Huskies take on the Tree

We are only four games into the conferece season but 1-3 Washington is feeling the pinch as they head on to the road to face Stanford, and California this weekend. The Huskies have the ability to sweep this road trip against what is considered more bottom of the conference teams, but Cal, and Stanford have proven theya re going to be competing for a spot to the big dance this year. Only Oregon State, and ASU seem to be out of it from a talent standpoint.

This is a big trip for UW which has suffered on the road so far this season. The Huskies need to sweep if they want to keep themselves in contention for a conference title. The team that wins this conference is likely to have as many as 4-5 defeats, so Washington is running out of slack in the very early going. UW needs a sweep here, a win at WSU, and then they need to beat the Oregon schools at home like they are supposed to. That would give the Huskies a 6-3 record heading into the second half of the season, and a fighting chance for the title. To win the title you need to split on the road, and win at home. Since the Huskies were swept by the LA schools they need to pick up some immediate traction on the road to make up for it.

Does this team have what it takes?

I would say right now, no. I don't see how they are going to develop markedly better play around the perimeter and overall team defense. This team lacks a true point guard and some defensive muscle. How the Huskies do in the next three games will give us a serious indication of where they are going to end up this season.