UW vs. OSU Thoughts the Morning After

Tough but good win for the Huskies.  With ASU’s loss, I’d say UW is probably in the tournament, as long as Cal wins the Pac-10 tourney and not too many crazy things happen elsewhere.  A win tonight should seal the deal.

• So much good entertainment in the game last night.  Andrew already wrote about Unbreakable.  The Husky cheerleaders were on fire.  I’ve never seen cheerleaders so excited about a game.  Had me wondering if they’re big basketball fans or just really pumped up to do their job.  And then… the missed dunk.  Missed dunks by the other team, especially on breakaways, might be my favorite part of a basketball game, and that was a great one.  Visually appealing, total momentum changer avoided.  That might have been the biggest moment of the game.
• OSU played a good game for a bad team.  Last Saturday, UW picked apart the 1-3-1 on about their first 5 possessions with perfect ball movement for lay-ups.  Yesterday, they packed in that zone so tight that I don’t think UW could have gotten MBA or Quincy the ball down low if they were 8 feet tall.  Then they started out 6 for 6 on threes.  Still, they needed UW looking as bad as possible to get that early lead.  They just don’t have the playmakers, especially when Haynes isn’t doing much.  Good job by the Huskies to pick it up and force some action, even if it should have happened from the beginning.
• I’m really looking forward to watching Joe Burton the next few years.  No idea where his career’s going to go, but it’s going to be fun.
• Jared Cunningham, on the other hand, not a fan.  Decent player for a freshman, seems like a punk.  And not a Ramones kind of punk, which would be really enjoyable to see on the basketball court.
• I understand Reeves Nelson was wearing goggles for health reasons, and fairly serious ones at that, but every time they showed that clip of him dunking and then kind of flexing and yelling or whatever he did, I cracked up.  Really hard to take him seriously.  Ever, but especially with the goggles.
• The second game in 5 days had a big effect.  OSU made good changes, UW was flat and tight.  I’m hoping tonight will be a lot easier.  Some of the pressure should be off, and UW is deeper and matches up better with Stanford.  We’ll just hope that Fields and Green don’t go crazy.
• Are refs this bad in other conferences?  Those two phantom fouls in a row on Overton and Isaiah in the second half seemed horrible, not to mention a bunch of other calls.  Are players just too big and fast now, making for bad officiating everywhere, or is it just the Pac-10?
• Of course, FSN doesn’t really use instant replay, so I could be wrong about some of those calls.  Luckily they had their best announcers on this game, because otherwise their broadcasts are just terrible.  It doesn’t seem like it should be that hard, but maybe money’s just too tight to make things better.
• Can anyone explain why the tournament stays in LA when they’re lucky to get 2,000 fans until the championship?  Is there another reason?  I’m seriously asking here, because it doesn’t make any sense to me.  I wouldn’t think it could be TV related.  I would think rotating it would bring more fans, but maybe I’m wrong.  Even so, that seems a lot more fair.  Did they sign some kind of contract that says it has to stay in LA for a certain amount of time?  I’d love to have it in Seattle for a year.
• Hopefully Quincy is feeling a little better today.  Goes without saying, but they need a big game.
• Good job by MBA last night.  This was the type of game where he used to disappear after being defended so heavily and making a bad defensive play or two.  Instead, he kept playing hard and rebounding and made his points in the few chances he had.  One play, he lost the handle on an entry pass for a second, then grabbed it and threw in a jump hook so smooth and quick that the defender never had a chance, even with the bobble.  He should have an easier go of it tonight.

I’m thinking the Huskies by 12 tonight.  81-69.  Cal will roll again.  Put your predictions in the comments, if one of my fellow good guys doesn’t post a predictions post.  Have a great weekend everybody!

-Matthew