Pac-10 standings, schedule, stats
The nation’s top 3-point shooting team arrives today at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, where it will fire over the Pacific-10 Conference’s second-worst defense against the 3-point shot.
Defensive adjustments seem in order.
“That’s what scouting is all about,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “Athletes are good enough and intelligent enough to be able to make tinkering adjustments to games – hey, we’re going to extend a little more on their shooters, we’re going to play the post a little different, we’re going to play the ball screen a little different – those are adjustments that are all part of executing a scout. That’s why you watch a lot of film and prepare and decide how you’re best going to defend this team.”
The visiting team is California, which is shooting .495 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. That’s better than Washington is shooting from the field: .463. And it’s better than any other Division I school from 3-point distance.
Romar ponders the number in something approaching awe.
“Ryan Appleby never shot 50 percent,” he said. “They’re shooting that as a team. That’s phenomenal.”
Individually, Theo Robertson leads the way, hitting 30 of 49 3-pointers (.612) – better than his overall shooing percentage of .490. Jerome Randle has hit 38 of 73 (.521).
“We shoot the ball pretty well,” coach Mike Montgomery said. “Theo has been a great shooter. Jerome has probably been better than anybody would have expected in terms of his ability to shoot the ball and get shots and so forth. I wasn’t sure how we were going to be inside.
“We don’t have necessarily a go-to player inside with great low-post moves, so we’ve had to rely a little bit more on the perimeter shooting. ...
“We’ve played reasonably good defense. We’re not spectacular. We don’t have the ability to force a lot of turnovers. We don’t have the ability to dominate the boards. But they’ve been pretty solid.”
Solid enough that the Golden Bears’ outside shooting isn’t driven by desperation. Cal is 14-2 overall, 3-0 in the Pac-10 and stands as one of the biggest surprises in the league after losing Ryan Anderson and DeVon Hardin from last season’s 17-16 team.
Surprising, that is, to most everyone but Romar.
“I thought they had a chance to be good,” Romar said.
“On the surface, I wouldn’t have thought they would be this good. But I think Coach Montgomery has done a really good job.”
Washington and Cal are two of the remaining three schools unbeaten in Pac-10 play (UCLA being the other). And while the Huskies will adjust their defense to increase their chances of keeping their unblemished league mark intact, there are some challenges that a scouting report can’t do anything about.
The guards getting the most time for UW are Isaiah Thomas, Justin Dentmon and Venoy Overton – all are under 6 feet tall. That presents an added challenge in disrupting the outside stroke of the 6-foot-5 Christopher.
And one of the Huskies’ primary strengths – rebounding – also must be tweaked.
“Long shots always produce long rebounds,” said forward Jon Brockman, who is third in the league in rebounding. “You do have to take that into account when a 3-point shot is being shot, you don’t really want to wedge yourself real far under the rim because chances are it’s not going to hit the rim and bounce straight up, it’s going to go long. So, sometimes it’s better to try and get outside position and wedge your man underneath the basket.”
Fastbreaks
UW guard Elston Turner remains doubtful for this weekend. ... Romar said it is unlikely the Lehigh game will be rescheduled. However, he remains hopeful another opponent can be brought in, rather than lose the home date. ... Power forward Charles Garcia, a member of the incoming freshman class of 2009, has quit his Riverside (Calif.) junior college team in order to concentrate on his grades. Romar said he supports the move and still expects Garcia to be a Husky next season.
Don Ruiz: 253-597-8808
blogs.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
UW MEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY
CALIFORNIA (14-2 overall, 3-0 PAC-10) AT WASHINGTON (13-3, 2-0)
Tipoff: 3 p.m., Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
TV: FSN. Radio: 950-AM.
Series: Washington leads 74-73 overall and 48-26 at home. Cal won two of three meetings last season, including knocking UW out of the Pac-10 tournament. All three meetings were decided by four points or fewer.
Statistical leaders: For Cal, G Jerome Randle, 18.8 ppg. and 5.1 apg; F Jamal Boykin, 6.1 ppg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 16.2 ppg and 10.3 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.1 apg.
Scouting report: These are two of the remaining three teams still unbeaten in Pac-10 play (along with UCLA). Washington has won nine straight games and Cal eight straight. The Golden Bears’ last loss came Dec. 7 at Missouri. ... Cal leads the Pac-10 in 3-point field goal percentage, while UW is ninth in 3-point field goal defense. The Bears are second in assists and assist/turnover ratio. ... Washington leads the nation in rebounding margin.... Individually, Randle is second in the league in scoring and third in assists and 3-point percentage. Theo Robertson leads the league in 3-point percentage. Brockman is third in rebounding and sixth in scoring. Thomas leads Pac-10 freshmen in scoring (15.3 ppg.) and assists. ... Cal is coached by Mike Montgomery, who became a Pac-10 legend at Stanford before an unsuccessful stint with Golden State of the NBA.
Next: 7 p.m. Thursday, at Oregon, MacArthur Court, Eugene, Ore. No TV.
Don Ruiz, The News Tribune
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