Huskies battle Sun Devils
by John Berkowitz on Jan 31, 2009 9:06 AM PST
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PrintThe Huskies collide with ASU today as both teams look to keep from being swept this weekend. ASU fell to WSU on Thursday in a bit of a surprise. The Huskies on the other hand were knocked off by Arizona.
Number one on todays agenda for the Huskies is to stop the Pac 10's leading scorer James Harden. That duty will likely fall to Quincy Pondexter and Justin Holiday. Harden is a super slick swing man/ shooting guard that can create a variety of shots inside the paint to throw off any defense once he gets hot.
"I think he's the best scorer in the conference, and I think he's the best player in the conference," UW forward Jon Brockman said. "He's a good, all-around player. He can pass. He can shoot. He's got the whole package. I don't think he gets enough national attention."
Harden present s a big mismatch for the Washington guards so count on Holiday to get more than his usual quality minutes tonight. If there is one guy on the Husky squad who can him defensively it would be Holiday.
Washington has a lot more depth than the Sun Devils. Washington needs to use that depth to tire the Sun Devils out.
Isiaiah Thomas needs to bounce back from a game where he was outplayed on both sides of the ball for the first time since early this season. Look for Thomas to learn from the experience and have a pretty good game.
Game notes
O'Dea High School alumnus Jamelle McMillan, a sophomore point guard and son of Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan, comes off the bench for ASU, averaging 3.9 points and 1.8 assists per game.
Washington needs to start hitting the boards harder. The Huskies dominated most of the season on the boards but over the last couple of weeks they have allowed opponents to keep up with them in that area. UW needs to get back to the rough and tumble play that got them this far.
The Huskies average 79.8 points per game which leads the Pac 10. ASU averages 72.4.
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Harden
Harden is going to get his points- it’s a given. So do you waste so much energy on trying to stop him? I think what should be done is limit his shot selection. I think it is important in order to beat Arizona State to shut down all lanes to the basket. I think we suck in the defense and force Harden to make his shots from the outside. If this kid is going to beat us, then surely he’ll have a harder time obtaining his point production for 20 feet out on the perimeter. Sucking in the defense will allow us to control the paint and the boards.
We can’t allow Arizona State to get a lot of easy fast break points, another critical area Harden begins to rack up his point totals. Our mission should be to get back on defense especially if the Sundevils are pushing up the ball.
Now we have the manpower to offer a lot of fouls on Harden, but do we want to send this kid to the line? I say no. Pack the paint, force Harden to shoot outside and if we have to foul this kid, make sure it is not a shooting foul or at least minimize his shooting foul attempts.
In the WSU game, Harden scored 29 points and lost. I haven’t seen footage of that game but I am willing to go out and say WSU forced Harden to take the outside shot and limited his shot selection.
Go Huskies! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
Harden
Harden will get his points…we just don’t want him to go off like Wise and Buddinger did the other night.
Sun devils
I don’t think that ASU is as good as everyone thinks they are. i feel like the huskies need to win this one, not only for another w, but also to show that they can win on the road and gain more confidence. They lost to Portland on the road, 2 games in Kansas, and against Arizona. They only beat the weak northwest teams on the road.
Let's hope Overton doesn't kill us too much
Guardplay is going to be key in this matchup with the zone that ASU plays. Dentmon and I.T. need to try to penetrate and knock down their open shots. If Turner can knock down a couple threes like he did against Arizona that would be huge.
Overton has had a good season
… in particular, he’s been a very effective pressure defender. He’s not a shooter, but that is not his role.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
This will be the hardest P-10 game of the season.
If we can pull this one out, we’ll be favorites to win the conference.
Awesome win....
We needed this one after the disappointment in Tuscon. I had my doubts before the season, but now I’m sold—-these Huskies are for real.
Now if they can just avoid the dreaded second-half fade, we should be sitting pretty on Selection Sunday.
Is that the light at the end of the tunnel, or the headlights of an oncoming train?
We're only thru the first 1/2 of the Pac 10 Season
We can dream of Pac 10 championships and lofty seeds from the selection commitee, but we’ve only completed 1/2 of our Pac 10 schedule. We still have the bay area trip and the LA trip to look forward to.
Hopefully this team learned a lesson in Tuscon. We can’t come out in the second half and mail in our defensive effort. It’s got to be there for the entire game. Cal is going to want to get back in the race, USC is going to want to get back in the race, and Ucla will be a devastating game win or lose at Pauley.
I say enjoy the Pac 10 season for what it is and continue celebrating our great season. But let’s not get our hopes up just yet. Their is still a lot of basketball to be played and I am confident that both Cal and Ucla know that very well.
All I saw was purple
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