Today the newest batch of M’s commercials were released. I like them all, but which is your favorite? Check them out and then vote. Oh and apparently the 2011 slogan is “Ready to Play.” If that statement is true, the team will definitely be better than last season.
“Swing Away”
“A For Effort”
“Encore Encore”
“Lucky Charm”
“Painful”
-Dan
Yesterday, Terrance Ross was a surprise 5th starter for the Huskies. It was an interesting, and turned out to be very smart, move by Romar. He said it had to do with match-ups and I have no reason not to believe him. Ross also injected some life into an offense that had lost it’s bite.
Ross has had an interesting finish to his season. After last week, I thought he would transfer after the season but after last nights start, I have no idea. Here are his stat lines over the last 9 games before last night:
@ Oregon – 26 min, 12 pts, 2 reb. (4-10 from the field)
vs. Cal – 21 min, 11 pts, 4 reb, 6 assists (5-8 from the field)
vs. Stanford – 22 min, 4 pts, 6 reb, 3 assists (2-6 from the field)
@ ASU – 24 min, 2 pts, 1 reb, 2 assists (o-5 from the field)
@ Arizona – 15 min, 5 pts, 1 reb, 2 assists (1-4 from the field)
@ Seattle – 16 min, 13 pts, 3 reb, 2 assists (3-5 from the field)
vs. WSU – 13 min, 0 pts, 3 reb, 0 assists (0-5 from the field)
vs. UCLA – 4 min, 0 pts, 0 reb, o assists (0-1 from the field)
vs. USC – Did not play, but was available.
And here’s last night’s line:
vs. WSU – 29 min, 17 pts, 1 reb, 1 assist (6-11 from the field)
As you can see, Terrance Ross had made 1 shot from the field in his last 5 Pac-10 games before last night. Then, he made 6. Seeing inconsistency from a freshman is nothing new, and C.J. Wilcox would have similar inconsistency. Looking over these numbers shows you how successful Ross can be. Lets hope we get the good Ross through the rest of the season.
Andrew
Filed under Uncategorized
To top off the Huskies great win last night and the most enjoyable half of basketball I’ve seen all year, my favorite little Mariner is making news. Alex Liddi is not little in any way, to be clear, but that’s what I’m going to call Mariner minor leaguers. He hit a grand slam yesterday for his second in two days, which ultimately means little, but it did give us this excellent headline in the Times today:
Fantastico! Liddi Launching Salamis
Hard to not be happy with that. Here’s the article.
-Matthew
It looked bleak. The Huskies were down by as much as 13 in the first half, and ended the half being down by 8. If it weren’t for surprise starter, Terrance Ross, and his 13 first-half points, the game very well could have been over by halftime.
While sitting on the couch, waiting for the second half, I couldn’t help but think about what could have been. This was the team who was supposed to finish Pac-10 play at 16-2 and earn a 3 or 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. At halftime, they were a team who was going to be one-and-done in the Pac-10 tournament and then would be one-and-done in the NCAA Tournament, assuming they’d make it that far.
Then, the Dawgs got their bite back. They played the best 2 minutes of Husky basketball that we’ve seen in at least a month, and possibly all season. The Huskies brought a blitz to open up the second half, and when the blitz was finally stopped by a Ken Bone timeout, our Dawgs were up by 2 instead of down by 8. Welcome back, Huskies.
But, then it wasn’t over. There was still 17:40 left in the game and the Huskies were playing an inspired Wazzu team that had brought their very best against the Huskies all season long. Still, even if the Huskies had lost the game, we knew that the team that had looked so strong at points was still there. The Dawgs proved that in the first 2 minutes of the second half.
The Cougars settled down and held a lead for the next 10 minutes or so. Klay Thompson was unstoppable. Every time he touched the ball, it felt like the Huskies had suffered a defeat. He played an incredible game. Not to mention, Faisal Aden hitting some incredible shots too. I don’t know how he made some of those fade-away jumpers. I’d never seen him shoot like that before. The last person to go for over 40 points against the Huskies (Thompson finished with 43), was Adam Morrison. It’s quite interesting that the Huskies have won both of those games.
With Klay going off, the Huskies needed offense and they got it from their leader. Isaiah Thomas had been questioned over the last 2 weeks, and he’d be the first to admit his game was off. His double-doubles of a couple months ago were lost memories and he hadn’t made a jump shot in what seemed like 3 weeks. This week, he vowed to play better and he sure did. Tonight he finished with 21 points, 11 assists and 3 steals.
I’ve heard many people say that this team doesn’t have the leadership that prior UW teams have had. I disagree with this thought because of I.T. In my mind, Thomas was the heart and soul of last years team and he is on this year’s team also. Tonight he put his best foot forward and was a vocal leader for the Huskies throughout the entire night. Not to mention, he played the entire game. He had more passion than I’ve seen and was as focused as I’ve ever seen. What an amazing effort and performance.
So, are the Huskies back? We don’t know, and it would be completely foolish to say they were at this point. But, in the second half tonight, the Dawgs were back. This was the frantic team we had grown accustomed to . The team with so many offensive weapons. The team with suffocating, turnover-forcing defense. The team that ran the pick-and-roll to perfection down the stretch. I don’t know if it’ll last through tomorrow but, if nothing else, at least we got to see it one more time. At halftime, I didn’t think that would happen.
(A few more thoughts after the jump)
Filed under Huskies Basketball
That’s what we’ve been missing. 10-0 run in just over two minutes. Let’s keep it up! Go Huskies!
Filed under Uncategorized
It’s almost halftime in the UW-WSU game, and the Huskies aren’t looking too good. I’m not sure what the problem is, but they just don’t have much at the moment. The Cougars are playing a good game, but the Dawgs aren’t giving much fight right now.
I’ll leave game commentary until the game is over, but I’m having a hard time listening to the broadcast right now. The main theme of the half has been how great it is that Klay Thompson apologized to fans before the game from which he was suspended. I have a real problem with this. I think it’s great that he apologized. If it was his own idea, that’s commendable. If Ken Bone or his dad made him do it, good for them. Apologizing publicly doesn’t make Klay Thompson a hero, however, and that’s the feeling that the TV announcers are giving.
I don’t expect or want them to tear Thompson apart. I don’t even care if they criticize him or not. I don’t want them heaping on more criticism, but the truth is that he was selfish, broke the law, and set a terrible example for the young fans watching him. He let down his team and possibly cost them a shot at an NCAA tournament berth. The same goes for Venoy. He had a part in bringing down this once promising season, and a public apology wouldn’t excuse that or his actions.
Good for Klay for apologizing and coming out tonight and playing hard. I appreciate that FSN is trying to make a good story out of bad events, and they’ve done a good job of not focusing on Klay and Venoy’s troubles, but they’ve taken it too far the other direction. I, for one, think it’s giving the wrong message. Just had to get that off my chest.
-Matthew
Filed under Huskies Basketball
Part of me wonders where this Husky basketball team would be today had goaltending been called on Gant’s last second shot down in Tucson. Would that win have propelled the Dawgs to a 3-0 finish at home, rather than a disappointing 1-2 finish? At 14-4 in conference, the Huskies would be looking at a 3 or 4 seed, not to mention winning another pac-10 championship. Of course there is no way to know what would have happened, and I’m not suggesting the Derrick Williams swat was the only turning point in this season, because there have been many ups and downs–the Gaddy injury, the Venoy speculation, the Northwest road trip, heck, even back to when Terrence Jones de-committed. Adversity is a part of every sports season, the good team overcome it, the not so good ones fold. Had the Huskies won that game in Arizona, a lot of the adversity may have been overcome, and again, who knows what the confidence boost could have done for the team down the stretch.
I don’t know what it is about playing USC at home, but just like last year, it seems the season has hit rock bottom following a home loss to SC. Never would I have thought this team, which lost only senior, albeit a dang good one, would finish the conference regular season with the same 11-7 record. A lot of teams would be happy with that record, but the Romar era has spoiled us fans into taking a lot for granted, especially winning at home. Not to mention expectations were quite high 3 months ago, and the way this team played on certain nights only heightened the bar.
Few things are as gratifying in sports than watching your team, with low expectations, come out of nowhere to exceed anyone’s wildest imagination (i.e. ’10-’11 Seahawks). Of course the flip side is there’s nothing more frustrating than seeing your team not meet it’s potential. That’s the road this Husky team is on, and time is running out to put this thing back together. If a new team does not emerge on Thursday, rallying around the newest adversity (yes, I know about the Venoy suspension), this season will be remembered for high expectations and glimpses of greatness, but crippling inconsistency (i.e. Brandon Morrow).
-Dan
Filed under Huskies Basketball
To put a cherry on top of one of the most boring off-seasons in recent organizational history, the Mariners traded for left-handed pitcher Aaron Laffey today.
Laffey broke into the majors at the age of 22 and has been extremely mediocre ever since. Over his 4 year career Laffey has pitched 320.1 innings, has gone 18-21 and posted a 4.41 ERA. His K/BB ratio is bad, at 1.21 but his ground-ball rate is decent. His repertoire includes a sinking fastball (the reason for his decent groundball rate), a slider and a change-up.
The folks over at Lookout Landing are not very high on him, comparing him to Horacio Ramirez (all of our favorite Mariner). Dave Cameron takes a little more of a positive outlook on Laffey . My thoughts are a little closer to Cameron’s. I think Laffey can find a spot on the team, and would fit best in the bullpen. He could fill in part time as a 5th starter, but anymore than part time would be a little too much as of right now. There are a group of other left-handed, soft throwing pitchers (Nate Robertson, Luke French, Garrett Olson, Royce Ring, and so on) that Laffey will be competing against. Laffey does have a minor league option left, so he can provide rotation depth right down I-5 in Tacoma.
Unlike the other lefties in the “pile” (a term that Lookout Landing has called all of the mediocre pitchers assembled by the Mariners) Laffey does have postseason experience. He was good. 4.2 innings of shutout baseball, in the midst of a game where his team was getting blown out. Yes, this paragraph is a joke.
In return for Aaron Laffey, the M’s gave up Matt Lawson. Lawson is a 25 year old prospect, who was the 4th piece in the Cliff Lee trade last summer. His upside is to be a utility infielder, so we’re not losing much. Lawson did post good numbers in AA last season, but I don’t think we’re losing the next Shin-Soo Choo here.
All in all, this trade leaves me with a feeling of indifference. It seems that most of the blogosphere agrees there. This isn’t much to get excited about, but it’s also not much to get upset about. It’s just not much, period.
There is one reason why this trade is exciting. Try to keep up with me here. Laffey was traded to the Mariners for Lawson. Lawson was traded to the Mariners with a few other players for Cliff Lee. Cliff Lee came to the Mariners via the Phillies and came to the Phillies via the Indians. In 2008, Lee and Laffey were competing for the 5th spot in the Indians rotation. Lee won the job and then went on to win 22 games and the Cy Young. This leads me to believe that whoever beats out Laffey for the 5th spot in the rotation will win the Cy Young. Everything will come full circle.
Andrew
Filed under Mariners
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