Charles Barkley was exactly right when he said after the UW loss to North Carolina, "The Huskies lost this game because of turnovers."
The last 5 minutes of the game, the Huskies just did not play with the poise they had displayed for 35 minutes. A bad turnover by Justin Holiday, when he got picked by Harrison Barnes. Terrence Ross dribbled right into traffic, and just lost the ball. Isaiah Thomas tried to go behind the back in the middle of the defense, and got picked as well.
Then, the most crushing turnover of the them all, because of the time and score, Justin Holiday's tipped inbounds pass with 7 seconds left that was stolen.
Washington did so many things well. They outrebounded the best rebounding team in the nation. They shot the ball well from the 3 point line. They got tough minutes down low from sophomore 7-footer Azziz N'Diaye.
There were many reasons why the Dawgs deserved to win that game, and one big reason why they didn't. It was because they could not handle the ball when it mattered the most.
Now the Dawgs look ahead to life without their 3 seniors, who all played big minutes for the Dawgs. The biggest loss will be MBA, who at 6'9", was the only back to the basket offensive player that was on UW's roster. Azziz and Darnell Gant are good role players in the front court, but neither can carry the load offensively on the block.
Who fills that void? One of Washington's forwards will have to become more physical. Terrence Ross? Diamond Simmons? A player the Huskies find between now and then?
Washington will have one of the best backcourt's in college basketball next season, but they need to find some balance, and post scoring before now and then.
The last 5 minutes of the game, the Huskies just did not play with the poise they had displayed for 35 minutes. A bad turnover by Justin Holiday, when he got picked by Harrison Barnes. Terrence Ross dribbled right into traffic, and just lost the ball. Isaiah Thomas tried to go behind the back in the middle of the defense, and got picked as well.
Then, the most crushing turnover of the them all, because of the time and score, Justin Holiday's tipped inbounds pass with 7 seconds left that was stolen.
Washington did so many things well. They outrebounded the best rebounding team in the nation. They shot the ball well from the 3 point line. They got tough minutes down low from sophomore 7-footer Azziz N'Diaye.
There were many reasons why the Dawgs deserved to win that game, and one big reason why they didn't. It was because they could not handle the ball when it mattered the most.
Now the Dawgs look ahead to life without their 3 seniors, who all played big minutes for the Dawgs. The biggest loss will be MBA, who at 6'9", was the only back to the basket offensive player that was on UW's roster. Azziz and Darnell Gant are good role players in the front court, but neither can carry the load offensively on the block.
Who fills that void? One of Washington's forwards will have to become more physical. Terrence Ross? Diamond Simmons? A player the Huskies find between now and then?
Washington will have one of the best backcourt's in college basketball next season, but they need to find some balance, and post scoring before now and then.
