SEATTLE – The joke, as old and tired as it is, was that Washington had a lot in common with a donut.
Nothing in the middle.
The Huskies’ season was slipping away at 0-5 in the Pacific-10 Conference. Fans were restless. Media were questioning the heart of the players and the leadership of the coaching staff.
But most of all, the accusatory fingers pointed toward the Husky big men.
UW coach Lorenzo Romar knew it. Yes, the Huskies were among the deepest in the conference at guard, but were vulnerable inside. And improvement wasn’t evident.
“I can’t believe that, within a month from now, you won’t see a difference in our bigs,” Romar said at the time.
He seemed pretty optimistic.
Anthony Washington’s chronically sore foot left him with limited mobility and in instant foul trouble.
Mike Jensen hadn’t found himself. Did he fit in as a perimeter jump-shooter or as an inside banger? As his own harshest critic, Jensen’s own sagging body language alone was evidence of how mightily he was struggling.
Hakeem Rollins, thrust into a starting position, hadn’t yet elevated his game from junior college.
It was roughly the point of the season when Washington made its trip to Raleigh, N.C., to play North Carolina State when the bigs really grew up.
The Huskies were in the middle of their roll, having won eight of their previous 10 games, and were returning from a loss to N.C. State to prepare for a road trip to the Arizona schools.
It was a time of particular importance to Rollins, who prepped and went to community college in Mesa, Ariz. Family and friends would watch him against Arizona and Arizona State, including his coach at Mesa C.C., former Sonic center Alton Lister.
But more important, the talk was increasing that, should the Huskies keep winning, they had a shot – just a shot, mind you – of gaining a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Besides a rematch with Arizona on the road, the Huskies had California and top-ranked Stanford coming into Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Then the Pac-10 tournament.
And for that, everybody needed to knock it up a notch.
“We knew how difficult those last few games were going to be,” said Rollins, whose team plays Alabama-Birmingham on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tourney. “Coach (Romar) came to us and said, ‘We’re really going to need you guys to step up.’ I took that as a challenge that I needed to increase my production.”
In the sweep of the Arizona schools, Rollins had 26 points and nine rebounds. In beating both Cal and Stanford, Jensen totaled 25 points and 13 boards.
In the Pac-10 tournament, Rollins led the team in rebounding with 18 and blocked a team-high five shots in three games. Jensen hit four of 10 3-pointers. Both constantly banged with the Channing Fryes and the Justin Davises of the world.
Rollins, especially, has improved his play to such an extent that he’s taken nearly all of Anthony Washington’s minutes away.
Jensen’s increased aggressiveness, especially on the boards, has been almost palpable. So has his change in body language. A stubborn perfectionist, Jensen mentally beats himself up far worse than his coaches ever could. But where a mistake formerly affected his play for multiple times up and down the court, Jensen now has been able to drop it.
“I try not to be so hard on myself, or try to not let people see me be so hard on myself,” he said. “You have to have self-criticism or else you won’t get any better. I’m the type of person that has high goals. Sometimes, you don’t make your goals or play in a way that you don’t appreciate. I guess I’m one of those guys you can see it in more. I take it to the heart.”
On a team in which the guards have received the brunt of the glory, the Huskies’ bigs have done just as much to turn the team around.
“Hakeem has been coming on and Mike has been playing good basketball,” Romar said. “It’s not as much Anthony as these guys have stepped up. They’re really starting to play good basketball. It can be a problem, but it beats the alternative, when you don’t have enough guys.”
More than anything, opposing teams haven’t been able to dominate the middle. The 6-foot-9 Jensen and the 6-7 Rollins contest every shot and scrap for every rebound. Smaller than most post players they compete against, they’ve done more than hold their own.
“You’re not going to go out and score 30 points on our big men,” sophomore forward Bobby Jones said. “The inside presence is there. Our big men have stepped up big. They’re getting their shots down. They’re rebounding. They’re playing good minutes for us.
“That’s just going to take us deeper into the tournament.”
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