SEATTLE – Arizona and Washington have five potential one-and-done players combined, yet neither team is ranked entering Thursday’s matchup.
Is that a surprise?
Probably not for Washington, which has not gained a single NCAA tournament win with one-and-dones such as Markelle Fultz, Marquise Chriss, Dejounte Murray, Tony Wroten and Spencer Hawes.
This season, the Huskies have projected first-rounders Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels, and have lost seven of nine games entering Thursday, on pace for an NIT bid at best.
The Wildcats have three potential one-and-dones – Nico Mannion, Josh Green and Zeke Nnaji – but have lost six of their last 10 games, with those freshmen not surrounded by top-producing upperclassmen, as were the Aaron Gordon-added Wildcats of 2013-14 and the Stanley Johnson-added Wildcats of 2014-15.
In the Seattle Times, columnist Geoff Caulkins suggests that Tad Boyle’s approach of having “jersey-owners” instead of “jersey-renters” might be best.
“Having a chip on your shoulder — there’s something to be said about that. The five-star (recruits) — they are renting uniforms,” Boyle said. “I don’t want guys renting our jersey, I want them owning the Colorado jersey.”
After winning two Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards during his first two seasons at Washington, Mike Hopkins’ honeymoon may be over.
The Times’ Percy Allen wrote that Hopkins said he’s learned more about himself in UW’s past nine games than he did during his first two seasons.
“Sometimes it’s so easy to take a look at that (the score) rather than looking at the process and focusing on the process everyday,” Hopkins said. “For me, I’ve always felt that way, but sometimes you can get lost in a different direction. So for me, it’s the process of why did I get into coaching? I got into coaching because I love making guys better. I love putting together a group of guys that they say can’t do it, but you can do it.
“In perspective, you go through this thing and sometimes you get tested. But it’s really a sign of your true character of what’s going to come out when you’re tested. Winning is not going to teach you anything, but I’ve learned a whole hell of a lot and hopefully we can turn it and that’s what we’re focused on doing.”
Meanwhile, the Huskies are trying to keep it fun.
Of all the confidence-building UA coach Sean Miller is trying to do these days, the case of Josh Green might be paramount.
Green was 0 for 8 last Saturday at ASU and has made just one 3-pointer in eight tries over the Wildcats’ past four games.
Miller said Green has been valuable not only in transition but also in deflecting shots, but that he wanted him to improve his offensive rebounding and build confidence in his shooting.
“He might be streaky but he's certainly capable and he’s shown that, especially when he takes good shots,” Miller said. “But all young players go through that stretch where you know they can maybe lose confidence in shooting and then it can lead to other areas.
“If you're a versatile player, your shot may not be going in, but there's so many other things you can do to help your team win. I think that's really our message to Josh. But I have to give him confidence. That falls on me. … You can point the finger at me of doing a better job of instilling that confidence in him but no doubt we're a better player when he's confident.”
Arizona is a 2.5-3-point favorite over the Huskies.
