The Washington Huskies are bringing another show to McKale Center on Sunday, but this time it’s only one guy.
Even with freshman sensation guard Markelle Fultz, the potential No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, the Huskies are 9-11 overall and 2-6 in the Pac-12. In conference play, they’ve beaten only cellar-dwellers Colorado and Oregon State, while losing to Washington State, Nevada and Yale at home.
They don’t appear anything like the Huskies teams that used to give Arizona some of its toughest home games in the Sean Miller era.
If all that brings to mind the words “Ben Simmons,” you’re not alone.
Simmons somewhat famously became last year’s No. 1 pick despite failing to lead LSU to the NCAA Tournament, a place the Huskies are hardly in line to reach, either. So Fultz has received many of the same comparisons already.
But coach Lorenzo Romar, during an interview at the Huskies’ Tucson hotel Saturday afternoon, says the Huskies’ play isn’t Fultz’s fault.
Instead, the Pac-12’s dean of head coaches pointed to some other factors:
1. The future isn’t now. When Fultz chose Washington over the UA, Kentucky and North Carolina before last season, Romar said he envisioned him arriving to play with talented would-be sophomores Dejounte Murray and Marquese Chriss.
But, as it often goes for Washington, Arizona and many other high-major programs, Murray and Chriss took off after one year for the NBA Draft. That left Fultz to play alongside a gang of mostly freshman and sophomores, plus junior Auburn transfer Matthew Atewe. Washington’s top returning scorer has been forward Noah Dickerson, who averaged 7.5 points in 2015-16.
What’s more, Washington lost heart-and-soul leader Andrew Andrews the old-fashioned way — he ran out of eligibility.
“Andrew was our second-leading scorer as a junior, he was already one of our featured guys” returning last season, Romar said. “This year’s team didn’t bring back any guys like that. The guys who came back where pretty much role payers. So it’s a little different.”
So now, Romar is hoping his highly regarded 2017 recruiting class will be able to mix in with the freshman and sophomores (minus Fultz, who is expected to leave) who are gaining experience this season.
“What we thought would happen this year will hopefully happen next year,” Romar said.
2. Andrews did more than score. Romar noted somewhat obviously that the Huskies have “replaced Andrew’s scoring” with Fultz. But replacing the experience, toughness and clutch play Andrews brought hasn’t been so easy with a younger group.
“The end of the game, last five minutes of a game, Andrew was so good at directing traffic,” Romar said. “At Washington State, they missed a shot, Andrew was in the middle of two Cougars and just snatched the ball away. Just played that way.”
Romar mentioned other games the Huskies came back to win last season, while they have failed in somewhat close games with Stanford, Cal and Arizona State this season.
“Similar games, similar situations,” Romar said. “But didn’t win. Can’t pull ’em out.”
3. Their defense isn’t helping their offense. While the Huskies still have elements of their famously aggressive defense, with both Fultz and Matisse Thybulle averaging 1.6 steals each in conference games, the Huskies are allowing opponents to shoot 47 percent overall and 33.9 percent from 3-point territory.
The fact that a broken pinky has kept out shot-blocking big man Malik Dime hasn’t helped the Huskies, either.
The defensive struggles have also kept the uptempo-minded Huskies mired in slower-paced games they would rather avoid.
“You can combat that if you are able to impose your will on a team and make them play faster, but with our personnel” it’s not happening.
But regardless of all the Huskies’ issues, Romar also pointed to himself, even as he indicated youth means some struggles are inevitable.
“I’d say it’s a coach’s job is to take whatever you have and try to make it be the best you can possibly be,” Romar said. “So it always falls on me. I’m not running from that.”
