360 Sports Blog

We’re just one day away from the Madness, which will feature two northwest teams: Huskies of UW and the Bulldogs of Gonzaga. The Dawgs have historically underwhelmed in the tournament (losing in the third round as a 1 seed in 2004 and had an abysmal second game last year) while the Zags will probably always be known as the perennial sleeper pick. Below is a quick preview of both games.

Also it’s not too late to join the join the 360 Sports Blog March Madness Pool.

Huskies (11) v Marquette (6):

I think the Huskies match up well in this game, and I expect them to come away with an upset victory. For one, Marquette is a smaller team, which bodes well for our inside man MBA.  Second, they rely on outside shooting, which UW defends well against. Third, depth is an issue for the Golden Eagles, whereas UW has Overton, Gaddy, Holiday and others that can come in and make an impact.

The problem for Washington is maturity and experience, which they displayed in all of the road losses this year. A few guys have been to the dance before, but haven’t had much success. Also, Marquette reigns from a tough Big East conference, whereas the Pac 10 has had an off year. We’ll need to grow up quickly for this matchup.

Keys to the game:

I always love these for their redunancy. Some TBS examples before an NBA game: “outside shooting,” “defending the jump shot” and “rebounding.” Yes guys, we all understand that you need to score more points than the other team to win. You need to prevent the other team from scoring. I swear sometimes they have Magic Johnson write the script for them. With that said, here are few specific things UW can do to help their chances:

- Intensity. Throughout the season, I’ve seen the Huskies play two styles: A lacksidaisical, I don’t give a crap mentality (pretty much every road game) and a ferocious, fast style (the last part of the season/Pac 10 Tournament). The latter must prevail for the Dawgs to win.

- Penetration (that’s what she said). UW does well when they are able to drive the lane, instead of relying mostly on outside shooting.

- Keep Matthew Bryan-Amaning out of foul trouble. He’s our big man inside, giving us a substantial size advantage against Marquette. Keep him in the game and our chances improve.

- Abdul Gaddy. So far he’s played second and third fiddle to Isaiah Thomas and Venoy Overton, insisting on just being a passer. Honestly, he doesn’t look like the top recruit everyone picked him to be.

My previous post compared him to the gay kid on “My So Called Life,” which I remember only because my sister used to watch it all the time. I know he’s young, but if he can step up to the plate and play with up to his ability, he’ll give us a real boost off the bench.

Gonzaga (8) v Florida State (9)

Most of you know I’m not a huge Gonzaga fan, but since they made their name in the NCAA Tournament and they’re in Washington I figured they deserve a mention. They (Gonzaga, 8 seed) take on Florida State (9 seed). I think they’ll get a first round win, but will come up short in the next game against Syracuse. My basis for this: nothing. magic. a hunch. It’s March Madness, I don’t need to explain myself.

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Tags: Gonzaga, Huskies Basketball, March Madness, UW

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 2:21 pm by nwsportsguy and is filed under Huskies Basketball, Miscellany. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.