SB Nation Seattle - UW Falls 62-60 To USC After Struggling To Score Down The Stretchhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48997/seattle-fave.png2011-03-05T23:58:58-08:00http://seattle.sbnation.com/rss/stream/17962052011-03-05T23:58:58-08:002011-03-05T23:58:58-08:00Three Reasons Why UW's Senior Night Emotion Wasn't Enough To Finish Pac-10 Play With A Win
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<p>Part of what makes the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/washington-huskies">Washington Huskies</a> 62-60 home loss to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/usc-trojans">USC Trojans</a> tough is that you might have assumed they would come out as confident and intimidating as they did early in the season.</p>
<p>But tonight that focus they once on the court - literally terrorizing opposing players into turnovers - was gone.</p>
<p>Off the court, the once-confident Pac-10 favorite seemed like a team in disarray in their final press conference of the regular season. </p>
<p>"A lot of the stuff we do, it's a lot of improv stuff - whether it's me and Isaiah setting ball screens or guys just finding the open spots," said senior <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29072/matthew-bryan-amaning">Matthew Bryan-Amaning</a>, who had 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. "I think we're becoming a lot [more] set oriented; a lot of times, as soon as we get a rebound we're out and just playing basketball whereas today it felt like a lot of the times - not just the guards, but everybody - I even caught myself looking at the coach thinking, 'What set are we running?' I think we just need to get back into the mode of just playing basketball, not out there worrying about running the right play."</p>
<p>Players gave various responses for the type of breakdowns on both ends of the court that happened throughout the including not getting stops, not playing hard enough, playing hard enough but not having enough to battle USC inside, and of course not hitting shots.</p>
<p>At first, the only common theme to take away from their post game comments appears to be that this has somehow become a team that has lost its confidence.</p>
<p>"Guys aren't hitting their normal shots," said junior guard Isaiah Thomas, who finished with a team-high 16 points. "Usually when you're not doing that as a ball player, your confidence level kind of goes down and you don't want to be aggressive as you usually are, take the shot you usually take. We just gotta turn the page."</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there were three themes that seemed to be consistent among everyone.</p>
<h4>Inability to stop penetration</h4>
<p>In the first half, UW's inability to stop USC's guard penetration - particularly from <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52265/jio-fontan">Jio Fontan</a>, who finished with 20 points - caused them to fall behind by as many as 15 points.</p>
<p>"He just drove us," said <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29068/venoy-overton">Venoy Overton</a>, who had an impressive game as a starter with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, and no turnovers. "That's what he did - he drove us and he found his bigs."</p>
<p>Fontan showed a remarkably quick first step, regardless of who was guarding him, and once he got into the paint, he was able to pull up for jumpshots, dish off to post players, get to the rim, or draw fouls and get to the free throw line, as his 10-for-12 free throw shooting attests to. Once help defense rotated over to guard him, there was literally nothing stopping senior <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/25622/alex-stepheson">Alex Stepheson</a> from just cutting baseline for an uncontested dunk.</p>
<h4>The "small ball" rotation</h4>
<p>Yet even when Fontan was out of the game due to foul trouble, the Huskies struggled to contend with USC's post players. For as well as they played, a large part of that was that UW coach Lorenzo Romar chose to go small, using a lineup with <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/53718/scott-suggs">Scott Suggs</a> in Aziz N'Diaye or <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29079/darnell-gant">Darnell Gant</a>'s place for much of the game. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124639/terrence-ross">Terrence Ross</a> - who played well against USC in their first meeting - didn't play at all. And although <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29075/justin-holiday">Justin Holiday</a> did an admirable job on <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/53703/nikola-vucevic">Nikola Vucevic</a>, the it still left Bryan-Amaning to deal with two bigs stronger than him in the paint.</p>
<p>"[Against] one of them - or both of them 6-foot-10, both of them weigh more than I do - just trying to battle and grab rebounds, but against two of them I just felt that I need help out there on the glass," said Bryan-Amaning. "But I just tried to do everything I could with the situation."</p>
<p>Romar cited dissatisfaction with Aziz N'Diaye's play as the reason he only played 12 minutes - four in the second half - and left Bryan-Amaning out there trying to handle the posts alone.</p>
<p>"He's not playing like he can play," said Romar when asked about N'Diaye. "He's missing easy shots, he's not catching passes. We did get out-rebounded and I think it has a lot to do with him being out of the game. I think Aziz is one of those players who you may want more from him - he makes a difference on defense. Tonight the ball screen hurt us and Aziz had a little trouble with the ball screen. But rebounding and defensively, he really helps us. So we just have to pick our spots and decide what matchups are best to play in what minutes."</p>
<h4>Rebounding</h4>
<p>The obvious result of going small without N'Diaye is that they lose the person that plugged a rebounding hole that was harped on by most observers early in the season.</p>
<p>"We had a terrible rebounding issue when Aziz was coming off the bench, if anybody remembers," said Romar. "When Aziz was put inserted in the starting lineup, I think we got out-rebounded twice...that's why I call him at times the unsung, under-appreciated hero."</p>
<p>The result was getting that UW got beat 38 to 28 on the boards, 11 to 8 on the offensive boards, and 18 to 9 in second chance points. To UW's credit, they did improve their defensive intensity in the second half - they held USC to 30 percent shooting in the second half but neither being able to control the boards nor stop penetration undermined that.</p>
<p>Of course, UW's own inability to score down the stretch hurt them but it's difficult to ignore these problems as more persistently painful throughout the game. More importantly, it was obvious how important this team's defensive intensity is to their overall performance - their defense triggers their offensive confidence and that was evident tonight when their second half runs began on the defensive end.</p>
<p>It's unlikely this team has suddenly forgotten how to shoot (or make layups) - you have to believe, spacing or poor ball movement aside, that some of these shots will start falling again. But the wavering defensive intensity, inconsistent performance from N'Diaye, and the resulting poor rebounding are the things that hurt them tonight that were both maybe surprising and need to be corrected.</p>
<p>And maybe stunned is a good word to describe what the Huskies were tonight - in comparison to past games, they just seemed in a state of disbelief about what happened tonight but knew that, ultimately, they can do better.</p>
<p>So while this doesn't bode well for moving forward, Romar is still hopeful.</p>
<p>"Our guys understand that our backs are really, really against the wall right now," said Romar, looking ahead to the Pac-10 tournament. "But if we can just come out and be aggressive, hit a couple of shots early, I think things will work out well for us."</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/3/5/2032811/three-reasons-why-uws-senior-night-emotion-wasnt-enough-to-finish-pacNate P.2011-03-05T21:48:53-08:002011-03-05T21:48:53-08:00Washington Ends Regular Season With 62-60 Loss To USC On Senior Night
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<p>Tonight's 62-60 loss to USC was not nearly as ugly as the Washington Huskies' other recent losses.</p>
<p>They picked up the defensive intensity in the second half, seemed to gain some momentum, got close with Darnell Gant or Aziz N'Diaye playing limited minutes, and managed to bring the game within six points late.</p>
<p>But for whatever reason, they couldn't hit shots.</p>
<p>UW coach Lorenzo Romar noted earlier in the week that their loss to Washington State was due to taking rushed threes and missed layups. Tonight was much of the same: down the stretch UW just couldn't put the ball in the basket, whether it was guard missing layups off drives, failing to finish through contact in the paint, or taking rushed 3-point shots.</p>
<p>With the loss, UW falls to 11-7 in the conference and will face Washington State again to open the conference tournament.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/3/5/2032725/washington-ends-regular-season-with-62-60-loss-to-usc-on-senior-nightNate P.2011-03-05T20:38:16-08:002011-03-05T20:38:16-08:00UW-USC: Huskies Down 36-26 After Struggling To Stop Trojans Guards, Rebounding
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<p>While the USC Trojans' defense was quite impressive in holding Washington just below their normal shooting percentage, it was the play of their guards that helped them mount a 36-26 halftime lead.</p>
<p>After USC guard Jio Fontan scored the first basket of the game on a pull-up jumper, the Trojans never relinquished the lead and got up by as many as 15 points about halfway through the half. </p>
<p>And Fontan was at the forefront of that impressive Trojans effort, finishing with a game-high three assists and nine points in the first half. The Huskies never found a way to stop his drives to the basket, off which he would get to the rim, pull up for jumpers, or dish to a teammate.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Huskies never truly had an answer for USC forward Nikola Vucevic either, who scored 13 points and pulled in four rebounds, with a combination of a soft touch on his shot, quick moves to the rim, and a putback. Rebounding proved to be a problem throughout for the Huskies, as they were outrebounded 19-10, taking away what could be otherwise be considered their biggest strength. Stepheson contributed to USC's strong rebounding effort with seven rebounds.</p>
<p>The Huskies actually had some success late in the half with a smaller lineup of Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Justin Holiday, Venoy Overton, Scott Suggs, and Isaiah Thomas. With that smaller lineup Holiday did an admirable job of covering Vucevic while the rest of the perimeter players did an outstanding job of communicating, rotating, and switching to stall USC's penetration from the perimeter. Suggs led the way in scoring for the Huskies with nine points, while Thomas chipped in six.</p>
<p>After getting his Senior Night start, Overton returned to the bench to start the second half in favor of C.J. Wilcox.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/3/5/2032650/uw-usc-huskies-down-36-26-after-struggling-to-stop-trojans-guardsNate P.2011-03-05T19:19:05-08:002011-03-05T19:19:05-08:00UW-USC: Key Stats And Players Begin With Rebounding
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<p>Mark Knight of The Husky Haul wrote the following about how to beat the Washington Huskies in a scouting report for Reign of Troy.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://reignoftroy.com/2011/03/05/scouting-report-washington-huskies/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank">Scouting Report: Washington Huskies « Reign of Troy | A USC Trojans blog</a><br>The best way to beat UW is to slow the game down, and really make them work the shot clock. UW isn’t used to using much of the shot clock, and will start to panic if they don’t get a shot off quickly. This will force their hand, create more opportunities for them to get frustrated and turn the ball over. If USC is able to grind it out and not go into OT again, they have a legitimate shot at winning the game. The first half won’t matter as much as the second, because the second half is when UW has been running away from teams that they beat.</p>
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<p>If indeed that is USC's approach, then the Huskies' biggest statistical advantage could come into play.</p>
<h4>Key statistical battleground: offensive rebounding</h4>
<p>Although USC has been the third best defensive rebounding team in the Pac-10 during conference play, UW has been the best offensive rebounding team.</p>
<p>Certainly their rebounding has wavered and the way they've shot over the past two games, even second-chances haven't necessarily resulted in points at all times. </p>
<p>But if this does turn into an attempt by USC to slow UW down in the halfcourt on offense, that offensive rebounding will certainly come into play.</p>
<h4>Key players:</h4>
<p><b>Nikola Vucevic, F (6-foot-10, 260, Jr.)</b></p>
<p>If defensive rebounding plays a factor in this game, then Vucevic might be the primary player to watch. Vucevic leads the conference with 7.8 rebounds per game, getting 27.59 percent of those available to him. In addition to being the team's best rebounder, he's also right behind WSU's Klay Thompson as the conference's second-leading scorer (19.5 points per game).</p>
<p><b>Alex Stepheson, F (6-foot-10, 250, Sr)</b></p>
<p>While UW might have been the stronger offensive rebounding team in conference play, Stepheson is no slouch: he's currently leading the conference in offensive rebounding with 3.4 per game (12.45%). Stepheson is also the team's second most efficient scorer, giving USC a potent combination at the forward spot with Vucevic also being able to step out and hit the 3-pointer.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2011/3/5/2032504/uw-usc-key-stats-and-players-begin-with-reboundingNate P.2011-03-05T14:17:03-08:002011-03-05T14:17:03-08:00UW Hosts USC For Senior Night: Venoy Overton To Start Along With Bryan-Amaning, Holiday
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<p>With all the injuries UW has had this season, it's not exactly uncommon for senior guard <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29068/venoy-overton">Venoy Overton</a> to find himself in the starting lineup.</p>
<p>So given that and Senior Night tradition, it's not much of a surprise that UW coach Lorenzo Romar will give Overton his fifth start of the season against USC tonight.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/huskies/2011/03/04/notes-venoy-overton-will-start-on-senior-night/" target="_blank">Notes: Venoy Overton will start on senior night | Washington Huskies Blog – your source for all UW sports news on SeattlePI.com - Seattle Post-Intelligencer</a><br>And per Romar tradition, all of his seniors will start, which means Venoy Overton will have his name called alongside fellow seniors and season-long starters <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29075/justin-holiday">Justin Holiday</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/29072/matthew-bryan-amaning">Matthew Bryan-Amaning</a>. Romar didn’t say who Overton would be starting in place of, though it’s fairly obvious that he’ll slide into C.J. Wilcox’s spot.</p>
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<p>After struggling through injuries of his own this season, it's a nice end to an up and down season.</p>
<p>And just in playing tonight, Overton and 6-foot-9 forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning will each leave a legacies of their own.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/030411aaa.html" target="_blank">Worth Crying For: MBA, Holiday, Overton Ending Winning UW Careers - University of Washington Official Athletics Site</a><br>Overton and Bryan-Amaning will each end their careers with over 130 games played, just the fourth and fifth Huskies to play in that many games. Holiday, with 117 career games, would likely have joined them past 130 if he hadn't come down with mononucleosis during his freshman season and a staph infection in his knee as a sophomore.</p>
<p>MBA will leave as the No. 2 shot blocker in UW history. Overton will likely finish second or first in steals.</p>
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<p>As for Holiday, if nothing else, <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports/2011/03/04/senior-night-romar-emotionally-looks-back/">Romar told reporters yesterday</a> that he has quelled all doubts about whether the Huskies recruited him just to get his brother, Jrue, who left UCLA early for the NBA. And although Romar said that all three of them will have a shot to play professional basketball, it's Holiday who <a target="_blank" href="http://www.draftexpress.com/rankings/NCAA-Seniors/">DraftExpress.com ranks highest </a>among these three as the ninth best senior in this draft class.</p>
<p>And if one were to take bets on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/030411aaa.html">who's most likely to cry</a>, that would probably be Holiday.</p>
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