Hoopla Thoughts

Published 9:00 pm Friday, October 13, 2006

So what did others think about Husky Hoopla? I thought it went on a bit too long and I was surprised that there weren’t more people there. And at the expense of quoting Tyrone Willingham: There were good things, and no-so-good things.

You couldn’t take too much from the scrimmage as there was no defense played. But the men’s basketball team sure looks athletic, which isn’t a surprise. I was really impressed with Quincy Pondexter, who can get up and down the court as fast as anyone I can remember. Adrian Oliver plays with a lot of poise. I liked what I saw from Harvey Perry, who insists he’s a better offensive player than he’s been given credit for, and it seems that may be the case. Ryan Appleby is already in midseason form shooting the ball and Jon Brockman was as tenacious as ever. One thing I thought was that Brockman still didn’t shoot enough, but he may have been – as the captain – trying to showcase some other guys in a way that Brandon Roy probably would have done.

From talking to the team earlier this week, I was impressed at how humble yet also confident the freshmen are. And having seem them in both open gyms and also last night, I think they are going to be really, really good. It may not show up right away as the Huskies are playing a tough schedule, but by the end of the year I think this team could be pretty scary.

Lorenzo Romar said the most asked question he’s had this season is if the team’s style of play will change because they’ve gotten so much bigger. He said absolutely not, the team will continue to push the pace on offense and pressure on defense, with the only exception being that there will be more of an emphasis in the half court to get the ball inside. He used the word balance, and that’s the right word as this is the most balanced team that he’s had, with good shooters and good post play even without Joe Wolfinger. Keep in mind that the big guys (Spencer Hawes, Artem Wallace, Brockman) all run the floor well so there really is no reason to slow things down.