Third time is the charm for Washington
by John Berkowitz on Mar 11, 2011 6:18 AM PST
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PrintWashington State gave Washington everything they could handle but in the end the Huskies ended up pulling out a come from behind 89-87 win. Mark it down as one of the best games of the season. It was enjoyable for fans of both teams from start to finish and in the end it was tough to watch one of these teams lose.
WSU's Klay Thompson was almost unstoppable all night finishing with a tournament record 43 points. Washington countered with balanced scoring from Isaiah Thomas (21), Terrence Ross (17), Matthew Bryan-Amaning (16), CJ Wilcox (16) and Justin Holiday (12).
WSU took control of the game from the onset and the Huskies had to fight to stay withing striking distance for the majority of the night. The Huskies never grabbed the lead until early in second half. Pressure defense and better play in the middle is what turned the tide for Washington.
The Huskies face the Oregon Ducks tonight who knocked off UCLA 76-59 earlier yesterday evening. Arizona plays USC in the other semi final game. The winners will square off on Saturday.
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Joke?
“in the end it was tough to watch one of these teams lose.”
Are you kidding me? There was nothing hard at all about watching WSU lose.
GO DAWGS. EAT DUCK.
WSU played their hearts out...
They are a pretty good team.
UW Dawg Pound - SBN Seattle
by John Berkowitz on Mar 11, 2011 7:24 AM PST up reply actions
Checking Romar
… Last week, I posted what I thought the “new rules” needed to be following the USC debacle.
… the post touches the ball before any 3 pt shot goes up in a half court possession
… Aziz never, and I mean never, holds the ball below belt level
… MBA jams all shots he puts up within 1 foot of the rim
… Holiday does not shoot 3s anymore. Ever
… Ditto Gant
… Ditto Venoy
… CJ and Suggs put more threes up – we know they will go eventually
… IT and Venoy keep penetrating like they did tonight
… Romar plays T-Ross, even if its only 5 mins, if for no other reason than to keep guys fresh.
Looking over it, all of the new rules were followed with one glaring exception and one semi-exception. The semi-exception was the post rule – not all balls went into the post. however, the perimeter was clearly tested before the shots went up. I can live with that. The glaring exception was Holiday hoisting another bushel of threes. I know B-Money thinks that he should continue to do so, but those were five shots that could have gone to someone else. Good on him for changing tactics in the second half and going more to the rim when he had the ball.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
and Holiday drove to the hoop
something else we need. This year only 2 guys have done that, and one is in Head Start detention.
I disagree.
Keep shooting… My sophomore year in college I had a 2 for 18 stretch to start the year, but finally broke through and finished at 38%.
not to be ferd, but my experience and belief is to be more selective but don’t hesitate don’t doubt and keep shooting… It will eventually come.
Also, continuing to shoot also opens up the drive slash, which he excels at. Stop shooting entirely and you close your own lane off…
"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 Mar 11, 2011 11:02 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Keep shooting…
I agree, in general. But in Holiday’s case, I think he fell far too in love with the 3 this year, at the expense of what he did well at the end of last season (a competent mid-range game, and the ability to slash). He isn’t a shooter.
Also, continuing to shoot also opens up the drive slash, which he excels at. Stop shooting entirely and you close your own lane off…
Again, I agree. But he showed little inclination to do this virtually all season (or, far less than he should’ve, given his marginal ability as a spot-up shooter and his above-average ability to slash). I would’ve loved to see him put the ball on the floor more and attack the rim, or float in that high post/wing extended area and look for that 15-18 foot jumper.
Your advice most definitely holds true for guys like Suggs and Wilcox. With Holiday, I would’ve much rather seen him focus his energy on defense and rebounding, which in turn fuels his offense. He took too many threes (all season) that weren’t really in a natural rhythm for him; he needs to step into his shot instead of catching the ball flat-footed and trying to elevate.
I guess this is really more of a season-long critique than just for last night, but last night was sort of the epitome of the bad shot selection Justin Holiday.
for wilcox or suggs yes
But holiday is not known for being a shooter. We need Holiday to play defense, rebound and drive to the hoop
shoot, yes - but not him...
… we have plenty of other guys who are actually a threat to hit a long shot. The reason he got 5 open looks is because no one respects his shot and are playing back to begin with. He’s quick enough to get to the rim and I hope he tries to find his offense. Just not 3’s. He’s a 25% shooter. Its a wasted possession every time.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
Justin Holiday is 37.5% from 3 on the year. That's a solid percentage.
Telling a player not to shoot is the absolute worst thing you can do if you want him to be worth anything to you offensively the rest of the year. He’s not a bad shooter, just a little cold right now. Perception wise, you see other guys hot right now and you only are thinking of them, but in the context of the game his shots were not terrible and he’s got (and should have) a “selective green light.”
Off the top of my head, the only guys I’d rather have shooting are Suggs and Wilcox.
IT is hitting 35%, Gant 35%, Ross .352, Suggs .452 and Wilcox .404.
Looks like the percentages play out as I thought.
"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 Mar 11, 2011 6:06 PM PST up reply actions
for the last month and a half, he's barely 25%
… The fact that he has missed 9 straight with nobody on him tells us that he has no confidence in his shot and other teams don’t respect it. Ross is a much better shooter – he just throws up a lot of contested ones. Ditto IT. Every time he hoists one he’s wasting a possession because a) he’s ignoring his strengths in terms of slashing, b) he’s not acting as a possible offensive rebounder, and c) he’s taking a shot away from someone else on the floor who has a better chance of converting.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
by Gekko Mojo on Mar 11, 2011 7:05 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Well, we disagree here.
Saying someone is a better shooter but they throw up a lot of contested ones is telling me that person is not a better shooter.
To say that Holiday is wasting a possession every time he “hoists one up” (while open) but not acknowledging the same thing about IT and Ross is kind of ridiculous. As a player or coach, I would never be upset at a teammate like Holiday for taking (not hoisting, ahh, the power of language) an open three when I have at least 2-3 teammates who routinely take very low percentage threes.
Good shooters take open shots without hesitating, but they don’t take bad shots. Shot selection is very much a significant portion of being a good shooter. Neither Isaiah nor Ross have that particular talent at this point in time.
It’s particularly ironic because when I read the way you wrote it I actually misread it and agreed with you initially because I thought you were referring to IT not Holiday:
“he just throws up a lot of contested ones. Ditto IT. Every time he hoists one he’s wasting a possession "
I see Isaiah’s oft questionable 3 pt shot selection as a far greater problem than Holiday’s occasional miss from downtown while consistently working hard on defense.
As far as ignoring his strengths— as I said earlier, shooting with confidence and without hesitation (when open) will open up up his slashing.
Expecting him to “act as a possible offensive rebounder” in lieu of shooting open 3’s (which, again, he’s .376 on the season although cold for the 7 games – not a month and a half as you said) is pretty unfair.
“Son, work your ass off on D, and go ahead and go for the offensive rebound, but despite our fast pace and your ability to hit open shots the other 20 games of the year, don’t shoot any now.”
As for your “C” — “he’s taking a shot away from someone else on the floor who has a better chance of converting” REALLY?!?! Have you seen this team take horrible shots in bunches?!? Isaiah’s FG% is .45, his 3pt FG% is .35
But Holiday is the one who is taking a shot away from someone else on the floor.
I just don’t see it.
He’s cold right now, but he isn’t a terrible shooter. I wonder if in practice he’s shooting lights out. My team used to have several shooting games incorporated into our practices and shooting training. If he’s nailing there and his teammates know he’s as good if not better than any of them from deep, I bet they’re totally in his corner right now. In fact, given his D and assumed leadership, along with his general hustle- I doubt they think twice about his shooting. I know I wouldn’t want him to stop shooting- just start making a few more.
Especially this team, that struggles to find points in the 1/2 court set, and against a zone. If a player is open and in the flow of the offense, they need to shoot and hit those shots if you are ever going to pull a team out of a zone and make them face IT and MBA one on one.
"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 Mar 11, 2011 8:15 PM PST up reply actions
and Gant absolutely ought not be shooting them
… We can’t afford for gant and holiday to hoist 7 between them on any night.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
by Gekko Mojo on Mar 11, 2011 7:10 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Well, that's fine.
Unlike Holiday, Gant is a PF type who A) should be in rebounding B) isn’t developing as an outside shooter the way Holiday has and is.
Still, I just don’t get upset if a guy has 2 3pt attempts to his credit in a game. I don’t remember either— was either late in the shot clock? Was it open? Was it forced? Was it a “reward” for a great play on the other end? Was it off of a nice swing pass?
To me, numbers matter less than context, and contextually to UW’s roster and offense, Holiday isn’t a bad shooter, he’s just a cold one.
"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 Mar 11, 2011 8:20 PM PST up reply actions
Holiday is ~40% threes on the season in well over 100 shots...
That’s not a bad thing.
Venoy, on the other hand, should never ever shoot a three unless he has the ball in his hands with 1 second left on the clock.
Tonight
Here is hoping that UW puts Oregon away early. It will be important that IT gets some rest in this tourney, as I don’t want him run ragged prior to the big dance. I realise we don’t have a backup right now, but I would be worried if IT goes 100+ minutes in the three games, assuming we get to the championship game.
Oregon’s on game 3 in 3 days, lets run them ’till they drop!
Benno
Hope
reigns eternal. Didn’t look tired against the Yucks though.
Support our student athletes, have faith in the coaches! "...it's how you play the game!"
imagine this
if we played first 10 minutes like we play last 30 minutes. We would blow teams out. Even IT in the post game didn’t have an answer.
Turned it off after they immediately fell 13 behind not quite as bad as minus 15 USC.
It is just too hard to watch. After news turned it back on six minutes to go they were up by four. So I am taking the blame I will only watch final 10 minutes from here on out.
When will the next Jon Brockman show up? Not soon enough for me.
Support our student athletes, have faith in the coaches! "...it's how you play the game!"
confusion
reigns. Yucks s/b UCLA.
Support our student athletes, have faith in the coaches! "...it's how you play the game!"
Got 'cha
That is why I’m hopeful they will get UO down early. Oregon is running on emotion, and if we take it away early the game could be over. However, the longer they stick around the tougher they will be based on last nights game. We have a distict advantage here, lets use it!
Benno
and they've played two games in two nights. Three in three is tough for anyone...
… if we press them hard in the first half, we ought to be able to stake a lead.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
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