Washington Huskies: And the Hits Just Keep on Coming
By Paul Taylor
The Washington Huskies season plummets to new depths, with the worst loss of the Lorenzo Romar era.
Anyone who considers themselves a movie buff, or at the very least a Tom Cruise fan, recognizes the headline for this article from the film “A Few Good Men”. Certainly, the quote seems appropriate, after another demoralizing performance from the Washington Huskies on Saturday night.
Actually, Lorenzo Romar must be wishing he did have a few good men, with Markelle Fultz seemingly having no one else he can rely on when he’s on the court. Okay, that may seem slightly harsh — having dealt with several of the players, they’re a decent group of young men — but it doesn’t make it any less true, as this season lurches from one disaster to another.
In that respect, the 107-66 defeat against UCLA arguably summed up this entire campaign. The Huskies never had a chance against the 11th-ranked Bruins and the game was over by halftime, with them trailing 52-34.
Further, by the end of the game, the 41-point blowout represented the biggest loss of Romar’s tenure as Huskies’ head coach. If that’s not enough, at 2-9, he is on course to finish with his worst conference record since taking over in 2002.
More from Washington Huskies Basketball
- Washington Basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies win over Sacramento St.
- Washington Basketball: Week at a Glance – December 10-16
- Washington Basketball: Week at a Glance – December 3-9
- Washington basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies 83-59 win over EWU
- Washington Basketball: Week at a Glance, November 26 – December 2
Given how respected the 58-year old is, it’s tough not to feel bad for the man, no matter how much of the blame he may deserve. Don’t mistake this for him not trying to fix things though.
Unfortunately for Romar, he’s struggling to find the solution and he’s becoming increasingly downhearted. Speaking to SportspressNW’s Andrew Harvey and the rest of the media after the game, he said: “I don’t feel that was our basketball team tonight – I didn’t recognize our team.
“We’ve dropped more games than we would like, but our team tonight was different. We didn’t seem to have the fight in us tonight to challenge a very potent offensive team.”
It didn’t help that the Huskies were playing a red-hot UCLA team, which entered the contest with a 20-3 record. They also had to contend with the Bruins’ own freshman sensation, Lonzo Ball, who finished the game with 22 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
With Ball coming to town to face Fultz, the Huskies enjoyed their first sellout in five years. Actually, “enjoyed” is probably the wrong word, given what the 10,000 fans witnessed at Alaska Airlines Arena.
At least Fultz did his bit, by scoring a game-high 25 points, to go along with six boards, five dimes and three steals. However, the projected first overall draft pick was unable to inspire his teammates.
In that respect, Romar is alarmed by how bad things are right now: “I thought that we would be further along. We certainly have tried different things.
“At some point, you can get really discouraged. I’m hoping tonight wasn’t the night we got really discouraged.”
If this is the case, then you really do have to wonder if the three-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year has reached the point of no return. Once you’ve lost the players, it surely becomes a question of when, not if, he gets fired.
If nothing else, Romar continues to show he’s a stand up guy, accepting the blame for what has happened: “I haven’t done a good enough job to get us to turn the page.
“We’ve talked to our team about that: ‘We’re coming close.’ But if you ever get to a point where you take a step back mentally, it can get a lot worse. It got a lot worse tonight.”
Huskies’ fans can only hope it doesn’t continue to get worse. Such a scenario doesn’t bare thinking about.
Next: Patience Wearing Thin With the Huskies
What was your main takeaway from the Huskies’ loss to UCLA? Has the season reached the point of no return, or are you still holding out hope the Dawgs can somehow turn things around, and improve on their recent performances? Share your thoughts in the comments section.