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First 1/3 Grades: Forwards

Tyreese Breshers

Per Game stats: 5.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1 BPG

Tempo free stats: 105.5 ORating, 60 eFG%, 8 OR%, 20 DR%, 7.9 BLK%

The Good: Has show flashes where he's the team's best true post player. Is athletic and aggressive. Draws a lot of shooting fouls, as his 86.7 free throw rate is far and away the best on the team (Isaiah Thomas is next at 56.5)

The Bad: Fouls too often, drawing 10.3 per 40 minutes, which means he couldn't even play half of a game if he wanted to. His conditioning is still not where it needs to be, which is part of the reason he fouls so much. Has yet to record an assist this season.

The Grade: B

If his conditioning had been up to snuff, he might be a regular starter, and it's hard to penalize him for his conditioning as it wasn't really something he could control. He's going to be a central figure in UW's frontcourt for a long time, and considering he hadn't played basketball in about 18 months before this season, he's done a pretty good job.

 

Matthew Bryan-Amaning

Per Game stats: 8.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.5 BPG

Tempo free stats: 105.7 ORating, 50 eFG%, 11.3 OR%, 18.4 DR%, 6.6 BLK%

The Good: Across the board, MBA has improved his game. Perhaps the most encouraging thing is that his minutes have gone up, while his fouls (a sticking point last year) have gone down, and in addition he's blocking a higher percentage of shots. He's leading the team in OR%, and his STL% is a surprising 3, which ranks 3rd on the team. His turnovers are also way down, shown by his would-be career low of 15.2 TO% (previous low is 20.7%).

The Bad: Still plays too soft around the rim, like he doesn't realize he's usually bigger and stronger than the guys he goes against. Shooting just 51.6% from the line, which some theorize is why he's hesitant to play tough; he's not confident in his free throw shooting.

The Grade: B

When you look at MBA's career trend, his numbers are headed steadily upward. He continues to improve every year, but for some reason many fans expect him to be a polished All-Everything big man. He's probably never going to be that. Remember, he hasn't been playing basketball that long, and is still learning a lot of the intricacies of the game. All told, he's a very good contributor for UW and the team is lucky to have him.

 

Darnell Gant

Per Game stats: 3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, .4 BPG

Tempo free stats: 117.4 ORating, 35.2 eFG%, 10.1 OR%, 16.6 DR%

The Good: Gant is one of the team's best all around defenders, excelling both on the ball as well as in the rotation. His tempo free stats have taken a big jump, especially his ORating which has gone up over 30 points from last season to this one. 9/11 from the free throw stripe. Very good rebounding on both ends of the floor.

The Bad: For whatever reason, at the beginning of the year Coach Romar seemed to be going away from Gant despite all the good he brings to the table. His overall minutes for the year are down from where he was last year. Still not a great shooter, doesn't bring much to the table on offense in general outside of offensive rebounding.

The Grade: C-

If he continues to be a starter his production will improve, though it's hard to see it sometimes because he's not a stat sheet stuffer.

 

Justin Holiday

Per Game stats: 3.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.3 APG

Tempo free stats: 102.8 ORating, 32.6 eFG%, 10.2 OR%, 11.9 DR% 15.1 ARate

The Good: Though his minutes have stayed level with last season's, he is a more productive player. His 10.2 OR% is excellent considering he's generally more of a perimeter player than a true forward. Remains perhaps the team's best passer in the half court offense. Like Gant, Holiday is an excellent defender both on and off the ball.

The Bad: Hasn't gotten his shot on track, and hasn't established himself as Quincy Pondexter's backup as many thought he would.

The Grade: C+

Holiday's progress was slowed quite a bit by offseason surgery, and he's still working off the rust a bit. Despite that he's managed to be a pretty productive player. He's one of those players you don't always notice during the flow of the game, but when you look at the box scores he'll surprise you with games where he pulled down 7 rebounds and added a couple assists and didn't turn the ball over.

 

Quincy Pondexter

Per Game stats: 21.9 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 2 SPG

Tempo free stats: 130 ORating, 59.5 eFG%, 11.3 OR%, 18.1 DR%, 3.4 STL%

The Good: Can I say all of it? QPon hasn't just been one of the best players in the conference or on the west coast, he's been one of the best players in all of college basketball. He's become the team's unquestioned leader and is showing why he was so hyped coming out of high school, in putting together the best individual season at UW since Brandon Roy in 2005-2006.

The Bad: Picking nits here, but he didn't play well against Montana. His 3 point shooting could be improved, but 3/11 is a pretty small sample; if he hits just one more of those it goes into the "Good" category. Has taken too much of the blame in the team's losses.

The Grade: A

If he continues his torrid play in the Pac-10 portion of the schedule it becomes an A+. If the season ended today he'd be an All-American, either first or second team.

 

Clarence Trent

Per Game stats: 3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 66.7 FG%

Tempo free stats: 99.3 ORating, 66.6 eFG%, 22.6 OR%, 21.5 DR%, 38.7 TORate

The Good: Look at that OR%! If he played enough minutes at that rate, it would be good for 2nd in the nation. Jon Brockman is jealous of that percentage. The DR% is nothing to sneeze at either. Trent doesn't miss much when he shoots, going 12/18 from the floor and 6/8 from the stripe. This kid is just a ball of energy when he's on the floor. As Coach Romar says, he's not really a post, not really a wing and not a guard, he's just a basketball player.

The Bad: Turns the ball over far more frequently than anybody else on the team. When he has the ball it's almost 50/50 whether he's going to score it or give it to the other team. Still catching up on the defensive roation, and seems lost at times.

The Grade: B+

You have to love the energy Trent brings. Once he gets reined in a bit, he could be terrifying. Just watch the kid jump next time he's on the floor. He has to tuck his head down to avoid the rafters. When he speeds up on defense he'll probably earn more minutes.