3 thoughts on Danny Sprinkle’s strong start with the Washington Huskies

Mar 21, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Utah State Aggies head coach Danny Sprinkle talks to the media during the practice day at Gainbridge FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Mar 21, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Utah State Aggies head coach Danny Sprinkle talks to the media during the practice day at Gainbridge FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
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It’s never a bad thing to score more than 100 points in a basketball game. There’s never a bad time to demonstrate that you can physically outmaneuver and outwork opponents either. And both of those things functionally happened Tuesday evening as the Washington Huskies simply overwhelmed and overpowered Western Oregon.

Thus, a pretty nice 105-68 victory to celebrate.

Washington is dealing with a ton of change: a new head coach, an overhauled roster, and a new conference. And if that sounds similar to what Jedd Fisch and the UW football team is currently dealing with, it’s worth remembering that there are some parallels that exist here. 

But, hopefully, Washington’s men’s basketball team won’t struggle anywhere near as drastically and emphatically once they get to Big Ten play the way that we’ve seen the UW football team experience a few bumps in the road. 

Now, back to Tuesday night for a moment. 

Because on Tuesday night, Danny Sprinkle and his Washington Huskies certainly got a win to celebrate and enjoy. And as we enjoy a fun, high scoring exhibition win, let’s examine a few things from this strong exhibition start to the season.

Washington’s offense looks well-rounded so far

Okay, look, I get that the Huskies have a fairly well-rounded bunch that can score. I also get that this was a game that doesn’t really count for much other than getting Washington Husky men’s basketball fans excited about what COULD possibly be plausibly accomplished this season. 

And, well, DJ Davis led the Huskies in scoring and a grand total of seven different players made their way onto a list in a Google Doc that indicated they did a pretty dang good job when facing Western Oregon on Tuesday. 

From behind the three-point line, Davis led the way by hitting 4-of-9 field goals against Western Oregon. He also knocked down a couple of free throws as well. Davis managed to score his 16 points, dish out three assists, and grabbed 33 rebounds. That’s not bad.

The Huskies have room to improve on defense, but they were decent 

While Washington’s size advantage was tangible in this game (the Huskies managed to dominate the glass and the paint against Western Oregon), the Huskies still have some room for improvement on the defensive side of things. 

Danny Sprinkle got into a little bit of nitpicking when examining this side of things, but that’s not really a bad thing for a brand new head coach to do after a nearly 40 point victory in an exhibition game. As Sprinkle noted in his postgame press conference, it sounded like the Huskies could have been more disciplined about boxing players out for rebounds. So, there’s some fundamentals work to be done there, apparently. 

Also, Sprinkle was a little dissatisfied with the fact that Western Oregon was able to put up 38 three point attempts. But, if I may defend the Huskies defense for a moment, Washington was solid about defending threes in the first half as Western Oregon was just 4-for-18 from behind the arc in the first half. So, there’s room to grow, but Washington also did okay in this regard

Zoom Diallo looks to have impressive potential

The former top rated recruit from the state of Washington and the No. 3 point guard in the country really did well in his first game for the Washington Huskies. Weighing in at 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds, the talented guard played a pretty well-rounded game.

Off the bend and playing 26 minutes (more time on the court than any other Washington Husky in this game), Diallo went 5-for-11 from the field, 4-for-9 from the free throw line, and then managed to grab seven rebounds, dish out three assists, snagged two steals, and blocked a shot.

He wasn’t perfect and he could certainly stand to improve his shooting (especially from the free throw line), but Diallo’s talent looks real and the Huskies could have some fun continuing to build this team going forward.