Noah Dickerson fills Washington Basketball Team big body board-banger role

The Washington Basketball team is writing a new chapter this season. And starring in the role of big-body-board-banger is forward Noah Dickerson

Washington Basketball forward Noah Dickerson’s greatest basketball challenge for the 2016-2017 season is behind him. In short, he had to decide whether to stay with the school, or take his chances with a new basketball program. He stayed.

The rest will be downhill.

And when you stand 6-foot-8 and weigh in at 225 pounds, downhill is a nice direction to go.

Great game in the paint

But the young man plays far larger on the basketball court than 6-foot-8.  He averaged 8.2 rebounds per game, leading the team by a significant margin.  And in the first year under Coach Hopkins, his 12.2 points per game will be very valuable as well.

Dickerson has flashes of offense though.  He averaged 22.6 points in March 2017, a solid performance for any marquis NCAA basketball player.

So what is in store for the young man?

Key player for 2017-2018

Coach Mike Hopkins understands the role of a point guard as well as any coach in the NCAA.  In his system, the point guard facilitates.  In short, he sets up his teammates to score. Oftentimes that means passing off the ball to the open shooter.  Sometimes that means driving the ball to the basket and taking the shot himself.  Still other times it means driving to draw defenders, then passing the ball out of traffic.

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Busting Brackets

That is why the team picked up Nate Pryor.  That is his wheel house.

But Pryor is not the offensive engine Markelle Fultz was, nor need he be. That offense will be picked up by others. Noah Dickerson will play a huge role in that offense this season.

Offense incorporated

His shooting at 56.7 percent accuracy from the floor is a huge asset for this team.  In simple terms, if he is open, he will very likely make the shot. At 27.2 minutes per game last year, he played the fourth most minutes of the team.  While we haven’t any experience in Coach Hopkins system, Dickerson will likely pull a similar amount of time this year.

His surge will come from shooting accuracy from the free throw line. While it did improve to 67.6 percent last year, that number should be 75 percent or better. Opponents will simply foul him and send him to the line if he cannot make them pay the price. This season, he will.

Sum greater than individual parts

Dickerson is a great player to compliment the passion of shooting guard David Crisp, the finesse of Matisse Thybulle, the physicality of Sam Timmins, and the basketball smarts of Nate Pryor.  And that is just a possible line up.  We’ll chat quite a bit about each player and how they’ll fit in this new team.

Next: Will Washington Basketball team soon compete with NBA?

Dickerson is a huge player: Physically, statistically, and priority for the Washington Basketball program.  Choosing to stay did more for the team than he may have realized then. But this season, when they surprise some teams, everyone will understand.

The Washington Huskies Basketball team will be back this year. #GoDawgs!