UW needs to sweep the bay
And it won't be all that easy. After Oregon and Wazzou toppled UCLA and Arizona (respectively), it looks like the Pac 10 is the toughest conference in the nation. All this is good news for the Dawgs, as the stronger the conference looks, the more likely the possibility of getting 6 teams from the Pac 10 into the show. Stanford is coming off an impressive road win against Virginia after losing at home to Cal last Thursday. Before that win, neither team had really shown much (I'm not counting Cal's win against a Bill Walker-less Kansas state team as a significant win).
This trip is an opportunity for the Dawgs to leapfrog both bay area schools and take over 6th place in the conference. While this is no extraordinary feat, it would set up UW for a nice second half run at a top 3 finish in the Pac 10. Additionally, we've got a brutal pair of games after these two, travelling to Wazzou and then facing Oregon at home. If we can get a couple road wins under our belt, it may give the confidence chance to take it to Wazzou, and/or get a nice home win against Oregon (who will be without Aaron Brooks - suspended for the sucker punch he laid on Appleby in the pac 10 tourney). Escaping this stretch with only one loss, plus what should be easy wins against OSU and ASU would put us at 6-4 in the conference and would be a huge step forward for our young team. By that time, Joel Smith should be healthy and back in the rotation, just in time to face the top of the conference the second time around.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Our dogs have some real flaws right now, particularly with our ball handling and perimeter defense. For UW to be successful, Justin Dentmon needs to play well. It appears like his confidence was genuinely shaken by the long, atheletic matchups he's had to face against USC, UCLA, and Arizona. In his first 4 pac 10 games, he looked like he was aiming the ball and overthinking his passes. Something has to happen to get him confident again, and I think he will find it in the Bay Area. Or he will completely crumble (I hope not, but after all, the game at Stanford was where he made one of the dumbest mistakes you could ever make, and cost us the game). Quincy Pondexter also looked shocked by the athleticism of the Pac 10. His supreme offensive performance against Arizona aside, he has been caught in double teams numerous times and his rebounding numbers have dropped. He seems surprised every time a player his size can move as fast or faster than he can. He will get through this, he is at least as atheletic as Bobby Jones, and has proven to be a hard worker. It's just a matter of when. Oliver has almost the opposite problem. While he takes everything in stride and does't look too overwhelmed (for the most part), it's almost like he is afraid to be noticed on the court. Adrian is only taking 4 shots a game in about 26 minutes (in pac 10 play).
Other than that, this team is sweet! Here's to hoping for good guard play against Stanford
tonight.
This trip is an opportunity for the Dawgs to leapfrog both bay area schools and take over 6th place in the conference. While this is no extraordinary feat, it would set up UW for a nice second half run at a top 3 finish in the Pac 10. Additionally, we've got a brutal pair of games after these two, travelling to Wazzou and then facing Oregon at home. If we can get a couple road wins under our belt, it may give the confidence chance to take it to Wazzou, and/or get a nice home win against Oregon (who will be without Aaron Brooks - suspended for the sucker punch he laid on Appleby in the pac 10 tourney). Escaping this stretch with only one loss, plus what should be easy wins against OSU and ASU would put us at 6-4 in the conference and would be a huge step forward for our young team. By that time, Joel Smith should be healthy and back in the rotation, just in time to face the top of the conference the second time around.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Our dogs have some real flaws right now, particularly with our ball handling and perimeter defense. For UW to be successful, Justin Dentmon needs to play well. It appears like his confidence was genuinely shaken by the long, atheletic matchups he's had to face against USC, UCLA, and Arizona. In his first 4 pac 10 games, he looked like he was aiming the ball and overthinking his passes. Something has to happen to get him confident again, and I think he will find it in the Bay Area. Or he will completely crumble (I hope not, but after all, the game at Stanford was where he made one of the dumbest mistakes you could ever make, and cost us the game). Quincy Pondexter also looked shocked by the athleticism of the Pac 10. His supreme offensive performance against Arizona aside, he has been caught in double teams numerous times and his rebounding numbers have dropped. He seems surprised every time a player his size can move as fast or faster than he can. He will get through this, he is at least as atheletic as Bobby Jones, and has proven to be a hard worker. It's just a matter of when. Oliver has almost the opposite problem. While he takes everything in stride and does't look too overwhelmed (for the most part), it's almost like he is afraid to be noticed on the court. Adrian is only taking 4 shots a game in about 26 minutes (in pac 10 play).
Other than that, this team is sweet! Here's to hoping for good guard play against Stanford
tonight.
Labels: Game Previews and Recaps, Justin Dentmon
posted by Bobby Jones 2.0 at 4:16 PM
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