Washington Needs Leadership in LaLa-Land

It’s a huge weekend for the first place Washington Huskies, as they try and add to Pac-10 lead, taking in the scenery of Los Angeles. The Huskies are off a home sweep of the Oregon schools and have budding confidence after ending 15-year losing steak at Stanford two weekend’s ago. Washington has proven this season the sum of the parts is better than the individual components and basketball bettors have profited also with 15-8 against the spread mark tracking the Huskies.

Getting a gauge on Washington (19-6) is relatively easy to do. If the Huskies players are sharing the ball and passing to find the open man, they will have a very good shot at winning. If the Huskies are taking quick shots and doing too much dribbling, a loss is likely.

Once again we find in college basketball, veteran leadership is important. Seniors Justin Dentmon and Jon Brockman have been the driving force behind the success of coach Lorenzo Romar’s squad. However, this is far from a two man team. Big time recruit, forward Quincy Pondexter has finally settled in at U-Dub in his junior season. In his first two seasons, he put pressure on himself, with visions beyond Seattle. His focus this season has been being part of the team and is averaging 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds, being a big contributor for a team that is 10-3 and 8-5 ATS in Pac-10 play.

I think the biggest thing Quincy (Pondexter) has done is taken the pressure off himself," Brockman said. "He's taken the whole NBA thing out of the deal and just said to himself, 'Forget about that. I'm going to think about the team. I'm going to think about our season instead of worrying about my future.' The hard working leader also added, “….this season, Quincy has come in and concentrated more on defense and rebounding and passing, and it's paying off."

After putting a beat down on Oregon 103-84, Washington has covered next five contests after scoring 90 or more points.

After registering four straight wins since losing at Washington, UCLA (19-6, 12-12 ATS) looked like a mirage playing in the Arizona desert, being swept, to fall into second place tie. UCLA’s resurgence had been led by its three seniors, Darren Collison, Alfred Aboya and Josh Shipp, but the latter two were ineffective last week. Collison continued his steady play, however freshman running mate Jrue Holiday played like a young player, having more turnovers (7) than points (6) in two games in the Grand Canyon State.

Maybe the Bruins players were a little too comfortable after finding there offense and believed they could just continue on, piling up offensive numbers. This was not the case, as the UCLA defense was tattered for 60 and 50 percent shooting last week and will have to rebound quickly in keeping hopes alive of winning Pac-10 again. The Bruins are 18-8 ATS off a spread loss.

Bookmaker.com has UCLA as 7.5-point favorites at Pauley Pavilion, having won and covered four in a row and posting 14-1 record (8-6 ATS), winning by 22.2 points per game. Washington is 8-3 ATS against teams with winning home record and a victory would be a tremendous step toward securing Pac-10 title, since after USC game Saturday, their remaining four games are all at home. The Huskies are 5-3 SU and ATS in road games and perfect 3-0 both ways as a road underdog.

UCLA coach Ben Howland knows what’s at stake, being three-time Pac-10 regular season champions, "This is going to be a gut-check week for us." His players are going to have to be ready to fight, as Washington is one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, while UCLA accrues the second fewest rebounds in the conference. The Bruins have not lost three in a row in over four years and have lost once to Washington at home in 22 years and is 8-3 ATS since 1998.

This Pac-10 tilt will be on FSN in many parts of the country, starting at 8 Pacific and the Huskies better be prepared to defend the perimeter, as they are 3-11 ATS in road games versus three-point shooting teams making 37 percent or more of their attempts.