Uncomfortably Numb

Waking up this morning, I am still numb by the way the previous night's game transpired. I feel robbed, like I put money into the vending machine and my Pop Tarts are stuck, trapped by the spinning wheel pushing out my favorite treat.

The refs last night were breaking my balls. The Pac-10 has the reputation for having the worst set of officiating crews, and tonight's game did nothing to change this thought.

I am really in shock to how we lost that game. I am really surprised we made it into two OT's. With Pondexter sitting almost the entire 2nd half, along with Brockman, UW was playing one arm behind their backs. The officiating effectively took Dentmon, Brockman and Pondexter out of the game. Dentmon recorded another terrible game against a quality opponent. He needs to slow down and try to do a little less. He is trying to make the perfect play every time he touches the ball. Slow down, relax, hit the open guy. Brockman looked as though he was off to an explosive evening. He had 6 rebounds early, and was looking as though USC would not be able to stop him on the glass. The refs took care of that.

A very frustrating element of this game was UW's ineffectiveness in getting the ball into Hawes in the post. UW shot 26 (13-26) three pointers. Many of the missed shots were contested threes, and were rushed. There were spells in this game that Hawes did not touch the ball on the offensive end. UW WAKE UP, HAWES IS YOUR BEST PLAYER. Just like Shaq in the NBA, Hawes needs to touch the ball EVERY time down the court on O. Hawes is a tremendous passer. USC was showing that they were going to do anything to not let Hawes set up, and make his low post moves. A collapsing USC D would, if UW had gone into the post, resulted in many open three opportunities for Appleby, Brumiester and Gasser. Go to Hawes, he needs the rock!

Word to Hans Gasser. I know you looked up to Mike Jensen. Please do not channel the spirit of Mike Jensen. Your botched three in OT was very Jensen like, in the realm of unclutch plays at the end of games. Swing the rock to a player with an open shot.

Next up is UCLA - wow, if you are looking for a So-Cal split, UW went about it the wrong way. After UCLA was tested Thursday by Washington State, UCLA will be ready for UW. Does UW have enough to hang with UCLA? I do not believe they do. Their only chance is creating mismatches with Hawes in the post, and waiting for opportunities to exploit UCLA collapsing to stop Hawes.

I am going to take a nap.