Halftime Analysis – Washington 34 Marquette 37

I like the energy that the Huskies have brought to New York City against Marquette. It appears that the loss to Nevada put a sense of urgency in the Dawgs that they could end up having lost 4 of 5 games by the time they left New York. The defense has been solid so far, except that Marquette seems able to do what Nevada was able to do, which is drive into the key nearly uncontested.

I love the inside intensity, with so many blocked shots and lots of rebounds. Both the big men and the tall guards seem to have decided to make the paint their own when a player goes up for shots. It would just be nice if the perimeter defense could stop giving Marquette so many drives to the hoop.

Gaddy is a bit too slow to keep up with Darius Johnson-Odom. Wroten is quicker and may have more potential over the long haul, but he needs to learn the defense and get some more experience before he becomes a lockdown defender. Speaking of Wroten, I see things about his game that indicate he will be the future starting point guard and leader of this team. But, at this early stage he is trying too much, making poor decisions, and seems to be a turnover machine.

Before the season many fans felt like this team was

blessed with too many guards. But, with neither Gaddy nor Wroten stepping up as the obvious point guard leader of this team, it is difficult to figure out what this team should be doing. Gaddy definitely seems like he lost a step from his already not too quick pace with that ACL injury. It sure would be nice to see him grow into his role as the season moves on. He certainly doesn’t seem like the #2 PG in the country he was in the recruiting circles.

I would really like to see Terrance Ross assert himself more with this team. He seems to sit back and wait for the game to come to him. Unfortunately, this can result in Ross disappearing from large segments of the game. But, with his immense talent, he needs to learn how to take control of games when they need him. When Ross goes off, defenses will have to respect him and it will open things up more for Wilcox, Wroten, and the forwards.

CJ Wilcox and Ross are the two best talents on this team and we need to see those two really decide together to put this team on their backs and carry them to the NCAA tournament.

I saw the Huskies sort of disappear from the game late in the half. I liked when Romar brought in Breunig and leave Simmons in for some minutes to change the energy on the floor. Buzz Williams made an excellent decision to foul Wroten with 19 seconds left to send him to the line for a 1-and-1 and then get the last possession of the half. Luckily, Wroten converted both of them.