Game 8: vs. Washington

Tip-off: Today, 1:30pm, Acrisure Arena, Palm Springs
TV: truTV / MAX
Lines: Torvik- pic 'em; ESPN: Broncos -1.3 but Washington win probability of 65%…that makes zero sense.

UW:
The Huskies and new UW coach Danny Sprinkle are 5-1 after beating Colorado St. yesterday. That was their best win to date; their lose is to Nevada by 10 in Reno.
Starters:

  • 6-8, 250lb center Great Osobor (13.8pts, 10.7rebs, 3.7assists, 3.5 steals)
  • 6-8 forward Tyler Harris (15.3pts, 6.5rebs, 40% from 3)
  • 6-4 frosh guard Zoom Diallo (9pts)
  • 6-4 guard Tyree Ihenacho (6.2pts, 3.7rebs, 2.7 assists, 30% from 3)
  • 6-3 guard Luis Kortright (5.5pts, 2.8rebs, 25% from 3)
  • 6th man, 6-1 guard DJ Davis plays as much as starters (7pts, 27% from 3 and highest volume 3pt shooter).

There is some indirect familiarity with this opponent, coach Sprinkle and Great Osobor come from Utah St. who beat the Broncos in a close one last year. Tyler Harris is a Portland transfer.

UW, with a new coach and bunch of transfer and freshmen are still figuring things out. Osobor is their leader, their offense runs through him and he leads them assists while also being a force in the paint. He’s a wide body and will put foul pressure on Tilly and Tongue. Tyler Harris is a dynamic player, a beanpole at ~190 lbs but long and athletic and can score in a variety of ways. Their backcourt seems to be a by committee approach as none of them play more than 25mins a game.

As a team UW has been better on Def than Off and are holding teams to a fairly low effective FG%. They don’t shoot the 3 often nor well.

For the Broncos, they have to keep Osobor off the glass and Tilly/Tongue can’t get bullied by him in the post. O’Neil will have his hands full chasing Harris around the court. Might be wise to play some unique D matchups and put Mahi on Harris and let O’Neil guard whoever their weakest wing is on the floor.

Fingers crossed the Broncos can build on a decent game vs. TCU and continue to improve. We need to see the same energy and effort we saw vs. TCU in order to control the glass and 50/50 balls.

Prediction: Broncos to continue to build and prevail 74-71.

3 Likes

Thanks for doing these, 92, especially on these short tournament turnarounds.

I think SCU can build on a decent game here. I was a bit shocked to see SCU at #90 in KenPom this morning–higher than I expected given results so far. So the Broncos haven’t totally tanked in the analytics even with the bad outcomes.

I’d love to see them finally shoot well against a decent team.

77-72 Santa Clara. O’Neil continues his hot/cold streak with the hot side of his game, with 19 points on 7-9 from the floor.

1 Like

TCU - Colo St. went to OT and just wrapped up (CSU won).
I suspect the Bronco start time will be closer to 2pm.

Go Broncos! I think this Washington team is mediocre at best.

I think Washington is saying the same thing about us.

2 Likes

Washington is definitely beating the Broncos on aggression and intensity right now.

1 Like

Have given up 9 offensive rebounds already 9mins in to the game…that’s more than you want to give up in an entire game. And no answer for Osobor so far.

Leading to 15 more shots from the floor for UW. The Broncos are really lucky to only be down by 5.

Come on! We can do it!

Not Bukky’s best by any means. I’m not sure Osobor is worth the $2 million he supposedly cashed, but he is the best player on the floor today.

1 Like

If our coaches don’t get these boys to come back after the half playing aggressive as hell and being physical and driving inside - then this is on the coaches. So SICK and tired of our boys looking scared and disjointed. GO INSIDE HARD! The refs are whistle happy on drives. So do the same. Pressure defense.

4 Likes

Osobor is not worth that payout at all. He’s LUCKY on the way our defense works. (Which is the worst defense strategy btw) where our bigs have to hedge and drop all day - and our weakside NEVER drops in the help. So our five is set up for failure with our defense and Osobor can capitalize. He’s slow. He just has his weight to his advantage and it won’t transition well in next level. My 6 ft 7 kid who weighs 40 lbs less has blocked him twice.

Wow. Cam put his hand up to block his vision and Osobor passed out of bounds. Imagine if our guys ALWAYS kept a hand up to block vision.

Im gonna say it. Tilly is playing TOO SOFT for his size. He needs to toughen up and know his strength/size advantage.

Osobor cant run the floor! we need to run him ragged.

4 Likes

So many missed layups. Gotta be 14+ points in just missed bunnies left on the table here. Plenty to overcome all the other negatives.

3 Likes

just too much self sabotage far too often

All the turnovers in the first half and the points off of them for UW, a complete donation

The depth that was the best part of this team got throughly outworked by the Huskies bench, pretty much everyone who came off the bench didn’t win their matchup

If your best players are who they say they are they can’t get taken out of games. It’s one thing to not score but for Adama and Tilly to practically be absent out there physically is the sobering part.

2 Likes

don’t think the referees were great either but you have to help your own opportunities before you look that way

4 Likes

Lots of issues but nice to see them fight at the end. Since they really just need to be getting tough for conference, I guess I’ll try to find the positive in the ending effort.

4 Likes

Effort doesn’t seem to be the issue— it’s execution on both sides of the ball. With an at-large bid vanishing, success in the Conference is a must. A 9/14 assist to turnover ratio explains a lot.

4 Likes

Could t see the game where was Tyree Bryan?

I think I saw Tyree on the bench in sweats. Don’t know why he didn’t play.

He was sorely missed. We needed him, not Johnny, shooting those shots at the end of the game.