SEATTLE – New Washington assistant coach Brad Jackson smiled when he caught himself saying “we” over and over Tuesday afternoon.
Jackson kept referring to Western Washington, the Huskies’ exhibition opponent at 7 p.m. today and where Jackson coached for 27 years, as “we.”
It’s understandable because he recruited every player on the team, which won the Div. II national title last season with Jackson in charge before Washington hired him away.
The Vikings come to Hec Edmundson Pavilion to give the Huskies a chance for their first public test run of the new high-post offense.
Jackson has taught the offense for 30 years. Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said he always wanted to use it, and did his first year with the Huskies.
Washington also used facets of it to complement its motion offense – which has been the primary approach since Romar has been at the school – in 2009 and ’10.
Jackson was able to easily give a scouting report on WWU.
He explained the Vikings are a team with several shooters who will not be intimidated playing at a bigger school. He also said Seattle Pacific University’s exhibition upset of Arizona last year will be mentioned to the Huskies as a harbinger of what can happen.
“I think the psychological advantage is definitely in their favor,” Jackson said of the Vikings.
Much of tonight will be experimentation for the Huskies. Romar will use different combinations, provide bench players with extended minutes, and generally mix and match to see what works and what does not.
“We have an opportunity to do some things that we may not have when we play our (season) opener,” Romar said. “This is the time you take to do them.
“It’s going to be a great, great game for us in preparation for our season.”
FASTBREAKS
Only the starting power forward spot is up for grabs right now. Abdul Gaddy, C.J. Wilcox, Scott Suggs and Aziz N’Diaye are penciled in as starters. Romar said the four candidates to start at power forward are Desmond Simmons, Shawn Kemp, Jr., Jernard Jarreau and Martin Breunig. … Romar said N’Diaye bumped knees with another player in practice and had sat out a few practices. He said N’Diaye will play tonight. … Washington typically plays its exhibition after participating in a private scrimmage. This year, that’s flipped. … The Huskies open the season Nov. 11 at home against Loyola (Md).
todd.dybas@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports @Todd_Dybas
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