Coach Lorenzo Romar may have gotten all the proof he needed, during last week’s exhibition game as Tyreese Breshers was dazzling the arena, that this year’s team may be a lot more similar to last season’s squad than originally envisioned.
Today’s decision to redshirt freshman C.J. Wilcox, universally proclaimed by coaches and teammates to be the Huskies’ “best shooter,” seemed like an odd move to me at first. We’re just not deep enough with shooters for C.J. to be expendable. Not if we’re a team that, having lost its best forward, will rely much more heavily on its strong backcourt for production.
But, then it clicked. Maybe in Coach’s ideal vision, we’re not going to play all that differently from last year. And, if we’re going to rely heavily on our inside game, who’s going to lead that charge? Do we trust MBA yet? Not completely. At least, I don’t.
I kept hearing voices mention Tyreese Breshers. There were hints on media day. Heck, Jon Brockman even said it to me. And more recently statements by Coach Romar that a starting role may be in line once he’s healthy enough to run 20-25 minutes per game.
A lot more is being expected of Breshers, once he’s finally healthy, than I’d anticipated coming into this season. And, if he can live up to these expectations, and we can get some major production in the paint, then we can get by with one sharpshooter on the roster, with Elston Turner playing the role of gunner-off-the-bench. This allows C.J. to be a part of Husky basketball until 2014, and helps ease some of the crowding in the Husky backcourt.
Of course, Breshers needs to get fully healthy. If Coach too often needs to move Quincy Pondexter down low to the “4” spot just to firm up a weakness in rebounding, or the lack of a low-post scoring threat, I think there will be nights we miss C.J. too much to make the move worth it.
But, if Tyreese can live up to the growing cacophony of whispers, and be that main presence in the paint, this years’ Dawgs might resemble last years’ more than we ever expected.