SB Nation Seattle - Washington Huskies Get Bay Area Road Split In Impressive 92-71 Win At Calhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48997/seattle-fave.png2011-01-19T22:06:16-08:00http://seattle.sbnation.com/rss/stream/17028272011-01-19T22:06:16-08:002011-01-19T22:06:16-08:00Romar Explains Why Suggs Started Against Cal
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<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/washington-huskies">Washington Huskies</a> guard <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/53718/scott-suggs">Scott Suggs</a> started over <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29068/venoy-overton">Venoy Overton</a> on Sunday against Cal and UW coach Lorenzo Romar explained why in his weekly media session on Tuesday.</p>
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<p><a href="http://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/1/19/1945628/uw-basketball-suggs-start-against-cal-neither-permanent-nor-something" target="_blank">UW Basketball: Suggs Start Against Cal Neither Permanent Nor Something To Read Into - The Daily Drip - SB Nation Seattle</a><br>Yet he explained to media that the decision to insert Scott Suggs into the lineup and bring Venoy Overton off the bench again was purely strategic.</p>
<p>"Isaiah can hold his own against anyone," said Romar in yesterday's media session. "But in terms of matchups we felt with <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/53339/jorge-gutierrez">Jorge Gutierrez</a>, who's an outstanding defender, is usually matched up against Isaiah. And we felt if we went with a bigger lineup, maybe he would defend someone else. And if he didn't, maybe we could take advantage of the person he didn't defend."</p>
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https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/1/19/1945697/romar-explains-why-suggs-started-against-calNate P.2011-01-16T23:57:05-08:002011-01-16T23:57:05-08:00Washington Huskies Coach Romar On Thomas' Performance: 'He was a band conductor. He orchestrated that game.'
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<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/washington-huskies">Washington Huskies</a> coach Lorenzo Romar said it all when it comes to Isaiah Thomas' outstanding 13 assist performance in UW's 92-71 win over Cal tonight.</p>
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<p><a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/21269/isaiah-thomas-puts-its-all-together-for-uw" target="_blank">Isaiah Thomas puts its all together for UW - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN</a><br>In taking care of business and handing out a 92-71 beatdown of defending champion Cal on Sunday at Haas Pavilion, Thomas sent that message using a commanding 27-point, 13-assist performance.</p>
<p>"That was probably his greatest performances as a Husky," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "He was a band conductor. He orchestrated that game. He’s been playing like this since we started conference play."</p>
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<p>From the other side of things, Cal coach Mike Montgomery described the game in simpler yet perhaps more raw terms.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17116268" target="_blank">Freewheeling Huskies cruise past the Bears - San Jose Mercury News</a><br>The 5-foot-9 Thomas was a magician on the floor, contributing directly to 57 points. He sped past defenders with ease, pulled up and quick-released shots over them and made an assortment of passes to set up teammates, including a behind-the-back delivery to Holiday for a 3-pointer.</p>
<p>"Isaiah Thomas pretty much had his way," Montgomery said.</p>
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https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/1/16/1939545/washington-huskies-coach-romar-thomas-performance-assistsNate P.2011-01-16T21:05:51-08:002011-01-16T21:05:51-08:00Washington Huskies Cruise Past Cal 92-71 In An All-Around Dominant Performance
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<p>What a team says after a close loss really doesn't matter that much.</p>
<p>How they respond in the next game does.</p>
<p>And after a tough loss to Stanford on Thursday, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/washington-huskies">Washington Huskies</a> responded by absolutely pounding Cal 92-71 at Haas Pavilion.</p>
<p>After pulling away in the first half, the Huskies just piled it on in the second half led by guard Isaiah Thomas who FSN analyst Ernie Kent said played like one of the best point guards in the country, finishing with game-highs of 27 points and 13 assists to only one turnover.</p>
<p>Yet further challenging pre-existing notions of Thomas' style of play, it wasn't exactly a one man show either - <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29075/justin-holiday">Justin Holiday</a> caught fire as the beneficiary of Thomas' outstanding play as a distributor with 23 points on 5-for-8 3-point shooting. Meanwhile, Kent couldn't help but note that <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29072/matthew-bryan-amaning">Matthew Bryan-Amaning</a> was playing like a man on multiple occasions as he continued his strong play with 22 points and a team-high 11 rebounds of his own.</p>
<p>Most importantly - and perhaps an extension of Bryan-Amaning playing well - was their board work: UW beat a very strong defensive rebounding Cal team 43-27 on the boards and their 12 offensive rebounds doubled that of Cal.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/28829/harper-kamp">Harper Kamp</a> did stand out for Cal with 20 points and seven rebounds, but they simply didn't have enough to stop a Huskies team clicking on all cylinders.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/1/16/1939421/washington-huskies-cruise-past-cal-92-71-in-an-all-around-dominantNate P.2011-01-16T20:04:10-08:002011-01-16T20:04:10-08:00Washington Huskies Basketball: Isaiah Thomas Carries UW To 48-33 Halftime Lead
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<p>With the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/washington-huskies">Washington Huskies</a> up 48-33 on Cal at halftime, let’s just set aside the fact that a road split tonight would be good after a disappointing loss to Stanford and that off-court stuff.</p>
<p><em>Point guard</em> Isaiah Thomas is yet again proving that he is more than just a volume shooter.</p>
<p>In addition to his game high 18 points in the first half, he’s been outstanding as a distributor with six assists and one turnover. And it’s the quality of these plays as much as the quantity of assists that’s most impressive – simply swinging the ball to the open player, driving and kicking, hitting a cutting player rolling to the basket.</p>
<p>The way some people talk about him running point, you would’ve thought he didn’t know how to spell pass – tonight he’s playing as good as any point guard in the conference.</p>
<p>With Thomas running the show so efficiently, Washington has outshot Cal 53.1 percent to 44.8 percent in the first half and in addition to blitzing them with one of their characteristic runs – an 11-0 run late in the half – there ability to move the ball against the zone has been key.</p>
<p>For the full stats and game tracker, <a href="http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/cal-m-baskbl-sched.html" target="new">click here</a>.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/1/16/1939360/washington-huskies-basketball-isaiah-thomas-carries-uw-to-48-33Nate P.2011-01-16T17:53:27-08:002011-01-16T17:53:27-08:00UW Basketball: Cal Will Pose A Rebounding Test
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<p>Returning to Nick's breakdown of the game at California Golden Blogs, Cal could pose a rather familiar test to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/washington-huskies">Washington Huskies</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2011/1/16/1938124/roll-on-scouting-the-washington-huskies#storyjump" target="_blank">Roll On: Scouting The Washington Huskies - California Golden Blogs</a><br>Perhaps the critical matchup? Cal's nearly-best-in-the-nation defensive rebounding vs. Washington's aggression on the offensive glass. If Cal can limit Washington's second chance points like they typically do they will probably have a puncher's chance. But if Washington successfully pulls down offensive boards it could be an ugly game. My hope is that these season-long stats aren't fully representative of Cal's improved play since the transfer of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123292/gary-franklin">Gary Franklin</a> . . . but we'll see.</p>
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<p>However, UW's apparent offensive rebounding prowess needs to come with a caveat.</p>
<h4>Key statistical battleground: offensive rebounding</h4>
<p>At a recent media session, UW coach Lorenzo Romar noted that their rebounding numbers are inflated because of a few strong non-conference games against weaker opponents. So while their numbers look impressive on the surface, Cal's outstanding defensive rebounding could have a huge impact on this game - while UW is getting 40.2 percent of the available offensive rebounds this season, Cal is only allowing opponents to get 24.1 percent of the available offensive rebounds.</p>
<p>Something has to give and that battle on the boards, if nothing else, will be a test of how much UW has really worked on something that was perceived as their biggest vulnerability even as far back as exhibition play.</p>
<h4>Cal players to watch</h4>
<p><b>Markuri Sanders-Frison, C (6-foot-7, 275 pounds, Jr.)</b></p>
<p>If rebounding ends up being a defining feature of this game, then Sanders-Frison figures to play a large role in that. Frison has grabbed about 26 percent of the defensive rebounds available to him this season, which ranks him first in the conference in defensive rebounding percentage and seventh in the nation. In addition, he is Cal's most efficient scorer. However, Cal isn't exactly one dimensional in terms of rebounding - 6-foot-10 freshman Richard Soloman also hits the boards hard as does <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123296/allen-crabbe">Allen Crabbe</a>, who ranks 15th in the conference in defensive rebounding percentage.</p>
<p><b>Cal guards</b><b><br></b></p>
<p>The Huskies like to pressure and often times when they turn games around in the second half, it starts with their defense. Cal tends to turn the ball over more often than their opponents, but UW forces opponents into turnovers quite a bit more often than they turn the ball over. UW has been at its most dangerous this season when they secure the ball from rebounds or turnovers and fly back up the court for transition points.</p>
<p>Even if Cal establishes a rebounding advantage, they'll have take care of the ball to pull off an upset and send UW home with a second consecutive loss.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/1/16/1939133/uw-basketball-cal-will-pose-a-rebounding-testNate P.2011-01-16T13:53:35-08:002011-01-16T13:53:35-08:00Washington Huskies Look To Get A Bay Area Road Split Against Cal
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<p>With a lack of quality wins on their non-conference resume and a loss to Stanford most recently, perhaps Cal fans have reason to doubt the assumed Pac-10 superiority of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/washington-huskies">Washington Huskies</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2011/1/16/1938124/roll-on-scouting-the-washington-huskies#storyjump" target="_blank">Roll On: Scouting The Washington Huskies - California Golden Blogs</a><br>UW’s unconvincing non-conference performances and recent loss to Stanford reignite the possibility that Washington isn’t such an overwhelming favorite for the title, Kenpom statistical breakdowns notwithstanding. For one, UW really doesn’t like playing teams with actual, legitimate defenses. The Huskies haven’t failed to reach 70 points in every win so far this year, but in their losses they’ve only averaged 64 points. So far, Michigan St., Kentucky, Texas A&M, USC and Stanford all successfully slowed down UW’s crazy fast offense. Four of those five games ended in defeat, and the fifth went into overtime. Cal’s defense is in the ballpark of those teams, so I'm willing to entertain the chance of an upset tonight.</p>
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<p>And yes, it might be difficult to simply dismiss Thursday's loss to Stanford as a fluke within the context of this season as noted on SBN's California Golden Blogs. But at the same time, let's not get carried away - what is often lost within the frenzied second half runs that UW has used to win games is that they usually start with UW defense, despite the offensive display showing up more clearly in the numbers and catching the eyes of observers.</p>
<p>That said, beating Cal today and splitting on the road is no less important than it would be for any average team with conference championship aspirations.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.uwdawgpound.com/" target="_blank">UW Dawg Pound - For Washington Huskies Fans</a><br>The key to winning a Pac 10 title in basketball is to sweep at home and at least split on the road. This is a crucial road game for Washington. The Bears are dangerous and are coming off an impressive win over WSU on Thursday. Washington needs a win tonight to wipe the taste of the debacle at Stanford out of their mouths.</p>
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