Dentmon is third in the Israeli league in scoring with 21.5 points per game. Former Gonzana guard Jeremy Pargo leads the league with 25.5 ppg for his team, Galil Gilboa.

Justin’s played in a couple of exhibition games already with his team, Hapoel Afula, and scored 20 in one of the games. Hard to imagine Justin actually does sit the bench all season like he told us his coaches said he would when he arrived.

Here’s a few photos of his new gym and JD in his new jersey, showing us what he might’ve looked like as an Indiana Hoosier:

The Hapoel Afula gym.

An unfamiliar number for Mr. Dentmon.

Ready to feast on the Middle East.

Montlake Madness: How is Israel so far?

Justin Dentmon: It’s okay. I just got out of practice, and the team said they’d give me a phone to call out to the states.

MM: What are your first impressions of Israel, and your new team?

JD: First impression was its not that bad, just a lot of people that look at you funny. My team is okay. We have a lot of teamwork to work on, but other than that it’s okay. It’s also really hot.

MM: Do you sense that you’ll be competing for a starting role?

JD: No. They told me I have to sit and watch. That’s my spot.

MM: For the whole season?

JD: Yes.

MM: How long is your contract for?

JD: It’s for seven months.

MM: What are you most nervous about in the next seven months?

JD: How the people will act.

MM: What will you miss most about being home?

JD: My family and friends, and basketball.

MM: Do you think you’ll stay in Israel for a long time?

JD: Hmm… Naw.

MM: Is there anything else you want to say to your many fans
in Seattle? They’re going to be thrilled to hear from you…

JD: Yes, tell them I said “thanks for all the support and I won’t
let them down.”

MM: What part of your game are you working on the most to
earn playing time on your current team?

JD: Everything, but I’m mainly working on my game to show the NBA I
can play the point.

MM: Then, let me ask you: Even though your stats were good, and you helped the team a lot, do you have any regrets about playing off-the-ball so much last season, as far as what scouts saw and didn’t see about your game?

JD: No. I did what I had to do to help the team. I was willing to do anything to get back to the tournament.

I let Justin know that we at Montlake Madness, along with all Husky fans were wishing him well. It’ll be interesting to see how his thoughts develop once he’s had a chance to spend some time in a new country with a new team. We’ll make sure to catch up with him again in a month or two.

It looks like JD will be a member of Hapoel Afula in the top Israeli league. Justin will be teammates with former South Carolina standout BJ McKie, former Kansas role player Ashante Johnson, and a bunch of Israeli guys I’ve never heard of.

His coach’s name is Eli Rabi.

This is awesome. A reason to follow the Israeli pro league. More on this as I get some kind of handle on anything, anything at all, about the team or the league.

Here’s a link to the news, and congrats to JD!

That said, I really do appreciate that so many of you check in regularly, since we do aim to post something new at least once every day. So, here are four videos I dug up that I thought were interesting:

Here’s an interview clip from an outfit called “Illinois HS basketball” with soundbites from Isaiah Thomas and Nate Robinson. Neither guy seems particularly interested in talking to the camera, but cool to hear them speak about Tony Wroten, Josh Smith, and Nate’s future with the Knicks.

These are some highlights of Tony Wroten playing at the Center Stage Classic in Las Vegas in late July. As many of you know, Tony will be a high school junior this year, and is rated by most as the top or second-best point guard in his class. His father, Tony Wroten Sr., played tight end for UW in the early 1980s, so we should have the inside track if Tony Jr. opts to stay close to home. (Should being the critical word there.)

Here’s a clip of Justin Dentmon playing in a Carbondale, Illinois, tournament that he put together. He talks a bit about what’s next for him, and says he’ll know in the next week or so whether he’ll be playing in Europe or the D-League this season.

And, here’s Matthew Bryan-Amaning with a wicked move during a tournament game in the UK this summer. I have to say that the guy guarding him looks about as lively as a coma patient, but good to see MBA taking it strong to the hole. We’ll need to see some of that from him this year.

Hey, thanks for coming! And, see you this week with a Husky player interview, the big “State of Husky Hoops Recruiting” post I’ve been working on, and all sorts of other fun stuff…

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!

Some Jon Brockman stuff:

It’s looking more and more like he’s a lock to make the Kings roster. I was curious and did some (very unscientific) research, and it looks like none of the other big-name second-round picks (Jeff Pendergraph, Jodie Meeks, DeJuan Blair, and Sniveling Poo-head, Chase Budinger) have their jerseys available in their team stores, while Brockman’s is available here.

Also, here are some more nice words about Jon from his new coach.

And, here are a couple of videos:

The first is some Brockman interview footage after one of the Kings’ summer league games.

And here’s some highlights from the Kings/Knicks summer league game. Nothing that highlights Jon specifically, but you can see him a bunch on the court – he played 33 minutes in the game, and grabbed 15 boards.

Josh Smith:

Dreaming of a starting lineup for the 2010/11 season that could be Final Four worthy? This good article on the many high school camps and tournaments going on during the summer in the Las Vegas area mentions that Kentwood senior-to-be Josh Smith has narrowed his choices to just UW and UCLA. He is THE big man prospect in the class of 2010, and getting him would be a coup along the lines of an Abdul Gaddy or a Spencer Hawes, possibly bigger.

Here’s a little Josh Smith footage.

Justin Dentmon and Nars:

And, here’s about a minute of footage from Coach Romar’s basketball camps that have been going on at UW over the past few weeks. Justin Dentmon engages in some mild schooling of a kid named Nars who plays high school ball in South Kitsap.

Reminder that voting is still open in Part II of The Fans Speak Out – Husky Basketball Fan Poll. I’ll keep it open until, probably, Tuesday, and then do a recap similar to what I did for Part I.

And, finally, huge thanks to Bob at the Seattle Times for linking to Montlake Madness on his Husky Hoops blog.

Okay, thanks for coming!

Last year, Isaiah Thomas helped Justin Dentmon greatly increase his scoring by allowing J.D. to slide over to the shooting guard position. Gaddy will do the same for Thomas this season, letting Isaiah fill a role he seems to relish more than running the point.

For the next two seasons, we’ll have a deep backcourt that should stack up well against any group of guards in the country. But, with Gaddy handling the point guard duties for at least two seasons, Isaiah Thomas will need to exercise a great deal of patience in order to give himself the best chance of success at the professional level.

Thomas averaged 15.5 points and 2.6 assists last season. It’s very likely that this year, he’ll average between 18 and 20, which could lead the Pac-10 or come close. During his junior season, he’ll likely be among the very best scoring guards in the country.

Even if we take that whole Facebook posting about I.T. heading to the NBA after this season as a joke (and I do), Husky fans better buckle up for what could be two straight off-seasons of “will he/won’t he?” regarding I.T. and the jump to the Association.

But, it’s not just the Huskies of 2010/11 and 2011/12 (and their fans) that will benefit from Isaiah playing out his full eligibility. Assuming prototypical point guard Gaddy leaves UW after two strong years for the NBA, Isaiah will need his senior season to earn his bona fides as a point guard, the only position he can play at the next level.

The under six-foot set in today’s NBA is a very small group of mostly traditional point guards like Brevin Knight and Mike Conley. Aaron Brooks and Nate Robinson can put up a lot of points, but both can also run the point.

I realize that I’m taking a lot for granted here, such as assuming everyone stays healthy, and assuming Gaddy isn’t going to stay more than two seasons.

But, looking into my crystal ball, I’m seeing Thomas eventually having to make the same decision as the one faced by Anderson Hunt:

Hunt was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1990 NCAA Tournament, playing shooting guard for coach Jerry Tarkanian during UNLV’s dominant seasons in 1989-90 and 1990-91. Taller than Thomas at 6’2″, he was still too short to be an NBA two guard. After Hunt’s junior season (1990-91), starting point guard Greg Anthony graduated, and Tarkanian was poised to move Hunt over to the one spot, giving him a full season to show the league what he could do as the floor general.

Hunt heard the whispers of the people around him and chose to ignore the advice of Tarkanian and other coaches. He declared for the 1991 draft, didn’t get picked and failed to catch on with a team after a couple of tryouts. He had a mediocre career playing in Europe and goes down in history as one of the best college players never to play a minute in the NBA. (In fact, Hunt is one of only two tournament MOPs since 1954 never to play in the league.) Would his senior season at the point have made a difference? It surely wouldn’t have hurt (unless, of course, he actually got hurt).

Time will tell how loudly the siren song of the Association will sound for Isaiah Thomas after this season, and, hopefully, after next. As of now, though, he doesn’t appear on any of the 2010 or 2011 mock drafts I could find, and hopefully the whispers will remain muted until he earns his way onto lists like these.

Once he does, though, I hope he’ll take a lesson from Anderson Hunt and the other cautionary tales who’ve left school before making the best possible case for themselves to the NBA.

What do you think? Will Isaiah stay four years, or jet sooner than that? Vote below in our Montlake Madness poll.

Hey, thanks for coming!

Until then, enjoy this clip of Justin Dentmon dunking over a bunch of children to win the Slam Dunk contest at this weekend’s Hood Classic.

Still a ways to go until then, which means we’ve got plenty of time to prognosticate, preview, talk about keys to the season, and, of course, write some haikus about our favorite basketballers :

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Here’s an article from the Everett Herald over the weekend on Jon Brockman.

And, here’s another point of view from the Hood Classic this weekend.

And, here’s a Justin Dentmon video from something called the “Black Baron Memorial Basketball Tournament.”

Hey, thanks for coming!