2019-2020 Husky Hoops Preview
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 3:20 am
Well boys. I haven't been this excited about a team since the Isaiah Thomas days. Figured I'd do a write up and you might possibly get on the same level of excitement as me.
Never before have we had as much size in program history. Hop said he want's the Husky program to be known as the best defensive team in the country so I'll mainly focus on that. It's truly going to be a pick your poison against this defense because there is so much size and length everywhere on the court that our D is going to be a problem for opposing teams... I mean look at this:
Back end of the zone: 7'1 BPJ, 6'11 Nate Roberts, 6'11 Sam Timmins, 6'10 Jaden McDaniels, 6'9 Hamier Wright, 6'9 Isaiah Stewart. Ho-lee-shit. Can you say block party? While our zone has been quite effective thus far with coach Hop, if there's been a problem its been lack of size on the back end and I'm sure he'd prefer a stationary center at the rim versus a guy you're forced to play up in the paint to account for his lack of size... *cough* Noah Dickerson *cough*... If BPJ and Nate Roberts are ready to contribute (all indications are they are) it's going to be a ton of fun to watch this team play defense. I mean... at ANY given time you're going to have 2 players on the court 6'9 or taller patrolling the paint... most often a guy who is 6'11-7'1 coupled with a guy who is hyper athletic at 6'9-6'10... In the one game where BPJ saw more than 5 minutes on the court last season, he had 4 blocks... 4 blocks in 7 minutes... fucking lord, I can't even imagine how many he's gonna avg when he gets a feel out there. Not to mention when he's on the court with another block monster that opposing teams have to account for. All 6 of PF's/Centers are rim protectors and it's exactly what Hop has been building toward. In Italy the team averaged just under 16 steals a gamer over 3 games mostly running man-to-man D That's nutty.
Now how about the front court of this zone D? 6'6 Naz Carter,6'6 Jamal Bay and 6'5 Raequan Battle are going to ruin passing lanes. I seriously doubt we'll see much of a drop off losing Thybulle when we have this 3 headed monster crashing the lanes and closing out. All are so damn long and athletic and we saw flashes of Naz and Jamal's capabilities on D last year. This group is going to be so menacing in multiple areas.
How about our PG's? One could perceive this as the weak point of roster if Quade Green isn't eligible to start the season. But from the defense perspective, you can expect both Elijah Hardy and Marcus Tsohonis to get ample time on the exterior. Positive is, Hardy runs 6'2 and Tsohonis 6'3... Hop has really been excited about Hardy's D... says he's an in your face, won't let you breath defender. Tsohonis plays like a 35-year-old vet according to Hop, super smart, which can only be a positive as a true frosh on D. In Italy, Hardy avg'd 2.8 steals a game... Tsohonis? 3.3... holy hell. Outside of Quade Green, the shortest player who will get any playing time is the 6'2 Hardy. 9 players in the 12-man rotation run 6'5 or taller.
Individual player profiles (guys who you probably don't know a lot about):
Brian Penn Johnson: BPJ is going to be an instant fan favorite playing the primary rim protector in this zone. He's 7'1... his wing span? 7 foot 9 inches... what in the hell lol? If he went to the NBA right now he'd have a top-3 wingspan in the league. He's going to challenge the Husky block record set by Upshaw at some point in his career, if not this year. Remember, he had 4 blocks in 7 minutes versus Eastern last season. That should give you a little flash of what you'll have to look forward to with him in this zone. Offensively he's raw... he won't get a lot of play in the post and will be mainly asked to rebound, get tip backs, receive alley oops and dunk... and I'm fine with that.
Nate Roberts: Roberts is kind of unsung and flying under the radar. But from what I've seen on tape, he's 6'11 with serious feel for the post. In Italy he avg'd 9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in just 17 minutes. Coach Hop is big on this kid and post the Isaiah Stewart era, he's going to be a serious force in the paint for the Dawgs his sophomore-senior years. I see him contributing extremely well in a bench roll this year for the Dawgs... he's the perfect late half big man to bring in when guys are tired.
Elijah Hardy: Guys... I love this kid. I'm telling you... when all is said and done I think Hardy is going to go down as one of the Husky greats. He only got garbage minutes as a frosh and hurt his foot. But man, he's got future star written all over him. Great ball handler, can really shoot, elite passer, swaggy as hell. When this kid becomes THE guy handling the ball for the Dawgs you're going to cry wondering how David Crisp ever got the chance. He avg'd 5.5 assists a game in Italy... our leader last year? Jaylen Nowell at 3.1 per game. Here's a recent vid of him playing in the Crawford League: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zktFqhdQFMc
Marcus Tsohonis: Have you ever felt over the year that the Dawgs were missing a guy who just knows how to play basketball? As stupid as that sounds... it's almost felt like the Dawgs had a bunch of athletes who were limited in their basketball IQ and just weren't real crafty at the sport. Well... that's not Tsohonis. He plays like the old man at the gym who is just Mr. Fundamentals. He's not going to wow you with extreme athleticism or flash, but rather... he'll be the calming force on this club with the ball in his hand and he's the old man who just gets it done and delivers results. He's got a weird stroke, but he knows it and it works. He's got a weird style of play, but it's his style and it works. He simply knows his game and he's not going to come in and fuck up like a lot of guys who take years to figure it out.
Raequan Battle: Remember CJ Wilcox? Welp, imagine that shooting ability with Terrance Ross's dunking ability. He's lethal from the perimeter, just deadly. He'll probably be relegated as our primary 3-baller as a freshman and evolve into a total force as he grows in the program. I'm just gonna leave this here (one of my favorite tapes I've ever watched): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLGqpEcCo_Q
Quade Green: It's not very often you get a former 5-star recruit to transfer to your program. I really haven't put in the effort to follow him like I did the other guys. I dono why. Knock on him at Kentucky was that he apparently just didn't do any one thing super well and it kind of made him seem like he wasn't making much of an impact on the court. He's got a great handle, is a solid shooter, clearly competitive, quick... kind of an all all-around very good player that lacks the size and athleticism you'd expect in a 5-star. I think he has the makeup to excel here at UW... sometimes playing at the Dukes and Kentucky's of the world isn't the best thing for ya as expectations are through the roof and if you don't meet them it makes you seem like a failure when ur not. He reminds me of a better Abdul Gaddy... about all I can think of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r71zCry-Xo
The 1-and-done's:
Isaiah Stewart: Just watch... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHHbJXvTxWM&t=58s
He's a full grown fucking adult. I don't need to say anything more.
Jaden McDaniels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8H1FcFW3_M
Same thing. I don't need to say much. 6'11 with a guard set. There's a reason he's called "mini KD".
GO DAWGS.
Never before have we had as much size in program history. Hop said he want's the Husky program to be known as the best defensive team in the country so I'll mainly focus on that. It's truly going to be a pick your poison against this defense because there is so much size and length everywhere on the court that our D is going to be a problem for opposing teams... I mean look at this:
Back end of the zone: 7'1 BPJ, 6'11 Nate Roberts, 6'11 Sam Timmins, 6'10 Jaden McDaniels, 6'9 Hamier Wright, 6'9 Isaiah Stewart. Ho-lee-shit. Can you say block party? While our zone has been quite effective thus far with coach Hop, if there's been a problem its been lack of size on the back end and I'm sure he'd prefer a stationary center at the rim versus a guy you're forced to play up in the paint to account for his lack of size... *cough* Noah Dickerson *cough*... If BPJ and Nate Roberts are ready to contribute (all indications are they are) it's going to be a ton of fun to watch this team play defense. I mean... at ANY given time you're going to have 2 players on the court 6'9 or taller patrolling the paint... most often a guy who is 6'11-7'1 coupled with a guy who is hyper athletic at 6'9-6'10... In the one game where BPJ saw more than 5 minutes on the court last season, he had 4 blocks... 4 blocks in 7 minutes... fucking lord, I can't even imagine how many he's gonna avg when he gets a feel out there. Not to mention when he's on the court with another block monster that opposing teams have to account for. All 6 of PF's/Centers are rim protectors and it's exactly what Hop has been building toward. In Italy the team averaged just under 16 steals a gamer over 3 games mostly running man-to-man D That's nutty.
Now how about the front court of this zone D? 6'6 Naz Carter,6'6 Jamal Bay and 6'5 Raequan Battle are going to ruin passing lanes. I seriously doubt we'll see much of a drop off losing Thybulle when we have this 3 headed monster crashing the lanes and closing out. All are so damn long and athletic and we saw flashes of Naz and Jamal's capabilities on D last year. This group is going to be so menacing in multiple areas.
How about our PG's? One could perceive this as the weak point of roster if Quade Green isn't eligible to start the season. But from the defense perspective, you can expect both Elijah Hardy and Marcus Tsohonis to get ample time on the exterior. Positive is, Hardy runs 6'2 and Tsohonis 6'3... Hop has really been excited about Hardy's D... says he's an in your face, won't let you breath defender. Tsohonis plays like a 35-year-old vet according to Hop, super smart, which can only be a positive as a true frosh on D. In Italy, Hardy avg'd 2.8 steals a game... Tsohonis? 3.3... holy hell. Outside of Quade Green, the shortest player who will get any playing time is the 6'2 Hardy. 9 players in the 12-man rotation run 6'5 or taller.
Individual player profiles (guys who you probably don't know a lot about):
Brian Penn Johnson: BPJ is going to be an instant fan favorite playing the primary rim protector in this zone. He's 7'1... his wing span? 7 foot 9 inches... what in the hell lol? If he went to the NBA right now he'd have a top-3 wingspan in the league. He's going to challenge the Husky block record set by Upshaw at some point in his career, if not this year. Remember, he had 4 blocks in 7 minutes versus Eastern last season. That should give you a little flash of what you'll have to look forward to with him in this zone. Offensively he's raw... he won't get a lot of play in the post and will be mainly asked to rebound, get tip backs, receive alley oops and dunk... and I'm fine with that.
Nate Roberts: Roberts is kind of unsung and flying under the radar. But from what I've seen on tape, he's 6'11 with serious feel for the post. In Italy he avg'd 9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in just 17 minutes. Coach Hop is big on this kid and post the Isaiah Stewart era, he's going to be a serious force in the paint for the Dawgs his sophomore-senior years. I see him contributing extremely well in a bench roll this year for the Dawgs... he's the perfect late half big man to bring in when guys are tired.
Elijah Hardy: Guys... I love this kid. I'm telling you... when all is said and done I think Hardy is going to go down as one of the Husky greats. He only got garbage minutes as a frosh and hurt his foot. But man, he's got future star written all over him. Great ball handler, can really shoot, elite passer, swaggy as hell. When this kid becomes THE guy handling the ball for the Dawgs you're going to cry wondering how David Crisp ever got the chance. He avg'd 5.5 assists a game in Italy... our leader last year? Jaylen Nowell at 3.1 per game. Here's a recent vid of him playing in the Crawford League: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zktFqhdQFMc
Marcus Tsohonis: Have you ever felt over the year that the Dawgs were missing a guy who just knows how to play basketball? As stupid as that sounds... it's almost felt like the Dawgs had a bunch of athletes who were limited in their basketball IQ and just weren't real crafty at the sport. Well... that's not Tsohonis. He plays like the old man at the gym who is just Mr. Fundamentals. He's not going to wow you with extreme athleticism or flash, but rather... he'll be the calming force on this club with the ball in his hand and he's the old man who just gets it done and delivers results. He's got a weird stroke, but he knows it and it works. He's got a weird style of play, but it's his style and it works. He simply knows his game and he's not going to come in and fuck up like a lot of guys who take years to figure it out.
Raequan Battle: Remember CJ Wilcox? Welp, imagine that shooting ability with Terrance Ross's dunking ability. He's lethal from the perimeter, just deadly. He'll probably be relegated as our primary 3-baller as a freshman and evolve into a total force as he grows in the program. I'm just gonna leave this here (one of my favorite tapes I've ever watched): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLGqpEcCo_Q
Quade Green: It's not very often you get a former 5-star recruit to transfer to your program. I really haven't put in the effort to follow him like I did the other guys. I dono why. Knock on him at Kentucky was that he apparently just didn't do any one thing super well and it kind of made him seem like he wasn't making much of an impact on the court. He's got a great handle, is a solid shooter, clearly competitive, quick... kind of an all all-around very good player that lacks the size and athleticism you'd expect in a 5-star. I think he has the makeup to excel here at UW... sometimes playing at the Dukes and Kentucky's of the world isn't the best thing for ya as expectations are through the roof and if you don't meet them it makes you seem like a failure when ur not. He reminds me of a better Abdul Gaddy... about all I can think of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r71zCry-Xo
The 1-and-done's:
Isaiah Stewart: Just watch... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHHbJXvTxWM&t=58s
He's a full grown fucking adult. I don't need to say anything more.
Jaden McDaniels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8H1FcFW3_M
Same thing. I don't need to say much. 6'11 with a guard set. There's a reason he's called "mini KD".
GO DAWGS.