My Two Cents on Tony Wroten’s Decision

I preface everything I am about to say about Tony Wroten’s decision to enter the NBA draft in June with the idea that I have no idea what his personal situation is financially, and I absolutely cannot enter the mind of a 19 year old basketball player. That being said, Tony Wroten made what is unmistakably a terrible choice yesterday.

Wroten after missing four free throws in the final 18 seconds in the opening game of the Pac-12 tournament against Oregon State.

The above picture is Tony Wroten’s legacy at UW, whether he likes it or not. A season that was filled with plenty of highs, the mercurial freshman point guard’s biggest flaw in his game proved to be fatal for the Huskies. The Huskies lost 86-84 in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament, a game that Wroten for all intents and purposes dominated. He scored 29 points on 10-19 shooting, had seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. But unfortunately the game was in his hands at crunch time and he lost the game at the foul line. He shot 9-15 at the stripe on the day but going 0-4 when it counted. He then followed that up by shooting a combined 14-41 in the NIT. Not that it matters because the NIT is about as competitive as WSU’s admissions process. Boom. From a standpoint of his legacy at UW, Tony Wroten ended it about as poorly as you possibly could. People asked me what my thoughts were on whether Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten would leave for the NBA. I consistently said that I thought Ross was gone, but Wroten had no choice but to stay after how his season ended. Not only from a team standpoint but from his own skill set being utterly exposed. He can’t shoot. And this is coming from a guy that would probably have trouble putting Dick Cheney away in a three point contest. But aside from basketball, my perception of Wroten staying in school at least another year comes from another source.

This is Corvegas – OSU Trip Report

I had the pleasure of enjoying UW’s 75-72 win at Oregon State on Sunday from beautiful Corvallis, Oregon and not from a ROOT sports telecast. I needed a break from another Angie Mentink halftime show, sorry bout it. The five hour drive from Seattle was nothing a 5 Hour Energy couldn’t mess with and me and my man Matt (@BenMattBroTweet) arrived safely at OSU. We were greeted with the gracious hospitality of the Robin to my Batman, Jordan Coutts (@JCoutts_23) and the wonderful people of Floor 2 of Poling Hall. Including my man Ibs that can do unspeakable things with a yo-yo.

Saturday night in “Corvegas” was spent painting the town purple and just having a really really really good time. World renowned scholar and philosopher, Caleb Clearman (@ClearmanCaleb), made an appearance so it was safe to say that fun was had. It was a different world than what I was used to at UW but a great time nonetheless. Fraturday night came to a close, but not before testing the limits of every rule an RA has to enforce.

We woke up the next morning in near perfect condition somehow and began to formulate a plot on how to get Matt and myself into the student section for the UW vs. OSU game. This process for those of you that don’t know is basically a mass acquisition of Student ID’s that may or may not look anything like the person you are trying to get in. I was lucky enough to be given the OSU ID card of one Kevin R. Corey, who looked less like me than I look like Chuckie from Rugrats. But with the chillness of the folks who let students that I was accustomed to for UW games I figured I would be in with at worst a questioning look and a “go ahead buddy” from the attendant. 

Growing Pains

Six seconds left. Down by two. Ranked opponent. Madison Square Garden… As a college basketball player this is what you live for. This is what all those hours in the gym have been for. It’s what is known as crunch time. A moment that separates the winners from losers, not just on the scoreboard but also in the way in which you truly play the game. This was the Washington Huskies on Tuesday evening, playing in front of a national audience. And as we’ve come accustomed to as Husky fans, they couldn’t overcome the challenge.

The young Huskies have stumbled out of the gates this season, having dropped three of their first seven games. You can point the finger at many different things whether it be foul shooting, youth, or lack of an inside presence (although Aziz has shown great improvement). But the two things that glaringly stand out, to me at least, are as follows: leadership and organization.

When you think of any elite team, or even a halfway decent one, you usually can link that team to a certain player that they have; the face of the program, per say.  When I think of the 2011-2012 Washington Huskies I think of Isaiah Thomas, and then I realize that he left for the NBA. Who is this team? Who leads them on the court? Who will be the one to take the last shot in a game like last night’s against Marquette? These are questions that need answers and they need to come quickly because before we know it conference play will be starting and that’s when every single game counts twice as much. As for the present, the player that is closest to being the guy would have to be Terrence Ross. Possessing the most talent on the team besides possibly Tony Wroten Jr., Ross is on the cusp of being an absolute force for this basketball team. When he makes the jump to that next level of basketball it could get scary for every team that has to face the Dawgs. But he hasn’t hit that stride yet, which puts us in the situation we’re in now. 

What We Know So Far: Husky Basketball

College Basketball has started with a bang this year. Coach K of Duke became the all-time winningest coach in Division I, we have seen high profile matchups between Duke-Michigan State and Kentucky-Kansas, and there have been a few upsets sprinkled throughout (thanks in most part to UCLA).  As for the hometown Huskies, they have performed the way everyone has expected them to. Yes, they have an undefeated record through three games, but what else have we seen that is noteworthy. Let’s take a closer look at each individual player…

Terrence Ross: As expected, Ross has been his usual self, averaging a solid 16.3 ppg and catching fire as of late (24 pts vs. Portland). His play will determine how far this team will go. If he can become the superstar that we all believe he is capable of, we could be in for quite the treat.

CJ Wilcox: I had a feeling this was going to happen. CJ “two-tre” has been lights out from beyond the arc, shooting an impressive 61% from downtown. He currently leads the team with 19.3 ppg and has shown us that he is more than just one-dimensional. He can drive the lane, which makes him a handful to cover on defense. Look for him to take over games with his shooting throughout this season.

Tony Wroten Jr: It seems as though “Tone Tone” hasn’t missed a beat with the transition from high school to college ball. Dishing acrobatic passes left and right, his on-court vision is as good as I’ve seen in the game of basketball. Through the first three games he is averaging 12 ppg and a little over 4 apg. As usual, there have been some freshman mistakes; instances where he has held on to the ball a little too long or has tried to force some things. Also, his assist to turnover ratio is almost even, which is something that must improve. He will only get better as time goes on and he will continue to amaze all of us with his flashy, yet unselfish style of play. And as for the free throw struggles, I blame it on nerves. He has hit thousands of shots from the stripe in his lifetime. He will be fine.

Abdul Gaddy: When I think of Abdul, one word comes to mind: smooth. The third year point guard, coming off of knee surgery that sidelined him for most of last season, has continued his impressive play that he showed us at the beginning of his sophomore year. Now as a junior, he possesses a great feel for the game at this level and is showing it on the court. Averaging over 6 assists per contest and 12.3 ppg, Gaddy is the perfect type of player to pair with Wroten in the backcourt. They balance each other out. Abdul is a nice change of pace because of his calm demeanor on the court. He has even shown some signs of leadership, which was surprising given the fact that he seems like a quiet player, but you have to love that he is coming into his own. Expect great things to come for Abdul in his third year.

2011-12 UW Men’s Basketball Season Preview

Your 2011-12 UW Husky Hoops Team

It’s an exciting time to be a Husky fan. The football team has an absolutely enormous game with Oregon on Saturday that may prove whether or not this team is legitimately a contender or simply a good football team. But as football season starts to enter its mid-season climax, basketball season kicks off. Husky basketball tips off for the first time this season on Friday November 4th at 7PM against SPU, who just beat Arizona, in an exhibition game. So let’s preview UW Basketball as only Seattle S&O can.

Last season was one of ups and considerable downs for the Hardwood Dawgs. They ended the year with a 23-10 record after losing to North Carolina in a heartbreaker in the third round of the NCAA tournament. The Dawgs got to the Big Dance after winning their second straight Pac-10 Tournament, and of course, this.

The season overall was somewhat of a disappointment for the Dawgs though, as the team at times played like title contenders such as at home against Arizona and for stretches against North Carolina in the tournament. But the team succumbed to too many mistakes late in games such as against Kentucky and Michigan State in the Maui Invitational and again against UNC in March. Back to back losses at Oregon and Oregon State were devastating in the middle of the season and prevented UW from achieving a higher seed in the NCAA tournament to avoid playing a team like UNC in the third round. But all that is last year’s news. This year’s team loses the two top scorers from last year in Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning, as well as Thomas’ 6.0 assists a game and MBA’s 8.1 rebounds a game.