Tag Archives: Matthew Bryan-Amaning

by | October 26, 2010 · 9:24 pm

A Very Quick UW Basketball Post

The UW basketball team started practice about a week ago, so I’ll throw this out there in case anyone wants to discuss the team.  They’re favorites to win the Pac-10, which looks to be nearly as weak as it was last year.  Some quick thoughts and things to watch.

  • The team is very deep overall, but not in the frontcourt.  Tyreese Breshers had to retire for medical reasons just before practice started, leaving MBA, Darnell Gant, and Aziz N’Diaye as the only bigs.  Given Romar’s style of play, they can work around this, but one more body would be very nice.  Freshman Desmond Simmons is about Darnell Gant’s size and does all the dirty work, but he’s more of a wing and is recovering from an injury.
  • Speaking of Aziz, he sounds like he could be a difference maker.  Quick history: an incoming sophomore from a junior college, he lost all of last season to surgery.  Good news: he’s 7′ 260 lb and ran the fastest mile on the team.  Most thought he’d get limited time this year while he recovered and developed, and that might still be the case, but Romar singled him out as playing well in a recent scrimmage.  If he adjusts quickly, he could have a huge role as a defensive stopper and rebounder.
  • Venoy Overton will miss most of the preseason with an injury.  Hopefully the extra practice time will give Abdul Gaddy a chance to get rolling out of the gate.  Gaddy playing up to his potential could make this team tough to beat.
  • I don’t have any inside access to the team or anything, but now that Isaiah Thomas is the top Dawg, I’m betting we don’t see the same chemistry issues that dogged the Huskies (no pun intended) the first half of last season.  Something never quite fit last year, and I still think it had to do with Quincy Pondexter’s personality not meshing with the rest of the team.  I could be crazy, and I’d sure like to have Quincy’s scoring back, but I’m betting this team finds its identity a lot quicker than last year’s did.
  • Off the court, UW got a huge recruiting commitment from Tony Wroten.  A big Seattle point guard, Wroten was talked of as the top recruit in the country at times.  Injuries and maturity issues have quieted those discussions the last couple of years, but he still has a world of potential.  In the past, he seemed like a lock to leave the state after high school, so the commitment is even sweeter.  I’ve seen some Gary Payton comparisons, which seem to fit from the little I know.  The Huskies currently have a good but somewhat under-the-radar class.  They’re in on two of the top big men on the West Coast, Angelo Chol and Norvel Pelle.  Getting either of them would be huge and make it a very complete class.  Signing day for the fall is coming up, and we’ll do a full breakdown as it gets closer.

More to come as the season gets closer.  If there’s anything you’d like to hear about, leave it in the comments and we’ll see what we can do!

-Matthew

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by | March 12, 2010 · 11:55 pm

UW defeats Stanford, instant reaction

I want YOU to win the Pac-10 Tourney

First of all, the posterizing, straddle the fence dunk by MBA had me on the floor. What a savage jam.

Secondly, if the Huskies even have a modicum of offensive touch in the first ten minutes of that game, it’s a twenty point game right off the bat. Stanford hung around no thanks to themselves. Stanford’s defense was porous at best. The Huskies were solidly in brick city, an offensive fog. What saved them was there tenacious defense. The pressure they put on Stanford was like a leaky faucet, at some point the nagging dripping makes you insane, and Stanford finally lost their collective minds with about ten minutes to go in the second half. Then a playground style dunk-fest ensued, followed by silly bench hi-jinx. Good times for sure.

Thirdly, if the Huskies want to beat Cal, they must be more efficient on offense. Missing point blank layups will not cut it. The Huskies defense is there, Cal cannot touch them in that department. Offensively? Cal is very balanced, inside and outside they can kill you. That said, there is a vast athletic difference between UCLA and Washington. Cal won’t simply be able to spot up and shoot. Overton and Thomas will be all over Randle, Holiday on Christopher, and MBA’s defense has improved leaps and bounds over the past few weeks. I expect a very close game, right down to the wire, with the Dawgs winning of course, I am a homer, what do you expect?

M. B. A.

Fourthly, the tourney question. Joe Lunardi, as of right now, has the Huskies in the tourney. What is unknown is whether they make it if they lose to Cal. That answer depends on what other bubble teams do, like Minnesota and Mississippi State. If those teams somehow win their respective conference tournaments, it puts pressure on Washington to win to get that auto-bid. If those other bubble teams lose, I really like the Huskies chances in the event of a loss. Losing to Cal on a neutral court is not a bad loss, and I believe the Huskies have done enough over the past few weeks, i.e. winning on the road, to make it in. It will be close for sure, but I think at the end of the day, despite what the pundits tell us, the tournament committee will put two Pac-10 teams in, with Arizona State on the outside looking in (no tears there…).

Fifthly, the Oregon Ducks football program is an embarrassment to humanity, and I could not be more pleased. Good times.

–Joe

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by | March 12, 2010 · 1:02 pm

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. Continue reading →

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by | March 2, 2010 · 4:52 pm

Huskies vs. Ducks – Round 2

Thursday evening in Eugene, the Huskies will face their BFF’s, the Oregon Ducks. Everyone knows the two schools adore each other, should be a fun game. It’s the last time the Huskies will play at McArthur Court. Next season they’ll play at the Ducks’ new playground, Matthew Knight Arena (very popular among the folks in Oregon…).

Anyway, on to the game. In January I witnessed the Ducks defeat the Huskies 90-79 in what was clearly the Ducks best game of the year (after the win, they proceeded to lose ten of their next twelve, sealing Ernie Kent’s fate as a lame-duck coach (pun intended…)…) and probably the worst game the Huskies have played at home in at least two years. Malcolm Armstead and Michael Dunigan absolutely killed the Huskies with dribble drive penetration and toughness on the boards. Dunigan had 14 boards. Might-mouse Tajuan Porter was quiet in the first half, but came alive in the second from downtown. Oregon shot a sizzling 53% from the floor for the game, probably well over 60% in the second half. I came away thinking there was really no way Oregon was going to lose that game. Their whole team was in the zone. I give more credit to the Ducks for winning that game than for the Huskies losing.

On the UW side, it was clearly Matthew Bryan-Amaning’s worst game of the year. 21 minutes, 1point. Dunigan completely owned him all game physically. This game put MBA in Romar’s doghouse (again, pun intended), which I think has lead to MBA’s emergence over the past two month (more on that in a minute). The big three of Thomas (25pts, 11-12 FT), Pondexter (16pts, 6Rbs) and Overton (14pts) played well, I really have no complaints on the offensive end. Defensively, the Huskies were horrible. Armstead consistently drove past Overton and Thomas and had clean layups. None of the Huskies bigs got in his way and put him on his butt. Overall it was a sad defensive display by the Dawgs. Couple that with lights-out shooting by the Ducks, and you have the result.

No longer a black hole?

My how things have changed. Since that game, as I mentioned, the Ducks have fallen apart. There is no question in my mind Ernie Kent is gone. With a new arena coming next year, UO will look to make a splash with a new coach (Mark Few?). Because of this, the team has quit listening to Coach Kent. Granted they beat the LA schools this past weekend in LA, but they also swept them in Eugene earlier in the year. Can you say “favorable match-ups”? Therefore I don’t put too much into those wins. Against everyone else they have been lousy. At the same time, the Huskies have began to right the ship on the road, and MBA has emerged as a real threat on both ends of the floor. In fact I venture to guess he is the best offensive big man in the conference right now. No joke. He played extremely well against DeAngelo Casto, who leads the league in blocks, and has been consistently under control the past eight games or so. I haven’t been as hard on MBA as most people have been. I have always thought he has tremendous talent, he just needs to be coached up. In fact after the win at Wazzu Saturday, MBA credited none other then Jamaal “Junkyard Dawg” Williams for his post play improvements. I find it ironic and humorous that one offensive black hole is giving tips to another. (man, I loved Williams. Guy never saw a shot he didn’t like. He was a beast against UConn. Did I just mention the UConn game? DOH!!!).

Prediction? I see the Dawgs winning this one. They have confidence they can win on the road, they have the revenge factor working for them, and frankly they have more to play for. I expect MBA to play well, and look for Pondexter to bounce back after his first real down game of the year at Wazzu. This game, I feel, will come down to how MBA and Pondexter play on the block. Oregon’s guards are quick enough to keep up with Thomas and Overton. Maybe the trio of Suggs/Turner/Holiday will deliver some much needed offense, and bring it on defense. Frankly this game will come down to hustle, who wants it more on defense, and that’s where the Huskies will beat the Ducks. The only way Oregon wins this game is if they shoot lights out once again, and they have not proven in subsequent Pac-10 play they can replicate what they did in Seattle two months ago. The game will be in the 60’s, Huskies win a close one by 5.

-Joe

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