Player and team thoughts
by DAWGFAN87 on Feb 3, 2011 10:21 PM PST
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PrintThis husky team has a lot to improve on if they do not want to embarrass themselves the rest of this season. They are not consistent, they do not have that us against the world mentality like previous dawgs team had and they still have not found their identity yet. I am going to give my thoughts on the players and what I think we need to do to get better.
IT- He played so well for us but he has regressed these past two games as other teams have focused on him. He is playing a little IT freshman year and needs to go back to the IT of the past 5 games. You really see him struggle when the other team has big guards on him. I think him and Venoy cannot be on the floor at the same time when teams play zone. It should be an either or but not both because neither shoot the 3 well and when you have both of them in against the zone they cannot play the ball over the zone because they are not tall enough. Tonight I would have gone with more Venoy and less IT as VO was more effective in my opinion.
VO- I thought took a step forward this game but still does stupid things out of no where. Ex. throwing the ball out of bounds when he was not on the same page as Holiday. We need the Venoy who slashes dishes and plays solid. Going off the IT comment, VO and IT both need the ball in their hands to be most effective and that is another reason that they should not be in the game at the same time. They are much more efficient when they can drive and dish to ROss Wilcox or Suggs.
MBA- Needs to get up for every game. It seems like unless he gets off to a hot start he will not be effective during the game. He still lacks that killer attitude that is needed to be a D 1 big man. He also misses to many easy shots around the pant. When teams play zone, he needs to man the paint and make it so the d has to collapse on him so that our shooters will be open to drain the 3 ball. He has been solid but could still improve.
Ross- You can tell he is a freshman, but he is still the best talent on our team. If we can get him to play defense and only take open shots he will do great. It would also be great to see him use the pump fake and take it to the hole some more. He was rebounding the ball pretty well tonight though.
Holiday- He has regressed as the season has gone on. To me it seems like the more he worries about improving his offensive game the worse his defense gets. I think he needs to go back to his bread and butter and play solid defense and not worry so much about offense. We have so many weapons but we lack that solid defense from him that we enjoyed last year.
Suggs- Has improved and looks much more comfortable in the starting line up. With Wilcox struggling we are depending on him way to much for the 3 ball. He will hit his percentage and that is all you can ask for him. I like how he is shooting off the dribble and using his mid range game. I would love to see him as well drive to the hole more though.
Wilcox- Just is not the same player as he was at the beginning of the year. Could be a mixture of injury and being a freshman but he is struggling plain and simple. We need him to take the pressure off of Suggs because I would love to see a line up of VO Suggs Holiday Wilcox and MBA. But Romar cannot use that because he is struggling .
Gant- He might be the team MVP during the Pac Ten season. I know he does not put up the big numbers but he does everything that you need from someone. He has a nice jumper, plays solid d, and just does everything and anything you need on the court. He still needs to work on his rebounding but he has gotten better the last 5 games.
Aziz- I know he is coming off a torn ACL and he is still very raw at basketball but he needs to go to the end of the rotation IMHO. Does anyone else notice when he plays defense that he slumps over and instead of being a 7 feet tall he drops to being probably 6-6. It needs to learn that to be an effective presence in the post that he needs to look 7 feet tall. Also he has not been blocking shots, he looks lost on the floor, no offensive moves, and cannot shoot free throws consitently, I like the guy and think he will be great by the time he leaves UW but we cannot afford right now to have him learn how to play D-1 basketball during Pac Ten season. In the right match up he will thrive but not every game is going to be the right match up. I would give Gant or Ross his starting position depending on the team.
Romar- He needs to step up his game and change some things up to send a message to his team. If IT is turning the ball over by playing out of control he needs to sit on the bench. I would like to see a line up change first of all. Below is my idea of how the starting 5 should be put together.
IT or Venoy
Ross or Wilcox or Gant depending on match up
Suggs
Holiday
MBA
Romar needs to let his scorers score and his defense players worry about that. Allow Holiday to only worry about shutting down the other teams best player. I would also like to see them full court press a lot more. They have the length, quickness, and depth to press or at least put full court pressure on. They need some spark from the coaches to light some fire in these players. Losing to OSU is not acceptable.
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IT shoots 36.2% from beyond the arc. That's not terrible. He was, however, off the mark today.
And MBA played the five spot in limited action against the Cougs, and I wasn’t impressed, personally. You make some good points, though, particularly regarding Suggs.
Teams (for foreign blogs): Seahawks, Mariners, Huskies and Broncos. Yes, I recognize the contradiction; I was born in Denver.
On Aziz slumping
he bends his knees and prepares on defense. It’s proper technique and not something that hinders him because he explodes out of the stance to block shots. A lot of screening teams send their big men out to screen the ball and in the man D, Aziz has to follow out. His “slumping” allows him to move laterally very well and not get beat. What he does need to do (which to his credit he has been doing better the last couple games) is quit leaving his feet on defense. When he puts his hands straight up, he can reach 10’ in the air. When he leaves his feet to block shots, he’s been prone to getting driven into and getting called for a cheap (but correct) foul. If he can stay on his feet and stay straight when guarding his man, he can carve out a niche for himself.
On Holiday playing only defense:
He’s the most efficient scorer on the team, all while getting less touches (or poss) than Ross, Wilcox, MBA and IT. He’s got the second highest eFG on the team at over 60% and he’s shooting 40% from behind the arc. If anything we need to get him more involved in the offense.
If I could choose my starting 5, it would be — IT, Ross, Holiday, MBA and Aziz.
That gives us 5 solid defenders on the floor, an inside scoring presence, a good drive/kick distributor, and two guys who can “can” threes. Plus we’d have 4 very good rebounders on the floor as well. I think Ross has really earned himself a spot in the starting lineup, especially last night. He was making hustle plays (tip jams and fighting for rebounds) and he’s really shown a knack for trying on defense. I like Suggs as a change of pace guy to spell Holiday or Ross, but he’s a defensive liability.
Suggs
How can you have him not in the lineup. He was our best player on both ends of the court last night
I like Ross better as a rebounder and on Defense
he also has more way to kill the other team offensively. I like what Suggs did last night, but he doesn’t do anything on D consistent enough for me.
If Suggs can keep this up
I’d like them both in. I just feel the lineup that allows us the best chance to jump out early includes Aziz and Ross. Not that those guys need to get more minutes, just that it would set a good tone.
Ross on D?
kidding? he gives effort, but he is very very unreliable on help D.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
Holiday looked lost
He was way to indecisive on offense. I dont really look at the stats in basketball. This is not baseball. There are too many parts of the game that dont go on the stat sheet.
He's slumping right now
I find it hard to believe that his massive offensive stats are an anomaly. He’s leading the team in ORtg, shooting over 60% from 2 and 40% from 3, his Off and Def rebounding rates only trail MBA and Aziz, likewise his Block % only trails MBA and Aziz and his steal % only trails Venoy.
He’s top 3 on the team in so many stats if not leading outright that I find it hard to believe that he’s a problem. I agree that stats aren’t everything, but they are a lot.
I want him in the starting lineup but..
Stats can be deceiving. Like who did he have his big offensive games against. the only two decent teams he had good offensive games against were Cal and Arizona.
Define good offensive game
I think 12 points on 4-7 shooting including 2-4 behind the arc is a good offensive game. Not big, but good. 20 points on 7-12 shooting and 4-7 from 3 is a good offensive game. Those were against USC and TTU respectively. He’s had 3 pretty bad offensive games in a row, but it’s easy to forget how solid and mistake free was was playing earlier this season. Even on Sunday he picked up 12 boards, so it’s not all bad. I think he’s just slumping.
He does need to pick his spots better though
he’s jacking up shots he doesn’t need to, and that’s not acceptable.
Aziz-
What i meant on him was that he was advertised as a defensive presence and that it would deter people from coming to the paint. Recently all that I have seen is teams will spread us out and back door cut us because they bring AZiz away from the hoop and he cannot react in time to cover the back side. It is frustrating to watch because not once this year have I seen him foul someone so hard that it deters people from coming to the paint. He plays soft and if that is the case I would rather Gant or another wing player take his minutes.
I get what you're saying
but he is 7’ tall and we do play man defense. I think the problems with Aziz’s defense (outside of committing bad fouls) falls on Romar and his inability to adjust to cutting teams as of late.
I disagree when you say the dawgs have depth – they have no depth in the Bigs and no depth at point guard. After MBA no one who can score inside. They only have two players who can handle the ball IT and Overton. IT in a slump and having to do to much – Overton has not played well all year. Overton plays 18 minutes last night during this time the Huskies are a -16.
We've got two quality big men and two guys who can handle the ball
we’re really deep in wings, but depth in basketball isn’t about having a ton of layers, it’s about not having drop off in the guys who get in the rotation. The fact that our rotation is 8 guys after losing our starting PG for the year is astounding.
When the guy who replaces a starter can start on any other team in the conference, that’s depth.
I'll agree our guard depth took a hit
But Aziz is the only guy on the team with a set in stone position. The way we can shift guys around makes us deep.
Now if we lose IT or VO (knock on wood), then I wouldn’t call us deep. We have multiple guys at each position on the floor with little to no drop off in production. That’s the definition of depth.
Two quality big men? Who? Who can score inside? Who can rebound? Are you saying Overton – Gant and Wilcox can start on any team in the conference? What am I missing here? Last night they were all minuses when in the Game ( 1st half- 2nd – total) Gant: -3, -8, -11 Overton: -8, -8, -16 Wilcox: -3, -3, -6 . None of these guys shoot over 40% from the field.
Okay...
- Two quality big men – Aziz and MBA, yes they can be erratic, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a pair who’s played better this year than them (USC and UCLA can make a case, but not a great one).
- We’re deep in the wings with Holiday, Ross, Suggs and Wilcox. People seem to forget that Wilcox has been hampered all year with staph infection and now a concussion. When healthy earlier in the year, he was playing as well and any guard on the team.
- Yes, every player in the rotation is talented enough to earn a starting spot on any team in the conference. It’s hypothetical, but I’ll stand by the statement. Although a couple are certainly iffy and are role players on this team.
Last night was a terrible game, but the team hasn’t collapsed. I get tired of people saying things about the players that aren’t true, especially after two bad games. We’re one game out of first with 5 of 9 at home and the one on the road against Seattle U. The sky has not fallen.
Pac 10
Oh i think we are by far the best team in Pac. But I no longer want to compare this team to a very weak Pac 10. I am ready for Romar to take a team to the Final Four. I thought we had a shot this year. Some what ifs might have gotten us there (Jones, Gaddy, Bressers). I want to start comparing this team to big boys across the country. We just arent there. I would be surprised if we made it to the sweet 16
I wouldn't
We were clown stomping teams in conference up until last week. I don’t know why everyone is off the bandwagon now after a couple of tough road losses. The team still has the pieces, and if we get hot could easily land in the final four. We could also lose out if we don’t play better, but just because we lost a couple doesn’t mean this team is done.
I--again--find myself wishing for a break down of defenses we face per possession.
The 2-3 is killing us. Why? I don’t know. I’m rewatching the game tomorrow, and my primary focus is going to be why MBA is poop-on-a-stick against it when, given his physical characteristics, he should be shredding it in the mid post. Aziz I can excuse due to an ACL-induced lack athleticism and a rawness that was masked preconference.
Teams (for foreign blogs): Seahawks, Mariners, Huskies and Broncos. Yes, I recognize the contradiction; I was born in Denver.
by THolt on Feb 5, 2011 6:42 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
We've been shooting bad behind the arc
Suggs was hot Thursday and Ross the Sunday before but everyone else on the team shot worse than 33% in both those games. If we get long shots to fall when the other team drops into a zone it’ll make them respect us. In the NC and early conference schedule, those shots were falling, and it makes a team respect you outside. Until we can hit consistently, they can just pack the paint and make sure nobody gets the ball down low.
Live by the 3... you die by the 3.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 6, 2011 11:22 AM PST up reply actions
If we beat Oregon
and get it done at home (and against Seattle) and get swept in Arizona we still finish 23-8 and should end up a 6-8 seed. I firmly believe that there is not a team that we cannot beat in the country. With the unfortunate luck we’ve had this year, I’d say Sweet 16 is a success.
The bigtime basketball schools beat the folks they are suppose to beat
We’ve got a long way to go before we even think about taking this program to a new level. Aziz is a fine defender, but offensively right no he is an offensive casualty. Everybody knows they can cheat off guarding him. If we continue to have him in the starting lineup we have to get it to him somehow so defenders will respect him as a legit offensive threat. If we take him out of the starting lineup and bring up Ross (which I think we should) we can create all kinds of problems for the defense. Everybody is putting the clamps down on IT, bringing Ross into the lineup could take some of that pressure off.
All I saw was purple
True.
WSU has made the NCAA tourney far more recently.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 4, 2011 12:01 PM PST up reply actions
I have more respect for the Big East and ACC then the Pac 10 in basketball
When was the last time the Pac 10 won the tournament? 1997. We’re a good league but we’re not on their level so let’s not kid ourselves.
If you combine football and basketball we are one of the best conferences. Seperately we’re behind them. Perception wise losing to St. Johns in Madison Square is not as bad as losing to WSU in Pullman, WA.
All I saw was purple
If it was 1989 you'd be right.
I’m sorry the perception of getting routed by St. Johns is not worse than losing to a quality rival. St. Johns hasn’t made the tournament since 2002 and probably won’t again this year unless the do some serious damage in the second half of the Big East Season.
"If you want your dreams to come true, don't sleep in."
Perception?
The perception is the St. John’s is an attractive school, and yet how many coaches have they been through since Lou Carnesecca? And how many of those coaches have either not gotten into NCAA trouble or gone on to have success after?
St. John’s is a coaching wasteland with sporadic at best success.
WSU on the other hand has for a long time been a “coaching ladder” school. And that’s the kind of school that tends to have dangerous teams who beat good teams on their home floor. On top of that, there’s the added fact that they have been “up” for a few years now, and have an NBA caliber player to boot.
And just because “perception-wise losing to St.John’s in Madison is not the same as losing to WSU in Pullman” means NOTHING. It doesn’t matter to the selection committee, and it doesn’t mean anything outside the vortex that is NYCity.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 4, 2011 1:02 PM PST up reply actions
Now you have me thinking...and I'm getting more irritated
OSU is a bad loss, but saying good teams beat worse teams is like saying the team who scores more wins. We all know this, and it was a really crappy loss. It’s just not the end of the world and it’s not time for a complete overhaul because of two road losses to one good team and another who played a good game.
i will give them wsu
But back to back and osu. I hope this team rebounds like last years team did. I will watch every game and maybe go to the first round game. But I thought this team could make final four run. They cant
by CODawg on Feb 4, 2011 3:58 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
My thoughts
IT-Worst game i have seen him play. Problem is he is not a PG. I didnt mind him being on the floor with OVerton.
VO-the second half was vintage Venoying. He finally looked healthy. If that is the case he needs more minutes, to take the point pressure away from IT.
MBA-forces too many shots. Cant find the open man when the double team comes. Very althletic but he is needs improvement is some fundamentals
Ross-Best “basketball Player” on the team. He too needs to get more involved early. He strikes me as the kind of player that needs to get in the rythym of the game. The more minutes early the better he will be in the second half.
HOliday-I agree he has regressed. Not really sure why
Suggs- He has found his role and seems to be very comfortable. He is playing great defense and offense. I look for him to be huge if this team goes anywhere.
WIlcox-Just not good enough. He would not see the floor if Gaddy wasnt hurt
Gant-Great Role Player, can provide minutes at 3 positions. Very active and smart player. Makes very few mistakes.
Aziz-Should just be spelling MBA at this point. I think he has lots of potential but not ready.
My starting lineup
IT
Ross
Suggs
Holiday
MBA
Lets get back to the small lineup.
The league is improving and we aren't
Defensively this team hasn’t kicked it in gear on defense. When the opposition can hit the open jumper and penetrate easily, their shooting % goes up- thus we get out rebounded.
On offense we aren’t penetrating nor are we looking for our bigs on the blocks. Makes it easy to pack the paint. How many 3s are we shooting every night? In my opinion too many. Vs. WSU and OSU on most occasions that’s all we were looking for.
MBA is good, don’t get me wrong, but the dude gets lost in the wash occasionally because he doesn’t really have a low post game. Most of his shots come off offensive rebounds or in some sort of transition. Azziz is a project offensively so we don’t have much to work with there.
I said a few weeks ago that eventually the league will discover defensively they only have to defend 4 Huskies. Azziz is not a offensive threat so it makes it much easier to play 4 on 5. At this point I think we need to shake things up. I think it’s time to get Ross in the starting lineup. His height and athletic ability could create some serious mismatches in the lane or out on the perimeter.
All I saw was purple
31 against WSU
29 last night. Waaay to many 3’s being taken. We should be taking about 20-25, because we’re getting that many good looks every night. Too many times we jack up a shot early in the clock because the bigs aren’t active enough making space.
Well over and back is such a stupid old rule anyway
And don’t even get me started on the 10 second violation. Eugene is way to hip for those geriatric rules.
Oregon's floor
I’m not sure what they were trying to go with. First of all, don’t you want the center of attention on the players in action? I’ve sat thru an Oregon game and let me tell you, I couldn’t follow the game. My focus kept reverting back the floor rather then the players. How much will that floor effect recruiting? High profile basketball players want the attention and they want the spotlight so that they can showcase their talents. I have a feeling that floor could turn off some bigtime recruits.
All I saw was purple
It won't
Kids like stupid crap like that. And the locker room that puts most NBA teams to shame will more than offset any trivial stuff.
I've heard the floor isn't as bad when you're on it.
But I HATE it on tv.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 4, 2011 11:56 AM PST up reply actions
And remember that during Boise State games
nobody ever says “Some QB throws to that short Wide Out for a 60 yard Tou…what an ugly field”. I think that angle is grasping at straws.
slow start
every game they get off to a slow start and fall behind. Playing catchup puts a lot of pressure on you.
WSU with two best players on the floor with four fouls still out played us.
Seems like IT and Venoy are constantly driving into the zone and turning the ball over.
Shooting is abysmal and free throw shooting is inexcusable.
I agree we lost a lot when Gaddy went down. He always played under control and was just finding his game.
Ross is the go to guy of the future which we are lacking now.
They have proven earlier in the season they can be a
playoff team when they were ringing up 90 plus points per game.
Hopefully they can reignite that spark against Oregon.
OMG please don’t lose to Oregon.
Support our student athletes, have faith in the coaches! "...it's how you play the game!"
Losing to Oregon State is not acceptable
The Beavers are the same team a lousy Seattle U team beat earlier this season.
UW Dawg Pound - SBN Seattle
It happened.
And losses are rarely acceptable. But it isn’t the end of the world, and any coach will tell you they’d rather lose two in a row on the road in the middle of the season when you still have time to right the ship than later on when it’s too late.
I’m hopeful that this will lead to better things and mid-season rebirth. Otherwise this team will not go anywhere in the post season.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 4, 2011 11:59 AM PST up reply actions
My 2 cents
When looking at the team as a whole:
We have (both as fans and the players) gotten used to having our way with most teams. The mentality seems to be to go for the “highlight reel” play on almost every possession. When things start to go poorly, the team gets noticeably frustrated. This frustration causes them to play unfocused and uninspired basketball. This is where I feel like Gaddy will be missed the most. He had a knack for getting everyone’s head back into the game. Last night there were WAY too many possessions where everyone off the ball was stagnant. Our motion/screening offense doesn’t work if no one moves.
This then translates to turnovers and long rebounds off the 3 that turn into breakaways. I’m just hoping that falling into 2nd in the PAC will light a fire under everyone and get them to play at their full potential again.
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