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Isaiah Thomas
Lucky Dawgs. Instead of suffering through #snOMG, they're in Maui (today's high, 81 F) playing in the elite Maui Invitational. Today at 6:30 p.m. PST they'll play against a nationally-televised game against one of college basketball's legendary programs, the University of Kentucky.
So, in a sense, lucky us. With a night that's almost guaranteed to be spent indoors, your entertainment options aren't limited to whichever CSI is on tonight. Instead you can watch what I expect to be one of the most thrilling games in Washington basketball history.
If you read any article about this game, you will no doubt encounter the fact that star Kentucky freshman Terrence Jones originally committed to Washington, then changed his mind and went to the Wildcats. This has been anointed a "Story Line" by rabid fans and media, but "Story Lines" rarely make for compelling sports.
What makes this game so compelling is the battle between talent and teamwork. The Huskies have humiliated all three of their opponents this season. Not just offensively (the Dawgs are averaging 107.3 points/game, best in the nation), but on defense, where the Huskies have forced 68 opponent turnovers.
The Dawgs aren't just talented, they are playing with a team focus that I've never seen from them before....
Isaiah Thomas
A Husky basketball exhibition game Saturday afternoon drew a near sellout crowd to Hec Edmundson Pavilion. I ambled up to the ticket line 30 minutes before the game, expecting a long friendly chat with a bored ticket seller. Instead, the line was seven people deep.
By gametime, they'd opened up the will call windows for ticket sales, trying to winnow down an unexpectedly massive turnout. Announced attendance was 8,909. Actual attendance was probably closer to 7,000, but still--consider that a sold-out Paramount show seats just 2,807.
The message was clear: People are excited about the Huskies, named preseason favorites to win the Pac-10 for the first time in school history.
The Huskies showed why, drowning Division II Saint Martin's in a cascade of three-pointers for a 97-76 win. The Dawgs hit 10 of 17 threes. If the Huskies can shoot like this all year, they'll go to the Final Four.
Star guard Isaiah Thomas showed a willingness to defer to his teammates--Thomas didn't take a shot in the first half, unheard of for a player normally thought of as a ballhog. Thomas instead used himself as a decoy, amassing 11 assists in just 26 minutes. Thomas also led the Dawgs with 5 defensive rebounds....
One of the few knocks against Lorenzo Romar during his wildly successful tenure as head coach of the University of Washington basketball team has been his inability to recruit a dominant big man. There's a reason for that--talented big men are as rare on college campuses as Lawrence Welk records. Even Arizona coach Lute Olson, who took the Wildcats to four Final Fours, had just one in 25 years.
But it looks like Romar scared one up, via Senegal, an Illinois prep school, and the College of Southern Idaho. Meet seven-footer Aziz N'Diaye. You and I will have our first chance to see N'Diaye Saturday afternoon, when the Huskies play Saint Martin's in a exhibition game. From what I've been hearing about him, I can't wait.
Why?
His conditioning: N'Diaye, who, let me repeat, is seven feet tall, ran the mile in 5:21. (Try that pace for even a quarter-mile next time you're on the treadmill.) He finished first of all Husky players in Romar's annual mile run.
His intensity: Abdul Gaddy says of N'Diaye's defense: "He's kind of like a Venoy, but he's a big guy in the middle." Venoy being Venoy Overton, the disruptive defender who led the Huskies in steals last season.
His work ethic: "If we had a workout at 6 in the morning, he'd be there at 5," says N'Diaye's prep school coach. "He knows this is his chance and he's just working his butt off every day."...
Ever thought yourself really good at something, and then, all of a sudden, get put in a group of people far more talented than you? Jarring, isn't it? For me it happened in high school calculus. I'd always been the person people called for help about math, and cheated off of on test day. But in calculus, suddenly I was the one needing help. Bradley Nelson, you have my eternal thanks.
University of Washington freshman Antoine Hosley is going through that right now. A star basketball player in high school, he's a "walk-on" with the Huskies (meaning that he's not on scholarship). He talked about how that feels in very honest and thoughtful way for someone his age with the Seattle Times' Percy Allen. Here's Hosley:
I'm just not used to this. A walk-on guy, he has to earn his keep. He doesn't necessarily have the respect of the other players, the scholarship players. So it is humbling. I was thinking about that a lot today actually. And I've always been one of the star players on my team every since I was young so it is humbling, but it makes me want to work even harder to get just to get back to what has been normal for me from what I've experienced in basketball...
I feel like I have to prove myself everyday.... So say if I messed up, it was like okay, he has the ability, he just messed up. I feel like everyday I'm earning the respect of these cats and trying to get to the point to where I can make a mistake.... So I just got to keep working....
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Beach and Nets star Terrence Williams, either at the Hard Rock grand opening or trying out for the Village People
Ichiro looks like a lock to make his 10th All-Star Game (9th start). He's leading a pretty weak crop of AL outfielders in fan voting. Nelson Cruz is in third place, for God's sake. Griffey's third among DHs.
Former Husky hoopster Elston Turner Jr. will transfer to Texas A&M.
Harborview and UW doc Richard Ellenbogen, the NFL's new concussion specialist, got a rough reception from a skeptical Congressional panel.
The state 3A and 4A baseball final four is at Safeco this weekend, here's all the details.
The Everett Aquasox want your suggestions: "We are working on our promotional list now - what fan games on the field/video board movies do you want to see this season?" For on field fan games, I'd enjoy a between-innings fight to the death, a contest to see which nine-year-old can smoke a pack of cigarettes fastest, and mock naval battles. As for movies...Shrek IV. Nothing but Shrek IV.
In case you missed it, Carlos Silva is now 6-0 for the Cubs. This is enraging. Local folkie Ken Bochte's written a song about it, you can hear an excerpt on his MySpace....
A couple of friends are working on "Chicago Time" today--starting at 7 and leaving at 4, as mandated by a munificent employer who wants everyone to be able to catch today's Husky game. They may regret being given that chance, because from everything I'm reading about West Virginia, the Husky game could end up looking like a scene from Deliverance.
The Huskies struggled against taller teams this year, and West Virginia is the tallest they've played yet.The Mountaineers may start a lineup of players all above 6'7". That would make their shortest starter taller than all but one Husky. ("I'll bet you can squeal like a pig. Weeeeeee!")
At 5'8", Husky star Isaiah Thomas is used to guarding taller players. But a foot taller? ("What we, uh, 're-quire' is for you to get your asses away from the basket.")
The hope is that UW will outquick the Mountaineers. In an excellent game preview in today's P-I, Todd Dybas notes that against the all-forward lineup, Cleveland State's 6'2" Norris Cole scored 29 points. This being college basketball, anything can happen. But oddsmakers have West Virginia as a 4.5-point favorite for a reason. Still, I think the Huskies will keep it close, and the game will be quite the .... DUEL! Cue the music!...
Husky fans celebrate the team's last Elite Eight appearance
Unless you are old enough for senior discounts (lucky!) you've never lived when a University of Washington basketball team made the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament. Not since 1953 has UW made what's now called "The Elite Eight." But they will achieve that status if they win Thursday's regional semifinal against West Virginia. Longtime Husky fans like me are counting down the hours...and expecting the worst.
We've cracked open this door four times since '53, each time getting it slammed in our faces. Shall we review the litany of failure? Oh why not:
1984: The Detlef Schrempf-led Huskies lose 64-58 to Dayton. The Dawgs, hurt by foul trouble to starters Alvin Vaughn and Christian Welp, went seven minutes without a field goal in the second half. I listened to this game on a transistor radio at some church function. I may have said some extremely non-churchy-words.
1998: Oh nightmare. After Donald (son of Slick) Watts hit a three-pointer to give Washington a one-point lead with 33 seconds left, UConn's Richard Hamilton grabs a rebound, and, falling backward, sinks a bucket at the buzzer to beat UW 75-74. I watched this game at friend's dorm room. After Hamilton's shot went through, he said to me: "Well, I'm really glad I don't care who won this game." That guy now lives in Connecticut, so he got his comeuppance.
2005: The #1-seeded Huskies fall 93-78 to a hot-shooting Louisville team. Tight officiating hurts the Huskies, as star scorers Nate Robinson and Tre Simmons sit much of the second half with foul trouble. Robinson, playing his last game as a Husky before leaving for the NBA, had just one field goal. I watched this game at The Attic in Madison Park, where my friend David and I exchanged lots of "what do you do?" looks the whole game....
Hit the boss button and this shows up on your screen
If you non-sports-fans find your company's internet running a little slow today, blame CBS. The TV network is streaming every game in this year's NCAA tournament. Live. Free. Here.
Not that you'll catch your bandwidth-stealing co-workers in the act. CBS includes a "boss" button on their video widget, which immediately converts the screen into a fake flow chart. The boss button got 2.77 million clicks during last year's tourney.
The games begin at 9:20 a.m. today, with the main event, at least locally, being the Huskies' game against Marquette at 4:20. I'm feeling pretty good about the Huskies' chances, for three reasons:
1) Marquette's entire offense is predicated around shooting three-pointers. The Huskies defend three-pointers very well, especially lately.
2) Marquette does not have a player who can defend Husky center Matthew Bryan-Amaning one-on-one. MBA is the key to today's game. We know he can get to the basket. If he's able to put his open two-footers into the actual basket, and force Marquette to double-team him, the rest of the floor will be wide open.
3) Marquette has won as a #6-seed each of the past two tourneys. #11-seeds usually win about 30 percent of these games, meaning that Marquette is "due" to lose. (Note to people who actually know something about probability: I'm not serious.)
Another local game of note: Tacoma kid Anthony Johnson, who wowed the basketball world by scoring 42 points in the Big Sky Championship, earning his Montana Grizzlies a berth in the tourney, (and himself some ink in the New York Times) will try to engineer another upset at 6:40 p.m. when #14-seed Montana plays #3-seed New Mexico.
If you are a grandpa and will be watching the games on "television" while churning butter and shoeing horses, KIRO is showing games on two channels--their regular 7, and their KIRO2 channel, which is 107 on Comcast (or 7-2 if you watch over the air HD)....
Coach Lorenzo Romar has struggled to determine the right mix of playing time for his team all season. Last night against Oregon State, the struggle continued. With the Huskies in danger of suffering a loss that would sink their NCAA tournament hopes, Romar made starting shooting guard Isaiah Thomas his primary point guard, sitting both members of his point guard rotation. Elston Turner slotted in at shooting guard and played 23 minutes, his most since January 8.
The bigger lineup helped the Huskies dominate the boards. Giving Thomas total control of the offense gave him freedom to find space in the Oregon State zone. And, generally, it let Romar have his best players on the floor longer. The result was a 37-point second half that gave UW the win.
Basketball coaches from the pros down to CYO ball are known to shorten their rotations--that is, give the bench players less playing time--when the playoffs come. Perhaps Romar is moving in that direction. It's time.
With every game do or die, Abdul Gaddy shouldn't see meaningful minutes again this year. The highly-touted freshman has had his chances to make an impact, and has had valuable playing time that will help him develop into the NBA prospect he's supposed to be. But right now, he hurts the team when he's on the floor.
Venoy Overton should keep his role as off-the-bench disrupter. But that only works if he's got the energy, so he can't see more than 20 minutes a night.
That leaves Thomas as the Dawgs' primary ballhandler, spelled when Overton comes on. This is a role that Cal's Jerome Randle rode to a Pac-10 Player of the Year award, with energy guard Jorge Gutierrez in the Overton role....
Flexibility is not among Lorenzo Romar's attributes as a coach--or as a person. Yet Romar may need to channel his inner relativist if his Washington hoopsters are going to beat USC tonight.
Romar: A man of such high ethical principles that he doesn't swear. ("Dog!" is the saltiest epithet that passes Romar's lips.)
So dedicated to his profession that he took his wife to a high school basketball game one Valentine's Day (I was there, too, though sans date).
So strict that he benched starters Will Conroy and Bobby Jones for the start of an NCAA tournament game for a minor curfew violation. (The Huskies started slow and lost by just two points.)
Romar's ethics, dedication, and willpower are strengths. They inspire respect from his players; and have made Romar the most successful Washington coach of the past half-century.
But flip that coin. Romar's inflexibility may have stiffed him a Final Four appearance. Had he instructed his 2006 Huskies to foul UConn's Rashad Anderson with time running out remaining in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal, the Huskies would likely have won. Left unmolested, Anderson hit a game-tying three-pointer that sent the game into an overtime period that the shorthanded Huskies lost....
ASU's Derek Glasser Gets the Dawgpack Treatment (Photo via Twitter, @UWDawgPack)
At Hec Edmundson Pavilion, with a full student section behind them, the Washington Husky basketballers are as dominant as John Wooden's UCLA teams. In Seattle, the Dawgs bombed Pac-10 leaders Cal by 15 points. They crushed Pac-10 second placers Arizona State by 23. They dropped a 56-point second half on cross-state rivals Wazzu, and a 123-point game on crosstowners Seattle U.
Washington has won 16 of 17 games at home this year. But something happens on the road. Away from Hec Ed, the Dawgs are winless in six games. That ASU team the Huskies crushed here Saturday? Lost to 'em by 17 in Tempe.
Why the difference? On the road, the Huskies start the same guys, have the same coaches, play by the same rules--and flop. The one principle difference, it would seem, is the Washington fans--specifically the rowdy student section that goes by the name "The Dawgpack." Pac-10 players generally agree that Washington has the best crowd in the league. Oregon coach Ernie Kent has called The Dawgpack the best student section in the country.
The Dawgpack stands the entire game. When the opposing team is on offense, they keep up a constant shout, unnerving players and making it hard for them to communicate. When opposing coaches attempt to shout out instructions, they yell to drown him out. They pick on opposing players, like when they chanted "Mich-ael Cera!" at Cal's Nikola Knezevic (who does sorta look like him). A sign at Saturday's game had a photoshopped image of Husky guard Venoy Overton with his arm around the mother of hated ASU guard Derek Glasser. The sign read "Mr. and Mrs. Overton." With Glasser scoreless midway through the second half, UW fans held their hands in the shape of a zero and derisively chanted "Der-ek, Der-ek."...
Dollar's Redhawks Must Win Tonight to Reach His Goal
Both Washington and Seattle University's men's basketball teams had lofty goals for the season.
"We can make it to the Final Four," Washington's star guard Isaiah Thomas told reporters in October. "We're that good. That's our goal."
Seattle U coach Cameron Dollar, whose team isn't eligible for the NCAA tournament, set his sights on the finals of the second-tier National Invitational Tournament, held in New York City. "We will be playing and competing at a high level to get to Madison Square Garden," said Dollar when he was hired in April.
But as things stand in January, neither team would even make the field of their targeted tournaments.
So while the "storylines" of this game are rather interesting--an in-city rivalry, Dollar coaching against former boss Lorenzo Romar, Seattle U star Charles Garcia facing the school that rejected his admissions application--the simple truth is that the team that loses this game can forget about reaching their goal once and for all.
For Washington, a home loss to the D1 transitioning Redhawks (ranked #224 in the all-important RPI) would read like a felony conviction on their NCAA tournament resume. All hopes of an at-large bid would be dashed, and even if they made the tourney by winning the Pac-10, they'd have an unattractive seed and a difficult road to the Final Four....
Been a tough year for British national Matthew Bryan-Amaning. Expected to fill the rebounding and scoring void left by Jon Brockman (who scored a career-high nine points Tuesday night vs. Orlando), "MBA" has struggled, losing his starting job.
But last night in the Huskies' blowout win over Stanford he provided what will likely be the most thrilling moment of this season, when he unleashed a monster fast-break dunk, posterizing Stanford guard Drew Shiller. The dunk brought Hec Ed fans, including this one, leaping out of our seats in celebration.
Look for the dunk at the 1:13 mark of this UW Daily video recap of the game.
As for the game, you'll note Quincy Pondexter's absurd statline--27 points on 16 shots!?--and think that he dominated the game. In fact, Q scored just 2 of the Huskies first 19 points. The catalyst for this performance was the offensive aggression of other Dawgs, especially freshman guard Abdul Gaddy. Gaddy showed the basketball smarts he's been lauded for, slicing through Stanford's zone and finding open floaters twice in the first four minutes.
Gaddy making himself a threat opened up the floor for Pondexter, who seemed to be the focus of the Husky defense.
The Husky stars can't go unnoticed, though for Isaiah Thomas it was his effort on defense that keyed the win. Matched up on Stanford's sweet-shooting Jeremy Green, who dropped 30 on UCLA last week, Thomas was fantastic. He chased Green through screens and double screens all night, and was right on Green whenever he received the ball. Green scored just 2 first-half points.
The Huskies next play Cal Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The game will be on FSN Northwest.
Someday, Venoy Overton and Derek Glasser will each be the terrors of their respective rec leagues. You know the type--feisty, cocky, obnoxious, a little bit dirty--the guys who play every game like it's their last. The guys who you want to say "It's just a game" to, but don't bother because they wouldn't agree.
For now, Overton and Glasser are the primary point guards for Washignton and Arizona State, and their similar style leads to some entertaining basketball. Last year, their rivalry led to a scuffle in last year's Pac-10 tournament.
I don't care about the scuffle, I just like seeing the speedy Overton frustrate the more deliberate Glasser.
Watch specifically when Glasser tries to bring the ball up the court. Glasser lacks the speed and handles to dribble forward while facing his man so he typically backs the ball down the court, flaring his off-ball elbow out to keep the defensive man at bay.
This is a very effective strategy against players who want to avoid getting elbowed in the face. Venoy Overton, however, lives for being elbowed in the face. The way he sticks his body into players, you get the feeling that an elbow to the face would be the crowning achievement of his day....
Thought it would be fun to mark the high and low points for our local sports teams this decade. Today: Husky basketball! I have a low point, but am not going to do "worst" for college players, that's weak.
Unadulterated High Point: March 13, 2005. The Huskies are awarded a #1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Hard to understate the amazement that this caused, to see the Dawgs get a designation usually reserved for the Dukes and UConns of the world. Watch the reaction of the fans who gathered at HecEd to view the selection show that day.
Low Point Which Turned into a High Point: January 17, 2004 (second half). In the second year of Lorenzo Romar's tenure, his clearly talented Huskies started the conference season 0-5, and were down 16 points to Oregon State with 6:40 left. It appeared that UW had the wrong coach, that another season was lost, that the program was in ruins. Watching the game on DVR, I began fast-forwarding to the inevitable end. Then, Nate Robinson led an incredible comeback, the team gelled, and the Dawgs reached the NCAA tourney.
High Point Which Turned into a Low Point: March 24, 2006 (second half). Jamaal Williams hits the first three-pointer of his Washington career to give the Huskies a late six-point lead over Connecticut in an NCAA regional semifinal. Sadly, a bad foul by Mike Jensen and a clutch three-pointer by Rashad Anderson tied the game, and UConn beat the Huskies in overtime. The Dawgs were denied their first Elite Eight appearance since the 1950s.
Best Player: Brandon Roy. Something of a secret during his first three years at Washington, Roy broke out his senior season by scoring 20.2 ppg, winning Pac-10 player of the year and making first-team All-American. The school retired Roy's #3 last season, he's only the second Washington hoopster to receive that honor....
Someday, you will do it. You won't have a co-worker's birthday party, a seasonal gutter cleaning, or brunch with an ex. Someday, you will watch sports all weekend. If, perchance, this is the weekend, here's how it should go:
FRIDAY
5 p.m.: Find a nearby bar with a good happy hour and some decent TVs to watch the Trail Blazers visit Cleveland on ESPN. Can Roy outshine Lebron?
7 p.m.: Start drinking water, you've got to get in your car soon.
7:45 p.m.: The Blazers game ends just in time for you to make your way to a local high school hoops game. Maybe you go see your alma mater, maybe you just go somewhere nearby. Most games start at 8 p.m. on Friday, here's the full schedule of games.
SATURDAY
9 a.m.: Oh boy is this an exciting day of college hoops. Chomp some cereal while watching Kentucky point guard John Wall, sure to be the first-overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft. Haven't seen Wall yet? Here's a taste. The Wildcats play Indiana, the game's on CBS.
11 a.m.: Your Washington Huskies face their toughest test of the year, facing undefeated Georgetown in the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim. Georgetown big men Greg Monroe (6'11") and Julian Vaughn (6'9") comprise the best front line the Huskies have seen this year. On the other hand, Isaiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter are the most talented scorers Georgetown have yet seen. Game's on FSN.
1 p.m.: Roll down towards KeyArena, where Gonzaga will play Davidson at 4. (Buy tickets here.) While you drive, flip on ESPN 710 to hear Dave Grosby's call of the Seattle U/Eastern Washington game, live from Cheney. Can Seattle U's Charles Garcia take over the national scoring lead? He's second at 26 ppg right now, one point first-place Aubrey Coleman of Houston.
1:30 p.m.: You've got a few hours before the Gonzaga game, so head over to Winterfest at Seattle Center to see an exhibition by the Hot Dog USA Jump Rope Team. Afterwards you can take a spin on the ice rink for just $5 (plus a $2 skate rental).
4 p.m.: Two seasons ago, Davidson bounced Gonzaga out of the NCAA Tournament behind 40 points from Stephen Curry. Curry's in the NBA now, so the Zags have a good chance of exacting revenge against 2-6 Davidson (one of their wins came against "Fredonia State," which I think is from a Marx Brothers film).
5:30 p.m.: Check your web-enabled phone to see who won the Heisman.
6:30 p.m.: The Zags game is over. I give you two choices:
a) Drive down to Kentridge High to see one of the best high school hoops games of the year. Kentridge and guard Gary Bell, Jr., host defending state champs Federal Way at 7:30 p.m., or,
b) Back to WinterFest to check out the trains and get some dinner. (And maybe an Orange Julius). Kill time until the 9:30 p.m. showing of SonicsGate, the documentary about the Sonics' departure from Seattle. Everyone who comes to the one-week run of the show will get a free DVD of the movie. You want to get there early because Sonics legend Slick Watts will be at tonight's showing.
10:30 p.m.: That was a nice day. Drive home and rest for FOOTBALL SUNDAY....
Texas Tech's last-second shot had swished through the net, I had uttered the word "shit," the Huskies were standing in shocked disbelief, TTU students were storming the floor, and my friends and I really wanted to watch the Oregon/Oregon State football game.
So we switched over to that game--the winner of which would go to the Rose Bowl. We saw a few plays when I noticed something odd on the scoreticker at the bottom of the screen: "Washington 90 Texas Tech 90 End 2nd."
"Go back! Go back!" Indeed, back on ESPN2, the officials had ruled after a replay review that Texas Tech's Mike Singletary had released his apparent game-winning shot a split-second after the clock hit zeroes. Students off the court. Game on.
But we had already moved on, emotionally. It's early. It's tough to win on the road. The Dawgs missed a bunch of free throws. Now we had to reprocess the possibility of a win--or once again deal with the pain of a loss.
As it turned out, it was the latter. In overtime, the Huskies fell behind, then were sunk by a terrible Matthew Bryan-Amaning inbounds pass that Texas Tech converted into a lay-in for a four-point lead.
Texas Tech hit their free throws and won the game without needing a last-second shot. The fans stormed the court yet again. You can watch highlights here.
Seattle's other D1 team, Seattle U, also lost last night. The Redhawks were even worse from the free-throw line, missing 26 out of 48 free throws. Can't win that way. The 85-74 loss came at Cal Poly and their coach, former Seattle U head man Joe Callero. Rough.
The Huskies' next game is Sunday night at Hec Ed against Cal State Northridge, an NCAA tourney team last year (though they lost most of the players off that team). Seattle U plays Saturday at UC Davis.
Now that the Apple Cup is mercifully behind us, can we just pretend that football doesn't exist? Basketball is where it's at, people. And our state is holding the banner of West Coast hoops for the entire nation.
Only three schools in states that touch the Pacific Ocean are ranked in the AP basketball poll. Two of those schools--the University of Washington (#12) and Gonzaga University (#17)--are right here in the Evergreen State.
UW and Wazzu are the only two undefeated teams in the Pac-10 conference, and have collectively monopolized the conference's player of the week award thus far.
Wazzu's Thompson, the nation's top scorer
Wazzu guard Klay Thompson leads the nation in scoring, averaging 28.3 points per game. Thompson's excellence has won him the past two Pac-10 Player of the Week awards. The previous one, first of the season, when to Washington's Quincy Pondexter.
Seattle U's Charles Garcia isn't far behind Thompson, ranking 4th in the country. Garcia was named Mid-Majority Baller of the Week after a 41-...
Overton will check "traffic on the ones" next time
You know the feeling: You're driving to some important event, via the quickest and most obvious route, during a time when traffic shouldn't be an issue, when suddenly you're in a bumper-to-bumper disaster. Last time it happened to me, it was during bike dropoff the day before the Danskin Triathon. Fit ladies, I demand 30 minutes of my life back!In the case of Washington guard Venoy Overton on Sunday, it was the Seattle Marathon that made him 30 minutes late for shootaround before Washington's basketball game against Montana. As a result, Overton was on the bench at tip-off for the first time this year.
"I knew I probably wasn't going to start," Overton told the Seattle Times' Percy Allen after the game. "If I was like five minutes late then I thought I would be good, but I knew I wasn't going to start tonight."
Overton was one of the first subs off the bench, and deployed his typical mix of aggression and risk-taking. A steal and lay-in early in the first half was nice. An attempted alleyoop to Darnell Gant, not so much.
At game's end, with Washington up three points, Overton found himself guarding Montana's Anthony Johnson, the leading scorer in the Big Sky conference. The 6'3" Johnson elevated for a three-point attempt above the 5'11" Overton. But Overton timed his leap perfectly and blocked Johnson's attempt.
It's tremendously rare to block a jump shot, let alone the jump shot of a league-leading scorer, let alone a jump shot by a guy who's four inches taller than you. But Overton managed the feat; not only that, he secured the ball, took a foul, and hit the game-clinching free throws.
Overton's block gives him an early highlight for his Pac 10 defensive player of the year reel. And it secures a win on a night when the Huskies shooting hands were ice cold. Now at 5-0 one of only two undefeated Pac 10 teams (Wazzu is the other), UW moved up in both national basketball polls. Coaches say the Dawgs are the #10 best team in the nation, the media puts them at #12.
UW's next game is their first on the road--they'll play at Texas Tech on Thursday as part of the Pac 10/Big XII Challenge.
Continuing our sporadic tour of 206 hoopsters around world, we land in Europe, home to several ballers with local ties.
The 206 star: Former Husky Bobby Jones, who's leading Banca Tercas Teramo of the Italian Serie A in scoring, with 12.6 ppg. One of Jones' teammates is Drake Diener, one of the famed shooting Deiner brothers. Jones' team, sadly, is just 2-5 on the year.
Teramo is a town of about 55,000, about two hours from Rome near the Adriatic Sea. Here's a picture of city hall at night. Nice!
Garfield High and University of Nevada star Marcelus Kemp is playing in Italy's second-division league, in Sassari. Kemp averages 17.3 ppg for the third-place Banco di Sardinia Sassari squad.
Sassari is 120 miles from the Italian mainland on the island of Sardinia. It is Sardinia's second-largest city, with a metro population of 300,000. Learning Italian won't necessarily get Kemp by, as many people in the area speak Sassarese.
Franklin High grad Lyndale Burleson also attended Nevada--in fact, he and Kemp are members of the Wolfpack all-decade team. Now Burleson plays for USC Heidelberg in Germany's second division. Burleson's averaging 18.3 ppg, which puts him third on the high-scoring Heidelbergers....
Could Washington morph from a football-crazy school into a basketball mecca? Certainly there's no contest performance-wise. Now, media coverage is beginning to turn basketball's way.
For the first time, the Seattle Times has a reporter dedicated solely to Washington basketball: Percy Allen, who formerly was the Sonics' beat writer. Previously Bob Condotta covered both basketball and football, meaning that hoops coverage suffered in the early months of the season, while football was a going concern.
Allen has followed the Dawgs from practice one, is filing a story most every day, and has created a must-read blog.
Husky basketball also finally has a dedicated fan blog, Montlake Madness. Founder Josh Anderson is covering every game, doing interviews with players and opposing coaches, basically owning it. Like every good fan blog, it covers the team in-depth and is recommended for diehards.
If you're looking for a smart, Hoops 201 perspective on Husky hoops, check out Todd Dybas' writing in the Seattlepi.com. Dybas brings more advanced strategic insight than the average beat writer, going in-depth about offensive sets, defensive styles, and players' specific moves. Good stuff.
Moving more toward the advanced hoops end of the spectrum, Kevin Pelton of BasketballProspectus.com will be sharing his thoughts about Husky hoops from time to time. Here's his "Five Thoughts: Washington-Portland State" from Sunday. Good stuff. (The College Basketball Prospectus came out last week, if you want a bookful of advanced college hoops talk.)
Football still seems to dominate conversation here. At the Times, Allen's assumption of hoops duties frees up Condotta to write full-time about football. And paid sites like Dawgman, UDubSports.com, and RealDawg all focus primarily on the gridiron. Mainly because most media consumers grew up in the football glory days. As football flounders, and basketball...uh...blasts off (?), the landscape is changing.
Someday, you will do it. You won't have a co-worker's birthday party, a seasonal gutter cleaning, or brunch with an ex. Someday, you will watch sports all weekend. If, perchance, this is the weekend, here's how it should go:
FRIDAY
5 p.m.: Leave work, drive towards Hec Ed for the Athletes in Action Classic. Stop at Bartells and buy some socks on the way.
5:30-6:30 p.m.: Watch the second half of Belmont/Portland St. Cheer on PSU's Melvin Jones, a Chief Sealth grad who got his life on track after a rough start to high school.
6:30 p.m.: Dinner at Hec Ed. Recommended--Porters Place BBQ. Not recommended--Everything else.
7-9 p.m.: Watch the Huskies avoid a letdown like in last year's opening-game loss to Portland, and lay an ass-whooping on outmanned Wright St. The Raiders may stay in this game early if their shooters are hot, but UW's depth will mean WSU will be run ragged by the second half.
9-10 p.m.: Sit in the traffic lineup to get out of the Hec Ed parking lot. While you're at it, check ESPN 710 to see how Seattle U did in their opening game, at Oklahoma State.
10 p.m.: Drive home--you've got a big day tomorrow!
SATURDAY
7:30 a.m.: Drag yourself out of bed and drive to the George and Dragon for World Cup Qualifying soccer.
8 a.m.: Russia v. Slovenia begins. Here's the deal--eight European countries are getting their last shot at qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. They are paired into four groups of two, each pair plays a home-and-home with the winner going through to the Cup.
9 a.m.: England v. Brazil begins. This is just a friendly, with no World Cup qualifying implications, but c'mon. It's England/Brazil!
10 a.m.: Greece v. Ukraine! Ouzo v. Vodka! Who wins? Everyone!
Noon: Ireland v. France. Even more testy after an Irish diplomat gravely insulted French PM Sarkosky this week.
2 p.m.: Drive to The Dutchess and catch the second half of the Washington/Oregon St. football game. Will the Beavers knock Jake Locker senseless again?
2:30-3:30 p.m.: Probably some sort of silly play by the Husky special teams that costs us the game late, ending slight hopes of a Husky bowl appearance.
3:30-4:00 p.m.: Enjoy a chicken sandwich so you don't have to consume any Hec Ed food.
4 p.m.: Walk down to Hec Ed. Yeah, it's a trek, but do you really want to sit in that post-game parking lot traffic again? Not worth it. Plus, those fries you just ate have a ton of calories.
4:30-6:30 p.m.: Wright St. vs. Portland St. This will probably be the most competitive of the six games to be played this weekend.
6:30-7 p.m.: Check Facebook on your phone. Note how many "status updates" are actually just people whining about pointless shit.
7-9 p.m.: UW vs. Belmont, which I'm hoping will be very entertaining. Both the Huskies and Belmont were among the 50 fastest-tempo teams in the NCAA last year. If Belmont plays their style instead of trying to slow the game down, the Dawgs could hit 100.
9-9:30 p.m.: Healthful walk back up to The Dutchess.
9:30-Midnight: Buy repeated rounds for everyone at the bar (or just me)....
This weekend's Athletes in Action Classic at Hec Edmundson Pavilion would be worth checking out even if the #14-ranked Huskies weren't playing.
All four teams competing won 20 games last year. Washington, Portland State and Belmont all made postseason tournaments. Each team will play each other team in a round-robin format, with two games each night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The three non-Husky teams in Tweet-sized bits:
Wright St. Raiders (Dayton, OH): Slow-tempo WSU return four starters from team that took Horizon League winners Butler down to the wire in league championship game. 6'5" G Todd Brown shot 40% from three. Play Huskies Friday.
Belmont Bruins (Nashville, TN): Fast-tempo team missed NCAA tourney last season for first time in five years. Now they graduate four starters and look to be rebuilding. Young team with 11 frosh or sophomores. Play Huskies Saturday.
Portland St. Vikings (Portland, OR): New coach is Tyler Geving after Ken Bone left for Wazzu. Also gone:...
Bobby Galer (UW Special Collections)
What with it being Veterans' Day and all (thanks, Dad and Grandpa!) I thought I'd search about for a local sports star who was also a veteran. I'd never heard of Robert "Bobby" Galer until this morning, though I should have: He's a member of the Washington Sports Hall of Fame.
Galer, known as "Goose" in his player days, was a forward on the Washington basketball team from 1933-1935. He was the top offensive threat for a fast-paced team (by that day's standards) which sportswriters dubbed "The Greyhounds."
In Galer's junior year, the 1934 Dawgs won the Pacific Coast Conference Championship. Galer made All-America as a senior 1935, he's one of only 16 Huskies to do so.
But his more valuable distinction is this: Galer won the Congressional Medal of Honor, this nation's highest military award, for his service as a pilot in World War II.
Galer is one of eight University of Washington alums to have won the Medal of Honor; a on-campus memorial to them was dedicated this morning.
Here is the citation for the award Galer received in 1943 from President Roosevelt:
For conspicuous heroism and courage above and beyond the call of duty as leader of a marine fighter squadron in aerial combat with enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands area. Leading his squadron repeatedly in daring and aggressive raids against Japanese aerial forces, vastly superior in numbers, Maj. Galer availed himself of every favorable attack opportunity, individually shooting down 11 enemy bomber and fighter aircraft over a period of 29 days. Though suffering the extreme physical strain attendant upon protracted fighter operations at an altitude above 25,000 feet, the squadron under his zealous and inspiring leadership shot down a total of 27 Japanese planes. His superb airmanship, his outstanding skill and personal valor reflect great credit upon Maj. Galer's gallant fighting spirit and upon the U.S. Naval Service.
Bobby Galer flew in both WWII and the Korean War. In World War II he was shot down three times, once having to swim for 90 minutes to reach shore. In Korea, he was shot down again and barely survived after his foot caught in a cockpit strap and he couldn't parachute out until he was 150 feet off the ground.
Galer retired from the Marines in 1959, working in real estate and engineering. He died in 2005; here's an excellent obituary in the Seattle Times.
When last I heard of Will Conroy, he was trying to win a job with the Houston Rockets. Unfortunately, Conroy was the Rockets' final cut. The ever-steady former UW walk-on told a reporter: "At least I’ll get some rest. I haven’t slept the last three days. It’s frustrating, but it’s a done deal, so turn the page."
The next page in Conroy's career reads right-to-left, as he's signed with the DongGuan New Century Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association.
The article announcing Conroy's signing on the DongGuan website says this about him (according to Google Translate): "Conroy is a speed type of shooting guard, has a very strong penetration capabilities."
"Strong penetration capabilities." Who's going to argue with that?
Conroy led the NBA's Development League in scoring last year, having turned down more lucrative overseas offers for a chance at an NBA callup. He likely passed up yet more offers this year in his attempt to make Houston's roster. Hopefully he's getting...
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