I checked out a new program from the UW Athlethic Department called, The Dawg Dish, hosted by former UW QB, Johnny Durocher. In the show’s first segment (the one devoted to hoops), Johnny goes one-on-one against Matthew Bryan-Amaning. I could’ve stood to hear a little more interviewing during the game, but, other than some questionable use of the black-and-white effect in the video editing, the segment is fun, as is the whole show (which goes on to cover softball and women’s soccer). Worth checking out.

You can see (what I believe to be) Jon Brockman’s first points in a pro uniform at :45 seconds of this clip.

And, at about 1:45 of this video, Jon grabs a rebound and throws an outlet which results in a dunkalicious finish by fellow rookie Omri Casspi. You can see another board by Jon at about 2:07 of the same clip.

Here’s a Nate Robinson video interview from Dime Magazine. Talks a bunch about the local basketball scene, and some of the Seattle-area basketball names who haven’t made it to the NBA, but still earn Nate’s respect. And, of course, Nate devotes a good chunk of the interview to talking about the merits of Twitter.

And, in case you didn’t realize how close we’re getting to Husky basketball, take a look at the left of the screen — barely more than a month away. Check this out!

Thanks for coming!

U…U…U-Dub!

Coming tomorrow: the Isaiah Thomas interview, part II.

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…

This could be an opportunity for contract negotiation, but Nate hasn’t built himself much leverage over the past few weeks. The team has a $2.9 million/one-year offer on the table to the restricted free agent that it can’t rescind, but there’s also no reason for them to up the offer since Nate doesn’t have anything concrete from other teams at this point.

I’ve purposely avoided making a huge deal out of NateGate: his (admittedly stupid) Twittering while he was detained by police a couple of weeks ago for driving with a suspended license. There are a lot of guys doing a lot worse things, so it would be a shame to see Nate lose out on offers over this incident. That said, you don’t get a lot of chances in this life. Nate’s on top of the world right now (or, he was before the traffic incident), and he should be protective of that, if for nothing else than for the selfish reason that he’s got a lot more money and fame than most people, and probably enjoys the perks that come along with that.

Thanks for coming!

If you want to read more about Anderson Hunt, who I wrote about in yesterday’s post, check out this recent article, in which he says he doesn’t regret forsaking his coach’s advice about staying in school.

In checking out some early 2010 mock NBA drafts, I was thrilled to see Quincy Pondexter appear on two of them: here and here.

And, here’s another article on Nate Robinson’s protracted contract situation.

In case you missed it yesterday, B-Roy’s five-year deal is now official.

And, hey baby! Dick Vitale’s preseason top 40 rankings are out with the Huskies at 16 and Cal at 14. “Gaddy’s gonna be a real diaper dandy, baby!” (Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)

And, hey, 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!

I’m man enough to eat my words, so please consider the following words eaten and digested. I was dead wrong when I said this yesterday:

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I’ll be thrilled to see even one NBA player come back for the event…

The Rainier Beach team, with Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, Terrence Williams, and C.J. Giles (former Oregon State Beaver, and a D-Leaguer last season), was a lot of fun to watch as they outclassed the O’Dea squad that had no one I recognized.

I couldn’t stay long enough to know whether Brandon Roy, Aaron Brooks, or Jason Terry made it out for the second game, but it’d be hard to imagine anyone competing with Rainier Beach unless the other team had some serious star power.

A few impressions and highlights, and then some photos and videos:

• You’ve got to respect these guys for coming back to their hometown to play in a balls-hot gym against iffy competition for what I imagine to be no pay, or very little pay. It means the world to the people of Seattle, as evidenced by the mostly packed Garfield gym, that despite their pro careers taking them all over the country, these guys haven’t forgotten where they come from.

• C.J. Giles is a guy I hadn’t heard much about until I did some reading up on him last night. Maybe it’s because he was the only guy playing at close to full speed of the A-listers I saw at the Hood Classic, but he was impressive. He’s about 6’10 with redonkulously long arms, and looks like he could hurdle over the backboard if he wanted to. He was beginning to make an impression at Kansas when he got kicked off the team after his sophomore season. He was then dismissed from Oregon State after one season, saddled by a host of immaturity issues off the court. Attention to any any NBA or European team in need of a big man: Give C.J. a look!

• Not that this will be news to anyone, but Nate Robinson is a freak of nature. Fun to watch someone that good who’s aware enough of his talent to really play to his hometown crowd. Here’s a good article on Nate’s current contract situation with the Knicks.

• No current NCAA ballers were allowed to play, which meant no Venoy Overton playing for the Franklin team. But, saw Venoy (and his entourage, which must’ve been about 10 deep) and Matthew Bryan-Amaning enjoying the action from the crowd.

Here’s some photos and videos from the event. Nothing great, quality-wise. My equipment, and my seat, didn’t make for the ideal shooting situation. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy what you see. If you were there tonight, I’d love to hear about it. Please let me know in the comments section!

Nate: "Hey, O'Dea, in those uniforms, y'all look like a little like the Cavaliers. . . if LeBron let his kitchen staff suit up for one game."

Just before a put-back dunk. O'Dea was asked to provide warm bodies for the occasion, but they sent these guys instead.

Jamal Crawford works his man before launching a three ball.

Terrence Williams is a physical specimen. Even at half-speed, I left thinking this dude is going to make it when he plays for the Nets next year.

"Did they mess up and invite alumni from the O'Dea J.V. team?"

And here are four video clips from the event. I had to put these on YouTube because my blog isn’t strong enough to hold the large files. The best one is the last one. Here are the links:

• Jamal Crawford hits a three at the end of the half.
• Nate Robinson hits a long three.
• C.J. Giles throws it down off an alley-oop.
• Nate does the Running Man, then knocks down a jumper.

Hey, thanks for coming!

UPDATE (8/2 @ 11:25 PM): Here’s the link to the Seattle Times’ coverage of the event, which includes everything I wasn’t there for, and an explanation of B-Roy’s absence.