So has everyone sufficiently recovered from last night’s big win? Heading into today’s game, the Huskies are in great shape to win a Pac-10 title, and can in fact clinch a share of the title with a win over Arizona tomorrow.
Beating the Wildcats is no easy task according to Lorenzo Romar, however.
“When they’re playing at the top of their game—and I’m not just throwing this out there—they’re literally good enough to beat anyone in the country,” Romar said today. “I say that because I watched their game earlier in the year against Kansas, I watched their game against Gonzaga, and I’ve watched them during their win streak, and when things are clicking for them, wow, they are tough to deal with.”
The Wildcats were certainly good enough to beat Washington in Tempe earlier this year, winning 106-97 thanks to a 69-point second half.
“You can look at every single area, they spanked us,” said Jon Brockman. “They shot the ball really well, they penetrated, they attacked the glass, they went to the free throw line, all around they just played a much better basketball game, a much smarter basketball game.
And even if the Huskies do clinch a share of the title tomorrow, that won’t be cause for celebration they say.
“No, we’re going to be greedy,” Brockman said. “We have to be greedy. We’re not trying to share it, we’re trying to win it outright. We can celebrate a little bit tomorrow if things go well, but we have to stay focused and realize that our job’s not done.”
The Huskies do like that they’re not having to scoreboard watch any more. Sitting alone in first place, they didn’t even bother checking the scores of other Pac-10 games going on before them according to Romar and Brockman.
Speaking of Romar and Brockman, the UW coach was asked an interesting question by a reporter today: who is your team MVP?
And while he didn’t come right out and name a player, Romar did go on a long tangent praising his senior forward that seemed to indicate his choice.
“I think many people take Jon Brockman for granted. You’re talking about a guy with 56 double doubles in his career. We watch film of one of our guys putting himself in position to shoot and no one is helping, not because they’re going to drop it off to Jon, but because they’re running over to box him out and we haven’t even shot the ball yet. You can just see it and then you realize how much that opens up your offense.
“He’s constantly coming at you. And when you talk about a MVP or Player of the Year in the conference, a lot of people talk about James Harden and wow is he a load, we know that. But when you talk about the leadership, you’d be hard pressed to find another leader in this conference that leads his team like Jon Brockman does. It’s unbelievable.
“How many players of the week have we had this year? (the answer is zero) Somehow we threw this all up in the air and it came down and we’re in first place today. Jon Brockman has a lot to do with that. And you take him away from what we’re doing…
“I’ve been in drills and I’ve run across him—I haven’t told him this—but goodness gracious, it’s like somebody threw a refrigerator at you. And you’re constantly getting pounded by him and he wears people down. I just think because he is not a big dunker and is not flashy and doesn’t hit a lot of threes, people take him for granted. Sorry. I’m long-winded on that one. I’ve watched him for too long. I’m also realizing he’s not going to be here anymore.”
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