SEATTLE — The season starts today for the Washington men’s basketball team.
Well, sort of anyway.
The Huskies host Division II Western Washington at Hec Edmundson Pavilion tonight in an exhibition game, and while it is a game that won’t count on the win-loss record and is one the Huskies should win with relative ease, tonight’s game is still an important one for Lorenzo Romar’s squad.
“We’re anxious to play a real game,” Romar said. “Even though it’s an exhibition game, it’s a real game to us. We’re playing somebody else, fans in the stands.”
The game will not only help the Huskies prepare for the upcoming season, but also give Husky fans a chance to see a new-look team.
Asked what the lineup might look like for this game, Romar named Jon Brockman, Quincy Pondexter, Isaiah Thomas and Justin Dentmon as likely starters. The fifth starting spot will go to sophomore Matthew Bryan-Amaning or redshirt freshman Darnell Gant.
Gant’s name is the biggest surprise of that group, as the 6-foot-8 forward from Los Angeles apparently took full advantage of a redshirt year to bulk up and improve his game.
“He’s just played like he wants to win, he’s played with a purpose,” Romar said. “I keep using the word energy. That’s huge. If you’ve got a team that plays with energy, then that can get you through some tough times. As many individuals you can get out on the floor that play with energy, that’s great.”
Gant echoed Romar’s comments that his game isn’t necessarily about stats as much as it is about doing whatever it takes to get on the floor and help the team win.
“I just try to do what the coach asks me to do and what he needs me to do,” he said. “Whatever it is, that’s what I go out and try to do. I never have a mindset of, ‘I’ve got to score 10, 15 points,’ I do what I need to do to help the team win.”
Thomas, a freshman from Tacoma who spent the last two years at a prep school in Connecticut, will likely have the most eyes on him tonight. The 5-8 point guard is the biggest name in this year’s freshman class, and is apparently living up to the hype so far.
“I just can’t wait to get the tip off, get that first pass, get everything out of me,” said Thomas, who will be playing in front of friends and family for the first time since the 2006 state tournament when he led Curtis High School to a sixth-place finish while breaking state-tournament scoring records. “It’s going to be exciting, my friends and family are going to watch. I just can’t wait to get out there.”
Overton not worried: Sophomore point guard Venoy Overton, a starter for much of last season, is for now going to come off the bench in place of Thomas and Dentmon. But despite the perceived demotion, Overton won’t worry if his role is as the first guard off the bench.
“That doesn’t bother me,” said Overton, who has been slowed recently by an ankle injury, but expects to play tonight. “I already know that I’m in the rotation of playing time, but (not) starting doesn’t bother me. I know that if I keep working I can be one of the five.”
Brockman’s ailing back: It’s possible that both Gant and Bryan-Amaning could start today depending on the status of a minor back injury Brockman sustained in practice Monday. The senior from Snohomish was undercut by a couple of teammates going up for a rebound and landed hard on his back, but said Tuesday that he fully expects to play against Western.
“It’s not like a pulled muscle or anything, just kind of an impact injury,” he said.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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