Washington Grinding Pepperdine

I am sitting here watching Washington vs Pepperdine this evening. UW looks pretty good, and Spencer Hawes is definitely going to be a real force this season. The kid can really move and the only question about him is how long he will stay at UW. Pondexter is another frosh who really impresses me with his overall game, he plays beyond his years. This kid is going to be really good. He does some very impressive athletic things out there.

The one thing about Washington basketball is that everyone understands their roles and plays team defense. This is a real young team that is blowing Pepperdine out early in the first half 16-2. These kids are very, very, good.

One impression is Brockman half a step faster this year. He is still a force in progress, but is really showing improvement in all phases of his game. He will average round 15 points a game this year and ten rebounds if he can stay out of foul trouble. John had his best game as a Husky tonight

Appleby is noticeably improved, the kid is dong a nice job handling the ball. We are all going to love Oliver, the kid is definitely Mr Excitement when ever he hits the floor. Dentmon is morphing into an excellent point guard, you can really tell he has improved his decision making this season.

The Huskies are still showing their youth as they were on the verge of blowing out the Waves early only to let Pepperdine draw close enough to make it interesting. Whenver the Waves close in UW goes on a 7-8 point run to stretch it out.

Is Hawes ready for the NBA?

Sure, if someone wants him to sit at the end of the bench making a few million per year. He needs time and polish like all young big men. He would be smart to stay a couple of years under Romar to develop rather than make the plunge. The question for a kid like him is how good does he want to be? Early entry really stunts the potential growth of these kids. He isn't a force yet on offense, but he had some nice blocks. Give him a couple of weeks.

Defensively this is a classic Romar team with kids pressuring the entire time and kids flying all over the court for loose balls. It is still early but these guys could gel enough to go all the way if they get hot in March.

The Dawgs are up by 20 with 5 minutes to go and are cruisng to a nice opening win. The Dawgs have two games left in this opening tournament which should be an good jump start for a tougher non conference schedule this year.