Ross hits career high six three pointers as Huskies beat Pilots 93-63

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(3-0) led by Terrence Ross making six three pointers defeated the Portland Pilots(2-1) 93-63 to win their third straight game in three days. A day after surviving a 77-71 victory over Florida Atlantic the Huskies came out focused and took it out on the Pilots. The Huskies as a team shot 12-20(60.0%) from three point range as the Pilots had no idea what hit them. Lorenzo Romar saw his team who lost four key players from last years team produce six guys in double figures in scoring. The Huskies passed their first of many tests which was play three games in three days and came out on top in all three. The Huskies are already showing they have plenty of quality players on the roster from last year while gaining back two players. The return of Abdul Gaddy and addition of Tony Wroten gives the Huskies an explosive backcourt that has two point guards who are terrific passers. With those two guys like Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox are able to go crazy from beyond the arce. Meanwhile in the paint which was a concern heading into the season Aziz N'Diaye and Darnell Gant have been pretty solid this season. Romar once again seems to have stocked the cubbard full of NBA talented type of players.

The Huskies started the blowout early in the game as they led at halftime 43-23 over the Pilots. Leading the way was Ross who scored 13 points on five for seven shooting including three three pointers. Abdul Gaddy also added 10 points on four for six shooting including a three pointer. Darnell Gant added six points early and Pac-12 player of the week C.J. Wilcox drilled two three pointers to give him six points. Freshman sensation Tony Wroten scored six points off the bench for the Huskies. The Huskies shot 18-32 from the field and 6-11 from three point range in the first half.  Meanwhile the Pilots shot 29.0% from the field in the first half making just 2-11(18.1%) from three point range. The Huskies weren't going to allow the Pilots to hang around like they did last year or like Florida Atlantic did yesterday. The Huskies guards were too much as they would take turns going off on the Pilots in the first half.

The Huskies next challenge was being up 20 points how they would handle that. The only downfall of the first half was Wroten missing all five free throw attempts which could be a problem going forward. The Pilots couldn't make any shots while the Huskies were showing they have NBA players in that first half. The second half would offer much of the same for the Huskies.


The Huskies outscored the Pilots in the second half 50-40 as Romar emptied the bench the final five minutes. The Huskies cruised to a 93-63 win as Ross continued his hot shooting. The Huskies as a team nailed 12 three pointers while shooting 60.0% from downtown. The Huskies also shot 55.4% from the field as well as their five starters along with Wroten were red hot. The Huskies were led by sophomore Terrence Ross who scored 24 points on 9-13 shooting including 6-8 from three point range. The Pac-12 player of the week C.J. Wilcox who is also just a sophomore scored 17 points on five for nine shooting including three for five from three point range. Wilcox also added four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block shot showing his improved all around game. Abdul Gaddy showing no il effects from his injury scored 15 points on six for eight shooting including two three pointers. Gaddy also added five assists and five rebounds as he'll continue to fill up the stat sheet. Off the bench freshman sensation Tony Wroten scored 11 points on 5-11 shooting while dishing out six assists, grabbing five rebounds and recording three steals. The Huskies big men also stepped up as Aziz N'Diaye scored 11 points on five for nine shooting with seven rebounds and a block shot. Darnell Gant scored 10 points on five for eight shooting while grabbing six rebounds. The Huskies big four along with their two bigs showed once again they'll be a tough team to beat.

All in all, the Huskies bounced back nicely after the previous game's poor performance. This time is your typical Romar team that will try to follow the 2005 #1 seed Huskies model of dominant guard play. This team features four guards who could play in the NBA someday with two being lottery picks. The big men of N'Diaye and Gant showed at times last year they can step up when need be. This year both will have to be more consistent and early on they have done just that. The Huskies three point shooting should be pretty good all season long and when Scott Suggs returns they'll be even more dangerous going forward. The Huskies passed their first of many tests winning three games in three days and now will play their next game on the road at St.Louis on November 20th.

Observations:

-  I'm so happy to see Abdul Gaddy return to the Huskies healthy this year. Gaddy the talented five star recruit was coming into his own last season before going down with an injury. In a smart move Romar kept him on the bench and had Gaddy be another coach.  Now Gaddy has returned and although he is just a junior this is his team. Gaddy this past game had 15 points, five assists and five rebounds while turning the ball over just once all game in 27 minutes. No longer does he have to look over his shoulder to see Isaiah Thomas or Venoy Overton come into the game if he makes a mistake.

For the year Gaddy is averaging 12.3 PPG, 5.7 assists per game and 4.7 rebounds per game. Gaddy is shooting 56.0% from the field and 42.9% from three point range making a full three pointer a game. Gaddy will fill up the stat sheet all year long. Gaddy is like Brandon Roy was when Roy was a sophomore and junior a solid player who doesn't do anything dumb. With Gaddy's size at point guard he will also help out with the rebounding as well. With a healthy Gaddy look for the Huskies to make some noise this upcoming season.


- The Huskies most talented player who is most likely to star in the NBA is Terrence Ross. Ross has the ability to drive by you at any moment for a dunk much like Nate Robinson can also hit the outside shot as well. Ross was the #3 shooting guard in the nation when he signed with the Huskies.  Ross can simply do it all and he showed that against the University of Portland. Ross naniled six three pointers while having some highlight dunks. Ross finished with 24 points on 9-13 shooting. With Thomas departing to the draft look for Ross and Wilcox to be the 1-2 punch for scoring for the Huskies this year.

Ross on the season is averaging 16.3 points per game and 4.0 rebounds a game. Ross is shooting 47.1% from the field and 47.1% from three point range making 2.7 three pointers a game. Ross can do it all and look for him to have a big season. With Ross freak athletic abililty and his ability to drain shots from the outside he at times can be an impossible matchup. Last year he played the best game of all the Huskies against the North Carolina Tar Heels. He was also first team all Pac-10 tournament team last year as well. With Ross along with the other players on this roster the Huskies should be just fine.

-  From a pure NBA talent standpoint this might be the most talented team Lorenzo Romar has assembled. This is a young team as Romar's three of his four best players were playing in high school two years. This team has two future lottery picks in Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten. When you include C.J. Wilcox and Abdul Gaddy the Huskies have four guys who could play in the NBA. Romar has a tough job of juggling the minutes since all four of his best players play the same position. Wilcox and Ross are both shooting guards while Wroten and Gaddy are both point guards. Which is why Wroten is coming off the bench despite being so talented.

Romar is playing all four on the court at the same time quite a bit and at least three of them are on the court at all times. The Huskies finally have NBA talent which they haven't had in a while. In the past they've had solid college players but this year they finally have guys you know are going to play in the NBA for a long time. This is the ideal Romar team which features good guards and scrappy big men like Gant, N'Diaye, Desmond Simmons and Shawn Kemp Jr. The Huskies are NCAA tournament talent for sure.

In conclusion, the Huskies didn't change anyone's opinions this weekend which is a good thing. The only way the Huskies were going to be the talk of the town is if they had been upset which they weren't. The Huskies won't truly be tested until a month from now. Until then they have to keep improving their play and hope to get better. This is a young roster which has seven freshman including three in the rotation although in their first seven(when Suggs is healthy) only Wroten will play. The Huskies guards didn't disappoint the hype this weekened as the Huskies took care of business. With UCLA having their problems and Arizona already showing they can drop games the Pac-12 appears to be open. Maybe the Huskies can win the Pac-12 regular season title this year with this talented guard play.

Thomas leads #21 Huskies in 94-72 win over Pilots

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(6-2) survived a rally by the Portland Pilots(7-3) and eventually pulled away for a 94-72 victory. The Huskies once again used balanced scoring in the victory as they saw 10 different guys score and four different guys score in double figures. Leading the way for the Huskies was the two Co-Captains in Isaiah Thomas who scored 20 points on 7 for 13 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out four assists. The other Co-Captain Justin Holiday also matched his career high 20 points which is sure to be going up as he shot five of seven from the field including three of four from beyond the arc, Holiday would also add six rebounds. The Huskies used the three point shot once again in the victory over the Pilots shooting 13 of 23(56.5%)from beyond the arc as seven different Huskies hit three point shots. Overall the Huskies passed the tune up test as they prepare for their first road game of the season.

The Huskies began the game for the straight game with Aziz N'Diaye starting at center with Matthew Bryan-Amaning coming off the bench. Lorenzo Romar has had future NBA lottery picks Brandon Roy and Spencer Hawes come off the bench so Bryan-Amaning can come off the bench as well. Romar has stated before he doesn't start the five best players he starts the best group that plays well together. The Huskies started off slow only up 32-26 then went on a run to extend the lead to 39-28 after Terrence Ross hit a three pointer and the Huskies stretched the lead to 46-31 at halftime. Just like on Saturday Justin Holiday hit three three pointers in the first half leading the Huskies with 14 points. Isaiah Thomas also added 13 points after scoring four points most of the first half.

The second half saw the Pilots come out and hit two three pointers to cut the lead to 46-37 but Abdul Gaddy hit his second three pointer of the game and Darnell Gant drilled another three pointer to extend the lead to 54-39. It was looking like the Huskies were going to run away with this game up 59-41 and 68-52 in the second. Then the Pilots went on a 10-0 to cut the lead to 68-62 which made the crowd very nervous. That is when Scott Suggs took over who to this point was playing like the 10th man. Suggs drilled a three pointer to extend the lead to 71-62 then Suggs hit another lead to put the lead at 75-62. Suggs would hit another three later in the game. The Huskies ran away from the game winning 94-72. The Huskies bench was money once again scoring 41 points compared to the Pilots 22 bench points.



The Huskies were led by Holiday and Thomas scoring 20 points. They were also helped out by their bench play of Matthew Bryan-Amaning who scored 15 points on five for seven shooting, grabbed six rebounds, record three steals and had a block shot. Scott Suggs scored 13 points and provided some good defense. Suggs also finally found his three point shot drilling three for six three pointers. The Huskies also had a good solid game from Abdul Gaddy who scored eight points, dished out six assists while turning the ball over just once. Gaddy also showing off his much improved range hit two three pointers.



The Portland Pilots were able to hang in this game because of the play of Luke Sikma. Sikma as you may know is the son of Seattle Supersonics legend Jack Sikma. Sikma was 7 for 10 shooting score 14 points while grabbing 16 rebounds for the Pilots. The Pilots also add a good game from Nemanja Mitrovic who was 5 for 10 from beyond the arc for 15 points. The Pilots won 21 games last season so they aren't a joke. They defeated the UCLA Bruins last year by 30 points, defeated Montana in Montana this year who just recently beat UCLA down in UCLA. As fans may remember they defeated the Washington Huskies two years ago in Isaiah Thomas first game as a Husky. That Husky team went on to win the Pac-10 regular season title. Head coach Eric Reveno might be looking to upgrade pretty soon because he has shown he is a good coach while building up a poor program.

Meanwhile for the Huskies they did what they had to do which was take care of their business. The Huskies were never in danger of losing this game and instead of pressing the panic button when the Pilots went on a run they responded. This Huskies team has it's fair share of fire power as they currently have five guys who are averaging double figures in scoring entering today. The Huskies are deep and all ten guys on the team has value case in point today with Suggs a player that most wrote off responded with back to back huge three pointers. Now the Huskies play at Texas A & M this Saturday in a huge test. The Huskies have just one non conference road win under Romar in the last five seasons. This will be the final test the Huskies have before Pac-10 play here is hoping they finally past that test.

Observations:

- The three point shooting is terrific. I don't get why fans complain that the Huskies shoot to many three pointers. In fact I felt the team didn't shoot enough against Kentucky or Michigan State. When good shooters are shooting three pointers I'm not going to complain. The Huskies were 13-23 from three point land. Holiday was 3-4, Suggs 3-6, Wilcox 2-4, Gaddy 2-3, Gant 1-1, Thomas 1-2 and Ross was 1-1. I want to see Holiday, Suggs, Wilcox, Gaddy and even Gant shooting three pointers. Those are high percentage shots for them. With the exception of Thomas and Overton I don't mind when the other guys shoot three pointers.

- Aziz N'Diaye has really struggled since Maui. N'Diaye was terrific in the Maui invitational and could still be rusty from not playing last year. He hasn't been very effective since becoming a starter. Today in only 12 minutes N'Diaye had just two points but grabbed five rebounds. Since becoming a starter N'Diaye in three games is averaging 12.3 minutes a game, 2.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and he has recorded just one block shot. While when he was coming off the bench he was averaging 17.6 minutes a game, 6.8 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 2.2 blocks a game. The team is 3-0 when he starts but they have also played some bad teams maybe he plays better when coming off the bench.



- Good to see Nate Robinson at the game. Nate Robinson played for the Huskies three years during Romar's first three years in fact. While at Washington Robinson was two-time first team all pac-10 back to back. No player in the Romar years has been first team back to back years and only Brockman has been first team twice. Thomas will most likely join him this year in that category. Speaking of Thomas next up on the career scoring list that he'll pass up is Nate Robinson. Robinson while at Washington hit the shot against Oregon State that changed basketball forever for the Huskies. Robinson now is a spark off the bench for the defending Eastern Conference Champions Boston Celtics. Robinson of course got a standing ovation. Robinson wore #2 and now Thomas is wearing #2 lets just say the next guy who wears that number better live up to it.

All in all it was a good win for the Huskies. They survive a scare and responded by going on a run instead of playing tight like they did in Maui. The Huskies like I've been stressing all along have a big test this Saturday playing on the road at Texas A & M. The Huskies and the Pac-10 need that win. The Pac-10 with the exception of Arizona Wildcats hasn't had a good non conference season so far. The Huskies must find a way to keep their composure and play their game this Saturday on the road. The Huskies game is drive and kick to open shooters, running teams out of the gym and playing terrific defense. They got away from that in the Kentucky game while against Michigan State they played their game for the most part. This is the final test for the Huskies in the non conference schedule before Pac-10 play begins down in L.A. at USC on December 29th. The Huskies are deep and loaded which is what you need when you go on the road. I feel like this team will pass the test this Saturday.