WKU Basketball: Talking Washington Huskies With Max Vroom of UW Dawg Pound

The Hilltoppers open their 2018-19 on the road tonight against the Washington Huskies, who open the campaign as a Top 25 team and are…

The Hilltoppers open their 2018-19 on the road tonight against the Washington Huskies, who open the campaign as a Top 25 team and are looking to compete in a very top-heavy Pac 12 conference.

To get the lowdown on the Huskies, I reached out to the UW SBNation site, UW Dawg Pound, and spoke with their basketball expert, Max Vrooman, over what Washington’s expectations heading into 2018–19 are, how the Hilltoppers stack up and how he thinks the game will transpire.

The Towel Rack: Before knowing this matchup was going to happen, what (if anything) did UW fans know about the Hilltoppers?

Max Vroom: Other than the mascot I’m not sure how much the average fan knew about Western Kentucky’s program before this game was scheduled. For the college basketball fan in general I think they might have known about the Mitchell Robinson saga but then quickly would’ve lost track of WKU during the course of the season. Maybe they watched the game against Utah (who beat UW twice last year) in the NIT semifinals but rarely does WKU news make its way up to Seattle.

TTR: UW returns a lot of guys, including 95% of their minutes from a season ago as well as their four top scorers who all averaged over 11 points per game. What improvements have been made, or rather what improvements are you looking for to have been made, with those returners from last year to this year?

MV: I’m not sure we’re going to see any dramatic changes from anyone this season. The hope is that senior point guard David Crisp really makes a leap adjusting to the role after being a score-first shooting guard his first two seasons. He really struggled last year to make guys around him better despite the designation of point guard and it was noticeable how much better the Huskies were when he put it together for a game or two.

Noah Dickerson noticeably slimmed down with the hope that his athleticism and endurance will improve without sacrificing any of his strength. But ultimately the hope is that an extra year of playing together will improve the chemistry and lead to higher efficiency across the board rather than relying on someone adding a three-pointer to their game or anything like that. Just that natural improvement should be enough to have them contending for a conference title. It’s a nice luxury to have.

TTR: Mike Hopkins comes from Jim Boeheim’s staff at Syracuse. Did he bring that Syracuse style of play with him or does he have his own system?

MV: Hopkins absolutely came in with the intention of running the Syracuse zone and he’s stuck to it. There were brief flirtations with man-to-man early in the season but they persevered through early bumps in the road and it paid off.

The Huskies had the best defense in Pac-12 play last year despite lacking the elite shot blocker you’d like in the middle of that system. Washington will throw in some press here or there but I’d expect that the Huskies run the Syracuse zone on 100% of half court defensive possessions this season.

TTR: In what ways do you see UW matching up well against the Toppers? How do you see WKU having an advantage?

MV: The Huskies have 6'5" Matisse Thybulle, with a 7'0 wingspan, roaming the perimeter in their 2–3 zone and he is absolutely devastating even against teams with great passers. Thybulle was third in the country in steals a season ago and led the country in blocked three-pointers. He had five steals and three blocks in their exhibition win over Nevada and eight steals against Seattle Pacific.

For a WKU team returning zero players who averaged more than two assists per game last year, I expect him to be a menace and cause a lot of turnovers that could lead to easy transition buckets for UW.

Washington added a pair of freshmen centers with 7'6" wingspans this year but they’re still learning the zone and I don’t expect them to play much unless there’s foul trouble. And there easily could be because Charles Bassey seems a big mismatch inside. Washington will start 6'11" Sam Timmins at center but he’s a below average athlete who relies on his strength and has trouble against nimble bigs. 6'8" Noah Dickerson is Washington’s star offensive post player but he’s a defensive liability. If WKU can get Bassey the ball down low repeatedly and he can get Timmins in early foul trouble they may be able to have success at the rim.

TTR: With UW opening the season in the Top 25 and receiving a couple of first place votes in the Pac-12 coaches poll, what are the expectations from Husky fans ahead of this year?

MV: The fanbase would be extremely disappointed if this team doesn’t make the NCAA tournament. It’s been seven years since Washington last made the big dance and that’s much too long given that UW has had five first-round NBA draft picks in that span.

This team returns every rotation player from a squad that was probably two wins away from an at-large berth last season. If Hopkins had lived up to low expectations in his first year and finished 5–13 in conference then he might have some wiggle room. But with four seniors and an entire team with a full year in Hop’s system under their belts, there will be nothing but disappointment if they fall short of the tourney yet again.

TTR: Prediction! Do UW fans see this as an easy season-opening win or a good test to start the year strong?

MV: I think most fans know well enough that this isn’t a cakewalk of a season opener but they might not fully appreciate how good Western Kentucky’s team really is. Washington follows up this game with a road trip to #11 Auburn on Friday which might be the toughest 1–2 opening in college basketball this year.

There’s a chance the players look past this game but the coaches will do everything possible to keep them focused. Last season, Washington opened with a home game against Belmont who may not be a big name but is a perennial tourney contender and it took late-game heroics from Jaylen Nowell to avoid the upset.

Anytime you’re going up against a player as good as Charles Bassey there’s always a chance that things spiral out of control. But Noah Dickerson was 19th in the country last year in fouls drawn per 40 minutes and with Bassey playing in his first collegiate game there’s a chance Noah baits him into over-reaching and committing some early fouls.

If that’s the case, I think the UW defense has what it takes to limit WKU enough to get the job done. I expect Washington to be a little sloppy with the ball at times but they should be able to make enough shots to make it slightly comfortable. Washington 78 — Western Kentucky 72.

I’d like to thank Max again for taking time to answer our questions. Be sure to check his, and the rest of the UW Dawg Pound crew’s, work over at their site.