The Washington Huskies are 6 games in now and are 4 and 2. Solid through the first 6 games, against some decent competition for the most part. However, I would be lying if I said I was ecstatic with how the Dawgs have been playing this season. We have a solid win against Texas A&M, and Western Kentucky, who beat West Virginia already this year, but we got blown out by Auburn, and should have beat Minnesota.



Our defense has been okay to start his season, holding teams to 41.6% shooting, 68.2 ppg, and forcing 14.7 turnovers, but our offense needs a boost. And a big one. We are relying on only two players right now in Jaylen Nowell and Noah Dickerson. Studs I know, but we can't expect to win a lot of games this year if two of our players are accounting for 54% of our total scoring. Teams will be able to figure it out quickly if other players like David Crisp, Matisse Thybulle, and Dominic Green can't get it going.



David is averaging 8.8 ppg, which is decent for point guard, but it is down significantly from is 13 ppg last season, not to mention David is only averaging 3 assists per game. His 32.7% shooting percentage and 25.9% should go up as the season progresses, but the rough start does make you wonder what kind of progress David has made during the off season.



Matisse is also off to an extremely poor start. Which is a shame because I was expecting a very big leap from Matisse this year. Yes, he is still stealing, and blocking shots at a high level, but he's averaging only 5.5 ppg, on 32.7% shooting and 13.6% from three. Last season Matisse averaged 11.2 ppg on a solid 44.5% from the field. This does makes me believe that Matisse will snap out of this slump, but I am still confused why we don't see Matisse driving to the rim attempting tough layups or dunks. He seems too timid with the ball. He is a very good free throw shooter, but still attempts the least amount of free throws per 40 minutes on our team (except Sam Timmins). I honestly believe Matisse could average over 15 a game if we saw him attack the bucket and attempt more free throws. He would need to have improved his handles however, and I'm not so sure that's possible for him.



Dominic needs to get his shots up. He needs to be putting up at least 6 threes a game, and get back to his 43% three point percentage. Yes, defenses know that he's a one trick pony, but it still needs to happen. Dom needs his confidence like he had in the second half of last season. This 33% to start the season isn't going to cut it if the dawgs hope make the dance. I have been very impressed, however, with how Green has been rebounding so far. Per 40 minutes, he is out rebounding Jaylen and Matisse this season at 5 per 40, up from 4 last year. I hope to see Dom pick it up offensively soon. He can be a huge impact player for the dawgs, especially if he's raining down threes like last season.



Now, we can complain all day about how our veterans haven't grown since their freshman year, and how the team is screwed if we continue to play the way we are, but honestly the team has gotten better each and every game they've played. Jaylen is shooting almost 60% from the field, averaging 19.8 a game, Noah is shooting 53%, averaging 18 a game, and Hameir Wright and Naz Carter are turning into studs before our eyes.



Hameir is by no means a big man down on the block, but he's averaging a very solid 4 blocks per 40 minutes, leading the team. He is also shooting a solid 80% from the free throw line. Hameir's shooting perecntage, however, is nasty, but it will go up as he becomes more comfortable in his offensive game.



I can't say enough about Naz Carter. He is playing just under 20 minutes per game, but he's shooting a solid 43% from the field, 78.9% from the free throw line, and is averaging over 8 points per game. He's shown that he can get to the basket whenever he wants, he just needs to make a few more tough layups, and improve his 25% three point percentage in order to really emerge as a star for the Huskies. I'm still waiting to see one of his signature posters that we all got accustomed to last season.



The Dawgs have a tough stretch ahead of them before conference play starts. A UCSB team with only 1 loss, #1 ranked Gonzaga on their home court, and a #13 ranked Virginia Tech team that destroyed us last season. If we can put up a good fight against Gonzaga, and somehow get a win against a tough Virginia Tech team, we all should be very happy. 5 wins out of last 7 non-conference games will put us at 9 and 4 going into Pac-12 play, one less than last season, so that Virginia Tech game at home will be crucial.



Let's start it off with a win tonight against Eastern Washington.



Go Dawgs!









