(Here are some of the high points of the press briefing from UW coach Lorenzo Romar and players today with Percy Allen filling in for Bob Condotta.)

Washington coach Lorenzo Romar spent 20 minutes Thursday discussing Saturday's opener at Portland, Isaiah Thomas' collegiate debut, Jon Brockman's All-America candidacy and turning the big 5-0.

At the start, Romar said he would save all comments on the players the team will sign for the 2009 recruiting class until 4:30 p.m. Friday. But he reiterated that he doesn't expect any major changes to the recruits (Abdul Gaddy, Clarence Trent, C.J. Wilcox and Charles Garcia) who are expected to sign.

The major news of the day is the status of sophomore F Matthew Bryan-Amaning who suffered what Romar called "a nasty spill" in practice over the weekend and hurt his hip, knee and ankle. MBA hasn't practiced much this week and is listed as doubtful for Saturday. Romar said the injury occurred when MBA tried to collect a rebound and lost his footing.

Freshman F Tyreese Breshers, who missed the preseason due to knee and shin injuries, will not play Saturday and Romar set a target date of Dec. 6 for his return. If Breshers doesn't improve, he may redshirt.

Romar said the starting lineup "isn't totally in stone," but "going into it we feel good about who's in there and who's in the rotation." The first five will be Justin Dentmon and Isaiah Thomas at guard and Jon Brockman, Quincy Pondexter and Darnell Gant at forward.

Romar doesn't believe Thomas will be nervous about his first start.

"I don't think it will be too much for him. He's one of those guys since he's gone to bed at night he's always dreamed of doing what he did the other night (27 points in an exhibition win over Western Washington). In his mind, he's kind of living out what his expectations for himself have been."

On turning 50 today, Romar said: "I'm not embarrassed to be 50. ... I'm proud to be 50." When asked how he plans to celebrate, he said: "Saturday, get a win and that will be good enough for me."

The school has produced a video of Brockman to hype his All-America chances. You can find it here.

Brockman on the video: "It's a little different. It's not really my style. I think my mom liked it. It was done really well. The video production guys did a great job in putting the video together with the highlights and all that stuff. It was a cool little experience."

Romar on Brockman: "I just hope it's not a situation like it was a few years ago where people didn't understand that Brandon Roy was an All-American until later on in the year. ... I just hope that doesn't happen to Jon Brockman because he is definitely worth of any recognition that people are going to give him because he's an outstanding basketball player."

Romar said Brockman has extended his shooting range to 17-18 feet.

More from the coach: "With Jon and Brandon is the same way, neither one is flashy. They just produce. ... He's a guy that when you go play pick up, you make sure he's on your team. I like having those guys with me. I think it's more of a style thing than anything else. People can learn to appreciate what he brings to a game. There's not one coach in America that would let too many picks go by before they pick Jon Brockman on their team. And that's if you put all of the preseason All-Americans in the same room. They see Jon Brockman in there, I betcha he doesn't go unpicked."

Finally, Brockman said it's "weird" for the UW to start the season on the road. It's the first time since 2002 when the Huskies played at the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. In 2000, UW began the season at Saint Mary's. Both times, they won the opener.