It was more than Quincy’s 30 point, 15 rebound performance — it just looked like Pondexter was playing with a real chip on his shoulder. What was unclear until after the game was exactly why.

He spoke candidly during the post-game press conference about his feelings toward San Jose State guard Adrian Oliver, a UW transfer, and about his entire freshman class (Pondexter, Oliver, Phil Nelson, and Spencer Hawes), all of whom have left UW, except for Quincy, of course.

(on whether he spoke to Adrian much during the game): “I didn’t talk to him nearly as much as I talked to Phil. Adrian, he got what he wanted. He got a school where he could score as many points as he wants. But, I’d rather be here where I’m at. We’re winning games. He had 32. I got the win. I’m happy.”

(on whether Pondexter and Oliver left things on good terms): “I can answer that now. No. We didn’t leave things on good terms when he left. It just happened, y’know?”

(on whether he was disappointed that Adrian left): “I was disappointed the whole class left, starting from Spencer (Hawes). I thought if Spencer came back, and our team was back again together, working hard, a full summer, and knowing what the college game was like, I think we would’ve been fine. We won 19 games that year, us only being 18-year-old kids.”

“We could have done so much more that year. We were a game or two away from winning 20 games and going to the tournament, I believe, that year. It was a heartbreaking year for me to see everyone go. And, y’know, everyone’s in their different situation now — the situation that they picked, and the situation that they wanted to be, so I can’t complain.”

(on how recently he had spoken to Oliver): “I hadn’t talked to Adrian from when he left that December — he left our apartment — I didn’t talk to him a few weeks when he was staying there, and I didn’t talk to him until two months ago. So, it happened. He’s in a situation. I’m in my situation.”

(on whether Oliver’s leaving was the reason for the bad feelings): “Yeah, I think, I felt stranded, y’know. He left me as a teammate. He left me as a friend. He left me with the rent. . . (laughter). . . That was the last person I was close to, so it was really tough my sophomore year, because people bond to people that are in their recruiting class. You come in together. You’re friends. That’s how it was. And, our team wasn’t as close, and I was kind of alone a lot of times. And, that next year, I bonded with Jon (Brockman) more. And, got the whole team together more, and it really helped us.”

(on why Pondexter and Oliver spoke two months ago): “He called me. It’s a funny story. There was a rumor going around that I got married. He called, and I was in my car driving. And, I thought I saw a 206 area-code number, but I didn’t have his number, and I had just gotten a new phone.

So, I answered it, and he’s like ‘please don’t say you got married.’ And I was like, ‘first of all who is this? I don’t know.’ And I looked at the phone again and saw it was a 209 area code where he’s from, and he’s like, ‘it’s A.O.’

I was like, ‘man, if I’d have known it was you, I wouldn’t have answered probably.’ We talked. We just said, ‘man, whatever happened in the past is in the past.’ He’s in a situation. I’m in my situation. We caught up, and we’re good, so, I’m proud of him. He did a terrific job tonight.”

Thanks for coming!

The Huskies will take on Portland State this Sunday evening, in the finale of the Athletes in Action Basketball Classic. In advance of the matchup, I had a chance to catch up with new Portland State head coach, Tyler Geving, recently. Geving spent four years as the top assistant to Ken Bone, who’s moved on to Washington State.

Coach Geving gave me some insight into his team and was also kind enough to tackle some other subjects as well, including Phil Nelson, Portland State’s junior forward who played his freshman season at UW.

Montlake Madness: Please give me the capsule scouting report on Portland as you see it at this point — style of play, strengths, weaknesses, etc.

Coach Geving: We are an up-tempo team on offense.  We are looking to run and score in transition.  We are trying to play pressure defense.  Strengths would be we have a core of 5 returning players from last year that have a lot of experience.  Weakness would be how deep we can go on our bench.

CG: You have to control their transition.  You can’t allow them to get out and
run and score early points in transition.  They are one of the best
rebounding teams in the nation so you have to battle on the glass and not
allow second-chance points.  Offensively you have to take care of the ball and
handle their pressure!  They are extremely good on both ends of the court.

MM: You’re from the area. Were you a UW fan growing up?

CG: Huge UW fan growing up. I was a kid watching the team with Alvin Vaughn, Shag Williams, Paul Fortier, Detlef (Schrempf), and Chris Welp. I used to shoot around outside pretending I was one of those five guys. Also, our family was big UW football fans growing up.

My dad is actually a season ticket holder for football. Outside of basketball, they are still my favorite sports team to watch and follow.

CG: These games are a true test of a tournament-like game. We don’t see the
athleticism, length, and strength like that during our league play so these
games definitely prepare you if you’re lucky enough to get to the Big Dance. It’s also a good measuring stick of how good you might be during league play
if you can compete with teams that you’re overmatched against.

CG: UW is very talented. Their backcourt has to be one of the best in the
nation. They can create a lot of turnovers with their pressure which will
lead to a lot of easy transition baskets. All those guards are skilled offensively and extremely quick which makes them hard to guard. Pondexter has grown into a nice player and a leader for them. He’s a physical player
on both ends of the court. MBA had a great game against us last year when
Brockman sat out. Lorenzo is a great coach and I think they have the
ability to make a deep run in the tournament this year.

CG: I think Phil has moved on from his days at the UW. He doesn’t talk about it much. I’m sure he wants to go up there and put on a good performance at a
place he used to play. Phil has grown up a lot on and off the court, and
hopefully this will be a breakout season for him. He has all the talent to
be a great player.

Thanks for coming!

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!