March Madness 2011

March Madness Bracket

March Madness is among us and attached is my bracket, named after Brendan Sherrer, the University of Washington Human Victory Cigar.

2011 Sports Preview

 

Husky forward Mathew-Bryan Amaning looks to bring the Huskies to the Big Dance in March.

2010 was a great year full of sporting events. 2011 is sure to have exciting NFL playoffs, the rest of the NBA season, and the start of the next great MLB season.

 

2011 Winter Classic

Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Penguins will host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in the annual Winter Classic, which is to be played outside at Heinz Field. The forecast calls for a high of 50°, which is the same as the forecast in PHOENIX, ARIZONA. Along with unusually warm weather, there is also a chance of rain. Due to the weather threats, the game has changed from 1 p.m. EST to 8 p.m. EST. Crosby recently had his 25-game point streak snapped against the Islanders. The two of the best players in the NHL will go against each other in one of the biggest hockey games (aside from the Stanley Cup Playoffs) in the year.

NFL Playoffs

As the NFL regular season is about to come to an end, one cannot forget what all has happened in 2010. 2011 is sure to not disappoint. The MVP of the season is to be chosen and it is most likely between Tom Brady and Michael Vick, one of the most intriguing athletes of 2010. Those MVP candidates have a chance to lead their teams to the Super Bowl in Dallas, Texas. Along with great teams, there are some disappointments. In the NFC West, also known as the NFL Worst, a 7-9 team could make the playoffs. Also, some high profile teams had some upsetting seasons. The preseason Super Bowl favorite Dallas Cowboys lost their “star” quarterback Tony Romo early in the season leaving the team to only have one win heading to November. The Arizona Cardinals had a disappointing season after their Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner retired. The Cardinals had three different quarterbacks (Derek Anderson, Max Hall, John Skelton) start a game, and two of them were rookies, one being undrafted. The Cardinals finish their season in San Francisco and will most likely receive a 10th overall draft pick and will seek for a franchise quarterback.

2010-11 NBA Season

Many people expected the Miami Heat to have the best regular season record of all time and easily make it to the NBA Finals after they got LeBron James and Chris Bosh in free agency and resigned Dwayne Wade, creating their own Big 3. After a slow start, many people questioned their decisions to take their talents to South Beach, but they quickly got their act together. They have won 15 of their last 16 with the lone loss coming to one of the best teams in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat are currently .5 games behind the Eastern Conference leading Boston Celtics. In the West, it seems that the season will be a race between three teams: Spurs (28-4), Mavericks (24-7), and the back-to-back champions Lakers (23-10). However, the young OKC Thunder (Sonics forever!) led by Kevin Durant can be a threat in the playoffs.

2011 MLB Season

The next MLB season does not start for a few months, but it is never too early to talk about baseball. The Giants surprised everyone and one the World Series. They were able to win it all with Cody Ross, a normal outfielder from free agency, and Edgar Renteria along with some of the best pitchers in the MLB. The question is… can they repeat? The LeBron James of baseball this offseason was Cliff Lee, the man everyone wanted. Lee ended up with the Phillies, the team he played with 2 years ago in the World Series against the Yankees. Another star free agent was Jayson Werth, previously with the Phillies, who took $126 million for 7-years with a team who has never had a winning season, the Washington Nationals. The Nationals will also have the 18-year-old star Bryce Harper most likely start in the minor leagues but will probably play in the majors by the end of the season. However, “star” pitcher Steven Strasburg will be out for the season from recovering from surgery. The 2011 baseball season is far from starting and predictions will be made later.

BCS Title Game

On January 10, 2011, Auburn and Oregon will play each other to see who is the best team in college football. Click here for previous coverage of BCS Title game.

Husky Basketball

The Huskies ended 2010 on a high note by beating USC and UCLA in Southern California. They are currently 10-3 (2-0 PAC-10) with 2 of their losses coming from the Maui Invitational against then #9 Kentucky and #2 Michigan State. Though the Huskies are no longer ranked, they are still one of the best teams in the country and the best in the PAC-10. 16 of their next 17 games will come against the other PAC-10 schools and they will play Seattle U. The Huskies should easily make the enlarged NCAA Basketball Tournament and have a chance to be a ranked team by the end of the year. Currently they are 3rd in the country in points per game with 87.9 and are no lower than 26th overall in rebounds per game (40.5), assists per game (18.1), and field goal percentage (.483). Senior forward Mathew Bryan-Amaning has developed into a strong post presence and Junior guard Isaiah Thomas has become one of the best guards in the PAC-10.

#24 Huskies stunned on the road by Arizona St.

After putting the first 2 points on the board in the game, baskets for the Huskies were scarce for the rest of the game. Arizona State didn’t let the two point deficit in the first 30 seconds of the game phase them at all. ASU kept scoring while the Huskies were forced to come back.

The Huskies’ only lead was after the 2 free-throws by sophomore guard Isaiah Thomas. The Huskies finally managed to make a field-goal 8 minutes into the game, after ASU F Rihards Kuksiks scored 6 of his 27 points on two three-point shots. It was a low scoring game at first but it seemed to be that ASU started to score while no shots were falling for the Huskies.

Isaiah Thomas lead the team with 20 points and star senior Quincy Pondexter lead the team with 8 rebounds, around their averages. However, Quincy Pondexter only managed to score 9 points, below his average of 21 PPG.

For Arizona State, Kuksiks lead the way with 27 points and 9 rebounds and Jamelle McMillan, son of Portland Trailblazers and former SuperSonics coach Nate McMillan, had 3 assists and 2 steals.

The Huskies 19 points in the first half set a season low for points in one half, beating  their previous low of 24 which came from a win over Montana. The Huskies seemed to be in over their heads going into halftime, but cut the lead to single digits until ASU put the game away with key baskets and making free-throws.

Washington only made 12 of their 21 (57%) free-throws while Arizona St. made 30 of 38 (79%). Making at least 85% of their free throws could have helped Washington win. Washington was also out-rebounded 39 to 29. Washington only had 7 offensive rebounds which did not always lead to points.

The Huskies fall to 10-4 on the season and 1-2 in the PAC-10. They will take on Arizona in Tucson tomorrow and then play Stanford and California in Seattle.

GO DAWGS!

Oregon beats Washington in Seattle

The Washington Huskies lost to Oregon 90-79. The loss ended the Huskies 18-home-game win streak.

“Oregon outplayed us,” Washington’s Quincy Pondexter said. “There’s not much you can say. We didn’t come with the same heart, desire and passion they had.”

Washington will look to bounce back and beat Arizona State in Tempe on Friday night and Arizona in Tucson on Sunday.

Go DAWGS!

Quincy Pondexter helps Huskies get 1st PAC-10 win

Quincy Pondexter lead the Huskies with 20 points and 10 rebounds, which helped them score 76 points. THe DAWGS lead by 10 at halftime, but the lead dropped to 6 to end the game. The Oregon State Beavers only managed to score 70 points against Washington. Ask any player, they’d agree the game was too close. Oregon State once had a 9 point lead.

Washington plays Oregon on Saturday looking for their 5th straight win. I have to keep it brief because I’m going to watch the Winter Classic.

GO DAWGS!

Quincy Pondexter powers Huskies to 1,600th win

Justin Holiday of Washington going for the rebound

Quincy Pondexter has come along way in his four years under Coach Lorenzo Romar. Pondexter, the lone senior of the Husky basketball team, averaged 10.7 PPG in his freshman season. He now has doubled that and currently averages 21.9 PPG. Fans originally questioned his skill but they now watch in awe as Quincy Pondexter dominates the court at Hec Edmunson Pavilion.

The 19th ranked Huskies took on the University of San Francisco Dons in Seattle. After a slow start, the Dawgs scored 51 points in the second half to secure their 9th win of the season. The victory was their 1,600th of all time, which ranks 16th all time behind Pac-10 rival Oregon St. (ranked 15).

Pondexter had his eighth 20-point game of the new season. Coach Romar says, “we’re getting used to it.” He is 12th in the nation in scoring and is now a well known threat.

“Pondexter’s a great player. He’s just a hard matchup,” said San Francisco assistant coach Jeff Linder, who was taking questions because coach Rex Walters had to catch a flight.

Pondexter is one of the more dominant players in the Pac-10 Conference and is a likely candidate for Pac-10 Player of the Year. Pac-10 opponents should prepare for the Huskies. Along with Pondexter, skilled guard Isaiah Thomas, last year’s Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, is the Huskies second leading scorer with 18.8 PPG. Dominant forward Matthew Bryan-Ammaning is a scoring threat and a powerful forward. Scrappy guard Venoy Overton is always ready to steal the ball and get a fast-break. The whole team can score with can frighten any opponent.

The Huskies have had two tough losses, both coming against currently ranked teams. They lost to Texas Tech in double-overtime and lost to Georgetown in the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim, CA.

The Dawgs take on Oregon State (6-5) and Oregon (7-4) in Seattle to start games in the conference next week. Then they travel to the Grand Canyon State (hometown) to take on Arizona State (10-3) and then travel south to Tucson to play Arizona (6-5). I’m looking forward to see Quincy Pondexter and the Huskies play in person against Arizona State on Friday, January 8.

Until then, GO DAWGS!