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!

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:

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.

I chatted with Terrence Jones last night and confirmed that he did visit Oklahoma last weekend, and he said that the visit was “good.” He also confirmed that he’ll be in attendance tomorrow night for Midnight Madness at UW.

Isaiah Thomas talked a little more about jumping to the NBA at Media Day yesterday and also about possibly going out for Sark’s football team.

Here’s what Isaiah told us about the NBA about a month ago. I really don’t know what to think about this. It’s obviously going to come up with a player of Isaiah’s talent, but I still net out on him needing at least a season as a full-time, straight-up point guard to give himself the best shot of success in the League. Here’s my post on the “Anderson Hunt corallary” as it pertains to I.T.

1. Because we can be better than Bluegrass. (Or, maybe, just as good.) ESPNU will be there covering the event as part of a four-hour Midnight Madness special. Among the other schools featured will be North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky. Wildcat fans, who slept in tents to make sure they weren’t shut out of Midnight Madness, had to buy their tickets and sold out Rupp Arena in 45 minutes. If we want to be thought of in the same breath as the top teams in the college basketball world, we shouldn’t have any empty seats glaring back at the ESPN cameras.

2. You say “Terrence,” I say “Jones.” You say “Tony,” I say “Wroten.” In attendance Friday night will be prized Husky recruit Terrence Jones. We’re one of six schools in the running for the top-25 prospect who will be fresh off a visit to Oklahoma, and heading to Kentucky for their (sold-out) Blue/White game later this month. Showing Terrence a good time probably won’t clinch it for the Dawgs, but this is our opportunity to make our case that he doesn’t have to go across the country to find the best fans in college basketball.

Tony Wroten is also scheduled to be in attendance, and, while he’s seen first hand what a Husky crowd can do, let’s reinforce the mantra that Tone should stay home.

3. It’s non-fan friendly too. Hopefully, if you’re in a relationship, it’s a solid one. You have trust, mutual admiration and respect, and both have a healthy love for Husky athletics. But, let’s just say that last piece is missing, or lacking a little bit. Maybe your wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend just isn’t big into sports, or (gasp) has a childhood allegiance to a faraway team, and it’s hard to get them to commit a couple of hours to watching a game.

Midnight Madness is the perfect event to start chipping away at that frosty veneer. There will be a dunk contest which includes this guy, and honestly, who doesn’t love a slam dunk contest? And there will be “special non-basketball performances by players and coaches,” the thought of which kind of horrifies me, but could be the perfect way for your loved one to make that personal connection to Husky basketball necessary for a season (or lifetime) of mutual hoops-viewing bliss.

4. Bring the kiddies. Similarly to #3 above, you’re trying to build a relationship with your children that will perservere through a lifetime of conflict opportunities. No matter what happens later, at least you can say you gave them Husky basketball. Plus, if you get your kid interested now, you’ve got more than a month to teach them the basic rules of the game before the season tips off. Perfect timing.

5a. It all starts NOW. Of course, there’s no way to know how this season goes. The Dawgs will compete for the Pac-10 title again, and should wind up playing in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year. They’ve got the horses to make some noise. Real noise. Don’t you want to say you were there from day one?

5b. In all starts NOW (Abdul Gaddy edition). Maybe Abdul Gaddy is just going to be a decent, pass first point guard, who will play a few ho-hum seasons at UW and then go on to play professionally in the NBA or elsewhere. Or, maybe, he’s going to be so much more awesome than that.

I’m betting on “so much more awesome than that.” And, I’m psyched to get my first look on Friday night. See you there, Dawg fans!

Thanks for coming!

What better way to show Terrence what the Dawg Pack and the rest of the crowd can do, and let him imagine himself participating next year?

According to his mom, he’ll be visiting Oklahoma the week before, Arizona a week after UW, Kentucky on the 28th, and UCLA on November 6. It’s likely that he’ll take an unofficial visit at Oregon on October 31st.

By the way, since we throw around “official visit” and “unofficial visit” so frequently when it comes to recruiting, here’s a good site explaining the difference between the two.

Hey, thanks for coming!