SEATTLE — Seven games into the season, the Washington men’s basketball team has plenty of questions it is trying to answer.
Who can emerge as a consistent No. 2 scoring threat behind Jon Brockman, who has been carrying the team night in and night out while averaging a double-double? What can the team do to turn an inconsistent defense into the disruptive force the Huskies want to have for conference play? How can the team take better care of the ball on the offensive end? And can the Huskies improve upon a woeful .601 free throw percentage?
Today, against perhaps the best team the Huskies have faced yet, they will try to start finding those answers. After a 3-0 start the Huskies have dropped to 4-3, and at noon face 12th-ranked Pittsburgh (8-0).
“I don’t know if surprised would be the word,” Romar said when asked about his team’s struggles in losses to Syracuse, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. “I’d say we’re all disappointed at this point. It is a young season at this point though. If I had my choice to start out 10-1 like last year and then end up not making post season, vs. being 4-3 in the beginning and then finishing strong, I’d take that one… This is non-conference, you see where you are and you continue to try to get better.”
On the line is not only a chance for a win over a marquee program, but the Huskies’ 31-game non-conference home winning streak, which stretches back to Dec. 3, 2003.
It’s almost a sure thing that the Panthers will double-team Brockman all afternoon, forcing other Huskies to beat them. Brockman averages 19.3 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, but after that only Justin Dentmon (14.3) and Quincy Pondexter (10) have scoring averages in double figures. With an average of 5.4 rebounds, Pondexter is the only Husky besides Brockman averaging more than four boards per game.
The Huskies could get a scoring boost today if Ryan Appleby returns to the court. Romar said that the senior from Stanwood will be available to play. Appleby has not played yet this year after suffering a fractured thumb during an Oct. 31 practice, and the sharp-shooting guard’s return would big a big help to the offense. His ability to hit the long-range shots will not only produce points, but stretch out defenses, making a constant double-team on Brockman more difficult.
“It helps a lot,” Brockman, a Snohomish High alum, said of having Appleby on the floor. “Ryan just being able to spread the floor, they have to respect him all over the court. They can’t just leave him alone.”
But if Appleby can hang onto the basketball, that will make Romar even more happy than bunch of points from his sharpshooter. Romar lists defense and turnovers as his team’s two biggest problems, and feels like the points will come once the Huskies stop giving the ball away. The Huskies are averaging 16.8 turnovers this season after 15.7 last year (which Romar felt was too many to begin with).
“That’s not our biggest issue right now,” Romar said of finding a second scoring threat. “Our biggest issue offensively is taking care of the basketball. Our issue right now is guarding people and getting stops, and we’re not doing that right now.”
So today, against a Pitt team that survived a scare at home against Washington last season, the Huskies are hoping to show that they are a changed team from a year ago, and a better team than what they have shown this season.
“We had a lot of those missed opportunities last year that we’ve had the chance to reflect on now and be like, ‘Man, we should have won,’” Pondexter said. “This year, we have a better recognition of what’s at stake and if we have the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, that’s all we really want to do right now … I feel like since we’re a little older, we won’t have those mistakes happen by letting games go by us.”
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com/huskiesblog
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