SEATTLE – There is widespread belief among the members of the Washington men’s basketball team that Connecticut doesn’t know much about them. While the UW is rarely on television, UConn can be seen seemingly every week.
And while it’s true that as of Tuesday afternoon, Connecticut had yet to watch any film of Washington, that doesn’t mean UConn is unfamiliar with its upcoming opponent.
“They’ve got a team of wings,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said during a conference call Tuesday. “They’re similar to us. Roy, we don’t have anybody like him, and no one else does either. He’s a tremendous basketball player, plays with great poise. I love how Morrison scores, I love the way Redick scores and has improved his ball handling. But when you watch Roy play, you’re watching from a coaching standpoint everything you want a player to be. … We’ll have a hard time matching up with him.”
For the most part, though, every team has had a hard time matching up with Connecticut (29-3), which along with Duke and Villanova is considered the NCAA Tournament favorite. How UConn handles Brandon Roy, and how the UW (26-6) handles Connecticut’s wealth of talent, will be revealed when the teams meet in the Sweet 16 at about 7 p.m. Friday at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.
Much of Tuesday’s media call centered around the respect Connecticut has for Roy, the Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year. Calhoun said that what he’s seen of Roy leads him to believe that he is the best player in the nation because of his poise and ability to make big shots.
Connecticut standout point guard Marcus Williams said he’s seen Washington play against UCLA and Arizona this season.
“We know Brandon Roy can put up a lot of points,” Williams said. “I saw him hit a couple of buzzer-beaters.”
Calhoun said Washington is similar to his team in that they both like to get out and run. In fact, he said that the UW’s ability on the fastbreak is his biggest concern.
“We have to stop their fastbreak, which they use as well as anybody in the country,” Calhoun said. “We have nobody in the Big East that runs anywhere near as well as they do. That will be our No. 1 concern.”
It’s of even greater concern because Calhoun said his team is coming off of its two worst defensive games in years. Connecticut is among the national leaders in field goal percentage defense and blocked shots, but has struggled in both departments in the tournament. In a first-round 72-59 victory over Albany, UConn allowed 46.2 percent shooting and had five blocked shots, four fewer than it averages. In an 87-83 victory over Kentucky, Connecticut allowed 46.8 percent shooting and only blocked one shot. UConn also only held a slight rebounding advantage in both games. For the season, Connecticut is second in the nation in field goal defense (37.3 percent), first in rebound margin (10.5) and first in blocks (9.3).
Calhoun said he believes that Connecticut has an advantage inside over Washington, though he said that Jon Brockman and Mike Jensen make up for their lack of height with strength. Calhoun said smaller teams like Villanova gave his team some trouble this year, but admitted that with just three losses, it’s hard to find too many styles that have troubled his team.
“What really hurt us was another team playing well and us not playing well,” Calhoun said.
“We can turn into a quick team too,” Williams said. “We can put Rudy (Gay) at power forward, play with three wings and a big. We can go big at teams. I don’t think a size or matchup has been a problem. I don’t think playing a smaller team would hurt us any.”
Calhoun is impressed with other Washington players besides Roy. He said he thinks Bobby Jones could play in the NBA just because of his defense. He called Jon Brockman, a player he recruited, “one of the toughest players you’ll see.” He said he likes Justin Dentmon and believes Washington’s bench is underrated.
This won’t be Calhoun’s first experience with Washington. He recruited Donny Marshall out of Federal Way High School, and was the coach when UConn beat Washington on a last-second shot in the 1998 Sweet 16, a shot he says he still remembers clearly.
Calhoun said he is amazed with how good and physical the style of basketball in the West has become.
“Washington is a physical team,” Calhoun said. “Arizona has become more physical. UCLA we knew would be more physical with Ben Howland there. Washington could be categorized as a physical team; I couldn’t say that years ago. We looked at (Seattle Prep standout Spencer) Hawes and he decided to stay home. I’m surprised just how much the basketball is so much more similar to the way we play. I used to think it was more offense out there, more physical here.
“It’s not that way anymore.”
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