Colorado -1 at Washington
Pick: Colorado -1
Talk about team dysfunctional teams meeting tonight at the Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Washington.
What was once a promising start has turned into a nightmare for the Washington Huskies.
First, Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar dismissed C Robert Upshaw for violating team, then Jernard Jarreau had injured. Now F Shawn Kemp Jr., who missed the past two games due to lingering effects from a concussion (returned to workouts early this week) strained his right calf Monday during a noncontact conditioning drill and will not play tonight. Making matters worse, the 6-foot-9 senior forward is doubtful for Saturday’s regular-season finale against No. 13 Utah.
Star sophomore G Nigel Williams-Goss, sprained his calf last week but appears ready to go tonight, however, he still complains of soreness.
Based on Romar’s comments regarding Kemp, one has to wonder how many minutes Williams-Goss will play this evening:
“You have to be concerned if you come back too fast,” coach Lorenzo Romar said when asked about Kemp’s recovery. “One quick movement and it’ll start all over. So we’ll see how he feels. But definitely he will be out (Thursday).”
Romar is usually a cockeyed optimist who is quick to confront a crisis with a tale of triumph and glory from previous UW teams. These days he’s been a little more pragmatic.
Due to injuries and the dismissal of record-setting shot-blocker Robert Upshaw, the Huskies are effectively down to only eight healthy scholarship players, moreover, they only have two players taller than 6-7. That lack of depth along up-front is a big reason for Washington’s demise as the season has progressed. Although Jernard Jarreau has returned, the loss of Kemp is larger offensively and defensively. Even with Kemp opponents have hammered the Huskies inside averaging 41.5 points in the paint in the past eight games.
Romar said about the small supply of big men.
“It’s not something you’re really able to prepare for and say, ‘OK, when all of this happens we’re going to be ready because we got this Plan B,’ ” “It just doesn’t happen. It’s very unusual.”
Before last Saturday’s game at USC, Romar delivered a defiant speech and said:
“At this point, we just got to go. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We just got to go. Got to go work and continue to try to control things that we can control.”
After the Huskies lost 70-55 to the Trojans, he questioned the UW players’ effort and resolve.
During his weekly radio show Monday, Romar said this season has “been the most unique year and challenging year that I’ve ever faced as a head or assistant coach.” Admittedly, the Huskies’ options are limited — especially insideSeattle Times sports writer Perry Allan adds:
“Jernard Jarreau is their only formidable post presence, and the 6-10, 240-pound junior is more comfortable on the perimeter. Meanwhile, junior Gilles Dierickx is their tallest player, but the 7-foot reserve hasn’t been reliable. The Huskies could start 6-7 freshman forward Donaven Dorsey, who replaced Kemp during last week’s 88-66 loss at UCLA. They could also roll out a four-guard lineup that includes 6-6 reserve Quevyn Winters, who had a breakout performance in the last outing and tallied a career-high 16 points.”
The lack of depth has limited what Washington can do on both ends of the court, Romar sums it up:
“Because of a lack of depth, there’s not a whole lot of things we can do…. At some point, there will be five guards in there on the floor because we have two guys right now that are available that are over (6-7).”
Thursday night will bring Washington’s 5th lineup change in as many games, talk about a lack of chemistry.
“It’s been a challenge for us definitely after Rob left and Jernard got hurt and Shawn had a concussion and then I was out.....It’s just kind of been a lot for this team to go through…..We’ve kept our heads high and approached every practice as an attempt to get better. Even though the results haven’t been what we wanted, we’ve continued to fight.” Williams-Goss said.
Now enter in the dysfunctional Colorado Buffalos, losers of their last 6 of 8 games, though coming off a nice win at home vs. Arizona State. In their 52-50 home loss to Washington, the Buffalos were without several key players including Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson. Their presence tonight will add to match-up problems in the front-court. Note that Colorado is 3rd in the PAC-12 in offensive rebounding meanwhile Washington is 11th, without Kemp and Upshaw that is an advantage that will multiply itself many times over this evening, creating many extra-chance points for the Buffalos. Add to that the Huskies have one of the worst interior defenses in the conference, ranking 11th. Yes, Colorado’s offense isn’t anything special, but remember they too were plagued with injuries this season and recently played very stiff competition and defenses including Utah, Arizona, Oregon State (in Corvallis), UCLA (in Los Angeles), Oregon (in Eugene). So recent memory may be infiltrating itself into the marketplace and distorting the market price.
Colorado may have regained some offensive confidence defeating Arizona State. In that game, Colorado put up 87 points, going 29-49 (59%) from the field, 25-33 (76%) from the free-throw line, and 4-7 (57%) from downtown.
That offensive success may carryover tonight. Let’s not forget that four of Colorado’s guards (Askia Booker, Jaron Hopkins, Xavier Johnson and Tre'Shaun Fletcher) shoot at least 35% from three-point range, this will be especially troubling for a Washington team that has at times struggled to close out on hot shooters.
Wesley Gordon and Josh Scott make up the starting front court, and it is still one of the best in the conference. I'm thinking double-double for Scott, who will have only Jernard Jarreau, Donaven Dorsey, and the big Belgian Gilles Dierickx to contend with down low.
Not to mention the fact that Nigel Williams-Goss is by far the team's most valuable player, so if he is even mildly bothered by his ankle, it could simultaneously tank Washington's offense while also aiding in Askia Booker's efforts to take over the game
As inconsistent Colorado has been away from home on both sides of the ball, a return to Seattle will likely not be enough to fix Washington's problems with such a drastically undermanned front court.
Colorado simply has more talent, more team chemistry, match-up and size advantages. With a 7-6 home record, Washington's home court doesn't add a level of difficulty, and yes Colorado has been miserable on the road but as mentioned earlier they have had to go on the road in some pretty difficult PAC-12 environment.
This looks like a nice investment. Give me Colorado -1