Count Arizona coach Lute Olson as one who thinks Washington belongs in the NCAA Tournament.
While the Huskies’ RPI continues to hover around a preventative 92, Olson says Washington’s late rush should put it under consideration for a bid.
“I think they should be in,” said Olson, whose Wildcats were swept by Washington, including Thursday’s 89-84 loss in Tucson. “I think if you look at their last 10 games, they’ve played great. The other thing is that they’re young team that starts four sophomores. They struggled early, but they’ve certainly played well since. I think the 3,000-mile trip they made to Raleigh (N.C.) is an indication of how much better Washington is now.”
Says UW coach Lorenzo Romar: “He’s a good guy to have in your corner.”
The Huskies (15-10), winners of 10 of their last 12, play host to Cal Thursday and top-ranked Stanford in a sold-out game Saturday to close out the regular season before moving on to the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament March 11-13.
It generally was thought, before the Huskies caught fire, that the Pacific-10 Conference would send just Stanford and Arizona to the NCAAs. Even as Washington started its roll, few believed the Huskies were anything more than an NIT invitee.
However, following Washington’s impressive showing in a 77-72 loss at North Carolina State and subsequent sweep of the Arizona schools last weekend, media and coaches are beginning to point more to the team’s late-season rush than to the RPI.
More reasoning: Arizona is a lock for the tournament and Washington swept two games from the Wildcats. If the Huskies finish ahead of UA, in second place in the Pac-10, how could the NCAA Selection Committee ignore Washington?
Stanford coach Mike Montgomery is another in Washington’s corner. Washington lost at Stanford 85-72 Jan. 4, when the Huskies were in the middle of a five-game losing streak to begin conference play.
“If you’re second in the league, you have to get consideration,” Montgomery said. “Certainly, how you finish the season is important. Washington’s got a lot of weapons, a lot of guys who can score. They have any number of guys who can step up and put up big numbers. They’re very athletic and very emotional. When they get going, they can be very difficult to handle.”
Robinson turns heads: Nate Robinson, Washington’s 5-foot-9 guard, was mentioned by several coaches as the conference’s most valuable player. Although Stanford point guard Chris Hernandez, ASU forward Ike Diogu and Oregon forward Luke Jackson are the favorites, Robinson is getting mentioned.
“He’s an energetic player, a competitor and he plays hard,” Cal coach Ben Braun said. “He’s a big reason for their turnaround. He was solid last year, but now he’s concentrating solely on basketball and he’s made a huge difference. He does so many things, defensively and offensively. I’ve always liked him for his competitiveness.”
Brooks breaks out: Oregon guard Aaron Brooks, a freshman from Franklin High School, set career highs in back-to-back games last weekend with 16 points at Cal and 17 points at Stanford.
Brooks missed most of the conference season with a broken bone in his right wrist.
“This past weekend, he played better basketball than he did before the injury,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “It was just amazing to me to go down to those two environments and play as well as he played and shot as well as he shot. His stamina is excellent. He doesn’t turn the ball over. It’s made us wonder where we’d be if we’d had him all season.”
Big weekend for Cougs: Washington State is a game ahead of Oregon State for the eighth and final spot for the Pac-10 tournament. The Cougars would seem to have an advantage by playing Stanford and Cal at home, but home cooking hasn’t been especially palatable.
In conference play, WSU is 2-5, 5-5 overall. On the road, the Cougars are 4-5 in the conference, 6-8 overall.
“We haven’t been as good at home as I thought we would be,” WSU coach Dick Bennett said. “I’ve been amazed at how well we’ve played on the road. We’ve been a better road team. People have been telling us how improved we are. I think sometimes, when we come home, we feel a little more pressure to show our fans that we’re better. Kids are notorious crowd-pleasers. They really want to show their friends that they’re worthy.”
Oregon State is on the road against the Los Angeles schools.
Tourney darkhorse: Oregon State coach Jay John says UCLA as a team most overlook in the Pac-10 tourney, which could be a mistake.
“UCLA is capable of winning the Pac-10 tournament,” John said. “If they can get real solid point-guard play and get some shots, they can win it. I think they’re a very good team and they’re very well coached. They have a lot of pieces of the puzzle and they’re very capable of getting the automatic bid from the tournament.”
Tip-ins: His last five games, Arizona forward Hassan Adams has averaged 17.6 points and 8.4 rebounds a game while shooting 57 percent from the floor (32 of 56) … Arizona State has used 13 starting lineups this season … Cal freshman forward Leon Powe leads the conference in double-doubles with 13 after posting a pair against the Oregon schools last weekend. Powe posted 20 points and 11 rebounds against Oregon and 23 points and 10 rebounds against Oregon State … Oregon forward Luke Jackson needs only one more point to become the first player in school history with three consecutive 500-point seasons … UCLA’s four-game losing streak to USC is galling enough for Bruins fans and boosters, but some remember the 42-game losing streak to the Trojans from 1932 to 1943.
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