SEATTLE — Where have all the points gone?
That seems to be the question surrounding the Washington basketball team following an 0-3 start in Pac-10 play in which the Huskies scored 52, 55 and 51 points. In Saturday’s loss at USC, the Huskies shot just 33.3 percent while committing 20 turnovers.
Lorenzo Romar and his players aren’t ready to panic just yet, however.
“This team is pretty resilient,” Romar said. “[Monday] we went out and had a good practice, guys had a good attitude. I thought we took a little bit of a step back on the road at USC, but I still think that we have some players that can be productive, and as a group we will go out and score more points and do a better job.”
While the Huskies feel like they need to improve offensively, part of the struggles certainly had to do with who Washington was playing.
Washington State leads the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 52.5 points per game. UCLA ranks second and USC ranks fifth. USC’s opponents are shooting just 38.2 percent from the field, the lowest number in the Pac-10. Washington State and UCLA rank fourth and fifth in field-goal percentage defense.
“We played, in our first three games for sure two of the top defensive teams in the country in UCLA and Washington State, and USC’s not bad either,” Romar said. “You look at their other games, and there just aren’t a whole lot of teams scoring in the 80s and 90s against those teams. I wouldn’t look at it as: this year we’re just not going to score many points in conference. I’d like to wait and see what we do in the rest of the games.”
Jon Brockman, who leads the team with 18.1 points per game, said his team has been “kind of scattered lately” on offense, but that some of that had to do with Washington’s recent opponents.
“I think it has a little bit to do with the way the other teams play,” said Brockman. “It hasn’t been real fast, up and down, it’s been more half-court sets. There are just some things we need to tighten up.”
APB for Appleby: Part of the reason for Washington’s offensive struggles has been opponents’ ability to take Ryan Appleby out of the game. Appleby, who averaged 19 points in his first three games back from injury, went scoreless in Los Angeles, attempting only seven shots in the two games.
Appleby said teams haven’t focused this much on him defensively since his senior year at Stanwood High School, but both he and Romar are confident the shots and points will eventually come.
“They’ll come,” Appleby said. “You’ve just got to play through it. There’s not much you can do. If you get frustrated, it hurts your chance of getting shots and when you do get your shots you won’t be ready to shoot them. I’ve just got to keep a clear mind and keep working for those shot, and eventually they’ll come.”
Added Romar: “I’ve got every confident bone in my body saying that Ryan is going to be fine.”
Lineup set?: Romar said he’ll likely go with the same starting lineup that he used against USC, but that things could change between now and then. After sticking with the lineup of Artem Wallace, Brockman, Appleby, Tim Morris and Joel Smith for several games, Romar replaced Smith with Justin Dentmon against UCLA. Against USC, he started Venoy Overton in place of Dentmon.
Romar said it has been harder this season than in other years to settle on a player rotation, because some players are excelling on offense, while others are playing better defense. He hopes at some point that the players will make the decisions clear to him.
“What you’d like is for someone to just step up and say ‘Coach, you are an idiot for not playing me, look at what I’m doing,’” Romar said. “Not literally say that, but if their play is saying that—players always, to me, make the decisions more than the coaches based on what they’re doing.”
UW women’s update
Freshman center Jess McCormack, who has battled numerous injuries this season, suffered another one in Sunday’s win over USC when she hit her head on the floor while battling for a rebound.
Washington coach Tia Jackson said Tuesday that McCormack suffered a concussion and is day-to-day, but that it is “very doubtful” that she will play this week against the Oregon Schools.
The good news for the Huskies is that sophomore forward/center Laura McLellan is likely to return this weekend. McLellan suffered a torn meniscus and had arthroscopic surgery earlier this season. She was averaging 6.6 points and 4.7 rebounds before her injury.
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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