Record: 22-11, 11-7 in Big East Conference games 

Big Wins: 11/26 vs Xavier (71-61), 1/6 Georgetown (62-59), 3/11 vs Villanova (80-76)

Bad Losses: 12/5 NC State (73-77), 1/20 at DePaul (50-51)

WHAT TO KNOW

Marquette is similar to us in many ways, but they play a much different style of basketball.  While they are a very small team, they play a more deliberate style and don’t really like to push.  They hoist threes all day but are deadly from behind the line  (chucking up 20 a game and making just over40% ).  They don’t turn the ball over very much but aren’t particularly stout defensively themselves.  Their star is Lazar Hayward a 6-6 senior power forward with a goofy name who can hustle and dominate, but sporadically disappear.  OK, so that last one is very similar. 

KEYS TO THE GAME

Most people are going to focus on the matchup between Hayward and Pondexter, and with good reason.  Not only are they similar in size and stats, but Q-Pon and Hayward were teammates at the World University Games last summer.  They know each other and their respective games.  Lazarus is more consistent when it comes to scoring, so he’s likely to get his.  The Dawgs can win even if Q-Pon disappears for a half offensively, but he will need to bring his A-Game to the table on defense to make sure Lazarus doesn’t explode. 

Why can Q-Pon afford to be a non-factor? Well, I hope you are sitting down when I tell you this, but we have the potential to dominate the inside against this Marquette team.  The Golden Eagles run with 4 guards and don’t have a starter taller than 6-6.  Additionally, they don’t bring a lot of depth to the party either (the starters all average at least 29 min/game, only 3 bench players get significant time).  This table is fully set here for MBA to continue his coming out party.  I almost hate to say it, but big man could and should be more than the third option here – he should dominate down low.  If that happens and along the way we can get their starters in foul trouble… we’re going to be in a fantastic position.  

Along the same lines – pounding the ball inside is the way to score on this team because of their size.  Overton has the potential to use his runaway train drives to optimal use.  The Dawgs should avoid the temptation to chuck threes and ride out any hot streak Marquette hits behind the arc (see generally: Oregon State’s 6-6 start from three last week).  We’re not a good three point shooting team and we sure as shit aren’t going to beat these guys in that kind of game.  On the other hand, pushing the tempo whenever possible is most definitely in our best interest.  I have seen a few games where they have been sucked into that style this year, but generally Marquette stays disciplined and runs their style of slow ball.  It will be important for the Dawgs to not get frustrated and take the opportunity to push when it comes.  I’m not hoping we start playing with a sudden, new found discipline… I’m just hoping we don’t play like complete and total retards.  If we do that, exploit the advantages clearly on the table, and continue to focus on what worked last week (a new focus on passing, stingy defense, MBA 2.0) we’re going to be in this game late in the second half, if not in the lead.  From there, we’ll use that good old San Jose home field advantage to carry us to the second round.

That being said – this was a huge win for the Dawgs, who seem to have finally figured it all out at the best possible time. By “figure it out” I mean they’ve learned to accept their faults and make them pluses as best they can. They are going to take lousy shots (I’m looking at you, Overton) but these days the turnovers created seem to be outnumbering the turnovers committed. Q-Pon is not going to put this team on his back like Roy did, but we’re no longer trying to make that happen. We still struggle to get to the hole for 10 minutes stretche, but somehow MBA has turned into a legitimate inside option.

Bottom line is this – we’re fucking hot and a MISERABLE draw as an 11-13 seed, especially if we somehow end up in the Spokane pod. Our best case scenario matchups among that range of teams? Glad you asked.

Purdue – The same team that knocked us out last year is strugg-a-ling with the loss of catalyst Robbie Hummel. They were blown out the gym yesterday by Minnesota and are limping into the tournament. Currently predicted as a 4.

Tennessee – They’re basically the SEC version of us. They want to run, pressure, and shootshootshoot, but they also have games where they just lay an egg for 20 minutes. Not only could we beat them, but this would create the most entertaining matchup. Also predicted to be a 4 seed.

Texas A&M – We’ve played them, we’ve beat them. Currently predicted to be a 6

Worst case scenario? If we get matched up with either Vanderbilt or Butler we’re in some deep shit. Both these teams run smart, deliberate, half court offensive sets with deadly outside shooting. They tend to control the tempo and can dominate defensively as well. Essentially, it’s our worst nightmare. If we’re stuck in a half court game with a team that actually has talent when they’re shooting we could be out of the game before the half.

So there you go. Keep your fingers crossed for Purdue. Pray we avoid Vandy.

Everything he eats for the next few days is going to have the essence of nuts.

One of the more underrated “what-if” scenarios of all time involves Ravens backup QB Troy Smith.  After a great rookie campaign that had many for him to take over the starting job from Kyle Boller (I know I know…), he was slated to start for the Ravens in 2008.  During the preseason he caught a rare case of tonsillitis, which allowed the Ravens staff to take a more detailed look at this other guy they drafted named Flacco.  Smith has never really been a factor since. 

This offseason, the Ravens placed a shockingly low 5th round tender on the 25-year-old QB, making Smith one of the best under-the-radar bargains out there.  Smith has a great arm, is evasive, smart, and is one of the consensus best backups in the league.  He was a winner in college and has embraced his role as a backup (at least as much as any young, talented backup can).

More importantly, if the Seahawks aren’t going to spend that #6 pick on a quarterback in the upcoming draft, there is absolutely no question that no other acquisition could provide as much bang for their buck as using a fifth rounder for the right to sign Smith.  I’m not saying he’s the second coming of Brees or Manning but he has a Steve McNair (his former tutor) level ceiling and if needed he could start now.  It’s the kind of move that a smart franchise should absolutely investigate.

Technically I have no affiliation to St. Marys.  I guess I went to grad school with a guy who was a Gael as an undergrad, but otherwise I could tell you next to nothing about their school or its basketball program.  I’m not even sure what a Gael is, unless it is affiliated with the movement of air.  All I really know is that they are the only team in the WCC who has bothered to challenge Gonzaga in the last 3 seasons – and for that – I am one of their biggest fans.  Thank you St. Marys.  Tonight – we are all Gaels.

Lord knows it isn’t ideal given that we were a top-25 team before conference play, but given how far we’ve fallen it might even be better than we deserve.  If there was a stronger bubble this year we’d already be prepping an NIT preview.  So where do we stand in terms of the field of 64?  It’s actually very simple…

Right now Arizona State is the last team in and we’re the first team out.  If the Pac-10 tournament holds to form we’ll play them in the semis.  If the tournament DOESN’T hold to form (aka, either us or ASU loses their first round game) the team that fucks up ain’t going.  If ASU and UW hold serve and play each other, it’s essentially an elimination game with the winner making the field. 

Of course, this is assuming that Cal handles their business on the other side of the bracket.  If a team that isn’t the Bears wins the Pac-10 Tournament then it’s all fucked – even if we beat ASU and made the finals, a bad loss in the final to an Arizona or UCLA might turn the league back to a one bid conference again.

So there you go.  It’s actually very simple, unless it isn’t.  Here’s the summary: KEEP WINNING.  Also, if anyone has sugestions for how I can dislike ASU, please help.  I’d love to hate them but there are just a few things that prevent me every time…

What people seem to forget is that Brandon Marshall’s “character issues” started occurring after his best friend Darrent Williams was gunned down in his car by some Denver gang members. Gang members, who, presumably told Brandon that the same thing was going to happen to him, either implicitly or explicitly.

Can you blame him for wanting to get out of Denver?

It’s true, he’s had some other brushes with the law, but he can really catch the ball. He’s unguardable. Considering you have to pay these draft picks about the same amount of money (before they have even played one snap of NFL football), yeah, I think BM is a no-brainer. Especially if you can get him for the #14 pick.

–Oklahoma State will be replacing their star quarterback, Zac Robinson.
–They’ll also be replacing four of five senior starters on the offensive line.
–Their starting running back, who gained nearly 1,200 yards last year, was a senior.
–Two of the four starting defensive linemen need to be replaced, three if you count a senior defensive end who started six games according to the official OSU site.
–In the defensive backfield, three of the four starters were seniors in 2009.
–All three OSU starting linebackers last year? They were seniors.
– On special teams, Oklahoma State will return their punter, placekicker and long snapper. Both the return men, however, were seniors.

All told in 2010, of the starting eleven on both sides of the ball, Okie State according to various media reports will be returning just four starters on offense, three starters on defense.

Several weren’t just senior starters, they were senior stars.

So there you have it.  6 reasons why we shouldn’t overlook the Cougars in a football game that kicks off in about half a year.  Do you think we can get the Gameday crew to weigh in on this yet?  Lee Corso may be fishing in Montana somewhere right now – so odds are he’s as close to Pullman as he will be all season.  Let’s get him on the phone to discuss this impending matching (well – I mean impending after spring ball, and the summer, and the freshmen for each team report, and fall camp.  Impending after all that happens).

Ahhh… I love Cougfan.  Bar none some of the most entertaining writing on any sports fan site.  For other good reads, check out anything that Daven Harmeling writes for the site.   His “analysis” includes entire posts devoted to calling out UW basketball players by name, and stating they are dirty and cheap shot artists.  While I may not agree, I have to admit that he has captured his target audience by writing posts that they are into.  Now as basketball season draws to a close for WSU, Harmeling will have to step aside to allow the likes of the article above, analyzing a team that has not even begun to take shape, as it prepares (or will start preparing in 4 months) for a game in the fall.

For the author’s (and basically anyone who is a WSU fan – you’ve suffered enough) sake, I hope he’s right.  Remind me in 6 months to re-read this.

Then there’s Klay Thompson. I had yet to see Mychal Thompson’s son in person or on TV, and ohmigod, forget the cheese, he’s Cougar gold. This kid is already good, and greatness awaits. A fluid freshman, Thompson looks like a WSU record-book rewriter if he stays four years, and I’d say that’s a big — as in James Donaldson — if.

At the time, Moore was simply pointing that Thompson was a budding star who seemed headed toward NBA greatness, but the one thing that struck me about the article was Moore’s rush to declare Thompson a candidate for early entry into the NBA draft.  Seemed like such a quick rush to judgment and a statement that could set an expectation level that could be tough to live up to.  It reminded me a lot of things that I had heard about UW’s Quincy Pondexter when he arrived in Seattle.  So much so that I compared Thomspon and Pondexter in a post, noting the similarities in the two players both in expectations and numbers, as freshmen.  At the time, the two appeared to be on almost identical paths (straight to the league!!).

How fitting then, as UW played at WSU in a 59-52 victory for the Dawgs, that once again Thompson and Pondexter’s numbers were almost the same.  Each player played 32 minutes in the game.  Thompson had 5 points, Pondexter 7.  Thompson came down with 6 rebounds, Pondexter 7.  Klay dished out 3 assists, Pondexter 2.  Hardly NBA statistics.

In all seriousness, the game ended a Pac 10 regular season slate against UW that was an absolute nightmare for Thompson.  In 2 games against UW this season Thompson was 4-29 from the field and scored 12 points (whereas Pondexter finished the regular season series against WSU with 36 points).  Of the 63 minutes Klay played against UW, it seems that his body language was bad for 59 of them.  He hung his head, shuffled his feet, and generally just appeared to hate the game of basketball for most of the time that I watched him out on the court.  He appears, in my uneducated opinion, to be a guy who isn’t having much fun.  Now – despite my sarcasm above, the NBA issue has actually already been resolved for the time being.  Thompson, who’s sophomore year has gone much the same as Quincy’s did (ie – below expectations) came out earlier in the week and made a statement that he was in fact coming back to college next season.  And so, like Quincy Pondexter, Thompson’s potential 1 and done career has stretched to 3 and we’ll see.

My enjoyment in this situation does not come in watching Klay Thompson struggle.  He seems like a nice kid and as much as I am a diehard Husky fan, I was never able to fully hate the Tony Bennett Cougars.  Now that Bennett has departed and been replaced by former UW assistance Ken Bone, I feel the same way.  I don’t like the basketball Cougs per se – but I just lack the ability to hate their basketball team like I do their football team.  And Klay Thompson is a big reason why.  When he is on – he’s fun to watch and a great talent.  He’s a quiet kid and just goes out and plays good basketball (most of the time).  The fact that his game has fallen off a cliff in the last month or so does not make me happy for dislike of the player.

As for my feeling about the WSU fans – the situation is much different.  After having watched them delight in the struggles of Quincy Pondexter over the past 4 seasons, I am thoroughly enjoying the predicament they find themselves in now.  Somehow, they must now differentiate between Pondexter and Thompson.  When Pondexter was forced to face reality and put to rest speculation that he’d try and enter the NBA draft early – the Cougar faithful howled and cajoled.  They openly mocked Pondexter and flamed UW fan board with sarcasm about Quincy.  They enjoyed his struggles and opined that he was arrogant and out of touch with reality for ever having believed he was a NBA talent.

So now I take great joy in watching the WSU fan sites flail around while trying to deal with this Thompson situation.  I enjoy their ridiculous over-analysis of everything Thompson does and their frustration with him as he struggles to find his game again (here’s my complex analysis:  team’s are loading up to stop him and he hasn’t learned how to overcome that yet while he simultaneously tries to learn a new system that couldn’t be more different than his last- and it’s frustrating for him).  But most of all I enjoy remembering all the nonsense that WSU fans threw at Pondexter and wonder how they feel about seeing that same stuff now directed back to Klay (I assume they don’t like it).  It may not be fair and it may not be right – but a review of Jim Moore’s own words show that it was the Cougar faithful themselves who set the bar for Klay – and now it is those same fans who laughed and pointed at Pondexter who now have to realize that sometimes college kids struggle with expectations.  Sometimes a guy who isn’t a natural leader has to grow into the role.  Sometimes greatness is hard.

For Pondexter, struggle came in the form of being the lone member of his recruiting class to make it through a second year.  Of coming into school on the heals of sweet 16 appearances and being expected to carry that banner.  But then Spencer Hawes left for the NBA, Phil Nelson left for Portland State, and Adrian Oliver left for San Jose State.   Following all that, Quincy had to learn to let leadership come to him – and just go out and play good basketball.  Now a senior, Pondexter has had a stellar season and is in the thick of the Pac 10 POY race.

For Thompson – scoring came easy in a Tony Bennett system that ensured that every shot was meticulously planned out.   Bennett’s Cougars did not take many bad shots (or many shots at all) and Thompson appeared to benefit from a rigid system that put him in great places on the floor to exploit his athleticism.   Now under Ken Bone the pace has quickened and the responsibility is placed more on the players to get themselves into good scoring position.  As Thompson has tried to adapt to this new system, he has also had to deal with the fact that he is the only person on the floor for WSU that opposing teams are worried about.  DeAngelo Casto is a nice post player- but nobody worries about Casto going off for 30 and winning a game on his own.  Thompson will have to settle into the new system and learn how to get better shots for himself before the game will begin to look easy for him again (or just play less athletic teams that can’t guard him – one reason he shined in non-conference).

Having watched both players I’m fairly certain that both are NBA talents.  Pondexter has had a monster senior year and is almost sure to be drafted this spring.  After having watched him persevere through all the tough times – I’m happy for him.  For his part, Thompson will recover from his slump at some point and as he settles into Ken Bone’s up tempo system, I imagine he will regain his swagger and become a dominant player in the conference again.

For now, however, I’m just going to enjoy UW’s win over the Cougars, the nice defense that held Thompson in check, and all the WSU fans complaining about Thompson’s shooting woes as well as their blaming the refs (but not blaming the refs) for a loss in a game where UW took 5 less free throws, committed 1 more foul, and had MBA on the bench / playing off Casto because he was whistled for 3 fouls in the first half.

This is especially today, when every major sports league broadcasts all games live over the Internet or satellite dish. Discerning fans can pick and choose games across the country. DVR and on-demand viewing mitigate time-zone difficulties that led to the so-called “east-coast bias.”

What does all that mean? Let’s say, hypothetically, your favorite teams was ripped by its roots and transported to a cultural wasteland. It means you get to pick a new one.

According to polling by Stephanus Tekle of the sports marketing agency Sport+Markt, cited in the book Soccernomics (which I just read), fans are migratory creatures. In China and elsewhere, a colleague supported Tekle’s data with several pieces of anecdotal evidence showing fans supporting a handful of rival teams at the same time. To paraphrase, the question is no longer which team do you support, but rather which teams.

Anyways, back to the point of the post. After a survey of the teams playing in the NBA right now, I have decided to pledge my allegiance to the Atlanta Hawks. This means almost nothing to the Hawks, as there is only a miniscule chance that I would ever purchase Hawks merchandise or attend a game. I probably won’t ever shell out any money to have access to their games, either.

However, the Hawks play the most exciting style of basketball in the league right now. They’re not the best team in the league, but they have athletic players at every position, a solid point guard, and fantasy staple J-Smoove. Two players are local guys (Jamal Crawford and Marvin Williams). They are underdogs – a quality I prefer.

Again, this means nothing for the Hawks. All it means is that I check their box score first. And I may change loyalties again. But I’ll be rooting for them in the playoffs.

In the end, the NBA is too fun not to have a team, even if it’s run by a corrupt dictator who likes making examples out of cities who don’t write him a blank check from the city’s tax fund.

I’m not sure this concept will fly with the co-authors of this blog, who were born Husky fans, are Husky season-ticket holders, and will hold those season tickets until they are shown with their wives after the first quarter of a Husky home game in 2062. They believe you only get one team per sport, and you’re stuck with them.

I think if you’re bitten by the sports bug early, then there’s really no chance to escape it. The co-authors tie Husky games up with other solid memories of their childhood. My only standout Husky memory (I grew up in Cougar country and my parents were both Zags) was listening to the Apple Cup at my friend Brendan’s house on a cold, cold Saturday on a radio in his living room with his dog Ellie. (If I remember, we played Nerf basketball during the commercial breaks.) But I was a Coug fan growing up.

Along those lines, I still follow some of the other teams that caught my heart as a youth – the Philadelphia Eagles and to a lesser extent, Liverpool (that happened in my 20s, but I was new to the EPL so one could say I was in my youth as an English soccer fan).

But the NBA presents a different problem. For those of us that grew up Sonics fans (which is just about every male who was an adolescent during the Kemp-Payton years), there’s a choice to make. We get to flex our rights as consumers in a free market to support the team that most closely aligns with our ideals. Or boycott the league entirely.

Of course nobody could stomach following the Thunder after what happened, but there are still 29 other teams to choose from. Of these, I’m taking the Hawks.

Mon Dieu! Cette dame tombe plus vite que Le Challenger. Ses rêves sont plus morts que Jacque Costeau. C’est la vie.

“I’m stupid. You’re smart. I was wrong. You were right. You’re the best. I’m the worst. You’re very good looking. I’m not attractive.”

It’s very exciting until you realize that it really isn’t.  Want to get fired up for baseball?  Pick up the amazing 2010 Mariners Annual.  The best collection of content about the upcoming season you’re going to find.  Want instant graitification?  Start following the Sabermetrics 101 series at Lookout Landing.  Now you can talk like one of those nerds whose opinion won’t be challenged by most casual fans.  Or read this takedown of Sabermetrics instead. 

Or just keep watching curling and hope no one gets hurt in spring training.  Yup, that’s probably going to be my move.

You are a speed skater.  You race around a rink of ice.  You don’t even do it in the cool events that Ohno and Celski compete in.  You literally just race in circles.  So while I get that it was bush league that the officials couldn’t get the ice ummm… paved or groomed or whatever and it that resulted in a long delay in the preliminaries of the 500 meter race, I can’t abide by your decision to walk away after the first round just because you didn’t skate as well as you’d hoped.  I also understand that you are a world class athlete and you have a routine and you have other races to think about and yada yada yada,  but here’s the thing -  it’s the Olympics.  Go ahead and skate in every event that you can.  Don’t skate the preliminaries and then withdraw because you are trying to draw attention to yourself preserve yourself for your other races.  Actually go ahead and finish the events that you start.

Man it pisses me off to see people get to such a stage and then voluntarily just walk away like that.   Saving yourself for an event that you’ve already won a gold medal in???  Unreal.

Sark hauled in a big one.

Bobby Jones goes beast tubing on some Itals.

Major Lazer “Pon De Floor” from Eric Wareheim on Vimeo.

At the next party I go to you can bet I will be trying to spear a lucky lady from the top of a step ladder.