Washington breaks the Maples Jinx
by John Berkowitz on Feb 8, 2009 5:07 PM PST
Email
PrintThe Huskies started slowly in this one overcoming a 10 point first half deficit to take the lead at the half and go on to a 75-68 win over Stanford.
Quicncy Pondexter tallied 20 points, including a pair of key free throws down the stretch to help lead the Huskies to victory, It was the second straight 20 point performance for the junior.
Isaiah Thomas added 17 points for the Huskies (17-6, 8-3 Pac-10), who ended a 15-game losing streak at Stanford. Jon Brockman added 13 points and 12 rebounds, andVenoy Overton had 11 points.
Landry Fields scored a career-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Cardinal (14-7, 4-7), who have lost four of their last five. Anthony Goods added 12 points and Jeremy Green had 11.
Stanford closed to within 66-63 on Fields' jumper with 2:18 left. Thomas followed with a leaner and the Cardinal never got any closer.
The Huskies end up salvaging a split on their four game road trip. Nexy up is the two Oregon schools who will visit Hec Edmundson this week.
17 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
BIG Win!
All those who think Overton’s minutes should be cut don’t see what he brings to the table. O stepped up big tonight for a foul-plagued Dentmon and he delivered. The talk about Overton is that his assist/turnover ratio hasn’t been a consistent effort in regards to the flow of the offense or something like that.
My view of O’s game is that when you press as hard as O does, turnovers are likely to occur at a higher rate then from guards bringing the ball up at a relatively slower pace. Point blank- if you run an uptempo offense you are going to have more turnovers then a slower paced team.
Q has grown up big time. Glad to see this guy’s confidence soaring. Now that we’ve got Pondexter’s confidence up I’d like to see Gant and Holiday’s confidence higher with their shot. Let me tell you, it’s pretty scary seeing Gant go up for a mid range jumper as Stanford is mounting a come back. I still think it would do him a lot of good to set him up for some back door alleyoop dunks. That energy would just feed off towards his low post game.
BIG win and we needed this in order to close strong with 5 of the remaining 7 league games at home.
Go Dawgs! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
Sample size.
Overton had a good game. However, this was not a typical game for him, and in fact this was probably the best game he has ever played for the Huskies. If he played like this every game I would have no problem with him getting the 5th most minutes on the team. But he doesn’t. He’s a good guard when he’s in transition, which he showed today, but he is garbage in the half court, which he also showed today.
cassino ... I don't think you actually watch the games?
Overton has a role: pressure D, distribute, and handle the ball. He’s played that role well all year. When the Dawgs were down by 10, he rolled off three steals and a couple of dimes. Brockman’s easiest shots all season come from the pick and roll with Venoy on the other end.
Garbage in the half court? You’ve gotta be kidding me. No one else can get an entry pass down low. Brockman doesn’t score much when Venoy is on the bench. That has been the story all season.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
by the way - didn't mean to be combatitive ...
… just sparking debate. I’ve been frustrated that we can’t get Brockman going when both IT and JD are in the game together. It’s great that they can score … but we need to find a way to feed the man as post season approaches, and Venoy seems to be the only guy that can run the pick and roll. I don’t get that.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
Good points Gekko
I agree with you on Overton. He does turn the ball over a little too much for me tho but it comes with the stlye he plays. If he can get better at controlling that he will be a big part of the success of this team now and in the future. He had a great game tonight.
One reason I think Brockman scores more with Overton in the game is b/c O doesn’t look to score as much as I T or Dentman. He’s more of a true point guard.
He played way over his head today. It was his highest point total of the season. His highest rebound total of Pac-10 play. His highest assist total of the season. His highest steal total of the season. We may have just witnessed the ceiling for Venoy Overton. It was probably the best game he will play all year, and possibly the best game he will ever play in his career. I would love for him to play like that more often, but he doesn’t. He is simply not a talented enough to perform at that level consistently.
Maybe he makes a good entry pass every now and then (that nobody else can make one is untrue – Holiday makes the best entry passes on the team as he showed in this game), but it doesn’t make up for his turnovers (highest rate on the team), the shots he takes (never a reason for him to be shooting anything but a layup, the guy sucks at shooting) and the time he kills on the shot clock (he has no aptitude for running a set offense, which disrupts everybody else and forces rushed shots).
Cassino
Who knows…maybe it was Overton’s breakout game. Stuff like that happens at this level where it all begins to click.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 9, 2009 7:07 AM PST up reply actions
It wasn't
His performance was fueled by his 5 steals (4 more than his average). Without them he has fewer opportunities in transition. Unless you think that he’s going to average 5 steals from here on out, his performance will drop back down to where it has been for the rest of the season.
To put how next to impossible it would be for Overton (or anyone) to average 5 steals, Devin Gibson leads the nation in steals with a Stl% of 7.15 and 3.7/game. For Overton to get to Gibson’s level, he would have to double his Stl% and double his minutes and he still wouldn’t be there. If he tripled his steal rate while playing his normal minutes he’d be almost there. He’d also have to do it in the Pac-10, not the Southland. It simply won’t happen.
This game was clearly an outlier for Overton, and this type of performance should not be expected or counted on in the future.
man - you really have it out for Overton
… and you keep choosing not to respond to the observation that he executes his role well and that Brockman is most productive with VO is in the game. Your only counter was that was that Holiday was better with the entry pass . Turnovers, of course, are a problem – but you fail to acknowledge that he turns it over less than IT and, in fact, has a lower TO percentage than JD did as a sophomore … and only slightly higher than JD has right now.
Above all, I find it curious that you are not willing to extend to this true sophomore the same room for development that you would to other players who mature over a four year period. Why was last night an “outlier” as opposed to a “sign of his potential”?
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
Repeat:
Maybe he makes a good entry pass every now and then, but it doesn’t make up for his turnovers (highest rate on the team), the shots he takes (never a reason for him to be shooting anything but a layup, the guy sucks at shooting) and the time he kills on the shot clock (he has no aptitude for running a set offense, which disrupts everybody else and forces rushed shots).
His “role” is a defensive player, but he isn’t tall enough to execute that role. Opposing players shoot over him, and his 1 steal a game is countered by the times he goes for a steal (nearly always) and gets burned.
Turnovers, of course, are a problem – but you fail to acknowledge that he turns it over less than IT and, in fact, has a lower TO percentage than JD did as a sophomore … and only slightly higher than JD has right now.
This is mostly untrue. You’re clearly just making things up.
He turns it over fewer times than Thomas, but at a much higher rate. Thomas plays more minutes and has the ball in his hands more, which results in more turnovers. Also, he’s a freshman.
Overton’s TO% is 33.7, Dentmon’s as a sophomore was 27.0. Which is lower?
Dentmon’s TO% now is 16.9, almost exactly HALF of Overton’s.
O MY!
I think what we are forgetting is the fact that O is the 6th man or the 1st guard off the bench. He’s a roll player. If he were a starter then it would be obvious the kid needs to develope his game an not turn the ball over so much. His job as a role player is to “create a spark”. That means when O comes in he is pushing the ball up court at a faster pace in order to create something. Granted his half court game is not desirable, which I can agree in part with. But that is not why he is brought into the game my fellow Husky fan. He is sent into the game for 3 reasons…
1) To create a spark off the bench
2) To give Thomas and Dentmon a blow
3) Foul issues
His job is not to operate the half court offense on a consistent basis and this might explain why he has issues with turnovers. I would think that maybe if his job was to operate the offense as a starter, you might see a little more consistency in his play. Quite confident a guy named Jason Terry had issues of this kind at Arizona when he was the rotating guard off the bench. When Terry became a regular his game went to a different level. Overton is doing a fine job and I for one believe he is one reason we are where we are today because of his unselfishness as the rotating guard coming in.
Holiday isn’t ready to assume a larger role just yet. His offensive confidence isn’t there. But he is a dam good adjustment player who can shadow very well.
All I saw was purple
I wasn't making it up - I was using different stats - TO's per game.
… but, I see that you still fail to acknowledge that he is a true sophomore worthy of more development time (same as Holiday) AND that he has a role that he sticks to. You are a bit obsessed and, since you are a stats hound, I’d like to know Brockmans scoring rate and FG% when VO is in the game vs when he isn’t. I think the definition of glue guy would seem to apply.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
I agree that he is not a polished shooter.
…thankfully, he is not under the illusion that he is. Thus, when he is forced to pick up minutes from JD, he plays his own game rather than trying to fill JD’s role. This is what I especially appreciate about Venoy. He was the best player on the court last night … and I don’t even think it was all that close.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
So glad we could finally get one down there!
I had no idea it had been so long. Great win! Beat Oregon State!
Whatever happened to...
PPG, Reb, Assists, TO etc as stats?? When did we get to eFG, TO, ORating, etc…who invents this stuff?
Thecassino, you seem very knowledgeable about all these crazy stats, lines on the games such as probablitiy of win, and what not but the fact of the matter is that Overton had a very strong game. Should we expect this every night, probably not, but big players step up when they are called upon..he was called upon and did his thing. The guy can obviously play, its just getting him to be consistent now. I am a very big “what have you done for me lately” and Overton did a lot so until he proves that statement wrong, I will say that he is playing well considering his role.
By the way, you might be the most negative fan we have. I guess for every crazidawg there has to be a thecassino, the ying to the yang.
I'm not disputing that he had a good game
But it’s one game. Yes, he had a great game, and I’d love it if he played like that night in and night out, but I don’t see why I should discount every other game he’s played based on one good one where he played way over his head.
All I’m saying about Overton is this: If the team had more depth at guard (3 freshmen and Dentmon) he would not be playing, and I think this will become evident over the next couple of years.
If anything, the most encouraging thing the past two games has been Pondexter’s play. Unlike Overton, Pondexter has upside; he’s a guy who can consistently score 20 points a game without needing flukey stats (5 steals) to do so. If he continues his performance that would be much better for the program than if Overton continues his. Losing Dentmon next year shouldn’t hurt too much with Thomas coming back with a year under his belt and Gaddy, one of the top recruits in the nation, coming in to take over the point (along with the development of Turner and Suggs). But Brockman’s production will be harder to replace. If Pondexter can pick up some of the slack and becomes the team’s post scorer, then if MBA takes another big step in the offseason and Gant comes back with a little more skill on the offensive end, next year’s team could be even better than this year’s.
O has an Upside
Would we be 8-3 in league and 17-6 overall without Overton? Venoy was a starter last year. Something many kids who break in don’t like to give up. This kid is the most unselfish kid on the team and for that I think he should be rewarded for that. How would you handle it if a freshmen came in a took your job? Venoy has handled it like a man. This kid has more upswing then most can’t even phathom.
Go O! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
