The Washington Huskies qualified for the NIT season-opening semifinals at Madison Square Garden over Thanksgiving weekend and ended up losing to Texas A&M 77-63 and then to Syracuse 91-85 to finish in fourth place. .
Lorenzo Romar’s squad entered the NIT with a 3-0 record after beating New Jersey Institute of Technology 88-47, Utah 83-77 and Eastern Washington 82-68 (three average to terrible teams).
The bad news is that the Huskies lost both of their NIT games. The good news is that they played really good teams, so the experience was totally positive compared to last year, when Washington got off to a 10-1 start by beating a bunch of nobodys.
Entering the NIT, Sagarin ranked Ohio State 20th, Washington 28th, Texas A&M 30th, and Syracuse 38th. After the tournament, Sagarin ranked Texas A&M 6th, Ohio State 6th. 23, Syracuse at 37 and Washington at 61.
Texas A&M beat Ohio State 70-47 to win the NIT, while Syracuse finished third by defeating Washington. Ohio State’s loss was notable as the Buckeyes lost to Florida in last year’s national championship game 84-75. So Texas A&M stock soared, Ohio State stock fell slightly, Syracuse stock stayed essentially the same, and Washington stock fell sharply.
In the process, Husky coach Lorenzo Romar discovered that his team really suffers when junior standout Jon Brockman is on the bench, when Brockman is double-teamed and the Huskies can’t hit 3-pointers to open up the paint when needed, and when the youngster from Washington The team loosens up on defense.
It is likely that playing inferior competition would have meant that the Husky’s shortcomings would not have been noticed until later in the season.
At the moment, it’s clear that second-year forward Quincy Pondexter, Washington’s most athletic player with the biggest lead, must score and rebound whether Brockman is in the game or has foul trouble on the bench. The Huskies also need senior guard Ryan Appleby, one of the best shooters in the country, to recover from rehabbing a broken right thumb.
It’s already clear that when rookie guard Venoy Overton is on the floor, the Huskies are a better team. Overton is fast and speed kills, both in football and basketball. Overton can push the offense onto the court quickly. He has great hands and his score will improve with each match he plays.
Against Texas A&M in the opener, the Huskies led at the half 36-32 and when the Aggies came back in the second half, they immediately double-teamed Brockman and got away with it when Washington couldn’t drain shots beyond the arc. Brockman had a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds) in the first half and finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Against Syracuse in the consolation round, the Huskies drew 35 fouls and the Orange 17 (they were playing in Syracuse’s home state of New York). Before long, Brockman was in foul trouble, followed by 7-foot Joe Wolfinger, Venoy Overton and Quincy Pondexter.
Is it any wonder that Washington couldn’t hold out? The wonder is that they only lost by 6 points. Pondexter had a double-double (20 points and 13 boards) before going into foul trouble. As good as Brockman is, he needs the help of Pondexter and a better guard game of all.
Washington has 2 veteran guards Ryan Appleby and Tim Morris (a transfer from Stanford) and 4 freshman guards: guard Venoy Overton and forwards Justin Holiday, Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Darnell Gant.
I am very happy with Romar’s schedule from the beginning. I’d rather be 3-2 against better competition than 5-0 against a bunch of cupcakes.
The NIT competition was extremely important as Washington’s next 8 opponents before their Pac 10 opener against Washington State on the first Saturday in January (5-1-08) are nothing to brag about. Six of the 8 games are at home and 2-Oklahoma State and LSU-are away.
Five of the 8 opponents are terrible: Long Beach State (ranked 233 out of 341 Division 1A teams), Portland (219), Portland State (150), Cal State Northridge (177), and Idaho State (242).
Only 2 opponents are decent, Oklahoma State (92nd) and LSU (80th), and one is currently ranked as the top flight: Pittsburgh (10th). Washington is currently ranked 61st. If the Huskies want to move on, they need to win 7 of these next 8 games.
These ratings change at least weekly and some teams will be rated higher or lower, but rest assured, the 5 opponents I marked terrible won’t be improving anytime soon.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley