Looking a Little Green: UW Tries to End Slide Against Stanford
If Stanford is curious to see what he looks like, Quade Green will be the guy on the Washington bench, in street clothes, about five seats from the coaches.
It's worth a sneak peek.
Green won't win any individual conference honors this season, not with only 15 games played, but he might be the player who has more of an impact on the Pac-12 basketball race than any other.
By simply not being on the floor.
The Huskies were 11-4 with the point guard, someone who averaged 11.6 points and 4 assists per game, and are 1-10 without, including a 61-55 defeat to the Cardinal.
It's been almost like a Greek tragedy playing out, with so much promise turned into absolute disaster by one twist of fate. A likely NCAA tournament berth exchanged for last place. Pure joy replaced by ongoing despair.
Another loss, and the Huskies match the second-longest losing streak in school history -- nine in a row, done in 1941, 1954 and 1994.
No Green, no hope, no second chance.
"I felt even when Quade went out we were going to be fine," UW coach Mike Hopkins said.
Asked if his remaining players were angry over the situation or at their ineligible teammate, Hopkins soft-pedaled the response. It's been just the opposite.
"I think they felt bad for Quade," he said. "Unfortunately, it's a little self-inflicted. At at the end of the day, when something gets taken away from you it's just an unfortunate situation."
Really, no negative reaction?
Quite the contrary, Hopkins said.
"Our players always have been in support of him," the coach said. "I don't know if some of them wrote anything on their shoes for him or not."
Hopkins noted how others immediately received playing time where they didn't have it before. It needs to be a group response.
As for him, the coach said the sudden loss of Green forced him to move from his comfort zone in managing his rotation. He's doled out time to more players than he prefers.
"I'm used to playing eight guys consistently," Hopkins said. "That's what I do. This is what we do. Sometimes when lose somebody, you're trying to find answers. There's maybe not the rhythm."
It's been a five-week search for normalcy that continues on Thursday night. Tipoff at Alaska Airlines Arena is at 7.
