Two Points? Huskies Try Playing a Pair of Playmakers to Right the Ship
Mired in an eight-game losing streak with a last-place team, Washington coach Mike Hopkins keeps shuffling through his players, looking for someone, anyone, to step up and stop the basketball bleeding.
For three outings now, he's turned to sophomore guard Elijah Hardy, taking minutes away from others and handing them to the left-hander to see if he can run with this opportunity.
Against Washington State, Hopkins sat down freshman reserve RaeQuan Battle for all but one minute in favor of the 6-foot-1 Hardy, who pulled 14 minutes of game time in Pullman.
The coach put junior starter Hameir Wright on the bench for all but one minute against UCLA last Saturday, shifting the veteran's playing time to Hardy, who logged 26 minutes at Pauley Pavilion, his second highest amount in his career.
If it wasn't obvious before, opponents have been pressing the Huskies (12-14 overall, 2-11 Pac-12) nonstop because they see the UW's ball handlers as a major weakness.
Hopkins got wise to this defensive approach and has paired freshman point guard Marcus Tsohonis with fellow playmaker Hardy on multiple occasions over the past three games.
"Having two point guards on the court at once, with the other guys, was a unique look," Hopkins said. "When we were down it was a lineup that brought us back."
UCLA called off the pressure when the Oakland product entered the game and brought the ball up the court.
While that solved one issue there's a tradeoff that hardly works in the Huskies' favor. Hardy brings practically zero offense to the game. He's the worst shooter among his teammates, hitting just 22 percent (8 of 36) from the floor and 14 percent (3 of 21) from 3-point range.
Yet if Hardy can dish the ball to others, especially inside, it's a direction worth going on Thursday night at Alaska Airlines Arena against 11th-place California (10-15, 4-8), likely the UW's best chance at winning down the stretch.
Hardy, who went scoreless in 14 minutes in his backyard in the first game at Cal, has appeared in 23 of the 26 games, starting only against Stanford. While he's definitely not in there for his shooting, he's handed out 23 assists against 22 turnovers, a backcourt wash.
The Huskies have nothing to lose -- except another game.
