I found my special purpose!

Lorenzo Romar tried a new defensive strategy against Oregon last night, putting Phil Nelson on mighty mite Tejuan Porter when UW played man to man defense. The strategy paid off, as Porter was essentially useless whenever Nelson marked him (both his three balls were when Dentmon or Appleby guarded him). While foot speed is at time an issue for Nelson, it never was a problem in this matchup. Nelson, with a 14 inch height advantage over Porter, was able to be a deterrant to the outside shot while playing well off Porter. For most of the game Porter seemed rattled in the half court set, and struggled to initiate the offense.

Is this a sign of things to come? Nelson, who has looked horrible on D in general this year when guarding athletic wings, may have found a way to contribute defensively by taking on the ball handler at the top of the key. It was reminiscent of moves that opposing teams did to Nate Robinson from time to time, which typically resulted in UW struggling. It strikes me that most college players are pretty used to matching up against similar sized defenders, and are not quite sure what to do when the matchup is skewed so dramatically. It's good to see Romar take advantage of an asset we have in surplus (size) and use it to counteract an overall weakness of our team (quick feet).