which would need to quickly learn to function as a unit. But, it’s too appealing to think of him going all Tony Gonzalez on the Tiger linebackers and picking up key third-down conversions at will.

Artem Wallace and Tyreese Breshers – Offensive Tackle: Breshers was my original choice at TE, but I love the wingspans on these two keeping out rushing defensive ends.

Jamaal Williams and Phil Nelson – Offensive Guard: I like our athleticism here, although I wish we had some more size. Saving some big bodies for the defensive end, though, to give us a chance for scoring opportunities on the other side of the ball.

Joe Wolfinger – Center: Big body. Never quite looked engaged enough on the court, so a bit of a risk to have him at such a key spot on the line. That said, I think Wolfinger was under-utilized on the basketball team, and I want to rectify that on the football field.

Defense:

Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Darnell Gant – Defensive End: I like the power coming from MBA and the slick speed from Darnell coming off the line. Husky forwards teaming at DE forms maybe my favorite unit on the team.

Spencer Hawes – Nose Tackle: Big Body who looks to be tougher now than he ever looked during one season with the Huskies. And Spence is healthy now, which was never the case when he played at Hec Ed.

Scott Suggs and Elston Turner – Outside Linebacker: I like these two in here using their speed and athleticism for containment, coverage and on blitzes. A bit of a concern with their smallish frames considering the 3-4 defense we’re running.

Quincy Pondexter and Bobby Jones – Middle Linebacker: I love this unit too with Quincy’s getter-done grit and Bobby Jones’ shut-down defensive pedigree. Anything that gets past our line is getting thrashed by our MLB’s.

Justin Dentmon and C.J. Wilcox – Cornerbacks: Headiness of these two makes up for the athleticism edge they’ll give up to top flight receiving groups. But, we could count of these two not to make too many mistakes.

Justin Holiday – Strong Safety: Although stopping a tight end with a full head of steam behind him would be a challenge given Justin’s slight build, I like his combination of speed, brains and hands at the strong safety spot.

Venoy Overton – Free Safety: The biggest no-brainer on the field. He’d be on the ball before it even left the QB’s hand. I see Venoy breaking up as many passes on the gridiron as he does on the court.

Ryan Appleby – Kicker: Would (hopefully) convert his understanding of the angles into long-range marksmanship on the football field as well.

Tim Morris – Punter: Non-descript journeyman fits perfect mold for the position, and you’ve got to like his better-than-average (for a punter) speed for the occasional fake punt as well.

Your turn. Don’t use the comments section for your entry — keep your brilliant lineups to yourselves and try to win the “Honorary Sark” award without giving any ideas to your competition. (But, feel free to comment otherwise, of course, as usual…)

Thanks for coming!

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Q-Pon and The Great Leap Forward

July 25, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | 1 comment

qpon mao copyIn 1958, China’s leader, Mao Zedong, hatched a plan called The Great Leap Forward to catapult China from being a simple, agricultural country to an industrialized and powerful one. Mao was trying to get China into the conversation when it came to world powers, but it didn’t work — the country just wasn’t ready for it and it had disastrous results.

Last season our best four players were clearly Brockman, Dentmon, Thomas and Pondexter, with the order 1-4 being pretty debatable. I rank Quincy third, ahead of I.T., when it comes to overall contribution. So this year, I think Q-Pon’s got to be our best guy (although I.T. will likely lead the team in scoring).

It stands to reason that lot of fans are carrying high expectations for Pondexter this season, hoping he’ll make The Great Leap Forward from solid contributor to superstar. Quincy’s a guy we’ve hoped would give us 15+ points and 6-7 boards a night for three years now, and there’s a lot of hope that his ascension to that level will help fill some of the void left by Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon. The only problem with that is Quincy’s already made this leap.

First, take a look at his stats from the past three seasons:

q stats 1 copy

It’s easy to see why we’d look for a lot of improvement in Quincy’s senior season in order for the Huskies to have a chance at repeating the magic and having a truly special team. But, Quincy’s surprising leap was actually a huge reason we were such a special team last year.

Check out his stats now with last year broken up as if it were two seasons:

q stats 2 copy

Quincy had a particularly poor first half of the season last year, so his full year stats don’t really tell the story of the Q-Pon we saw during the heat of the Pac-10 Championship battle and the NCAA Tournament.

So, what does this all mean?:

Will “The Real Q-Pon” please stand up? I’m coming into this year assuming (hoping, really) that Quincy’s stats from February and March represent “The Real Q-Pon.” If that’s the case, we should be able to look for an average of at least 15 points and 7 rebounds. And, then, assuming normal improvement between his junior and senior seasons, maybe 17 and 8 isn’t out of reach.

We want the ball in his hands. The 2nd half Quincy was a much more efficient player, raising his scoring about 6 points, but only shooting about 3 more times per game. Any coach in the country takes that ratio. And, looking outside the numbers, Coach ensured ball was in his hands during some of our most key possessions down the stretch last year.

We need more. This also tells me that we’re going to need someone else to take the leap. Quincy’s really a known quantity at this point in his career, and I fully expect him now to lead the team in key statistical categories, provide leadership, and have the ball in his hands when it matters. So, while he and Isaiah will be the team’s stars, there’s a lot of contribution hanging in the balance.

What the numbers can’t say. One question I have is why Quincy made such a leap in the second half of last season? While it’s always admirable to see a player improve during the conference season, what caused him to step it up so drastically? Did Q-Pon’s improvement stem from a lack of pressure on him as the focal point. Did his comfort level improve once it was clear that he was the fourth option as far as scoring the basketball? Was this the first time since becoming a Husky that the expectation of what Quincy Pondexter would do finally matched what he could do?

One thing is certain, though, Quincy Pondexter’s Great Leap Forward last season didn’t turn out nearly as badly as Mao’s did in China. Like I said, I believe it was his play that gave us the unexpected surge we needed down the stretch. Where, though, will this year’s much-needed pleasant surprise come from?

Will MBA step it up and become the low-post force we’ve been begging him to be? Will Elston Turner let it fly to the tune of several big threes every contest? Or will one of our new additions, say, Tyreese Breshers, quickly establish himself as a third scoring option on the team? I’ll share my thoughts on this in the coming days and weeks, but I’d love to hear what you think. Drop a comment if you get a chance.

And, hey, thanks for coming!

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Elite Expectations

July 22, 2009 in Uncategorized by Themod | No comments

gloverton realSince we’re still a few months out from the season tipping off, I’ll spend the next few weeks trying to figure out what we can expect from the team during the 09/10 season, and what (and who) will make the difference between another title and a return to the middle of the Pac.

We can be good. Maybe even, very good. But, I’m super-dubious about what I’m seeing in the traditional media regarding expectations for the team next season. After such a successful 08/09 campaign*, there’s bound to be some hype. Seeing the team picked as the 12th, 14th,  or (gulp) 7th best team in the country, though? I just don’t like it.

Such high expectations are no good for a team that’s going to need to get a lot out of a relatively young backcourt. Wouldn’t you rather see guys like Isaiah, Gaddy, Gloverton, and E-trey Turner come out with something to prove, instead of an elite national status based on last year’s success?

And, wouldn’t you rather have our guys looking at what they need to do to wind up atop the Pac-10 again, instead of living up to this arbitrary system of ranking teams based at this point on perception? Coach will do all he can to keep the focus where it needs to be, but it’s human nature to buy into the hype. Just look at Notre Dame or Davidson last year.

I also don’t think these rankings are taking into account how much we’re losing in Dentmon and Brockman, who accounted for roughly a third of our scoring and rebounding last year. Gaddy should be very good, but he’s not expected to be a huge scorer, and as a point guard, probably won’t rebound much. And, I’ll lay out soon why I believe we’ve already seen about 90% of what we can expect from Q-Pon. I’d love to see Gant or MBA make the leap to give us 75% of what Brockman did, but I just don’t see it. Not yet.

Anyhow, let me know what you think. And, hey, thanks for coming…

*Let’s settle one thing right now. Yeah, I’ve heard some of you carping about our “disappointing” showing in the NCAA Tournament against Purdue. Last season, every piece of it, including the disappointing losses that bookended the season, was a total and complete success. A tour de force. A Bruin-stomping, Cougar-punking, Duck-plucking, sweet, sweet symphony. So, we didn’t do something we’ve only done five times ever (reach the Sweet 16). The NCAA tournament is a crapshoot. I’m fired up.

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