Photos
But those issues are secondary to UW’s major problem: defense.
“The No. 1 thing we’re looking at is becoming a better defensive team,” Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar said this week. “The way we play defense is the catalyst for everything we do. When we don’t defend, things don’t go well for us.”
When the Huskies don’t defend, they don’t win.
At the heart of the defensive issues are the inability to stop dribble penetration from opposing guards.
Over the course of a game, players are going to get beat off the dribble from time to time. But it’s been most of the time for the Huskies.
The most recent example was South Dakota State point guard Nate Wolters, who carved up the Huskies for 34 points.
Wolters didn’t do it by only shooting jumpers. It was simple one-on-one determination to beat his opponent off the dribble and get to the basket.
The Huskies knew it was coming and couldn’t stop it.
“We have to take that personally,” Huskies freshman guard Tony Wroten said. “You can’t let them break you down like that.”
But Wolters wasn’t the first player to do that. St. Louis’ Kwamain Mitchell (18 points), Nevada’s Deonte Burton (31 points), Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom (23 points) and Duke’s Austin Rivers (18 points) also found the path to the basket had minimal resistance far too often.
“Number one, we have to do a better job of containing the basketball,” Romar said. “If we can’t keep the basketball in front of us, then our entire defense breaks down.
“If we’re able to contain the basketball and they do get by us at times, we have to do a better job with our rotations. We have to rotate quicker and smarter to make the right decisions.”
The defensive issues haven’t been limited to one player.
Wroten has taken much of the criticism because his on-ball defense has been the most spotty. But Terrence Ross, C.J. Wilcox and Abdul Gaddy all tried to guard Wolters on Sunday and struggled.
So what is the remedy?
“Continue to rep it. Continue to emphasize it,” Romar said. “One of the other things about us, defensively we usually have four-five guys to rotate in there.
“The guys that are playing the majority of minutes, at times because of foul trouble or someone sitting out. Sometimes I think fatigue sets in and we’re not able to sustain the type of pressure that we need to sustain. I think that hurts us at times.”
The Huskies are giving up 76.3 points per game this season, which ranks 318th in the country. Meanwhile opponents’ effective field goal percentage, which values 3-point percentage higher, is 49.3 percent. That ranks 215th in the country and 10th in the Pacific-12 Conference.
Today’s game against Cal State Northridge will be the Huskies final tuneup before Pac-12 play begins next week against Oregon State.
A win today would leave the Huskies at 6-5, not the best way to build an NCAA tournament résumé. Romar hates such talk, but he said it is particularly galling how poorly his team has played.
“I am not going to get caught up in what we have to do and what we have to win to get somewhere,” Romar said. “Before we start figuring out what our RPI is, we better get better or those questions are irrelevant. I think you have a good question, but we would be getting way ahead of ourselves before we start calculating what we need to do.”
There really isn’t much calculation. Washington would at least need to have an outstanding record in a mediocre Pac-12, if not win the conference title or the conference tournament.
With the way the Huskies are playing, that seems like far from a guarantee.
“If we keep losing, it’s not going to matter,” Wilcox said. “We need to work on us right now.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
HUSKIES GAMEDAY
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (3-6) VS. WASHINGTON (5-5)
7 p.m., HEC EDMUNDSON PAVILION
TV: None. Radio: 950-AM, 102.9-FM
Series: Washington is 4-0 against the Matadors. The last time the Matadors came to Montlake was 2009, when Washington came away with a 88-76 win. Current Huskies Abdul Gaddy (11 points) and Darnell Gant (one point, five rebounds) both played in that game.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Cal State Northridge
NAMEPOSPPGRPGAPGFG%FT%
Stephen HicksG17.68.71.0.444.891
Josh GreeneG10.62.63.6.306.905
Vinnie McGheeG9.71.22.7.317.750
Stephen MaxwellF8.84.80.2.650.643
John Hayward-Mayhew F4.72.60.2.277.778
Washington
NAMEPOSPPGRPGAPGFG%FT%
Abdul GaddyG9.32.84.9.418.679
C.J. WilcoxG15.13.61.8.444.882
Terrence RossG15.46.31.9.479.870
Tony WrotenG16.44.73.0.492.514
Darnell Gant F 9.55.10.9.547.750
Scouting report: The Huskies take to the floor trying to wash away the memory of Sunday’s embarrassing 92-73 loss to South Dakota State, snapping a 32-game home nonconference winning streak. Washington can start a new streak against a Matadors team that features three seniors and a plethora of under classmen. Northridge is led by talented redshirt freshman Stephan Hicks, who is averaging 17.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-5, he causes matchup problems for defenders. He will get to the basket and can shoot over shorter defenders. Senior point guard Vinnie McGhee is a steady contributor who can distribute the ball and can make an occasional 3-pointer. The Matadors aren’t a great shooting team from the perimeter. As a team, they shoot below 30 percent from 3-point range. Expect the Huskies to come out motivated following Sunday’s disappointment. Center Aziz N’Diaye is expected to return to action, which will be a boost for Washington defensively. It’s that area where Washington needs to show the most improvement with the conference opener against Oregon State looming.
Next: 6 p.m., Dec. 29, Oregon State, Hec Edmundson Pavilion
Ryan Divish, staff writer
