This is a question I have asked myself all season long. The Huskies began the season on the other side of the Great Wall, earning a win against the Texas Longhorns and new coach Shaka Smart. After that victory you felt a sigh of relief that this Huskies class, with four freshman and one senior in their starting line-up, may actually be able to get us back into the tournament after a five year hiatus (The Huskies were robbed of a tournament birth in 2012 when the Huskies were the regular season Pac-12 champions)
The first real test for this team came in their first loss when they renewed their rivalry with cross state rival the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Battle-4-Atlantis. The Huskies got rolled in the first half of that match-up and were never able to recover after that, a pattern that has continued throughout the season.
The team has had an up-and-down season, which is expected with the lack of experience the Huskies bring to the table. The good news is that the Huskies have the ability to upset any team they face, however they are also susceptible to losing to any other team on a given night, like their loss to UCSB. That is something that we will have to live with this season.
After the Huskies started 5-1 in conference play I started to think about what this team may be capable of this season. I was imagining tournament births and Final Four appearances, of course I knew that would probably be out of the question given that this team didn't have any NCAA tournament experience on the entire team, but that didn't stop me.
That was until the Huskies went .500 over their next four games before falling into a three game slide.
So what can we expect for the end of Pac-12 play?
The Huskies are still leading the Pac-12 in blocks and offensive rebounds this seasons but have also committed the most personal fouls by a wide margin (605 fouls committed, 73 more than the next team).
With Freshman phenoms Marquese Chriss finally learning how to play a full game without fouling out, as well as Dejounte Murray continuing to evolve into his own we will have a shot to shock anybody. These two have really stepped up while the Pac-12's leading scorer and only senior on the team Andrew Andrews has somewhat digressed in recent weeks.The real question will be how will this team respond to the current losing streak they find themselves in. The answer to that question will determine what this team will be able to accomplish before this season is over.
As of today, Feb. 17th, the Washington Huskies are on ESPN's Joe Lunardi's First Four Out. Not a good sign but not too late to make a case for a bid as long as we can win the games we are supposed to and hopefully pull out the upset against the Oregon Ducks in Eugene.
In order to have a chance at the tournament this team will need get it going quicker than they have been, being outscored in the first half of each of their last five games. The team will also need to keep the pressure on opposing offenses while staying out of foul trouble, something this team has not been able to do simultaneously. Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar will be able to figure it out with this team and once he does, Watch Out!
The Huskies have been one of the more exciting teams in college basketball this year and if this team can get rolling and the freshmen can put it all together we may witness a special ending to this season.
So when its time to start filling out those brackets, if you come across the Purple & Gold, go ahead and mark them into the second weekend because they will be rolling by then.
LETS GO HUSKIES!
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