Be More Assertive, and UW's Bey and Bajema Could Be Difference-makers
Nate Robinson dunked on Oregon when he should have run out the clock. Brandon Roy traded angry shoves with a Connecticut opponent who crossed him in the NCAA tournament. Isaiah Thomas called for the ball to beat Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game. They had attitude.
On the current University of Washington basketball team, Jamal Bey and Cole Bajema politely go about their business. In a dismal 5-19 season, they make sure not to step on anyone's toes. They don't rightly take what's theirs.
They have great size for big guards and shooting strokes to envy, yet these two Huskies have egos the size of an average Alaska Airlines Arena crowd over the past three months.
Almost zero.
Coaches usually have to ask their players to stop shooting; in this case, Mike Hopkins and staff are begging these guys to fire away.
As this wearisome Washington basketball season winds down to its last couple of games, Bey and Bajema are enigmas, support pieces who could be so much more than that, players who should be more selfish because of their talent.
Bey only discovered this over the past month, Bajema in just the past two weeks.
If Hopkins' program is going to pull out of its 13-month free fall, which has seen the Huskies drop 32 of 41 games, Bey and Bajema will need to take on a lot more responsibility next season.
Start side by side.
Call for the ball and shoot it, drive it and score it.
Both must believe they are among the best the Pac-12 has to offer and prove it.
The 6-foot-6 Bey, a junior who has one or two seasons of eligibility left depending on what he decides coming out of the pandemic, needs to launch a lot more than the 2.6 treys he lets fly every game on the average.
Although leading the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting by a comfortable margin at 53.1 percent (34 of 64), Bey has to be coaxed by his coaching staff to let loose.
On this UW team alone, Bey has attempted 48 fewer treys than Erik Stevenson, 44 less than Quade Green and even four shy of Marcus Tsohonis, who normally comes off the bench.
He's made one less than Stevenson, the same number as Green, and 7 more than Tsohonis.
In other words, Bey has better accuracy than practically everyone up and down the West Coast, and he needs to take advantage of this talent.
Cole Bajema (22) and Erik Stevenson (10) react to a play at WSU.
James Snook/USA TODAY Sports
Then there's Bajema.
He's a mobile 6-foot-7 sophomore with two or three college seasons to play and a chance to be really good.
He's slowly moved through the UW rotation, painstakingly feeling his way around and getting his bearings since leaving Michigan, to the point where he's become the second player off the bench.
Bajema is the only scholarship recipient who hasn't started a UW game yet this season.
Once that changes, count on the opening lineup to be a permanent home.
Too often, Bajema drives to the basket, nearly gets all the way to the rim and maddeningly kicks the ball out. Against Arizona State, he had a two-foot shot, almost a cripple, and he whipped the ball to the corner, to the great astonishment of his Husky coaches and teammates, and the broadcasters calling the game.
"Will Conroy said you have to be confident and shoot it!" Hopkins relayed of his UW assistant coach and former Husky standout addressing Bajema.
Lately, his 3-point shot has gone in with more and more frequency — he went 3-for-3 in his last outing against the Sun Devils.
Bajema still needs to take the ball to the basket hard, draw the contact and either ram it through or sink the free throws sure to come with such a move.
From a hopeless season, all is not lost. One has to look past the disastrous win-loss record to see that the subtle or gradual emergence of Bey and Bajema provides hope.
Now if Hopkins can just draw more out of these shy guys and make them go-to players. Maybe add a couple of capable newcomers inside. Physical guys who can rebound and play defense.
He's already got a pair of scorers right in front of him.
Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven
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