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Pac-10 men's basketball previews -- No. 2, Washington
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Abdul Gaddy/Photo Jesse Beals/ICON/SMI
Defending champion Washington is our pick to finish second in the Pac-10 this season, and the play of touted freshman point guard Abdul Gaddy will determine whether the Huskies finish higher or lower than this projection.
This is the eighth of our preseason men’s Pac-10 basketball previews, with teams being revealed in inverse order of their predicted finish. (See Washington State story here, see USC here, see Oregon here, see Arizona State here, see Arizona here, See UCLA here, see Oregon State here.)
The team we pick to win the conference will be previewed later today, and Stanford, despite being picked to finish last, will be the final preview in the series, to be posted in a day or two.
Now we look at Washington, which was the surprise conference champ last season after being picked to finish fifth. It was the play of a freshman point guard, Isaiah Thomas, that helped the Huskies surpass expectations last season, and it will probably be the play of another freshman point guard that will determine whether the Huskies can repeat.
With Thomas and Venoy Overton, the Huskies already have some speedy, albeit small, guards, enough to overcome the loss of departed Justin Dentmon. But if Gaddy, the highest rated incoming freshman in the conference, can live up to his billing, the backcourt will be even better. Gaddy, who orginally committed to Arizona but changed his mind when Lute Olson retired, is more of a playmaker than Thomas, who looked to score more often than pass.
Washington’s backcourt will need to be strong to make up for the departure of Jon Brockman, who had been the Huskies’ rock inside for four years. His rebounding and physical activity in the paint gave the Huskies the consistency they needed to win a conference title last season, and his loss will be noticeable. The fact that the Pac-10 has no big-time post players this season makes the loss of Brockman somewhat more tolerable for the Huskies, but they will still need a big season from 6-6 forward Quincy Pondexter, who showed maturity in his game last season.
A one-dimensional scorer his first two seasons, Pondexter became a better all-around player last season, and the Huskies need him to expand his game further this season as a senior.
Returning starter Darnell Gant will help Pondexter in the frontcourt, and if Tyreese Breshers, a 6-7 redshirt freshman, can contribute, the Huskies may have enough in the frontcourt to support its standout backcourt.
This all assumes Thomas and Gaddy can mesh in the same backcourt as Thomas moves over to a shooting-guard spot.
The Huskies play nine of their 11 nonconference games at home, and the Huskies have a shot to win all 11, with a game against Georgetown in Anaheim being the biggest challenge. They should have a nice head of steam built up heading into conference play.
For more Bay Area college sports, see jakestakeonsports.com.
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