Portland Preview
Conference: West Coast
Record: 6-3
Pomeroy Rankings: 44rd Overall, 45th Offense, 141st Defense
Best Win: 61-56 vs. Minnesota (nuetral court)
Coach: Erik Reveno 43-61 (4th season)
Key Players:
Nik Raivio: 6-4 Senior Guard: 14.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG
T.J. Campbell: 5-9 Senior Guard: 14.6 PPG
Scouting Portland:
Portland makes their money from long range. They're as good a 3 point shooting team as the Huskies will see this year, on the level of Cal. They play a deliberate pace and get their shot, and have some big bodies who are capable of getting offensive rebounds if not sealed off. Defensively they do not have the athleticism to shut their opponents down, and that side of the ball is their real weakness.
How to Beat Them:
People have been critical of Venoy Overton to this point in the season, but against a team that is as good on the perimeter as Portland is, he is going to need to crank up the intensity on defense. I wouldn't be shocked to see a healthy dose of Justin Holiday in this game as well, because his length on the outside will be useful in defending the three pointer. Quincy Pondexter will again be asked to match up against larger players on defense, and we can only hope that it resembles more closely the first half of last week's game (when he used his quickness to create turnovers) than the second (when he was overpowered for easy layups).
On offense the Huskies need to work on running more of a team style rather than Isaiah Thomas and Pondexter playing one on one all game. Both of those players should be drawing the defense in and yielding to the open man, be it another interior player for a layup (or foul) or kicking it out for an open look. Elston Turner needs to bounce back from his poor shooting night and knock down some shots. If either he or Scott Suggs can do that consistently it will space the floor and make Thomas and Pondexter all the more deadly.
Prediction:
Huskies win: 82-76
Kenpom says: 78-69 Huskies, UW with an 81% chance of victory.
Viewing: 7:00 PM, FSN
0 recs |
5 comments
Comments
Time for Gaddy to shine
I think it is crucial that we use some of these early nonleague games to get Gaddy comfortable running the offense. It’s time to start putting him in situations to make plays. If we intend on competing for the Pac 10 regular season championship, we’ve got to insert this kid into the offense. Gaddy has looked uncomfortable at times. We’ve got to create situations that gets him acclimated to high stakes college basketball.
I think Venoy’s minutes should start reflecting what they were last season. Overton was brilliant coming off the bench. More Overton does not equate to more wins. Less is more. That isn’t a bad thing. Overton is a young Jason Terry type, he’s a strategical primetime playmaker who plays great ball pressure defense. But our offense has got to come thru. Overton is spotty outside and is not a consistent point. Gaddy needs to be the guy orchestrating the O.
All I saw was purple
by crazidawg on Dec 19, 2009 1:12 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Outstanding first half...
…looking a bit sloppy here at the begining of the second.
by Snostrebla on Dec 19, 2009 8:26 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Portland is pretty good
Impressive performance against a pretty good team.
by John Berkowitz on Dec 19, 2009 9:01 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I can't figure out Portland
They started off hot, got ranked, and have hit a pretty bad lull lately. I’m not sure what happened between the first few games and now.
That said, anytime you run a team like tonight, it’s a good win. Portland was never in that game at all from beginning to end. Nice win.
by cougfan on Dec 19, 2009 11:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Great win tonight!
Too bad Gaddy got into early foul trouble. He could have benefited from the no pressure minutes.
by tintin on Dec 19, 2009 11:08 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

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