Defending Pac-10 Champ Washington Huskies Begin Hooping Tomorrow

Tomorrow night's your first chance to see the University of Washington basketball team play against another team. The game is an exhibition (and, thus, viewable for the bargain price of $10) against Central Washington University, a team of predominately Puget Sound area kids. If you are any kind of high school hoops fan (and if you aren't, what's stopping you?) you will recognize some of the names on the CWU roster.

But let us discuss the Huskies. When we last left them, they had suffered a close loss to Purdue in the NCAA tournament's second round. But I prefer to remember the home win vs. Washington State which clinched the school's first Pac-10 title since the Eisenhower Administration, and watching an exultant Lorenzo Romar cut down the nets. One of my favorite Seattle sports memories.

This year, the Huskies confront life without four-year starter and team captain Jon Brockman. The school's all-time leading rebounder, now playing in the NBA (here he is dunking against the Zombie Sonics!), averaged a double-double last year.

Quincy Pondexter, UW's only senior

The team's only senior, Quincy Pondexter, assumes Brockman's mantle of team leader. Pondexter is playing for more than the Huskies this year, he's playing for an NBA future once thought inevitable. Considered a possible early entrant into the NBA draft, Q-Pon struggled in his first two years as a collegian. But he seemed to arrive last year, finding his identity with an all-around game that emphasized hustle, rebounding, and defense. Now he must build on that improvement.

NBA scouts know Pondexter has the size and athleticism to compete in the NBA, but they want to see an improved offensive game. Writes Kyle Nelson of DraftExpress: "What is holding Pondexter back offensively, at this stage, is a combination of ball handling and basketball IQ. He is still almost exclusively a straight-line dribbler without a left hand, which limits his effectiveness and creativity on the perimeter." 

The team's offense, once predicated on dumping the ball down low to Brockman, will increasingly come from transition baskets and drives by last year's Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Isaiah Thomas. Last year the 5'8" Thomas, a.k.a. I.T., revolutionized the Husky offense with his ability to penetrate. Thomas' drives drew defenses away from the Dawgs' perimeter shooters, giving them open looks that weren't there before. (Justin Dentmon, who'd his 32% of his three-point attempts in the year pre-Thomas, hit 41% with I.T. as his backcourt mate, and captured the Pac-10 Most Improved Player award).

Though Dentmon is gone, the Dawgs may find their backcourt improved with the arrival of top recruit Abdul Gaddy. And with defensive whiz Venoy Overton and sharpshooters Elston Turner and C.J. Wilcox also in the backcourt mix, you'll likely see Lorenzo Romar deploy three guards during crunchtime, as he did when the Dawgs had future NBAers Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson, and Will Conroy on the roster.

Up front the Huskies lose Brockman's rebounding but will be far more athletic with likely 2012 English Olympic Team leading scorer Matthew Bryan-Amaning at power forward instead. Last year London-born "MBA" played 1/2 of Brockman's minutes, yet had more than ten times as many blocks. (Brockman, for all his hustle, was not changing many shots -- the 5'11" Dentmon actually had more blocked shots last year).

Darnell Gant, the quick, long-armed 6'8" center, will likely start at center. Gant showed a willingness to work and a decent mid-range shot last season. Redshirt freshman Tyrese Breshers, a banger in the Brockman mode, will get minutes once he recovers from a knee injury.

Winning the school's first Pac-10 title in 56 years was nice and all, but you got the feeling that the Huskies wanted more out of the NCAA's than a second-round exit. With traditional powers UCLA, USC and Arizona all suffering from graduations and early departures, Washington's path to the tournament appears wide open. Still, until they surpass the achievements of last year's team, questions about the impact of losing Brockman will remain.

The Huskies play their only exhibition against Central Washington Wednesday at 7 pm. No TV or radio, you'll have to get out to Hec Ed to see it. Their first regular season game is Friday, Nov. 13 vs. Wright St. Here's the full schedule.