Bob,

I thought it was humerous that they listed our athletic director as Todd Turner!

GO DAWGS!!!

So UW refuses to schedule a home and home with Gonzaga, but they will play on the road at Portland, another team from the WCC?

The only explanation for that scheduling is that the huskies were tired of getting beat down every year by Gonzaga. I guess it was the only way to make the hurting stop. At least the football team has the guts to play their schedule.

d965,
the UW v. Gonzaga series (or lack there of) had been discussed to death here for the past few years. Please don't post tired arguments, we've already heard them all.

d965 has a good point. romar is cowardly while few plays ANY ONE ANY TIME and routinely has the among the hardest schedules ever

daw - see grant

you guys are both idiots. we already know the MAIN reason, mark few and a bunch of your other snitch coaches blew the whistle on our "recruiting violations" even though we all know that every DIV 1 program bends the line in some way or another. way to go snitches, keep voicing your frusterations of being in a loser, weak a55 conference which never gets anyone in the tournatment? oh whats ur record? 3? i think 2?... LMAO so funny, rotfl. loser zag fans

true that

WE all know why we don't play Gonzaga anymore. It's because MARK FEW IS A SNITCH!!!!!!

And all that HARD scheduling that Mark Few does gets him where?? It leads straight to games where Adam Morrison is in the middle of the floor crying like a little BI*** or letting Stephen Curry light them up...

Matty --- I'm sure they will at some point. Romar played at UW when the Huskies still played Seattle U every year and he has talked of how that was a pretty big rivalry in those days. I think they'd like to do it at KeyArena so it's kind of a neutral site type deal (though maybe David Stern will demand they play it in Oklahoma City).

Bob,

I'd like to attend the CBE Clasic in KC. You mentiioned the Dawgs are slated to play KU in the semis. How do you know? Don't they have to win the two games at home before they go? Just wondering. If they definitely will be playing KU in the first game in KC, I'll book my tickets now.

Thanks, Bob. Great job on the blogs.

f3w > r0m4r

Bob = funny, seriously man, thanks for being cynical even in your posts. it really does/did make my day. what a good human being you are bob (no joke). i'll cross my fingers we get a new team here for ur kids :)

Yes Desert Dawg, you are correct, they would have to win the first two games here.

Romar is on tha hot hot hot seat baaaybeee

Is Romar really on the hotseat?

Coacheshotseat.com says he is. What does that mean exactly? With no A.D. at this time, the intense scrutiny on Willingham and the football program, and UW without any ‘storied’ b-ball history I highly doubt Romar is truly in any danger of losing his job any time soon.

BUT…is he on the ‘hotseat’ when it comes to fan support? I think possibly. I’ve been an outspoken supporter for two reasons: 1) Based on REASONABLE expectations for the UW he has met and surpassed those over a seven year period. 2) He has consistently recruited solid, fun-to-watch, high character kids. But I also admit that too many times he makes game decisions that to a casual fan such as myself, are dubious at best.

So, with this schedule, what are reasonable expectations for the coming season to keep Romar off the fans ‘hotseat’?

I count 20 regular season wins and a top 5 finish in the Pac-10. Less than that will be a disappointment in my book, more than that will be fantastic and Romar deserves credit.

3 bad seasons + losing money to lose in the cbi = hot seat baaaaybeeee. Cant wait for a real coach.

yah, this is where we see what romar is made of...

Saying Romar is on the "hot seat" is preposterous. With very few exceptions for most ot the last 100 years just having a respectable year, i.e. mid Pac conference was a good season. Now and then they would get some exceptional players like Steve Hawes or Detlef or Welp and have a little blip up but there was never a sense that they could or would but seriously competitive with the best in the country or conference year in and year out. They managed to recruit that local forward ( his name escapes me ? Poe or Polk) a few years ago and he was freshman of the year in the Pac 10 only to transfer to Kentucky and eventually win a National Championship there I believe under Rick Pitino.

There was a sense of almost giddiness after the B Roy years with the recruitment of Spencer Hawes and Martell Webster as well as other touted recruit s and the probably unrealistic expectation we were going to be the North Carolina of the west coast. It's not that easy. Even UCLA before Howland was sucking wind for a number of years.

You can't assume anyone would necessarily have accomplished what Romar has the last seven years because no one did and over the years many tried. Harshman was a great person and coach but wasn't able to consistently recruit top quality players year in and year out. He had a HUGE disadvantage with Hec Ed at that time the worse venue for major college BB in the land. Up in the upper reaches you almost needed a miner's light to get around and they actually had seats that were partially blocked by poles.

Having said all that Romar is under some pressure to be more competitive this year, i.e. at least top half of Pac-10 and in the tourney to keep the momentum going. Players still like him and want to play for him. He is still developing as a coach but I still believe he knows what it takes to win. I say this in part based on what I saw in the team's development as last season progressed. The overall record was disappointing but they really improved in ways that need to occur if you want to be a good team. I credit Romar for that.

Jed,

I love your comments and am glad you chimed in.

Do you attend the games or watch on television? I ask that because you mentioned two observations that I haven’t seen from watching on television (God bless FSN) and I’m curious if from live attendance you truly have observed.

First, does it appear the players love playing for Romar? I have never seen or heard anything to indicate otherwise…but neither have I seen anything on television that showed me the players wanted to give 110% for him. I think that can make a big difference between a good and a great team, how badly the kids want to win for their coach. I have hoped that was the case with Romar, but didn’t know and have wondered.

Second, you commented on the development of the team. To what specifically are you referring? I did feel like their defense improved, and Artem in particular stood out to me as progressing during the season. But beyond that I didn’t feel I saw a lot of development from anyone else (except possibly QP some).

I’m not debating or disagreeing, because I want it to be true. I just seriously would like to hear more detailed observations from someone who feels they have seen those things in person (because admittedly you can get a WAY more accurate feel and analysis of a team in person).

Thanks! Great comments.

Clay Bennett just called, If the Huskies win the CBE Classic, he would like to make a duplicate of any hardware handed out to the tournament champ. He asked the phone numbers for the Cougs and Zags, I guess he wants to know what tournaments they're playing in too.

I guess as long as OKC are celebrating accomplishments that never happened in their city with a basketball legacy they left behind, might as well make it a statewide sweep.

Bob,
Is there anyway you can post some info on that HS AAU tourney next weekend at MT. Rainer?

Aaron Brooks was on KJR today, and I can't believe Dick Fain didn't ask him about the Appleby situation..

NateRob --- I'll try to do that on the tournament.

HuskyFanG --- I should have completely confirmed it before I wrote it, but my understanding is that they have changed the format this year and the four host teams are automatically seeded to Kansas City. So my understanding is UW and Kansas are guaranteed to meet. But I'll do another post detailing all of that soon.

Okay, thanks bob. as you said before i was basing it on the information i was given before....

Excuses...the real reason UW refuses to play GU is because they get beat. Period.

F Seattle...
I have to agree. At the end of the day, we get beat. This has been such a charater check for Romar that he has not passed. It's quite pathetic.
Bring on Portland, EWU and Portland State. Regional powerhouses

Bob,

Have you been out to open gym?

Sure would appreciate a report.

few is a hall of famer, romar is in his last season coaching ball...do the math...

Hood Canal --- I'll try to do that next week. This is actually the time of year I try to get some time off so and I actually have had to go out of town a bit last week and now this week. But when I get back I'll try to do that (also, I know not everyone has been around until this week, when all are supposed to be in town with the bridge program starting).

Joke of the week from Spokane - no it is not that Heytvelt is eating funny mushrooms again but Few is in the HALL OF FAME? Must be for that dominant conference he plays in - did not know they had a Hall of Fame!

Apparently MBA has exploded. Dentmon and Quicny also looking very strong.

Among the frosh IT will be an improvement over Appleby as he can score from anywher and create his own shot. Scott Suggs is the truth.

if few was a hall of famer why didnt he get one of the 3 pac10 jobs that were open? few sucks and everybody knows hes a snitch so nobody wants him :) say what you want but why would the udub wanna play the zags when nobody in the country would watch a 7pm pacific coast time game? id rather go back east and play a sec acc or big east team, from a real conf to will be on espn for the nation to see. The zags have had a good ten years but I think the clock has struck midnight on them

Few has done a good job and GU is a fine program. No one should be contesting that. Their team is especially strong this year. What I have a little trouble understanding is why the UW playing GU is of such all consuming importance to GU and its fans. We are not necessarily joined at the hip.

UW's schedule last year and this year is plenty difficult. I have no complaints with the scheduling. Not to say they won't resume playing GU in the future but for now Romar et al have decided to try to branch out and get some home and home dates with major teams in other regions. His reasons are his own. To speculate on the reasons for his decision is just that. Personally I agree with his decision.

There is no way I accept the suggestion that this has anything to do with Mark Few alerting the NCAA about Dollar's infractions. Fortunately they were relatively minor in nature but he was wrong and the punishment was metted out. End of that story. He has learned from it.

When I say " he was wrong" above I am referring to Dollar not Mark Few. I do not believe Mark Few was wrong in this instance.

Few has the highest winning percentage in ncaa history. that combined with the fact he will easily surpass 600 wins means he is a stone cold, lead pipe, HOF lock.

Frosty Westerling, Ed Pepple and Mike Bethea should be in the HOF too!

Just saying...

I am obviously a ZAG fan I have had season tickets for many years but no longer live in Spokane so I miss 90% of the games.
Few...Honestly, I don't see history being kind to Few. He has a great record each year but, seems to lose the big ones. The reason is rarely talent, but wrather a team that lacks toughness. Mark has consistently not been able to get his kids to play with heart...each game. It kills my wife and I each year when they bow out of big games due to no defence, bonehead moves, and what appears like lack of heart. We now expect it. Makes the losses easier.
So, does GU need to play UW. Of course not. GU playing UCONN etc. always helps than playing a mid to lower PAC 10 team. I think, and have heard others voice this, that the state wants the game. The likes of Digger, Bilas etc. all say the same.

Jed is right.

Playing GU doesn't do the UW any good, because they are trying to find a game that will have a CHANCE to get picked up on a national level. The UW/GU match up will only make FSNW. Unlike GU the UW doesn't need 75% of the non confrence games to be games to be with the top teams, because the PAC-10 has enough tough games too match what GU plays. It really only matters how they finish i the league, nless of ourse they lose a bunch of easy games prior to pac-1 play.

We should schedule games with San Diego, clearly the top program in the WCC.