How does Venoy impact 2008?

I think the main fallout from signing Venoy is that Romar may be conceding the Jrue Holiday sweepstakes. If I had to guess, I would say Jrue is going to go to Arizona or UW. He fits into a fast paced system well, but both teams are in similar roster situations. UCLA already has two PG commitments in 2008, Texas feels like a longshot, and North Carolina has 11 freshman and sophmores right now. 2008 is very likely UW's best shot at a title, and that is probably not the case in Arizona unless Buddinger stays longer than expected. If Jrue wants to win, he'll go to UW or Carolina, if he wants to showcase himself, he'll go to Arizona.

Brockman should be a Pac 10 player of the year and a Wooden award finalist. Pondexter will be fully filled out and experienced. We'll have 3 or 4 seniors and 3 juniors in the rotation. Romar will have an experienced team that can run, rebound and play D.

Assuming that Hawes will be in the NBA and both Isaiah Thomas and Darnell Gant get themselves eligible by this time, our current 2008 roster looks like this:

Seniors
PG - Justin Dentmon
PF - Jon Brockman
PF - Artem Wallace
SG - Joel Smith

Juniors
C - Joe Wolfinger
SF - Quincy Pondexter
SF - Phil Nelson
SG - Adrian Oliver

Sophomores
PF - Matthew Bryan-Amaning
SG - Justin Holiday
PG - Venoy Overton
SF/PF - Darnell Gant *

Freshman
SG/PG - Isaiah Thomas
SG - Elston Turner Jr.

* May be a freshman

That's 14 players, one over the scholarship limit. Here are a few things I could see happening:

60%: Joel Smith walks on.
Romar didn't want Smith to Redshirt this year because of the current scholarship situation. Smith may have made a deal to walk on in order to Red Shirt. Smith is from Lompoc, Ca, which is in a tiny town north of Santa Barbara that has an economy that relies heavily on Vandenberg Airforce Base.

45%: Wolfinger walks on or transfers. He hasn't played a game in two years and he's probably the lowest ranked recruit on the team. I can't really see him on the floor in 2008, given the other talent around him.

40%: Artem Wallace walks on
Wallace is going to have to show improvement next year. I don't know if he could walk on or not. I have no idea what his financial situation is.

33%: Pondexter goes pro after next season. He certainly is athletic enough, I think we'd have to see a fairly dramatic improvement over this year for this to be realistic. His dad, Roscoe played professionally overseas and his Uncle Cliff played in the NBA. Quincy will get good advice from his family and he has no immediate need for an NBA jackpot.

25%: Somebody is academically ineligible, transfers, or drops out. Wild and random speculation.

10%: Dentmon or Brockman walk on.
I don't think that Romar would ask Brockman to do this, but I could see Brockman deciding to be a hero to get Jrue on the team. Dentmon seems like an unlikely candidate to walk on, Carbondale is not the nicest town in the world...

0.01%: Brockman goes pro. I don't think that Brockman will be a high draft pick if he goes before his senior year. For a power forward, he's short and can't jump. Brockman has stated many times that he will be at UW for 4 years. I don't doubt him, but if he put up crazy numbers like 18 and 14 next year...

One of these things needs to happen just to get under the scholarship limit. Two would need to happen to get Jrue. I really hope we can bring him in. We'll likely lose at least 5 players after the 2008 season, possibly 6. Reloading on the fly is much better than having to start 3 freshman and 2 sophomores. Trust me...

Oh boy! USC Recruit changes mind, chooses UW!

Venoy Overton, a true point guard, has changed his mind declaring he will attend UW next year instead of USC. Stating that he would be able to make a immediate impact at the college level was the reason he switched schools. The struggles this year of Justin Dentmon have opened the door for Overton to compete for the starting point guard position.

The 6-foot guard out of Seattle's Franklin High School is a great addition to UW's 2008 recruiting class. Justin Dentmon is going to have to work extra hard this summer to retain his starting job.

Overton was named to the Seattle Times' Star Times team last week after averaging 21.7 points and 5.7 assists this year for Franklin, which is 21-2 and the top-ranked 4A team in the state.

Overton will be on scholarship next year, meaning Spencer Hawes most probably will be leaving, and Tim Morris will now be a walk on next year. UW has a full boat next year....

Bob Condotta from Seattle Times states "First, I think the scholarship situation may be just this simple --- Tim Morris becomes a walk-on, if needed, and Darnell Gant may not make it in due to grades. From what I know, this has nothing to do with anything regarding Spencer Hawes. But obviously if he leaves, that opens up another scholarship. Two of those three is all that is needed to happen to make this work out."

More from Condotta "From what I've been told, the UW coaches really value Overton for his defense, quickness and athleticism. UW's guards have had trouble defending all season and it's thought Overton could make a big difference there immediately, on top of whatever offense and ballhandling he will add."

FURTHER COMMENT ---
The obvious question is how the Huskies will fit him in, given that they already have at least 13 scholarships committed for next year. My answer at the moment is I don't know.

Here's how next year's roster now looks:
07-08 roster

SENIORS
G - Ryan Appleby
G - Tim Morris

JUNIORS
G - Justin Dentmon
F - Jon Brockman
F - Artem Wallace
G - Joel Smith

SOPHOMORES
C - Joe Wolfinger
C - Spencer Hawes
F - Quincy Pondexter
F - Phil Nelson
G - Adrian Oliver

FRESHMEN
F - Matthew Bryan-Amaning
F - Darnell Gant
G - Justin Holiday
G - Venoy Overton
TOTAL 15.

Maybe this is a sign that Spencer Hawes is for sure out the door, since him leaving is the most logical way that a scholarship opens. For today, the big news is simply that the Huskies have taken a definite step toward solving what has been an obvious problem this season.
UPDATED COMMENT --- Remember that Tim Morris can move to walk-on status if necessary. Also, there are apparently some concerns over Darnell Gant's academics, which would also open up a scholarship.
UPDATED --- Here's a profile of Overton from Rivals.com.

Jeez...

I just can't believe it......

We lost to OSU on the road....

Ahhhhh....

That has to seal UW's NCAA hope...

That has to seal Spencer Hawes' NBA decision...goodbye Spencer...nice game tonight...

Ahhhhh....

Time to start winning away from Hec Ed

We've had our share of games we should have won, could have one and didn't win on the road. We're coming off of two tough losses, but I finally feel like we're starting to see what this team could be - an awesome rebounding team that routinely gets more scoring opportunites than it's opponent. A team that can beat anyone if it's shooters get hot and don't turn the ball over. We are always stronger inside than the opposition, which is not a bad place to start when you are building a giant slayer.

It's do or die time for this Husky team. Standing at 16-8 with a 6-8 Pac 10 record, we are still in a position to get into the big dance. A strong finish in Pac 10 play (meaning winning 3 of the next 4) plus making the semifinals of the Pac 10 tournament would probably be enough to propel us to a #10 seed. Making the Pac 10 tourney finals would mean a 21-10 record (including 5 losses by less than 4 points or in overtime) a .500+ record in one of the toughest conferences in the country, and a hot streak, which the tournament likes to see at the end of a team's season. I think the committee will give us a pass on the Bay Area swing when our best player was so ill he could barely play.

We have two more games on the road - Oregon State tonight and Oregon on Saturday. If we can win those, the door is wide open. Plus, a victory at Oregon means that some local ducks will owe me TWO (count 'em) TWO dinners. And if you don't think they are nervous, think about this: Since Oregon came into Hec Ed as the 7th ranked team in the nation with an 18-1 record, they have gone 2-6. I ask you, my humble reader to refer back to my original post predicting the ducks demise. Ernesto, Ernesto, Ernesto...

Looking ahead to the Pac-10 tourney

If the Pac-10 season ended today, UW would enter the Pac-10 tourney as the 7th seed. Which begs us here at Hec Heads to look at the road to the promise land, the NCAA's.

I want to say, if we have to play in the play in game, I want to be the 7th or 10th seed. We won't end up 10th, so it will have to be the 7th seed.

We would begin by playing Arizona State, and in round two...

Washington vs. Washington State...

Round 3!

Man, wouldn't that be fun. I would find it hard to believe that Washington State has ever beaten UW three times in a season, so the history odds will be on our side in round 2.

If we get by round 2, then it will be USC or Arizona. USC has beaten Arizona both times this season by sizeable amounts, so I would expect USC to win this game. But, as the old addage says, it is hard to beat a team three times in a season.

I would love to see another match-up against Washington State. The lack of respect WAZZU anf their fans showed in the Bank of America Arena, UW is probably dying to get another shot. After seeing the team play tonight against PITT, I think UW is going to start to win these games here pretty quickly. A back to back win in Oregon, and a double wins in Seattle against the SoCal schools, UW could be RED HOT entering the Pac-10 tourney.

A loss to be proud of...

Well, we lost, but I think if your a Husky fan you have to be encouraged by the effort shown by the young Huskies. They played a good game on the defensive end, holding Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh's best player in check for the entire game.

Man, I am starting to pray every night that Spencer Hawes spends one more year in school. I know the chances of that happening are very low, but a boy can dream can't he.

Did you know, UW has lost 32 straight games against top-10 ranked opponents on the road, and hasn't won a game against one since 1974. I thought that was outrageous when I read that stat. It blew my mind.

I think this team has finally turned the corner, and I think you are going to see a good team in the Pac-10 tourney next week. UW probably won't win it, but I bet they will knock off a ranked opponent this year.

Did you hear Brittney Spears shaved her head...what the hell?

The Aftermath...

"There's only one thing a man can do when he's suffering from a spiritual and existential funk."

"Go to the zoo, flip off the monkeys?"

No, I didn't flip off monkeys, but I did wallow in agony, went sleepless for a few nights, and was made fun of by every Cougar I knew, which included my boss. Every time I glanced at him on Thursday, he just held up one finger indicating he was number 1.

That game was as painful a game I have had since I came to Seattle, and started attending the University of Washington. This was 100x more painful then the first game in Pullman. Losing a game you put yourself in position to win, has to be worse them getting blown out.

Much props to Justin "It-ain't-fallin'-but-I-am-putting-the-team-on-my-back-anyways" Dentmon for totally choking the game away down the stretch. His 2 for 12 performance was good enough to win him the "God Dammit, What the Fuck" award here at Hec Heads. I love Justin Dentmon, but his play near the end of that game was atrocious. Playing out of control, he put the dice in his hands, and it came up snake-eyes more than once.

So, I might have been wrong about Spencer Hawes. The array of moves he showed the past two games have validated his top-5 draft status. It is really a shame he spent the entire middle part of this season battling that illness which caused him to lose 20 pounds. We are now only seeing the true Spencer Hawes. How did he get that illness? Was this a Corey Brewer Mono type illness that caused him to look like shit? I can only guess that he contradicted his illness from some of the many hoes that the basketball team runs through on a weekly basis. I am jealous. I mean, I was in a fraternity, and I can guarantee that I did not see the train of ass these basketball players see in a year that they probably see in a week.

Was it me, or did UW sub at all after the 11 minute mark in the second half? It seemed as though the line-up of Brockman, Hawes, Dentmon, Appleby, and Oliver was on the floor for an eternity. I understood this line-up established the comeback, but the sloppy play down the stretch might have been prevented by the substitution of Quincy Pondexter or Phil Nelson over the last 11 minutes. They didn't have to play much, just enough to give these 5 a blow.

Billy Joel once sang "Say Goodbye to Hollywood". It truly is time to say goodbye to the glamour and glitz of UW Basketball this year unless they can win the Pac-10 tourney (which they are certainly capable of doing with Brockman and Hawes getting hot for a week). NIT, is that what we have to look forward too? Yeah Fozz, I said NIT...

All this of course can be a mute point if UW wins tomorrow at Pitt.

A win here validates the Juggernaut that is the Pac-10. A win at both the Oregon schools (which is looking easier as we speak), UW can get back into the NCAA picture. It HAS to finish .500 in conference play to be considered NCAA eligible.

My prediction for Saturday.....UW 88, Pitt 81. There I said it. Going with my heart on this one. Please lord answer my prayers.

If not, you can find me at the Zoo, in the monkey section.

Big Game Tonight!

Our lovely neighbors to the east are coming into town to receive a long past due old school style Ass Whoopin'. We have revenge to take on the Cougars, and a whole lot to prove to get into the big dance. Fortunately for the Cougs, they will have the exciting nightlife of Pullman (It's for lovers) to help wash away their tears after a long bus ride back over the mountains.

Hawes is back. The other freshman have finally realized the importance of a little thing called defense. The guards are finally running the O through the vicious 1-2 post combo of Hawes and Brockman instead of dribbling into turnovers.

Since the arrival of Lorenzo Romar, there has been a clear dichotomy between the two Washington Schools basketball styles. Huskies play fast. Cougars play saaaaah-low. We may be seeing a slight change in that as the pac 10 season comes to a close. Sure, the Cougars still love the mind numbing pace that puts everyone to sleep, and Romar still wants his boys to take open looks when they are there, but now you are seeing a UW team who is more willing to be patient and take advantage of their consistent dominance of the painted area. While you can tell that Romar loves the artistry of the fast paced game, UW seems better suited to slow it down a bit, move the ball and wait until they get a good inside look or open jumper.

We are finally seeing the ball handler work hard to get the ball into Hawes and Brockman while his teammates clear out that side of the court. We are seeing Hawes and Brockman run High/Low post setups, which has led to easy shots and fouls on the opponent. The Huskies are finally running their offense though their strength, which will allow this recent run to be sustained as the prepare for the toughest part of their season schedule.

I can't wait.

Game Recap: UW wins going away!

Wow, what a great energy tonight in Bank of America Arena. The crowd was electric, and ready for this game. What I love about our Dawg Pack is that they do not take a single minute off during the game. They torture other teams with their chanting during timeouts, dead balls, and other stoppages of play. They brought their "A" game this evening, they rattled Stanford's young players, you got to believe that some of Stanford's out of control play was caused by the Dawg Pack. This group of Washington Students have special cheers for certain situations which really make sitting around them pleasurable.

Anyways, UW and Stanford struggled to score throughout the ball game. Two or three minutes would ellipse at times without either team scoring, and it made for a sloppy yet, energetic game. Spencer Hawes started and provided a spark to a stagnant Husky O. Jon Brockman struggled scoring inside against Stanford's Twin Towers, struggling to get the ball over their out stretched arms. I had never seen so many of Jon's rejected. Jon did pick up a plenty of fouls on the Lopez twins though. Sometimes I forget that Jon is only 6'7''. Spencer Hawes was straight dirty last night with the array of moves in the post that left both Lopez brothers a little lost at times. Watching Hawes, and the Lopez twins in the same game really showed how much more developed Hawes is with his foot work, and knowledge of the game. The Lopez Twins will be very good someday, but they do not have the footwork, or imagination that Hawes has with the ball in his hands.

Man, the Pac-10 refs are terrible. I would say there were 5-10 bad calls on both sides of the ball tonight. Usually I bitch about how the refs screwed us, but at times tonight both teams were getting streaks of bad calls called on them. The worst was a blocking foul called on Phil Nelson as a Stanford guard drove baseline around Justin Dentmon. Nelson was established and did not move as the Stanford guard bulled him over. The crowd went nuts. There was a consistent rain of "boo's" from the packed audience for nearly 5 minutes as a timeout was called directly after this play, spilling over into the free-throws granted for the blocking foul. This probably would not have happen if not for the spectacular new video screen installed recently. During the entire timeout, the video replay crew showed the foul from 3-4 different angles, which really angered the crowd. The new screen is dope!

Play of the night, approaching halftime, leading by two with 35 seconds left, Ryan Appleby had the ball poked away from behind by a Stanford guard. The ball is knocked directly to a Stanford player who took off on a fast break all alone because Ryan Appleby fell down after the ball was poked away. The Stanford player went up for a rim-rattling two hand jam that looked like it was going to suck all the air out of Hec Ed, BUT he clanked it off the back iron and it shot out to the free throw line! Hawes was there to rebound the ball, and we settled for a two point lead at half. You could tell then that it was going to be UW's night!

The WAZZU game on Wednesday means that much more now! UW's schedule over the next two weeks is SO brutal that we really need this game to hold onto any hope of making it into the NCAA tournament!

Game Preview: Stanford vs. UW

In another back against the wall game for the young pups, UW must avenge another tough loss in the Bay area that UW let go of down the stretch. The key will be scoring inside with Brockman and Hawes against the Lopez Twins. In the previous meeting, Hawes was sick, and Brockman carried all the inside scoring. UW's huge advantage this game is playing at Bank of America Arena, where they are 14-1 this year. After watching a little of the Stanford/WSU game last Thursday, Stanford, like UW, is a much better home team for the same reason UW is, they are young. Hopefully the Dawg Pack will rally this afternoon, and totally destroy the young Cardinal's confidence.

Can UW climb itself above 7th in the conference? It is a question asked today by Bob Condotta on his blog. It offers a realistic view of the Husky's final Pac-10 games, and what Husky fans should hope for, which includes Oregon fading down the stretch. The same Oregon fade that was commented by fellow blogger Bobby Jones 2.0 in a column before UW's game against UO last month, in which UW won against an Aaron Brooks-less Oregon team.

Today's game remains very important to UW's hope to get into the NCAA tournament. Can UW get into the NCAA's even if it wins out? That remains to be seen. A strong finish, and two or three wins in the Pac-10 tourney would most certainly help their cause. Things to look for today will be Quincy Pondexter's effectiveness after flapping his jaw in the press this week about the possibility of leaving UW for the NBA after this season. I hope it does not lead to Q-Pond from forcing shots, and trying to make huge plays to show that he is ready for the NBA.

I will be at the game this afternoon, and I will have a full report of action this evening after I return from Montlake.

What Huskies do to Trees....

"War's over, man. Arizona dropped the big one."

Brockman: "Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Dentmon: "Germans?"

Hawes: "Forget it, he's rolling."

Brockman: "And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!"

Brockman: "What the fuck happened to the UW I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Brockman, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. California, their dead men! Stanford, dead! WAZZU... "

Appleby: "Dead! Brockman's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. "

Sorry, I needed to go a little buck-wild on ya'all. Didn't this game tonight feel like one of those escape from prison movies. One where there is a dreadful shower scene and the main character is some one's bitch. You could picture the Huskies sitting in their cell, shaking, holding a carved shank, rocking back in forth, mumbling to themselves about getting out, and not letting the "bad man" touch them anymore. You could sense how desperate both these teams were. The loser pretty much gets eliminated from NCAA talks, especially since Cal has a rough stretch on the road coming up. This game was a Rocky IV vs. Clubber Lang-esque type of game. Each taking huge hits at each other, neither wilting until the end, when the hero won!

Now that UW is 5-7 in Pac-10 play, and have dug their way out of Alcatraz, the light is brighter, the food tastes better, and the soft touch of a woman is much better then the rough hands of a prison mistress. Brockman went ape shit on Cal this evening, with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Is Brockman more NBA ready then Hawes? From his appearance tonight, and his appearance in the desert, I would say Brockman would be a top-15 pick if he came out this year. Good thing Brockman said he is staying all 4 years...

I have sat the past three of four days a little wide-eyed, and nauseous. My beloved Huskies were (are) tanking, life as I knew sucked. We started this blog this year to record all the brilliance that is Washington Basketball. Truthfully, it has been slightly painful chugging on in this voyage. Feeling like the Titanic after it hit the iceberg, I searched for answers. Then I watched Animal House this past weekend, and found my inspiration to carry on. Bluto's speech was the kick in the ass I needed to get hyped again, to put back on my Husky basketball shorts, and sit this evening and watch the game totally enthused about making the NCAA tourney.

It can happen. UW has to get hot, and Brockman is going to have to be a man. Tonight it looked as though Brockman said enough was enough. Brockman entered the "My team is winning tonight and there is not a damn thing you can do about it" stage this evening, and by God, UW won this game going away. Hawes looked good, but he is overrated as someone who can enter the NBA and contribute right away. I think his pick would be to secure a future big man in the NBA. Potential matters so much to these scouts that it almost makes me sick. If UW is going to win, it will because of Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon. The funny this is that all Dentmon has to do is not turn the basketball over. If he can maintain possession, and feed the ball to Hawes and Brockman cleanly, UW could be set.

Today I learned that my girl secured me tickets to the Husky game on Sunday against Stanford. Stanford, they're dead men! Might even bring a sign that says so!

Beat the Bay

UW has a chance in the next week to atone for 3 of our tougher losses this season. Against Stanford and Cal, we just didn't have quite enough to prevail, and that unfortunate swing probably cost us a trip to the dance. Wazzou was a whole different story. We haven't looked good against them since 2005.

We face these teams in what is probably the best order possible, with each game a slight step up in difficultly. Cal is up first tonight, and I think that the Huskies confidence at home will carry them.

I still worry about this team. With Conroy and Nate Rob on the team, you always had the feeling that UW played with a chip on their shoulder. Conroy had to walk on, Nate was only 5'7" and not really recruited for basketball. You could tell that they always felt that there was something to prove, and they knew the only way to prove anything was to win. It feels like this years team feels a bit more entitled to praise and expects more to be handed to them. They still haven't learned to be killers. I think they are capable, but you never know what lies in someone's heart until you see it poured out. Or not.

YES! OH YES! FUCKING YES!

OH MY GOD YES! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!

UW 66 - ASU 61!!!!!!

FIRST ROAD WIN! FIRST ROAD WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEXT UP IS ARIZONA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GAME TIME - TWO HOURS AWAY

UW MUST WIN TONIGHT! LOSE THIS EVENING, and IT IS OVER FOR OUR CHANCES OF GETTING INTO THE NCAA.

GAME IS NOT ON TV, THAT SUCKS BALLS!