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!

U…U…U-Dub!

Coming tomorrow: the Isaiah Thomas interview, part II.

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!

Here’s what the Pac-10 might look like in 2009/10 if every player who’d entered the league since 2006 was still with their team. Take a look below at the starting lineups in reverse order of how I think they’d finish in the Fantasy Four-Year Pac-10 standings. Fantasy Four-Year additions are listed in bold, and, not surprisingly, the three teams receiving the least fantasy help wound up at the bottom of the conference.

Let me know how you think these teams might finish. And, hey, thanks for coming!

Oregon, 10th Place:

• C – Michael Dunigan, So.
• F – Josh Crittle, So.
• F – Joevan Catron, Sr.
• G – Tajuan Porter, Sr.
• G – Garrett Sim, So. / Malcolm Armstead, So.

This lineup will be the same as this season’s harsh reality for Oregon — their squad includes no fantasy four-year additions. And, just like in the real world, they’re not going to be expected to do anything better than ninth or tenth in the conference.

Washington State, 9th Place:

• F – DeAngelo Casto, So.
• F – Charlie Enquist, So.
• G – Nikola Koprivica, Sr.
• G – Klay Thompson, So.
• G – Reggie Moore, Fr.

Other than Thompson, this would be a team that struggled mightily to score against a lot of these fantasy squads. Thankfully, Ken Bone will be coaching in the real universe and should be able to fare (a little bit) better in the real Pac-10 than this.

Oregon State, 8th Place:

• C – Roeland Schaftenaar, Sr.
• F – Daniel Deane, Jr.
• G – Seth Tarver, Sr.
• G – Calvin Haynes, Jr.
• G – Jared Cunningham, Fr.

I don’t know if Haynes will actually start — he was too good off the bench last year. But, for the purposes of this post, I’d rather go with the best five. Whatever lineup they trot out, though, will be much improved in the real world, but would have trouble hanging here in the fantasy four-year Pac-10.

Stanford, 7th Place:

• C – Brook Lopez, Sr.
• C – Robin Lopez, Sr.
• F – Josh Owens, Jr.
• G – Landry Fields, Sr.
• G – Gabriel Harris, Fr.

The Lopez twins must be feeling like they got a raw deal as their fantasy squad isn’t as good as the team they played on in 2007/2008. That said, just like it did during their two seasons at the school, this Cardinal team would provide matchup problems for nearly every team in the conference.

Arizona State, 6th Place:

• F – Victor Rudd, Fr.
• F – Rihards Kuksiks, Jr.
• G – Ty Abbott, Jr.
• G – James Harden, Jr.
• G – Derek Glasser, Sr.

This is a small lineup, so maybe Eric Boateng or one of their freshman replaces Kuksiks or Abbott. By the way, is there an easier player to hate than Derek Glasser? He’s the cartoonish douche dude out of an 80′s movie — but in real life. Get this guy a black gi and some blond hair. . . and a crane kick to his chin.

Cal, 5th Place:

• F – Jamal Boykin, Sr.
• F – Ryan Anderson, Sr.
• F – Theo Robertson, Sr.
• G – Patrick Christopher, Sr.
• G – Jerome Randle, Sr.

An all senior starting group would make this the most experienced squad in our Fantasy Four-year Pac-10. Add the possibility of one of their two new frontcourt additions Markhuri Sanders-Frison or Bak Bak taking Boykin’s spot and this would be a solid, workmanlike team that could compete with anyone.

Washington, 4th Place:

• C – Spencer Hawes, Sr.
• F – Darnell Gant, So.
• F – Quincy Pondexter, Sr.
• G – Isaiah Thomas, So.
• G – Abdul Gaddy, Fr.

Dawgs would have been more scary last season with a starting lineup of Hawes, Brockman, Pondexter, Thomas and Dentmon. Still, a senior Spencer would be a force to be reckoned with.

Arizona, 3rd Place:

• C – Jordan Hill, Sr.
• F – Jamelle Horne, Jr.
• F – Chase Budinger, Sr.
• G – Jerryd Bayless, Jr.
• G – Nic Wise, Sr.

To think this was a Sweet 16 team last year without Bayless. This year’s team would be one of the top in the land without even considering their underrated incoming class.

UCLA, 2nd Place:

• C – Kevin Love, Jr.
• F – Nikola Dragovic, Sr.
• F – Tyler Honeycutt, Fr.
• G – Jrue Holiday, So.
• G – Russell Westbrook, Sr.

Hard to know which freshmen will carve out the most time in UCLA’s strong class this year, but Honeycutt or swingman Mike Moser would be the best bet to find court time with the other four in UCLA’s four-year fantasy lineup.

USC, Fantasy Four-Year Pac-10 Champs:

• F – Taj Gibson, Sr.
• F – DeMar DeRozan, So.
• G – O.J. Mayo, Jr.
• G – Dwight Lewis, Sr.
• G – Daniel Hackett, Sr.

It goes to show how affected the Trojans have been by early departures that this year’s top returning player, Dwight Lewis, only cracks the starting lineup if the Trojans play an undersized squad. Otherwise, incoming transfer Alex Stephenson starts at PF, pushing Lewis to the bench.

So, there it is. The Trojans earn the slight edge over the Bruins, and Fantasy Four-Year Pac-10 hoops supremacy rests solidly in southern California.