The Washington Huskies have been a bit of a roller coaster this year. Husky fans are not pleased with year two of Danny Sprinkle. It's been frustrating that this season featured a loaded roster but riddled with injuries and a gameplan that sputtered (in most games). One of the big things that has bothered Husky fans is that Sprinkle doesn't seem to want to run his offense through his star player. Tonight, he did just that.
Sure, there's an element of you can't be one-dimensional, and it's not AAU ball where you can simply feed the best player over and over and over. Every play in the playbook is get an A1 player the ball. However, Washington has a lottery NBA Draft pick on their roster, and at times Sprinkle's game plan seems to avoid him. Fans have been begging for Hannes Steinbach to get more touches and let him work an inside-out game.
Hannes Steinbach showed why he's a potential NBA Lottery pick against Rutgers
Related: One singular stat reveals why Maryland beat Washington
Sprinkle finally let that happen tonight against Rutgers in a 79-72 win. Steinbach had his best game of the season with Frank Kepnang out and Zoom Diallo struggling from the floor. Steinbach was given the opportunity to showcase his NBA talent, and he didn't disappoint. He scored 24 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and even added three blocks to his stat line.
Steinbach was dominant, and because of his impressive first half, where he had 10 points and nine rebounds, it actually helped open up the game for other players. Wesley Yates III got extra touches as Rutgers was working to account for Steinbach. Yates ended with 19 points and six assists (many of those to Steinbach).
It is a win that comes a little too late in the season, but it is helpful to see a strategy that fans have desired all season come to fruition. Give your best player plenty of touches and let the offense fill in around him. This won't work in every game and against every opponent, but coming off a Maryland game in which Steinbach only had 14 points and 3 rebounds, even though he was 7-8 from the field, it's refreshing.