Redhawks Top Talented Bulldogs 85-84 in Front of Chieftain Greats

(Courtesy of regular Husky Digest contributor Jason McCleary)

Men's Basketball is back in the Key Arena. Seattle University, in only their 2nd year playing D1 level basketball game in almost three decades (when they were known as the Chieftains), won their first home game this year 85-84 against Fresno State. A hard fought effort by both teams, Seattle U came out on top with the win at the end of the game. Coach Cameron Dollar received his first victory as head coach, after leaving the University of Washington to pursue a head coaching job.

The night started off honoring a Seattle U great and a top 50 NBA player who goes by the name of Elgin Baylor. Baylor led Seattle U team to the final four and was an 11 time NBA all-star. Baylor played for many years on the LA Lakers teams that also featured Jerry West (the man in the NBA logo) and Wilt Chamberlain (who is arguably the best big man ever, the other choice being another former Laker, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

The Seattle U court was named after Baylor today and will be from now on called "Elgin Baylor Court". Joining Baylor for the ceremony were a couple dozen Seattle greats of years past including Eddie Miles, Clint Richardson, the O'Brien Twins and John Tresvant.

After the festivities were over honoring the legend, Baylor saw a great game along with the other 4,713 fans. Both teams came out the gates real sloppy. Seattle U and Fresno State looked real anxious and forced a lot of shots in the first 5 minutes of the game. Junior college transfer Charles Garcia came out forcing plays and playing out of control but was still a force to be reckoned with and finished the game with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The first half seemed to be all Seattle U, with Garcia leading the way showing the skills of a big man that will someday be in the NBA. Major contributions from the whole team had the bulldogs in the passenger seat the first half of the game. Two major players who got the Redhawks out and running were Aaron Broussard and Chris Gweth.

Broussard gave Fresno State fits, with his shooting ability as a forward and strong will to take the ball to the rack. Gweth played the SG position real well hitting open shots and slashing assertively to the rack. Garcia would dominate getting to the rim and went to the free throw line 18 times in the game, though only hitting 10 of 18.

With all that said, Fresno State was only down 8 points at the half, 39-31. The star players were dormant in the first half for the Bulldogs, but all would change in the second half. NBA prospect Paul George came out strong in the second half. George hit from the three point line and handed his business in the post.

In the second Garcia showed a lot of what he can do and how skilled he is as a 6'10" forward. Garcia received contributions from two other players in the second half, as the Redhawks had 5 players to finish in double digit scoring. Guards Mike Boxley and Cervante Burrell helped take the burden off of Garcia's back to help with the scoring.

But Fresno State was still fighting and getting huge play out of freshman sensation Greg Smith, who only had two points at half time but finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Fresno Also got huge play out of Paul George who finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds as well.

George later fouled out at the 4 min mark which was critical for the Bulldogs. Former ASU Sun Devil Sylvester Seay, whose Pac-10 career was marred by injury, was also effective with 15 points.

Fresno State had the lead when George fouled out but that would all change. Coach Cameron Dollar must have noticed something in the offense of Fresno State and realized that they really didn't have a ball handler who can dribble under pressure. The Redhawks ran the full court press the last 4 min of the game, forcing Fresno State to turn the ball over, but the game came down to the wire.

With 45 seconds left in the game and Fresno State up 1 point, the Bulldogs had troubles getting the ball past half court. Broussard forced a steal and missed the lay-up, but Garrett Lever laid it back up to take a one point lead.

Smith then got the ball in low with 24 seconds left and made a basket to put the Bulldogs up 1. Fresno State seemed like they could have it in the bag, but Gweth found Burrell for a lay up to put the Redhawks back up one.

Fresno State still had a chance to take the lead, but a costly turnover cause by guard Steve Shepp, who until then had played a solid game off the bench with 13 points and 8 assists, sealed the game for Seattle U. There is nothing like a great neck to neck battle to kick off basketball at Seattle's Key Arena once again.

Burrell said, "This is just a starting point for us" and added, "We are just out to make statements, and this was a good beginning to make a statement".

Seattle U is now 1-2 and will next take on Weber State this Sunday (November 22nd at the Key Arena at 2:10 PDT).

Key Observations

Charles Garcia will be a great player and prospect for the NBA. He needs to work on playing in the post and not over doing it. I can see why the Huskies were so high on this guy.

Seattle U as a team has a lot to work on and will have to learn how not to just watch Garcia play and get more involved. They have talent on the team and athletes to fit Coach Dollar's system.

Coach Dollars ran his D just like he did at the University of Washington and is rubbing off on his players. They showed real good defensive pressure on the ball.

There were a number of Husky sightings in the house, showing their support for Coach Dollar. Isaiah Thomas, Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Venoy Overton were the most conspicuous, attracting the TV cameras and whooping it up for the home team, with whom they play a lot of pick-up ball in the summer.

I think it's safe to say that the Bulldogs from line of Smith, Seay and George have the look of a Pac-10 team, talent wise.

Had the Bulldogs been able to keep 2008 signee Reggie Moore, to add to fellow Rainier Beach guard Mike Ladd (whose grandpa Gary was a Chieftain star back in the day), Shepp and Brandon Sperling (whose foul trouble led to Shepp playing so many minutes), Fresno could really have a team that could go places this year.

As it is the Bulldogs should challenge in the WAC, which bodes well for this Seattle U team and their quest for post-season play in March.

Here's the box score courtesy of the Seattle U Athletic Department.

First of all I'd like to personally congratulate Quincy Pondexter on Pac-10 Player of the Week award. I have a feeling that this will be just the beginning for Q and Isaiah Thomas this season. After watching a lot of hoops over the last few days I would not be surprised to see those two as the top players in the Pac-10 this season. I know it's early and there are a number of other guys that are going to make their case, but that's just my gut feeling.

Isaiah is not falling short in getting his share of accolades, landing himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated for their college basketball preview (regional edition). Montlake Madness put a copy on their site.

Thomas is tied for 1st in the nation in scoring with LaceDarius Dunn of Baylor, scoring 74 points, while Pondexter is currently tied for 9th with Kevin Palmer of Texas A+M C.C., who this past week upset Oregon State. Interestingly, Tacoma's Anthony Johnson of Montana (who UW faces next after San Jose State) is tied with red-hot Rotnei Clarke of Arkansas for 7th place, though Clark has only played 2 games and is scoring 33.5 PPG which leads the nation.

Tajuan Porter of Oregon has scored 18.7 ppg and is 21st on the list. Charles Garcia of Seattle U and Benny Valentine of EWU is tied for 53rd with 48 points, though Chuck has done his damage in only two games and is scoring at a 24 ppg clip.

Andy Katz in his column went as far as to project that Isaiah, "Might lead the Pac-10 in scoring", which is rather big of him. Even Seth Davis at Sports Illustrated is getting the same feeling as he picked UW as his "Dark horse" to make the Final Four today.

The national polls both placed UW at #14, not that I think that UW fans should care. Polls this early should be discouraged.

Percy Allen of the Seattle Times offered his Pac-10 power rankings and pushed UW up to the #1 spot. Percy dropped Cal one spot, while boosting Oregon up one to #3, but then pushed ASU up from #8 to #4, which I think is a bit much.

He dropped UCLA from #6 to #8 and bumped up the Cougs from #7 to #5, which both make some sense, but then plunged the OSU Beavers into the #10 spot, even below Stanford and USC (who he promoted from #10 to #7).

I think that the Beavers are going to work their way out of this funk. They did it last year after losing to Howard, etc. I think that a better "Power rankings" right now would be:

1. UW
2. Cal
3. Oregon
4. WSU
5. ASU
6. Arizona
7. OSU
8. UCLA
9. USC
10. Stanford

I think that UCLA will get better, but they have so many problems in the back court that it will be very tough to really get into the Pac-10 race. I also think that OSU will get better and they do have the pieces available to get into the race, especially when Roberto Nelson gets back in late December, as we are hearing he will. ASU is well coached, has balance and veterans, but nothing special in the area of play makers.

Pounding Eric Boateng down low against TCU for a 3-point win is impressive for some people, but this is November and I am not going to pick Boateng as All Pac-10 quite yet. I think that for now ASU looks good, based on players that are veterans and a system that is in place, but as teams get their own legs, I don't see Ty Abbott, Boateng, Derrick Glasser and company doing much more than 7th or 8th unless freshman Trent Lockett really picks things up fast.

Lockett has potential and has already replaced Jerren Shipp in the starting line-up. Even if Trent has a better season than I expect and I'm high on him, ASU will probably fight it out with UCLA and USC for the 7-9 spots. I feel that OSU will be in the NCAA's this year along with UW, Cal and Oregon. The 5th spot in the Pac-10 will be between WSU and 'Zona at the end in my mind. Stanford is just not going to get out of the cellar, regardless to what they do here in November.

Like a number of the teams in the Pac-10, Abdul Gaddy is going to get better as the year rolls on. Dime Magazine did a very complimentary feature on Gaddy that included an interview.

Gaddy states in the interview that he saw Lorenzo Romar as a good role model as being one of the main reasons he chose UW and that Brandon Roy is his favorite player. Nothing new from Gaddy, but a good solid interview that portrays him and the UW program in a good light.

Scott Suggs has been the subject of a number of features in the local media.

His performances over the weekend surprised some folks and it seems as if he is looking to continue to improve. He is looking as if he can compete favorably with Justin Holiday (who also has been looking to have improved on the offensive end) and Elston Turner for minutes at the 3rd guard spot behind Quincy and when Pondexter moves to the 4 which should be often. Turner is a player that should have his break out game soon and I would expect him to find some minutes at the 2.

Next year after Quincy moves on, Suggs, Holiday and Turner will compete for minutes at these same spots, along with freshman Desmond Simmons and C.J. Wilcox. There could also be a guy by the name of Terrence Jones in that spot as well. Replacing Quincy will not be easy, but UW is certainly going to have depth on the wing regardless to whether Jones signs or not.

Percy Allen did his live chat feature again today.

As time runs out on this overcast Wednesday afternoon in Seattle, Terrence Jones is almost certain to wait until Spring Period to sign his letter. Jones's mom was quoted in Zag Blog as saying that he is likely to wait.

"It's looking that way. I can't say for sure unless he has a breakout tomorrow [Wednesday] and calls me and tells me he's ready to make a decision."

ESPN's Kansas site reported today that Washington is in the "Top tier" of Jones' favorites:

"With regards to Jones' recruitment, there appears to be two tiers. The consistent, first tier schools for his services are Kentucky, Washington, and Oregon, all three of which have received official visits from the versatile forward. Other schools that are still mentioned as possibilities, which fall into the second tier, are Kansas, UCLA and Arizona."

We feel that though Kentucky is going to make a huge push for Jones, he and his family are going to opt to stay closer to home. It is also interesting to note that Oklahoma was not included in that list, but the list was not a direct quote from Jones or his mom, so this could all just be someone with a Kansas fan site's speculation.

Basketball Prospectus ran an analysis piece on the UW/PSU game.

In the piece, author Kevin Pelton praised Pondexter, Thomas and UW's depth, while pointing out that Gaddy is a work in progress and that the Vikings are a team that is not what they were last year.

Former Dawg Joe Wolfinger is doing well at the Citadel, starting for them at Center. In his last game, a one point loss to Charleston Southern, he scored 10 points and had 9 boards, while in the previous game he had 20 and 12.

What he needs is playing time and an opportunity to get untracked in game situations. I wouldn't be surprised if he made a very good impression down there and landed himself a decent pro contract.

Future UW opponent Georgetown had a very tough time with Temple yesterday, but the Hoyas pulled out the 46-45 win. Not an impressive showing offensively from a team with 3 McDonalds AA's on it, including arguably the best big man in D1 in Greg Monroe. If UW can slow down Monroe, I think that they have the defense to win this game, though Temple did exactly the opposite to what UW will do and that was to grind it out "Bennettball" style.

Seattle U Loses 2nd straight on the road

Seattle U's Charles Garcia put in 30 points, logged 8 rebounds and on the bad side was forced into 9 turnovers, as a Cameron Dollar team lost on the road at Portland for the 2nd year in a row. Garcia will have an opportunity to show his stuff in the Key Arena tomorrow night against former ASU Sun Devil Sylvester Seay and NBA prospect Paul George of the Fresno State.

You have to wonder what Seattle U would look like with another player, preferably a good guard who could also deliver Garcia the ball, not to mention what Washington would do with a guy that could score this well.

Zags Impressive in Loss to Spartans

The Zags looked very impressive against last year's runner up Michigan State, who is currently ranked #2 in the nation.

I was really impressed with Robert Sacre from Vancouver BC and Elias Harris from Germany. It's nice to see the local teams do well, but I still don't care if UW ever plays them. Dave Boling of the MNT disagrees.

Cougs Nip Eastern Washington

WSU beat EWU in what is often a tough match-up for some reason for the Cougs and the Zags for some reason. Klay Thompson proved to be the difference, as he came off a DeAngelo Casto screen with 42.1 seconds left to bury a 22-footer and secure the win. Thompson finished with 24 on a poor shooting night, while Deangelo had 15 and Reggie Moore 14 in what is starting to look like a three-headed offense. The Cougars must find another offensive threat or two if they want to be successful this season, but having another proven go-to-guy in Moore is a very nice development for them.

Faisal Aden, the JC transfer from Florida that was reported to have committed to Coach Ken Bone just last week, officially signed his Letter of Intent, according to the WSU Athletic Department.

Around the Pac-10

The Bruins put on a horrid show at home against a middle of the road (at best) Big West team. Cal State Fullerton is not the team of the mid-80's that beat Chris Welp and the Huskies at their place in 1986, while I sat and watched in horror. That team, which included future NBA great Cedric Ceballos had a lot of talent and were probably on the level of a team like UNLV of St. Mary's today. This Titan team is just run of the mill Big West stuff, made up of mostly Southern California kids that couldn't even get a sniff from UCLA. They showed them though, beating the Uclans by 1 in double overtime.

The game wasn't so much about the Titans, because other than this game, no one is going to remember them (subtle sports movie pun intended), this is game was about how bad UCLA is. Not how they were here early in the season, not how bad they could be if they play badly and not because of some excuse like injuries or missed practices. This UCLA team is the worst one that I've ever seen and I've seen every one going back to Lou Alcindor's senior year (yes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the greatest center in history, played 4 years in college kids).

'Zona could be starting another freshman in Solomon Hill.

Andy Katz picked the Ducks as one of his 10 programs primed to rise this season. I agree with the logic here. The Ducks have a lot of talent coming back that underachieved last year AND some really good puzzle pieces that were brought in for this season like Jamil Wilson who is a rebounding, athletic freak and only a pure freshman. Malcolm Armstead is not starting, but is dishing assists better than anyone on the squad.

Stanford Lost at San Diego 77-64 on Friday; beat Cal Poly 70-53 on Sunday and got their 2nd best scoring option after senior Landry Fields, Jeremy Green, back from suspension. Green was rusty, shooting 20.8 percent from the field.

The Cardinal then lost to Oral Roberts tonight. Not good for the Pac-10, but they only lost by two and Jeremy Green had his shooting touch back going for 20 on 6-11 from the field and 4-9 from three. Landry Fields led Stanford with 28.

USC looked respectable in beating UC Riverside, a team from the Big West picked ahead of CSF, 77-67.

There was a good analysis piece from Scout.

The Trojans could put some good things together under discipline oriented coach Kevin O'Neill. Right now they have 6 scholarship athletes available to play, but soon Alex Stepheson will be back and then later they will get back PG Mike Gerrity and PF Leonard Washington. The only scholarship PG available, Donte Smith, who was looking to transfer in the off-season to UC Irvine (another Big West school), played 40 minutes against UCR.

At least the Trojans have some firepower in Dwight Lewis, unlike ASU, who is woefully short of experienced scorers and UCLA who only has Malcolm Lee, who just can't seem

(Courtesy of regular Husky Digest contributor Jason McCleary)

In a rematch of old friends, that turned out to be rather a lopsided and rather inhospitable social event, the Washington Huskies romped all over Portland State Sunday night at the Bank of America Arena in Seattle 111-55. Quincy Pondexter scored a career high with 29 points to go with 13 rebounds which tied his career high.

Isaiah Thomas scored 21 points and Venoy Overton followed "Zeke" with 11 points, but what was most impressive was the overall team work. Quincy, Isaiah and Matthew Bryan-Amaning (who finished with a workman-like 8 points, 7 rebounds, a block and 3 steals) were selected to the All-Tournament Team and were co-MVP's of the event.

Husky basketball was out in full force. Washington had 25 assists to 11 turnovers, while only allowing 10 dimes and forcing 20 TO's. Justin Holiday scored his career high 10 points and almost everyone on UW's bench had plays which made you think that this guy is outstanding or at least is going to be so, as the Huskies out rebounded PSU by nearly a three to one margin at 47-16.

Though the first five minutes of play in the first half were very ugly for the Dawgs, after the five minute mark the clinic began and the Huskies didn't look back.

The first five minutes Portland St came out with a chip on their shoulder. Former UW basketball player Phil Nelson came out strong and ended up leading his team in points with 13.

Coach Lorenzo Romar noticed that the Dawgs needed to stop or at least slow down Phil to get their train rolling.

"You can't give him an inch. Early on, we missed a couple of assignments, a couple of coverage's. You can't do that with Phil Nelson. He's going to burn you. Once we settle down and we were all on the same page, I just thought we were able to do a little better job of containing him."

Melvin Jones, a former Chief Sealth (Seattle WA) player who came to PSU from NIC in CDA, ID also contributed early. Jones is well acquainted with Husky Venoy Overton, from playing ball in Seattle and vice versa.

Overton felt that the Vikings just weren't ready yet to play with Washington, at least last night.

"I think they were not used to playing with each. They're and up-and-down team too, but tonight, we were just the better team."

Nelson and Jones combined for 8 quick points to start the game, but Portland State's 1st year head coach Tyler Geving could not get his team to rebound or take care of the ball, so when the early spurt slowed down his team was literally snowed in.

"The just killed us on the glass, embarrassed us on the glass. We didn't take care of the ball, gave them easy transition baskets. They won every phase of the game tonight."

Pondexter and Bryan-Amaning combined for 10 points in the first five minutes. The key observation about those first ten points is that those points were all garbage buckets. Huskies were having a hard time shooting at the beginning of the game against the 2-3 zone, but Quincy, Matt and others filled some big shoes tonight hitting the boards.

After the 15 minute mark in the first half, the Huskies went on a 40-15 run to end the first half. Isaiah Thomas finished with 8 points in the first half, showing that he doesn't need to go out and score 30 every game for the Huskies to compete. Every Husky who stepped on the court scored, except walk-on Brendan Sherrer, as they just wore down Portland St throughout the night.

The second half wasn't much different, except it was Isaiah Thomas turn to put on a show. Thomas struggled in the first half but scored most of his buckets in the second half finishing 4-7 from the three point line and finished with 21 points. Those who have followed Thomas through the high school days love to see that stat, since he was a premier shooter coming out of Tacoma's Curtis High School.

Thomas didn't force his shot in the second half. Screens were set for him to shoot the ball comfortably and it worked the whole second half. Portland State never came close in the second half of play. No run to test the Dawgs, that wasn't answered with a resounding thud of the door being shut on the Vikings. Instead everyone on the Huskies was just getting involved in the flow of the game.

Justin Holiday had his best game this year filling up the stat sheet. Holiday finished with his 10 points (a career high), but also added 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds in what could be peek into things to come for the junior who has missed so much time this fall rehabbing a groin injury. Holiday looked real solid today and was very comfortable out on the court. Clarence Trent went 4-4 from the field and is still just getting into the flow of Lorenzo Romar's system.

With a very mediocre Portland State team, there is not that much to take out of this game, but Huskies came to play and Portland St just didn't. Romar's defense had Portland State shook the whole game forcing them to 20 turnovers. Rebounding was huge today for the Dawgs out rebounding Portland St 47-16.

The Huskies will be back at it again Thursday at 7:00 pm (PST) against San Jose State at Bank of America Arena.

Key Observations

Freshman guard Abdul Gaddy is still struggling. The skills are there. Everything in the package is there. Everything is there except heart. You can just see the talent but the kid needs a kick in the butt or something.

Isaiah Thomas shot falling like it did in the second half will be trouble for any team in the country.

Darnell Gant is hitting his jumper in the corner he struggled on last year with consistency.

Venoy's defense is still extremely great, if not better.

"MBA" and Gant need to stop committing petty fouls, as UW already lacks height and depth in the post.

The Huskies struggle against the 2-3 zone still and will need to rebound like they did tonight in order to keep winning.

This Portland St team is 0-3 and lost to everyone this weekend, so don't take much out of this game.

The Dawgs will face another former Husky in high scoring SG Adrian Oliver next at the Bank of America Arena on Friday November 20th at 8PM.

UW Links

Don Ruiz of the Morning News Tribune ran his game story that focused on the dominant performance that Quincy had. Pondexter is making it look easy and really made a statement last night as to what UW fans could be seeing this year. I think that Pac-10 Player of the Year is a reasonable goal for him.

Josh Anderson at Rivals did a very complete game story that interjected some good analysis. Josh also did a nice summary analysis piece for his Montlake Madness blog that brought up some very insightful points.

He debated with himself a question that he labeled, "The Turner/Suggs/Holiday Quandary". I feel that it will play itself out, as all three guys are somewhat different, but have all shown improvement in their overall games enough to not be considered just situational substitutions for Quincy or Isaiah.

Scout's Chris Wells did their game story. He brought attention to the student rooting section, known as the Dawgpack, which clearly helped the Huskies cause in the rout. To quote Wells, "Nelson was hassled all night by Washington's student section, with chants of 'Phil is angry' and 'Phil is tired."

The Seattle Times game story by Percy Allen drew attention to the game within the game between Pondexter and Nelson. In his analysis on the Times blog he brought up the leadership that Quincy is showing, as this UW team is starting to really look like his team.

Go Huskies did their usual outstanding job, including the box score, quotes, photo gallery and recap. The Dawg Channel provides the post game press conference for about ten bucks a month, as well as other events like the Tuesday press conference. I think it's worth the dough, if you're a junkie like me.

Zag Notes

Andy Katz in his preview of the ESPN 24-hour marathon of college hoops that starts Tuesday, mentioned Gonzaga's Elias Harris as, "The top foreign starter you may not know". Though Andy is never one to miss an opportunity to mention a Zag, Katz is right about Harris, who will face Michigan State in what will be a huge test for the Bulldogs. The Spartans and the Zags will tip off at 5PM (PST).

Katz also mentions Peyton Siva, whose Cardinals will face hot shooting Rotnei Clarke and the Arkansas Razorbacks. He also mentions that UCLA will be shown against Cal State Fullerton. Too bad we don't get to see the Bruins against someone better. If the Titans (whose program has literally unraveled since the glory days of the mid-80's) give UCLA a scare, Howland has some serious work to do. Future Husky opponent Georgetown will also be featured and Katz mentioned Hoya center Greg Monroe as one of the best big men in the country. Here's the schedule.

There is so much coverage out there, now that the college basketball season is fully underway, that we need to just stop and get caught up. One story that I thought was particularly good was Don Ruiz on the Morning News Tribune's feature on the Tacoma players on the Washington team.

This story on Isaiah Thomas, Abdul Gaddy and Clarence Trent gives some important insight into where these guys come from and how much and how far they go back together.

The Dawgs have also been given more love from ESPN than usual so far this year. Andy Katz picked the UW-Wright State game as one of his games to watch in the 1st weekend of the season.

ESPN also picked the Georgetown game and the Cal game at Hec-Ed to be two of the top-25 games all season long.

The ESPN staff predicted who would win all of the "Big Six" conferences and other laurels like Player of the Year, Sleeper of the Year, Final-4 and Champ. Washington was picked by Fran Fraschilla, Joe Lunardi, Mark Schlabach and Jay Williams to win the Pac-10, while the other 6 scribes picked the Cal Bears.

There were a number of good stories about the Wright State game. Josh Anderson from Rivals did his usual outstanding job. AP did their usual quick wrap up. Scout did their usual more fleshed out recap. The Seattle Times Percy Allen did his game story which focused on the break out game by Matthew Bryan-Amaning. The Morning News Tribune did their usual morning after game story.

Belmont Game coverage was also pretty full. Ruiz of the Trib, Tim Booth of AP, Josh at Rivals and Scout all did full game stories. The Times did a game story and an analysis piece. Gohuskies did their usual treatment, while included a box score, photo gallery and quotes piece.

Scott Suggs is a player that seems to be carving out a niche for himself on Lorenzo Romar's line-up card. He was the third leading scorer against Wright State after Thomas and Quincy Pondexter, then against Belmont he came in and grabbed 5 boards. He just seems like a guy that wants to take his versatile game and do whatever the team needs him to win games and that is a very good thing. Seattle Sports Net did a nice story on Scott.

Tyreese Breshers has been slowly working his way into the mix for Washington. Many are impressed with what he does when he's in the game, though his limits have been quite limited so far. This feature on Tyreese by Scout's Chris Wells shows the big kid from LA to have a competitive streak and a lot of self-confidence going for him as he continues on down the come back trail.

Class of 2010 UW signee forward Desmond Simmons has a very nice looking highlight reel that just debuted on You Tube.

Simmons so far is the lone signee this fall period for Washington, though we believe that the Dawgs are still involved with attempting to sign Terrence Jones before the period ends this next Wednesday. Josh Smith has still not signed his letter with UCLA, strangely enough, but reports are that he is waiting to set up some kind of signing ceremony and we doubt that there is anything up there. Seven-foot center Aziz N'Diaye is also in the picture, as are others, for consideration for the spring signing period. We will be reporting soon on a couple of other possible prospects for the class of 2010, but will wait to do that after the fall period ends.

The Dagger Blog of Rivals had a preview of future Husky opponent Georgetown. That game in Anaheim CA against the Hoyas will be a stern Challenge for the Dawgs, but if they can keep getting strong play from Matthew Bryan-Amaning, or a combination of Matt, Darnell Gant and further improvement from Tyreese, Clarence Trent and Justin Holiday (who also has been recovering from a groin injury and missed a lot of practices), they just may make a game of it.

KJR-AM's Dave "Softy" Mahler is a funny guy, whether you are laughing with him or at him (I've never believed that it matters much). Dave did a preview video of the UW season for the Seattle Times Percy Allen, in which he picked Cal to win the Pac-10, UW to finish 2nd and Oregon to surprise and come all the way from last place to a strong 3rd.

Rivals had a roundtable today in which it debated how many NCAA Tournament bids each of the "Big Six" conferences would receive. Mike Huguenin felt that the Pac-10 would receive 5 bids, but the other three on the panel felt that the conference would only get in 4. I think Mike will be right this time. Washington was chosen by all 4 guys to make the dance.

Cougars Win Big in Home Opener

The WSU Cougars won their 1st regular season game over Mississippi Valley State in Pullman on Friday Night 94-66. Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto had 20 and 18 points respectively, while Reggie Moore and Marcus Capers both had 10. Moore also led the team with 6 assists. Everyone played for the Cougs in the blow out, including raw boned Steven Bjornstad who many thought may red-shirt. Abe Lodwick joined Klay, Moore, Capers and Casto in the starting line-up and though he had a poor shooting night, led both teams with 9 rebounds. That is an encouraging stat as the knock on Lodwick was that he was a big tall shooter that didn't like to bang enough.

Here's a good game story from the Times Bud Withers.

The Cougars jumped out to a 9-0 lead and really never looked back. The Cougs dominated almost every category, but had 19 turnovers. This was a stat that you would never see during the Bennett era, but there had to be some growing pains expected when you take a team that is used to play that slow and deliberate of a style and really pick up the pace to the point of scoring in the 90's. I would expect that Coach Ken Bone will be all over them this week to take better care of the ball.

Redhawks Lose Opener in Stillwater

Seattle U lost to Oklahoma State in Stillwater, but the silver lining for the Redhawks here is that this loss is not near as bad as the last time Cameron Dollar brought a team into that gym. In that game James Anderson and the Cowboys just destroyed the Washington Huskies on a barrage of 2nd half threes, 96-71. James again led his team to a convincing 86-64 win over Seattle U, but the Redhawks didn't go away quietly.

Former Husky signee Charles Garcia led SU with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while being double and triple teamed. If Dollar can get some other guys to use the opportunities that are going to be created by Garcia, this team will win some pretty big games this year. Garcia has the look at feel of an NBA player, according to a number of observers in the talent evaluation business and the hope for Seattle U fans has got to be that he stays another year.

Either way, this can't hurt Dollar's ability to recruit to have a player that he can get right to the NBA on his squad. If you haven't seen him and the Redhawks play, this Thursday's home opener Nov. 19 against Fresno State at the Key Arena is just the ticket. Here's the game story from the Seattle U Athletic Department including box score.

Zags Also Beat Up MSVS

After WSU routed MSVU, the visitors went up the road last night to Gonzaga and were once again shellacked, but by a smaller margin 92-74. Matt Bouldin had 22 points followed by Elias Harris (18), Robert Sacre (17 and Steven Gray (16). Robert added 9 boards.

Pac-10 Scoreboard

Oregon destroyed UC Davis 95-64, as Teondre Williams again started the game last night. Tajuan Porter led all scorers with 26 points. Malcolm Armstead led the Ducks with 7 assists, while freshman Jamil Wilson also played starters minutes off the bench. Big Michael Dunigan only logged 19 minutes, but scored 11 points and had 8 rebounds.

Oregon State went to 1-1 by beating South Dakota 62-47 last night, after losing surprisingly and convincingly to Texas A+M C.C. on Friday in the Duel in the Desert Tournament in Lubbock TX. Roeland Schaftenaar, Calvin Haynes and Daniel Deane led the way with 14, 14 and 10 respectively. The Beavers then faced future Washington road opponent and tournament host Texas Tech today and lost a close one 64-60. Senior Seth Tarver, frosh center Joe Burton and senior Roeland Schaftenaar led the Beavs with 17, 15 and 13 points respectively, who are now 1-2 on the year.

'Zona beat N. Arizona from the Big Sky 87-71 today in Tucson. Solomon Hill led the 'Cats with 17 points and senior guard Nick Wise added 15 points. The 'Cats started Wise, junior forward Jamelle Horne, sophomore guard Brendon Lavender, freshmen center Kyryl Natyazhko and frosh guard Lamont Jones. The bench rotation included Fogg, freshman forward Derrick Williams, Hill and Garland Judkins. UA freshman, Kevin Parrom was sidelined with a sore foot.

The Washington Huskies responded well to a difficult challenge from Wright State the night before, to bounce back for a 96-78 win over Belmont at the Bank of America Arena in Seattle. There were a number of critics after the Wright State game that complained of the Huskies huge hole in the middle, created by the departure of Jon Brockman and how Washington was over rated as a result.

That hole was slammed shut by a break out performance by Matthew Bryan-Amaning, who finished with a career high 23 points to go with 7 rebounds. What were even more impressive were the 5 blocked shots and a steal that he added to the mix. It was a coming out party of sorts for "MBA".

Belmont coach Rick Byrd said of Matt, "He made shots that we felt like we had to make him make; over us from eight feet, half hooks and that kind of stuff". Quincy Pondexter bettered his effort as well from the night before, leading all scorers with 25 points and all rebounders with 11. He chose to talk more about Matt though, as the reason for the impressive win.

"He's a tremendous talent and I think one of the best big men in the Pac-10. I think he will have the opportunity to prove that this year."

Isaiah Thomas was also a huge factor, though not the one man show of the previous night, when he scored 30 in a close game. He tied Matt with 23 points this time and more impressively also tied his former South Kent Prep team mate with 7 boards. Isaiah felt that these type of performances are what UW fans should expect to see more of in the future, not just from Matt and Quincy, but from others on the squad.

"Like I told you guys yesterday, it's a new day today and somebody's day to do a little bit of work. Quincy and Matt did a good job of coming in, getting on the boards and scoring points. Tomorrow, it might be somebody else's day."

UW never trailed in the game, though for the 1st half it was a game that bounced back and forth from as close as tied at 34 with 5:08 to go in the first period, but the Dawgs went on a 15-5 run to end the half up 10.

In the 2nd half, that type of dominant performance was accentuated by "MBA", who had a respectable 8 points in the 1st half, but was just on fire in the 2nd exploding for another 15. He also broke out on the boards, bringing down all but one of his 7 boards in the 2nd half.

After the big three for Washington, Abdul Gaddy quietly added 8 points, as the 17 year old star guard looks to be gaining his ability to channel his amazing talents into this higher level of competition. The Dawgs had been tied up on the boards by Wright State, but against Belmont they lapped the competition at 48-24, including an impressive 22 offensive rebounds to only 5 for the opposition.

Though no one on the Husky team scored or rebounded big other than the top-4, everyone seemed to contribute to in solid team play on both ends, against what many feel is a good Belmont team.

The Dawgs spread 17 points, 22 boards and 9 assists among the other 8 contributors, including Clarence Trent who came in during some of the key runs. Trent appeared to add an energy and urgency to the line-up that other than his 4 rebounds really didn't show up on the stat sheet.

The teams stayed even for the 1st 5 minutes of the 2nd half, when the Dawgs went on a slow but sure grind it out 8 minute period where they extended their lead to 23 points with 7:08 left in the game. That was their biggest lead, but unlike the 18 point bulge against Wright State that unraveled itself into a tight contest down the stretch, this time the Huskies answered any push from Belmont down the stretch.

Romar seemed pleased with the effort, but still felt that this game was only another step.

"(We made) Progress today. 11 assists on 22 baskets last night, and 32 baskets with 17 assists for us, and 10 turnovers. We're making progress. We made progress on the boards tonight. A number of people were attacking the glass. We had an effort to out rebound them."

Tonight the Huskies face Portland State in a rematch of one that nearly got away last season at Hec-Ed. Former Dawg forward Phil Nelson nearly shot the Vikings back into the game late, as Romar had the reserves in perhaps a bit early with the offense that PSU can put up quickly if allowed to.

This year Phil has another hot shooter in Melvin Jones, who went off for 23 points against Wright State, as well as returning PG Dominic Waters who led the Vikes with 17 against Belmont. Julius Thomas was also productive averaging 12.5 ppg in the two contests.

Portland State lost two close ones to Belmont and Wright State, but playing the Dawgs could be the best effort that they put out of the three, as Washington or any Pac-10 School (they also beat Gonzaga at Spokane 77-70 last year) are teams that seem to always get their attention.

Expect a hard fought game tonight, especially if the Huskies come out, as Romar would say "Wearing their cool jackets" (meaning over confident) after the convincing win against Belmont.

Box Score (Courtesy of the UW Athletic Department)

The University of Washington men's basketball team started their season off with a win against Wright State University 74-69. Sophomore guard Isaiah Thomas led the way with a spectacular performance. Thomas had a career high 30 points and shot 50% (7-14) from the field and an all important 14-18 from the free throw line. With that being said, Wright State University fought tough to test the mind frame of the Dawgs in the second half of the game.

The Huskies came out strong in the first half scoring at will against Wright State. The Raiders couldn't get in rhythm due to the heavy defense the Dawgs pressured them with. Thomas slashed his way through defenders and showed displays of the shooter everyone has heard about in the past.

The starting line up consisted of Venoy Overton, Isaiah, Quincy Pondexter, Darnell Gant, and Matthew Bryan-Amaning. Pondexter and Thomas were the only scorers in double digits. Pondexter finished with 12 points 9 rebounds. The rest of the team was very mediocre from the field. The Huskies as a whole shot 42% from the field, but what might have saved them was their 72% from the free throw line, which continues on their improved performance from the stripe last season, over a very dismal year in 2007-2008

Freshman guard Abdul Gaddy showed signs of how good he can be with his passing skills but will need to go through battle to get to where he needs to be to succeed on the college level. Gaddy needs to step up the speed in his game to fit Romar's system and to be a little bit tougher on the court. Some passes he threw were so good that his teammates didn't know where they were coming from. Abdul finished with 5 points, 2 turnovers and one assist in 16 minutes of work.

Gant and Bryan-Amaning combined for 5 rebounds and 7 points. This was certainly a sign of how much Jon Brockman will be missed and the challenge that the big men have in front of them. Tyreese Breshers played pretty well, but in eight very limited minutes, finishing the game with 2 rebounds and 3 points. One bright side of this story for Washington, pleasantly surprising in fact, was the play of Scott Suggs who had his best game as a Husky with 9 points.

The low post game will be a question for the Huskies as well as their shooting from the guards. If neither of those facets of the game is improved they will have a rough year, given the current expectations and Top-15 ranking. The halftime score was 40-28 but all that changed in the second half for the Dawgs.

Wright State came out strong while the Huskies struggled in every aspect of their game. Senior Todd Brown led the Raiders with 21 points. The visitors had two other players in double digits. N'Gai Evans finished with 17 points and Cooper Land with 12. At around the 11 minute mark in the second half the Raiders switched over to a 2-3 zone.

The zone created fits for the Huskies who came out and looked lost at times in the second half but showed some will to hold off a comeback from the Raiders. Wright State was the complete opposite team that came out in the first half.

The Huskies got outscored 41-34 in the second half. With the zone being at full force the Dawgs couldn't get anything going on the offense. As a team they forced horrible shots and couldn't get anything in the post for the big men. Guard play was real bad as well in the second half.

"We kind of let down," said Coach Lorenzo Romar. "We got up. That's what preseason games are for. You learn from them. Hopefully, you can win and learn from those things. But when we get up 15-17, we've got to keep playing."

Turnovers led to transition points and many three point baskets from Brown in the corner of the court. Wright State battled back to cut the lead down to less than ten points late in the game, but some key plays from Thomas and Pondexter kept the Huskies on top down the stretch. Quincy was complimentary of what he saw in the Raiders.

"We knew that they would never give up. They're a veteran team; they're a very good team."

The Raiders gave the Huskies all their heart as the game closed out, but just couldn't get over the hump. In order for the Dawgs to get back into last years form they will have to go through a learning curve. Rebounding, post play and guard play will be the key to success for another tournament run for the Huskies. Although it's just one game, there was a lot to learn from this first game test.

The Huskies will play Saturday at 7 pm against Belmont for the 2nd game of the 3-day Athletes in Action tournament.

Key Observations:

The Huskies only had 11 assists. This is a very disappointing stat, considering the presence of three such highly thought of and established guards as Thomas, Gaddy and Overton. The Dawgs had only 29 rebounds while Wright State had 29 as well. Not so great against a Pac-10 team, considering Washington's style of play, let alone one from the Horizon league.

Huskies forced the Raiders to 19 turnovers but the Huskies had 12 of their own, often looking out of sorts. The key stat of the game may have been fouls and subsequent damage at the line. UW got the best of WSU there with only 19 personals to 27 and 27 free throws made to 15 for the visitors.

UW got it's signature from Desmond Simmons, but according Lorenzo Romar in Percy Allen's Blog there could be another kid signing, possibly more. Percy asked Romar if there was another guy added in the signing period and if so is it one guy or more than one and Lorenzo responded, "Probably one guy, Probably".

Simmons was the subject of yet another piece, this time by Don Ruiz of the Tribune. There is nothing much new here, but a good solid story on his signing and who he is.

Wright State should put a stern challenge up for the Washington Huskies tomorrow night. The Detroit based school is more than capable of coming into Hec-Ed and knocking off UW, should the Dawgs take this one lightly. UW better put up a fight from the jump and never slows their roll if they don't want to start this year off like the last, with a loss from an inspired mid-major. There's a nice preview in Montlake Madness.

Here's another preseason look on Bleacher Report about UW that is very good.

Pac-10 Recruiting Round Up

Around the Pac-10 the recruiting news is mostly as expected so far. Recruiting sites always tend to view recruiting as a competitive sport assigning rankings, as to who did better by team.

Since the signing period is not over, there is spring to take into account, each coach and program is in a different position as far as his own programs standing and the programs national desirability for kids to want to go there and transfers also play into the equation, I will refrain from commenting on who did better until much further down the road.

Instead I will just comment on each school alphabetically as to what has happened thus far and report changes as they occur over the next week.

For Arizona highly ranked Daniel Bejarano signed his letter with them yesterday. It is thought that the 'Cats could still be after a number of players, PG Ray McCallum of Detroit MI, most notable among them. McCallum recently visited Florida and is choosing between UF, UA, UCLA and his dad Ray Sr.'s team Detroit, who were snowed in last night by a second half barrage at Cal. Detroit stayed with Cal for a little over a half though, coming within 4 early in the 2nd period. If Ray were to stay home, I could see the Detroit program become the Cleveland State with Mouse McFadden or more recently like Davidson with Stephen Curry.

ASU had its prize recruit Keala King sign yesterday and today signed former Sonic Hersey Hawkins kid Corey to an LOI. They are expected to sign seven-foot-two center Jordan Bachyniski from Canada, but have not yet announced that he signed.

Cal signed a great class, but it must also replace 4 seniors that are the heart of their team. Allen Crabbe is an underrated SG that could become a major success in the Pac-10.

Gary Franklin is a high b-ball IQ guy with a wicked offensive game and an ability to play the point. Richard Solomon is a highly thought of PF that is rugged and skilled. Alex Rossi is a great shooting wing from the Midwest that can really fill it up from distance.

Oregon has yet to sign a player but Ernie Kent made these comments about the class of 2010 in the Eugene Register-Guard:

"Every guy we're looking at is in that top 15, top 20 (prospects) in the country and the ones we're involved with, they have decided they're going to sign in the spring. We're in the position where we're going to wait for them because they're that good … they are difference makers who can really change our program."

OSU signed Ahmad Starks a highly touted PG from Chicago, IL. Another highly touted recruit who committed to OSU, Bronx NY's PF Devon Collier, has not yet signed.

UCLA has not yet confirmed that either commit, Tyler Lamb or Josh Smith have signed. The recruiting story that just won't die keeps moving on, as the LA Daily News confirmed that Smith has yet to sign.

It says that his reason is to set up a huge signing ceremony at his school. After all of that drama, I have to believe that this is likely the truth.

USC signed a large class, in an attempt to build their program back up from the dismal place that it was left in the wake of the scandalous tenure of Tim Floyd who took the Trojans to NCAA success.

The class includes guard Maurice Jones of Saginaw, Mich., guard Bryce Jones of Woodland Hills, Calif., forward Curtis Washington of Elizabethtown, Ky. and forward Garrett Jackson of Portland, Ore. This class will help USC get back on track again over the next few years but this year the Trojans will struggle to stay out of the Pac-10 bottom two, while next year, after losing Dwight Lewis, Mike Gerrity and possibly others to the league or transfer, should the program be punished for NCAA violations during the Floyd era, they may fare no better. It is a wait and see proposition for USC basketball fans, though only 800 showed up for their exhibition game.

WSU signed Patrick Simon of Ephrata WA, a six-foot-nine post that should add to a post group that should start looking pretty good next fall. The Cougs should also get a signature from Florida JC SG Faisal Aden.

As far as Gonzaga recruiting, the Zags signed no players in the fall yet, but could still as the week rolls on.

Seattle U signed Cervante Burrell, a PG from Yuba C.C., where Charles Garcia finished his AA degree last year but did not play ball. There are three other commits that we know about, but the school has not yet issued confirmation of their signing. Those three are SF Bobby Evans and PF Tyler Monroe, both of Yuba C.C. and Freddie Wilson, formerly of Franklin High School, but presently in a prep school in Phoenix AZ.

Cal Goes Berserk in Berkeley

In other Pac-10 News, Cal struggled in the 1st half but ran away like a bullet in the 2nd half, mostly on the backs of a three point barrage from its big guns, most notably Theo Robertson. There was a video feature of the post game presser.

Zagnews

The Seattle Times did a preseason preview of the Zags worth reading. This year's Zags will be young, but not dull as there is a whole lot of new talent that should get better as the season rolls along. No real hard news on the Zags today, other than the great news that everyone is healthy and all indications are that this season everything is going so far so good. Early in the year, especially when it comes to injuries, no news is good news.

Today was the first day that the class of 2010 could sign with college teams. Desmond Simmons signed his letter of intent with Washington as expected. There were a number of articles around the net about him joining the Dawgs officially, many with some quotes from Simmons. The general theme that we keep hearing is that Desmond wants to come in and replace Quincy Pondexter, at least somewhere down the line. This story had the most intriguing tidbits, as to what could be up as the Fall Signing Period moves on this week:

In that interview Desmond said that Coach Lorenzo Romar this morning after he faxed his LOI said to him that, "We'll talk later on this evening and we'll probably have more to talk about". Later in the Q+A Simmons said about whether he would be the only one in the class, "I haven't heard anything yet about anybody else, but maybe later on today I'll know something".

It could be nothing, or it could really be that coming up very soon, UW fans could have some huge news coming. Scout had a premium article that gave more quotes from Romar, but really no news. The gist of the article and of Lorenzo's quotes were, that Simmons is a winner that hates to lose and wills his team to wins, much like Bobby Jones. In the official press release from UW, Romar also compared Simmons to Husky legend Bobby Jones. The Scout piece had a greater explanation, but no additional information.

Prior to receiving Desmond's LOI, Romar also did an interview with KJR-AM's Mitch Levy in which he covered a number of important issues regarding the UW season and his current team. He even assured Mitch, who kept persisting that the UW-Gonzaga series would eventually resume. He also had some very nice things to say about Abdul Gaddy, who he compared to Jason Kidd, Brandon Roy and Mark Jackson and Tyreese Breshers, who he praised for his ability to seal well in the low post.

With the 2010 class signing today, it is interesting that Angelo Chol, one of the big names on the board for UW for 2011 had an update done today in Rivals about his upcoming visit to Wyoming this weekend. Why the Cowboys, when so many big time schools are all over Chol, including Washington, who he has mentioned as a leader? His former team mate in high school guard Jaydee Luster is a close friend and a current member of the Wyoming team. His high school coach is quoted in the article as saying that Chol, "Is considering 11 schools" including Wyoming which are Alabama, Arizona State, Connecticut, Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, Virginia and Washington.

A 2010 SG from the Midwest, Will Sheehey, is not looking at Washington, as was reported by Rivals, according to this subsequent update from them. The article mentions George Washington, so it could have just been an error, though his profile did say Washington at one point.

Speaking of Gaddy, he was picked today in the first freshman power rankings at #16. Though he was selected as the #2 PG in the class of 2009, John Wall was picked at the #1 overall spot. In between those two PG's were his former back court mate SG Avery Bradley of Texas at #2, I believe that time will find that Gaddy was ranked too low here. To say that he should be below Bradley and Wall is fair, but to say that all 13 of those players are more valuable than he is at this juncture is hard to believe. Gaddy is ready to compete at a very high level at this point and most of those 13 will have a much more difficult time adjusting to the college game in my opinion. Only one other Pac-10 player besides Gaddy was mentioned, SF Jamil Wilson of Oregon at #24.

Former UW center Joe Wolfinger had a surprising debut for the Citadel, down in South Carolina. He had what I believe was a college career high 11 rebounds, to go with a steal and 3 blocks. On the negative side, he had 3 PF's and 5 TO's in just 16 minutes of play. He also started the exhibition game in which his team beat Georgia Southwestern University by 58-37.

Venoy Overton (with Jerome Randle of Cal) was mentioned by Fran Franchilla of ESPN in his match-ups to watch for the coming year:

"Randle, one of the nation's most underrated players, torched the Huskies for 44 points in two games last season. So the defensive-minded Overton, who talks a great game, will need to put his money where his mouth is in this battle. While the Pac-10 may be a tad down this season, the winner of this individual battle should go a long way in deciding whether the league's best team is in Seattle or Berkeley."

Venoy will definitely put his money where his mouth is there Fran.

Percy Allen did his pre-season Pac-10 power rankings and put UW 2nd after Cal. Based on their exhibition performances he seemed to promote OSU and Oregon and demote UCLA.

ESPN did power rankings for the Top-25. UW was picked #14, Cal #11 and Georgetown #19. They had this to say about Washington:
"If you live on the East Coast, we highly suggest you stay up late to watch the U-Dub backcourt of Isaiah Thomas, Venoy Overton and freshman Abdul Gaddy. After winning their first outright Pac-10 title in 56 years last season, the Huskies stand a decent chance of repeating."

In another story that should really impact the UW over the next 5 years, Washington freshman SG C.J. Wilcox is red-shirting.

Percy added these quotes from Romar and Wilcox about C.J.'s decision, the rotation and Wright State:

Much of this is on the press conference link at the Dawg Channel, which is a subscriber only site.

Don Ruiz of the Morning News Tribune did a feature on C.J. Wilcox red-shirting, but also covered some other important topics.

Romar said to Don, "In the big picture, for his best interest and our best interest, I think it's probably good for him to red-shirt" which seemed to confirm that this was also their idea, though C.J. was in agreement as the coach followed that by saying, "He's the rare breed that understands that". Romar also went on to continue to stress about Tyreese Breshers that he looks really, really good, other than his conditioning, which should iron itself out somewhere in the next few months.

Lorenzo said, "It would be hard to not start a healthy Tyreese". Though Husky fans will have to wait to watch Wilcox drain threes at Hec-Ed, it appears that both of the other frosh will get plenty of PT. Of Gaddy he said in regards to playing time, "Obviously, Abdul (is in the rotation)" and that Clarence Trent, "Just gets a lot of stuff done".

From the way things are playing out, the rotation should look about like this for the weekend:

Starters:

Venoy Overton, Isaiah Thomas, Pondexter, Darnell Gant and Matthew Bryan-Amaning

First guard off the bench:

Gaddy

First forward: Breshers

Situational depth:

Elston Turner, Scott Suggs, Trent and Justin Holiday,

I would really be surprised if everyone didn't get a lot of burn in this list above until Holiday and Breshers get back to 100%

One attraction that UW fans will enjoy this year is the T-Town trio of Isaiah Thomas, Abdul Gaddy and Clarence Trent. Percy Allen wrote a nice feature on them and the Tacoma angle, quoting among others AAU coach Gary Ward.

Allen also did a "5 Keys to the Season" feature that brings up some good points, #1 on the list being "Replacing Brockman".

Percy also predicted that UW would finish the non-conference schedule 9-2. That is a good call in my opinion. I think that they will drop the Georgetown game and stub their toe once more somewhere down the line to Pac-10 play.

Matthew "MBA" Bryan-Amaning was quoted in this article about a British hoop star, currently at Rider in NJ. Matthew is well known in the small. Close knit British hoops scene and could be a major story for the UK someday in basketball for their national team. UW fans should see some strides out of Matt this season, possibly some major ones.

Coach Romar was chosen at the #17 spot by Rivals Coach "Power Rankings". Ben Howland was selected #5, Mike Montgomery #14 and Sean Miller #19.

The Examiner is doing a Pac-10 preseason series and beat writer Jake Curtis picked UW at the #2 spot. He did a pretty fair job of laying out the prospects and challenges of the Huskies.

WSU Cougar Buzz

Seattle guard Reggie Moore was the subject of a very interesting story in the WSU Scout site.

Head Coach Ken Bone received a commit from Faisel Aden, a six-foot-four 185 lb. JC transfer SG, "Who averaged 20-plus ppg this past season and comes into this year a preseason second team junior college All-American", according to Scout today. He sounds like a guy who can help WSU right away next year.

As we mentioned yesterday, with only Nikola Kaprovica as lone senior and Patrick Simon from Ephrata WA signing tomorrow, something will have to happen to the roster to get this JC kid in next fall. Who will pay their way or do what is commonly being called, "Pulling a Rochestie"? The Cougars looked solid in their exhibition opener, a 73-51 exhibition victory over Lewis-Clark State.

LC State is a major small college baseball power, but not so much on the hard wood. They put up a decent fight with the Cougs, but WSU just had too much talent and speed, led by Reggie Moore with 8 assists and 3 steals (no surprise here), Klay Thompson with 19 points and DeAngelo Casto with 11 boards and 3 blocks.

Here are three good stories, two of them analysis pieces, on the WSU exhibition game. This one from Scout, this one is from the Spokesman Review and this good looking photo gallery feature is from Scout. The WSU athletic department also did a nice game story with quotes and box score.

The Seattle Times did a nice profile on the WSU Cougars, based on quotes from new head coach Ken Bone.

Ken seems to want to push the tempo without lowering the defensive emphasis of the "Bennett ball" era in Pullman, which distinguished itself as one of the more productive in school history, almost surprisingly so. The fact that the Bennett's were able to get lesser ranked recruits and turn them into such a successful machine was really fun to watch, whether you root for the Crimson and Gray or not.

This year Bone must take those kids that are left, in what would have been a rebuilding year anyway for Tony Bennett, had he stayed, add a few of his own puzzle pieces like outstanding guard Reggie Moore from Seattle's Rainier Beach and likely red-shirt Steven Bjornstadt from Vancouver WA and keep intact what would have been a very good recruiting class for Tony in Xavier Thames, Brock Motum and Anthony Brown from Tacoma.

Though Bone lost Chelan's Joe Harris in the class of 2010 to Tony (now at Virginia), he retained Ephrata's Patrick Simon and recently added talented JC SG Faisel Aden. It seems as if Ken is really doing what he needs to in getting the Cougars back in the mix for an NCAA berth again, though this year should be somewhat challenging.

Even though the inside-outside duo of Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto is one of the better combos on the coast, the rest of the team is made up of true newbie, other than slasher defender Marcus Capers and outside-in senior forward Nikola Koprivica.

Two Oregonians, Abe Lodwick and Michael Harthun, who Bone I'm sure coveted at Portland State, but now has the luxury of working with in the Pac-10, are two players that could see improvements when they get their chance more this year. There's a lot of talent at WSU, but it will take a while to put it together. I think Bone can do it and a lot quicker than most feel.

Here is a "5 keys to Cougars' season" feature, similar to the one that the Times did on Washington:

Bone was also on the same KJR-AM morning show as Romar and I felt did a good job of explaining how much work his young group has to do to get ready to compete with the big boys on their schedule.

Gonzaga Bulldog News

Gonza

The latest on Husky Basketball recruiting is what we do at Husky Digest, but right now the big stories for the Dawgs from the class of 2010 are pretty quiet. The storm is likely brewing though, as both players prepare to likely sign letter of intents in the fall signing period, which will begin this Wednesday November 11th and end Wednesday November 18th one week later.

Players, coaches, friends, family and a number of others with interest, vested or otherwise have been likely giving these two an earful. Husky great Jon Brockman offered this tweet this weekend, which offers a glimpse into what many others are doing behind the scenes:

"Big Josh Smith from Kentwood: There is no greater feeling then representing your home town team on a nation level. UW is the place for you!"

The Seattle Times' Percy Allen offered some opinion on Josh and Jones based on "Several sources close to UW". He basically said that according to a source, there could be a "Domino effect", as one would commit somewhere and then the other one would do the same. He also mentioned that his sources were not surprised that they hadn't made a decision yet.

Lorenzo Romar and Paul Fortier were at Josh Smith's last football game according to the Seattle Times high school sports blog. The reporter, Sandy Ringer, also said that Josh gave him no indication as to what his choice was between UW and UCLA. Signing day for basketball is Wednesday.

Ringer offered this prediction:

"I really think Smith wants to get the announcement out of the way before the season starts - or at least before we move too far into it."

He'll only have until November 18th to sign, so if he waits longer than that, technically he could change his mind and end up signing in the spring with someone other than who he may commit to at this time.

Rivals Bruin site has an update on Terrence Jones, but there is nothing new there, other than them confirming that he was there for a visit. It mentioned that Terrence is friends with Mike Moser, which he told us last week.

Terrence Jones is likely back in the PDX after his visit to UCLA. Jones was likely a familiar face in the Southland this weekend as he tripped to LA, as he was chosen the top player in the Long Beach Press-Telegram's long running and widely respected Best in the West listing, which Frank Burlison has done down there well before the advent of the internet. Lorenzo Romar was quoted as saying that he read Burlison's columns on college basketball, when he was being recruited in the late 70's.

The LBPT does a first team, in which Josh Smith was the 2nd highest vote getter and a 2nd team, which included Husky commit Desmond Simmons and a number of local NW players. Smith and Jones were the only members of the first team. Simmons was the highest vote getter on the 2nd team, which means that he barely missed being named to the 1st team.

The NW players on the 2nd team were Portland's Stephen Holt, Bellevue's Aaron Bright, Portland's Garrett Jackson, Great Falls MT's Josh Huestis, Vashon's John Gage and Chelan's Joe Harris in that order. NW players on the 3rd time included Lonnie Pearson of Rainier Beach followed in order of votes Patrick Simon of Ephrata (who is committed to WSU) and Brandon Cataldo of Rainier OR. Cole Dickerson of Federal Way WA and Gary Winston of Walla Walla also received votes.

According to Percy Allen, Justin Holiday is back with the team. I would expect Holiday to play considerable minutes this year behind Quincy Pondexter and in his situational "Fireman" role as a designated defender. If Holiday can improve his offensive game, UW could see him get major burn this year and next, even if they should be able to bring in Terrence Jones.

Husky Quincy Pondexter was the other Dawg represented in the Rivals/Yahoo power rankings, besides Isaiah Thomas, who they mistakenly listed as a PG, while mentioning either Abdul Gaddy or Venoy Overton. Quincy was listed as the #6 SF, while Cal's Theo Robertson at #15 was the only other Pac-10 player mentioned. These rankings are woefully short on Pac-10 and West Coast players and the exclusion of Gaddy and Venoy define these lists as negligible, at least going into the year.

They will be an entertaining way to follow the players as the season unfolds though, although last year's Pac-10 power rankings by Yahoo's Jason King were so bad that he deserved an award, kind of like the worst dressed man award. Something like most out of touch sports journalist, when he chose Washington at 5th while they sat in the driver's seat in 1st place down the stretch.

Tyreese Breshers did a short but informative Q+A with GoHuskies.com in which he explained that this year the Dawgs post game will be more of a group effort that last year in Jon Brockman's record shattering season. Here's the most noteworthy quote:

"I think it's good because we all bring something different to the table. I'm strong, Matthew's quick, and Darnell can shoot. It's going to be a match up difference between all of us."

After watching the team in this very early stage in the season, I am kind of surprised that Ty did not mention Clarence Trent. Perhaps Trent's role is going to be more as an emergency option in the post and more as a wing, along with Quincy, Justin Holiday and potentially Elston Turner, Scott Suggs and C.J. Wilcox, depending on the situation.

I feel that Trent's natural position is as a big, physical three, rather than an undersized but highly athletic post. If he gets to professional basketball, I believe that Clarence will definitely be an SF and I think that he has a lot of the tools to build that type of game for himself.

WSU Beat

There is supposed to be no one at the closed scrimmages and those that report on them had better be careful, so as not to get the teams that they are reporting on in trouble with the NCAA. I'm not sure where the NCAA draws the line as far as coverage and comments allowed, but this report on the Coug scrimmage from Cougcenter.com, however informative, seems to be in dangerous territory.

Coug center, which is a great site to follow WSU sports also, did a nice piece on WSU freshman post Brock Motum, in which he was compared rather favorably with Cougar great Robby Cowgill.

The WSU Scout site also recently did a nice feature on 2010 recruit Patrick Simon of Ephrata WA. Simon sounds like a very good prospect, has grown two inches and gained 25 lbs. since the end of his sophomore year (about 18 months).

The piece also has a recruiting roundup of the possible recruits that could end up at WSU in the 2010 class. One that is mentioned is LaBradford Franklin, who is likely to wait until spring from numerous reports. With Nikola Koprivica the lone senior on a full roster of scholarship players, Simon would take up that one available spot. Could there be another Taylor Rochestie, pay my own way story in the making or is there a distinct enough possibility that Klay Thompson could go follow his father Mychal to the NBA next June?

Recruiting updates in Rivals and Scout recently confirmed Franklin's interest in the Cougars, as well as solidly confirm his intention to sign in the spring. ESPN did not list him as with WSU interest, but did mention Kendall Williams as a possible WSU prospect. The word on Williams is that he is likely going to another school than WSU. He was quoted by the Rivals Cal site as saying; "Long Beach State, Cal and Stanford" were his top favorites.

Redhawk Notes

Charles Garcia is a player that UW fans will forever wonder "What if" in my opinion. In the various times that I saw him workout last summer with the UW guys and a number of local pros and former college players he looked remarkable. Cameron Dollar was quoted by Percy Allen in the Times as saying, "He's the best pro prospect in the state". From what we've seen, I don't believe this to be far fetched. Garcia has all of the tools to play in the NBA.

He is a solid six-foot-nine player and possibly a bit taller than that. He has wing guard skills and the ability to play as quick as many NBA SF's. He is strong and mature looking, scary even. He's kind of a man amongst boys (a phrase often used about "Chuck" whom Allen also echoed) at this level and could be a very big reason why Seattle U gets their rocket ship off of the launching pad. With the base of talent in this area, all Dollar needs to do is establish a bit of promise for his program and the players will start coming in droves.

Very few kids in Western Washington, especially Seattle/Tacoma and vicinity, want to leave home, their friends, families and the contacts and relationships that they have built over the course of their lives. If Cam can get those kids that can't get offers from Washington to go to Seattle U, look out.

If he can convince them that they can take advantage of a prestigious education and play ball for a team that wins games, gets their share of the spotlight in NBA less Seattle and challenges for an NCAA tournament bid (once the Redhawks become eligible in 2012) he can build a winner that easily challenges Gonzaga for the top NW non-Pac-10 program.

Gonzaga Notes

Gonzaga could also be in some heat over the reporting that was done on its closed scrimmage.

One thing I gleaned from these reports and others that I have read about the Bulldogs this season is that talent is not going to be a huge issue in "Spokompton" this season, but experience is. This GU team will still do very well in the non-conference part of their season, as they do a great job there in preparing to play well early and of course they will dominate an outmatched WCC. Unless the team gets too much pub this year and as usual gets a favorable seeding in the NCAA tournament, expect more of the same for Mark Few and his crew.

Pac-10 News

The WSU Rivals site did this rather informed Pac-10 preview, with one major flaw. They need to insert Oregon between OSU and UCLA in the #4 spot. Being the Cougar site, I'm surprised that they did not put WSU over Arizona, but I think it is intelligent to match those two as the teams that will duke it out for the 6th and 7th spots, likely the bubble teams that will not get into the NCAA tournament, but be in the discussion as the season winds down.

Cal was mentioned as one of the "Best backcourts" in college basketball this season, while UW was not. That makes no sense to not mention this UW backcourt in the top-10 nationally. They are not even mentioned in the five others to watch category. Why rank UW in the top-15, after losing Jon Brockman in the front court and adding Abdul Gaddy and arguably the best shooter in the class of 2009 in C.J. Wilcox, if the backcourt is not top-15.

Sometimes I wonder how these writers keep their jobs. I guess as long as it doesn't offend their bosses out on the east coast, where I'm sure none give a rip about the NW, nothing matters that much. Sometimes I think they are just seeing how far out there they can go and get away with it.

Another good illustration of this is the power rankings for centers. We previously commented on the guards and SF's rankings, but for post players, both centers and PF's there are exactly three mentioned from the Pac-10, MWC, WAC and WCC. Those included were #12 center was Omar Samhan of Saint Mary's (who likely faced UW when they played their closed scrimmage), #23 center Roeland Schaftenaar of Oregon State and #15 PF Luke Babbitt of Nevada. This is really incorrect thinking regardless to the huge hype that the Pac-10 is so down this year.

If the big men out here are so bad, why are the NBA and its draft full of posts from out here? Get a clue guys.

A Pac-10 team that looks to be in big trouble is UCLA. This photo gallery from the Concordia web site gives us some insight into the game that the Bruins nearly lost at home in their exhibition last week.

The Beavers got a bit of a sterner challenge from Western Oregon in the 2nd of their two exhibition games, eventually winning by 20, 75-55. The good news for the Beavs was that Seth Tarver, who was a great defender last season, but a bit challenged on the offensive end, was red hot, hitting 8-9 from the field to lead all scorers. He also kicked in with 4 steals to remain true to form as a strong candidate for Pac-10 defensive player of the year this season.

Stanford beat Sonoma State in their exhibition game by 19 points. Landry Fields led the way for the Cardinal, who are in bad shape right now with Jeremy Green's legal troubles, Andy Brown's season ending injury and now veteran post Josh Owens is out with an undisclosed medical condition, according to numerous reports.

Doug Haller does a great blog on ASU that touches on a lot of news from around the Pac-10. He is up on his stuff and offers very inside info on ASU.

The Portland State Vikings will be coming to Hec-Ed this next weekend to play the Huskies, along with Wright State and Belmont. They will face Washington a week from tonight (Sunday November 15th). The Vikes show litt

I'm playing catch-up today, because of travel, as I am just now commenting and covering the Huskies exhibition game and a number of other important local college basketball and Pac-10 news stories.

First of the exhibition game against Central Washington was a good chance for Dawg fans to get a partial idea of what kind of year they have to look forward to. Montlake Madness' Josh Anderson did his usual outstanding work with this game story for the Husky Rivals site.

Site publisher Ryan Petitt offered this very in depth quote summary as well. Back on Montlake Madness Josh ran this solid analysis piece. Molly Waldron, who is likely an intern working for Scout and a self-proclaimed organizing member of the Dawgpack did a somewhat critical game story for Scout, which shows her to be a very good sports writer right out of the box.

Percy Allen did this game story which focused on the Huskies poor shooting from three and from the free throw line. It also included a box score and on the positive side accentuated the effort that Venoy Overton put forth defensively.

The Times Jerry Brewer offered this rather glowing analysis piece where he literally marveled at the look of the UW team in general, and their potential future. Percy also chimed in with this blog entry that gave more thoughts on the team after the game

GoHuskies.com offered the AP game story, along with photo gallery, quotes piece and a more in depth box score.

One of the more talked about highlights from the UW/CWU game was a devastating Clarence Trent dunk. Here it is on Youtube.

In a pre-game short interview with new Husky assistant Raphael Chillious, in which Allen asked the coach what he was "Looking for tonight", to which "Coach Chill" responded, "The biggest thing is we're looking for them to play hard tonight". I think that UW had a very respectable effort on the defensive end and really did just that, so at least the team heard what the staff asked them to do more than likely.

Percy also did this brief Q+A with new Husky walk-on Brendan Sherrer, in which he sounds to be living the dream to be allowed a roster spot on this UW team.

Elise Woodward on KJR-AM did this post game interview with Abdul Gaddy that reveals the young star PG to have a very healthy perspective on things, despite not starting the ball game.

Recruiting

Behind the scenes the Husky staff are working hard on attempting to bring in two of the top players in the class of 2010 nationally and two of the better prospects from this region at their respective positions in some in center Josh Smith and forward Terrence Jones.

Here are some more tidbits from around the net as far as the two young stars are concerned. In this feature ESPN includes Jones as one of the top SF's available in the class of 2010. In this story they include Josh as one of the top PF's remaining.

In this mailbag feature in Rivals, Jerry Meyer mentions 2010 SG Will Sheehey, whom he reported two days ago was interested in Washington and could consider them seriously, if he doesn't commit to Indiana, as has been speculated he will in the near future. It also talks about Josh being down to a decision between UW and UCLA and doesn't say that UCLA is the leader.

Oregon State scored a huge recruiting coup by landing Devon Collier, the 6-foot-8 forward from St. Anthony in the Bronx NY. Here is the link from Zags Blog, a well respected east coast recruiting site. Scout lists Collier as a 4-star. Rivals rates him #134 in his class. ESPN rates him #79 overall in the class of 2010. Also little known 2010 forward Michael Weisner from Walla Walla, WA meanwhile committed to Montana.

Around the Pac-10

The Huskies were not the only team in the Pac-10 with an exhibition game. Arizona beat D2 Augustana by 16 points in truly "Not so impressive fashion" to quote Molly Waldron. On the bright side underachieving McDonald's All-American Jamelle Horne had a very good game as did 'Zona's frosh PF Derrick Williams. Freshmen center Kyryl Natyazhko was given mixed reviews.

California beat Division II Chico State 84-42, though senior PG Jerome Randle reportedly had a mediocre night. Markhuri Sanders-Frison was named the 5th starter along with seniors Randle, Patrick Christopher, Theo Robertson and Jamal Boykin. Here's the link from AP.

Here's another story in which the local Cal beat writer points to junior forward Omondi Amoke as a markedly improved player. With the expected red-shirt year upcoming for Harper Kamp, Omondi will be an important contributor for the Bears.

This game story from the Cal official site includes some interesting quotes from Coach Mike Montgomery. He didn't sound too enthused by the showing of Markhuri or Max Zhang.

USC had to come from behind for a 64-47 win over CS Dominguez Hills in their exhibition contest. The Trojans played without 6 players who were potential starters. The listed attendance was 800.

Zags Reload

Gonzaga was the subject of a preview feature in the Dagger blog on Rivals college basketball site. They agree with me that Gonzaga is going to still be very good, as they reload with talent that is superior to the level of their competition in the WCC and should surprise many early in the year. I do believe that they will not be as good as last year, when they had so many veterans though.

Local Heroes

In the local boys make good category Avery Bradley was the subject of this ESPN feature that shows him to be a serious talent and competitor. ESPN ranks him as the #1 player in the class of 2009 and I agree with them.

Peyton Siva also is getting his pub. These highlights were chosen as two of the top-10 plays of the night on ESPN. Whatever you say about all of the bad publicity that Coach Rick Pitino has gotten and is continuing to get, the other side of it is that Louisville will continue to be in the national spotlight, allowing Siva an opportunity to have his highlights shown for all to see. It's really a great opportunity for a Seattle kid who is a highlight producer and a quality player.